NAME: Nellie Moore
DESCRIPTION: "In a low green valley where the birds so sweetly sing... Of a summer eve we' launch our little boat. The singer recalls happy days with Nellie, but "Oh, I miss you, Nellie Moore, and my hapiness is o'er... For you've gone from the little cottage home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Shellans)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shellans, pp. 32-33, "Nellie Moore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7326
NOTES: Shellans suspects that this may be derived from "Darling Nelly Gray," and certainly there are quite a few verbal similarities. But this clearly qualifies as a separate song. - RBW
File: Shel032
===
NAME: Nellie Was a Lady
DESCRIPTION: "Down on the Mississippi floating, Long time I travel on the way." The singer mourns his love: "Nellie was a lady," but "Last night while Nellie was a-sleeping, Death came a-knocking at the door." He will leave Virginia because he mourns so deeply
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1849 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: death love home
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dean, p. 122, "Nellie Was a Lady" (1 text)
Roud #4273
NOTES: According to Sigmund Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 106, this was "Foster's hit in 1849, now chiefly known as a barber-shop favorite." (And, indeed, nearly every reference I found to it online was to barbershop arrangements). - RBW
File: Dean122
===
NAME: Nelly Bly
DESCRIPTION: "Nelly Bly! Nelly Bly! Bring de broom along, We'll sweep de kitchen clean, my dear, and hab a little song." The singer tells how Nelly makes him happy -- she has the voice of a turtle dove, her step is music, and they have corn and pumpkins in the barn
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1850 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
BrownIII 407, "Nelly Bly" (1 fragment)
Arnett, pp. 64-65, "Nelly Bly!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 144, "Nelly Bly" (1 text)
DT, NELLYBLY*
Roud #13956
File: Arn064
===
NAME: Nelly Ray: see The Female Highwayman [Laws N21] (File: LN21)
===
NAME: Nelly the Milkmaid
DESCRIPTION: Nelly, coming home from the wake (a country dance, not a funeral), is seduced, her ravisher, sometimes named Roger, assuring her he was merely "shooting at the cat." In some versions she gives birth to a son whom she names Shoot the Cat.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (recording, O. J. Abbott)
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex seduction childbirth
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont) Britain(England) US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 169-172, "Nelly the Milkmaid" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 62, "Nellie Coming Home From the Wake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1606
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "Nellie Coming Home from the Wake" (on Abbott1)
File: RL169
===
NAME: Nelson's Fame, and England's Glory
DESCRIPTION: Nelson's 27 ships, led by Victory, faced 33 ships of the combined Franch and Spanish fleet. Individual British victories are described. Finally, the Leviathan and Conqueror "came to our timely aid" and the British take 19 in tow "to show we won the day"
AUTHOR: William Welch? (source: Holloway and Black's broadside is "signed" "William Welch")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: battle navy sea ship
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Oct 21, 1805 - Battle of Trafalgar
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #70, p. 2, ("It was daylight the next morning"); Greig #158, p. 3, ("The Victory she came bearing down") (2 texts)
GreigDuncan1 146, "Nelson's Fame, and England's Glory" (1 text)
Roud #5821
NOTES: Greig and GreigDuncan1 are fragments; Holloway and Black, _Later English Broadside Ballads Volume 2_ 68, pp. 174-175 is the basis for the description.
Compare the verse here [Greig #70]
 Three were burned, and three were sunk,
 And eight that ran away,
 And other nineteen we took and towed,
 To show we had gained the day.
with the verse from "The Royal Oak" [Greig #64]
 Two we sunk, and two we brunt,
 The fifth one she did win away;
 And one we brought to Bristol town,
 To show we had won the day.
There are no other common lines in more complete texts (for example, comparing Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 91, "The Royal Oak" and Holloway and Black).
As regards "nineteen we took and towed away," Holloway and Black notes "the British captured eighteen of the Franco-Spanish fleet's thirty-three ships."
Holloway and Black, noting that Nelson's death is not mentioned in their text: "This ballad may originally have been issued as a news-ballad immediately after the ballad and before the death of Nelson in it was known." - BS
According to John Keegan, _The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare_, Penguin, 1988, 1990, p. 90, the British did in fact deprive the Combined Fleet of 19 of the 33 French and Spanish ships at Trafalgar. However,  Arthur Herman, _To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World_, 2004 (I use the 2005 Harper Perennial edition), p. 393, makes the number 18, presumably deducting the _Achille_ which had exploded (Herman, p. 392). In addition, the largest of the Spanish ships, the _Santissima Trinidad_, was so battered that she sank -- which, as Keegan notes on p. 91, was an exceptional fate for a wooden ship of the period unless it caught fire.
Thus the British were "in possession" of 18 ships after Trafalgar, soon to be reduced to 17. However, a great storm followed, and in the end, only 18 of the 33 French and Spanish ships survived that, whether in British hands or in the hands of their own crews (Keegan, p. 96). The Combined Fleet suffered an estimated 4400 fatalities (Keegan, p. 96). British casualties were 449 killed and 1214 wounded; no ships were lost though quite a few losts masts and a few suffered damage to their hulls (Keegan, p. 94).
The notion that the publisher knew of the victory at Trafalgar but not of the death of Nelson is hard to sustain. Supposedly the first word to come to the Admiralty came from a lieutenant who arrived at the office and declared "Sir, we have gained a great victory but we have lost Lord Nelson" (Herman, p. 395). The two reports certainly arrived on the same ship. - RBW
File: GrD1146
===
NAME: Nelson's Glorious Victory at Trafalgar: see Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar (Brave Nelson) [Laws J17] (File: LJ17)
===
NAME: Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar (Brave Nelson) [Laws J17]
DESCRIPTION: Nelson leads his English fleet to battle with the French and Spanish navies off Cadiz. "He broke their line of battle, and struck the fatal blow," but in the melee is shot. He dies knowing he has won and that Napoleon's threat to Britain is ended
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: war Napoleon injury death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1758-1805 - Life of Horatio Nelson, victor at Aboukir (the Nile), Copenhagen, and Trafalgar
Oct 21, 1805 - Battle of Trafalgar
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Britain
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws J17, "Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar (Brave Nelson)"
Logan, pp. 67-69, "Nelson's Glorious Victory at Trafalgar" (1 text)
Mackenzie 77, "Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar" (1 text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 94, "Brave Nelson" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 549, NLSNTRAF
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 301, "Nelson's Glorious Victory at Trafalgar" (1 text)
ST LJ17 (Full)
Roud #522
NOTES: Napoleon dearly wanted to capture Britain -- and he was right to feel that way; Britain was his worst enemy and the one that finally defeated him. But he could not invade England unless the Royal Navy could be swept aside. Trafalgar was his attempt to do so, and it failed miserably. The Franco-Spanish navy, under Villaneuve, was slightly larger (33 ships to Nelson's 27), but poorly led and badly trained. Nelson not only had a better fleet, but new ideas. After a game of cat and mouse that had led the fleets all the way to the Americas, the two fleets finally met off Cape Trafalgar in 1805. Nelson's method of "breaking the line" worked, and he heavily defeated the French. In the midst of the battle, however, he was shot by a French sharpshooter and mortally wounded.
Even so, the French threat to Britain was permanently lifted.
Miscellaneous references in the broadside include:
"The hero of the Nile": Nelson's first great exploit against Napoleon occurred before the turn of the century, when he effectively destroyed the fleet that had carried Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. The conflict was known as "The Battle of the Nile" (August 1, 1798).
"Collingwood" was Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood (1758-1810), Nelson's second in command and Chief Assistant Hero of the battle.  - RBW
A distinguishing characteristic of this ballad is that each verse ends "brave Nelson." 
I haven't found this ballad among the broadsides in the Bodleian catalog though there are broadsides on the subject. See, for example, the chapbook printed by J. Pitts (London) with fifteen "admired songs, on the glorious victory off Trafalgar," Bodleian Curzon b.24(98) [not all of it legible]. - BS
File: LJ17
===
NAME: Neptune, Ruler of the Sea
DESCRIPTION: "The Neptune, ruler of the sea, she rides in court today, Filled up with white-coats to the hatch and her colors flying gay.... While bats did rattle on their heads, the murder then began. " Captain Kane's ship returns home with 30,000 harp seals.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: hunting sea ship
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Leach-Labrador 81, "Neptune, Ruler of the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ryan/Small, p. 119, "'Neptune,' Ruler of the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab081 (Partial)
Roud #9979
File: LLab081
===
NAME: Netherha'
DESCRIPTION: "The cookmaid and the cowboy, Like wise his gallant grieve, He has brough them owre the Cairnamount For aught that we believe. Cabbage kail and spruce beer, Was all our daily fare And marching on from field to field Was all our toil and care"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 367, "Netherha'" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #5910
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "Netherthird" and "Netherha'" fragments "may belong to the same song, but, in the absence of overlapping material, it is not possible to be certain of this." They do share a nonsense chorus (." .. airie airitie adie adie Airie airitie an") and very similar tunes [vaguely like the tune used by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger for "The Monymusk Lads" (on  "Classic Scots Ballads," Tradition TLP1015 LP (1959). If, in fact, they are part of the same song then "Netherthird" would provide the first verse. - BS
File: GrD3367
===
NAME: Nethermill
DESCRIPTION: The singer hires to Swaggers to be second man plowing. But first he is sent to the mill. They eat at seven, clean horses at eight, plow all day through leisure hour: "there is na time to spare." Beware of hiring to Swaggers at Netherhill.
AUTHOR: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST_DATE: William Forsyth (source: Greig #19, p. 2)
KEYWORDS: farming work ordeal
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #179, pp. 1-2, "Nethermill" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 387, "Nethermill" (1 text)
Roud #5921
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Swaggers" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Nethermill, Tarves
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; Nethermill (387) is at coordinate (h3-4,v8-9) on that map [roughly 18 miles N of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: GrD3387
===
NAME: Netherthird
DESCRIPTION: "As I gaed up through Lammas fair Ance on a day to fee Mony a grey-faced fairmer That day did look at me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 366, "Netherthird" (2 fragments, 1 tune)
Roud #5909
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 fragment from John Ord.
Candlemas [February 2], Whitsunday [May 15], Lammas [August 1] and Martinmas [November 11] were the four "Old Scottish term days" "on which servants were hired, and rents and rates were due." (Source: Wikipedia article _Quarter days_).
GreigDuncan3: "Netherthird" and "Netherha'" fragments "may belong to the same song, but, in the absence of overlapping material, it is not possible to be certain of this." They do share a nonsense chorus (." .. airie airitie adie adie Airie airitie an") and very similar tunes [vaguely like the tune used by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger for "The Monymusk Lads" on SCMacCollSeeger01]. If, in fact, they are part of the same song then "Netherthird" would provide the first verse. - BS
File: GrD3366
===
NAME: Neumerella Shore, The: see The Eumerella Shore (File: MA155)
===
NAME: Neuve Chappelle
DESCRIPTION: "For when we landed in Belgium, the girls all danced for joy, Says one unto the other, 'Here comes an Irish boy.'" The singer reports that the Irish won Neuve Chappelle. The Kaiser and Von Kluck lament that the Irish have arrived
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: war soldier battle derivative
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: March 10, 1915 - Start of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H526, p. 182, "Neuve Chappelle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8004
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "True-Born Irish Man (With My Swag All on My Shoulder; The True-Born Native Man)"
NOTES: Gale Huntington considered this to be an actual version of "The True-Born Irish Man." Given that the Henry text has only two verses, that strikes me as extreme. But it is clearly derived from that song.
The song describes Neuve Chapelle as a British victory. It was certainly a British battle -- the British 7th and 8th Divisions, plus two Indian divisions. They attacked and smashed the equivalent of less than a German brigade, but then were stopped and the front stabilized. The battle had some effect on British morale (showing that the newly-arriving Territorial troops were solid), but British casualties were much higher than German; it was in no sense a victory for either side.
Von Kluck is General Alexander von Kluck, commander of the German First Army (the right flank element of the German force in France); his, more than anyone else's, had been the task of outflanking the French in 1914, and in this, he had failed.
Kluck continued in command until 1915 (when he was wounded and permanently invalided), but he played no real part in Neuve Chappelle (the real commander on the front by this time was simply defensive doctrine) and would not have been discussing it with the Kaiser. The Western Front was under what amounted to the direct command of the German commander-in-chief, Falkenheyn, who approved all plans and would have been responsible for any talks with Wilhelm II. - RBW
File: HHH526
===
NAME: Never Be as Fast as I Have Been: see The Sporting Bachelors (File: LxU014)
===
NAME: Never Change the Old Love for the New: see My Blue-Eyed Boy (File: R759)
===
NAME: Never Go Back on the Poor
DESCRIPTION: "In this world of sorrow, of toil and regret, There are scenes I would gladly pass oÕer." A great ship sinks as it carries emigrants forced from home by poverty. Divers go to examine the wreck, but make little effort to recover the steerage passengers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck poverty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Mar 31/Apr 1, 1873 - wreck of the Atlantic
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dean, pp. 116-117, "Never Go Back on the Poor" (1 text)
Roud #9594
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic (I)"
NOTES: This song nowhere specifies the name of the shipwreck it describes, but it sounds to me as if it describes the _Atlantic_ wreck of 1873: She carried emigrants, losses were large and affected the Steerage in particular, and the captain was asleep at the time of the collision. - RBW
File: Dean116
===
NAME: Never Let Your Honey Have Her Way
DESCRIPTION: "John Henry's dead, And de las' words he said, 'Never let your honey Have her way." "'Way back, 'Way back, Way back in Alabama, 'Way back." "If you  let her have her way, She'll lead you off astray." "De chickens in my sack, Bloodhounds on my track."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: death dog crime escape
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 221, "John Henry's Dead" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rabbit in the Log (Feast Here Tonight)"
NOTES: I've heard this song (or something like it) sung as "Pay Day," in a version quite close to "Rabbit in the Log (Feast Here Tonight)." But I can't swear that that wasn't a modified version, so I'm filing it separately from both "John Henry" and "Rabbit in the Log." - RBW
File: ScNF221
===
NAME: Never Mind Your Knapsack: see We Have the Navy (File: R212)
===
NAME: Never Said a Mumbalin' Word: see Never Said a Mumbling Word (File: LxU102)
===
NAME: Never Said a Mumbling Word
DESCRIPTION: "Oh they whupped him up the hill, up the hill... and he never said a mumbalin' word..... They crowned him with a thorny crown.... They nailed him to the cross.... They pierced him in the side.... Then he hung down his head and he died."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926
KEYWORDS: Bible Jesus religious death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
BrownIII 578, "He Never Said a Mumbling Word" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 102, "Never Said a Mumblin' Word" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 587-588, "Never Said a Mumbalin' Word" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 759, "He Never Said a Mumbalin' Word" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 60, (no title) (1 text)
Roud #10068
RECORDINGS:
Vera Hall Ward & Dock Reed, "Look How They Done My Lord" (on NFMAla5)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "When My Lord Went to Pray" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Look How They Done My Lord" (verses)
NOTES: According to the Synoptic gospels (Mark 15:5, etc.), Jesus said very little to Pilate (according to Mark 15:2, two words, SU LEGEIS, loosely, "You said [it].") John, however, records an extended conversation. - RBW
File: LxU102
===
NAME: Never Take the Horseshoe from the Door
DESCRIPTION: Singer, an Irishman, admonishes listeners to always keep a horseshoe over the door, and lists misfortunes that befell him when he failed to do so, including his wife's "bringing in a horde of her relations."
AUTHOR: Words: Edward Harrigan/Music: Dave Braham
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: humorous family magic 
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 85, "Never Take the Horseshoe from the Door" (1 text)
Roud #8839
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mule (Never Take the Hindshoe from a Mule)," which is a parody of this song
NOTES: The version in Beck is fragmentary; I suspect the original is a good deal longer. - PJS
For background on Harrigan and Braham, see the notes to "Babies on Our Block." - RBW
File: Be085
===
NAME: Never Wed a' Auld Man: see Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man (File: K207)
===
NAME: New Ballad of Lord Lovell, The (Mansfield Lovell)
DESCRIPTION: "Lord Lovell he sat in St. Charles Hotel... A-cutting as big a rebel swell... As you'd ever wish to see." His thirty thousand soldiers dwindle away to a bare handful, and "gallant old Ben sailed in with his men And captured their great citee..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar parody humorous soldier
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Belden, pp. 52-54, "Lord Lovel"  (3 texts, of which the Ga text is this piece)
JHCoxIIA, #8A-C, pp. 32-37, "Lord Lovell," "Lord Lovell" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "C" fragment is this piece)
Darling-NAS, p. 48, "The New Ballad of Lord Lovell" (1 text)
Roud #7942; also 48
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Lovel [Child 75]" and references there
NOTES: Although the song provides few precise details, it clearly refers to the Federal capture of New Orleans in 1862. The Confederate commander was Mansfield Lovell (1822-1884). According to Shelby Foote, _The Civil War: A Narrative (Volume I: Fort Sumter to Perryville)_ (Random House, 1958), pp. 360, Lovell was a "Maryland-born West Pointer who had resigned as New York Deputy Street Commissioner to join the Confederacy in September. Impressed with the Chapultepec-brevetted artilleryman's record as an administrator, [Jefferson] Davis made him a major general and sent him to... New Orleans."
By the time New Orleans was attacked, the regular garrison of New Orleans had been stripped to reinforce Albert Sydney Johnston; most of them would fight at Shiloh. According to Samuel Carter III, _The FInal Fortress: The Campaign for Vicksburg 1862-1863_, St. Martin's, 1980, pp. 8-9, "On taking over in October 1861, Lovell found the city had been 'greatly drained of arms, ammunition, clothing, and supplies,' which had been sent to other war zones. His land forces, moreover, consisted of only 3,000 short-term volunteers, a 'heterogeneous militia, armed mostly with shotguns.'"
Naturally, these forces had little mobility or ability to fight in the field. The real defenses of New Orleans consisted of river forts and a few small ships. Yet, in 1861, Lovell found "Naval preparations were in equally poor shape" (Carter, p. 9). The Confederate attempts to build better, ironclad, ships faltered under their limited industrial capacity; the ships just weren't ready in time. The Federals failed to destroy the river forts with mortars, but Admiral Farragut was able to run his ships past them and deal with the small Confederate fleet (Foote, pp. 364-369), and that left New Orleans undefended under his guns. Rather than risk the destruction of the city, Lovell retreated with such mobile forces as he had. The garrisons of the river forts then collapsed (Foote, p. 370), and Federal troops were able to come up-river and occupy New Orleans even though the city didn't exactly surrender.
After New Orleans, Lovell briefly held corps command in the west, and demonstrated real skill as a commander. But he was relieved soon after due to political pressure.
"Gallant old Ben" is Benjamin F. Butler, the most-hated man in the Confederacy and possibly the worst general ever to serve under the American flag. Butler occupied New Orleans (and subjected it to something close to a reign of terror), but the military skill was all Farragut's. - RBW
File: DarNS047
===
NAME: New Broom Sweeps Clean, A: see As I Walked Out (I) (A New Broom Sweeps Clean) (File: HHH109)
===
NAME: New Bully, The: see references under The Bully of the Town [Laws I14] (File: LI14)
===
NAME: New Bunch of Loughero, The
DESCRIPTION:  Singer meets a lady by the Danube saying "I have lost my Bunch of Loughero" She recalls Napoleon's victories and defeat at Waterloo. Her son says he will raise an army to rescue him. She says "I'll live like chaste Penelope, Still hoping for my Loughero"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: 
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1815 - Defeat at the Battle of Waterloo forces Napoleon into exile
1821 - Death of Napoleon
FOUND_IN: Napoleon love dialog family political
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 32A, "The New Bunch of Loughero" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonny Bunch of Roses, O" (theme)
cf. "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)" (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "The Royal Eagle" (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "The Removal of Napoleon's Ashes" (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
NOTES: Marie Louise of Austria (1791-1847) is Napoleon's second wife and mother of Napoleon II. She returned to Vienna in 1814 when Napoleon is defeated. (source: "Marie Louise of Austria" at Answres.com site)
Zimmermann: Loughero is from Irish luachair = rushes. 
Note the difference between "The Bunch of Loughero" (Napoleon) and "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (Britain) - BS
This song shares with "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)" and "The Royal Eagle" the theme of Marie Louisa's grief for her husband. This is romantic, but false; she refused to go into exile with him to Elba, let alone St. Helena.
In fact, even before Napoleon went to Elba, she is reported to have taken General Adam Adelbert Neipperg as a lover. When he came back during the Hundred Days, she not only refused to join him, she wouldn't even allow him to see his son. By the time Napoleon died, Louisa had borne two children to other fathers. - RBW
File: Zimm032A
===
NAME: New Buryin' Ground, The: see Way Over in the New Buryin' Groun' (File: San473)
===
NAME: New Chum Chinaman, The
DESCRIPTION: Irishman Pat McCann, newly arrived in Australia and unable to find work, sees the Chinese working (even if at horrible jobs). He decides to turn himself into "Ah Pat," Chinese immigrant. He describes the steps he will use to take on the part
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966 (collected by Ron Edwards from Mrs. V.Leonard)
KEYWORDS: foreigner emigration unemployment disguise China
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 102-104, "The New Chum Chinaman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 134-138, New Chum Chinaman"" (1 text)
File: FaE102
===
NAME: New Electric Light, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer's wife is desperate for electric lights. She wanders the streets seeking them. One night the singer finds a strange man in the house; it proves to be her cousin, who installs lights. She reportedly amuses herself with the light while he's gone
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: technology humorous husband wife
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 489, "The New Electric Light" (1 text)
Roud #7585
File: R489
===
NAME: New England Cocky, The: see The Inglewood Cocky (File: PASB109)
===
NAME: New Granuwale, The: see Granuwale (File: Zimm029)
===
NAME: New Ireland Song
DESCRIPTION: The clergy order "not to sell whisky upon a Sunday." Mike Leyden and Tim Long go from place to place in New Ireland looking for rum but only find tea. It being very cold, the boys finally give up and go to bed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 116, "New Ireland Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB116 (Partial)
Roud #2784
NOTES: Creighton-SNewBrunswick: "New Ireland is a farming community near Elgin" [in south central New Brunswick less than 20 miles north of the Bay of Fundy]. - BS
This seems to be a local composition based on some other local song. The text is reminiscent of "Sweet Betsy from Pike," but the tune is more like "Darby O'Leary" (which is known in New Brunswick). Of course, the latter is rather like "Sweet Betsy" put in minor. - RBW
File: CrSNB116
===
NAME: New Limit Line, The
DESCRIPTION: "Now we left our own homes, for the woods we were bent...." The singer describes hiring out to the New Limit Line. They reach the line with great difficulty, but work hard and are happy at the camp. Many of the other workers there are listed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work travel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering # 12, "The New Limit Line" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FowL12 (Partial)
Roud #4369
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fox River Line (The Rock Island Line)" [Laws C28] (tune)
File: FowL12
===
NAME: New Market Wreck, The
DESCRIPTION: "The Southern Railway had a wreck at ten o'clock one morn, Near Hodge's and New Market ground...." A conductor misreads his orders, and two trains collide. The singer hopes the other conductor is in heaven, and adds other details
AUTHOR: Robert Hugh Brooks
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sep 24, 1904 -- the New Market Wreck. The conductor of the #15 train admitted to misreading his orders and causing the wreck; reports say that at least 56 people died
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 227-231, "The New Market Wreck" (1 text plus an early sheet music print, 1 tune)
Roud #4904
RECORDINGS:
Mr. & Mrs. J. W. Baker, "The Newmarket Wreck" (Victor 20863, 1927)
George Reneau, "The New Market Wreck" (Vocalion 14930, 1924)
NOTES: According to Cohen, there is a second song about this event, "The Southern Railroad Wreck," by Charles O. Oaks. It seems to be rarely encountered; neither that nor this appears to be traditional. - RBW
File: LSRa228
===
NAME: New Moon, True Moon
DESCRIPTION: "New moon, true moon, Tell me who shall marry me; Tell me the color of his hair, The garments he shall wear."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Mrs. Henry C. Gray, or her maid)
KEYWORDS: marriage courting clothes hair nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 238, (no title) (1 short text)
File: MH238D
===
NAME: New Mown Hay, The: see TheTossing of the Hay (File: HHH635)
===
NAME: New Organ, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer complains about the new organ and choir being installed in the church. She's served the church for 35 years with money and time, "but now their old new-fangled ways Are coming all about And I right in my latter days Am fairly crowded out"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: music clergy rejection
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 863, "The New Organ" (1 text)
Roud #7534
NOTES: I don't know how many old fogies (or old Baptists) were complaining about the installation of organs in the 1920s, but I know there are plenty of new fogies in the churches complaining that there isn't enough music and that these new ministers never play the familiar stuff. New era, same grumblers.... - RBW
File: R863
===
NAME: New Orleans Jail, The: see The Cryderville Jail (File: LxU090)
===
NAME: New Plantation, The
DESCRIPTION: "Our bonnie laddies are a' gaun awa' To plenish the new Plantation." After crossing the ocean they are welcomed with food and a girl. But the girls are yellow and "a piece of gold ... Was all they had for a napkin." The singer wishes he had never come.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: emigration settler
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #132, p. 2, "The New Plantation" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 536, "The New Plantation" (1 text)
Roud #6014
NOTES: Just which "new plantation" is this?  Someplace in America?  West Indies? Cape Breton? - BS
File: GrD5356
===
NAME: New Prisoner's Song
DESCRIPTION: Singer has seven more to serve, for knocking a man down and taking his watch. He remembers his home and family. Chorus: "Sitting alone, sad all alone/Sitting in my cell all alone/A-thinking of those good times gone by me/A-knowing that I once had a home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Dock Boggs)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, in prison for seven years, has seven more to serve, for knocking a man down in the alley and taking his watch. He remembers his home and family, and wonders if they think of him. Chorus: "Sitting alone, sad all alone/Sitting in my cell all alone/A-thinking of those good times gone by me/A-knowing that I once had a home"
KEYWORDS: captivity homesickness crime prison robbery family prisoner
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Creighton-NovaScotia 141, "Prisoner's Song" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 121, "The Prisoner's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11730
RECORDINGS:
Dock Boggs, "New Prisoner's Song" (Brunswick 133A/Vocalion 5114 [5144?], 1927); (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Slim Smith, "Sad and Alone" (Vocalion 05082, c. 1927)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Prisoner's Song (I)"
NOTES: Although the plots are virtually identical, this is quite distinct from the "Prisoner's Song." That has the chorus "If I had the wings of an eagle," which this does not, although I strongly suspect it was composed in flagrant imitation. [Borrowing a few items from "Botany Bay" along the way. - RBW] Mike Seeger, incidentally, notes that there is at least one other recording of this song from the 1920s, presumably Slim Smith's. - PJS
Roud, of course, lumps this with the "other" Prisoner's Song. - RBW
Mackenzie has the "Lonely and sad, sad and lonely" chorus but also has as the final verse "I wish I had the wings of an eagle...." - BS
File: RcNPS
===
NAME: New River Shore, The (The Green Brier Shore; The Red River Shore) [Laws M26]
DESCRIPTION: The singer is forced to leave his sweetheart (possibly due to manipulation by her parents). She begs that he return. When he does, he is ambushed by a band of men hired by her father. He wins the battle and goes on to claim the girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: separation love fight
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws M26, "The New River Shore (The Green Brier Shore; The Red River Shore)"
Mackenzie 48, "The New River Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 85, "New River Shore" (1 text)
SharpAp 142, "The Green Brier Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 206, "The Red River Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 412, "Red River Shore" (1 text)
Fife-Cowboy/West 57, "Red River Shore" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT 329, GRNBRIER*
Roud #549
RECORDINGS:
Bud Billings' Trio w. Carson Robison, "On the Red River Shore" (Montgomery Ward M-4101, 1933)
Patt Patterson & Lois Dexter, "On the Red River Shore" (Perfect 12650, 1930; Conqueror 7711, 1931; on MakeMe)
Art Thieme, "The Red River Shore" (on Thieme04)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Earl Brand" [Child 7]
cf. "Erlinton" [Child 8]
cf. "The Green Brier Shore (II)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The title implies a relationship to "The Girl on the Greenbriar Shore," but the plot is noticeably different. One rather suspects that the latter piece is a fragment rebuilt almost from scratch (and then, perhaps, further modified by the Carter Family). - RBW
File: LM26
===
NAME: New River Train
DESCRIPTION: "(Honey Babe/Darling), you can't love one (x2), You can't love one and still have any fun, Honey Babe, you can't..." Similarly, "You can't love two and still be true..." "You can't love three and still have me..." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (recording, Henry Whitter)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad infidelity floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 466-471, "New River Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 103, "Darling, You Can't Love but One" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 124-125, "Honey Babe" (1 text, without the chorus,  filed under Child #76 along with a "Pretty Little Foot" fragment and a version of "I Truly Undertand That You Love Some Other Man")
Abrahams/Foss, p. 73, "Darlin' You Can't Have One" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 158-159, "Darlin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 74, "New River Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 143, "New River Train" (1 text)
Roud #4568
RECORDINGS:
Cauley Family, "New River Train" (Perfect 13032, 1934)
Crazy Hillbillies Band, "Leaving on the New River Train" (OKeh 45579, 1934)
Vernon Dalhart, "New River Train" (Columbia 15032-D, c. 1925)  (Herwin 75506, mid-to-late 1920s)
Sid Harkreader, "New River Train" (Vocalion 15035, 1925)
Kelly Harrell, "New River Train" (Victor 19596, 1925; on KHarrell01) (Victor 20171, 1926; on KHarrell01)
Monroe Brothers, "New River Train" (Bluebird B-6645, 1936)
Old Brother Charlie & the Corn Crib Trio, "New River Train" (Mercury 6206, 1949)
Ridge Rangers, "The New River Train" (AFS 1693 A2, 1939; on LC61)
Pete Seeger, "New River Train" (on PeteSeeger24), (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03)
Ernest V. Stoneman Family, "New River Train" (on Stonemans01); Ernest V. Stoneman, Willie Stoneman, and the Sweet Brothers, "New River Train" (Gennett 6619 [as by Justin Winfield] /Supertone 9400 [as by Uncle Ben Hawkins], 1929)
Wade Ward, "New River Train" [instrumental] (on Holcomb-Ward1)
Henry Whitter, "The New River Train" (OKeh 40143, 1924)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mole in the Ground" (tune, floating lyrics)
cf. "My Last Gold Dollar" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Crawdad"
cf. "Going Around the World (Banjo Pickin' Girl, Baby Mine)"
NOTES: "Honey Babe" and "New River Train" are two versions of the same set of verses, the difference being that the latter has a chorus about the "New River Train" ("Riding on that new river train (x2), Same old train that brought me here Is soon gonna carry me away"). 
It's not clear which is the original form, but I'm guessing the former. - RBW
Well, [you] may be wrong here; the "New River Train" version dates back to at least 1924 (Whitter's recording). And Fields Ward says he learned it c. 1895. - PJS
In any case, "New River Train" is now the more familiar version (see the recording list), so I eventually adopted that title.
Cohen has notes about the origin of the name "New River Train"; there apparently was no line with that name, but several railroads had track in the New River area and would presumably have been given that name informally. What's more, the earliest recordings he cites (Whitter's and Harrell's) are by residents of that part of Virginia. Vernon Dalhart's recording was similar to and likely based on Harrell's, and that no doubt helped put the song in popular consciousness.
Cohen does report, however, that few versions other than Ernest Stoneman's have much real railroad content. That is the main reason why I thought (and still sort of think) the versions without the New River Train chorus likely to be original. - RBW
File: AF073
===
NAME: New Road, The
DESCRIPTION: "For fifty years I've known a woodland Of patriarchal trees, Their roots grown deep in good land, Boughs swaying in the breeze." The singer recalls how farmers came and made the land their own. But now their fields and homes are being separate by roads.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: home farming technology
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 261-262, (no title) (1 text)
File: ThBa262
===
NAME: New Song (I), A: see Well Met, Pretty Maid (The Sweet Nightingale) (File: K089)
===
NAME: New Song (II), A: see The Good Old Days of Adam and Eve, The (File: Beld431)
===
NAME: New War Song by Sir Peter Parker, A: see Sir Peter Parker (File: SBoa064)
===
NAME: New Yealand: see Lizie Lindsay [Child 226] (File: C226)
===
NAME: New Year's Sermon, The
DESCRIPTION: "Hello, Mr. Jones! We wish you a happy new year -- to you and your wife and your sons... And if our wishes find you good, 'Tis better than the year before the flood." Listeners are warned of times to come, including battles -- and then muskets are let off
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: nonballad recitation wassail
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, p. 514, "The New Year's 'Sermon'" (1 text)
Roud #7830
NOTES: A sort of a Missouri wassail, in which the performers went from house to house begging for entertainment -- but perhaps with a bit of a threat element, since they all had firearms.... - RBW
File: Beld514
===
NAME: New York Girls: see Can't You Dance the Polka (New York Girls) (File: Doe058)
===
NAME: New York to Queenstown
DESCRIPTION:  Ship leaves New York Sunday, December 2 and runs into a heavy sea. "The companion and the wheel-house were swept right clean away." At Queenstown the captain reports to "an aged father ... 'Your son fell from our main royal yard, a victim to the sea.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm sailor father
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 20-21, "New York to Queenstown" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Larkin (Bull Yorkens)" (theme)
File: Ran020
===
NAME: New York Trader, The: see Captain Glen/The New York Trader (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B) [Laws K22] (File: LK22)
===
NAME: New-Chum's First Trip, The
DESCRIPTION: A young drover relates the events of his first drive, which has turned out to be harder work than he expected.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: work travel
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hodgart, p. 232, "The New-Chum's First Trip" (1 text)
Roud #8241
File: Hodg232
===
NAME: New-Mown Hay, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer walks out "one May morning" and spies "a pretty sweet maid All on the new-mown hay." She convinces him not to ravish her at once; "You'll spoil my maiden gown." She eludes him; he advises men not to worry about spoiling gowns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (Sharp)
KEYWORDS: seduction trick clothes
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,West)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Bronson 112, "The Baffled Knight" (40 versions) -- but #26-33 (his Appendix A) are "The New-Mown Hay," which we tentatively separate, and #34-#39 (his Appendix B) are "Katie Morey" [Laws N24] which is certainly separate
Kennedy 184, "The New-Mown Hay" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MORNDEW3*
Roud #11
RECORDINGS:
William Rew ,"The New-Mown Hay" (on FSB2CD)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Baffled Knight" [Child 112]
NOTES: As far as the plot goes, this is exactly identical to "The Baffled Knight" [Child 112], and some (e.g. Bronson, Roud) have grouped them together. Kennedy, however, argues that they are separate, and the verse form implies he is right. To me, this looks like a cross between "The Baffled Knight" and "Rolling in the Dew (The Milkmaid)." - RBW
Separate from "The Baffled Knight"? Naah. Never mind "verse form" -- look at Kennedy's verse 3. I call that a smoking gun. - PJS
File: K184
===
NAME: New-Slain Knight, The [Child 263]
DESCRIPTION: A man sees a girl sleeping under a hedge. He tells her of a dead man in her father's garden. His description makes her think it is her love. She wonders who will care for her. The man offers to do so. She refuses him till he reveals himself as her lover.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1878
KEYWORDS: trick disguise love death
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 263, "The New-Slain Knight" (1 text)
Roud #3887
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lass of Roch Royal" [Child 76] (floating lyrics) and references there
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] (plot) and references there
cf. "The Three Ravens" [Child 26]
File: C263
===
NAME: Newburgh Jail, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is arrested while in a bar. Held without trial for some time, he moves back and forth among prisons. At last he makes his escape (despite the shooting of the guards). He intends to keep moving and not be taken again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: prison escape trial
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 166, "The Newburgh Jail" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC166 (Partial)
Roud #4606
NOTES: This song is item dE53 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: FSC166
===
NAME: Newcastle Is My Native Place
DESCRIPTION: "Newcassel is my native place, Where my mother sighed for me... Where in early youth I sported... But, alas! those days are gone and past." The singer tells of growing up, taking his first job, getting married -- and regrets the woe of the latter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: youth home work courting marriage lament drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 190-191, "Newcastle Is My Native Place" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR190 (Partial)
Roud #3180
NOTES: This is a rather strange mix: Almost every line of it recalls happy days -- but the singer is grousing anyway. - RBW
File: StoR190
===
NAME: Newfoundland: see Bound Down to Newfoundland [Laws D22] (File: LD22)
===
NAME: Newfoundland and Sebastopol
DESCRIPTION: "Success to France and England! Hurray my boys hurray! Sebastopol is taken And we've nobly gained the day" on September 8, 1855. The battles are recounted. "Here's to the memory of our soldiers ... of that dreadful battle Of September, fifty-five"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: army battle war England France Russia memorial
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sep 9, 1855 - Fall of Sevastopol following an 11 month siege
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 152, "Newfoundland and Sebastopol" (1 text)
Roud #17747
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sebastopol (Old England's Gained the Day; Capture and Destruction of Sebastopol; Cheer, Boys, Cheer)" (subject, theme)
NOTES: Greenleaf/Mansfield['s version] has no mention of "Newfoundland" in the text. - BS
File: GrMa152
===
NAME: Newfoundland Disaster (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Captain Randall, commander of the Bill, abandons his voyage and rescues twenty-five survivors of the Newfoundland from the ice. Seventy-seven are lost.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: rescue drowning sea ship wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: March 1914 - Wreck of the Newfoundland (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 967-968, "The Newfoundland Disaster" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ryan/Small, pp. 94-95, "The Newfoundland Disaster (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea967 (Partial)
Roud #9932
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. Pat Maher, "The Story of the Sealing Vessel, The Newfoundland" (on NFMLeach)
cf. "The Newfoundland Disaster (II)" (subject)
cf. "In Memorial of 77 Brave Newfoundland Sealers" (subject)
NOTES: Maher, on NFMLeach, does not sing the ballad but tells the story and tells a ghost story relating to that wreck. - BS
File: Pea967
===
NAME: Newfoundland Disaster (II), The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye sons of Newfoundland And shed a tear or two While I relate the hardships great Befell this steamship's crew." The Newfoundland is trapped by a gale, and "nearly 80" men are killed. Listeners are asked to mourn the heroes
AUTHOR: apparently George Humbey
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Harbour Grace Standard)
KEYWORDS: hunting ship disaster storm death
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, p. 96, "The Newfoundland Disaster (2)" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Newfoundland Disaster (I)" (subject)
cf. Pat Maher, "The Story of the Sealing Vessel, The Newfoundland" (on NFMLeach)
cf. "In Memorial of 77 Brave Newfoundland Sealers" (subject)
File: RySm096
===
NAME: Newfoundland Hero, A: see Captain William Jackman, A Newfoundland Hero (File: GrMa145)
===
NAME: Newfoundland Sailor, The: see Oh, No, Not I (File: DTmarryn)
===
NAME: Newfoundland Sealing Song
DESCRIPTION: The Greenland and Travan arrive at Harbour Grace "Chock up to every hatch" with fur seals pelts. On March 10 Greenland heads north again for hooded seals and "when the day was done Twice seven thousand pelts was flagged." "So now we're home for Easter"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: hunting sea ship shore sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 198-199, "Newfoundland Sealing Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2719
NOTES: Harbour Grace on Conception Bay and Green's Pond on the Northern Peninsula are Newfoundland outports. - BS
File: CrMa198
===
NAME: Newhills: see Newmill (File: Ord257)
===
NAME: Newlyn Town: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Newmill
DESCRIPTION: "It was to Newmill, ayont the hills, Last term I did fee." The master is a miser who feeds and rewards his workers badly: "I chased the barley roun' the plate, And a' I got was three." The master tries to cheat him for his work; he departs happily
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming hardtimes food money trick
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Greig #92, p. 2, "Newmill" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 381, "Newhills" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord, pp. 257-258, "Newmill" (1 text)
Roud #5588
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; Newhills (381) is at coordinate (h1,v9) on that map [roughly 5 miles NW of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: Ord257
===
NAME: Newry Highwayman, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Newry Prentice Boy, The: see The Bonny Sailor Boy [Laws M22] (File: LM22)
===
NAME: Next Market Day, The
DESCRIPTION: Woman going to the market meets a man. He gives her three guineas to pay for the yarn, that he might play her a new tune.She goes home with the tune in her head. She will seek him "by land or by sea/Till he larns me that tune called the next market day"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Hayward-Ulster)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Young woman going to the market at Comber, with three hanks of yarn to sell for her mother, meets a young man (apparently a musician), and dallies. He gives her three guineas to pay her mother for the yarn, that he might play her a new tune. They sit together; they gaze lovingly into each other's eyes, and she goes home with the tune in her head. She vows to seek him "by land or by sea/Till he larns me that tune called the next market day"
KEYWORDS: courting love sex commerce music
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hayward-Ulster, p. 45, "The Comber Ballad" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 158 "The Next Market Day" (1 text)
Roud #6547
RECORDINGS:
Seamus O'Doherty, "The Next Market Day" (Columbia 33289-F, n.d.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Stonecutter Boy" (plot)
cf. "The Haselbury Girl (The Maid of Tottenham, The Aylesbury Girl)" (plot)
cf. "The Mower" (plot)
cf. "The Wanton Seed"
File: FSWB158B
===
NAME: Next Monday Morning
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a young girl who says she will be married next Sunday (or other day). He asks her age; she is (12/16/other). He tells her she's too young to marry. She replies that she will be married that day and describes the festivities. End of story.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1850
KEYWORDS: marriage wedding age
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,Lond),Scotland) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Sharp-100E 38, "The Sign of the Bonny Blue Bell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 137, "Next Monday Morning' (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 173, "I'm Going to Get Married Next Sunday" (1 text)
SharpAp 143, "I'm Going to get Married next Sunday" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 165-166, "[I'm Going to Be Married on Monday]" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 2 tunes)
Peacock, p. 559, "Monday Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 464, "On Saturday night shall be my care" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #161, p. 119, "(On Saturday night shall be my care)"
DT, NEXTMOND* NEXTMON2*
Roud #579
RECORDINGS:
W. Guy Bruce, "As I Walked Out One Morning In Spring" (on FolkVisions1)
Harry Cox, "Next Monday Morning" (on HCox01)
Mrs. Edward Gallagher, "I'm Going to Get Married" (on NovaScotia1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1654), "I Shall Be Married on Monday Morning" ("As I was walking one morning in spring"), Williamson (Newcastle), c.1845
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I'm Going to be Married on Sunday
NOTES: The Brown text lacks the objection to the girl's youth. Perhaps a deliberate American adaption, where the availability of land meant that teenagers, especially in mountain areas, did marry quite young? - RBW
Perhaps, but the version in Sharp has the objection. - PJS
File: ShH38
===
NAME: Next Song on the Programme, The
DESCRIPTION: "The next song on the programme will be a dance Sang by a female gentleman Sitting on a corner of a round table, Picking carrots out of a sultana pie. Nancy Carter, she's the Tartar And I'm a tomato"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (recording, Albert Smith)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad nonsense paradox food
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Albert Smith, "The Next Song on the Programme" (on Voice14)
NOTES: The current description is almost all of the Voice14 text. - BS
File: RcNSOTP
===
NAME: Niagara Falls
DESCRIPTION: "Don't you hear the water rolling?/Ho, ho, ho.../That we're riding off in trouble/Ho, ho, ho...)" Later verses take the form, "Don't you go and tell our father (mother, sister)/.../That we're riding off in trouble..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work disaster worksong
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SharpAp 166, "Niagara Falls" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3640
NOTES: Sharp notes, "The words of the song refer to men on a logging raft, which has got out of control and is drifting toward Niagara Falls." - PJS
File: ShAp2166
===
NAME: Nice Little Jenny from Ballinasloe
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets and falls in love with Jenny. He declares his love. She says she is "never inclined to disdain or to tease" but she already has a lover and he has a large dog and gun. The singer bows out. "For ever I'll mourn for beauteous Jane Curran"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1835 (From a Waterford chap-book, according to Sparling)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection beauty dog lover
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn-More 92, "Nice Little Jenny from Ballinasloe" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 326-328, 513, "Nice Little Jane from Ballinasloe"
Roud #5305
NOTES: Ballinasloe is in County Galway, Ireland. - BS
File: OLcM092
===
NAME: Nice Piece of Irish Pig's Head, A
DESCRIPTION: Irish pig's head is a better meal than Christmas goose, spring lamb, beef, mutton, turkey, or ham. It has been used to pay the rent. Frenchmen eat frog, Englishmen eat beef but give Pat pig's head cabbage and spuds, even as a spread for a wedding.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (recording, "Maurice")
KEYWORDS: food nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #12932
RECORDINGS:
Maurice, "A Nice Piece of Irish Pig's Head" (on Voice07)
NOTES: This probably consists of making the best of necessity. Even before the potato blights of the 1840s, so many Catholics were on such small farms that they could raise nothing but potatoes. Anything else, including meat discarded by the landlord, would be a treat. Yes, the boar's head was sometimes called a delicacy (see "The Boar's Head Carol"), but that seems to be mostly because the rest of the boar came with it.... - RBW
File: RcNPOIPH
===
NAME: Nickety Nackety: see The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin [Child 277] (File: C277)
===
NAME: Nicky Tams
DESCRIPTION: Singer works as a plowman, always wearing his nicky tams. He courts "bonnie Annie," who admires his nicky tams. A wasp flies up his pants in church; he won't go again without them. He thinks about other jobs, but he'll never forget wearing his nicky tams
AUTHOR: G. S. Morris
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930s (composed)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes farming work humorous bug worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland, England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MacSeegTrav 107, "Nicky Tams" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1875
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy McBeath, "Nicky Tams" (on Voice05)
Jimmy Scott, "Nickie Dams" (on Borders1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Berryfields of Blair" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Berryfields of Blaie (File: K339)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
A Pair of Nicky Tams
NOTES: According to MacColl & Seeger, "Nicky tams," aka "yorks," "yaks," or "wull-tams," were leather thongs worn buckled just below the knee, to prevent the trouser legs from dragging in the mud. They were essential parts of a ploughman's attire. - PJS
File: McCST107
===
NAME: Nid de Fauvettes, Le (The Warbler's Nest)
DESCRIPTION: French. I hold this nest of baby warblers. They cannot escape. Their father and mother try to rescue them and I return them. Teach them to fly here and, next year, to sleep in the oak and they will compose songs of youth.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage lyric nonballad bird
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 791-792, "Le Nid de Fauvettes" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea791
===
NAME: Nigger in the Woodpile: see Old Dan Tucker (File: R521)
===
NAME: Nigger Tune, The: see Push Along, Keep Moving (File: JHCox180)
===
NAME: Night Before Larry Was Stretched, The
DESCRIPTION: "The night before Larry was stretched (hanged), the boys all paid him a visit." They come to commiserate with Larry, the most gallant, sporting -- and rebellious -- of the lot. He dies gallantly, "grow[s] white" at the name of King William, and is buried
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 377); the tune seems to have been in use by 1803 (implied by its use in Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet, published in _Paddy's Resource or the Harp of Erin_)
KEYWORDS: rebellion execution Ireland funeral
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1688-1702 - Reign of William III of Britain, whose victory at the Boyne (1690) solidified British rule over Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
PBB 95, "The Night Before Larry Was Stretched" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 208, "The Night before Larry was Stretched" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 52A, "The Night Before Larry Was Stretched" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LARRYSTR*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 289-292, "The Night Before Larry Was Stretched" (1 text)
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 475-477, 514, "The Night Before Larry Was Stretched"
Thomas Kinsella, _The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1989), pp. 261-263, "The Night Before Larry Was Stretched"  (1 text)
Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 38-40, "The Night Before Larry Was Stretched" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 377, "The Night Before Larry Was Stretch'd"[last 5 lines missing], J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Harding B 28(199), "Night Before Larry Was Stretch'd"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Skipper's Wedding" (tune)
cf. "Saint Patrick of Ireland, My Dear!" (tune)
cf. "Jemmy O'Brien's Minuet" (partial tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Saint Patrick of Ireland, My Dear! (File: CPS028)
Cats' Eyes (broadside NLScotland, L.C.1269(170b), "Cats' Eyes," Poet's Box (Glasgow?), 1858
Crafty Codger, or The Placehunter Out (Healy-OISBv2, pp. 111-113)
To G. K. Chesterton (Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 692)
NOTES: Sparling, p. 514: "Hitherto the 'Night' has, through carelessness or ignorance, been printed incomplete, even by Graves, but the present version is unmutilated. It has been obtained by the careful collation of very many old chap-books and ballad-sheets." OLochlainn-More 52A is essentially the same as Sparling.
[Regarding the authorship:] _Handy Andy_ is a novel Samuel Lover published in 1842. Discussing authorship of street ballads, a character says, on page 468, "'The Night Before Larry Was Stretched' was done by a bishop they say." (The edition is in the _Irish Literature_ series published by PF Collier and Son, under _The Selected Writings of Samuel Lover,_ Vol 6, _Handy Andy_ part 2).
Sparling, p. 514: "Dublin street song, wrongly attributed to Dean Burrows; the only thing at all certain as to its origin is that he did not write it [supported by a reference to A.P. Graves].... The real writer was probably William Maher, best known as 'Hurlfoot Bill,' a worthy of the type he so well describes." - BS
File: PBB095
===
NAME: Night Express, The
DESCRIPTION: "One day I met a little girl beyond the railroad bridge" and asks her about her life and what she is doing there. Her father is an engineer on the train. He asks if she worries about her father. The girl says that God will protect him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1893 (Locomotive Engineer's Monthly Journal)
KEYWORDS: father children train virtue questions railroading family mother gods
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 567-570, "The Night Express" (2 texts, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
[Wilmer] Watts & [Frank?] Wilson, "The Night Express" (Paramount 3007/Broadway 8113 [as by Watts & Wiggins], 1927)
Wilmer Watts & the Lonely Eagles, "Bonnie Bess" (Paramount 3277, 1931; on TimesAint05)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bonnie Bess
NOTES: No relation to either version of "My Bonny Black Bess." That one's about a horse. - PJS
File: RcTNiExp
===
NAME: Night Guard, The
DESCRIPTION: As cowboys relax around the fire, the night guard sings to the cattle and thinks of his sweetheart. At dawn, one of the steers attacks the guard's horse, which throws him; he is killed by the steer. The girl grieves and seems to grow old prematurely
AUTHOR: Unknown, possibly Jack Webb
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, Jack Webb)
KEYWORDS: grief love death work animal lover cowboy worker
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #11522
RECORDINGS:
Jack Webb, "The Night Guard" (Victor V-40285, 1930; on AuthCowboys, MakeMe, WhenIWas2)
File: RcTNiGua
===
NAME: Night Herding Song
DESCRIPTION: The tired cowboy advises the herd, "O slow up, dogies, quit your roving around, You've wandered and trampled all over the ground." He tells how, whatever method he uses, he can never keep the cattle still. He again urges the cattle to relax
AUTHOR: Harry Stephens
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work animal request
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Larkin, pp. 26-29, "Night Herding Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 193, "Night Herding Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 82, "Night-Herding Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 214, "Night-Herding Song" (1 text) 
DT, NITEHERD*
Roud #4444
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Little Dogies" (on PeteSeeger09, PeteSeegerCD02)
Marc Williams, "Night Herding Song" (Brunswick 497, c. 1931; on MakeMe)
File: LoF193
===
NAME: Night I Stole Old Sammy Morgan's Gin, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer steals a jug of gin from Sammy (Sandy) Morgan, drinks it all, and hallucinates -- seven bears, an owl taking tickets, an ape in britches -- before passing out. When he awakes, "someone had stole my head/And left an elephant's there instead"
AUTHOR: C. E. (Hank) Snow
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1936 (composed)
KEYWORDS: theft drink animal humorous
FOUND_IN: Can(West)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, MORGNGIN
RECORDINGS:
Hank Snow, "The Night I Stole Old Sammy Morgan's Gin" (RCA Victor 21-0356, 1950; rec. c. 1947)
Stanley G. Triggs, "Sandy Morgan's Gin" (on Triggs1)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sandy Morgan's Gin
NOTES: The Canadian country singer Hank Snow apparently wrote this before he first recorded in 1936, but didn't record it until 1947; before 1961, however, it had entered oral tradition, as Triggs notes "I learned this song in a logging camp in the Kootenays but know nothing of its origin." - PJS
File: DTMrggin
===
NAME: Night Last Ook Fan Growing Late, Ae
DESCRIPTION: A man rides to the gate with a letter from the ploughman singer's student son. He is proud "I've a scholar i' my kin" but thinks the letter may mock him, or maybe not. In the end it doesn't matter.
AUTHOR: William Lillie (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: father youth
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 675, "Ae Night Last Ook Fan Growing Late" (1 text)
Roud #6099
File: GrD3675
===
NAME: Night of the Ragman's Ball, The
DESCRIPTION: The ragmen and women have a ball with fights, music, food and drink, and more fights. Many are named. "Black eyes they were in great demand, not to mention split heads at all, So anyone wants to commit suicide let them come to the Ragman's Ball"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: fight dancing drink food music party humorous moniker
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn 62, "The Night of the Ragman's Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 42-45, "The Ragman's Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3006
File: OLoc062
===
NAME: Night Visiting Song
DESCRIPTION: Young man comes visiting his love's window, bidding her admit him. She does, and a good time is had by all until daybreak, when they part at the crowing of the cock
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: sex nightvisit chickens
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, NITEVIST
RECORDINGS:
Norman Kennedy, "Night Visiting Song" (on BirdBush2)
Louis Killen, "The Cock" (on BirdBush2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Grey Cock" (motif)
NOTES: Lloyd notes that night-visiting and bundling were common customs in country villages until the rise of Puritanism, and that bundling was still remembered in the Orkneys. The mention of the cock's crowing provides a link to "The Grey Cock." - PJS
File: DTnitevi
===
NAME: Nightcap, The
DESCRIPTION: Phoebus, after a tiring ride, unhitches his horses for the night and asks Thetis for something worthwhile to drink. She gives him a cruiskeen of poteen and he goes to sleep happily ignoring the dampness of his bed.
AUTHOR: Thomas Hamblin Porter (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1820 (written in 1817 and printed in "a Dublin newspaper or magazine," according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: drink gods horse
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 92-94, "The Nightcap" (1 text)
NOTES: Phoebus (Apollo), among his other tasks, drove the sun. The reference to Thetis is peculiar; as far as I know, she had nothing to do with Apollo. I suspect the reference is rather to Themis, who helped to care for Apollo in his youth. - RBW
File: CrPS092
===
NAME: Nightengale, The: see Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)
===
NAME: Nightingale (II), The: see One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14] (File: LP14)
===
NAME: Nightingale (III), The: see Well Met, Pretty Maid (The Sweet Nightingale) (File: K089)
===
NAME: Nightingale, The [Laws M37]
DESCRIPTION: A rich girl's parents force her poorer lover to sea aboard the Nightingale. When the ship sinks in a gale, the boy's ghost appears to the girl and accuses her parents of leaving his body to rot in the Bay of Biscay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847
KEYWORDS: ship love poverty death ghost wreck
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland,England(North)) Ireland Australia
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws M37, "The Nightingale"
GreigDuncan1 18, "The Nightingale" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 304-305, "The Nightingale" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H75a, p. 145, "The Nightingale (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 589, NGALEWRK
Roud #1093
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:029, "The Nightingale," John Ross (Newcastle), 19C
File: LM37
===
NAME: Nightingales Sing, The: see One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14] (File: LP14)
===
NAME: Nimrod's Song, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye friends of Newfoundland Who have a mind to roam O'er the wild and stormy ocean...." The crew sails from Newfoundland to the ice. They have great trouble and sorrow. The crew are listed. The singer hopes Captain Barbour will find a better ship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Murphy, Songs Sung by Old Time Sealers of Many Years Ago)
KEYWORDS: hunting ship hardtimes moniker
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ryan/Small, pp. 74-75, "The Nimrod's Song" (1 text)
NOTES: Not related to "The Wreck of the Nimrod," which obviously is about a shipwreck....
Despite this song, the _Nimrod_ was by no means a failure as a sealer; Chafe reports that she set a record in 1871 with 28,087 seals. It's a good name for such a ship; Nimrod was "a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Genesis 10:9).
She also had a distinguished later career: Built in Scotland in 1865, _Nimrod_ eventually was fitted out for Ernest Shackleton's 1907 Antarctic expedition. She returned to England in 1909, and Shackleton sold her a year later to finance future expeditions, including the ill-fated _Endurance_ expedition of 1914. - RBW
File: RySm074
===
NAME: Nine Hundred Miles
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a walking down the track, I've got tears in my eyes, Trying to read a letter from my home. If that train runs me right I'll be home tomorrow night." The singer will pawn anything or do whatever is needed to get home (to his sweetheart)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (JAFL)
KEYWORDS: train love separation home
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 503-517, "Reuben's Train/Train 45/900 Miles" (2 texts plus exceprts equivalent to about three more, 2 tunes; the first text is close to "Reuben's Train," the second to "Nine Hundred Miles," but the article is mostly devoted to showing how the two songs mix)
BrownIII 285, "The Midnight Dew" (1 text, with an unusual introductory verse but most of the rest goes here)
Lomax-FSUSA 73, "900 Miles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 464, "900 Miles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 53, "Nine Hundred Miles" (1 text)
DT, MILES900
Roud #4959
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson "I'm 900 Miles from my Home" (OKeh 40196, 1924)
George & Bobby Childers, "Five Hundred Miles" (on FolkVisions2)
Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston, "Nine Hundred Miles" (on AschRec2)
Riley Puckett, "Nine Hundred Miles from Home" (Columbia 15563-D, 1930)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rain and Snow" (opening lines of tune)
cf. "Reuben's Train"
NOTES: Some versions of "Reuben's Train," such as the Grayson/Whitter "Train 45" recording, are so mixed with this song that it's literally impossible to tell whether they are versions of this song or that; those interested should consult the references to both songs. - RBW
"Five Hundred Miles," composed by Hedy West and popular in the 1960s folk revival, is essentially a rewrite of this song with a different tune, but several overlapping verses. - PJS
File: LxU073
===
NAME: Nine Miles from Gundagai (The Dog Sat in the Tuckerbox)
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of his time as a bullock driver. His worst experience happened nine miles from Gundagai, in a cold storm, with the team bogged, the fire out, (the crew fighting). As a final insult, the dog sat (or "shat") in the tuckerbox
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956
KEYWORDS: Australia hardtimes dog
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 95-96, "Nine Miles from Gundagai" (1 text with no title given)
Fahey-Eureka, p. 184, "Nine Miles from Gundagai" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GUNDAGRD*
Roud #10221 AND 9121
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "The Dog Sat in the Tuckerbox (Nine Miles from Gundagai)" (on JGreenway01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bill the Bullocky" (lyrics)
NOTES: Gundagai was a town of no particular account in itself. Its position at the midpoint of the Sydney-Melbourne road has, however, made it the setting for many folk songs.
A statue in Gundagai commemorates a dog sitting forlornly on a tuckerbox (food box), guarding it for his master.
John Greenway, however, points out the falseness of this picture. He notes that bullock drivers and swagmen "kept dogs only to have something to kick."
He also notes, delicately, "That's what this song is about: a bullock driver who had the ultimate in bad luck -- not only did his wagon axle break and the team get bogged in the mud and his matches get soaked in the rain, but his dog capped the climax by s...itting (there is an aspirate missing) IN -- not ON -- the tucker box!" - RBW
File: MA095
===
NAME: Nine Pound Hammer: see Take This Hammer (File: FR383)
===
NAME: Nine Times a Night
DESCRIPTION: A handsome sailor named "Nine Times a Night" arrives in London after a voyage and is seen by a"handsome rich widow." She entices him to marry her. He "trimmed her sails" five times; she wonders why he can't manage the nine times of his name
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982 (the broadsides are almost certainly Victorian if not earlier)
KEYWORDS: sex bawdy marriage sailor humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, NINETIME*
Roud #18411
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(555), "9 times a night," unknown, n.d; also Harding B 17(219a), "9 times a night," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: Field collections of this seem to be relatively few; I might have suspected A. L. Lloyd of writing it had it not been for the broadsides. It's interesting to note that these generally don't admit of a printer -- perhaps to avoid prosecution?
WARNING: Clinincal biology ahead. Sort of graphic, and also one of the areas of science some religions find offensive.
There are sound reasons of evolutionary biology why males cannot do it "nine times a night." It has to do with something called "sperm competition" -- or, rather, the human lack of same. You can read about this in such places as Richard Dawkins's book _The Ancestor's Tale_, pp. 203-211, and (with a more gruesome side quest into infanticide among monkeys) in Matt Ridley's _The Red Queen_, pp. 213-226.
Dawkins, p. 210, has an interesting little graph, of the ratio of body mass to testes mass in primates -- in effect, of how much sperm each species produces. The interesting thing about this ratio is that the species above average all engage in extremely high levels of sexual activity. Ridley's numbers: "a female gorilla will mate about ten times for every baby that is born [whereas] a female chimp will mate five hundred to a thousand times" (p. 217)
This correlates closely with behavior. Male gorillas, which have small testes and low sperm production, keep harems of (if they're lucky) six or so females. These harems are stable; the female will have no other mate while part of one. So the male doesn't have to have much sperm; if the female get pregnant, he knows he's the father.
It's very different in chimpanzees. Male chimps have been observed to murder the offspring of a female who has not mated with them. The only way for the female to prevent this is to mate with as many male chimps as possible, so that all the males might be the father of her child. So the males inevitably have evolved to produce as much sperm as possible in order to try to out-reproduce everyone else. Fatherhood, for chimps, is partly a matter of luck -- but partly a matter of being able to really take advantage of opportunity when it's offered.
This has been shown in many other species. Gibbons are monogamous and have small testes. Monkeys have all sorts of sexual patterns, with sperm production correlating with the number of partners.
Humans -- well, on the graph they are on the low end of the scale. Not as low as gorillas, but definitely among the species that don't engage significantly in sperm competition. That doesn't necessarily mean that we are meant to be monogamous, but it *does* imply fixed pair bonds -- if not lifelong monogamy, then at least something like (polygamous) marriage or serial marriage: Any male "expects" to have near-exclusive access to a female at the time she conceives. So there is no advantage to a male in doing it "nine times a night"; if the first one or two don't do it, the woman probably is at the wrong time of her cycle to conceive.
The conclusion is somewhat ironic: If women want men able to do it "nine times a night," they have to share their favors around a lot more. And, in that case, they wouldn't *need* someone capable of "nine times a night"; they just need the ability to attract lots of men.
And, yes, I know full well I'm spoiling the song....
As for the actual statistics, Olivia Judson's _Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation_ (I use the 2003 Owl Books edition -- and, for all those of you with dirty minds, this is a book about evolutionary biology, even though it's written as a spoof sex guide), p. 31, notes that the typical human male stores sperm equivalent to one and a half ejaculations. So if Jack really did manage five times in one night, he had three times the average male capacity.
Interestingly, being a sailor helps, and for reasons not related to just having a lot of biological pressure to work off. Sailors generally ate a lot of fish, and fish is rich in zinc -- and zinc is important to the production of seminal fluid, according to John Emsley, _Molecules at an Exhibition_, Oxford, 1998, pp. 48, 69. A sailor might also have had higher exposure to other chemicals which might enhance sexual performance, but in this regard, much depends on where he actually sailed. - RBW
File: RcNinNig
===
NAME: Nine-Thirteen Men, The
DESCRIPTION: "A famous oldtime racing crew... rowed the old 'Blue Peter' in the time of nine-thirteen." They set a record in the Regatta Day race on Quidi Vidi Lake. The singer wishes "those men of nine-thirteen," who are listed, will "ferry souls where Jordan rolls"
AUTHOR: "L.E.F. English, O.B.E."
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Blondahl)
KEYWORDS: racing sports moniker
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Blondahl, pp. 116-117, "The Nine-Thirteen Men" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Blondahl: "The 'BLUE PETER' made her record 'voyage' across Quidi Vidi Lake (pond), St John's, during the summer Regatta of 1901; her time of 9 minutes 13 4/5 seconds has never been surpassed, or even equalled." - BS
File: Blon116
===
NAME: Ninety and Nine
DESCRIPTION: "There were ninety and nine that safely lay In the shelter of a fold, But one went out on the hills astray." It is asked, are not 99 enough? "But the shepherd made answer...I go to the desert to find my sheep." He faces great trials in finding the sheep
AUTHOR: Words: E. C. Clethane / Music: Ira D. Sankey
EARLIEST_DATE: 1876 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: religious sheep separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 24, #2 (1975), p, 15, "Ninety and Nine" (1 text, 1 tune, the Frank Proffitt version)
NOTES: The story of the shepherd leaving 99 sheep to find one is found in Matthew 18:12-13, Luke 15:4-6 (and also is saying #107 in the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas). On the other hand, it feels a lot like John 10, in which Jesus is the Good Shepherd (and in 10:9 Jesus is hte gate of the sheep).
The feeling of the song sort of mixes the two gospel versions. In Matthew, the sheep "wanders" (King James version "goes astray"); in Luke, the sheep is lost. In Matthew, the shepherd seeks the sheep on the mountains (somewhat similar to the song); in Luke the sheep is in the wilderness (=desert). There may be a hint of Mark 6:31ff., where the disciples go by ship to a "desert place" (to be understood "deserted place").
Proffitt's version mentions "gates of gold." There is no such quote in the Bible. In Rev. 21:21, the heavenly Jerusalem has gates of pearl and streets of gold. - RBW
File: SOv24n2a
===
NAME: Ninety-Eight
DESCRIPTION: "Ho! cease our mourning." The victories and defeats of 1798 are recalled. "Let the strife renew ... No longer dally, wake up and rally... What if defeated? Death comes -- then greet it -- Why all must meet it, aye, soon or late."
AUTHOR: "Ned of the Hill" (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: battle rebellion death nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 74, "Ninety-Eight" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cappa Hill" (tune)
cf. "Anach Cuain" (tune)
NOTES: The "Ned of the Hill" is of course not Edmond O'Ryan, the hero of the song of that name, who died a century before 1798.
The timing of this call for rebellion is strange; by 1898, Irish nationalism had gone relatively quiet, and Gladstone had made his first attempts to pass Home Rule (though they had failed and cost the Liberals control of the British parliament). But, of course, there were always die-hards. - RBW
File: Moyl074
===
NAME: Ninety-Nine Blue Bottles: see Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer (File: R456)
===
NAME: Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer
DESCRIPTION: Need I really tell you? "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, Ninety-nine bottles of beer, Take one down and pass it around, Ninety-eight bottles of beer...." And so on, ad nauseum, drunkenness, or exhaustion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 456, "Ninety-Nine Blue Bottles" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 190, "Ninety-Nine Blue Bottles" (1 text)
DT, BOT99*
Roud #7603
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Eight Little Cylinders" (counting)
cf. "Ten Little Injuns" (counting)
NOTES: Randolph's and Brown's texts, obviously, refers to "blue bottles" rather than "bottles of beer"; might this be an attempt to clean up the song for a temperate audience?
I will admit amazement that neither Randolph nor Brown seems to know this in its common form -- but then, they probably were born in the days before school buses took students on field trips. - RBW
File: R456
===
NAME: Ninety-Nine Years (I)
DESCRIPTION: Singer, while gambling, thinks about how the woman he loves ran away with another man. He kills him (or her), is arrested and imprisoned. He has served forty years, but "still has ninety-nine." When the train rolls by with the woman he loves, he cries
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (recording, Jess Hillard)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer sits down to gamble, thinking about how the woman he loves has run away with another man. He does something (kills her? kills her lover?), is arrested, tried and sentenced to prison. He has served forty years, but "still has ninety-nine." When the train rolls by with the woman he loves, he hangs his head and cries
KEYWORDS: grief jealousy infidelity love violence crime murder prison punishment trial lover prisoner
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Callahan Brothers, "Ninety-Nine's My Name" (Perfect 7-04-63, 1937)
Graham Bros. "Ninety Nine Years [pts. 1 & 2]" (Victor 23654, 1932) 2/23/32
Jess Hillard, "Ninety-Nine Years" (Champion 16398, 1932; Champion 45091, c. 1935; rec. 1931) (Champion 16617, 1933; rec. 1932)
Steve Ledford & Donald Nicholson w. Carolina Ramblers String Band, "Ninety-Nine Years" (Perfect 12787, 1932)
[Asa] Martin & [Bob] Roberts, "Ninety-Nine Years"  (Banner 32426/Melotone M-12436/Perfect 12799/Vocalion 5486 [as Glen Fox & Joe Wilson]/Conqueror 7967, 1932)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner [Mac and Bob] "Ninety-Nine Years, Parts1 & 2" (Brunswick 588, 1932)
Fiddlin' Doc Roberts Trio, "Ninety Nine Years" (Banner 32609/Melotone 12520, 1932)
Vagabonds, "Ninety Nine Years" (Victor 23820/Bluebird B-5282/Montgomery Ward M-4307, 1933)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum) [Laws H2]" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Elton Britt, "The Answer to 99 Years" (Conqueror 8288, 1934)
NOTES: There is another song with the same title; that one can be identified by its opening lines, "The courtroom was crowded/The judge waited there" and by the line "Ninety-nine years, boys, is almost for life." - PJS
File: Rc99Year
===
NAME: No Balls at All
DESCRIPTION: A young maiden weds a man with no balls at all.  Her mother advises her to seek comfort from a young man.  She does, and a "bouncing young baby was born in the fall to the wife of the man who had no balls at all."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918
KEYWORDS: baby bawdy humorous husband wife
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England) US(MW,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cray, pp. 158-162, "No Balls at All" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman II, pp. 677-678, "No Balls at All" (1 text)
DT, NOBALLS*
Roud #10136
RECORDINGS:
Anonymous singers, "No Balls at All" [two versions, by different singers] (on Unexp1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "An Old Man Came Over the Moor (Old Gum Boots and Leggings)"
cf. "I Wouldn't Have an Old Man"
cf. "Maids, When You're Young"
cf. "My Husband's Got No Courage in Him"
cf. "What Can a Young Lassie"
cf. "The Mormon Cowboy (II)"
cf. ""The Strawberry Roan" (tune, some versions)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
No Hips at All (marginally cleaned-up version)
NOTES: This is one of a large group of traditional songs and ballads dealing with May-December marriages. - EC
File: EM158
===
NAME: No Bread for the Poor: see The Orphan Girl (The Orphan Child) (File: R725)
===
NAME: No Depression in Heaven
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes the Great Depression in apocalyptic terms, predicting the end of the world. He says he is going to heaven where there's no Depression.
AUTHOR: J. D. Vaughan, according to Bill C. Malone, _Don't Get above Your Raisin'_
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (recording, Carter Family); reportedly written 1932
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 116, "No Depression in Heaven" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 227, "No Depression in Heaven" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "No Depression in Heaven" (Decca 5242, 1936; Montgomery Ward 8006 [as "No Depression"], 1939)
Charlie Monroe & his Kentucky Pardners, "There's No Depression in Heaven" (RCA Victor 20-2055, 1946)
New Lost City Ramblers, "No Depression in Heaven" (on NLCR09, NLCRCD1)
SAME_TUNE:
No Disappointment in Heaven (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
NOTES: The Great Depression is generally considered to have extended from the stock market crash of 1929 to the beginning of World War II in 1939. However, it is worth noting that conditions for farmers had already been depressed for several years before this. [Due in part to the revival of European agriculture after World War I. In Minnesota, the political side effects are still felt to some extent today, in the relative strength of third party politics.]
This is a reworking of the hymn "No Disappointment in Heaven". - PJS
File: ADR116
===
NAME: No Hidin'-Place: see No Hiding Place AND Sinner Man (File: FSWB370C)
===
NAME: No Hiding Place
DESCRIPTION: "There's no hiding place down there (x2), I ran to the rock to hide my face, The rock cried out, 'no hiding place.'" "The rock cried out, 'I'm burning too... I want to go to heaven the same as you." "Sinner man he stumbled and fell...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Hell
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Bahamas
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 616, "No Hidin'-Place" (2 texts, but the "B" text appears to be "Sinner Man")
Silber-FSWB, p. 370, "No Hiding Place" (1 text)
Roud #3408
RECORDINGS:
Marian Anderson, "Dere's No Hidin' Place Down Dere" [medley with "Every Time I Feel the Spirit"] (Victor 2032, 1940)
Carter Family, "There's No Hiding Place Down Here" (Montgomery Ward M-4547, 1935)
Hampton Institute Quartette, "There's No Hiding Place Down Here" (Victor 27472, 1941)
Lulu Belle & Scotty, "There's No Hiding Place Down Here" (Conqueror 9695, 1941)
David Pryor et al, "Time" (AAFS 505 A1, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
NOTES: I am slightly hesitant about including the recording of "Time" under this title. However, it has the recurrent verse, "I went to the rock...The rock cried out 'No hiding place,'" which is close enough for me. - PJS
File: FSWB370C
===
NAME: No Irish Need Apply
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a decent boy just landed From the town of Ballyfad; I want a situation, yes, And want it very bad." He applies for various jobs, but is told time and again, "No Irish need apply." (At last he attacks one of the bosses and gains a job)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: emigration discrimination Ireland nonballad work fight
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Dean, p. 65, "No Irish Wanted Here" (1 text)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 41-42, "No Irish Need Apply" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 364-366, "No Irish Need Apply" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 292, "No Irish Need Apply" (1 text)
DT, NOIRISH*
Roud #1137
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "No Irish Need Apply" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a, AmHist1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "An Irish Laborer" (subject)
cf. "The Honest Irish Lad" (subject)
cf. "What Irish Boys Can Do" (subject)
NOTES: This is a bit of a conundrum, because this song seems to occur in two fairly distinct forms, which we might call "No Irish Need Apply" and "No Irish Wanted Here." In many of the former versions, the Irishman attacks the prejudiced employer. In some of the latter, there is none of that; the worker appeals to the work the Irish did in the Civil War to save the Union.
I was seriously tempted to split the two. But they have common lyrics; while I suspect a deliberate rewrite somewhere along the line, it is not really possible to tell where to draw the line. - RBW
File: DTnoris
===
NAME: No Irish Wanted Here: see No Irish Need Apply (File: DTnoris)
===
NAME: No Letter in the Mail
DESCRIPTION: Singer hasn't received an answer to his love-letter. He has written that he was wrong and to blame, and that he loves her truly. He walks down the road, saying if he doesn't get a letter in the mail, he'll "bid this world goodbye"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (recording, Happy-Go-Lucky Boys)
KEYWORDS: loneliness love abandonment suicide lover
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #11577
RECORDINGS:
Roy Acuff, "No Letter in the Mail" (Conqueror 9810, 1941/OKeh 06585, 1942)
Happy-Go-Lucky Boys, "No Letter in the Mail Today" (Bluebird B-8467, 1940)
Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, "No Letter in the Mail" (Bluebird B-8611, 1941)
Martin Young & Corbett Grigsby, "No Letter in the Mail" (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Letter that Never Came" (theme)
File: RcNLITM
===
NAME: No Man Can Hinder Me
DESCRIPTION: "Walk in, kind savior, no man can hinder me" (x2). "O, no man, no man, no man can hinder me" (x2). "See what wonder Jesus done." "Jesus make de dumb to speak." "Jesus do most anything." "King Jesus ride a milk-white horse."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus healing
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 10-11, "No Man Can Hinder Me" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Roud #11853
NOTES: Most of the miracles cited in this song are attested: Jesus raised Lazarus in John 12; he made a crippled man walk in John 5, Mark 2:3-12 and parallels; he makes the blind see in John 9:1fff., Matthew 9,27fff., Mark 10:46fff. and parallels, etc.
The case of curing a man who was dumb is more interesting. There is only one detailed miracle of this sort, in Mark 7:31-37. In this account, the man is deaf and has "an impediment in his speech." When Jesus treats him, he begins to speak "plainly" (Greek orthws, i.e. rightly, properly, following the straight course). Thus the man Jesus cured was not actually mute but rather incomprehensible. Still, there is a short account of Jesus casting out a demon responsible for making a man mute in Matt. 9:32-33=Luke 11:14, (Don't ask me why dumbness is caused by a demon and requires an exorcism, while blindness is a genuine medical condition which is cured by physical means.) - RBW
File: AWG010
===
NAME: No More Auction Block: see Many Thousand Gone (Auction Block) (File: FJ030)
===
NAME: No More Booze (Fireman Save My Child)
DESCRIPTION: "There was a little man... He went to the Saloon on a Sunday afternoon And you ought to heard the bartender holler, No more booze... No more booze on Sunday... Got to get your can filled on Monday. She's the only girl I love.... O fireman, save my child."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: drink nonsense
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 208-209, "No More Booze (Fireman Save My Child)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, NOBOOZE*
RECORDINGS:
Radio Mac [pseud. for Harry McClintock], "Fireman Save My Child" (Victor V-40234, 1930)
File: San208
===
NAME: No More Cane on the Brazos: see Ain't No More Cane on this Brazos (File: LxA058)
===
NAME: No More Cane on this Brazos: see Ain't No More Cane on this Brazos (File: LxA058)
===
NAME: No More Good Time in the World For Me
DESCRIPTION: A composite lament of a man serving a life term. He laments his time on the Brazos, tells a girl not to wait, thinks about the time ahead of him, wishes he had a buddy or could escape, and says he will be hard to find if he does escape
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (recorded from J. B. Smith by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 147-151,"No More Good Times in the World For Me" (1 text plus a fragment, both from the same informant; 1 tune)
NOTES: This song, and several others by J. B. Smith, brilliantly illustrates the problem of classifying Black prison songs. This is clearly a personal song by Smith, who was serving a life term for killing his girlfriend, but the themes and many of the words come from other songs. Given the extent of Smith's rewriting, I classified it separately, but there is no good way to file such things. - RBW
File: JDM147
===
NAME: No More Rain Fall for Wet You
DESCRIPTION: "No more rain fall for wet you, Hallelu, hallelu, No more rain fall for wet you, Hallelujah." "No more sun shine for burn you." "No more parting in the kingdom." "No more backbiting in the kingdom." "Every day shall be Sunday."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 46, "No More Rain Fall for Wet You" (1 text, 1 tune); "I Want to Go Home" (1 text, without a real tune; although the authors list this as a separate song, the tune is only a chant, and most of the words go with the preceding, so I lump them.)
Roud #12002 and 12003
File: AWG046A
===
NAME: No More Shall I Work in the Factory
DESCRIPTION: "When I set out for Lowell, some factory for to find, I left my native country And all my friends behind." The worker lives a life driven by the factory bell. She plans to leave the factory and go home. She will soon be married and live a freer life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (JAF Vol. 28)
KEYWORDS: work worker hardtimes home weaving factory technology
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 122-124, "The Lowell Factory Girl" (1 text); pp. 125-126, "No More Shall I Work in the Factory" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 331-332, "The Factory Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 128, "The Factory Girl" (1 text)
DT, NOMOFACT
RECORDINGS:
Dorsey Dixon, "The Factory Girl" (Testament t-3301, a version adapted by Dixon from a version sung by his sister Nancy)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Laundry Song" (lyrics)
cf. "The Laddie Wi' the Tarry Trews" (theme)
NOTES: The oldest version of this song seems to be the "Lowell Factory Girl" text quoted in the description; this broadside is very full. Greenway believes this version originated before 1840; the wages mentioned fit 1830, and the Panic of 1837 killed off many of the small New England farms, meaning that the factory girl would have no home to which to return.
The localized "Lowell Factory Girl" gradually spread and generalized, producing the more universal text "No More Shall I Work in the Factory." As the latter consists almost entirely of verses found in the former, however, they can surely be considered one song.
This should not be confused with the J. A. Phillips song "The Factory Girl" (c. 1895), which begins, "She wasn't the least bit pretty, And only the least bit gay." - RBW
File: Grnw122
===
NAME: No More, My Lord
DESCRIPTION: "No more, my Lord (x2), Lord, I'll never turn back no more." "I found in him a resting place And he has made me glad." "Jesus is the man I am looking for, Can you tell me where he's gone?" "Go down, go down in the floweryard And... you may find him...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownIII 567, "Gwine Down to Jordan" (1 short text); 617, "No More! No More!" (1 short text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 15, (no title; the first line is "I'm gwine down to Jordan -- Hallelu!") (1 fragment, which could be anything; I'm filing it here in desperation based on the similarity to Brown's title)
Scott-BoA, pp. 312-313, "No More, My Lord" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15975
RECORDINGS:
Jimpson, "No More, My Lord" (LoC, 1947; on Babylon)
Sister Marie Knight, "I'll Never Turn Back No More" (Candy 4002, n.d. but post-World War II)
NOTES: According to the editors of Brown, this may have inspired W. C. Handy's "I'll Never Turn Back No More." - RBW
File: SBoA312
===
NAME: No More! No More!: see No More, My Lord (File: SBoA312)
===
NAME: No Payday Here
DESCRIPTION: "I used to weigh, two hundred, two hundred, now I'm skin and bone." "Well I asked the captain... Did the payroll come? What the hell you care, partner, I don't own you none." The singer complains about the conditions in his prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966 (recorded from J. B. Smith by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 164-166, "No Payday Here" (1 text)
File: JDM164
===
NAME: No Room at the Inn (I)
DESCRIPTION: "When Caesar Augustus had raised a taxation, He assessed all the people that dwelt in the nation." Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem, but cannot find a place at the inn. They eventually find a stable, where Jesus is born
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1833 (Sandys)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible Jesus Christmas childbirth
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OBC 114, "No Room at the Inn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 374, "No Room at the Inn" (1 text)
NOTES: I find it hard to believe that this is actually a traditional song; the wording is too ornate and contorted.
The details in this song are either fictional or derived from Luke 2; the birth narrative in Matthew plays no part. Of course, we should also note that the account in Luke 2 is incorrect; there is no record of this particular census, and even if there had been such a census (possible, given the available documentation, but unlikely), the Romans would not allow such a mess in a frontier province threatened with Parthian invasion. - RBW
File: FSWB374A
===
NAME: No Room at the Inn (II)
DESCRIPTION: Song/story -- Mary and Joseph find no room at the inn; the staff treats them haughtily. They return to the stable holding their mule; the animals treat them better than humans had, making room for Mary to give birth, breathing on Jesus to keep him warm
AUTHOR: Song segment unknown; story by Vera Ward Hall
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (interview with Vera Ward Hall)
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness poverty travel childbirth Bible religious animal family Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #13974
RECORDINGS:
Vera Ward Hall, "No Room at the Inn" (on LomaxCD1706)
NOTES: It probably need not be pointed out that the account of Jesus's birth in Luke (the source for all the incidents mentioned) does not say that the staff of the inn in Bethlehem mistreated Mary and Joseph; it merely says there was no room there.
The behavior of the animals in the stable is equally fictitious; the Lukan account not only doesn't mention animals, it doesn't even explicitly mention a stable! We call it a stable simply because it contained a "manger" (though the Greek word, phatne, feed-trough, sometimes extends to mean a stable). - RBW
File: RcNRATI2
===
NAME: No Room for a Tramp: see Willy, Poor Boy (File: CSW112)
===
NAME: No Sign of a Marriage [Laws P3]
DESCRIPTION: The girl says she has been waiting long enough for marriage. Her sweetheart, who thinks marriage too "confining," suggests she find someone else. She does, and invites him to her wedding. He tries to talk her out of the marriage, but it is too late
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: courting wedding infidelity rejection
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So) Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws P3, "No Sign of a Marriage"
Ord, pp. 83-84, "The Tardy Wooer" (1 text)
Randolph 111, "Polly and Willie" (2 fragments, 1 tune)
Warner 149, "Indeed Pretty Polly" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 203, "No Sign of a Marriage" (2 texts)
Peacock, pp. 542-544, "A Lad and a Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 725, NOSIGN
Roud #582
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Pretty Polly
NOTES: This is another of the pieces that Laws assigns to Britain on little evidence (there is a mention of a promise of "five hundred pounds"). The only versions known to Laws or the editors of the Brown collection are the two North Carolina texts in Brown.
It may be, however, that this was an error in the printed edition of Laws, because there *is* a British equivalent in "The Tardy Wooer." I initially split these following Laws -- but in fact they even share lyrics, and so are now lumped. - RBW
File: LP03
===
NAME: No Sir! (No Sir!): see No, John, No (File: R385)
===
NAME: No Surrender (I)
DESCRIPTION: The song is about the breaking of the seige of Derry. "Walker's zeal, and Murray's steel Came in their need to cheer them, And sallies from open gate, Soon taught their foe to fear them" The Defenders held the city until relieved by "Browning's vessel"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: battle rescue death starvation patriotic youth
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jul 28, 1689 - Browning's ships break the 105 day seige of Derry (source: Kilpatrick [see Notes])
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OrangeLark 5, "No Surrender" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry" (subject: The Siege of Derry) and references there
NOTES: OrangeLark: "'No Surrender' is a phrase often used in Ulster. The song traces its origin to the Seige of Derry and names a few of the city's defenders who have been memorialized in Apprentice Boys Clubs." The chorus is "Then raise the cheer, to freemen dear, And toast each brave defender; For nought imparts to Derry hearts A thrill like 'No Surrender!'"
See Historical References to "The Boyne Water" for a summary of the war in Ireland between James II and William of Orange. [Or see the detailed duscussions under "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry" and "The Battle of the Boyne (I)." - RBW]
The Protestant Plantation of Ulster was created after the 1607 "Flight of the Earls" -- heads of the Ulster clans -- to Rome allowed James I to declare their lands forfeit to the Crown. In the Plantation, the City of Londonderry was fortified and gated walls built around it. When James II brought troops from Ireland [to England,] Londonderry was left unguarded. On December 7, 1688, Lord Antrim's Catholic "Redshanks" camped outside the city. With the city government undecided as to how to handle the situation, thirteen young "Apprentice Boys" seized the gate keys, drew up the drawbridge and locked the four gates. Antrim's troops withdrew. Lord Mountjoy's Protestant regiment was allowed to garrison the city. To escape the war, residents surrounding areas flooded into the city. Reinforcements sent by William to relieve Derry in April turned away. Then James's attempt at negotiating with Derry failed. Colonel Murray led Protestant troops to the gate, which was opened for them, and the Derry government, which had been willing to negotiate with James, was overturned. Reverend George Walker and Colonel Henry Baker were appointed joint Governors. The seige began "in earnest" on May 5, 1689. On July 28 three ships on the Foyle broke the seige bringing food; captain of the Mountjoy was Michael Browning, who was killed in the battle. The beseigers left on August 1, 1689. (source: Cecil Kilpatrick, "The Seige of Derry: A City of Refuge" at the Canada-Ulster Heritage site) - BS
File: OrLa005
===
NAME: No Surrender (II)
DESCRIPTION: "Behold the crimson banner float" recalling "when Derry's sons ... sung out, 'No Surrender!'" and "her 'Prentice hearts the gate who barred" "Long may that crimson banner wave ... while Derry's sons alike defy Pope, Traitor, or Pretender"
AUTHOR: Lieut. Colonel William Blacker (1777-1853)(written 1817, source: Sparling)
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1895 (Graham)
KEYWORDS: battle Ireland patriotic youth
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES:  Dec 7, 1688 - The "Apprentice Boys" close the Londonderry gates against Lord Antrim's "Redshanks" (source: Cecil Kilpatrick, "The Seige of Derry: A City of Refuge" at the Canada-Ulster Heritage site)
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Graham, p. 3, "No Surrender" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 451-452, 495-496, "No Surrender"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "No Surrender (I)" (subject)
cf. "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry" (subject) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Crimson Banner
NOTES: The chorus ("Then here's to the boys that fear no noise And never will surrender, The gates we'll close against her foes On Eighteenth of December") uses the Gregorian Calendar (adopted in England in 1752) date, adding eleven days to the anniversary of December 7, 1688.
"This fraternity [The Apprentice Boys Of Derry] celebrates twice anually. This happens first at the "Closing of the Gates". Later comes the "Relief of Derry" parade .... The flag of the Apprentice Boys is a crimson banner, representing the blood that flowed in Derry for freedom and liberty. The Crimson banner is flown from the Memorial Hall in the city and from St Columb's Cathedral, which was built before the siege." (Source: Wikipedia article _Apprentice Boys of Derry_)
Sparling: "Written to a very fine old Irish melody (Joyce, p. 83)...."  I don't recognize Graham's tune.  "Joyce" is P.W. Joyce and the book _Ancient Irish Music_ (Sparling, p. xxvii, refers to the 1878 edition. - BS
For the background of the Siege of (London)derry, see the notes to "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry"; also "No Surrender (I)". Blacker, in addition to this song, wrote the very well known "The Battle of the Boyne (I)." - RBW
File: Grah003
===
NAME: No to be Married Ava
DESCRIPTION: "Our Girzie was noo thirty-six, Though some rather more did her ca', And ane quite sae auld to get married Has little or nae chance ava." The old maid finds herself teased, and desperately offers to wed any man, whatever his faults, rather than stay unwed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: oldmaid courting husband
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 308-310, "No to be Married Ava" (1 text)
Roud #7161
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Maid's Song (I)" and references there
File: FVS308
===
NAME: No Use to Rattle the Blind
DESCRIPTION: This song is part of a cante-fable in which the wife warns her lover that the husband is at home by singing a song.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy nightvisit husband wife infidelity
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 342-345, "No Use to Rattle the Blind" (3 texts, 1 tune)
NOTES: This plot first appears in 1353 in Boccaccio's _Decameron_, Day VII, Tale I. It is Type 1419H in the Aarne-Thompson inex "Types of the Folktale" (Helsinki, 1961). - EC, RBW
Legman gives extensive notes to the folktale and cante-fable in Randolph-Legman I. - EC
File: RL342
===
NAME: No-e in the Ark: see Who Built the Ark? (File: RcWBTA)
===
NAME: No, John, No
DESCRIPTION: The man asks the girl if she will marry. She informs him that her father has told her to answer all men's questions "No." After several exchanges, he asks something like "Do you refuse to marry me? Do you want me to leave?" She, of course, answers "No."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Sharp)
KEYWORDS: courting questions rejection
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,So) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Randolph 385, "No Sir! No Sir!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 48, "No, Sir" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 138, "No Sir" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 14, "No, Sir" (2 texts plus mention of 2 more)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 98, "'No, Sir, No!'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, p. 81, "No, Sir; No" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 68, "O No, John!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 161, "Uh-Uh, No" (1 text, 1 tune, probably with more than a little of "Wheel of Fortune" mixed in)
Silber-FSWB, p. 345, "No John" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2244, "Pretty Betty, now come to me" (?)
DT, ONOJOHN*
Roud #146
RECORDINGS:
Ron & Bob Copper, "No, John, No" (on FSB1)
Sam Larner, "No Sir, No Sir" (on SLarner02)
Pete Seeger, "No Sir No" (on PeteSeeger14)
Stoneman Family, "The Spanish Merchant's Daughter" (Victor V-40206, 1928; on AAFM3)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Keys of Canterbury"
cf. "Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)"
cf. "The Nonsense of Men" (theme)
File: R385
===
NAME: No, My Boy, Not I: see Oh, No, Not I (File: DTmarryn)
===
NAME: No, Never, No
DESCRIPTION: "They sat by the fireside, his fair daughters three, They talked of their father who sailed on the sea." Each list the gift she will give if he never again goes to sea. But he dies in a storm. Each verse ends with the phrase, "No, never, no."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (Heart Songs)
KEYWORDS: death drowning gift father children sailor separation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 556-557, "No, Never, No" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: BNEF556
===
NAME: No, No, Never: see Wild Rover No More (File: MA069)
===
NAME: Noah Built the Ark
DESCRIPTION: "Noah built his ark and he built it on the ground, the Lord sent a flood and turned it around. The door flew open and the beasts walked in." The story of the Flood, with chorus, "And I cannot stay away, my Lord, And I cannot stay away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Bible ship flood religious
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', p. 212, "Noah Built the Ark" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Uncle Noah" (subject) and references there
NOTES: For background on the Noah story, see the notes to "Old Uncle Noah."
This may be related to one of the other Noah songs, but it's short enough that it's hard to tell.. - RBW
File: ThBa212
===
NAME: Noah, Noah: see Old Uncle Noah (File: E075)
===
NAME: Noah's Ark (I)
DESCRIPTION: Floating spiritual verses, most of which refer to inequities between the rich and the poor and the inevitability of death. Refrain refers to Noah and the ark but most of the verses don't mention it at all
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920
KEYWORDS: death nonballad playparty religious
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 36, "Noah's Ark" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3639
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Let the Dove Come In" (lyrics)
cf. "All My Trials" (lyrics)
cf. "De Fust Banjo (The Banjo Song; The Possum and the Banjo; Old Noah)" (theme)
File: WB2036
===
NAME: Noah's Ark (II): see Old Uncle Noah (File: E075)
===
NAME: Noble Duke O'Gordon, The
DESCRIPTION: Betsy, a servant to Duke of Gordon, is seduced and made pregnant by Captain Glen. Lady Gordon suspects the Duke. Betsy names Captain Glen. When Glen returnd from sea he sends for a priest and marries Betsy. Betsy "is as happy as the duchess of Gordon."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1); 19C (broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(46a))
KEYWORDS: marriage seduction accusation pregnancy sailor servant
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 53, "The Noble Duke O'Gordon" (13 texts, 9 tunes)
Roud #5807
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(46a), "Captain Glen" ("As I was walking to take the air"), unknown, c.1890
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie" (tune, according to GreigDuncan1)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bonnie Betsy Gordon
There Cam' a Ship
Bonnie Jeannie Gordon
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: Version B was from "about fifty years ago. Noted 29th July 1907." - BS
It's probably just coincidence that the captain in this song has the same name as the guilty officer in "Captain Glen/The New York Trader (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B)" [Laws K22] -- but perhaps one suggested the other. - RBW
File: GrD1053
===
NAME: Noble Duke of York, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the Noble Duke of York, He had (ten) thousand men, He marched them up to the top of the hill And he marched them down again. And when they were up, they were up, And when they were down they were down...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1894 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: army nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
BrownIII 99, "The Duke of York" (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 549, "Oh, the brave old Duke of York" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #201, p. 138, "(Oh, the brave old Duke of York)"
Silber-FSWB, p. 390, "The Noble Duke of York" (1 text)
ST FSWB390B (Full)
Roud #742
NOTES: Since the Dukedom of York is usually bestowed upon the Prince of Wales's oldest brother, or other fairly senior prince, there have been a lot of them in history, and many of them important. This makes it hard to guess which Duke of York (if any) might be the subject of this little satire. I've seen suggestions over the years, but not one was convincing enough for me to remember it until I had to write this entry.
The standard suggestion seems to be that it was Frederick Augustus (1763-1827), second son of George III, who was made a soldier in spite of a clear lack of ability in this department. The Baring-Goulds even specify the hill as Mount Cassel in Belgium. But even they admit the rhyme does not resemble actual events.
In any case, I can imagine candidates going back all the way to Richard, Duke of York from 1415.
(The Shakespeare characterization of that York, it should be noted, is all wrong. He *was* rightful King of England, but he never sought the throne until Margaret of Anjou forced him to do so. Hence a sufficiently anti-Lancastrian partisan could have mocked him for his hesitation.)
Gomme describes this as the music for a game, "Find the Ring."
There is a nursery rhyme, "The King of France went up the hill" (Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #209, p. 144) which looks as if it might be a parody of this. - RBW
File: FSWB390B
===
NAME: Noble Duke, The [Laws N15]
DESCRIPTION: A girl's lover has been pressed to sea. She carefully disguises herself as a duke -- with such success that the ship's crew is afraid of her. She accuses her lover of robbery. He denies it. She reveals herself, and there is a happy reunion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: pressgang cross-dressing ship trick reunion disguise
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws N15, "The Noble Duke"
SHenry H584, p. 331, "The True Lovers' Departure" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 803, NOBLDUKE*
Roud #238
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Simple Ploughboy
The Pretty Ploughboy
File: LN15
===
NAME: Noble Fisherman, The, or, Robin Hood's Preferment [Child 148]
DESCRIPTION: Robin goes to sea as a fisherman. He is scoffed at as a lubber, but when the fishing vessel is approached by a French ship of war his prowess with the bow permits the fishermen to take it and its cargo of gold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1631 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood ship battle
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 148, "The Noble Fisherman, or, Robin Hood's Preferment" (1 text)
Bronson 148, comments only
OBB 124, "The Noble Fisherman or Robin Hood's Preferment" (1 text)
BBI, RZN15, "In summer time when leaves grow green"
Roud #3958
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C148
===
NAME: Noble Fleet of Sealers, A
DESCRIPTION: "There's a noble band of sealers being fitted for the ice, They'll take a chance again this year though fat's gone down in price...." The ships set out to take the seal. When they get back to St. John's, the sailors hope for good luck and good food
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: hunting ship travel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 162-164, "A Noble Fleet of Sealers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 10-11, "A Noble Fleet of Sealers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 74-75, "A Noble Fleet of Sealers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ryan/Small, pp. 114-115, "A Noble Fleet of Sealers" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FMB162 (Partial)
Roud #4530
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ferryland Sealer"
cf. "The Old Polina" (tune)
NOTES: This song bears many resemblances, in the first verse and the melodic pattern, to "The Ferryland Sealer" -- which also derives from eastern Canada. But this piece has a different chorus, and the latter verses are different, so I tentatively distinguish them. - RBW
File: FMB162
===
NAME: Noble Huntly
DESCRIPTION: "Noble Huntly great in fame And great in warlike story" has called for volunteers to prepare to repel a Bonaparte invasion. "What needs we o' our fleets to voust [boast]? Should he invade our British coast We'll show him soldiers to his cost"
AUTHOR: William Lillie (source: GreigDuncan1)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (_The Aberdeen Journal_, according to GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: recruiting war Scotland Napoleon nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 74, "Noble Huntly" (1 text)
Roud #5797
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Tullochgorum" (tune, according to GreigDuncan1)
cf. "Simon and Janet" (subject: the threatened invasion by Napoleon)
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: "Major-General the Marquis of Huntly (George Gordon, later the 5th Duke of Gordon) was in command of the Northern Military District at this time [1803] and inspected volunteers in Aberdeen on November 22." - BS
File: GrD1074
===
NAME: Noble Man, The: see A Gentleman of Exeter (The Perjured Maid) [Laws P32] (File: LP32)
===
NAME: Noble Ribbon Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: "It was on the first of May, my boys, in the year of thirty-one," 63 Ribbonmen went to the commons to fight Billies. On June 5 300 marched unchallenged to the commons. A health is drunk to those in jail and the "Manual and Platoon ... secrecy" is cited.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1831 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: violence Ireland political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 39, "The Noble Ribbon Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: 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). In parts of counties Tyrone and Monaghan, according to Carleton [p. 19 fn. 14: W. Carleton's _Autobiography_, p. 83], the whole Catholic population was affiliated to Ribbonism, and it would have been dangerous to avoid being involved in the system." Zimmermann 34, "Owen Rooney's Lamentation": "My prosecutor swore so stout I was the man he saw, That encouraged all the Ribbonmen that came from Lisbellaw." 
Zimmermann: "The 'Billies' were the Orangemen, whose hero was William of Orange." - BS
For another song of the Defenders and Peep o' Day Boys, see "Bold McDermott Roe." For other songs of the Ulster conflicts of this period, see "The Battle That Was Fought in the North," "Owen Rooney's Lamentation, "The Lamentation of James O'Sullivan," and possibly "March of the Men of Garvagh." - RBW
File: Zimm039
===
NAME: Noble Skewball, The: see Skewball [Laws Q22] (File: LQ22)
===
NAME: Nobleman and Thrasher, The: see Jolly Thresher, The (Poor Man, Poor Man) (File: R127)
===
NAME: Nobleman, A
DESCRIPTION: "A nobleman lived in a mansion, And he courted his own serving maid." He bursts into her bedroom and tries to seduce her. She refuses his advances; she fears pregnancy. He promises to care for her in that case. She refuses again; he marries her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (recording, Cathie Stewart)
KEYWORDS: courting nobility rejection clothes marriage servant
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #6326
RECORDINGS:
Cathie Stewart, "A Nobleman" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Broom of Cowdenknows" [Child 217] (plot) and references there
NOTES: Somewhat reminiscent of the story of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Edward, who couldn't see a pretty girl without trying to get into bed with her, attempted to seduce the blonde widow of Sir John Grey, but she allegedly said that she was not good enough to be his wife, but too good to be his mistress. So he married her -- to the great detriment of England, sine the marriage arguably added two more phases to the Wars of the Roses (by irritating the Earl of Warwick, which caused the unrest of 1470-1471, and because Edward, when he died in 1483, left only a teenage son with impossibly grasping relatives as his heir, leading to the usurpation or Richard III).
Of course, no one really knows if Elizabeth Woodville said that, and even if she did, it's probably too early to have inspired this song, since Edward and Elizabeth married in 1464. - RBW
File: RcANoble
===
NAME: Nobleman's Daughter, The: see Caroline and Her Young Sailor Bold (Young Sailor Bold II) [Laws N17] (File: LN17)
===
NAME: Nobleman's Wedding, The (The Faultless Bride; The Love Token) [Laws P31]
DESCRIPTION: A man disguises himself to attend the wedding of the girl he loved before he went away. He sings a song that reminds her of her unfaithfulness and promises to return her love token. She swoons and returns to her mother's home. She dies before morning
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (Petrie)
KEYWORDS: disguise wedding infidelity death grief hardheartedness jealousy love marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws P31, "The Nobleman's Wedding (The Faultless Bride; The Love Token)"
Belden, pp. 165-166, "The Faultless Bride" (1 text)
SharpAp 105, "The Awful Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H60a, pp. 400-401, "An Old Lover's Wedding"; H60b, p. 401, "The Laird's Wedding" (2 texts, 2 tune, the second mixed with "All Around My Hat")
Ord, pp. 132-133, "The Unconstant Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 164, "The Nobleman's Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 1, "Another Man's Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 158-159, "Green Willow" (1 text, probably this piece though not so listed by Laws)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 75, "The Nobleman's Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 691-697, "Nobleman's Wedding" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 30, "The Nobleman's Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 142-143, "To Wear a Green Willow" (1 text)
DT 509, NOBELWED
ST LP31 (Partial)
Roud #567
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Butcher, "Another Man's Wedding" (on Voice06, IREButcher01)
Sara Cleveland, "To Wear a Green Willow" (on SCleveland01)
Maude Thacker, "The Famous Wedding" (on FolkVisions1 -- a very confused version)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Green Willow Tree
NOTES: According to Hazlitt's _Dictionary of Faiths & Folklore_, to wear the willow meant that one had been forsaken by a lover.
Norman Ault's _Elizabethan Lyrics_ claims that the first mention of wearing green willow comes in a poem by John Heywood: "All a green willow, willow, willow, All a green willow is my garland." The manuscript, BM Add. 15233, is dated c. 1545. We also find the notion in Shakespeare's "Othello," IV.iii, and in Salisbury's "Buen Matina" (1597).
Roud lumps this with "All Around My Hat." That's *really* a stretch. - RBW
The "Awful Wedding" subgroup ("I'll tell you of an awful wedding"), despite the similarity in titles, is *not* "The Fatal Wedding." - PJS, RBW
File: LP31
===
NAME: Nobody Cares for Me: see I Wish I Was a Little Bird (Nobody Cares for Me) (File: San338)
===
NAME: Nobody Coming to Marry Me: see My Father's a Hedger and Ditcher (Nobody Coming to Marry Me) (File: BrII185)
===
NAME: Nobody Knows
DESCRIPTION: The singer complains of being misunderstood: "Nobody knows how heavy my load, Nobody knows how thorny my road, Nobody knows cares if I'm troubled in the way, How dark the night, how dark the day." Only Jesus, who understands, will help
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 171, "Nobody Knows" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa171 (Partial)
Roud #7488
RECORDINGS:
Sue Thomas, "Nobody Knows" (on USWarnerColl01)
NOTES: As Warner notes, this is NOT "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen." - RBW
File: Wa171
===
NAME: Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
DESCRIPTION: "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, Nobody knows but Jesus." "Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down, Oh, yes, Lord, Sometimes I'm almost to the ground...." The rest of the song describes the singer's life, usually in spiritual terms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865 (diary of William Francis Allen; printed 1867 in Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 55, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Had" (1 text, with some rather unusual verses but clearly this; 1 tune)
BrownIII 615, "Nobody Knows" (1 short text)
Arnett, p. 110, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 97, "Nobody Knows" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 358, "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen" (1 text)
Fuld, pp. 391-391+, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen"
DT, NBDYKNWS
Roud #5438
RECORDINGS:
A. W. Adams, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (OKeh 8361, 1926)
Marian Anderson, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (Victor 19560, 1925; rec. 1924)
Louis Armstrong, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (Decca 2085, 1938)
Mildred Bailey w. Alec Wilder, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (Columbia 35348, 1939)
Cotton Pickers Quartet, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (Conqueror 8360, 1934; rec. 1931)
Vernon Dalhart, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (Edison [BA] 3470, 1918)
Elkins Sacred Singers, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (Cameo 830, 1925)
Excelsior Quartet, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (OKeh 4636, 1922)
Fisk University Jubilee Singers, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (Rainbow 724, c. 1922)
Caroline & May Floyd, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I See" (Champion 15103, 1926)
Jimmie Gordon's Vip Vop Band ("Nobody Knows the Trouble I See", Decca 7764, 1940; rec. 1939)
Musical Artists Quartet, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (Columbia 1953-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Paramount Singers, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (Trilon 234, n.d. but probably c. 1939)
Paul Robeson, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (Victor 20068, 1926)
Southernaires Male Quartet, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (Decca 2859, 1939)
Edna Thomas, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I Sees" (Columbia 1863-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Tuskegee Institute Singers, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (Victor 18237, 1917; rec. 1915)
File: Arn110
===
NAME: Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
DESCRIPTION: Singer recalls once living high, but is now broke; friends no longer come around. " If I ever get my hands on a dollar again/Gonna hold onto it till that eagle grins." " If I ever get back on my feet again/Everybody wants to be my long lost friend"
AUTHOR: probably Ida Cox - B. Feldman
EARLIEST_DATE: Jan. 1929 (recordings, Aunt Jemima Novelty Four & Pinetop Smith)
KEYWORDS: poverty drink hardtimes friend
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, DOWNOUT
Roud #18521
RECORDINGS:
Aunt Jemima Novelty Four, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (Brunswick 7056, 1929)
Louis Jordan & his Tympani Five, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (Decca 29018, 1954)
Julia Lee & her Boyfriends, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (Capitol 1009, 1950; rec. 1947)
Bessie Smith, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (Columbia 14451-D, 1929; Columbia 37577, 1947)
Pinetop Smith, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (Vocalion 1256, 1929)
NOTES: There seems to be some uncertainty about the authorship of this piece; the Digital Tradition lists it as by "Jimmy Cox." Given that it came out in early 1929, it might almost have been an anthem for the Great Depression -- except that hardly anyone could buy records then.
I was surprised at the lack of traditional collections. Maybe it's the unusual melody -- my traditionally-tuned voice finds it hard to follow the intervals despite hearing the song many times. - RBW
File: RcNKYWYD
===
NAME: Nobody's Business
DESCRIPTION: Singer confesses to all sorts of infractions -- rambling, drinking, gambling -- but says it's "nobody's business if I do." He says he might even kill somebody; his girlfriend "runs a weenie stand..." and drives a Cadillac, but it's all nobody's business
AUTHOR: Porter Grainger, Clarence Williams, Graham Prince, Everett Robbins?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (JAFL)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer confesses to all sorts of infractions -- rambling, drinking, gambling -- but says it's "nobody's business if I do." He says he might even kill somebody; morphine, cocaine and women will drive him out of his mind; his money goes to buy his girlfriend fancy clothes; "she runs a weenie stand/way down in no man's land" and drives a Cadillac, but it's all nobody's business
KEYWORDS: sex murder clothes gambling rambling drink nonballad whore
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Emry Arthur, "Nobody's Business" (Vocalion 5230, 1927)
Jerry Behrens, "Nobody's Business" (OKeh 45564, 1932)
Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers, "Nobody's Business" (Brunswick 294, 1929; Brunswick [Canada] 224, 1928)
Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan & his Tympany Five, "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Decca 27200, c. 1950)
Alberta Hunter, "T'ain't Nobody's Biz-ness" (Paramount 12018, 1923) 
Mississippi John Hurt, "Nobody's Dirty Business" (OKeh 8560, 1928; on MJHurt01, MJHurt02)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Ain't Nobody's Business" (OKeh 45092, 1927, on Rough2)
[Billy] Jones & [Ernest] Hare, "Nobody's Business" (CYL: Edison [BA] 5115, n.d.)
Lulu Belle & Scotty, "It Ain't Nobody's Bizness" (OKeh 04962, 1939)
Sara Martin w. Fats Waller "'Tain't Nobody's Bus'ness If I Do" (OKeh 8043, 1923; rec. 1922)
Charles Nabell, "Nobody's Business" (OKeh 40389, 1925)
Riley Puckett, "Nobody's Business" (Bluebird B-6103, 1935; Bluebird B-8621, 1941)
Roy Sexton & his Arizona Hoedowners, "Nobody's Business" (Old Timer 8013, n.d.)
Bessie Smith, "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Columbia A3898, 1923)
Leo Soileau & his Aces, "Nobody's Business" (Decca 5101, 1935)
Walker's Corbin Ramblers, "Nobody's Business" (Vocalion 01648, 1934)
Lena Wilson, "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Victor 19085, 1923)
Jimmy Witherspoon, "Ain't Nobody's Business, Pts. 1 & 2" (Supreme 1506/Swing Time 263, 1947)
NOTES: This shouldn't be confused with Will E. Skidmore & Marshall Walker's 1919 "It's Nobody's Business But My Own," which concerned the extracurricular activities of a deacon. Skidmore and Walker copyrighted that song (and Bert Williams recorded it on Columbia A2750 the same year), but the JAF reference precedes that copyright, so it's likely they arranged and adapted a traditional piece. And, while I have not seen the sheet music to the copyrighted version, I strongly suspect it doesn't contain all the verses listed above. - PJS
File: RcNobBu1
===
NAME: Nobody's Darling: see Nobody's Darling on Earth (File: R723)
===
NAME: Nobody's Darling on Earth
DESCRIPTION: "I'm out in this bleak world alone, Walking about in the streets... Begging for something to eat." The orphan lost mother at a very young age. Now "I'm nobody's darling on earth; Heaven have mercy on me, For I'm nobody's darling, Nobody cares for me."
AUTHOR: Will S. Hays
EARLIEST_DATE: 1870 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: orphan poverty hardtimes begging
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 723, "I'm Nobody's Darling on Earth" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 471-472, "I'm Nobody's Darling on Earth" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 723A)
Fife-Cowboy/West 56, "Red River Valley" (3 texts, 1 tune, the "B" text belonging here)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 21-23, "Nobody's Darling" (1 text, 1 tune, plus the sequel "They Say I Am Nobody's Darling")
Roud #4338
RECORDINGS:
Cumberland Ridge Runners, "Nobody's Darling" (Conqueror 8162, 1933)
Grayson & Whitter, "Nobody's Darling" (Gennett 6304/Champion 15395 [as by Greysen Thomas & Will Lotty ], 1928)
Kelly Harrell, "Nobody's Darling on Earth" (Victor 20657, 1927; on KHarrell02)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Nobody's Darling on Earth" (Bluebird B-6460, 1936)
Wade Mainer & Zeke Morris, "Nobody's Darling on Earth" (Bluebird B-6423 [as "Nobody's Darling but Mine"]/Montgomery Ward 5028, 1936)
North Carolina Ridge Runners, "Nobody's Darling" (Columbia 15650-D, 1931; rec. 1928; on LostProv1)
SAME_TUNE:
Gene Autry, "Answer to Nobody's Darling" (Melotone 6-08-51, 1936) (Conqueror 8685, 1936)
Gene Autry, "That's Why I'm Nobody's Darling" (Conqueror 8808, 1937)
Patsy Montana & the Prairie Ramblers, "Woman's Answer to Nobody's Darling" (Perfect 6-08-52/Conqueror 8655 [as Salty Holmes w. the Prairie Ramblers], 1936)
Tex Ritter, "Answer to Nobody's Darling But Mine" (Champion 45197, 1935)
NOTES: Note that the Autry and Montana recordings [in the "Same Tune" field] have successive catalog numbers, and both were "answer" songs to the main entry. The record company was clearly milking this song for all it was worth -- and getting fresh copyrights, to boot. - PJS
The Fifes consider their "Little Darling" text ("Come sit by my side, little darling, Come lay your cool hand on my brow, And promise me that you will never Be nobody's darling but Mine") to be a Red River Valley variant. As, however, the chorus does not fit the "Red River Valley" tune, and the rest of the words go with this piece, I classify it here.
Spaeth (in _Weep Some More_, pp. 40-41) has another piece, "Driven from Home," which has the same theme and some of the same words, but no chorus; I can't tell if it's the same or not, or if it's traditional. - RBW
I suspect, without having heard the recordings, that "Nobody's Darling But Mine" is a Same Tune variant. - PJS
File: R723
===
NAME: Noel Girl, The: see The Wexford (Oxford, Knoxville, Noel) Girl [Laws P35] (File: LP35)
===
NAME: Nonsense of Men, The
DESCRIPTION: "I hate to be teased by the nonsense of men," so the girl accepts her mother's advice to always say "No" to men. But young piper Donnelly wins her heart; after many requests, "I mistook and said Yes!" She lives happily and advises others to say "Yes."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H472, pp. 258-259, "The Nonsense of Men" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1459
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "No, John, No" (theme)
File: HHH472
===
NAME: Nonsense Saw
DESCRIPTION: Nonsense rhymes showing how to pronounce "Arkansas": "I love a girl from Arkansaw, Who can saw more wood than her Maw can saw." "I sing a saw Of maid I saw In Arkansaw." "Her maw can saw, Her paw can saw, And she can saw In Arkansaw."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Allsopp)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonsense wordplay nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 195-196, "Nonsense Saw" (2 texts)
ST FORA195 (Partial)
NOTES: Allsopp reports that there were problems in the 1840s with the pronunciation of "Arkansas." Hence this poem (or complex of poems). It's not clear that they were ever sung, but Allsopp reports that they were genuinely popular. - RBW 
File: FORA195
===
NAME: Noomanally  Shore, The: see The Eumerella Shore (File: MA155)
===
NAME: Nor Will I Sin
DESCRIPTION: "Nor will I sin by drinking gin And cider, too, will never do Nor brewer's beer my heart shall cheer Nor sparkling ale my face to pale. To quench my thirst I'll... bring Clean water from the well or spring... I pledge... hate To all that can intoxicate"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Pinesville Democrat)
KEYWORDS: drink promise
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 336, "Nor Will I Sin" (1 fragment)
Roud #7808
File: R336
===
NAME: Nora Daly
DESCRIPTION: Singer meets Nora Daly driving a donkey-cart on the way to the fair near Miltown Malbay. They part for fear of her father. "After years abroad sojourning" he returns to County Clare and they marry happily.
AUTHOR: Tomas O hAodha (Tom Hayes)(1866-1935) of Miltown Malbay (source: notes to IRClare01)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1974 (recording, Micho Russell)
KEYWORDS: love marriage return reunion separation father
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #8002
RECORDINGS:
Micho Russell, "Nora Daly" (on Voice01)
File: RcNoraDa
===
NAME: Nora Darling: see Barney McCoy (File: R776)
===
NAME: Nora McShane: see Norah McShane (File: HHH157)
===
NAME: Nora O'Neal
DESCRIPTION: "I'm lonely tonight, love without you... I love you dear Norah O'Neal." The singer's love he can never conceal. The nightingale's song reminds him of her. He says he will see her tomorrow; they will kiss. "I'll never be lonely again"
AUTHOR: Will S. Hays
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (broadside, NLScotland L.C.1269(158a)); reportedly composed 1866
KEYWORDS: courting love nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, p. 141, "Nora O'Neal" (1 text)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 63-64, "Norah O'Neale" (1 text)
Roud #4976
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.26(298)[some words illegible], "Norah O'Neal" ("Oh! I'm lonely to night, love, without you"), T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also Harding B 11(3772), "Norah O'Neill"
LOCSinging, as109760, "Nora O'Neal," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
NLScotland L.C.1269(158a), "Norah O'Neil," Poet's Box (address illegible), 1869
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Shamus O'Brien" (sequel to this song)
NOTES: Source: Re author -- "The Music of William Shakespeare Hays 1837-1907" on PD Music site. - BS
William Shakespeare Hays was of course an American (born and died in Kentucky), as songs such as "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" attest, so this song is obviously "stage Irish" -- and yet, it seems to appear almost entirely in Irish collections. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as109760: 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: OCon141
===
NAME: Norah: see Who Built the Ark? (File: RcWBTA)
===
NAME: Norah Darling: see Barney McCoy (File: R776)
===
NAME: Norah Darling, Don't Believe Them
DESCRIPTION: The singer must leave Norah "but I leave my heart with thee." He tells her not to forget him or to believe another suitor's "flattering wiles," "tale of love" or "treacherous whispers."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: courting love separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 149, "Norah Darling, Don't Believe Them" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(258), "Norah Darling, Don't Believe Them", unknown, n.d. 
File: OCon149
===
NAME: Norah Magee
DESCRIPTION: "Oh Norah, dear Norah, I can't live without you... Come back to old Ireland, the land of our childhood...." The singer laments the absence of Norah, gone over the sea, and hopes she will return someday to Ireland.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation Ireland emigration
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H778, p. 387, "Norah Magee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4718
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(86b), "Norah Magee," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
NOTES: Sam Henry observed that this song was "in great vogue" around 1870, but I know of no other field collections. I do find myself strongly reminded of "Barney McCoy" -- but the similarity is at a level far removed from the details of the songs.
Poverty, of course, forced many Irish to migrate to America, and not just in the nineteenth century. It's not usual for the girl to go without the boy, but it's not unknown, either. And men need the chance to sing lost love songs, too. - RBW
File: HHH778
===
NAME: Norah McShane
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls leaving (Ballymoney), and admits to being "as wretched can be" in the new land. He misses buttermilk, the old mud house, peat fires, and of course Norah McShane. Even with no money, it was a better life than this
AUTHOR: Eliza Cook (?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1841 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1841 380630); supposedly written 1838
KEYWORDS: emigration homesickness separation
FOUND_IN: Ireland US9Mw)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H157, p. 207, "Norah McShane" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 50-51, "Nora McShane" (1 text)
Dean, p. 105, "Nora McShane" (1 text)
Roud #9059
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2717), "Norah Mc.Sheen" or "I Am Leaving Ballimoney," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also 2806 c.15(9/10)[some illegible words], "Norah MacShane"; Harding B 11(3881), 2806 b.11(10), Firth c.26(16), Harding B 11(56), Harding B 11(1814), "Norah M'Shane"
LOCSheet, sm1841 380630, "Norah McShane," C. E. Horn (New York), 1841; also sm1850 650070, sm1850 471280, "Norah McShane" (tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Scarborough Settler's Lament" (theme) and references there
cf. "Lake Chemo" (parody)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Nora McShane
NOTES: The LOCSheet broadsides note "poetry by [Miss] Eliza Cook" and music attributed either to W. J. Wetmore or Charles Horn Junr. - BS
File: HHH157
===
NAME: Norah O'Neale: see Nora O'Neal (File: OCon141)
===
NAME: Nordfeld and the Raleigh, The
DESCRIPTION: The "Nordfeld" and the "Raleigh" are two ships wrecked close together in the Strait of Belle Isle. The singer tells of the scavenging of both ships and remarks that had he or his listeners been there, they would have partaken in the spoils.
AUTHOR: George Williams
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: wreck ship
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 1922 - Wreck of the Raleigh
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 142, "The Nordfeld and the Raleigh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 47, "The Nordfeld and the Raleigh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 64, "The Norfeld and the Raleigh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6346
NOTES: The HMS _Raleigh_ was a new light cruiser on a tour of the United States and Canada when the captain was persuaded to go off course through the Strait of Belle Isle for some good fishing. It wrecked near the Point Amour lighthouse in Labrador. For these and other details, consult David J. Molloy, _The First Landfall: Historic Lighthouses of Newfoundland and Labrador_ (St. John's: Breakwater, 1994), pp. 94-96. Currant Island, the author's home, is on the Newfoundland side just south of the Strait and not particularly close to the events in the ballad. - SH
File: Doy47
===
NAME: Norfeld and the Raleigh, The: see The Nordfeld and the Raleigh (File: Doy47)
===
NAME: Norfolk Girls, The
DESCRIPTION: "Our topsails reef'd and filled away, All snug aloft we know... Here's a health to all the Norfolk girls, And Portsmouth maidens too." The singer talks of the labors and dangers of a life at sea, always recalling the Norfolk girls and Portsmouth maidens
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: sailor work battle
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 172-177, "The Norfolk Girls" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST ShaSS172 (Partial)
File: ShaSS172
===
NAME: North Carolina Hills, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the North Carolina Hills, How majestic and how grand, With their summits bathed in glory Like our Prince Immanuel's land." The singer repeatedly praises their beauty and their peoples; he must depart, but hopes to return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 402, "The North Carolina Hills" (1 text)
Roud #11757
File: Br3402
===
NAME: North Country Maid, A
DESCRIPTION: "A north country maid to London had strayed Although with her nature it did not agree." She laments the home she has left behind, its trees, its fields, its people. She hopes soon to be able to return home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A maid from northern England (Westmoreland), who has strayed to London, wishes she were home; she sings the praises of the north country and its ways; she vows that she'll not marry until she returns, preferring to wed a north country man. She hopes to return in less than a year. Chorus: "The oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree/They flourish at home in my own country"
KEYWORDS: homesickness rambling
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 14-15, "O the Oak, and the Ash, and the Bonny Ivy Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 62, "The Oak And The Ash" (1 text)
DT, NCNTRYMD* NCNTRYM2*
Roud #1367
NOTES: This looks like the source for the "oak and the ash" lines that appear in the choruses of many versions of "Rosemary Lane," "Ambletown," "Bell-Bottom Trousers," and other members of that most tangled of song families, typically with no relevance to those songs' plots. If I had my guess, I'd say the recombinant chorus was grafted onto those songs' common ancestor at some point early in its evolution. - PJS
For the complex relationship between this song, "Ambletown," and "Rosemary Lane" [Laws K43], see the notes to the latter song. - PJS, RBW
This song does not seem to have any "plot relationship" to the other two traditional songs; the common element is simply the chorus ("Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree They flourish at home in my own country"). The language of this piece, however, hints at literary origin; indeed, it looks like a typical pastoral. - RBW
File: LK43B
===
NAME: North Highlands, The
DESCRIPTION: "Down in  yon meadow, I chanced for to spy A bonnie young lassie that pleased my eye.... Bonnie lassie, come to the North Hielands wi' me." He offers lands and wealth; she says her parents would object. He turns to go; she consents to go with him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting money father mother separation
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 87, "Bonnie Lassie, Come to the North Hielands" (1 text)
Roud #5565
File: Ord087
===
NAME: North Star (II), The: see The Merchant's Only Son [Laws M21] (File: LM21)
===
NAME: North Star, The
DESCRIPTION: North Star sails from Ireland for America. On December 8, "close to the wild Welsh shore the North Star struck, that very night, upon that fatal rock ... Out of near five hundred passengers, but twenty-one were saved"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(261))
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 94-95, "The North Star" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(261), "The North Star", J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin), 1850-1899; also Firth b.27(109/110) View 1 of 2, "The North Star"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Vivandeer" (tune)
NOTES: Ranson: Tune is "The Vivandeer" on p. 112. - BS
File: Ran094
===
NAME: Northamptonshire Poacher, The: see The Lincolnshire Poacher (File: K259)
===
NAME: Northern Bonnie Blue Flag, The
DESCRIPTION: Northern answer to "The Bonnie Blue Flag": "We're fighting for our Union, We're fighting for our trust.... Hurrah, hurrah, For equal rights, hurrah! Hurrah! for the good old flag That bears the stripes and stars."
AUTHOR: (various)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar parody patriotic nonballad derivative
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Belden, p. 382, "The Flag with the Thirty-Four Stars" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 218-219, "The Northern Bonnie Blue Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7760
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (tune & meter) and references there
NOTES: This is actually a complex of songs rather than a single piece; various poets evidently made answers to "The Bonnie Blue Flag." I've lumped them because they all had, at best, only the weakest holds on tradition.
The version in Scott, which gives this entry its title, is listed as by Isaac Ball, and is a very short piece praising the freedom fighters of the North. I doubt that it is traditional at all.
Belden's "Flag with the Thirty-Four Stars" technically came from oral tradition, but the informant probably learned it from print; there are just too many names to remember them all. Among them:
"McClellan of Bold Antietam Fame": George B. McClellan (1826-1885), who took over the Army of the Potomac after First Bull Run and led it to defeat in the Seven Days' Battle and marginal victory (despite overwhelming superiority) after Antietam. The approving mention of McClellan (and Burnside) probably dates the song to late 1862; the list by 1863 would have been very different.
"Hooker, Sigel, Kenly too": Joe Hooker (1814-1879), was in late 1862 the Army of the Potomac's most aggressive corps commander. He would go on to failure in high command.
Franz Sigel (1824-1902) commanded German troops all over the place, and almost always disastrously. The troops never gave up on him; hence perhaps the approving mention.
Kenly: The Union had a general John Reese Kenly (1822-1891), who commanded troops in the Shenandoah Valley but who managed to not be involved in most of the big battles. His name is hard to explain. I suspect he might have been confused with Phil Kearny (1814-1862), who though only a division commander was widely regarded as the best officer in the Army of the Potomac -- but he was killed before Antietam.
"Foote, Dupont, Rosecrans": Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote (1706-1863) had led the fleets that attacked Forts Henry and Donelson in early 1862, giving the Union its first major successes in the war. Wounded at Fort Donelson, he never really recovered. It is interesting to note that U. S. Grant, the land commander at Donelson, is not mentioned -- another hint that the song is from 1862, when Halleck shelved him.
Dupont: Samuel F. DuPont (1803-1865), another naval officer, commander of the fleet that took Port Royal (November 1861). In 1863 he failed to capture Charleston (the War Department gave him impossible orders), so his start too was clouded
Rosecrans: William S. Rosecrans (1819-1898). An officer of promise as a subordinate, he had successfully defended Corinth (October 1862). After that, he was given charge of the Army of the Cumberland, where he proved less successful, fighting a bloody draw at Stones River (December 1862) and losing Chickamauga (September 1863)
"Halleck, Burnside, Butler too": Henry W. Halleck (1815-1872) was theatre commander in the west, and after Grant's successes at Henry and Donelson had led the slow advance to Corinth. He was then brought to Washington as General-in-Chief. On paper, his results looked good; in reality, he was far too cautious and never managed to get the Union war machine in gear. He was much more effective as (de facto) chief of staff under Grant. But in late 1862, he still looked like a winner
Burnside: Ambrose Burnside (1824-1881) had led the successful attacks on the Carolina coast in 1862. He then joined the Army of the Potomac, and failed at Antietam, but was given command of the whole army and led it to defeat at Fredericksburg and the Mud March (late 1862/early 1863) -- still more evidence of a late 1862 date. Burnside's real problem seems to have been a complete inability to react to changing circumstances
Butler: Benjamin F. Butler (1818-1893), a political general who was perhaps the worst soldier ever to wear a Major General's stars. In 1862, however, he had "captured" New Orleans (the entire work had in fact been done by Farragut's fleet), and so was an official hero. He was also earning a reputation among the occupied as "Beast" Butler.
"old South Mountain side": The Battle of South Mountain (Sept. 14, 1862) was the first real engagement of the Antietam campaign. McClellan, possessed of Lee's "lost order," knew that Lee's army was scattered behind the South Mountain range, with only a few troops to guard the passes. McClellan, who could have destroyed Lee's army by attacking boldly, instead brought minimal force to bear, forced the passes only because Lee had such weak forces there -- and then sat for two days when he could have defeated Lee piecemeal.
South Mountain did not drive Lee from the north; rather, it gave him time to concentrate his forces at Antietam. Where McClellan again failed to destroy him. - RBW
File: SBoA218
===
NAME: Northessie Crew, The
DESCRIPTION: "As I gaed up to Aikey Fair, 'Twas for to get a fee; A farmer frae St Fergus Came steppin 'owre to me." The singer hires on for the season, "as I hae deen afore." A few of the crew are named and described.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work moniker nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #16, p. 2, "The Northessie Crew" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan3 412, "The Northessie Crew" (1 text)
Roud #5933
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hairst o' Rettie" (subject: harvest crew moniker song) and references there
cf. "The Boghead Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
cf. "The Kiethen Hairst" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
cf. "The Ardlaw Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
NOTES: Greig: "... 'The Northessie Crew' ... was composed last summer [1907]. When ... it gets taken up and sung over Buchan we shall have pleasure in printing it as a full-fledged song. Meantime we pick a few verses by way of specimen." These five verses are the basis for the description.
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; North Essie (412) is at coordinate (h5-6,v1) on that map [roughly 33 miles N of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: GrD3412
===
NAME: Northumberland Bagpipes, The
DESCRIPTION: "A shepherd sat him under a thorn, He pulled out his pipes and began for to play, It was on a midsummer's day in the morn." A girl comes by, hears him piping, and declares, "Iy thou wilt pipe, lad, I'll dance to thee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1701 (broadside NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(060))
KEYWORDS: music dancing
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  32-34, "The Northumberland Bagpipes" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR032 (Full)
Roud #3055
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(060), "The Merry Bagpipes," unknown, 1701
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Maggie Lauder" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
March Boyes (per broadside NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(060))
File: StoR032
===
NAME: Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas [Child 176]
DESCRIPTION: Northumberland flees to Scotland and is taken into custody. Despite his protestations of virtue, he is passed from hand to hand, ending in the custody of Douglas. Percy sets sail, believing he will be freed, but ends up under the control of Lord Hunsden
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: nobility rebellion escape trick ring wife betrayal prison
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 176, "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" (1 text)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 279-294, "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas"  (2 texts, one being that in the Reliques and the other being the manuscript copy)
Flanders-Ancient3, p. 171, "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" (1 fragment, similar to the Child text but so short that it might, from its text, be something else -- e.g. some texts of "Mary Hamilton" have rather similar lyrics; the singer apparently knew more of the song  but would not repeat it)
OBB 129, "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" (1 text)
Roud #4006
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rising in the North" [Child 175] (subject)
cf. "The Earl of Westmoreland" [Child 177] (subject)
NOTES: For the background to Northumberland's flight to Scotland, see "The Rising in the North" [Child 175]. Having arrived in Scotland, Northumberland became a valuable pawn -- and in a nation with a child king and no real government, he wound up being passed back and forth until he came into Douglas's hands.
The Countess of Northumberland, in exile in Flanders, raised money to ransom him. But the English matched the ransom, and Northumberland was turned over to Lord Hunsdon in late 1571 and executed in 1572.
For the complete details of these proceedings, see the notes in Child.
Those desiring to see how Percy converted the manuscript text into the published text, see Nick Groom, _The Making of Percy's Reliques_, pp. 127 ffff. -- though Groom is far too sympathetic to Percy's hack-work. - RBW
File: C176
===
NAME: Norway Bum, The
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a bum and addicted to rum." His father drove the singer from home because "I loved a fair lass far beneath my own class." They married; his wife and child died in a fire in Norway. "To drown sorrow I plunged into rum... And now I am only a bum"
AUTHOR: Joe Scott?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: grief love marriage death mourning drink wife children
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 119-121, 251, "The Norway Bum" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13992
NOTES: Ives-DullCare: "No one was killed in the fire that destroyed much of Norway, Maine, in 1894, and there is no evidence to show that the song is based on a real person or incident, but, since Scott was not given to fiction, we can be reasonably sure that he thought his source ... was factual." - BS
File: IvDC119
===
NAME: Norwegian Collier, The
DESCRIPTION: Fragment:  "In the early hours of morning in the foggy atmosphere Our ship was swiftly ploughing through the foam, When a big Norwegian collier, sailing from Quebec, Ran straight into our liner, bound for home,..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship wreck sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, p. 127, "The Norwegian Collier" (1 text)
File: Ran127
===
NAME: Nose On My Old Man, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, it's the nose that grows on my old man And it's wonderful to see -- It will live for years in my garden of misery. For it's the one red nose that the boozer knows.... Amid the drink and curse there can be no worse Than the nose on my old man!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 232-233, "The Nose on My Old Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FaE232
===
NAME: Nose, Nose, Jolly Red Nose: see Of All the Birds (File: ChWI141)
===
NAME: Nose, Nose, Nose, Nose: see Of All the Birds (File: ChWI141)
===
NAME: Not a Word of "No Surrender"
DESCRIPTION: The singer hears two Orangemen complain "we're ruined by Emancipation; ['Popish Daniel'] O'Connell brave and all his men They're a terror to the nation." About this, he hears not a word of "No Surrender"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond01)
KEYWORDS: political Ireland
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1829 - Irish Catholic Emancipation Act passes supported by Daniel O'Connell and the Catholic Association
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #6987
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Not a Word of 'No Surrender'" (on IRRCinnamond01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kerry Eagle" (subject: Daniel O'Connell) and references there
cf. "Our Orange Flags May Gang to Rags" (subject and some lines)
NOTES: The Catholic Emancipation Act allowed Catholics to sit as MPs and made Catholics eligible for most public offices but disenfranchised many poor Irish (source: "Catholic Emancipation" on The Peel Web site). [I would consider it clearer to say that it failed to enfranchise many poor Irish; at this time, the poor were generally disenfranchised in all of Britain. - RBW]
This song shares a theme and at least four lines with GreigDuncan3 691, "Our Orange Flags May Gang to Rags": "May the old Devil take partial Peel Why did he yield to popish Donnell [Daniel] And Wellington great laurels won How soon he's run for to join O'Connell." Nevertheless, the rest of the songs sharing no line or chorus, I think they should be separate.
GreigDuncan3 p. 685, quoting Edwards, _A New History of Ireland_: "The reversal of Tory policy on the issue of Catholic emancipation can be ascribed to O'Connell's methods. Wellington, the victor of Waterloo, who became Prime Minister in 1828, was obliged to considre what would be the full consequences of a resort to force in Ireland over the Catholic question. The climax came when O'Connell was returned as a member of parliament for Clare and at the bar of the House of Commons refused to take the declaration against transubstantiation and the anti-Catholic oath of allegiance. Tory feelings were aroused to an intense heat, but in their wisdom, Wellington and his home secretary and political heir, Sir Robert Peel, forced George IV to give way."
"No Surrender" is a reference to the defiant declaration attributed to the Williamites defending Derry in 1688-1689. See "No Surrender (I)" and references there. - BS
See also "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry," plus the many Daniel O'Connell songs cited under "Daniel O'Connell (I)." - RBW
File: RcNaWoNS
===
NAME: Not Know How to Court: see Aunt Sal's Song (The Man Who Didn't Know How to Court) (File: LoF101)
===
NAME: Not So Young As I Used to Be: see If I Were As Young As I Used to Be (Uncle Joe) (File: R434)
===
NAME: Not the Swan on the Lake
DESCRIPTION: "Not the swan on the lake or the foam on the shore Can compare with the charms of the maid I adore." The singer praises the girl and her beauty, comparing her to Venus (the planet!), and says he "feast[s]... on the smiles of my love."
AUTHOR: words translated by Ewan MacLachlan
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection; earlier text in Whitelaw 1844)
KEYWORDS: love beauty nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H707, p. 227, "Not the Swan on the Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1525
File: HHH707
===
NAME: Not Weary Yet
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, me no weary yet (x2), I have a witness in my heart, Me no weary yet." "Since I been in the field to fight." "I have a heaven to maintain." "The band of faith are on my soul." "Ole Satan toss a ball at me." "He think the ball would hit my soul."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious devil nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 12, "Not Weary Yet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11850
File: AWG012
===
NAME: Not-Brown Maid, The: see The Nut-Brown Maid (File: OBB069)
===
NAME: Nothing At All
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes with his daddy to court Kate. He and she are too shy to speak at meeting, or proposal, or answering the parson at the wedding. The problem disappears within a week of the wedding and they offer their assurance to other young folks.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.25(271))
KEYWORDS: courting wedding humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1607
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Derry Down Dale" (on IRRCinnamond02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(271), "Nothing At All" ("In Derry Down Dale, when I wanted a mate"), J. Ferraby (Hull), 1803-1838; also Harding B 28(233), Harding B 25(1382)[many illegible words], "Nothing At All"
LOCSinging, sb30352a, "Nothing At all," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 
NLScotland, L.C.1269(152a), "Nothing At All," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1855

CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Vilikens and his Dinah (William and Dinah) [Laws M31A/B]" (tune & meter used in IRRCinnamond02) and references there
cf. "Things I Don't Like to See" (tune according to broadside NLScotland, L.C.1269(152a))
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Firth b.25(271) is the basis for the description: IRRCinnamond02 ends with the "love, honor, obey" at the wedding coming to "nothing at all." 
Broadside LOCSinging sb30352a: 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: RcNoAtAl
===
NAME: Nothing To Do With Me
DESCRIPTION: The singer will not denigrate others or interfere in business that has nothing to do with him. The rest of the song is gossip about his neighbors. A policeman, he hints, takes bribes. A girl married to an old man has a baby, he hints, not her husband's.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966 (recording, Martin Gorman)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad police infidelity accusation
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #5315
RECORDINGS:
Martin Gorman, "It's Nowt To Do With Me" (on Voice14)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2958), "Nothing To Do With Me!" ("Kind friends for what I'm going to say on you I will not frown"), unknown, n.d.; also Firth c.26(252), "Nothing To Do With Me"
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Firth c.26(252) says "Sung by Harry Barber and George Gordon." - BS
File: RcNTDWM
===
NAME: Nothing Too Good for the Irish: see Nothing's Too Good for the Irish (File: Wa029)
===
NAME: Nothing's Too Good for the Irish
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls his grandmother's last words. She describes, with the full force of prejudice, the roles reserved for each people (e.g. "Negroes to whitewash, Jews for cash"), then turns to her own people, concluding, "Nothing's too good for the Irish"
AUTHOR: J. J. Goodwin/[Monroe H.] Rosenfeld (source: Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 608)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean); Spaeth lists it as published in 1894
KEYWORDS: death foreigner humorous
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Dean, p. 102, "Nothing Too Good for the Irish" (1 text)
Warner 29, "Nothing's Too Good for the Irish" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa029 (Partial)
Roud #7468
NOTES: Presumably the same as the 1894 song by J. J. Goodwin and Rosenfeld, but I can't prove it
The chorus, in John Galusha's version at least (and also in Dean), may be the most concentrated dose of racism I've ever seen:It stereotypes *everyone*.  - RBW
File: Wa029
===
NAME: Nottalin Town: see Nottamun Town (File: WB2006)
===
NAME: Nottamun Town (Nottingham Fair)
DESCRIPTION: The narrator goes to Nottamun Town, meets odd and mad people, and sees impossible and paradoxical sights: "In Nottamun town, not a soul would look up, not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down to show me the way to fair Nottamun town."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1865 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 18(687)
KEYWORDS: madness nonsense paradox
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 6, "Fair Nottiman Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 446, "Nottingham Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 302-305, "Nottingham Fair" (3 texts, 1 tune)
SharpAp 191, "Nottamun Town" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 69, "Nottamun Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 105-106, "[Nottamun Town]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 5, "Nottamun Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 8-9, "Nottamun Town" (1 text, 1 tune, called "Nottamun town" in the header though "Nottalin Town" in the notes and Index)
DT, NOTTMUN*
Roud #1044
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(687), "The Old Gray Mare" ("As I was a going to Nottingham fair"), H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also Harding B 18(214), "The Gray Mare"
LOCSinging, sb30373a, "The Old Gray Mare" ("As I was a going to Nottingham fair"), H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also sb20153a, "The Gray Mare" 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Black Phyllis" (lyrics)
cf. "Paddy Backwards" (theme, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Nottalin Town
NOTES: There were several episodes of mass insanity in Europe, probably caused by ingestion of ergot, a mold found on rye with hallucinogenic properties. - PJS
I have also heard this song explained as the effects of the delirium caused by the plague. Compare also the song "Black Phyllis," which uses some of the same words and which appears to be about syphilis.
The problem with both the ergot and plague hypotheses is that the sufferer would be rather unlikely to survive. Several of the outbreaks of ergotism arose because of the conditions of the Little Ice Age, which caused many bad harvests and forced people to use old flour or non-cereals to make bread.
Possibly a better theory is that people were eating poppy products to *avoid* ergotism. This too could lead to hallucinations.
Frances Stonor Saunders, _Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman_, Faber and Faber, 2004, pp. 8-9, describes the symptoms: "Bread was also made from poppyseed, which had the effect of producing a 'drugged and paranoid' state. This was surely preferable to the effects of eating bread made with mouldy or contaminated grain, which could lead to ergotism (St Anthony's Fire), a disease which attacked the muscular system and induced painful spasms. Eventually, the contracting muscles cut off circulation of the blood to the extremities, which became gangrenous. One of the side-effects of ergotism was mind-bending hallucinations -- nature's gift, perhaps, to sufferers, who would otherwise have had to watch their limbs fall off in a state of sober despair."
Saunders, p. 141, also mentions that extreme hunger could produce hallucinations. And hunger was of course very common during the Little Ice Age.
Jean Ritchie thinks the song is from a mummer's play and not intended to be understood.
This song merges almost continuously with "Paddy Backwards," and there are probably fragments which might go with either song. - RBW
Broadsides LOCSinging sb30373a and Bodleian Harding B 18(687) are duplicates.
Broadsides LOCSinging sb20153a and Bodleian Harding B 18(214) are duplicates.
Broadsides Bodleian Harding B 18(687) and LOCSinging sb30373a: 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: WB2006
===
NAME: Nottingham Fair: see Nottamun Town (File: WB2006)
===
NAME: Nottinghamshire Poacher, The 
DESCRIPTION: The poacher goes out with his dogs to hunt. (One of his dogs is wounded, but) he catches a deer and takes it to a butcher to skin. When he attempts to sell the meat, he is arrested and tried, but finally set free. He vows to continue poaching
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(311b))
KEYWORDS: dog poaching trial accusation revenge animal judge
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Eddy 53, "Thornymuir Fields" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 259, "The Old Fat Buck" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 96, "Thornaby Woods" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST E053 (Full)
Roud #222
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs, "Thorneymoor Woods" (on Briggs2, Briggs3)
Jasper Smith, "Thornymoor Park" (on Voice18)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(311b), "Thorney Moor Wood" ("In Thorney moor woods in Nottinghamshire"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(3803), Firth c.19(58), "Thorney Moor Wood"; Harding B 25(1898), "Thorney-moor Woods"; Harding B 11(2692), Firth b.34(206), "The Lads of Thorney Moor Wood"; Johnson Ballads 887, Harding B 28(237), Firth c.19(57), "The Lads of Thorney Moor Woods" 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lincolnshire Poacher" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Thorny Woods
Thornymoor Woods
NOTES: [MacColl and Seeger report that] "Thorneyhaugh-Moor Woods is in the Hundred of Newark, Nottinghamshire, and was once part of Sherwood Forest." - PJS
File: E053
===
NAME: Nova Scotia Sealing Song
DESCRIPTION: In 1894 Director goes sealing, "bound for Yokahama." Before rounding Cape Horn they stop for seals at Staten Island where "for eighteen days we were hove to." They make Cape Flattery in sixty days. Now they are in Victoria waiting to finish the voyage.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: hunting sea ship shore ordeal sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 200, "Nova Scotia Sealing Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2720
NOTES: Staten Island is Isla de los Estados, east of the Argentinian part of Tierra del Fuego. Cape Flattery is on the northwest coast of Washington state across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island; Victoria is on Vancouver Island. - BS
File: CrMa200
===
NAME: Nova Scotia Song: see Farewell to Nova Scotia (File: FJ044)
===
NAME: November Keady Fair
DESCRIPTION: The singer takes his nanny goat to the November fair at Keady. He sells her for half-a-crown. "She was nineteen times at Jim's auld buck." Now that she's gone he'll miss her wagging tail, her nipping kale in the garden, and their rows at the fireside.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: nonballad animal separation
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 56, "November Keady Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5311
NOTES: Keady is in County Armagh. - BS
The Irish had a rule that a young man could not marry until he had land -- a fairly effective means of population control, since it resulted in a lot of late marriage. It's one reason there are so many songs about lonely young Irishmen out looking for girls. Makes you wonder if this guy didn't come up with a substitute....
The rows at the fireside are also not unreasonable. By the mid-nineteenth century, especially in Connaught, the land had been subdivided into so many small holdings that those who were relatively fortunate enough to own an animal would perforce keep it with them in their hovel (often little more than a sod shack). Pigs were more often kept than goats, from what I've read, but obviously goats were possible too. Though, in that context, it would be unlikely that the house would have kale; all land would go to potatoes. - RBW
File: McB1056
===
NAME: Now Go and Leave Me If You Wish: see Dear Companion (The Broken Heart; Go and Leave Me If You Wish To, Fond Affection) (File: R755)
===
NAME: Now I Am a Big Boy
DESCRIPTION: "When I was a little boy My mother kept me in, But now I am a big boy, Fit to serve the king." "I can fire a musket, I can smoke a pipe, I can kiss a big girl At ten o'clock at night."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1842 (Halliwell, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: youth mother family
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 358, "Now I Am a Big Boy" (2 texts, both fragmentary, and the "A" text appears to be "Shady Grove")
Opie-Oxford2 73, "When I was a little boy" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose, p. 27, note 5, "(When I was a little boy)"
Roud #7623
File: R358
===
NAME: Now I Am a Big Boy (II): see Shady Grove (File: SKE57)
===
NAME: Now Our Meeting Is Over
DESCRIPTION: "Fathers, now our meeting is over; Fathers, we must part. And if I never see you any more, I'll love you in my heart. And we'll land on shore, Yes, we'll land on shore, We will land on shore, And be saved forevermore." Repeat with mothers, brothers, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad family
FOUND_IN: US(MA,SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Warner 84, "Fathers, Now Our Meeting Is Over" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 571, "Now Our Meeting's Over" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MEETOVER
Roud #5716
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "Meeting Is Over" (on Chandler01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "There Is No Place in the Height of Heaven" (floating lyrics)
File: Wa084
===
NAME: Now the War Is Over (Mussolini's Dead)
DESCRIPTION: The text: "Now the war is over, Mussolini's dead, He wants to go to heaven with a crown upon his head, The Lord says no, he's got to stay below, All dressed up and no where to go."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (on Lomax collection)
KEYWORDS: death war humorous political religious gods
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1945 - Death of Mussolini
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, WAROVR
ST DTwarovr (Full)
Roud #12945
RECORDINGS:
Scottish children, "Now the War is Over" (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743)
NOTES: Well, it's a narrative, and it was collected from folk tradition, so what more do you want? Pity we don't have a keyword for rope-jumping songs. - PJS
Mussolini was deposed as Duce of Italy in 1943 (following the Allied invasion, in a staged coup which induced him to resign), but was "liberated" by German commandos led by Otto Skorzeny. He then set up a puppet republic in the north of Italy -- but the key word is "puppet"; he was purely and simply a German tool. (And there is reason to think he didn't like it much.)
In April, 1945, as the German resistance crumbled, the former il Duce was caught by Italian partisans, "tried," and executed. It's rather unfair that this song picks on him, rather than Hitler, who died just weeks later; Mussolini brooked no opposition, but he didn't build any concentration camps, either.
The explanation may lie in the composition of the British army: There were probably more Scots, proportionally, in Italy than on any other front. The North African army was disproportionately  composed of Commonwealth forces, while the "British" force in Normandy eventually consisted of one Canadian and one British army. The British army in Italy had probably the highest proportion of home-grown units, including Scots.
Murray Shoolbraid notes that this is an update of a World War I rhyme in which the Kaiser is the intended victim:
When the war is over and the Kaiser's deid
He's no gaun tae Heaven wi' the eagle on 'is heid,
For the Lord says No! He'll have tae go below,
For he's all dressed up and nowhere tae go.
That version probably didn't endure as well, for the simple reason that the Kaiser survived World War I; he didn't die until 1941. - RBW
File: DTwarovr
===
NAME: Now the Winter Is Past: see Queen of the May (File: SWMS190)
===
NAME: Now, My Bonny, Bonny Boy: see The Bonny Boy (I) (File: FSC037)
===
NAME: Now, Wullie was as Nice a Lad: see Willie Was As Fine a Sailor (File: MaWi101)
===
NAME: Number Nine: see The Wreck of Number Nine [Laws G26] (File: LG26)
===
NAME: Number Ninety-Nine: see Jinny Go Round and Around (File: R272)
===
NAME: Number Twelve Train
DESCRIPTION: "Number Twelve train took my baby, I could not keep from cryin'. (x2)" The singer's woman left him; he grieves so much he thinks he is dying. He vows that his next girl "will have to do what poppa say."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: love abandonment loneliness
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 81, "Number Twelve Train" (1 text)
File: FSWB081A
===
NAME: Numerella Shore, The: see The Eumerella Shore (File: MA155)
===
NAME: Nurse Pinched the Baby, The
DESCRIPTION: When the nurse pinches the baby, "Mother [goes] down to the beer saloon to pray." When she catches "the rage from Doctor Dye-O," the same thing happens
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: drink baby humorous
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Eddy 137, "The Nurse Pinched the Baby" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST E137 (Full)
Roud #5337
NOTES: Agnes Amelia Ransom Burton (died 1969) reported that she learned this song from her father before 1900, which is the earliest mention of the song from tradition. Although it isn't very evident from Eddy's fragment, it appears to be a mock temperance song. - RBW
File: E137
===
NAME: Nut-Brown Maid, The
DESCRIPTION: The man claims that women, given the chance, are never true. The woman cites the case of the Nut-brown Maid. They play through the story. The woman will follow her man, even to the greenwood, and will fight for him, etc. The ballad ends by praising women
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1707 ("The Muses Mercury"); earlier found in Arnold's "Chronicle" of c. 1521 and in Richard Hill's manuscript (Balliol Coll. Oxf. 354) before 1537
KEYWORDS: infidelity love dialog outlaw
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 31-47, "The Not-Browne Maid" (1 text)
OBB 69, "The Nut-Brown Maid" (1 text)
ST OBB069 (Partial)
NOTES: Given its elaborate stanzaic structure, regular alternation of speakers, and elaborately formal language, it seems clear that this should be accounted a literary rather than a folk production. I know of no version in oral tradition.
A parody of this song, "The New Nutbrowne Maid," occurs as early as 1520. Obviously this makes the original even older. The earliest date depends on the age of Arnold's _Chronicle_, which is undated. The latest date I have seen is the 1521 date cited above. Garnett and Gosse's _English Literature: An Illustrated Record_, which prints a facsimile, dates the _Chronicle_ to 1502/3.
Garnett is also quite effusive about the merits of the piece, but adds that "One famous ballad stands out prominently from the rest as being, so far as is known, the invention of the anonymous writer. It is _The Nut Brown Maid_...." The only anonymous ballad? Uh-huh.
Percy's version, from what I can tell, appears to come from the _Chronicle_ text, only with several of Percy's pet archaizing tricks (he did at least improve the punctuation to something resembling sense). - RBW
File: OBB069
===
NAME: Nutting Girl, The
DESCRIPTION: A young girl goes out to gather nuts. A farmer stops plowing and begins to sing. The girl hears his sweet voice, and "what nuts she had got, poor girl, she threw them all away." They lie together, then go their ways. The song warns girls against dallying
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1895; tune 1792 (Bunting)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction music harvest farming sex pregnancy
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 186, "The Nutting Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 214-215, "The Nutting Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, NUTGIRL*
Roud #509
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "A Nutting We Will Go" [incomplete] (AFS 4200 A2, 1938; in AMMEM/Cowell)
NOTES: The recording lists "Our Goodman" as an alternate title for Ford's recording, but "Our Goodman" it ain't. - PJS
File: K186
===
NAME: Nutting Maid, The: see The Nutting Girl (File: K186)
===
NAME: O A Iu, Nach Till Thu Dhomnaill (O A Iu, Will You Not Return?)
DESCRIPTION: Gaelic. The singer meets Donald while traversing the moors. They flirt, "he threatened to tear my chemise to shreds.... That was not what you promised me ... a ceremony of marriage."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting promise accusation worksong
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 178-179, "Gaelic Milling Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The description is based on the translation of Creighton/MacLeod 69 in _Gaelic Songs in Nova Scotia_ which is the same Gaelic text as Creighton-Maritime. Creighton/MacLeod: "There is a more complete version of this song in Craig's 'Orain Luaidh,' p. 66."
Creighton explains "this is a work song, used for milling, or shrinking, cloth." - BS
File: CrMS178
===
NAME: O Adam
DESCRIPTION: Dialog, in which Eve convinces Adam to eat the tree of knowledge. God orders them out of the garden. They lament, and hope to work their way back to Heaven
AUTHOR: W. W. Phelps
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Times and Seasons)
KEYWORDS: religious dialog punishment
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 455-456, "O Adam" (1 text)
Roud #7834
NOTES: The story of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden occupies Genesis 3.
Belden (who calls this a "mystery play") notes that the ending of this song is "curiously unbiblical," and links it with Mormon doctrine. That it is Mormon there is no doubt, and it is true that there is no evidence in Genesis that humans can ever return to the Garden (in ordinary Christian theology this is a form of the Pelagian heresy). But I've seen equally non-biblical statements in hymns used by most Protestant denominations. - RBW
File: Beld455
===
NAME: O Blessed Lord
DESCRIPTION: "O blessed Lord, in the way thou hast gone, Lead him straight to that land above. Give him cheer everywhere to the sad and the low. Fill my way every day with love...." The singer prays for love, help, hope, and guidance
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 98, "O Blessed Lord" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16940
NOTES: I suspect this of being an "occasional" item (though I vacillate between thinking it's for a baptism and for a funeral). But I can't prove it. - RBW
File: ChFRA098
===
NAME: O Brothers, Don't Get Weary
DESCRIPTION: "O Brothers, don't get weary (x3), We're waiting for the Lord. We'll land on Canaan's shore (x2), When we land on Canaan's shore, We'll meet forevermore."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 95, "O Brothers, Don't Get Weary" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12051
File: AWG095A
===
NAME: O Bud
DESCRIPTION: "I don't like no farmer's rule, says, 'Get up in the morning With the dog-goned mule.' Oh Bud, Bud, Bud, Bud, O Bud." "I'm going up the maple, Coming down the pine, Looking for a woman Got a rambling mind."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 175, "O Bud" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa175 (Partial)
Roud #7491
File: Wa175
===
NAME: O Bury Me Beneath the Weeping Willow: see Bury Me Beneath the Willow (File: R747)
===
NAME: O Canada!
DESCRIPTION: "O Canada! Terres de nos aieux...." "O Canada! Our home and native land." Both French and English versions praise the beauties and freedoms enjoyed by Canada, the "true North."
AUTHOR: French Words: A. B. Routhier / Music: Calixa Lavalee / English Words: Dr. R. Stanley Weir
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880 (English words composed 1908)
KEYWORDS: Canada patriotic nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Canada
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 114-116, "O Canada!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 340, "O Canada!" (1 text)
File: FMB114
===
NAME: O Canny an' Cute Men Ye'll Meet by the Dee
DESCRIPTION: "O canny an' cute man ye'll meet by the Dee An brave men an' blythe men on Don there may be But the lads o' auld Ythin o'er a' bear the gree An the blythest are they that lives nearest the sea"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: pride nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 516, "O Canny an' Cute Men Ye'll Meet by the Dee" (1 text)
Roud #6000
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 entry.
The Dee and Don are rivers that flow into the North Sea at Aberdeen. - BS
File: GrD3516
===
NAME: O Daniel
DESCRIPTION: "You call yourself church member, You hold your head so high, You praise God with your glitt'ring tongue, But you leave all your heart behind. O my Lord delivered Daniel, O Daniel... O why not deliver me?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 94, "O Daniel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12050
File: AWG094B
===
NAME: O David
DESCRIPTION: "O David, yes, yes, My little David, yes, yes, And he killed Goliath...." "My little David... Was a shepherd's boy...." "He killed Goliath... And he shouted for joy...." "O David... Play on, David...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 204-207, "David, David, Yes, Yes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 130, "O David" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6683
NOTES: The story of David and Goliath (actually *two* stories, carefully blended together, in one of which David is Saul's aide/court musician and in another he is a shepherd visiting the battle) is found in 1 Samuel 17. - RBW
File: LoF250
===
NAME: O Du Glade Sjoman (O Ye Merry Seamen)
DESCRIPTION: Swedish shanty. Verses are of contented sailors sailing out with fond farewells to their sweethearts, and of the faith they have in their ship to bring them home again. Each stanza is repeated as a chorus.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sternvall, _Sang under Segel_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty sailor farewell
FOUND_IN: Sweden
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 493-495, "O Du Glade Sjoman" (2 texts-Swedish & English, 1 tune)
File: Hugi493
===
NAME: O Fathers, It's High TIme You All Are Ready
DESCRIPTION: "O Fathers, it's high time you all are ready, When this world is at an end.... Oh, we do believe in bein' ready (x2), when this world is at an end." Similarly with mothers, brothers, sisters, children
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Granville Gadsey)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 216-217, "O Fathers, It's High Time You All Are Ready" (1 text)
File: MHAp216
===
NAME: O Freedom
DESCRIPTION: Recognized by its praise of freedom and the lines "And before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord and be free." Most versions simply praise freedom; one speaks of the slave's dead mother
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931
KEYWORDS: religious freedom slave slavery mother death nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 239-240, "Oh, Freedom!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, p. 33, "Oh Freedom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 108, "O Freedom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 354, "O Freedom" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 295, "Oh Freedom" (1 text)
DT, OHFREEDM
Roud #10073
RECORDINGS:
John Handcock, "No More Mourning (Oh Freedom)" (AFS 3238 A1, 3238 A2, 1937)
Montgomery Gospel Trio, "I'm So Glad" [medley of that song -- 'I'm so glad I'm fighting for my rights' --  and "O Freedom"] (on WeShall1, DownHome)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Free Slave"
File: LxU108
===
NAME: O Gin That I Were Mairrit
DESCRIPTION: "I'm now a lass of thirty-three, As clever a hizzie as ye'll see, And feint a ane a'er courtit me...." "(O gin that I were mairrit, mairrit, mairrit... I raley would do weel, O." The old maid lists her property and describes her skills
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: age loneliness marriage dowry clothes nonballad oldmaid
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 39-40, "O Gin That I Were Mairrit" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3786
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wonder When I Shall Be Married" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Old Maid's Song (I)" and references there
NOTES: This, to me, feels so close to "I Wonder When I Shall Be Married" that I thought seriously about lumping them. But while the feeling is exactly the same, there aren't many words in common, and the ones that are are the sort you almost have to use in songs like this. - RBW
File: Ord040
===
NAME: O God, Our Help in Ages Past
DESCRIPTION: "O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast And our eternal home!" The singer hopes for help and protection from God, who has existed since before the world came to be
AUTHOR: Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748) / Music: Credited to William Croft (1678-1727)
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), p. 35, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #17837
File: BdOGOHIA
===
NAME: O Hard Fortune: see Kind Fortune (File: KaNew074)
===
NAME: O I Believe in Jesus: see I Belong to that Band (File: Br3583)
===
NAME: O I Hae Seen the Roses Blaw
DESCRIPTION: "O, I hae seen the roses blaw, The heather bloom, the broom and a'... Yet Mary's sweeter on the green...." The singer praises the girl, wishes he could win her, says he would love anywhere she is, and declares he will wander till she loves him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: love rejection
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 16-17, "Oh! I Ha'e Seen the Roses Blaw" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR016 (Partial)
Roud #2617
File: StoR016
===
NAME: O I Shall Have Wings
DESCRIPTION: "O I shall have wings, beautiful wings, I shall have wings some day, Bright wings of love from God above, Carry my soul away." "O hallelujah to the lamb, I shall have wings someday, Jesus made me what I am...." The singer looks forward to heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 93, "The Good Old Way" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16938
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Good Old Way (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: It is perhaps worth noting that nowhere in the Bible are angels promised wings; indeed, the word "wing" occurs only five times in the New Testament (it's more common in the Old Testament, but usually is used either of birds' wings or in a metaphorical sense). - RBW
File: ChFRA093
===
NAME: O Janet Bring Me Ben My Sunday Coat
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks that Janet bring his fine clothes, boots, "cutty pipe," and "snuffy boxes" for his appearance at the House of Lords, "the father o' the taxes." She says "Ye'll be lookin' like mortality Come out amon' the grave stanes"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: travel clothes dialog nonballad nobility
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 502, "O Janet Bring Me Ben My Sunday Coat" (1 text)
Roud #5987
NOTES: I have to think this is a reference to some political event. But with so little to go on, it's hard to imagine what. - RBW
File: GrD3502
===
NAME: O Johnnie, My Man: see Farewell to Whisky (Johnny My Man) (File: K272)
===
NAME: O Johnny Come to Hilo: see Johnny Walk Along to Hilo (File: Doe072a)
===
NAME: O Johnny Dear, Why Did You Go?: see Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)
===
NAME: O Kings
DESCRIPTION: "O Kings, you've heard the sequel Of what we now describe; It isn't just and equal To tax this wealthy tribe."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: money nonballad royalty
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, p. 195, "O Kings" (1 fragment, fourth of seven "Quatrains on the War")
ST Fus196D (Full)
File: Fus196D
===
NAME: O Lillie, O Lillie: see Rye Whiskey; also The Rebel Soldier (File: R405)
===
NAME: O Little Town of Bethlehem
DESCRIPTION: The quiet little town of Bethlehem is described, with the note that "the everlasting light" shines in its streets. The song describes the reactions of those who know of the event, and prays for the help of the holy child
AUTHOR: Words: Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1874 ("The Church Porch")
KEYWORDS: Christmas religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US Britain
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
OBC 138, "O Little Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 378, "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 402, "O Little Town of Bethlehem!"
DT, LTTLTOWN*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), p. 132-133, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #55, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (1 text)
NOTES: This poem is sung to different tunes in Britain and America.The American tune is by Lewis H. Redner (1830-1908), but in Britain it is usually sung to "The Ploughboy's Dream" ("Forest Green"). There is a third tune by Walford Davies, rarely sung in Britain and hardly at all in America.
Philiips Brooks was most noted as a preacher; he had several volumes of sermons published. Of his poems, only four are mentioned in _Granger's Index to Poetry_, and this is the only one to be widely reprinted.
Bradley notes that Brooks was one of the few hymnwriters to actually visit the holy land. - RBW
File: FSWB378B
===
NAME: O Logie O Buchan: see Logie o Buchan (File: SWMS197)
===
NAME: O Lord, Won't You Come by Here?: see Come by Here (File: Br3621)
===
NAME: O Lulu: see O, Lula! (File: LxU077)
===
NAME: O Madam, I Have a Fine Little Horse: see The Courting Case (File: R361)
===
NAME: O Mary, Come Down!
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, though just barely, really more of a call-out. "Oh Mary, come down with your bunch of roses, come down when I call, oh Mary. Oh Mary come down!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hugill, p. 368, "O Mary, Come Down!" (1 short text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 277]
Harlow p. 29, "A Sing Out" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #9165
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Blood Red Roses" (lyrics)
NOTES: The text of this looks very like a fragment of "Come Down You Roses/Blood Red Roses." But the tune looks different, and there is no chorus, and the purpose is different. Susan Lawlor split them, and I am very tentatively going along. - RBW
File: Hugi368
===
NAME: O Mither! Ony Body
DESCRIPTION: A girl would "rather lie through life my lane Than cuddle wi' a weaver." But a weaver is her only offer though she tries everything "that some ane might come to her aid." Failing at all she takes the weaver: "Sma' fish are better far than nane"
AUTHOR: Alexander Rodger (1784-1846) (source: Whistle-Binkie)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846 (_Whistle-Binkie_)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage rejection weaving
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan3 478, "O, Mither, Onybody!" (1 fragment)
ADDITIONAL: Whistle-Binkie [, First Series] (Glasgow, 1846), pp. 57-58, "O Mither! Ony Body"; also Whistle-Binkie, (Glasgow, 1878), Vol I, pp. 128-129, "O Mither! Ony Body"
Roud #5973
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sir Alexander McDonald's Reel" (tune, per Whistle-Binkie)
NOTES: The description follows Whistle-Binkie.
Apparently broadside Bodleian, 2806 c.11(180), "O Mither! Ony body" ("O mither, ony body!"), The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1865 "To the tune of: Sir Alexander McDonald's reel," is this song but I could not download and verify it. Fortunately, a readable image of the same broadside is available as reference GC 398.5 GLA at  "Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection" at The Glasgow Story site. - BS
File: GrD3478
===
NAME: O Mither! Onybody: see O Mither! Ony Body (File: GrD3478)
===
NAME: O Muckle Deil Fat Has Come o' Ye
DESCRIPTION: Devil take the thieves that steal our strays. Take them immediately to Hell for they might find the exit gate from purgatory. The singer offers the Devil "guid whisky" to "take the villains frae our sight" whoever they are (Donald Boutcher?)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: theft farming humorous nonballad animal Devil
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 676, "O Muckle Deil Fat Has Come o' Ye" (1 text)
Roud #6100
File: GrD3676
===
NAME: O My Bonny Highland Laddie: see The Tartan Plaidy (O My Bonnie Highland Laddie) (File: BrAPS495)
===
NAME: O My Honey, Take Me Back
DESCRIPTION: "O my honey, take me back, O my dahlin', I'll be true. I am moanin' all day long; O my honey, I love you." "I have loved you in joy and pain, In de sunshine and de rain, O my honey, heah me do, O my dahlin', I love you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 239, "O My Honey, Take Me Back" (1 short text, 1 tune)
File: San239
===
NAME: O Naaman: see Go Wash in the Beautiful Stream (File: Br3575)
===
NAME: O No, John: see No, John, No (File: R385)
===
NAME: O potent ally Glendronach: see Glendronach (File: GrD3570)
===
NAME: O Sally, My Dear: see Hares on the Mountain (File: ShH63)
===
NAME: O Shepherd, O Shepherd
DESCRIPTION: Shepherd's wife offers a breakfast of bacon and beans if he will come home; he refuses, he must tend his sheep. She offers a dinner of pudding and beef, then a supper of bread and cheese. Finally she offers clean sheets and a pretty lass. He accepts.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: marriage sex food dialog humorous wife shepherd
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland,England(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 74-75, "O Shepherd, O Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SHEPWILD SHEPWIFE (cf. the notes to BONSTJON)
Roud #1055
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Greensleeves" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Bonnie Saint John (DT, BONSTJON)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Shepherd, O Shepherd
NOTES: This seems to exist in two forms, "O Shepherd O Shepherd" and "The Shepherd's Wife." The two have identical plots, but the latter -- at least as recorded by Gordeanna McCulloch, based on the version in Herd -- *feels* much bawdier, as well as more fun. (Anne Gilchrist thinks it may be derived from a singing game, and it does have rather that feel.)
The distinction is so strong that I thought of calling them separate songs, but I can't imagine a clear dividing line.
The tune of the "O Shepherd O Shepherd" versions is described as a "modal version of Greensleeves." This is a bit strong; the tune has been altered in more ways than the simple removal of accidentals. - RBW
File: VWL074
===
NAME: O Shout Away
DESCRIPTION: "O shout (2), O shout away, And don't you mind, And glory, glory, glory in my soul. And when 'twas night I thought 'twas day, I thought I'd play my soul away...." "O Satan told me not to play,..." "And everywhere I went to pray,.. something was in my way"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Devil
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 71, "O Shout Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12030
File: AWG071
===
NAME: O Tannenbaum (Oh Christmas Tree)
DESCRIPTION: German Christmas song, known in English as "Oh Christmas Tree." In praise of the evergreen's ability to keep its needles all year long: "O tannenbaum, o tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine blatter...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1799 (tune, "Melodien zum Mildheimischen Liederbuche"; lyrics published 1820)
KEYWORDS: Christmas nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Germany
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 374, "Oh Tannenbaum (Oh Christmas Tree)" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 355-357, "Maryland, My Maryland -- (O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!; Lauriger Horatius)"
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #56, "O Tannenbaum" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Maryland! My Maryland" (tune)
cf. "Chamber Lye" (tune)
cf. "The Kinkaiders" (tune)
cf. "General Lee's Wooing" (tune)
cf. "Mule" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Maryland! My Maryland (File: RJ19130)
Chamber Lye (File: RL659)
The Kinkaiders (File: San278)
General Lee's Wooing (File: SBoA233)
Lutefisk, O Lutefisk (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 20)
O Tom the Toad (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 50)
P.S. 52 (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 102)
National Embalming School (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 125)
New Mexico, We Love You (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 251)
Mule (File: MHAp225)
NOTES: Ian Bradley, in _The Penguin Book of Carols_, attributes the "O Tannenbaum" words to Ernst Anschutz in 1824, but Fuld offers the 1820 date, and I'm more inclined to trust him. - RBW
File: FSWB374B
===
NAME: O the Bonny Fisher Lad
DESCRIPTION: "O, the bonny fisher lad That brings the fishes frae the sea; O, the bonny fisher lad, The fisher lad gat haud o' me." The youth lives in Bamboroughshire; the singer met him while gathering cockles. She vows she will have the fisher lad
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, p. 103, "O the Bonny Fisher Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR103 (Full)
Roud #3150
File: StoR103
===
NAME: O the Oak, and the Ash, and the Bonny Ivy Tree: see A North Country Maid; also Ambletown, Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43B)
===
NAME: O Ugie Tho Nae Classic Stream
DESCRIPTION: The singer praises Ugie "tho nae a classic stream" and "hast nane to gar thee glide Amang the rivers sung wi' pride"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: pride river nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 517, "O Ugie Tho Nae Classic Stream" (1 text)
Roud #6001
NOTES: "The River Ugie (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Uigidh) or Ugie Water is a river in Scotland. Located in the north east, it flows into the North Sea on the east coast at Peterhead, a little north of Aberdeen" (Source: Wikipedia article _River Ugie_ ). - BS
File: GrD3517
===
NAME: O Waly Waly: see Waly Waly (The Water is Wide) (File: K149)
===
NAME: O Wha's at the Window
DESCRIPTION: Jamie Glen has come sixteen miles to take Jeannie away. "There is mirth on the green an the ha There's fiddling an flinging an dancing an singin Bit the bride's father's gravest ava" because "she'll aye be awa." It seems the wedding will go on.
AUTHOR: words by A. Carlisle, music by R.A. Smith (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: wedding dancing music father
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 612, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "O Wha's at the Window" (1 text, 1 tune) 
Roud #2590
File: GrD3612
===
NAME: O What a Parish (The Parish of Dunkeld)
DESCRIPTION: "O what a parish, a terrible parish, O what a parish is that o' Dunkeld, They hangit their minister...." After rebelling against the organized church, the people turn the site into a meeting place; the singer wishes that all parishes saw such fellowship
AUTHOR: Adam Crawford ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: clergy humorous execution friend party
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 217-218, "O What a Parish" (1 text)
DT, PARDUNK*
Roud #13081
NOTES: Ford suspects that this song was originally written not of Dunkeld but of Kinkell, where he claims events similar to this actually took place. He offers no dates, however. - RBW
File: FVS217
===
NAME: O Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone
DESCRIPTION: "Oh where Oh where is my little dog gone, Oh where Oh where can he be?..." The singer describes the dog, then his tastes... lager beer, the dog, and of course sausage --  but "Dey makes um mit dog und dey makes em mit horse, I guess dey makes em mit he."
AUTHOR: Septimus Winner
EARLIEST_DATE: 1864
KEYWORDS: dog death food humorous
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 57-60, "Der Deitcher's Dog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, p. 29 (fragments filed under "The Orphan Boys")
Opie-Oxford2 139, "Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone?" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #873, p. 326, "(Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone?)"
Fuld-WFM, p. 406, "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone (Zu Lauterbach)"
DT, LITTLDOG*
ST RJ19057 (Full)
RECORDINGS:
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, "Where Has My Little Dog Gone" (Brunswick 187/Vocalion 5183 [as the Hill Billies], 1927)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dunderbeck" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
The Jackarse Eat It on the Way (Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 296-297)
NOTES: Septimus Winner for some reason put his own name on this piece and used the pseudonym Alice Hawthorne for his other hits ("Listen to the Mocking Bird" and "Whispering Hope"). Using the tune of the German song "Lauterbach," ("Zu Lauterbach"; "Zu Lauterbach Hab' Ich Mein Strumpf Verloren"; first published 1847), he created this ode (?) to an unfortunate dog.
"Deitcher" is, I believe, dialect for "German" ("Deutscher"). - RBW
File: RJ19057
===
NAME: O Where Will Ye Be?
DESCRIPTION: "O where will ye be when the first trumpet sounds? O where will ye be when it sounds so loud? When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead?" The singer will be "among the holy," "among the angels," wearing "a royal diadem," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell-FSRA 83, "O Where Will Ye Be?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12344
RECORDINGS:
The Carter Family, "Where Shall I Be?" (Victor Vi-23523, recorded 1930)
NOTES: The imagery here seems to be a bit of a conflation. The "first trumpet" phrase is suggested by Revelation 8:7, but that trumpet brings hail and fire mixed with blood. The trumpet as a symbol of resurrection is more reminiscent of 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
This seems to break up into at least two subfamilies. The Chappell text is a confident boast of salvation. The Carter Family version is much less certain; the singer is worried ("Where shall I be?") and warns of the world's sins.- RBW
File: ChFRA083
===
NAME: O Who Will Play the Silver Whistle?: see The Silver Whistle (File: K009)
===
NAME: O-o-oh, Sistren an' Bred'ren
DESCRIPTION: "O-o-oh, sistren an' bredren, Don't you think it is a sin For to go to peel potatoes An' to cas' away de skin? De skin feeds de pigs, An de pigs feeds you, O-o-oh, sistren an' bredren, Is not dat true?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: food animal
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 189, "O-o-oh, Sistren an' Bred'ren" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: About as close as traditional music gets to an ecology song, when you think about it. - RBW
File: ScaNF189
===
NAME: O, Derry, Derry, Dearie Me
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls Derry in the springtime. He remembers the sights, swimming in the Moyle, wandering among the bogs. Even in London, he smells the peat and the sea; he wishes he were home
AUTHOR: James Warnock
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: homesickness
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H536, p. 209, "Oh, Derry, Derry, Dearie Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Scarborough Settler's Lament" (theme) and references there
File: HHH536
===
NAME: O, Foo Will I Get Hame
DESCRIPTION: Jeannie Deans borrows money to buy a coat for her son but spends it on brandy. She sells her own clothes and the meal at home -- blaming rats and mice -- for drink. She has been shamed at church. She is afraid of falling into the river. "Will I win hame?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad river clothes food animal
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 583, "O, Foo Will I Get Hame" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #3135
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Ask My Feet and Then My Noddle
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 compares this to "I'm Often Drunk, and Seldom Sober" but it shares no verses and one line of the chorus with that song. - BS
File: GrD3583
===
NAME: O, Jeanie Dear
DESCRIPTION: "O, Jeanie dear, the flow'rs, the flow'rs are springing... the lark is winging... And to my ravished ear his wondrous singing Is all of love... and you."  The singer details how nature rejoices in Jeanie -- and he rejoices even more
AUTHOR: Words: Andrew Doey
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love bird nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H545, pp. 225-226, "O, Jeanie Dear" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7974
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Danny Boy (The Londonderry Air)" (tune)
File: HHH545
===
NAME: O, Lula!
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Lula, oh Lord, gal, I want to see you so bad. Gonna see my long-haired baby (x2), Well, I'm goin' 'cross the country To see my long-haired gal." The singer tells how Mr. Treadmill had Mr. Goff pay the boys off; now he is home and happy with his girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Hurston, Mules and Men)
KEYWORDS: train love
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSUSA 77, "O, Lula!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 447, "O Lulu" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Zora Neale Hurston, _Mules and Men_ (New York,1990 (paperback edition of 1935 original)), pp. 261-263, "Going To See My Long-Haired Babe" (with tune)
File: LxU077
===
NAME: O, Waly, Waly (II): see Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)
===
NAME: O! Alle! O!
DESCRIPTION: Wheat-cutting song: "Watch me whet my cradle, O! Alle! O!" "I'll make it beat de beater, O! Alle! O!" "Watch me throw my cradle... I'se been all over Georgia... The storm clouds arising..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (White)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Darling-NAS, pp. 325-326, "O! Alle! O!" (1 text)
File: DarNS325
===
NAME: O! Blarney Castle, My Darling
DESCRIPTION: Freemason Cromwell mounts a battering ram, grape shot, and bullets against Blarney castle. The Irish have bows and arrows. Cromwell "made a dark signal" freezing the defenders. He and his soldiers walk across the lake. He gives Jeffreys the Castle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (_Cork Southern Reporter_, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: battle rebellion magic Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1641-1653 - Irish Confederate Wars (Irish Roman Catholics rebellion against Protestant British settlers) (source: _Irish Confederate Wars_ at Wikipedia)
August 1651 - Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill defeats the Irish at Blarney after the Battle of Knocknaclashy (source: Croker-PopularSongs).
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 144-148, "O! Blarney Castle, My Darling" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "O, Hold Your Tongue, Dear Sally!" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "Upon the allusion made to Oliver Cromwell in the second and sixth verses, it is necessary to remark that, according to the popular belief of the Irish peasant, Cromwell was endowed with supernatural powers; and that the fraternity of Freemasons, which was said to be founded by him, were supposed, from the secrecy and ceremonies obseved by them, to be dabblers in the black art."
Croker-PopularSongs: "The name of Cromwell, although associated both in song and story with the taking of Blarney Castle, is obviously used for that of his partisan, Lord Broghill (afterwards the Earl of Orrery). Cromwell, if indeed he ever was at Blarney, could only have paid it a short and peaceable visit."
Croker-PopularSongs: "The Editor has no doubt that this song, and ['Saint Patrick's Arrival'], came from the same pen." See that song if you are interested in Croker's speculations there. However, Croker notes that the song has been "unceremoniously appropriated by Father Prout [Rev Francis Sylvester Mahony (1804-1866)]." Croker prints alternative verses from Father Prout's version. In both versions the castle is given by Cromwell to Jeffreys but, according to Croker, the Jeffreys family purchased the estate from the crown (source: "Blarney Castle" in _The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 396, Saturday, October 31, 1829_, on the Project Gutenberg site quoting Croker, _Researches in the South of Ireland_) - BS
For some background on the horrors inflicted on Ireland by Cromwell, see "The Wexford Massacre."
The fear and hatred Cromwell inspired is reflected in later Irish culture; mothers would threaten their misbehaving children: if they didn't stop, "Oliver Cromwell will get you." - RBW
File: CrPS144
===
NAME: O! Let My People Go: see Go Down, Moses (File: LxU109)
===
NAME: O! Molly Dear Go Ask Your Mother: see The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: LM04)
===
NAME: O! They Marched Through the Town (The Captain with His Whiskers)
DESCRIPTION: The girl looks out her window as the soldiers march by. Her eye seizes upon the captain, though she conceals this from her parents. Later they meet at the ball. Though the soldiers later depart, the girl hopes that they will soon return with her captain
AUTHOR: Words: Thomas Haynes Bayly / Music: Sidney Nelson ?1926 (Randolph; referred to in song in 1863)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1865 (broadside, LOCSinging sb10059b)
KEYWORDS: courting love soldier
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Warner 69, "The Captain with His Whiskers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 228, "The Captain with His Whiskers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 214-215, "The Captain with His Whiskers" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 228)
GreigDuncan1 87, "The Captain With His Whiskers" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H660, p. 273, "The Captain with His Whiskers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 38, "The Captain with His Whiskers" (1 tune)
DT, CAPTWHSK*
Roud #2735
RECORDINGS:
Aaron Campbell's Mountaineers, "The Captain with his Whiskers" (Chamption 45038, 91935)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(314), "The Captain With His Whiskers" ("As they marched thro' the town with their banners so gay"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1867; also 2806 c.8(256), Firth b.28(5a/b) View 4 of 8, "The Captain With His Whiskers"; Harding B 15(38b), "The Captain With the Whiskers"; Firth c.14(312), "The Captain With His Whiskers, Took a Sly Glance at Me"
LOCSinging, sb10059b, "The Captain With His Whiskers," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 
NOTES: Although the original version of this song makes no mention of facial hair, it is the revised version ("The Captain with His Whiskers") that seems to have captured the popular fancy. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb10059b: 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: Wa069
===
NAME: O! Why Should Old Age So Much Wound Us?
DESCRIPTION: "Why should old age so much wound us?" The singer is happy with his "auld wife sitting by" surrounded by children and grandchildren. They are not wealthy and never had schemes to be wealthy. He hopes their simple home will last the rest of their lives.
AUTHOR: John Skinner (1721-1807) (source: Rogers, _The Modern Scottish Minstrel_, Vol. 1, published by Project Gutenberg)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1809 (Skinner, _Poems_, according to GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: age home nonballad family money
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 548, "The Auld Man's Sang" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #6024
File: GrD3548
===
NAME: O'Brien O'Lin: see Brian O'Lynn (Tom Boleyn) (File: R471)
===
NAME: O'Brien with His High-Water Pants
DESCRIPTION: "My name is OÕBrien from Harlem, I am an Irishman as you may see." As he travels around New York, people observe him and cry out, "There is O'Brien with his high-water pants." He does not seem to notice that he is being teased
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: clothes humorous
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dean, p. 92, "O'Brien with His High-Water Pants" (1 text)
Roud #9573
File: Dean092
===
NAME: O'Donnell Aboo (The Clanconnell War Song)
DESCRIPTION: "Proudly the note of the trumpet is sounding, Loudly the war-cries arise on the gale... On for old Erin -- O'Donnell Aboo!" Tirconnell, and all Ireland, are urged to join O'Donnell in his fight against the English
AUTHOR: Words: Michael Joseph McCann (1824-1883)
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1843 ("The Nation")
KEYWORDS: Ireland patriotic battle rebellion
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1594 - outbreak of war between the Irish of Ulster and the invading English. (England had already conquered most of Ireland and was attempting to enforce Protestantism. At this time Ulster is still independent, and is fighting to remain so.) The next few years see heavy guerilla war, with both sides devastating the others' property. On the whole the Irish have the best of it, as Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, fights the English when he can and carefully buys time (with parleys and even requests for a pardon) when he cannot
1598 - Tyrone and "Red Hugh" O'Donnell, by a pincer movement, defeat the English at Yellow Ford (this is the first major success of Irish arms). Tyrone is able to call on the rest of Ireland to rebel; he is very nearly the de facto King
1599 - Essex leads an army to Ireland. Outmaneuvered by Tyrone (who uses as "scorched earth" policy to starve out the English), he wastes his army on garrisons which Tyrone besieges and defeats piecemeal. Essex, miserably defeated, goes home to England (without permission), bursts in on Elizabeth -- and winds up completely out of favor (so much so that he eventually raises a failed rebellion).
1600- Essex is replaced by Mountjoy, who sets out to isolate the Irish by building strong positions around Ulster. Tyrone's position worsens as Mountjoy's blockade pinches the people who form his power base.
1601 - Battle of Kinsale. Some 4000 Spanish troops had landed in September but let themselves be besieged at Kinsale. Tyrone, O'Donnell, and the Spanish are defeated by the English. O'Donnell (whose over-aggressiveness provoked the action) flees to Spain and abdicates his title to his brother Rory (Ruaidri).
1602 - Rory O'Donnell surrenders in December
1603 - Tyrone makes peace with England (March 30). The English have already destroyed the O'Neills; Tyrone retains only his English title. The English now rule most of Ireland. Rory O'Donnell also becomes an English lord, Earl of Tirconnell.
1607 - Tyrone, Rory O'Donnell and other Irish leaders go into exile (Tyrone had been summoned to London and feared to come). The English seize their lands in Ulster and begin colonization. Later known as the "Flight of the Earls," this was popularly regarded as the end of Irish hopes, though in fact the 1603 capitulation broke the Irish resistance
1608 - O'Doherty's Rebellion. Sir Arthur Chichester, who was responsible for the government of Ulster, had proposed a limited colonization. O'Doherty's revolt was a pinprick, but it convinced London to take over Ulster and suppress the natives.
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
O'Conor, p. 98, "O'Donnell Abu" (1 text)
PGalvin, pp. 12-13, "O'Donnell Aboo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 319, "O'Donnell Aboo" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 34-35, "O'Donnell Abu!!" (1 text; tune on p. 20)
DT, ODNLABU
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 507-508, "O'Donnell Aboo" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "O Donnell Aboo" (on IRClancyMakem03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2769), "O'Donnell Abu," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 b.10(216), "O'Donnell Abu"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(75a), "O'Donnell Aboo!," unknown, c.1875
SAME_TUNE:
New Words to the Tune of "O'Donnel Abu" ("Workers of Ireland, why crouch ye like ravens") (Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 717-718)
NOTES: Zimmermann, p. 112 fn. 100, "According to _The Nation_, 28th January, 1843, "O'Donnell Abu" was meant to be sung to the tune 'Roderick Vick Alpine Dhu' (the 'Boat Song' in Walter Scott's _Lady of the Lake_); it became famous with another tune composed by Joseph Haliday." - BS
First published c. 1843 as "The Clanconnell War Song." The NLScotland site accepts the attribution of the tune to Haliday; few other sources cite a composer.
Robert Gogan, _130 Great Irish Ballads_ (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004) says that "Abu" is shorthand for "Go Bua!" ("to Victory!").
"Red Hugh" O'Donnell's hatred of England was based on a personal experience; as a teenager, the English had gotten him drunk and taken him prisoner. He escaped a few years later (1591), but the unfair imprisonment affected his opinions for the rest of his life (see Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, _A History of Ireland_, pp. 127-128).
The "O'Neill" of the song is Hugh, third Baron of Dungannon and second Earl of Tyrone, one of the greatest Anglo-Irish barons of the time (1551-1616). He became O'Neill in 1593 when his brother Turlough resigned him the position. Prior to that, he had held the barony of Dungannon from 1569 and the Tyrone earldom from 1587 (see Mike Cronin, _A History of Ireland_, p. 56).
Hugh O'Neill cooperated with the English more than this song might imply. He was more comfortable with English than Irish ways, having lived in Kent when his father was murdered by his half-brother Shane O'Neill, who succeeded to most of the O'Neill lands before the English suppressed him (see Terry Golway, _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 17; Fry/Fry, pp. 117, 125). Many historians think he was initially loyal, but the threat to his position (Tudor bureaucracy looked likely to overcome the ancient clan loyalties) eventually pushed him toward rebellion. If the rebellion could be said to have a commander (a debatable point), he was it.
The English grip on Ireland still wasn't strong in the aftermath of the rebellion, which is why Tyrone was permitted to keep his earldom after 1603. But in 1607 he was summoned to London (Cronin, p. 64). Too many Irish chiefs had been summoned to London and never returned. Instead of answering the summons, he fled.
The irony is, until the rebellion, Ulster was almost entirely free of English influence. The Flight of the Earls opened Ulster to settlement -- and of course many immigrants came, mostly from Scotland. So this campaign eventually produced the Troubles that still divide Ireland. Don't ask me why an Irish nationalist would write about this most destructive of Irish failures.
It does reveal something about the typical pattern of Anglo-Irish relations, though: The British solved one problem (a bunch of rebellious noblemen) and created another (the Ulster plantation). - RBW
File: PGa012
===
NAME: O'Donnell Abu: see O'Donnell Aboo (File: PGa012)
===
NAME: O'Donnell the Avenger
DESCRIPTION: Phoenix Park defendants are convicted by informer Carey's testimony. O'Donnell kills Carey on the ship Melrose Castle bound for Africa. O'Donnell is tried for the murder, convicted and executed. "As a martyr for his native land quite bravely he did die"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: betrayal murder trial execution Africa Ireland patriotic
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: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, pp. 27-28, "O'Donnell, the Avenger" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders) and references there
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 62: "The Phoenix Park murders and their judicial sequels struck the popular imagination and were a gold-mine for ballad-writers: some thirty songs were issued on this subject, which was the last great cause to be so extensively commented upon in broadside ballads." - BS
File: OCon027
===
NAME: O'Donovan Rossa's Farewell to Dublin: see Rossa's Farewell to Erin (File: OLoc034)
===
NAME: O'Dooley's First Five O'Clock Tea
DESCRIPTION: "O'Dooley got rich on an aqueduct job And he made a considerable pile." O'Dooley celebrates with a series of parties. Someone spikes the tea at one such event, and mayhem (or at least silliness) follows. O'Dooley vows revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988 (Prairie Home Companion Folk Song Book)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous party
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 29-31, "O'Dooley's First Five O'Clock Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DOOLYTEA*
Roud #12778
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Jubilee" (theme)
NOTES: Traditional? I'm not sure. This sort of drunken-Irishman song was amazingly common, and of course the Pankakes give no source information. - RBW
File: DTdoole
===
NAME: O'er the Crossing
DESCRIPTION: "Bending knees a-aching, Body wracked with pain, I wish I was a child of God, I'd get home by and by. Keep praying, I do believe, We're a long time waging of the crossing."  The singer's mother has been long climbing. Thunder and lightning give warning
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 72, "O'er the Crossing" (1 text, 1 tune plus a variant strain)
Roud #12031
File: AWG072
===
NAME: O'er the Hills and Far Away (I)
DESCRIPTION: (Jocky) the piper "learned to play when he was young," but "the a' tunes that he could play Was o'er the hills and far away." Rejected by Jenny, he laments his fate, declares "I'll never trust a woman more," and intends to spend his life playing the pipes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1706 (Pills to Purge Melancholy)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection music dancing
FOUND_IN: Britain US Australia
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Arnett, p. 17, "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logan, pp. 330-334, "O'er the Hills and Far Away" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 248, "(O'er the Hills and Far Away)" (1 fragment)
Opie-Oxford2 507, "Tom, he was a piper's son" (4 texts)
Opie-Oxford2 509, "Tom, Tom, the piper's son" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #127, p. 105, "(Tom, he was a piper's son)" (a long text starting with this fragment but with a completely different set of verses about animals and people Tom -- or someone -- sees while rambling)
DT, OVRHILL4*
ST Arn017 (Full)
Roud #8460
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Over the Hills So Far Away" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
The Hubble Bubble (Logan, pp. 196-198)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jockey's Lamentation
NOTES: It has been conjectured that this is descended from one or another version of "The Elfin Knight," with which it shares a few scattered lyrics and perhaps a plaintive feeling. But it is more likely that it was inspired by, rather than descended from, the older ballad, as this appears to have been originally a broadside.
Pieces with this name are common; John Gay had one in the Beggar's Opera. This version is characterized by the lines quoted in the description, which seem to show up even in the degenerate forms such as "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" (which appears to be nothing more than a dance tune; compare the Baring-Gould text). - RBW
File: Arn017
===
NAME: O'er the Moor amang the Heather: see Heather Down the Moor (Among the Heather; Down the Moor) (File: HHH177)
===
NAME: O'er the Water to Charlie: see Over the Water to Charlie (File: Lins262)
===
NAME: O'Halloran Road, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer thinks half a century back to "a cold Saint Patrick's Day, With my father and my mother then And children we just numbered ten." He thought they were lost until "I heard my father say, 'Here's the O'Halloran Road! This is the way [home]'"
AUTHOR: Dan Riley
EARLIEST_DATE: 1996 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: home lyric family father travel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 237-239, 252, "The O'Halloran Road" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13993
NOTES: Ives-DullCare: "Gavin's Cross ['And when we came to Gavin's Cross Us children thought that we were lost'] ... is present day Bloomfield Corner ... where the O'Halloran Road branches off from the Western Road." 
Bloomfield Corner is near the north coast of Prince County, Prince Edward Island. - BS
File: IvDC237
===
NAME: O'Houlihan
DESCRIPTION: "One day while walking down the street, I met O'Houlihan." O'Houlihan offers to place a bet on the races for the singer; the horse wins, but O'Houlihan never produces the cash. O'Houlihan finds other ways to bilk the singer. The singer promises revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: gambling trick clothes revenge
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 189-191, "O'Houlihan" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MCB189
===
NAME: O'Reilly from the County Leithrim: see O'Reilly from the County Leitrim (File: HHH580)
===
NAME: O'Reilly from the County Leitrim
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a pretty girl and asks her to marry; she says she prefers to live single. He calls her beautiful, and wishes he had her somewhere else. She turns him down again; he is foolish to ask. He says his heart will break, and leaves
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (Joyce); c.1835 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 340)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection beauty
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H580, pp. 357-358, "Farewell, Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 94, "O'Reilly from the County Leithrim" or "The Phoenix of Erin's Green Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 128, "Young Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4720
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Butcher, "Youghal Harbour" (on IREButcher01)
Mary Delaney, "Phoenix Island" (on IRTravellers01)
Martin Reidy, "O'Reilly from the County Kerry" (on IRClare01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 340, "Young Riley ("As I was walking through the county of Cavan"), Frederick Edwards (London), c.1835; also  2806 b.9(31), "O'Reilly from the Co Cavan" or "The Phoenix of Erius Green Isle," P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; Harding B 26(486), "O'Reilly from the Co. Kerry" or "The Phoenix of Erin's Green Isle"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Peggy Gordon" (lyrics in common with the "Youth and Folly" texts)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
O'Reilly from the County Kerry
When First I Came to County Limerick
NOTES: "O'Reilly from the County Leitrim" shares many lines with "John (George) Riley (II) [Laws N37]." The difference between the ballads is that in this one the man is not the Reilly she has been waiting for for five years so she won't go with him to Pennsylvania.
Maybe this is what Laws N37 points to for "John (George) Riley II": "According to Cox, this is a modified form of the "Young Riley" ballad found on broadsides by Catnach, Such, no. 83, and Fortey, no. 341 (Harvard VI, 186)."
The lyrics of the first four verses of Pete Seeger's "John Riley" on PeteSeeger02 [John (George) Riley (II) [Laws N37]] and Martin Reidy's "O'Reilly from the County Kerry" on IRClare01 are very close. As noted above, the ballad endings are completely different; in the middle, Seeger's Pennsylvania is "Phoenix Island" here.
Mary Delaney's "Phoenix Island" on IRTravellers01 ends with the rejected suitor wishing to witness the girl's funeral and the girl answering that that will not happen.
Also collected and sung by Kevin Mitchell, "O'Reilly from the County Cavan" (on Kevin and Ellen Mitchell, "Have a Drop Mair," Musical Tradition Records MTCD315-6 CD (2001)) - BS
File: HHH580
===
NAME: O'Reilly the Fisherman: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: O'Reilly's Daughter
DESCRIPTION: The narrator "shags" landlord or bartender O'Reilly's daughter, then assaults father, mother or both.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex family mother father homosexuality
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England) Ireland US(Ro,So,SW) New Zealand
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Cray, pp. 101-105, "O'Reilly's Daughter" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 137-140, "One-Eyed Reilly" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Logsdon 53, pp. 249-252, "One-Eyed Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 838, "(One-Eyed Riley)" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment of a raftsman's song, so short that it might be this or something else. The lyrics are different, but the feeling is similar)
Silber-FSWB, p. 172, "Reilly's Daughter" (1 text)
DT, REILLY1*
Roud #1161
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Went Down to New Orleans"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Reilly's Daughter
NOTES: Annotator Legman (pp. 138-139) includes the text of "The Rover," which he dates to 1790, as the forerunner of the modern bawdy ballad. The "C" text in Randolph-Legman I is only coincidentally "One-Eyed Reilly." - EC
This exists in an extremely bowdlerized version [in which the singer wants to "marry" rather than "shag" the daughter, and in which the daughter is the only one to receive his attentions], which was made popular by the Clancy Bros. in the 1960s. The [Silber] entry is that song. - PJS - RBW
Logsdon observes that T. S. Eliot included a verse of this in _The Cocktail Party_.- RBW
File: EM101
===
NAME: O'Ryan (Orion, The Poacher)
DESCRIPTION: "O'Ryan was a man of might when Ireland was a nation." A poacher, he gives a meal to St. Patrick and is promised a place in heaven in return. Told there is good hunting there, he accepts. Now the other constellations fear his shillelagh
AUTHOR: Charles G. Halpine (per O'Conor)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: hunting food humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H823, pp. 58-59, "O'Ryan" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 23-24, "The Poacher" (1 text)
Roud #13364
NOTES: Needless to say, the mythology in this song is distorted  (as is the astronomy, for that matter; Venus, Mars, and Orion follow separate courses. Even so, the author must have known some astronomy, as he mentions "a lion, two bears, a bull, and cancer" among the constellations -- i.e . Leo, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Taurus, and Cancer the crab).
The story of Orion varies according to different sources, but it is generally agreed that the goddess Eos, not Aphrodite, went after him, and in the end it was Artemis who killed him.
The timing is also wrong, even if you allow that "Ireland was [once] a nation" (it wasn't). Saint Patrick was active in the fifth century of the Christian Era, and we have references to Orion as far back as Homer (Iliad xviii.488 mentions his place in the constellations, and Odysseus encounters his spirit in Odyssey xi.572). - RBW
File: HHH823
===
NAME: O'Shaughanesey: see Brakeman on the Train (File: LLab099)
===
NAME: O'Shaughnessy: see Brakeman on the Train (File: LLab099)
===
NAME: Oak and the Ash, The: see A North Country Maid; also Ambletown, Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43B)
===
NAME: Oak Grows Big, The
DESCRIPTION: "The oak grows big, The pine grows tall; You are my choice Among them all."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love playparty
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 231, (second of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
NOTES: Although I don't recognize this and can't find another version, I would bet a good deal that it is part of a singing game. - RBW
File: MHAp231B
===
NAME: Oaks of Jimderia, The: see Long Eddy Waltz, The (File: FSC132)
===
NAME: Oats and Beans
DESCRIPTION: Playparty ."Oats, (peas/and), beans, and barley grow... Do you or I or anyone know... How oats and beans and barley grow." The farmer plants the seed and waits for harvest; young couples marry and must obey each other.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty marriage farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(All), Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Linscott, pp. 46-47, "On the Green Carpet" (1 text, 1 tune, which seems to mix "Green Carpet" and "Oats and Beans)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 84, "(Oats and beans and barley grows)" (1 text)
DT, OATSBEAN (OATSPEAS*)
Roud #1380
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Oats, Peas, Beans
Oats and Beans and Barley Grow
NOTES: Gomme has a table (Volume II, p. 11) showing the distribution of the various crops: Oats, beans, barley, wheat, groats, hops. The second Digital Tradition version comes close to the status of parody. - RBW
File: DToatsbe
===
NAME: Oats and Beans and Barely Grow: see Oats and Beans (File: DToatsbe)
===
NAME: Oats, Peas, Beans: see Oats and Beans (File: DToatsbe)
===
NAME: Ocean Burial, The
DESCRIPTION: The dying sailor speaks of his loved ones and pleads with his shipmates not to be buried at sea. They do it anyway
AUTHOR: Words: Rev. Edwin H. Chapin
EARLIEST_DATE: 1839 (Southern Literary Messenger; set to music 1850)
KEYWORDS: burial death dying sailor
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 162-163, "The Ocean Burial" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 437, "The Ocean Burial" (1 text)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 139-143, "The Ocean Burial" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 55, "The Ocean Burial" (1 text)
BrownII 261, "The Ocean Burial" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 245-248, "The Ocean Burial" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 151-152, "Bury Me Not in the Deep Deep Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Fuld, pp. 396-398, "Oh, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"
ST FR437 (Full)
Roud #3738
RECORDINGS:
Eugene Jemison, "The Ocean Burial" (on Jem01)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1850 470190, "The Ocean Burial," Oliver Ditson (Boston), 1850 (tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" [Laws B2] (rework of this piece)
NOTES: The 1850 sheet music of this piece credits the entire thing to George N. Allen. Since the poem was published under Edwin H. Chapin's name (as "The Ocean Buried!"), this must mean that Allen set the music. Allen's tune, however, is NOT what we know as "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie." Nor is it the related tune Gordon Bok calls the "Texas Song" (see the index entry on "Going to Leave Old Texas (Old Texas, Texas Song, The Cowman's Lament)."
To add to the confusion, Belden lists the author as William H. Sanders, based apparently on Fulton and Trueblood's _Choice Readings_.
The singer Ossian Dodge is reported to have been performing the piece as early as 1845. I have been unable to determine the tune he used.
On the whole, I think we must list the author of the music to this piece as "unknown."
Laws does not include this piece as one of his ballads, but gives a text (from oral tradition!) in NAB, pp. 80-81. - RBW
And just to add to the confusion, see the sheet music for "The Sailor Boy's Grave" in the Lester Levy collection, where the boy asks *not* to be buried on land, but rather "let me sleep 'neath the silent waves/The sea-nymphs watching over me." That is credited to "J. Martin, Esq. (of Clifton)," and carries a date of 1841; it seems to be an "answer song" to "The Ocean Burial," although the latter had apparently not yet been set to music. The tune is not the same as "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie," and is in fact rather dull. - PJS
References for "The Sailor Boy's Grave":
LOCSheet, sm1841 381040, "The Sailor Boy's Grave," F. D. Benteen (Boston), 1841; also sm1841 381050, sm1845 401960, "The Sailor Boy's Grave" (tune)
LOCSinging, as112080, "The Sailor Boy's Grave," Thos. G. Doyle (Baltimore), 19C - BS
File: FR437
===
NAME: Ocean is Wide, The
DESCRIPTION: "The ocean is wide an' you cain't step over it, I love you true, an' you cain't help it." "Sure as the grass grows round the stump, You're my darlin' sugar lump." "The ocean is wide, an' you cain't jump it, If your folks don't like it, they can lump it."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926
KEYWORDS: love playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 580, "The Ocean Is Wide" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 238, (no title) (1 short text, "The ocean is wide, The sea is deep, And in your arms I love to sleep." The form looks different from Randolph's, but with only three lines and a similar theme, I don't see how to split them)
Roud #7669
File: R580
===
NAME: Ocean Queen
DESCRIPTION: Ocean Queen is lost in rough weather in winter on George's Banks. The crew are all drowned. The captain's wife is left alone; "there's fathers, sons, and brothers that drowned in the deep."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: drowning death mourning sea ship storm wreck wife family sailor disaster
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 27, 1851 - The Ocean Queen, out of Gloucester, sinks at George's Bank (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 136, "Ocean Queen" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS136 (Partial)
Roud #1835
NOTES: Although the Northern Shipwrecks Database may have found the original wreck described in this song, there are difficulties. Bruce D. Berman's _Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks_ (Mariner's Press, 1972) does not list the wreck; neither does Kenneth Hudson & Ann Nicholls, _Tragedy on the High Seas_ (A & W Publhers, 1979), though the latter is not intended to be comprehensive.
What's more William Ratigan's _Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals_ (revised edition, Eerdmans, 1977), pp. 196-198, prints a different song (reportedly by Kate Weaver) about the wreck of a ship named _Ocean Queen_ (which, in this case, perishes by fire). But Ratigan says there was no known disaster involving an _Ocean Queen_. Griffith thinks the ship involved was actually the _G. P. Griffith_, which burned (according to Berman, p. 245) with the loss of 286 lives on June 17, 1850 -- almost the same time as the George's Bank wreck, note. One has to think there is confusion in there somewhere -- though more likely involving Ratigan's song than this one.
Incidentally, the name _Ocean Queen_ seems to have been singularly ill-fated (a mariner might perhaps explain this on the grounds that the name would be an offense to the sea goddess); in addition to the ships listed above,  Leonard F. Guttridge, _Mutiny: A History of Naval Insurrection_, (Naval Institute Press, 1992;  use the 2002 Berkley edition), p.120fff., tells of a mailship, the _Ocean Queen_, which suffered an attempted mutiny in 1864 -- nearly the only genuine mutiny in American nautical history. - RBW
File: CrNS136
===
NAME: Och, Och, Eire, O!
DESCRIPTION: The Irish exile misses home and his "native bay." He recalls the races and games at Christmas. The new home is "lonely and drear"; there is no call of the corncrake. He wishes he had a boat to row back home
AUTHOR: English translation by Eleanor Hull
EARLIEST_DATE: 1895 (for the Gaelic version; Gaelic Journal)
KEYWORDS: homesickness emigration
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H819, pp. 219-220, "Och, Och, Eire, O!" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Scarborough Settler's Lament" (theme) and references there
File: HHH819
===
NAME: Ode to Newfoundland
DESCRIPTION: Known by the last verse, "As loved our fathers, so we love, Where once they stood we stand, Their prayer we raise to heav'n above, God guard thee, Newfoundland"
AUTHOR: Words: Sir Cavendish Boyle/Music: C. Hubert H. Parry
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doyle3, p. 7, "Ode to Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, Front-Cover, "The Ode to Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7304
NOTES: "The National Anthem of Newfoundland, written by Sir Cavendish Boyle ... while he was Britain's Governor of Newfoundland between 1901 and 1904 .... First public performance... 1902" [per GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador site] - BS
It should be recalled that, at that time, Newfoundland was not a part of the Dominion of Canada. - RBW
File: Doyl3007
===
NAME: Of All the Birds
DESCRIPTION: "Of all the birds that ever I see, the owle is the fairest in her degree, For all the day she sits in a tree... Te-whit, te-whow, to whom drinks thou... Nose, nose, nose, nose, And who gave thee thy jolly red nose? Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves."
AUTHOR: Thomas Ravenscroft?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1609 (Deuteromelia)
KEYWORDS: bird drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 141-142, "Of All the Birds" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 50, "Of all the gay birds that e'er I did see" (1 text) 
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #248, p. 155, "(Of all the gay birds that e'er I did see"); #138, p. 114, ("Nose, nose, jolly red nose")
DT, ALLBIRDS
Roud #496
NOTES: This piece is a curiosity. Published by Ravenscroft, I've never seen a collection from tradition (Roud lists a couple which I cannot verify). But, in John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont's 1611 play "The Knight of the Burning Pestle," Act I, scene v, lines 45-46, we find Old Merrythought singing,
Nose, nose, jolly red nose,
And who gave thee this jolly red nose?
And in lines 51-52, Merrythought follows this up with
Nutmegs and ginger, cinnamon and cloves;
And they gave me this jolly red nose.
Merrythought's songs, where they can be identified at all, are mostly traditional pieces -- and we note that his words are not identical to Ravenscroft's. Nor is the Baring-Gould text identical. This raises at least the possibility that the song is traditional. So I've include it here.
The real question is the relationship between the stanzas. Ravenscroft includes "Of all the birds" and "Nose, nose, (jolly red) nose" in one item. The Baring-Goulds split them, but based on books more recent than Ravenscroft's. If they are songs at all, are they two joined by Ravenscroft or one split by tradition? - RBW
File: ChWI141
===
NAME: Of All The Gay Birds That E'er I Did See: see Of All the Birds (File: ChWI141)
===
NAME: Off to Epsom Races: see Epsom Races (File: K318)
===
NAME: Off to Sea Once More (I): see Dixie Brown [Laws D7] (File: LD07)
===
NAME: Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie
DESCRIPTION: Singer says that one old woman in the town is lying about her, and wishes the old woman would die. "Been all around this whole round world/I just got back today.... Oh, babe, it ain't no lie (x3), (Know) this life I'm living is very (hard/high)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (recording, Elizabeth Cotten)
KEYWORDS: lie nonballad floatingverses hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 121, "Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 184, "Oh, Babe, It Ain't No Lie" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Elizabeth Cotten, "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie" (on Cotten01)
NOTES: Elizabeth Cotten learned this song from country blues singers around Chapel Hill, NC. - PJS
I would note that the versions I've heard of this piece are very diverse; most seem to consist of floating lyrics (or at least themes) held together by the chorus "Oh babe, it ain't no lie." - RBW
File: CSW121
===
NAME: Oh But I'm Weary
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, but I'm weary, weary waitin'... Oh, mither, gie me a man Will tak this weariness away." The mother suggests a plowman, mason, miller, etc.; the daughter rejects each (e.g. a plowman's wife works too hard); she wants a man who lives "by the pen."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: mother children marriage work
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 150, "Oh, But I'm Weary" (1 text)
Roud #5555
NOTES: One rather suspects this was written by some weedy young poet trying to convince a girl he was a better catch than a more handsome fellow with a lower-class job.
Wish I'd thought of that trick way back when.... - RBW
File: Ord150
===
NAME: Oh California
DESCRIPTION: "I come from Salem City with my washbowl on my knee. I'm going to California The gold dust for to see." A parody of "Oh! Susanna," telling of the sea voyage to San Francisco. The singer of course expects to get rich
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: gold derivative humorous ship travel
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1849 - California gold rush
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 114-117, "I Come from Salem City" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OHCALIF*
Roud #8824
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh! Susanna" (tune)
File: ShaSS114
===
NAME: Oh Charlie, O Charlie: see Charlie, O Charlie (Pitgair) (File: Ord216)
===
NAME: Oh Cruel
DESCRIPTION: "Oh cruel were my parents that stole [imprest?] my love fae me," but he has returned safely. They go to Almeldrum, a poor town of little water, tasteless food, a frail bridge, and a council so down on sin they might let one baby cross but not twins.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3) [but note parodies printed before 1813]
KEYWORDS: courting parting return travel commerce humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan3 513, "Aul' Meldrum Toon" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 324, "Oh Cruel" (1 text, possibly this or perhaps one of the parodies)
Roud #5997
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "For the sub-title and opening stanza, cf. the song 'Cruel was my father' of which Greig received a version from Miss H. Rae." Since that verse is not reproduced in Greig or the Greig-Duncan collection we are left to guess what song that might be. It might be "Riley's Farewell" - though Greig does have that as "John Rylie" - which, in Greig's version includes the lines "Cruel were my parents to persecute my love" [by having him imprest]; that line in, for example, Ashton,_Modern Street Ballads_, "Riley's Farewell" is "Cruel was my father that thought to shoot my love." 
There are different broadside parodies of "Oh Cruel." For example, see
Bodleian, Harding B 17(9a), "The Answer to 'Oh! Cruel'" ("Oh! cruel were my parents that envied our love "), J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Firth c.13(91), Harding B 11(81), "The Answer to 'Oh! Cruel'"
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1396), "Another Oh, Cruel! A sketch of the life of Sammy Simple, a tale, alas too true!" ("O cruel was the serjeant who did my lovey list"), J.K. Pollock (North Shields), 1815-1855
Bodleian, Harding B 11(81), "Oh! Cruel" ("Oh! cruel were my parents, as tore my love from me")["Written and sung by a gentleman (In the Character of a Female Ballad Singer)"], J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Firth c.12(207), Firth c.12(205), 2806 c.18(220), Harding B 11(672), "Oh Cruel!"; Harding B 25(1930), "Tommy Strill"; Johnson Ballads 2304[some lines illegible], "The Answer to Oh! cruel"   
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 250, "Dr. Shuffle" ("Oh! cruel 'twas of you pa, to force this job on me"), G. Stewardson (Norwich), no date
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Old Meldrum (513) is at coordinate (h2-3,v8) on that map [roughly 16 miles NW of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: GrD3513
===
NAME: Oh Death (I): see Death and the Lady (File: ShH22)
===
NAME: Oh Death (II): see Conversation with Death (Oh Death) (File: R663)
===
NAME: Oh Death (III)
DESCRIPTION: Known mostly by the chorus, "(Oh death/Lord), Spare me over till another year." Despite the worries about dying, the singer praises the afterlife; God or Jesus or someone will has "made for me a home in heaven," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: death religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 201-203, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OHDEATH*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Conversation with Death (Oh Death)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Although this shares lyrics with "Conversation with Death (Oh Death)," the feeling is very different. - RBW
File: ThBa201
===
NAME: Oh dem Golden Slippers: see Golden Slippers (File: RJ19144)
===
NAME: Oh Dinna Quarrel the Bairnies
DESCRIPTION: "Oh dinna quarrel the bairnies, try till agree; Be kind to ane anither, be advised by me. Ye'll a 'gree thegither yet in far less room"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: nonballad children
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 671, "Oh Dinna Quarrel the Bairnies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6097
File: GrD3671
===
NAME: Oh Fudge, Tell the Judge
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, fudge, Tell the judge, Mother's got a baby. Oh, joy, It's a boy, Father's nearly crazy."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Mrs. Henry C. Gray, or her maid)
KEYWORDS: mother father baby judge nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 239, (no title) (1 short text)
File: MHAp239C
===
NAME: Oh Judy, Oh Judy
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Judy [Judas], oh Judy, hit's time that I go, I know you will 'tray me though I love you so." Jesus tells Judas to buy food for the poor, but Judas sells Jesus. Jesus condemns Judas for his betrayal
AUTHOR: unknown ("collected" by John Jacob Niles)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961
KEYWORDS: Jesus betrayal death money
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Niles 16C, "Oh Judy, Oh Judy" (1 text, which Niles considers part of Child 23, but this is clearly not the case)
File: Niles16C
===
NAME: Oh Lily, Dear Lily
DESCRIPTION: "My foot is in the stirrup, My bridle's in my hand, I'll go court another And marry if I can. Oh Lily, oh Lily, my Lily fare you well. I'm sorry to leave you, For I love you so well." "So fare you well, (Molly), I'll bid you adieu, I'm ruined forever..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920
KEYWORDS: love separation floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 731, "Oh Lily, Dear Lily" (2 short texts, 1 tune)
BrownII 139, "Sweet Lily" (1 text)
Roud #7583
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. ""The Wagoner's Lad" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell, Sweet Mary" (floating lyrics)
cf. "My Foot Is in the Stirrup"
NOTES: I don't think there is a single line in Randolph's texts that is not paralleled elsewhere. But he treats this as a separate song, and he collected it, so I follow his lead. Similarly the longer version in Brown; the editors give notes about all the various parallels. The possibility must be admitted, however, that this is a worn-down form of something else -- or even that Randolph's two versions, and Brown's one, are separate pieces. - RBW
File: R731
===
NAME: Oh Lord, What a Morning: see When the Stars Begin to Fall (File: LoF237)
===
NAME: Oh Molly, I Can't Say That You're Honest
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Molly, I can't say that you're honest, You've stolen my heart from my breast." "I know that you father is stingy... 'Tis mighty small change that you'll bring me Exceptin' the change of your name." He throws a rock at her window to say he was there
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: love courting father mother humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H82, p. 262, "An Irish Serenade" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 14, "Oh Molly, I Can't Say You're Honest" (1 text)
Roud #6918
File: HHH082
===
NAME: Oh Mother, Take the Wheel Away
DESCRIPTION: "Oh (mother/father), take the (wheel/cow) away And put it out of sight, For I am heavy-hearted And I cannot (spin/milk) tonight." The rest of the song apparently concerns the lover the singer has lost
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation work
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 814, "Oh Mother, Take the Wheel Away" (2 fragments)
Roud #7430
NOTES: This is probably a fragment/remnant of something else -- but Randolph's texts are so fragmentary that we cannot tell what. - RBW
File: R814
===
NAME: Oh My Comrades You Must Know: see The Sailor's New Leg (File: GrD1147)
===
NAME: Oh My Darling Clementine: see Clementine (File: RJ19148)
===
NAME: Oh My Little Darling
DESCRIPTION: "Oh my little darling, don't you weep and cry/Some sweet day a-coming, marry you and I" "Oh my little darling, don't you weep and moan/Some sweet day a-coming, take my baby home" "Up and down the railroad, 'cross the county line..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (recorded from Thaddeus C. Willingham)
KEYWORDS: grief loneliness courting love marriage reunion separation dancetune nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Thaddeus C. Willingham, "Oh My Little Darling" (on AFS 3115 B1, 1939)
Mike Seeger, "Oh My LIttle Darling" (on MSeeger01)
NOTES: Nonballad, but it's attained sufficient popularity among old-time musicians, beginning with Mike Seeger, to warrant its inclusion. - PJS
File: RcOMLD
===
NAME: Oh the Miller He Stole Corn: see In Good Old Colony Times (File: R112)
===
NAME: Oh Then: see I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male) (File: R365)
===
NAME: Oh Who Will Shoe My Foot?: see Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot (plus related references, e.g. The Lass of Roch Royal [Child 76]) (File: C076A)
===
NAME: Oh Write Me Down, Ye Powers Above: see Come Write Me Down (The Wedding Song) (File: K126)
===
NAME: Oh Ye Young, Ye Gay, Ye Proud
DESCRIPTION: "Oh ye young, ye gay, ye proud, You must die and wear a shroud, Death will rob you of your bloom, He will drag you to the tomb, Then you'll cry I want to be Happy in eternity."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious death
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 639, "Oh Ye Young, Ye Gay, Ye Proud" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7564
File: R639
===
NAME: Oh You Caint Go to Heaven: see Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More (File: R300)
===
NAME: Oh You Who Are Able....
DESCRIPTION: "Oh you who are able go out to the stable And throw down your horses some corn If you don't do it the sergeant will know it And report you to General Van Dorn."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924
KEYWORDS: Civilwar horse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 1862 - Earl Van Dorn appointed to command the Confederate armies in Missouri and Arkansas
Mar 7-8, 1862 - Battle of Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern. Despite superior numbers, Van Dorn cannot dislodge the Federals
Oct 3-4, 1862 - Battle of Corinth. Van Dorn abandons the field after failing to break the Federal line. Although cleared of charges of mismanagement, he is transferred to the cavalry
May 8, 1863 - Murder of Van Dorn, allegedly for seducing the wife of a local resident
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 250, "Oh You Who Are Able..." (1 fragment)
Roud #7716
NOTES: I can't escape the feeling that this song is somehow connected to Earl Van Dorn's reputation as a flashy ladies' man without a great deal of depth or ability (Shelby Foote, _The Civil War: A Narrative; Volume I, Fort Sumter to Perryville_, p. 725, quotes an unnamed senator as saying, "He is the source of all our woes, and disaster, it is prophesied, will attend us as long as he is connected with this army. The atmosphere is dense with horrid narratives of his negligence, whoring, and drunkenness, for the truth of which I cannot vouch; but it is so fastened in the public belief that an acquittal by a court-marshal of angels would not relieve him of the charge." Indeed, Van Dorn would later be murdered by an angry husband who accused him of an affair with his wife. And he lost both of his major battles as an infantry commander, at Pea Ridge and Corinth). But I can't prove the connection based on the fragment I've seen.
Foote also notes, on p. 278, that at one time he had a higher price on his head than General Beauregard, the commander of the attack on Fort Sumter, who was widely regarded as the Great Enemy of the north in late 1861 and early 1862.
Bruce Catton, _Terrible Swift Sword_ (being the second volume of The Centennial History of the Civil War), Doubleday, 1963 (I use the 1976 Pocket Books edition), p. 207, describes his better attributes: "a slim, elegant little soldier with curly hair, charming manners, and a strong taste for fighting. A West Pointer in his early forties, Van Dorn had an excellent record. He had been an Indian fighter of note, with four wounds received in action on the western plains, and he had done well in the Mexican War, taking another wound and winning promotion for gallantry." Catton regards him as very unlucky, however (p. 209).
The _Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War_ (Patricia L. Faust, editor; Harper & Row, 1986; I use the 1991 Harper Collins edition) observes in its entry on Van Dorn that he faced a charge of drunkenness at a court-martial after Corinth, notes that he was "frequently the center of controversy, both for his military tactics and the conduct of his personal life," and says that he "was killed by an irate husband at his headquarters in Spring Hill, Tenn[essee], 7 May 1863."
There is a fragment in Fred W. Allsopp, _Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II_ (1931), p. 227, "It was at the battle of Elkhorn, Van Dorn he lost his hat, And for about a half a mile He laid the bushes flat." I can't identify it with anything else; the mention of the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern might connect it with "The Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, or The Pea Ridge Battle [Laws A12]," or perhaps with one of the General Price songs -- but if I had to guess, I'd guess it goes here; the feeling is right. - RBW
File: R250
===
NAME: Oh, Absalom, My Son: see David's Lamentation (File: FSWB412B)
===
NAME: Oh, Baby, 'Low Me One More Chance
DESCRIPTION: "A burly coon you know Who took his clothes an' go, Come back las' night. But his wife said, 'Honey, I'se done wid coon, I'se gwine to pass for white.'" He promises to reform, to be satisfied with little, even to do the cooking. She does not relent
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: abandonment home rejection
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 275-276, (no title) (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?" (theme)
NOTES: Sort of a "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?" with the gender roles reversed and the proper ending to the piece. - RBW
File: ScNF275B
===
NAME: Oh, Be Ready When the Train Comes In
DESCRIPTION: "We are soldiers in this blessed war, For Jesus we are marching on, With a shout and song." "We are sweeping on to claim the blessed promise... Oh, be ready when the train comes in." Harlots, idolaters, loafers, jokers will not be allowed aboard
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 258, "Oh, Be Ready When the Train Comes In" (1 text)
NOTES: Very little of this is actually Biblical (smoking, e.g., is not mentioned in the Bible, and the Bible isn't entirely unhumorous -- the book of Jonah, e.g., contains many farcical elements). The one fairly clear allusion is to the "land of Beulah" -- a reference to Isaiah 62:4, where the King James version leaves the word beulah -- "married" -- untranslated. - RBW
File: ScaNF258
===
NAME: Oh, Bedad Then, Says I: see I Don't Mind If I Do (File: MA263)
===
NAME: Oh, Brother Will You Meet Me?: see probably The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)
===
NAME: Oh, Captain, Captain, Tell Me True: see The Sailor Boy (I) [Laws K12] (File: LK12)
===
NAME: Oh, Dat Watermilion: see Watermelon on the Vine (File: Br3454)
===
NAME: Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?
DESCRIPTION: "Oh dear, what can the matter be? (x3), Johnny's so long at the fair." Johnny had promised to bring the singer various gifts, such as "blue ribbons... to tie up my bonny brown hair," but he is long in coming
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1792
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain US(SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
BrownIII 122, "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 85, "Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 280, "Johnny shall have a new bonnet" (3 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #158, p. 118, "(Johnny shall have a new bonnet)"
Silber-FSWB, p. 150, "Oh, Dear! What Can the Matter Be"" (1 text)
Fuld-FFM, pp. 398-399, "Oh! Dear, What Can the Matter Be?"
DT, ODEARWHA* ODEARWH2
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #78, "Oh! Dear1" (1 text)
Roud #1279
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(103/104), "Dear! What Can the Matter Be," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(2743), Harding B 11(2743), "Oh! Dear What Can the Matter Be"
LOCSinging, sb10024a, "Bunch of Blue Ribbons," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Sailor Boy (A Sailor Boy in Blue)" (theme)
cf. "Faithless Boney (The Croppies' Complaint)" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Seven Old Ladies (File: EM119)
Faithless Boney (The Croppies' Complaint) (File: Moyl038)
NOTES: Fuld reports this song appearing, almost as if by magic, in sundry editions and manuscripts between 1770 and 1792. None list authors, and few can be dated exactly. The origin of this song, clearly more popular for its tune than its banal lyrics, must therefore remain a mystery. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb10024a: 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: FSWB150B
===
NAME: Oh, Freedom!: see O Freedom (File: LxU108)
===
NAME: Oh, Gin Ye Were Deid, Goodman: see I Wish That You Were Dead, Goodman (File: HHH531)
===
NAME: Oh, Give Me a Hut: see Give Me a Hut (File: MA137)
===
NAME: Oh, Give Me a Hut in My Own Native Land: see Give Me a Hut (File: MA137)
===
NAME: Oh, Hard Fortune!: see Kind Fortune (File: KaNew074)
===
NAME: Oh, Ho, Baby, Take a One On Me!: see Take a Whiff on Me; also perhaps Take a Drink on Me (File: RL130)
===
NAME: Oh, Honey, Where You Been So Long?
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, honey, where you been so long? Oh, honey, where you been so long? 'I been round the bend and I come back again, Oh, honey, where you been so long?" "Oh, honey, where you been so long? (x2) And it's when I return with a ten dollar bill, it's Honey..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonballad return money
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 317, "Oh, Honey, Where You Been So Long?" (1 short text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground" (lyrics)
NOTES: Every word of Brown's text of this is found in "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground," and my first inclination was to include it as a worn-down version of that song. But the notes in Brown say there is a longer version in Gordon, so here it sits. Tentatively. - RBW
File: Br3317
===
NAME: Oh, How He Lied
DESCRIPTION: An "old villain" sits by a girl and smokes his cigar. She plays her guitar. "He told her he loved her but oh how he lied." They agree to marry, "but she up and died." She goes to heaven, he to hell ("sizzle, he fried"), listeners are warned against lies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Joe Foss & his Hungry Sand Lappers)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage music death lie Hell humorous
FOUND_IN: US Australia
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 130-131, "Don't Tell a Lie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 257, "She Sat on Her Hammock" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 31, "Oh, How He Lied" (1 text)
DT, HELIED*
Roud #13621
RECORDINGS:
Joe Foss & his Hungry Sand Lappers, "Oh How She Lied" (Columbia 15268-D, 1928)
Pete Seeger, "Oh How He Lied" (on PeteSeeger31)
NOTES: Meredith/Covell/Brown notes that the tune for this is a waltz by Joseph Franz Karl Lanner. - RBW
File: FSWB031B
===
NAME: Oh, How They Frisk It: see Under the Greenwood Tree (File: ChWIII053)
===
NAME: Oh, I Used to Drink Beer
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I used to drink beer, But I throwed it all away (x3), Oh I used to drink beer, But I throwed it all away, And now I'm free at last." "Oh, I used to chew tobacco." "Oh, I used to love sin." "Oh, I gave hell a shake When I came out de wilderness."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 618, "Oh, I Used To Drink Beer" (1 text)
Roud #11920
NOTES: The real keyword for this song should probably be "obnoxious-unconvincing-moralizer." I don't drink or smoke -- but this is the sort of song that almost makes me wish I did. - RBW
File: Br3618
===
NAME: Oh, I Wish I Were Single Again: see I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again (File: Wa126)
===
NAME: Oh, I'll Never Go With Riley Any More
DESCRIPTION: Singer's friend Riley, just paid, invites him on a spree; they wind up in a fight. Riley punches a policeman; the singer ends up jail. Riley gets killed: "Oh, he thought the wire was dead/But it was full of life instead." Singer won't go with Riley again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (recording, Pat Ford)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer's friend Riley, just paid, invites him on a spree; they wind up in a fight. Riley punches a policeman but the singer, badly bruised, gets put in jail. Riley, meanwhile, gets killed: "Oh, he thought the wire was dead/But it was full of life instead." Singer says he'll never go out with Riley any more
KEYWORDS: fight prison death technology drink injury friend police
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #15473
RECORDINGS:
Pat Ford, "Oh, I'll never go [out] with Riley anymore" (AFS 4211 A3, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
NOTES: The [AMMEM] index includes the word "out" in the title, but the page devoted to the item itself does not. - PJS
File: RcOINGOW
===
NAME: Oh, Johnny, Johnny
DESCRIPTION: A conversation between two former lovers, comprised mostly of floating lyrics. The singer tells Johnny that she loves him; he was the first boy she ever loved. He tells her that she betrayed him, and he now has a new sweetheart. He regrets her infidelity
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H16, pp. 392-393, "Oh Johnny, Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Waly Waly (The Water is Wide)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Fair and Tender Ladies" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Tavern in the Town" (floating lyrics"
NOTES: If one had deliberately set out to create an amalgam of every lost love cliche in folk song, one could hardly do better than this. Without even trying, I observe elements of "Waly, Waly," "Love is Teasing," the "Tavern in the Town" cluster, and "Fair and Tender Ladies," as well as parallels to everything from "Peggy Gordon"  to "Barbara Allen."
I suppose one of these songs is the "original," and all the others simply offered verses to be incorporated into the whole, but at this point there is no telling the original source. - RBW
File: HHH016
===
NAME: Oh, Lawd, How Long: see Oh, Lord, How Long (File: R615)
===
NAME: Oh, Lord, How Long
DESCRIPTION: "Before this time another year, I may be (dead and) gone, Down in some lonesome graveyard, Oh Lord, how long!" "Just as the tree falls, just so it lies; Just as the sinner lives, just so he dies." "My mother broke the ice and gone...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Odette & Ethel)
KEYWORDS: religious death family nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 615, "Oh Lord, How Long!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 586-587, "Oh, Lawd, How Long?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, p. 169, "Oh Lord, How Long?" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R615 (Full)
Roud #7546
RECORDINGS:
Sister L. Brown & congregation "Before This Time, Another Year" (on MuSouth09)
The Chosen Gospel Singers, "Before This Time Another Year" (Specialty 848, n.d.)
Cleveland Simmons and Mr. Taylor, "I May Be Gone" (AAFS 422 A2, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
Odette & Ethel, "Befo' This Time Another Year" (Columbia 14169-D, 1926)
NOTES: This is really a chorus with extra lyrics. Bessie Jones sang a version with irregular lines (interspersed with the phrase "how long"?), which broke into the chorus at random intervals. The Lomax text proceeds in double lines, but of different lengths. Some of the versions are regular. But the song is recognized by the chorus "Before this time another year, I may be gone...." - RBW
File: R615
===
NAME: Oh, Lord, I'se Steppin' HIgher
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Lord, I'se steppin' higher; Doan' let de ladder break. Saint Peter, open up de do' An' gib mah han' a shake!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 619, "Oh, Lord, I'se Steppin' Higher" (1 text)
Roud #11922
File: Br3619
===
NAME: Oh, Lord, Send Us a Blessing
DESCRIPTION: "Oh Lord, send us a blessing, And oh Lord, send us a blessing, And oh Lord, send us a blessing, And send it down today."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 649, "Oh, Lord, Send Us a Blessing" (1 fragment)
Roud #7570
File: R649
===
NAME: Oh, Love is Teasin': see Love is Teasing (File: Rits024)
===
NAME: Oh, Lovely, Come This Way
DESCRIPTION: "I had an old shoe, it had no heel (x3), I looked like a preacher with a mouthful of meal." "Oh, lovely, come this way (x3), Never let the wheels of the church roll away."  Other verses often extravagant and floating, e.g. "Whip old Satan round the stump"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonballad playparty floatingverses devil clothes
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 98, "Oh, Lovely, Come This Way" (1 text)
Roud #8372
NOTES: About half of the verses in Brown are paralleled in the Woodie Brothers recording "Chased Old Satan Through the Door," but as that piece has a different chorus, form, and apparent purpose, I classify them separately. - RBW
File: Br3098
===
NAME: Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep
DESCRIPTION: "If I could I surely would Stand on the rock where Moses stood, Pharaoh's army got drowned, Oh Mary don't you weep." Verses describing the Exodus and how God cares for humanity, with the "Pharaoh's army..." chorus
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (recording, Fisk University Male Quartette)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
BrownIII 545, "Pharaoh's Army" (4 texts, mostly short)
Sandburg, pp. 476-477, "Pharaoh's Army Got Drowned" (1 short text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 200, "Pharaoh's Army Got Drownded" (1 short text, with chorus "Pharaoh's army got drowned In the deep blue sea"; it might be a separate song, but is too short to classify on its own.)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 78, "Oh, Mary Don't You Weep" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 354, "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (1 text)
DT, OHMARY
Roud #11823
RECORDINGS:
Biddleville Quintette, "Pharoah's Army Got Drowned" (QRS 7073, 1929)
Birmingham Jubilee Singers, "Pharoah's Army Got Drowned" (Columbia 14203-D, 1927)
Leo Boswell & Merritt Smith, "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" (Supertone 2825, n.d.)
Fisk University Male Quartette, "O Mary, Don't You Weep, Don't You Mourn" (Columbia A1895, 1915)
Georgia Yellow Hammers, "Mary Don't You Weep" (Victor 20928, 1927)
Morris Family, "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" (Vocalion 5465, 1940)
Richmond Starlight Quartette, "Mary, Don't You Weep" (OKeh, unissued, 1929)
Pete Seeger, "Oh, Mary Don't You Weep" (on PeteSeeger15, 2 versions) (on PeteSeeger17); "Mary Don't You Weep" (on PeteSeeger24);  "O Mary Don't You Weep" (on PeteSeeger26)
Southern Four, "Good News, Chariot's Comin'! and O Mary, Doan You Weep" (Edison 50885, 1921)
Ex-Governor Alf Taylor & his Old Limber Quartet, "Pharoah's Army Got Drownded" (Victor 19451, 1924)
Virginia Female Jubilee Singers, "O Mary, Don't You Weep, Don't You Mourn" (OKeh 4430, 1921)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mary Wore Three Links of Chain" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Can'cha Line 'Em" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Keep Your Hand on the Plow" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Don't You Hear My Hammer Ringing" (lyrics)
cf. "Heaven and Hell" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Lord, I Never Will Come Back Here No Mo'" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Although loosely based on the stories of the Exodus, there is a lot that is non-Biblical here (e.g. there is no reference in the New Testament to Mary ever wearing a chain. The closest reference I can think of is Luke 2:25, where Simeon tells Mary, "A sword will pierce your own soul too").
The reference to the "rock where Moses stood" is, I believe, to Ex. 17:5, where Moses stood on the rock and struck it to bring forth water.
Moses, according to modern interpretations, did not "smite" the Red Sea (or "Sea of Reeds"), but in Ex. 14:15 he may have stretched the staff over the sea (in Ex. 14:21, 26-27 he simply "stretched his hand over the sea"; it's worth noting that most scholars think there are two mixed accounts here, one where a wind blew the water aside and one where the waters miraculously parted).
God gave the sign of the [rain]bow in Gen. 9:13f. - RBW
In every version I've heard of this song, the word in the chorus is "drownded," not "drowned." - PJS
Same here. On the other hand, I've only heard Pop Folk sorts of versions. Of Brown's four versions, two (including the most substantial) have "drowned," two have "drowneded." - RBW
File: San476
===
NAME: Oh, Mister Revel (Did You Ever See the Devil?)
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Mr. Revel! Did you ever see the devil With wooden spade and shovel A-digging up the gravel With his long toe-nail?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: devil work nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownIII 141, "Oh, Mr. Revel" (2 short texts)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 284, (no title) (2 fragments)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 252, "Did Ye Ever See the Divil" (1 short text)
Roud #16319
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Did You Ever, Ever, Ever" (theme)
File: Br3141
===
NAME: Oh, My God, Them 'Taters: see Whoa Back, Buck (File: LxU067)
===
NAME: Oh, No, Not I
DESCRIPTION: A "Newfoundland sailor" and a noble lady meet. He asks her to marry; she say, "Oh, no, not I"; his birth is too low. When she bears a child nine months later, she writes to ask him to come back; he tells her, "Oh, no, not I," and bids her go begging
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1375))
KEYWORDS: pregnancy separation rejection marriage nobility
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf,Que)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Fowke-Lumbering #56, "No, My Boy, Not I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 304-305, "Oh No, Not I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 112, "Hello, My Boy, Not I" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MARRYNO
Roud #1403
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1375), "No, My Love, Not I," J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Firth c.18(293), Firth b.34(208), Firth b.34(97), Harding B 11(2715), Harding B 17(220b), "No, My Love, Not I"; Firth c.13(169), Harding B 25(1340), "The Newfoundland Sailor"; Firth c.18(292), Harding B 25(1422), 2806 c.18(223), Harding B 20(119), Harding B 11(1635), "O No My Love, Not I"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Yellow Handkerchief (Flash Company)"" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Courting Coat" (floating lyrics)
cf. "You Say You Are of Noble Race" (theme)
cf. "The Roving Shantyboy" (plot)
cf. "Barley Raking (Barley Rigs A-Raking)" (plot)
NOTES: Recorded by Margaret Christl and Ian Robb, who in turn inspired Stan Rogers to record it (nearly the only traditional song he ever recorded). Kenneth Peacock found it in Newfoundland, and other versions are few (by my standards; Roud has many in his list, but many appear to be different songs with common lyrics). Fowke calls it a "neat localizing of a popular British ballad that appeared on many nineteenth-century broadsides as 'O No, My Love, Not I.'" - RBW
File: DTmarryn
===
NAME: Oh, Once I Had a Fortune
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes how drink has cost him money and sweetheart: "Oh, once I had a fortune, All locked up in a trunk. I lost it all in a gambling hall One night when I got drunk. I'll never get drunk any more...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: drink poverty
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 316, "Oh, Once I Had a Fortune" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 203-205, "I Had a Handsome Fortune" (1 text)
BrownIII 36, "I'll Never Get Drunk Any More" (4 texts, all mixed, but  the "D" text is mostly this piece, and "C" probably originated with this also)
Roud #7792 and 1993
RECORDINGS:
Ernest V. Stoneman and the Dixie Mountaineers, "Once I Had a Fortune" (Edison 51935, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5357, 1927); Ernest V. Stoneman and His Blue Ridge Cornshuckers, "One I Had a Fortune" (Victor, unissued, 1928)
File: R316
===
NAME: Oh, Pretty Polly: see When He Comes, He'll Come in Green (File: Br3070)
===
NAME: Oh, See My Father Layin' There: see I Have No Loving Mother Now (Oh, See My Father Layin' There) (File: Br3622)
===
NAME: Oh, Susanna (II)
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Swedish version has a sailor leaving his true love and (for a change) actually returning after she has pined for a while. Another (English) fragment has two verses referring to "the Sovereign of the seas." Both use the familiar Foster tune.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: fo'c'sle sailor shanty return derivative
FOUND_IN: US Sweden
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 116-117, "Oh, Susanna," "Susannavisan (The Susanna Song)" (3 texts-Swedish & English, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh! Susanna" (tune)
NOTES: Hugill got the Swedish version from _Sang under Segel_ (Sternvall, 1935), which has notes claiming that this text and melody can be traced to the 1750s. If that's true it would put a rather different light on both the Stephen Foster and the gold rush connection. - SL
I have to admit that I don't buy this. I donÕt know what Sternvall's evidence is, but Foster exuded tunes the way a politician exudes falsehoods about what is mathematically possible. If he'd been better at writing lyrics, he'd have had probably twice as many hits. So I strongly doubt he would have had to steal a tune.
Could the dating somehow be related to _The Sovereign of the Seas_? There were sundry ships of that name, including an American clipper built in 1852 -- but the most famous ship of that name was Phineas Pett's great battleship of 1637. It was not a very successful ship -- it was too big for the shipbuilding techniques of the time, and as a result was very slow -- but it was so big that it established a reputation based on sheer size and gunpower. - RBW
File: Hugi116
===
NAME: Oh, the Brave Old Duke of York: see The Noble Duke of York (File: FSWB390B)
===
NAME: Oh, the Heavens Shut the Gates On Me
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the heavens shut the gates on me, Oh, the due time, shut the gates on me, Sometimes I weep, sometimes I mourn, Sometimes I do nary one. Oh, the heavens shut the gates on me, Oh, the due time, shut the gates on me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 620, "Oh, the Heavens Shut the Gates On Me" (1 text)
Roud #11923
File: Br3620
===
NAME: Oh, They Put John on the Island
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, they put John on the island When the Bridegroom comes, They put John on the island when he comes." "They put him there to starve him." "But you can't starve a Christian." "They fed him on milk and honey." "Oh, look down Jordan river."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious food floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 546, "Oh, They Put John on the Island" (1 text)
Roud #11824
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Don't You Weep After Me" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This song contains an odd mix of elements -- the final verses in Brown seem to be imports, and insignificant. But the early verses seem a conflation.
According to Revelation 1:9, John was "on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus." Note that there is no sign he was exiled there; indeed, the general sense is that he voluntarily fled there (probably during the persecution of Domitian, reigned 81-96 C.E.).
Nowhere, however, do we read of John being miraculously fed, let alone with milk and honey (in 10:9-11, he is fed a scroll that tastes like honey, but that's hardly the same thing!). The closest parallel I can think of is in the gospels: In Matthew 4:11, after the temptation by the Devil, "angels came and tended [Jesus]." No mention of milk and honey, though. - RBW
File: Br3546
===
NAME: Oh, What a Beautiful City: see Twelve Gates to the City (File: PSAFB081)
===
NAME: Oh, When I Git My New House Done: see Sail Away, Ladies (File: CSW203)
===
NAME: Oh, Where Is My Sweetheart?
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, where is my sweetheart? Can anyone tell? (x3) Can anyone, anyone tell?" "He is flirting with another, I know very well." "He told me he loved me, he told me a lie." "I've found me another I love just as well." "...I love him, I wish he was mine."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love courting betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 303, "Oh, Where Is My Sweetheart?" (2 text plus an excerpt)
Roud #11319
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (subject) and references there
File: Br3303
===
NAME: Oh, Ye've Been False, or, The Curse
DESCRIPTION: "As I cam' in by yon bonnie waterside... There I spied my ain dear love, And I left my heart wi' him." Finding him false, the singer curses the church where he will marry, hopes his wife buries five sons, and wishes mortal wounds to she who "sinnert" them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: betrayal curse rejection
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 173-174, "Oh, Ye've Been False; or The Curse" (1 text)
Roud #5584
File: Ord173
===
NAME: Oh! 'Tis Pretty to be in Ballinderry: see Ballinderry (File: HHH080)
===
NAME: Oh! An Irishman's Heart
DESCRIPTION: "Oh! an Irishman's heart is as stout as shillelah." Invaders beware, "but the battle once over, no rage fills his breast." "Give poor Pat but fair freedom, his sweetheart and whisky, And he'll die for old Ireland, his king, and his friend"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad fight
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 117-118, "Oh! An Irishman's Heart" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kinnegard Slashers" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
File: CrPS117
===
NAME: Oh! Blame Not the Bard
DESCRIPTION: Don't blame the bard for his songs of love rather than glory. Don't blame him if he "should try to forget what he never can heal." "But though glory be gone, and though hope fade away, Thy name, loved Erin! shall live in his songs"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846 (_Irish Melodies_ by Thomas Moore, according to Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad minstrel
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Zimmermann, p. 77, "Oh! Blame Not the Bard" (1 fragment)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, pp. 180-181, "O, Blame Not The Bard"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 375-376, "Oh Blame not the Bard"  (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Thomas Kinsella, _The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1989), pp. 269-270, (no title) (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(281), "Oh! Blame not the Bard" ("Oh, blame not the bard, if he fly to the bowers"), unknown, n.d.
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 77 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian 2806 b.9(281) is the basis for the description. 
Zimmermann [uses] this song to illustrate his point that "the mission of the bard is to weep for his country." - BS
File: BrdOBNtB
===
NAME: Oh! Breathe Not His Name
DESCRIPTION: Someone who must not be named has been buried "in the shade Where cold and un-honoured has relics are laid! ... And the tear that we shed, though in secret it rolls, Shall long keep his memory green in our souls"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846 (_Irish Melodies_ by Thomas Moore, according to Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: grief memorial nonballad patriotic
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 159, "Oh! Breathe Not His Name" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(20), "Oh! Breathe Not His Name" ("Oh! breathe not his name, let it sleep in the shade ," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
LOCSheet, sm1879 06663, "Oh, Breathe Not His Name ," Edw. Schuberth (New York), 1879 (tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "She is Far From the Land" (subject: concealed allusions to Robert Emmet)
cf. "When He Who Adores Thee" (subject: concealed allusions to Robert Emmet)
cf. "The Man from God-Knows-Where"  (subject: concealed allusions to Robert Emmet)
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 77 Fn. 11 speculates that this is "perhaps inspired by Lord Edward Fitzgerald's death." Moylan 159 in _The Age of Revolution_: "This, the third of Moore's songs on [Robert] Emmet, seems to echo Emmet's dying request from the world for 'the charity of its silence'. [Lord Edward Fitzgerald [1763-1798], head of the military committee of the United Irishmen died June 4, 1798, in Newgate, Dublin after being wounded and arrested by Major Henry Charles Sirr on May 19; Wexford Rebellion begins May 26, 1798 (source: The Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco) site entry for [Lord] Edward Fitzgerald)] [Robert Emmet (1780-1803) "Irish nationalist rebel leader. He led an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1803 and was captured and executed." (source: "Robert Emmet" at the Wikipedia site)]
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 18(20): 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
The song is so short (two stanzas, neither of which describes the dead man beyond noting that he's dead) that we cannot be dogmatic about the man being memorialized. On the one hand, Emmet asked that no epitaph be written for him (see the notes to "Bold Robert Emmet"), but if he were meant, I'd think the song would be a little more specific. Still, if it is certain that Moore's other poems were about Emmet, then he seems the best candidate. And we should note that Moore knew Emmet; according to Robert Kee, who quotes this song on p. 168 of _The Most Distressful Country_ (being volumeI of _The Green Flag_), Moore was "Emmet's old friend and fellow student at Trinity." Kee regards Moore as having "set the tone" for Emmet's legend. - RBW
File: BrdOBNHN
===
NAME: Oh! Gin I Were Where Gaudie Rins: see Where the Gadie Rins (I), (II), etc. (File: Ord347)
===
NAME: Oh! I Ha'e Seen the Roses Blaw: see O I Hae Seen the Roses Blaw (File: StoR016)
===
NAME: Oh! My! You're a Dandy for Nineteen Years Old: see Oly Nineteen Years Old (File: RcOn19YO)
===
NAME: Oh! No, No
DESCRIPTION: "Come here, dearest Peggy, you're my whole heart's delight... So fain I wad bide, love, but away I must go." He says he would guard her if they were together. She goes into frenzies of grief; he stops her, saying he will not leave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation trick
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, p. 136-137, "Oh! No, No" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #832
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Busk, Busk, Bonnie Lassie" (lyrics)
cf. "The Manchester Angel" (lyrics)
NOTES: This guy is enough of a jerk to make John Riley look good.
Roud lumps this item with "Busk, Busk, Bonnie Lassie," and there are lyrics in common. But this has no chorus, and does have a happy ending -- if you believe that it's a happy ending when a man taunts a girl needlessly and then declares it a joke. There is kinship, but it doesn't look like the same song to me. - RBW
File: Ord136
===
NAME: Oh! Steer My Bark to Erin's Isle
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I have roamed o'er many lands ... In Erin's isle I'd pass my time." If the singer's home were England or Scotland, he'd love that home; "pleasant days in both I've past," But he'll "steer my bark to Erin's isle, For Erin is my home."
AUTHOR: Words: Thomas Haynes Bayly
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1869 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.25(537))
KEYWORDS: home travel Ireland lyric nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 155, "Oh! Steer My Bark to Erin's Isle" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(537), "Oh, Steer my Barque to Erin's Isle", J. Moore (Belfast), 1852-1868; also 2806 c.15(318), 2806 c.15(257), "Oh, Steer my Bark to Erin's isle"
NOTES: Bodleian makes the author N.T.H Bayly; O'Conor has F.H. Bayly. - BS
The latter, of course, is an easy misreading of "T. H. Bayly." Spaeth's _A History of Popular Music in America_ also credits the lyrics to Bayly (p. 85), adding that the tune is German, arranged by Ignaz Moscheles.
Curiously, the uncredited book _The Library of Irish Music_ (published by Amsco) credits the *music* to T. H. Bayly with words by "S. Nelson"!
Incidentally, there seem to be conflicting dates for Bayly; Spaeth says he lived 1797-1829. - RBW
File: OCon155
===
NAME: Oh! Susanna
DESCRIPTION: Nonsense song about a man going to see his beloved Susanna. The singer tells his love, "Oh Susanna, Oh! don't you cry for me, I've come from Alabama, wid my banjo on my knee." The song describes the impossible means he took to reach her
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1848
KEYWORDS: love travel dream humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 152-155, "Oh! Susanna" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 408, "Oh, Susanna!" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts and mention of 4 more; the "E" text has a chorus from elsewhere)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 103, (no title) (1 fragment, with a verse probably from "Napper" but the chorus of this song)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 198, "Susanna" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 244, "Oh, Susanna" (1 text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 46, "Oh, Susanna" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 404-405, "Oh! Susanna"
DT, OSUSANNA*
ST RJ19152 (Full)
Roud #11745
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Oh Susanna" (Romeo 539, 1928)
Vernon Dalhart w. Carson Robison & Adelyne Hood, "Oh! Susanna" (Victor 21169, 1928)
Light Crust Doughboys, "Oh! Susanna" (Vocalion 03345, 1936)
Chubby Parker, "Oh, Susanna"  (Silvertone 25013, 1927; Supertone 9191, 1928)
Riley Puckett "O! Susanna" (Columbia 15014-D, c. 1925; rec. 1924; Silvertone 3261 [as Tom Watson], 1926)
Rice Brothers Band, "Oh Susannah" (Decca 5804, 1940)
Pete Seeger, "Oh, Susanna" (on PeteSeeger18)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Prospecting Dream" (tune)
cf. "Oh California" (tune)
cf. "Oh, Susanna (II)" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Oh California (File: ShaSS114)
Oh, Susanna (II) (File: Hugi116)
O Susanne! (a Danish song built around Fosters's tune but about a boy who became a sailor; Rochelle Wright and Robert L. Wright, _Danish Emigrant Ballads and Songs_, Southern Illinois University Press, 1983, #59, p. 137)
NOTES: This song is one of the best examples of Foster's bad luck as a businessman. The first (unauthorized) printing never mentioned Foster's name, though it associates the song with the Christy Minstrels. Foster then gave the piece away; the next printing had his name on it, but if he received any money at all, it was a flat up-front fee.
This was one of Foster's very earliest pieces, and (along with "Uncle Ned") one of his first big hits. According to Bernard DeVoto, _The Year of Decision: 1846_, Little, Brown and Company, 1943, p. 134, 'in March of [1846] a twenty-year-old Pittsburg youth failed of appointment at West Point, and so at the end of the year he went to keep books in his brother's commission house at Cincinnati. He took with him the manuscripts of three songs, all apparently written in this year, all compact of the minstrel-nigger tradition. One celebrates a lubly collud gal, Lou'siana Belle. In another an old nigger has no wool on the top of his head in the place whar de wool ought to grow.... And in the third American pioneering was to find its leitmotif for all time: it was 'Oh Susanna!'"
The early popularity of this song seems to be indicated by the existence of a Gold Rush version, a fragment of which is quoted by Laura Ingalls Wilder in _Little House in the Big Woods_ (chapter 13):
Oh, Susi-an-na, don't you cry for me,
I'm going to Cal-i-for-ni-a,
The gold dust for to see. - RBW
File: RJ19152
===
NAME: Oh! When a Man Get the Blues: see When a Woman Blue (File: San236)
===
NAME: Ohio
DESCRIPTION: The singer remembers the dead at Stones River. He recalls finding a dying youth. The soldier sends greetings to his family, then dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar dying
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 31, 1862-Jan 2, 1863 - Battle of Stones River/Murfreesboro
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Eddy 127, "Ohio" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST E127 (Full)
Roud #5343
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of Stone River" (subject)
NOTES: It is hard to say who won the Battle of Stones' River/Murfreesboro. The battle pitted William S. Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland against Braxton Bragg's Confederate army. Rosecrans had been advancing into Tennessee, and Bragg set out to stop him.
In the first phase of the battle, on Dec. 31, Bragg drove back but did not destroy Rosecrans's right. Jan. 1, 1863 was quiet, but Bragg tried again on Jan. 2. Again he failed to decisively defeat the Federals.
After spending the day of Jan. 3 on the field,  Bragg's army retreated. The federal army had been so badly mauled that it would be half a year before it moved again -- but Rosecrans held the field and his gains. - RBW
File: E127
===
NAME: Ohio River, She's So Deep and Wide
DESCRIPTION: "Ohio River, she's so deep and wide, Lord, I can't see my poor gal from the other side." "I'm going to river, take my seat and sit down, If the blues overtake me, I'll jump into the river and drown." "I've got the blues... I ain't got the heart to cry"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: separation floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, p. 81-83, "Ohio Rivuh, She's So Deep an' Wide" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10028
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Abilene" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Kansas City Blues" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This is one of those songs composed entirely of floating lyrics. But since there doesn't seem to be a dominant "ingredient," it gets listed separately. - RBW
File: MWhee081
===
NAME: Oil of the Barley, The: see (references to tune under) Mowing the Barley (Cold and Raw) (File: ShH60)
===
NAME: Ol' A'k's A-Movin', The: see The Old Ark's A-Moverin' (File: LoF248)
===
NAME: Ol' Arboe: see Old Arboe (Ardboe) (File: HHH505)
===
NAME: Ol' Gen'ral Bragg's a-Mowin' Down de Yankees
DESCRIPTION: The master (?) tells the slaves that Bragg is defeating the Yankees, and warns them to behave. But then the southern troops appear to be running. Master runs off to the swamps, "while Dinah, Pomp, an' Pete dey look As if dey mighty pleas'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar slave battle freedom
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownII 233, "Ol' Gen'ral Bragg's a-Mowin' Down de Yankees" (1 text)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 104-105, "Old Massa He Come Dancin' Out" (1 text)
Roud #6619
NOTES: It is difficult to correlate this song with any particular Civil War battle. Braxton Bragg (1817-1876) commanded at four major conflicts: Perryville (Oct. 8, 1862), Murfreesboro/Stones River (Dec. 31, 1862-Jan. 2, 1863), Chickamauga (Sept. 19-20, 1862), and Chattanooga (Nov. 23-25, 1863).
None of these battles fit the song. Perryville ended with Bragg retreating, but it was a voluntary retreat -- and it was in Kentucky anyway, where the slaves were not freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.
Stones River also ended with Bragg retreating, but again, his forces retreated in good order; there was no running.
Chickamauga was an overwhelming Confederate victory; only the Yankees fled.
The best fit, then, is Chattanooga, where Bragg at first held the Federals easily -- he held an overwhelmingly strong position on the ridges above the town) but then saw his troops fall apart. (He was relieved afterward.0 -- But the area through which the Confederates fled had been in Union hands previously, and was not good planting country; there were few slaves in the area.
According to Greenway, the mother of collector Merton Knowles learned the song after the Civil War. - RBW
File: BrII233
===
NAME: Ol' John Brown: see Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)
===
NAME: Ol' Mars'r Had a Pretty Yaller Gal: see Don't Get Weary Children (Massa Had a Yellow Gal) (File: BAF904)
===
NAME: Ol' Mickey Brannigan's Pup: see Brannigan's Pup (File: FSC122)
===
NAME: Ol' Rattler: see Old Rattler (File: CNFM104)
===
NAME: Ol' Virginny Never Tire: see Old Virginny Never Tire (File: ScaNF109)
===
NAME: Olban (Alban) or The White Captive [Laws H15]
DESCRIPTION: A young woman (Amanda) has been taken captive by Indians. She is about to be subjected to torture or death when one of the tribe (the chief, young Albion?) rescues her and brings her home, (asking no reward but his food)
AUTHOR: Rev. Thomas C. Upham
EARLIEST_DATE: 1818 (The "Columbia Sentinel" of Boston)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) rescue
FOUND_IN: US(NE,SE,So,Ro)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws H15, "Olban (Alban) or The White Captive"
Randolph 674, "Her White Bosom Bare" (2 texts)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 160-163, "Young Alban and Amandy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 761, WHTCAPTV
Roud #657
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Lamanda" (AFS 4203 B1, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fair Captive" (theme)
NOTES: Several scholars have sought for the events which lie behind this ballad. One even connected it with a story by James Fennimore Cooper! Given that all the accounts disagree, and that the Cooper story ("Wish-Ton-Wish") was not published until 1832, each must probably be taken with a grain of salt. - RBW
In Ford's version, Olban (called "Alvin") asks for food for his people rather than himself. - PJS
File: LH15
===
NAME: Old Abe Is Sick
DESCRIPTION: "Old Abe is sick (x2), Old Abe is sick in bed. He's a lying dog, a dying dog, With meanness in his head." "He wants our cotton... He shall have it, he will have it, Some tar and feathers too." "Down with Old Abe... And all his Yankee crew"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: political Civilwar
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 388, "Old Abe is Sick" (1 text)
Roud #11754
File: Br3388
===
NAME: Old Abe Lincoln Came Out of the Wilderness
DESCRIPTION: "Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness, Out of the wilderness, Out of the wilderness, Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness, Down in Illinois."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: political parody nonballad derivative
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1809 - Birth of Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky . He later moved to Illinois
1860 - The Republicans, looking for a candidate who does not carry much baggage, nominate Lincoln for President. In a four-way race, Lincoln receives 40% of the popular votes and enough electoral votes to be elected President. The result is the Civil War
1864 - Lincoln is re-elected President
1865 - Lincoln assassinated
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Sandburg, p. 168, "Old Abe Lincoln Came Out of the Wilderness" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, p. 17, "Old Abe Lincoln Came Out of the Wilderness" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 287, "Old Abe Lincoln Came Out of the Wilderness" (1 text)
Thomas-Makin', p. 53, (no title) (1 short text, probably a fragment of a modified version of this song)
Roud #11629
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Gray Mare (I) (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull)" (tune)
cf. "I Wait Upon the Lord" (tune, structure)
File: San168
===
NAME: Old Abe's Elected
DESCRIPTION: "Old Abe's elected so they say Along with Darkey Hamlin, The Yankees think they'll gain the day By nigger votes and gamblin'." (To the tune of Yankee Doodle)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political parody
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1861-1865 - Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin are President and Vice President
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 245, "Old Abe's Elected" (1 text)
Roud #7712
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Honest Abe" (subject)
NOTES: Abraham Lincoln hardly needs introduction. Hannibal Hamlin was Lincoln's vice president; a former Democrat, he joined the Republicans over the issue of slavery. He was replaced as vice president, in Lincoln's second term, by Andrew Johnson.
This piece clearly shows the level of political rhetoric that was being fired about during the election of 1860; Hamlin was anti-slavery, but not radically so; certainly neither he nor Lincoln had, at that time, any plan to enfranchise the southern slaves. And, at this time, a referendum in New York to grant Blacks the franchise failed miserably. For background on the amazingly complex election of 1860, see the notes to "Lincoln and Liberty." - RBW
File: R245
===
NAME: Old Adam
DESCRIPTION: "I'm very sorry for old Adam, Just as sorry as can be, For he never had no mammy For to hold him on her knee." "And I've always had the feeling He'd a-let that apple be If he'd only had a mammy For to hold him on her knee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: Bible mother
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 339, "Old Adam" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4566
File: San339
===
NAME: Old and Only in the Way
DESCRIPTION: "When you walk along the street, how often do you meet Some poor old man who's getting old and gray?" Poor old men find that their children do not care for him, and rich old men have heirs waiting impatiently. The singer complains about the young
AUTHOR: P. J. Downey and L. T. Billings
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: youth age money work
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Rorrer, p. 83, "Old and Only in the Way" (1 text)
DT, OLD&GRAY
Roud #6440
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink], "Old and Only in the Way" (Supertone 9639, 1930)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Old and Only in the Way" (OKeh 40181, 1924) (OKeh 45273, 928; rec. 1927) (Bluebird B-5959, 1935)
Byron G. Harlan, "Always In the Way" (CYL: Edison 8501, 1903)
Kentucky Girls, "Old and Only in the Way" (Columbia 15364-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Oliver Moore [pseud. for Ted Chestnut], "Old and Only in the Way" (Challenge 422, 1928)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Old and Only in the Way" (Columbia 15672-D, 1931; rec. 1928; on CPoole03)
File: DToldgra
===
NAME: Old Arboe (Ardboe)
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks the powers to help him praise Ar(d)boe. He praises the land, the waters, the wildlife, the winds. He talks of the holy days they celebrate. The singer has traveled the world, but has seen no better place
AUTHOR: James Cairnes ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H505, p. 157, "Old Ardboe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 82-84, "Ol' Arboe" (1 text)
OBoyle 20, "Old Arboe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2984
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Cross of Ardboe" (subject)
NOTES: Sam Henry has notes on the various feast days mentioned in the song. These seem more accurate than the geography of the Biblical references to "the shores of Cana and Galilee"; neither name was proper in the author's time, and Galilee had no true seacoast (the "sea of Galilee" is a lake). Cana is not on any shore at all; it was half way between the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee. - RBW
For the cross reference [to The Old Cross of Ardboe"] see Bell/O Conchubhair, _Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland_, pp. 38-39, "The Old Cross of Ardboe" attributed to "the 'Poet' Canavan." The songs are close in theme and approach, but share no lines. Here is a description of "The Old Cross of Ardboe": The singer bids farewell to the places in Tyrone "where I spent my childhood days" He wonders if he will ever return. "May the star of Freedom smile ... And the shamrocks verdant grow Green around those graves near Lough Neagh's waves, And the Old Cross Ardboe." - BS
File: HHH505
===
NAME: Old Ark's A-Moverin', The
DESCRIPTION: "O the old ark's a-moverin... an' I thank God." Sundry verses on the flood, salvation, and those who are too proud, e.g. "How many days did the water fall? Forty days and nights and all." "See that sister dressed so fine? She ain't got Jesus on her mind"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (recording, Fisk University Jubilee Quartet)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad flood
FOUND_IN: US(Ap) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 213-214, (no title) (1 text, with this chorus though many of the verses are about Jesus; it may be conflate, but in the present state of Thomas's text it's hard to tell)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 7, (no title) (1 fragment, the "Paul and Silas bound in jail" lyric but with an internal chorus that might be this -- or might not); p. 28, "The Ol' A'k's A-Movin'" (1 short text, with a slightly different form but too similar to classify separately)
Lomax-FSNA 248, "The Old Ark's A-Moverin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 77, "The Old Ark" (1 text, 1 tune, with first verse and chorus from "The Old Ark's A-Moverin'" and additional verses from "Song of the Fishes (Blow Ye Winds Westerly)")
Silber-FSWB, p. 360, "The Old Ark's A-Moverin'" (1 text)
Roud #11948
RECORDINGS:
Alphabetical Four, "The Old Ark's a-Moverin'" (Decca 7546, 1938; on AlphabFour01)
Atlanta Harmony Singers, "The Old Ark's a Moverin'" (Champion 15616, 1928)
Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, "The Ole Ark" (Victor 16840, 1911)
Homer Rodeheaver, "The Old Ark's a-Moverin'" (Silvertone 5141, c. 1927)
Virginia Female [Jubilee] Singers, "The Old Ark's a-Moverin'" (OKeh 4482, 1922; rec. 1921)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Who Built the Ark?" (floating lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
Pete Seeger, "We'll All Be A-Doubling" (on PeteSeeger48)
NOTES: For the statement that the rain fell for forty days during Noah's flood, see Gen. 7:12 (the total duration of the flood is given in 7:17, 8:6? as 40 days and in 7:24, 8:3 as 150 days; the different numbers are believed to have come from different sources). The landing on Mount Ararat/Uratu is mentioned in 8:4. - RBW
File: LoF248
===
NAME: Old Arkansas: see The State of Arkansas (The Arkansas Traveler II) [Laws H1] (File: LH01)
===
NAME: Old Arm Chair, The: see Grandmother's Chair (File: R467)
===
NAME: Old Aunt Dinah
DESCRIPTION: "Old Aunt Dinah, ho pee, ho pee... Gwine away to leave yer..." "Old Aunt Dinah -- sick in bed... Send for the doctor...  You ain't sick... All you need... is a hickory stick." Alternately, Dinah may have four daughters and wants one to marry the singer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: separation doctor disease
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 126-128, "Old Aunt Dinah" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 487, "Old Aunt Dinah" (1 fragment)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 187-188, "Ole Aunt Dinah" (1 fragment, plus a second which inserts Aunt Dinah into an "Old Dan Tucker" stanza)
Roud #11803
NOTES: There is no particular reason to associate the Brown and Scarborough fragments, since they describe different events and have different nonsense refrains. But both are about Aunt Dinah, both are fragments, both have nonsense refrains, and both seem unique.
The fullest text is Jackson's, which is a song of Dinah and her children; she offers the singer money to marry one of them, but he prefers a different daughter. It ends with standard work song stanzas.
It would appear that Old Aunt Dinah is little more than a framework character. If we had more versions, we might split the songs, but with the versions as they are, there seems little point. - RBW
File: Br3487
===
NAME: Old Aunt Kate
DESCRIPTION: "Ole Aunt Kate she bake de cake, She bake hit 'hine de garden gate; She sift de meal, she gimme de dust, She bake de bread, she gimme de crust, She eat de meat, she gimme de skin, An' dat's de way she tuck me in."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: food humorous
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 99, "Ole Aunt Kate" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11617
NOTES: Scarborough reports that this is an "elaboration" from "Juba." Be hard to prove either way. - RBW
File: ScaNF099
===
NAME: Old Aunt Katy
DESCRIPTION: "Old Aunt Katy was a good old soul, Patched my breeches right full of holes." "Up the ridge and down the ridge And run old Katy home." "Old Aunt Katy was a good old soul, Crossed the bridge and paid her toll." "Old Aunt Katy dressed mighty fine...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: clothes nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 323, "Old Aunt Katy" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Roud #15889
NOTES: The notes in Brown suggest that this is a play-party. It feels more like a fiddle tune to me. But with no tune and no gaming instructions, we can't say. - RBW
File: Br3323
===
NAME: Old Aunt Mariar: see Aunt Maria (File: BSoF705A)
===
NAME: Old Bachelor (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Singer, an old bachelor ignorant of women, marries a 16-year-old, primarily to keep him warm at night. She wants more from him, which baffles him until her mother tells him the facts of life. He obliges; a fine son results, to his surprise and delight
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Grieg)
KEYWORDS: age marriage sex bawdy humorous mother bachelor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland,England(North))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "The Old Bachelor" (on BirdBush1, BirdBush2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man" (theme) and references there
File: RcTOB
===
NAME: Old Bachelor (II), The: see Stern Old Bachelor (File: R481)
===
NAME: Old Bachelor (III), The: see A Bachelor's Lament (File: JHCox160)
===
NAME: Old Bachelor (IV), The: see The Brisk Young Bachelor (File: ShH69)
===
NAME: Old Bangum: see Sir Lionel [Child 18] (File: C018)
===
NAME: Old Bangum and the Boar: see Sir Lionel [Child 18] (File: C018)
===
NAME: Old Barbed Wire, The (I Know Where They Are)
DESCRIPTION: "If you want to find the privates, I know where they are (x3) -- They're up to their knees in mud (or: "Hanging on the old barbed wire"). I saw them...." Meanwhile, the captains, colonels, and generals enjoy themselves and stay away from the fighting
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: soldier war
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Sandburg, pp. 442-443, "Where They Were" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. "If You Want to Know Where the Privates Are" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BARBWIRE
Roud #9618
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
If You Want to See the Captain
NOTES: Internal evidence clearly dates this to the First World War, with its trenches and barbed wire and mud that threatened to swallow the Allied armies whole. What's more, until WWI, officers -- including brigade and sometimes even divisional officers -- were expected to lead their men from the front. Only in the twentieth century did officers become so valuable that they were allowed to "lead" from the rear. - RBW
File: San442
===
NAME: Old Barge Oliver Cromwell, The
DESCRIPTION: "On November first in eighty-nine from Port Huron we set sail." The barge Cromwell is hauled by the Lowell. They struggle with weather near Bay City and with snow near Tawas bay. They have to pump in the storm. The singer warns against lumber barges
AUTHOR: reportedly Hank Stone
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (collected from A. P. Gallino and William J. Small by Walton)
KEYWORDS: sailor storm hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 144-146, "The Old Barge Oliver Cromwell" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
John Gallino, "The Old Barge Oliver Cromwell" (1938; on WaltonSailors; the tune does not match that printed in the text)
File: WGM144
===
NAME: Old Bark Hut, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer, whose name varies, relates, "I once was well to do, but now I am stumped up, And I'm forced to go on rations in an old bark hut." There follows a list of the ways the singer makes do or tolerates the poor conditions
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Paterson's _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 105-106, "The Old Bark Hut" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 126-127, "The Old Bark Hut" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 298-302, "The Old Bark Hut" (1 text)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 87-89, "The Old Bark Hut" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 133-134, 290-291, "The Old Bark Hut" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
NOTES: This is sort of the Australian version of "The Old Chisholm Trail," with nearly infinite verses. Henry Lawson reports riding on a train from Bourke to Sydney with a band of shearers, who sang the song the whole time without repeating a verse. - RBW
File: MA105
===
NAME: Old Bay State, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all good people from far and near... I will sing you the loss of the old Bay State that sailed in the Crawford Line." On the morning of November 2, she sets out and is never seen again. "It's hard to think so many lives down with her had to go."
AUTHOR: Thomas Peckham?
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1952 (collected from John S. Parsons by Walton)
KEYWORDS: ship death disaster
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 2, 1862 - final voyage of the _Bay State_
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 225-226, "The Old Bay State" (1 text)
File: WGM225
===
NAME: Old Bee Makes de Honeycomb: see Old Bee Makes the Honey Comb (File: Br3479)
===
NAME: Old Bee Makes the Honey Comb
DESCRIPTION: "Old bee (makes the honey comb/sucks the blossom), Young bee makes the honey. (Poor man/Colored folks) plant the cotton and corn, (Rich man/White folks) make the money."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: floatingverses work bug
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownIII 479, "Old Bee Makes the Honey Comb" (1 fragment); also 480, "Hard Times" (1 text, massively composite: Chorus from "Lynchburg Town" and verses from "Old Bee Makes the Honey Comb" and the "White Folks Go to College" version of "Hard to Be a Nigger")
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 165, "Old Bee Make de Honeycomb" (1 text, with this stanza but many more associated primarily with "Raccoon")
cf. Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #194, p. 136, ("God made the bees")
Roud #5029
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Haul Away, Boys, Haul Away" (lyrics)
NOTES: Reportedly found also in _Uncle Remus_, this is one of those floating verses that seems to exist in many songs. Since Brown has it as a standalone, it files here, with many cross-references.
The nursery rhyme version, which I suspect is close to the original, runs:
God made the bees
And the bees make honey.
The miller's man does all the work
But the miller makes the money.- RBW
File: Br3479
===
NAME: Old Beggar Man, The: see Hind Horn [Child 17] (File: C017)
===
NAME: Old Bell Cow
DESCRIPTION: Humorous description of a cow that's difficult to milk: "Went down to the cornfield to pick a mess of beans, Along come the bell cow a-pecking at the greens." "Some of these days when I learn how, I'm gonna milk that old bell cow."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Dixie Crackers)
KEYWORDS: farming work humorous animal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 110-111, "Old Bell Cow" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Dixie Crackers, "The Old Bell Cow" (Paramount 3151, 1929; on CrowTold01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "The Old Bell Cow" (on NLCR10) (NLCR16)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Bell Cow
NOTES: It has long been a custom to tie a bell around a cow's neck so she can be found easily. - PJS
File: CSW110
===
NAME: Old Betsy Lina: see Lead Her Up and Down (Rosa Becky Diner, Old Betsy Lina) (File: R552)
===
NAME: Old Betty Larkin (Betsy Larkin, You Stole My Pard, Steal Partners, Stole My Partner)
DESCRIPTION: "Hop around, skip around, old Betty Larkin (x3), and also my dear darlin.'" "Steal, steal, old Betty Larkin...." ""You take mine, and I'll take another...." "Needles in a haystack, old Betty Larkin."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting abandonment playparty dancing nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 15, "Old Betty Larkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 586, "You Stole My Pard" (1 fragment)
Roud #7404; also 7673
NOTES: Randolph's is only a two-stanza fragment: "You stole my pard to my dislike (x3), And also my dear darlin'." "I'll have her back or fight all night (x3), And also my dear darlin'." It may be a separate piece (Roud separates them). But that key line about the "dear darlin'" seems to me to link his text with the Ritchie Family "Betty Larkin" texts. - RBW
File: R586
===
NAME: Old Bill: see Tell Old Bill (File: San018)
===
NAME: Old Billy Dugger
DESCRIPTION: "Old Billy Dugger he looks mighty cross; He shot at a man and killed Jack's hoss."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: soldier death horse
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 283, "Old Billy Dugger" (1 text)
Roud #6642
NOTES: Reported to be based on a Civil War incident -- but it's a soldier's joke I've seen elsewhere. - RBW
File: BrII283
===
NAME: Old Binnie
DESCRIPTION: Old Binnie is urged to come see the Irishman work with his penis
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: bawdy
FOUND_IN: US(Ro,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, p. 264, "Ditties," of which the first is "Old Binnie"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Washerwoman" (tune)
File: EM264
===
NAME: Old Black Alice
DESCRIPTION: "Old Black Alice are my name, Wellshot are my station. It's no disgrace, the old black face, it's the colour of my nation." The singer tells how she can dance, points out that God made her as well as whites, and notes the several men who like her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: Australia discrimination
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 92-93, "Old Black Alice" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
File: PASB092
===
NAME: Old Black Booger, The: see Old Man Came Over the Moor, An (Old Gum Boots and Leggings) (File: R066)
===
NAME: Old Black Duck, The: see The Fox (File: R103)
===
NAME: Old Black Hen, The
DESCRIPTION: "Master had an old black hen, Black as any bear, Laid and set in an acorn shell, Eighteen inches square."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: bird
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 159, "The Old Black Hen" (1 text)
File: Br3159
===
NAME: Old Black Joe
DESCRIPTION: "Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay, Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away, Gone from the earth to a better land I know, I hear their gentle voices calling 'Old Black Joe.'" The singer, having outlived so much, says "I'm coming"
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1860
KEYWORDS: age nonballad death
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 156-159, "Old Black Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Saunders/Root-Foster 2, pp. 99-102+428, "Old Black Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 126-127, "Old Black Joe" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 407, "Old Black Joe"
DT, OLDBLACK*
ST RJ19156 (Full)
Roud #9601
RECORDINGS:
Criterion Quartet, "Old Black Joe" (CYL: Edison [BA] 3092, n.d.)
Edison Quartette, "Old Black Joe" (Edison 8823, 1904)
Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, "Old Black Joe" (Victor 35097, 1909)
Ford Hanford, "My Old Kentucky Home and Old Black Joe [medley]" (Victor 18767, 1921)
Riley Puckett, "Old Black Joe" (Columbia 15005-D, 1924)
SAME_TUNE:
Come Up, Dear Dinner, Come Up (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 121)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Poor Old Joe
NOTES: By the time Foster wrote this piece, his parents were dead, his marriage was troubled, and he was in bad financial shape. It has been theorized that this put him in a nostalgic mood. As always, he set it on the plantation -- but for once not in dialect. - RBW
File: RJ19156
===
NAME: Old Black Steer, The: see Windy Bill (II) (File: TF02)
===
NAME: Old Blacksmith's Shop, The
DESCRIPTION: "Some people ramble to lands far away... But the place I love best and am longing to see... And there I forever could stop... In the old village blacksmith's shop." The singer recalls visiting and playing with the blacksmith, but now the man is long dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: work worker loneliness age
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H541, p. 207, "The Old Blacksmith's Shop" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH154
===
NAME: Old Blind Drunk John: see Martin Said To His Man (File: WB022)
===
NAME: Old Blind Horse, The
DESCRIPTION: Old man's will leaves everything to Uncle Bill and an old blind horse. When the horse finally dies "we took his skin for to make some shoes" and give the rest to the crows who "crawed" as they flew by "old horse you had to die"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: death horse bird
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 130-131, "The Old Blind Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2703
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Horse (III)" (theme)
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime first verse "If you'll join the chorus whilst I sing This very night I'll make this old shanty ring" would seem to put it in a logging camp. The chorus, "And its come, come along with me For the moon is fast a climbing, Young girls, young girls, can't you see? For the dew on the grass is shining" is reminiscent of "Raise a Ruckus." - BS
File: CrMa130
===
NAME: Old Blue
DESCRIPTION: "I had a dog and his name was Blue...." The singer tells how Blue aided him in 'possum hunting, then goes on to describe Blue's death and burial.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913
KEYWORDS: dog death burial hunting
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Randolph 295, "Old Blue" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
BrownIII 220, "Old Blue" (1 text)
Hudson 74, pp. 201-202, "Old Blue" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 7, "Old Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 157, "Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 738, "Old Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 396, "Old Blue" (1 text)
DT, OLDBLUE
Roud #4313
RECORDINGS:
Jim Jackson, "Old Dog Blue" (Victor 21387B, 1928; on AAFM2) (Vocalion 1146, 1928)
Pete Seeger, "Old Blue" (on PeteSeeger09, PeteSeegerCD02)
Art Thieme, "The Split Dog" [combines song and tall-tale] (on Thieme01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Deep Blue Sea (II)" (floating lyrics)
File: R295
===
NAME: Old Blue Was a Gray Horse: see Skewball [Laws Q22] (File: LQ22)
===
NAME: Old Bo's'n, The: see The Boatsman and the Chest [Laws Q8] (File: LQ08)
===
NAME: Old Bob Ridley (Hobo Diddle De Ho)
DESCRIPTION: "When I was young we crossed the mountains, Crossed so many I quit a-countin', Hobo diddle de ho, An' a hobo diddle de ho." "We seen the buffalo a-comin', Seen so damn' many I couldn't count 'em...." "(Ho/oh), (old) Bob (Ridley/Bridely)"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1853 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1853 550030)
KEYWORDS: travel humorous talltale
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(SE,So) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 499, "Hobo Diddle De Ho" (1 text)
BrownIII 194, "Old Bob Ridley" (4 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 162, "(Old Rob Ridley)" (1 short text)
Roud #753
RECORDINGS:
Mary Anne Carolan, "Young Bob Ridley" (on Voice07)
Henry Griffin, "Holler Jimmy Riley Ho" (on HandMeDown1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(358), "Bob Ridley, oh!," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Firth b.27(30), "Old Bob Ridley O!," unknown, n.d.
LOCSheet, sm1853 550030, "Old Bob Ridley," J. E. Boswell (Baltimore), 1853 (tune)
LOCSinging, as110090, "Old Bob Ridley, O," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also cw104110, as110080, "Old Bob Ridley"; sb30400a, "Old Bob Ridley O" 
NOTES: This was a popular minstrel piece that crossed the Atlantic. - PJS
According to the notes in Brown, it became a corn-shucking song in the U. S. The North Carolina versions are certainly very diverse. The British version had talltale elements, with Bob Riddley doing the impossibly in humorous ways. - RBW
Hall, notes to Voice07, re "Young Bob Ridley": "American minstrels first visited Britain and Ireland in the mid-1830s and subsequently local professional and amateur minstrel troupes remained popular until the Great War, contributing tunes and ditties to the traditional repertory."
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(358) includes the verse
At boxing I am sure to gain on,
A tousand times I've lick'd Jack Heenan;
And for winding up the belt affairs,
Next I'm going to belt Tom Sayers.
Dis Bob Ridley, oh!
Since John C. Heenan fought Tom Sayers in 1860 the dating of the broadside is certainly incorrect.
Broadside printer John Pitts died April 15, 1844. While the old ballad stock continued to circulate the house name did not continue. (source: Leslie Shepard, _John Pitts: Ballad Printer of Seven Dials, London 1765-1844_ (Private Libraries Association, c.1969), pp. 75,84).
Broadside LOCSinging as110090: 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: R499
===
NAME: Old Bog Hole, The: see The Ould Bog Hole (File: FVS290)
===
NAME: Old Brass Wagon
DESCRIPTION: Playparty: "Circle to the left, Old Brass Wagon, You're the one, my darling." "Swing oh swing, Old Brass Wagon...." "Promenade home...." "Shottische up and down...." "Break and swing...." "We'll all run away with the old brass wagon...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (JAFL 24)
KEYWORDS: playparty travel
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 527, "The Old Brass Wagon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 159, "Old Brass Wagon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 388, "Little Brass Wagon" (1 text)
ST San159 (Full)
Roud #5034
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ten Little Indians (John Brown Had a Little Indian)" (tune)
File: San159
===
NAME: Old Brig, The
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Verses relate various problems with the ship, an inept and/or drunk bosun, captain and/or cook, bad food. The usual sailor complaints, some of them probably justified. Hugill had four different language texts for this, all basically the same song.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Opsang fra Seilskibstiden)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Verses relate various problems with the ship, an inept and/or drunk bosun, captain and/or cook, bad food. The usual sailor complaints, some of them probably justified. Hugill had four different language texts for this, all basically the same song. Different versions listed were "Svineper" (a.k.a. The Dirty Old Pig, The Old Brig)-Norwegian, "Den Gamla Briggen"-Swedish, "Die Gut Alte Brigg"-German.
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty ship cook
FOUND_IN: Norway Sweden Germany
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 232-234, "Svineper" (2 texts-English & Swedish, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Waiting for the Day" (same theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Dirty Old Pig
The Old Brig
Den Gamla Briggen
Die Gute Alte Brigg
The Good Old Brig
NOTES: A note in Knurrhahn says this is an "old Scandinavian sailor song, of about 1800; known to many old-time seamen in other languages."
To second PJS's comment [in the notes to "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?"], if we can't have "bitching" as a keyword, how about "complaining," or even "whining"? - SL
File: Hugi232
===
NAME: Old Brown Coat, The
DESCRIPTION: "...Come listen while I sing about The old brown coat and me." Having worked long on his father's farm, the singer at last gets his own property. The girl he loves favored another, but he proved guilty of theft. She turns to the singer; they live happily
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: love courting clothes marriage family home work
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 791, "The Old Brown Coat" (1 text)
JHCoxIIB, #26, pp. 190-192, "My Old Brown Coat and Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R791 (Partial)
Roud #3114
RECORDINGS:
Lawrence Older,  "My Old Brown Coat and Me" (on LOlder01)
File: R791
===
NAME: Old Brown Sat in "The Rose and Crown"
DESCRIPTION: Brown in the pub is talking about the war and drawing the lines on the table with beer. "Five minutes" is called. Not enough time, complains Brown. "'For another half pint and we'd been in Berlin. Do you want us to lose the war?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (recording, Albert Smith)
KEYWORDS: war drink humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Albert Smith, "Old Brown Sat in 'The Rose and Crown'" (on Voice14)
File: RcOBSIRC
===
NAME: Old Bullock Dray, The
DESCRIPTION: The bullock driver is preparing for a good life in the bush. He seeks a wife, and prepares to head out to find land. He urges others along: "So it's roll up your blankets, and let's make a push; I'll take you upcountry and show you the bush...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Paterson's _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: Australia travel settler
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 127,  "The Old Bullock Dray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 66-67, "The Old Bullock Dray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 140-141, "The Old Bullock Dray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 143-149, "The Old Bullock Dray" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "The Old Bullock Dray" (on JGreenway01)
NOTES: Settlers in Australia had two major problems: Lack of women (since most convicts were men) and lack of land (since the good properties had been snatched up by early settlers and the wealthy). In 1861, Sir John Robertson (the "Jackie Robertson" of some versions of the song) promoted the New South Wales Free Selection Act, which made at least some land available to newcomers. Although it didn't really solve the problem, it promoted the era of good feeling apparently described in this song.
The "depot" mentioned in some texts is the compound at Parramatta where female immigrants were kept. Referred to as the "Female Factory," it allowed settlers to come in and seek wives. - RBW
File: MA127
===
NAME: Old Bumpy: see Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey) (File: R569)
===
NAME: Old Camp Meetin'
DESCRIPTION: "Long ago, when but a boy, at old camp meeting time, How my heart would leap with joy...." "I like the old time preachin', prayin', shoutin', singin'...." The singer remembers his father celebrating
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (collected by Shellans from Ruby Vass)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shellans, pp. 93-94, "Old Camp Meetin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7334
File: Shel093
===
NAME: Old Carathee
DESCRIPTION: Sean McNamara from County Down looks for a wife in Carathee. First, Red Danny shows him his selection. He picks Julia, a hawker. The first month they are happy. The second they argue. The third she beats him. You can find such a wife in Carathee.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, John Reilly)
KEYWORDS: marriage violence humorous wife
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #3377
RECORDINGS:
John Reilly, "Old Carathee" (on Voice15)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Devilish Mary" [Laws Q4] (theme)
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice15: "'Old Carathee' tells of an Irish traveller, who chooses for a wife at a fair, thinking she would make him a good hawker." 
Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Reviews - Volume 15" by Fred McCormick - 27.2.99: "John Reilly's 'Old Carathee,' is about a bachelor who obtains a wife at a horse fair and ends up with a less than blissful match. Matrimonial bargains of this kind were common in Ireland at one time and survive into the present with the famous matchmaking fair at Lisdoonvarna in County Clare." - BS
File: RcOlCara
===
NAME: Old Chimney Sweeper, The: see I'm a Poor Old Chimney Sweeper (File: Wa189)
===
NAME: Old Chisholm Trail, The: see The Chisholm Trail (I) (File: R179)
===
NAME: Old Chizzum Trail, The: see The Chisholm Trail (I) (File: R179)
===
NAME: Old Church Yard, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh come, come with me to the old church yard, I well know the path through the soft green sward, Our friends slumber there we were wont to regard." The singer recalls the dead, gone from their troubles, and points out that they will rise again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (McDowell)
KEYWORDS: religious death
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 620, "The Old Church Yard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3386
NOTES: Randolph was told that this was a Millerite (early Adventist) hymn. If this was typical of their music, that might go almost as far to explain the failure of the Millerites as the fact that Miller's predictions of the end of the world were consistently wrong. - RBW
File: R620
===
NAME: Old Circus Song: see Three Jolly Huntsmen (File: R077)
===
NAME: Old Cloak, The
DESCRIPTION: In winter, the old wife urges the old man to go out and bring the cow in from the cold. He protests; his cloak is too old and thin. She reminds him of their history, and of the dangers of pride. At last he, to end the strife, goes out to care for the cow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: dialog husband wife
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 195-198, "Take Thy Old Cloak About Thee" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 188-189, "The Old Cloak" (1 text)
OBB 170, "The Old Cloak" (1 text)
ST OBB170 (Partial)
Roud #8207
NOTES: One of Percy's stanzas, beginning "King Stephen was a worthy peer," is quoted in Shakespeare's Othello (II.iii.80). But this stanza has nothing to do with the general plot of this song; I can't help but wonder if it is not some broadside-maker's insertion. - RBW
File: OBB170
===
NAME: Old Colony Times: see In Good Old Colony Times (File: R112)
===
NAME: Old Coon Dog: see Way Down in Rackensack (Old Coon Dog) (File: R350)
===
NAME: Old Corn Licker: see Cripple Creek (I) (?) (File: San320)
===
NAME: Old Country Party, The
DESCRIPTION: "Say, did ye iver go till an ould country party." The singer describes his first. He describes the food and punch, music and dancing until "the bottle was dry." Now he's away from home and "the tears rushes into me eyes" when he thinks of those days. 
AUTHOR: Harry M Palmer
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1865 (broadside, LOCSinging sb30374b)
KEYWORDS: homesickness dancing drink music party nonballad moniker
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 95, "The Old Country Party" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, sb30374b, "The Old Country Party", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also as202780, "The Old Country Party" 
Bodleian, Harding B 18(380), "The Old Country Party", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Irishman's Shanty" (tune)
NOTES: Broadsides LOCSinging sb30374b and Bodleian Harding B 18(380): 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: OCon095
===
NAME: Old Cow: see All the Pretty Little Horses (File: LxU002)
===
NAME: Old Cow Died, The (Little Girl)
DESCRIPTION: Dialog/game: "'Little girl, little girl,' 'Yes, ma'am," "Did you go over the river?" "The old cow died, sail around." "Did you give her hot water? Yes, ma'am." "Did you send for the doctor?" "Did she die of the cholera?" "Did the buzzards eat her?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal death dialog playparty food
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 396, "The Old Cow Died" (1 text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 141-142, "Little Girl" (1 text)
Roud #11598
NOTES: The Scarborough and Silber texts are noticeably distinct, Silber's being about the death of the cow while Scarborough's is intent upon the dialog and an adult asking a child about her activities (harvesting an egg, making corn pone, eating it, etc.) But the form is close enough that I've lumped them; the details of such songs are easily remade. - RBW
File: FSWB396A
===
NAME: Old Cowboy, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the hardships of his life as a cowboy "I've drunk water from the cow tracks, boys, when you bet it tasted good"; "I've starved and ate of the prickly pear"; "Been tortured by the Apaches." But now new cowboys are replacing him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: cowboy work hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 110, "The Old Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11088
File: FCW110
===
NAME: Old Daddy Fox: see The Fox (File: R103)
===
NAME: Old Dan Tucker
DESCRIPTION: Vignettes: Old Dan Tucker arrives to court the girls, sell his produce, and/or get drunk. Example: "Old Dan went down to the mill / To get some meal to put in the swill. / The miller swore by the point of his knife / He never seen such a man in his life."
AUTHOR: attributed to Daniel Decatur Emmett
EARLIEST_DATE: 1841
KEYWORDS: bawdy playparty talltale
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Australia
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Randolph 521, "Old Dan Tucker" (3 texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 431-433, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 tune, 3 texts)
BrownIII 509, "Nigger in the Woodpile" (1 two-line fragment, probably this though the vulgar idiom of the title  is obviously common to many songs)
BrownIII 82, "Old Dan Tucker" (6 texts)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 188, (no title) (2 fragments, one clearly this and the other a Dan Tucker stanza but with "Ole Aunt Dinah" in Dan's place); also p. 199, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 text, with a verse from this song though it has a chorus about "Sambo")
Brewster 86, "Old Dan Tucker" (4 short text)
Fuson, p. 163, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 text)
Cambiaire, p. 140, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 fragment)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 263, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 160-162, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 27, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 258-262, "Old Dan Tucker" (2 texts, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 52, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 240, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 81, "Old Dan Tucker" (1 text)
DT, DANTUCKR
ST R521 (Full)
Roud #390
RECORDINGS:
Bentley Ball, "Old Dan Tucker" (Columbia A3087, 1920)
Harry C. Browne "Old Dan Tucker" (Columbia A1999, 1916)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Old Dan Tucker" (OKeh 40263, 1925; rec. 1924)
Pat Ford, "Old Dan Tucker" [fragment] (AFS A 4211 B2, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, "Old Dan Tucker" (Brunswick 295, 1929; rec. 1928)
Charlie Jones & his Kentucky Corn Crackers, "Old Dan Tucker" (Rondo R-168, n.d., prob. late 1940s)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Old Dan Tucker" (Vocalion 15033, 1925)
Pete Seeger, "Old Dan Tucker" (on PeteSeeger17)
Judge Sturdy's Orchestra "Old Dan Tucker" (Victor 20102, 1926;  rec. 1925)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Old Dan Tucker" (Columbia 15382-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Clear the Track" (tune)
cf. "Johnny, Get Your Gun (II)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The End of Big Bill Snyder" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Clear the Track (I) (File: SCW48)
The End of Big Bill Snyder (Greenway-AFP, pp. 30-31)
The Workingman's Train (Greenway-AFP, pp. 87-88)
Henry Clay (Hudson, p. 211; cf. "Henry Clay Songs," File: SRW039)
NOTES: Randolph-Legman I offers a few bawdy verses to this otherwise immaculate dance tune. - EC
This was originally published as by "Dan Tucker Jr.," but it is generally believe that it was by Dan Emmett -- his first significant work. - RBW
File: R521
===
NAME: Old Darling
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a mule-driver, describes driving his team at a fast pace when Old Darling (the boss) reproaches him for breaking the rules. The singer offers to break Mr. Darling; then tells listeners not to tow to Slocum, because the food is rotten.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: warning work boss animal
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 31, "Old Darling" (1 text)
Roud #8855
NOTES: In the early days, the teamsters in the pinewoods drove oxen, later horses and (less often) mules.
The last verse is almost certainly tacked on from a completely different song. - PJS
File: Be031
===
NAME: Old David Ward
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes working in a lumber camp for David Ward, including a thieving foreman, an unpleasant employer, and a crooked scaler. The singer vows to leave and not return.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: work lumbering logger nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Gardner/Chickering 115, "David Ward" (1 text)
Beck 14, "Old David Ward" (1 text)
Roud #6498
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" and references there
cf. "The Rigs of the Times" (lyrics)
NOTES: David E. Ward lumbered much territory north of Cadillac, Michigan; a small island village in the Manistee River, "Deward," is named for him. - PJS
File: Be014
===
NAME: Old Doc Jones: see Doctor Jones (File: Br3090)
===
NAME: Old Dog Blue: see Old Blue (File: R295)
===
NAME: Old Dog Tray
DESCRIPTION: "The morning of life is past, And evening comes at last, It brings me dreams of a once happy day... Sporting with my old dog Tray." The singer notes that people come and go, but dogs stay faithful. He concludes he will never have a better friend
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1853
KEYWORDS: dog age nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 396, "Old Dog Tray" (1 text)
Roud #2667
NOTES: "Tray" for some reason seems to have been a popular name for dogs in the early nineteenth century. Thomas Campbell (1777-1844) wrote a piece called "My Dog Tray," about a dog faithful to his Irish master, with enough thematic similarities to this that I suspect dependence. And there seems to have been another My Dog Tray" piece by John Bryon. - RBW
File: FSWB396B
===
NAME: Old Doorstep, The: see Goodbye to My Stepstone (File: R853)
===
NAME: Old Dumpty Moore
DESCRIPTION: (Old Dumpty/Darby) rides his mare everywhere, until it grows too (old/stubborn) to ride. The mare goes down into the swamp and dies. The neighbours cook it, and "From the top of her head to the end of her tail Old Dumpty ate his way!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: animal horse death food
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 427, "Old Dumpty Moore" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #7633
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse)" (plot elements)
File: R427
===
NAME: Old Dun Cow, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the home of Dolly, "the girl I would like to make my spouse." He is bemused by the sight of her "milking her old dun cow." He hopes to win her love; "I'll get married very soon, tomorrow afternoon, for I feel in the humour now."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage animal
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H492, p. 238, "The Old Dun Cow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9473
NOTES: Not to be confused with "When the Old Dun Cow Caught Fire." - RBW
File: HHH492
===
NAME: Old Dyer, The: see The Dog in the Closet (The Old Dyer) [Laws Q11] (File: LQ11)
===
NAME: Old Early Camped at Fisher's Hill: see Battle of Fisher's Hill (File: ThBa058)
===
NAME: Old Elm Tree, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls old elm tree by the mill where he courted Laura. They become engaged, he goes to sea. In his absence, others convince her he was untrue. She dies for love and is buried beneath the old elm tree
AUTHOR: Words: Sarah S. Bolton/Music: Joseph Philbrick Webster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1871
KEYWORDS: courting sea death burial
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Dean, pp. 27-28, "The Old Elm Tree" (1 text)
Belden, p. 221, "The Old Elm Tree" (1 text)
Randolph 708, "The Old Elm Tree" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 174-176, "The Old Elm Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 47, "The Old Elm Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OLDELM*
Roud #2795
RECORDINGS:
Eugene Jemison, "The Old Elm Tree" (on Jem01)
File: R708
===
NAME: Old England's Gained the Day: see Sebastopol (Old England's Gained the Day; Capture and Destruction of Sebastopol; Cheer, Boys, Cheer) (File: SmHa041)
===
NAME: Old English Chantey: see The Sailor's Alphabet (File: RcTSAlp)
===
NAME: Old Erin Far Away: see The Dying Soldier (I) (Erin Far Away II) [Laws J7] (File: LJ07)
===
NAME: Old Farm Gate, The
DESCRIPTION: "The old farm gate hangs sagging down"; it is old, rusty, and almost useless. Once children played on it, lovers courted by it, funerals passed through it. But all this was long ago, and "Time passes so quickly away"
AUTHOR: L. C. Wegefarth ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: nonballad home
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 852, "The Old Farm Gate" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 476-478, "The Old Farm Gate" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 852)
Roud #7452
File: R852
===
NAME: Old Fat Buck, The: see The Nottinghamshire Poacher (File: E053)
===
NAME: Old Father Gray
DESCRIPTION: "You've all heard of old Father Gray, Traveled over land and traveled over sea. (Chorus:) Wheel around and drive the Yankees back And make them know their places." The Yankees are driven back, and the girls encouraged to give their seats to gentlemen
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting battle playparty
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 567, "Old Father Gray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7660
File: R567
===
NAME: Old Father Grimes: see Bohunkus (Old Father Grimes, Old Grimes Is Dead) (File: R428)
===
NAME: Old Fish Song, The
DESCRIPTION: Humorous retelling of the Jonah myth. Jonah is ordered by God to preach repentance to Nineveh. Not wanting the job, he goes to sea. God raises a storm; the sailors throw Jonah overboard. He is swallowed by a whale. Children are warned to obey
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (field recording, Blind James Howard)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: God sees that the people of Nineveh are wicked, and sends Jonah to preach to them. Jonah says he's a hard-shell Baptist and refuses to go, being against foreign missions. He gets on a ship, but God, angered, raises a storm and the sailors throw Jonah overboard, where he's swallowed by a whale. The whale has indigestion, and vomits Jonah back out; Jonah heads for Nineveh and preaches and prophesies until the population repents. The moral is that one should be obedient: "When you disobey mammy, remember this tale/When you run off from home, bud, look out for a whale/There's varmints to get you on sea and on land/And a boy can be swallowed lots easier than a man."
KEYWORDS: captivity travel prophecy Bible humorous religious whale gods 
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 124-125, "The Old Fish Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OLDFISH
RECORDINGS:
Blind James Howard, "The Old Fish Song" (AFS 74A, 1933; on KMM)
New Lost City Ramblers, "The Old Fish Song" (on NLCR01, NLCRCD1)
NOTES: This hilarious song almost certainly began its life as a printed "ballot." - PJS
Book of Jonah, ch. 1-3. In the Bible, of course, it's a great fish rather than a whale. - PJS
Interestingly, the story leaves out most of chapter 4 of Jonah, in which the repentance of Nineveh causes Jonah to get mad at God again. Perhaps it's the author who's the hard-shell Baptist. - RBW
File: CSW124
===
NAME: Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)
DESCRIPTION: The "darky" remembers the "old folks at home" on "de Swanee ribber." Now forced to wander, he still longs "for de old plantation." He recalls growing up on the plantation, playing with his brother, and listening to the banjo. He hopes to go home.
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1851
KEYWORDS: home exile family slave
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 163-166, "Old Folks at Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 125-126, "Old Folks at Home" (1 text)
Hill-CivWar, p. 218, "Old Folks at Home" (1 text)
Krythe 5, pp. 74-99, "Old Folks at Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 407-408, "Old Folks at Home"
PSeeger-AFB, p. 83, "Swanee River" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 268-269, "Old Folks at Home" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 258, "Old Folks At Home" (1 text)
DT, OLDFOLK
ST RJ19163 (Full)
Roud #13880
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Swanee River" (OKeh 45139, 1927; on TimesAint02)
Monroe Quartet, "Old Folks at Home" (OKeh 45133, 1927)
Riley Puckett, "Swanee River" (Columbia 15003-D, c. 1924)
Virginia Rea & Elias Breeskin, "Old Folks at Home" (Brunswick 10013, 1920)
Paul Robeson, "Old Folks at Home" (HMV [UK] B-3664, 1930)
Pete Seeger, "Swanee River" (on PeteSeeger24)
Unidentified quartette, "Old Folks at Home" (Imperial [UK] 44961, c. 1906)
Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" (Vocalion 04387, 1938)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1232), "The Old Folks at Home!," J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1855-1858; also Firth b.26(85), Firth b.26(240), Firth b.26(339), Harding B 20(268), Firth b.27(171), Firth c.16(291), Firth c.12(366), Firth b.26(378), Harding B 11(2797), "The Old Folks at Home[!]"
LOCSheet, rpbaasm 0473, "Old Folks at Home," Firth, Pond & Co. (New York), n.d. ["written and composed by E.P. Christy"]; also sm1875 03964, sm1885 23541, "Old Folks at Home" ["by S. C. Foster"] (tune)
LOCSinging, sb30401b, "Old Folks at Home," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also as110190, "Old Folks at Home"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sweet Refrain" (recalls this song)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Way Down upon the Swanee River
NOTES: The first sheet music version of this piece credits it to E.P. Christy. This was with Foster's consent; he sold Christy the right to claim authorship for $5. (Fortunately, Foster at least got the royalties on the song.) It finally appeared under his name in 1879 when the copyright was renewed.
In Foster's first draft, the river was the "Pedee," but he concluded that that didn't sound right. So he and his brother Morrison scouted an atlas for a better name, finally distorting "Suwanee" (a river in south Georgia and northern Florida) into "Swanee."
Phillips Barry posits that this tune is derived from "Annie Laurie." If so, there was a lot of reworking done along the way. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb30401b: 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.
LOCSheet, sm1853 700590, "Old Folks at Home," Firth, Pond & Co. (New York), 1853 does not include words and has the attribution "Composed by Stephen C. Foster"
Another warning about relying on broadsides for anything: Bodleian, Firth b.27(171), "The Old Folks at Home!," unknown, n.d. has the note "AIR -- 'Old house at home'" - BS
File: RJ19163
===
NAME: Old Geezer, The: see The Old Tobacco Box (File: FSC143)
===
NAME: Old Geezers, The: see The Old Tobacco Box (File: FSC143)
===
NAME: Old General Lane
DESCRIPTION: "Here sits a young lady all down to mourn, She's mourning the loss of her own true love, It has been said that he was slain In the service of old General Lane (or "was shot A-fighting for old General Scott") Oh no.... He'll come back and be my beau"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: war battle death love separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 560, "Old General Lane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #940?
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bonnie Light Horseman"
NOTES: This piece instantly makes me think of the Napoleonic War-era piece "My Bonnie Light Horseman," but the link is tenuous.
If the soldier was shot in the army of General Scott, the war is presumably the Mexican War.
If instead we refer the song to "General Lane," it probably refers to General Walter Payne Lane, who fought in the Mexican War and served in the Confederate cavalry in the west (Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge) and was commissioned Brigadier General in 1865. There were, however, several other Generals Lane in the Civil War: James Lane (brigadier in Lee's army), and John Lane (brevet Brigadier in the Army of the Cumberland). There was also Senator James Lane, who had been Major General of the (Unionist) Kansas Militia. - RBW
File: R560
===
NAME: Old General Price
DESCRIPTION: "Old General Price is a mighty fine man, From women an' children he steals all he can, It's damn any man that will follow his trade... These hard times"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes Civilwar thief
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 224, "Old General Price" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Roud #7828
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sterling Price" (subject)
NOTES: Sterling Price (1809-1867), a former governor of Missouri and Confederate commander of Missouri troops, was almost certainly not a thief. His troops, however, were undisciplined and therefore even more likely to loot than the average soldier. Their depredations may account for the attitude toward Price shown in this fragment.
I have the strange feeling that "Old General Price" and "Sterling Price" are a single piece, one being adapted from the other -- but since we don't have a single complete stanza of either, and only one tune, this is beyond proof. - RBW
File: R224
===
NAME: Old Girder Bill
DESCRIPTION: "I'll write you a poem of an old mountaineer, Who spent his life hunting for raccoon and deer." Girder Bill goes hunting and sees a buck and doe; he shoots the buck and goes home, "A buck on his shoulder, a doe left for seed."
AUTHOR: Lije Littleton?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: hunting
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', p. 124, "Old Girder Bill" (1 text)
File: ThBa124
===
NAME: Old Glory
DESCRIPTION: "Say, have you heard the joyful news of Burnside's expedition...?" "The other day at Roanoke... The boys, to play a Union joke, ran up the flag of glory." The singer praises the Union soldiers, taunts the Confederates, and calls for their hanging
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb. 7, 1862 - Burnside's North Carolina expedition approaches Roanoke Island
Feb. 8, 1862 - Burnside defeats Henry Wise's local troops to capture Roanoke Island
Mar. 14, 1862 - Burnside takes New Bern
Apr. 26, 1862 - Burnside captures Beaufort
July 3, 1862 - Burnside and some 7500 of his troops are transferred to the Army of the Potomac
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
JHCox 71, "Old Glory" (1 text)
Roud #5461
NOTES: Burnside's expedition against the North Carolina coast was one of the first Union amphibious expeditions, and was quite successful (almost the only Union success in the war to this time). A large strip of North Carolina coast stayed in Union hands, which helped tighten the Union blockade.
This song was almost certainly composed in the early months of 1862 -- probably before the Battle of Antietam (Sept. 17, 1862), where Burnside had a chance to win the war, and muffed it. Certainly it must have been composed before the Battle of Fredericksburg that winter, when Burnside lost the last shreds of his reputation. The North Carolina campaign had been a pushover, requiring little but energy (which Burnside had). Defeating Robert E. Lee took brains (which Burnside didn't have). - RBW
File: JHCox072
===
NAME: Old Gospel Ship, The
DESCRIPTION: "I have good news to bring and that is why I sing... I'm gonna take a trip on that old gospel ship And go sailin' through the air." The singer advises others not to be ashamed of him/her, and admits to an inability to wait
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (recording, Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 351, "The Old Gospel Ship" (1 text)
DT, GOSPSHIP GSPLSHIP
Roud #7383
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "Gospel Ship"  (Melotone 6-07-56/Conqueror 8692, 1936; rec. 1935)
Leverett Bros. "Old Gospel Ship" (Country Church CC3/4, n.d.)
Monroe Brothers, "On That Old Gospel Ship" (Bluebird B-7273/Montogmery Ward M-7312, 1937)
Speer Family, "Old Gospel Ship" (Columbia 20418/Columbia 38155, 1948; rec. 1947)
Ruby Vass, "The Old Gospel Ship" (on LomaxCD1704)
File: FSWB351B
===
NAME: Old Grampus: see Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey) (File: R569)
===
NAME: Old Granddaddy's Dead: see Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey) (File: R569)
===
NAME: Old Grandma
DESCRIPTION: In praise of Grandma, who raised 21 kids right and lived the good life. "Old Grandma when ... infants came and times got bad, She stuck right on to old Grand-dad." "But young girls now are the other way: They're up all night and sleep all day"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: mother children family
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf,West)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Peacock, pp. 81-82, "Old Grandma" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 94-95, "Old Grandma" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GRTGRNMA*
Roud #4543
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Great Grand-dad"
File: FJ094
===
NAME: Old Grandma Hones
DESCRIPTION: The Liza leaves Sydney for Halifax and "Missus Hone's." Grandpa Hones tells tales. The girls welcome the sailors home. Grandma goes to bed and "leaves us all night with her daughters to sport"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: sex ship shore humorous whore sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 83-84, "Old Grandma Hones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9952
File: Pea083
===
NAME: Old Granite State, The
DESCRIPTION: "We have come from the mountains (x3) From the Old Granite State; With a band of music (x3) We are passing 'round the world." The song introduces the singers, their state of New Hampshire, and their progressive ideas
AUTHOR: Elaborated, and probably written, by the Hutchinson Family
EARLIEST_DATE: 1843 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1843 391270)
KEYWORDS: nonballad home family drink
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, GRANITST*
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1843 391270, "The Old Granite State," Firth and Hall (New York), 1843 (tune)
NOTES: The Hutchinson Family, according to Spaeth (_A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 95) used this song to introduce their act and their family.
The Digital Tradition says that the verse, "Yes, we're friends of Emancipation And we'll sing the Proclamation" is "an obvious later addition." This is not as clear as it sounds. It was Lincoln who put the two words together -- but the Hutchinsons were campaigning for emancipation (and other liberal causes such as temperance) well before the Civil War. The exact wording may date from 1862, but the family certainly was proclaiming abolition by the 1840s -- and would have felt Lincoln's half-emancipation completely inadequate.
The family's own history, by Joshua Hutchinson, credits the song to Jesse Hutchinson (the ninth child of Jesse Sr. and Mary Hutchinson), though the sheet music lists the whole family and is copyrighted by John (child #13; all told, the parents had 19 children, 16 of whom survived infancy).  - RBW
File: DTgranit
===
NAME: Old Granny Wales (Granny O'Whale, Granua Weal)
DESCRIPTION: "Old Granny she rose in the morning so soon,.. Saying, 'They're wronging my children that's over the sea." She meets Lord Cornwall, Lord Bute, Lord North, Lord Granville, and complains about the Tea Act. They argue; she wishes her children success
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1823 (Green Mountain Songster, according to Stanchfield)
KEYWORDS: political nonballad America nobility
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 18, 1775 - Battle of Lexington. A British force routs the American Minutemen. The
   colonials gain some revenge as the Redcoats advance on Concord
June 17, 1775 - American defeat at the Battle of Bunker Hill
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, GRNWALE2 (cf. GRNWALE.NOT)
Roud #2817
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Granuaile" (character of Granuaile) and references there
cf. "Revolutionary Tea" [Laws A24] (subject of the tea tax)
NOTES: It appears that there is only one traditional collection of this song, by Bessie Mae Stanchfield, taken from Elma Snyder McDowell of Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Stanchfield published this version in _California Folklore Quarterly_ Volume 4, Number 4 (October, 1945), pp. 393-397. McDowell had it from her father; based on Stanchfield's notes, this would appear to mean it was in circulation in Minnesota around 1880.
Stanchfield, in researching the song, consulted very many eminent folklorists (I have seen the letters she wrote; they are in the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society). They proved very unhelpful; none even noted the connection with Grace O'Malley, known as Granuaile (for whom see "Granuaile" and the related songs). Stanchfield's speculation was the Granny Wales either Benjamin Franklin (an "old granny" who was for a time, in effect, the American representative trying to negotiate with the British parliament) or perhaps the country of Wales itself.
I have no doubt, however, that Old Granny Wales is in fact Granuaile, and in this I am confirmed by Bruce Olson (Digital Tradition notes on Granny Wale), John Moulden (private communication), and Kenneth Porter (Notes and Queries, in _Western Folklore_, Volume 13, Number 1 (January,1954), p. 51; note that _Western Folklore_ is the successor of _California Folklore Quarterly_). All four of us reached this conclusion independently: This is a song of the Irish wishing the Americans well in their rebellion.
Apart from Granuaile, the characters and events mentioned in the McDowell text are:
Lord Cornwall: Cornwall is properly a duchy, and I know of no one named Lord Cornwall in this period; I suspect this is an error for General Cornwallis. (Unless it's a sort of geographical error for the Earl Dartmouth, Secretary for the Americas when the troubles began.)
Lord North, Lord Granville, and infamous Bute: Frederick, Lord North, later second Earl of Guilford (1732-1792), was Prime Minister 1770-1782. His behavior toward the colonies was much better than this song might imply; he actually *repealed* most of the Townshend Duties which had made the colonies so restless, keeping only the tea tax as a sort of token of British sovereignty (the tea tax, according to Stanley Weibtraub, _Iron Tears: America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire_, Free Press, 2005, p. 4, was a quarter of the tax charged in England; on p. 19, he notes that total taxes on Americans were only about 1/25 the effective tax rate paid by British subjects) and also as an attempt to get rid of a lot of tea stuck in East India Company warehouses (see Don Cook, _The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies, 1760-1785_, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995, pp. 166-167; Albert Marrin, _The War for Independence: The Story of the American Revolution_, Atheneum, 1988, p. 33). His real problem was that he was George III's Prime Minister, so he had to do something to keep that unwise monarch happy. For more on these guys, see "Taxation of America."
Lord Granville: George Grenville (1712-1770), MP from 1741, Secretary of State 1761, Prime Minister 1763-1765. He came into office with a big problem: According to Robert Middlekauff, _The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution 1763-1789_ (Oxford, 1982), p. 57, he came into office with the national debt up to 122 million pounds (the result of the expensive battles of the Seven Years' War/French and Indian War). Britain was taxed to the limit, and the government felt that it needed to keep troops in America. Somehow, they had to be paid for. It was decided that the Americans would have to pay a share. After some fiddling with various tarriffs, Grenville imposed the Stamp Act, which was the first major cause of American revolutionary unrest (Marrin, pp. 14-15). (It is ironic to note that he lowered other duties, such as that on molasses -- Middlekauff, p. 58 -- but did his best to make sure it was collected.)
Infamous Bute: John Stuart, Third Earl of Bute (1713-1792). Prime Minister 1762-1763. He had been the tutor of the future George III from 1755, and his influence with that monarch was felt to continue long after he left office (see John Cannon, editor, _The Oxford Companion to British History_, Oxford, 1997, p. 145). He was, however, hated by just about everyone except the King (Cook, pp. 30-31), and he drove many Lords out of government.
Middlekauff, p. 20, has much to say of Bute, "The friendship [between George III and Bute] seems to have developed easily -- in part, we may suppose, because George craved affection and kindness and Bute responded with both. Yet... Bute held the upper hand: he was twenty-five years older, strongly opinionated, obviously intelligent, and he was in charge of the prince's education.... Bute himself knew much but did not understand men or human conduct. His pride reinforced the prince's; his propensity to judge others by abstract principles... strengthened a similar tendency in the prince. Master and pupil then and later commonly mistook inflexibility for personal strength and character" (p. 20).
It was Bute who first started building up the peacetime army (Cook, p. 34, attributes this to a desire to place George III), forcing the raising of money to maintain them. This started the cycle of taxes, continued by Grenville, which caused so much trouble with the colonies. Especially since Bute did nothing to make it clear why he did what he did.
Lexington Battle: The Battle of Lexington and Concord, April 18-19, 1775. Note that the colonists did not win at Lexington (where British regulars tore the Minutemen to pieces); the victory came in the guerilla actions on the way to Concord.
Bunker Hill: The Battle of Bunker Hill, fought on June 17, 1775 at Breed's Hill (not Bunker Hill). The British won, in that the Americans had to evacuate the site, The claim that 1200 Britons lay dead is exaggerated: This is about the number of actual casualties, but Cook, p. 226, says 232 British were killed and 950 wounded. For Bunker Hill, and Joseph Warren who died there, see "The Sword of Bunker Hill."
Darby. Bixby, and Graves: I'm guessing that Darby is Captain John Derby, whose ship brought the first word of Lexington and Concord to England (Cook, pp. 219-221). Bixby I can't identify, There were naval officers named Graves later in the war, though I don't know why they would be mentioned in 1775, which seems from internal evidence to be the date of this song. - RBW
File: DTgrnwl2
===
NAME: Old Gray Goose (I), The (Lookit Yonder)
DESCRIPTION: Concerning a man's dead wife, whose return he fears: "On Saturday night my good wife died, On Sunday she was buried, But Monday was my courting day, And Tuesday I got married. Now, lookit here, and lookit there, and look way over yonder..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: wife husband death marriage humorous floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
FSCatskills 147, "Lookit Yonder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 153 (last of several "fragments of Irish songs" - 1 text, which could be this or "My Wife Died on Saturday Night")
DT, LOOKYOND*
Roud #3619
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Turkey Hen" (plot, lyrics; the two may be slightly modified forms of the same song)
cf. "I Had a Wife"
cf. "John Styles and Susan Cutter" (tune)
cf. "Way Down the Old Plank Road" (words)
cf. "My Wife Died on Saturday Night" (floating verse)
NOTES: The first verse quoted here is the same as "My Wife Died on Saturday Night"; they are distinguished mostly by the chorus.
To add to the confusion, there is a nursery rhyme (Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #131, p. 106):
I married a wife on Sunday,
She began to scold on Monday,
Bad was she on Tuesday,
Middling was she on Wednesday,
Worse she was on Thursday,
Dead was she on Friday,
Glad was I on Saturday night,
To bury my wife on Sunday.
The Baring-Goulds also compare the well-known poem of "Solomon Grundy." - RBW
File: FSC147
===
NAME: Old Gray Goose (II), The: see Go Tell Aunt Rhody (File: R270)
===
NAME: Old Gray Goose Is Dead, The: see Go Tell Aunt Rhody (File: R270)
===
NAME: Old Gray Horse Come Tearin' Out o' De Wilderness: see The Old Gray Mare (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull) (File: R271)
===
NAME: Old Gray Horse, The: see The Old Gray Mare (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull) (File: R271)
===
NAME: Old Gray Mare (I), The (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull)
DESCRIPTION: Concerning an old gray mare (old gray horse, little black bull) that came out of the wilderness (down the meadow, etc.) in Alabam/Arkansas/A long time ago/On to Galilee. Other animals may also be involved. May be used as a playparty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1858 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: horse animal nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Randolph 271, "The Old Gray Horse" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 1 tune); 559, "Out of the Wilderness" (1 short text, 1 tune); also possibly 429, "John the Boy, Hello!" (1 text, 1 tune, so short that one cannot tell whether it is the same piece or a different one)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 231-232, "The Old Gray Horse" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 271A)
BrownIII 174, "The Old Grey Horse Came Tearing Through the Wilderness" (3 short texts; "A" adds an unusual chorus, "Roll, Riley, roll (x3), Oh, Lord, I'm bound to go")
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 13-14, "Old Gray Horse Come Tearin' Out o' De Wilderness" (1 text plus bits of others, 1 tune); p. 183, (no title) (1 short text)
Sandburg, pp. 102-103, "Old Gray Mare"; 164-165, "Hoosen Johnny" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 65-68, "Down in Alabam' or Ain't I Glad I Got Out de Wilderness"" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 45, "In the Wilderness" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 336-338, "Tearin' Out-a Wilderness" (2 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 397, "Hoosen Johnny"; p. 398, "The Old Gray Mare" (2 texts)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 63, "The Old Grey Mare" (1 text, tune referenced)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 408-409, "The Old Gray Mare -- (Get Out of the Wilderness)"
Roud #751
RECORDINGS:
Gene Autry, "The Old Grey Mare" (Conqueror 8686, 1936)
Al Bernard, "The Old Grey Mare" (Vocalion 15643, 1927)
Milton Brown & his Brownies, "The Old Grey Mare" (Decca 5260, 1936)
Fiddlin' John Carson & Moonshine Kate, "The Old Gray Horse Ain't What He Used to Be" (OKeh 45471, 1930)
Lew Childre, "The Old Grey Mare" (Champion 16093, 1930)
[Arthur] Collins & [Byron] Harlan "Old Grey Mare" (Victor 18387, 1917) (Emerson 7298, c. 1917) (Columbia A2382, 1917) (Little Wonder 780, 1918) 
Vernon Dalhart, "The Old Grey Mare" (Perfect 12421/Conqueror 7071, 1928) (Banner 2180/Jewel 5187/Perfect 12421/Regal 8469/Conqueror 7071/Conqueror 7169, 1928; rec. 1927)
Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band, "The Old Grey Mare" (Victor 18369, 1917)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers[/Clodhoppers], "Old Gray Mare Kicking Out of the Wilderness" (OKeh 45183, 1928; rec. 1927)
Jimmy Johnson's String Band, "Old Blind Dog" (Champion 16541 [possibly issued as by Andy Palmer], 1932; on KMM)
[Billy] Jones & [Ernest] Hare, "The Old Grey Mare" (Edison 51618, 1925)
Elmo Newcomer, "Old Grey Mare" CroMart 101, n.d. but prob. late 1940s - early 1950s)
Land Norris, "Old Grey Mare" (OKeh 45047, 1926)
Obed Pickard, "The Old Gray Horse" (Columbia 15246-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "The Old Gray Mare" (Columbia 15170-D, 1927)
University Quartet, "The Old Gray Mare" (Pathe 20267, 1917)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Abe Lincoln Came Out of the Wilderness" (tune)
cf. "Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts" (tune)
cf. "The Big Black Bull"
cf. I Ain't a-Scared of Your Jail (tune, structure)
cf. "Horsie, Keep Your Tail Up" (lyrics)
cf. "Go in the Wilderness" (tune, structure)
cf. "Old Virginny Never Tire"
SAME_TUNE:
Old Abe Lincoln Came Out of the Wilderness (File: San168)
Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts (File: PHCFS133)
Flaotin' Down the Delaware (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 157)
I Don't Give a Darn for the Whole State of Iowa (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 251)
I Ain't A-Scared of Your Jail (on PeteSeeger35)
Aren't You Glad You Joined the Republicans? (Republican campaign song, c. 1860; cf. e.g. Allan Nevins, _The Emergence of Lincoln: Prologue to Civil War 1859-1861_ [volume IV of _The Ordeal of the Union_] (Scribners, 1950, p. 315))
NOTES: The 1858 sheet music credits this to "J. Warner," but no information about Warner has been recovered, and there are indications that the song was in the Black traditional repertoire before the 1850s.
A common bit of folklore claims that this is based on the exploits (?) of an animal that took fright during the Second Battle of Bull Run in 1862. The date of the sheet music, of course, proves this false. - RBW
Sam Hinton traces this to an African-American spiritual, "I Wait Upon the Lord" ("If you want to get to heaven go in the wilderness... and wait upon the Lord"). - PJS  [See now the Index entry for "Go Into the Wilderness." - RBW]
Are you sure this is the same ballad as "Little black bull come down the meadow/Hoosen Johnny, Hoosen Johnny"? I think they're part of the same family, but maybe we should split them. By the way, there's a great bawdy version of "Hoosen Johnny" called "Houston, Sam Houston", with sound effects. - PJS
It's another case of the extremes being different but the intermediate versions being too mixed to clearly distinguish. Easier to lump the whole family here. If we don't, we *will* mess up. Or, at least, I will. The versions of this song are so diverse that it gets to the point of parodying itself.... - RBW
File: R271
===
NAME: Old Gray Mule, The (Johnson's Mule)
DESCRIPTION: "Mr. Thomas had an old gray mule, And he drove him to a cart, And he loved that mule and the mule loved him." The song describes how Thomas mistreats the mule (currying it with a rake, feeding it on boot tops). The mule kicks and eventually dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Pound)
KEYWORDS: animal death work
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
LPound-ABS, 103, pp. 213-214, "The Old Gray Mule" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 186, "Johnson's Mule" (1 text)
BrownIII 512, "Johnson's Mule" (1 short text)
Roud #3704
NOTES: Reading Pound's text, I can't help but believe that parts of it were originally about a goat, not a mule. But I can't locate similar "goat" stanzas. In any case, many of the same lines appear in Gardner and Chickering.
Brown's text is also about a mule, but the few lines it contains are all goat-applicable. - RBW
File: LPns213
===
NAME: Old Grey Beard: see Old Man Came Over the Moor, An (Old Gum Boots and Leggings) (File: R066)
===
NAME: Old Grey Goose, The: see Go Tell Aunt Rhody (File: R270)
===
NAME: Old Grey Horse Came Tearing Through the Wilderness, The: see The Old Gray Mare (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull) (File: R271)
===
NAME: Old Grey Mare (II), The
DESCRIPTION: "Once I had an old grey mare (x3), Saddled her and rode her there." "When I got there she got tired, She laid down in an old courtyard." The singers in the yard scare her, and she flees; she singer finds her "in a mud hole flat on her back."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1913 (JAFL26)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: "Once I had an old grey mare (x3), Saddled her and rode her there." "When I got there she got tired, She laid down in an old courtyard." The singers in the yard scare her, and she flees; she singer finds her "in a mud hole flat on her back." In other versions, the singer tells that the gray mare  was blind and deaf; he takes her out to plow, but she doesn't know how; she runs away, he follows her and finds her on her back in a mudhole. She may get that good old-time religion
KEYWORDS: horse travel disability escape farming humorous animal
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 175, "The Old Grey Mare" (1 text)
SharpAp 223, "The Old Grey Mare" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #3442
RECORDINGS:
Buell Kazee, "Old Grey Mare" (on Kazee01)
Maude Thacker, "Once I Had an Old Grey Mare" (on FolkVisions1)
NOTES: This should not be confused with "The Old Gray Mare (I) (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull)"; in that song the horse comes out of the wilderness.
Buell Kazee allegedly recorded this in the 1920s, but I can't find it in the catalogs. And Sharp is said to have printed a version, but I haven't seen it yet. So, for the moment, the earliest date stands. - PJS
File: Br3175
===
NAME: Old Grey Mare (III), The
DESCRIPTION: .".. of traitors now beware There's none but men would glory win can ride my old Grey Mare. In Erin's Isle in ancient times She was rode by Brian Boru" and other heroes and others "not long ago" and "Brave Bonaparte" as well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); first half 19C (Zimmermann) 
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic talltale horse Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1014 - Battle of Clontarf; Brian Boru defeats a mixed force of Vikings and their Irish allies (but is killed in the battle)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
OLochlainn 35, "The Old Grey Mare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 44B, "The Sporting Old Grey Mare" (1 text)
Moylan 164, "The Old Grey Mare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3039
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wonderful Grey Horse" (theme)
NOTES: Zimmermann: "The song probably has no emblematic meaning."
For a broadside with the same theme but different ballad see NLScotland, RB.m.169(243), "The Wonderful Grey Horse," unknown, c.1840. The similarity extends even to leading up to support of the Irish Home Rule Movement. - BS
File: OLoc035
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NAME: Old Grimes (II): see Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey) (File: R569)
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NAME: Old Grimes Is Dead: see Bohunkus (Old Father Grimes, Old Grimes Is Dead) (File: R428)
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NAME: Old Grumbler: see Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey) (File: R569)
===
NAME: Old Gum Boots and Leggings: see Old Man Came Over the Moor, An (Old Gum Boots and Leggings) (File: R066)
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NAME: Old Hal o' the West: see Henry Clay Songs (File: SRW039)
===
NAME: Old Hannah: see Go Down, Old Hannah (File: LoF286)
===
NAME: Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow: see Hen Cackle (File: RcOHCRGC)
===
NAME: Old Hewson the Cobbler: see The Cobbler (I) (File: R102)
===
NAME: Old Holly, Crab, and I
DESCRIPTION: "We work for Hay and Company; we try to do what's right. We start at six in the morning and quit at six at night." The three workers, "old Holly, Crab, and me," work hard, then relax in the evening
AUTHOR: Ron Sisson ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger work lumbering
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #25, "Old Holly, Crab, and I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4465
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "We Work for Hay and Company" (subject)
File: FowL25
===
NAME: Old Honest Abe
DESCRIPTION: "Old honest Abe, you are a babe In military glory. An iron fool, a party tool, A traitor, and a Tory." The singer challenges Lincoln to "whup us if you're able." Scott and Wool cannot win his battles; Scott can never defeat his mother
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1863 (Songs of the South)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, pp. 356-357, "Old Honest Abe" (1 text)
Roud #7767
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Abe's Elected" (subject)
NOTES: Belden says this song was published in _Songs of the South_ in 1863. Internal evidence implies that it was written rather earlier -- my guess would be around September or October of 1861, after the Confederates had won Wilson's Creek (August 10) and first Bull Run (July 21), making possible the claim of beating the Federals in every battle, but before Winfield Scott gave up the Commander in Chief's post in November of that year.
The "Scott" of the song was of course Winfield Scott (1786-1866), the original commander in chief of the Federal armies, who was a Virginian (hence the gibe about his inability to defeat his mother). Although Scott was soon pushed aside, we might note that his "anaconda plan" was the basic scheme by which the Union won the war.
"Wool" is John E. Wool (1789-1869), like Scott a veteran of the War of 1812, and considered the #2 Federal officer starting the war. He would serve until he retired in 1863, but he didn't really do much in the War; at no point did he command an important army. - RBW
File: Beld356
===
NAME: Old Horny Kebri-O (Shaggin' Away)
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes out and has "good luck," having sex with 14 women. He has less fortune at home, having only animals available. Other verses may involve other exploits of his "old horny kebri-o." Chorus: "Shaggin', shaggin', shaggin' away...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1976 (collected by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: sex animal whore bawdy nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Logsdon 49, pp. 235-237, "Old Horny Kebri-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10104
File: Logs049
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NAME: Old Horse (II): see The Salt Horse Song (File: FO226)
===
NAME: Old Horse, Old Horse: see The Salt Horse Song (File: FO226)
===
NAME: Old Hoss: see The Salt Horse Song (File: FO226)
===
NAME: Old Hoss Kick, The
DESCRIPTION: "De old hoss kick And a hippy-doodle. De old hoss kick And a hippy-doodle. The old hoss kick hard in the stable, And he couldn't git his foot out Because he wasn't able!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 185, (no title) (1 fragment)
File: ScNF185A
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NAME: Old Hoss, Old Hoss: see The Salt Horse Song (File: FO226)
===
NAME: Old Hulk, The
DESCRIPTION: "When age has rendered some old hulk Unfit for merchant use, She's sold at auction, bought in bulk, Just for a whaling cruise." The singer described the dreadful conditions on a whaling ship, and laments that after all the toil he is still poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1854 (Journal from the Governor Carver)
KEYWORDS: whaler work hardtimes
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 32-33, "The Old Hulk" (1 text)
Roud #2007
File: SWMS032
===
NAME: Old Hundred
DESCRIPTION: "All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice." Alternately, "Make ye a joyful sounding noise, Unto Jehovah, all the earth." The listener is reminded that Jehovah is God, and is advised to enter "his courts with thankfulness."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1560
KEYWORDS: religious Bible nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 28-29, "Psalm 100 (A Psalm of Praise)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 366, "Old Hundred" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 409-410, "Old Hundred"
DT, (OLDHUND*)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp. 26-27, "All People That On Earth Do Dwell" (1 text, 1 tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Hymn for Syttende Mai (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 18-19 -- though the words have to be squeezed pretty hard to fit)
The Dogsology (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 156)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Old Hundredth
NOTES: This tune is now better known as "The Doxology," but those words are relatively recent. The source and age of the original words are subject to slight debate. Fuld reports that the music is said to have been provided by Louis Bourgeois for Psalm 134 in the 1551 Genevan Psalter. However, no copies of this book survive, and the 1553 edition lacks the song.
The first certain printing, the 1560 edition "Psalms of David in English," has the piece with words credited to William Kethe. (The "doxology" stanza is from Thomas Ken, and is later.) According to Johnson, William Kethe was a Scotsman, but apparently he ended up in England, because he "fled before the persecution of Mary 1555-1558 [presumably, by the dates, Mary Tudor of England, not Mary Stuart of Scotland] and found refuge in Geneva."
Johnson also reports that this song "was suggested to us by the McCormick Theological Seminary as expressing Calvin's and Presbuterian/Reformedhymn concepts in much the same way as _A Mighty Fortress Is Our God_ could be said to represent Luther's."
The version printed by Scott (from the Bay Psalm Book of 1640) has the curious trait of using the name "Jehovah" rather than the theologically correct "the LORD" or the phonologically correct "YAHWEH." This version does have the advantage of being noticeably closer to the Hebrew in meaning.
The Missouri Harmony has a song, "Old Hundred" (as well as a "New Hundred") which doesn't seem to match any version of this I've ever seen in either text or tune.- RBW
File: SBoA028
===
NAME: Old Hundredth: see Old Hundred (File: SBoA028)
===
NAME: Old Indian, An (The Indian Song)
DESCRIPTION: "An old Indian sat in his little canoe, / A-floating along o'er the water so blue. / He sang of the days when these lands were his own, / Before the palefaces among them were known." A lament for the loss of the Indians' land and culture
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) lament
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Warner 30, "An Old Indian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 86-88, "The Indian's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 81, "The Indian's Lament" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 157-158, "The Indian's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 121, "Indian Song" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
ST Wa030 (Partial)
Roud #1846
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. Tom Sullivan, "The Indian's Lament" (on Ontario1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Steals of the White Man" (theme)
cf. "Logan's Lament" (theme)
cf. "The Fair Captive" (plot elements)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Poor Indian
File: Wa030
===
NAME: Old Inishowen
DESCRIPTION: The singer says there is no place in the country to match Inishowen's beauty. He lists the places nearby: Tyrconnell, the castle of Cahir. He laments that O'Donnell (of Tyrconnell) and O'Doherty (of Inishowen) are dead. He blesses his home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H824, p. 166, "Old Inishowen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13477
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Meeting of the Waters" (tune)
NOTES: For O'Donell of Tyrconnell, see the notes on "O'Donnell Aboo (The Clanconnell War Song)." - RBW
File: HHH824
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NAME: Old Ireland
DESCRIPTION: "In the northwest of Europe there lies a green isle" land of majestic hills and fertile fields. The singer came from Columbia to view Ireland, and now praises Saint Patrick for a land without snakes. The singer bids farewell but says his heart will stay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home travel nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H658, pp. 175-176, "Old Ireland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13536
File: HHH658
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NAME: Old Ireland Far Away: see The Dying Soldier (I) (Erin Far Away II) [Laws J7] (File: LJ07)
===
NAME: Old Ireland I Adore
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Erin's Isle, my heart's delight, I long to see thee free." O'Connell fought to make Ireland free. "If you were free as once we were How happy would we be! No foreign landlord then would dare To lord it over thee"
AUTHOR: James Walsh
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 12(242))
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1775-1847 - Life of Daniel O'Connell
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 113, "Old Ireland I Adore" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 12(242), "The Exile's Lament", J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also 2806 b.10(82), Harding B 11(2918), 2806 c.15(287), Firth c.26(235), "The Exile's Lament"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls" (tune)
cf. "Daniel O'Connell (I)"  (subject: Daniel O'Connell) and references there
File: OCon113
===
NAME: Old Jack
DESCRIPTION: Charles thinks his horse Old Jack should win a silver cup. Old Jack is a bag of bones, always hungry to eat anything. Nevertheless, he wins a trotting match race.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: racing humorous horse food
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 85-86, "Old Jack" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9953
File: Pea085
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NAME: Old Jesse
DESCRIPTION: "One cold and frosty mornin' Just as the sun did rise, The possum roared, the raccoon howled, 'Cause he'd begun to freeze... Old Jesse was a gentleman among the olden times." Remaining verses are floating stanzas about a Black's learning and life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible humorous animal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 71-72, "Old Jesse" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST ScaNF071 (Partial)
Roud #3439
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "On a Cold Frosty Morning" (lyrics)
cf. "Walkin' in the Parlor" (lyrics)
NOTES: This is one of those impossible items. Roud lumps Scarborough's text with "On a Cold Frosty Morning," presumably on the basis of the first line. But the next two verses ("Nigger never went to free school Nor any odder college..." and "Nigger used to pick de banjo, He play so berry strong...") are typical of "Walkin' in the Parlor."
The chorus, about Old Jesse (the father of David) is unique.
What's more, I have a recording of George and Gerry Armstrong, with the first verse and the Old Jesse chorus, combined with "Bye and Bye."
I really don't know what to make of the result. Separate song, or just a conflation? When in doubt, we split. If I had to file it somewhere, I would probably go against Roud and file it with "Walkin' in the Parlor" rather than "On a Cold Frosty Morning." - RBW
File: ScaNF071
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NAME: Old Jig-Jog, The: see The Castlereagh River (File: MA045)
===
NAME: Old Jimmy Sutton
DESCRIPTION: Bill took the gun, Bill went a-huntin'/Bang went the gun, down went the mutton, baa!" and similar verses about an inept farmer. Cho: "Can't dance that, can't dance nothin'/I wouldn't give a blank for the old Jimmy Sutton, baa!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Grayson & Whitter)
KEYWORDS: hunting dancing food dancetune animal horse sheep farming
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #7878
RECORDINGS:
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Old Jimmy Sutton" (Gennett 6436, 1928, on GraysonWhitter01)
Vester Jones, "The Old Jimmy Sutton" (on GraysonCarroll1)
Glenn Smith, "Old Jimmy Sutton" [instrumental] (GraysonCarroll1)
NOTES: Just enough plot to avoid the nonballad keyword by a whisker. - PJS
File: RcOJiSu
===
NAME: Old Joe Camp
DESCRIPTION: "Old Joe Camp when he came to town, He enlisted under Captain Brown, Brown swore him on the very first slap, And sent him off to Manassas Gap." Brown rides Joe, who vows to desert, is captured (?), and is "fired back" to Brown
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: soldier Civilwar desertion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
JHCox 79, "Old Joe Camp" (1 text)
ST JHCox079 (Full)
Roud #5463
NOTES: Despite the title, the stanza form implies that this is not a version of Old Joe Clark.
Cox's version is badly defective, and there don't seem to be other versions, so it's hard to tell what this is really about, except that it seems to involve an "old soldier" of the Civil War who does his best to avoid work -- and, when that fails, attempts to desert.
The only specific in the song is the reference to Manassas Gap; this is not enough even to allow speculation about the source of the song.
It was quite common, in the Civil War, for a well-to-do or well-connected man to volunteer to raise a company (or even a regiment), and become its commander as a result. It would seem that Brown was just such a company commander. - RBW
File: JHCox079
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NAME: Old Joe Clark
DESCRIPTION: Old Joe Clark, a "fine old man" and a "preacher's son," lives an improbable life of courting, gambling, drinking, and sundry accidents. Versions range from the thoroughly clean (often involving animals) to the significantly bawdy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1842
KEYWORDS: humorous talltale nonballad animal playparty floatingverses bawdy dancetune
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Randolph 533, "Old Joe Clark" (10 texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 399-401, "Old Joe Clark" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 533A)
BrownIII 86, "Old Joe Clark" (5 texts); also 111, "Wish I Had a Needle and Thread" (7 text, of which only "E" is really substantial; it is certainly the "Italy" version of "Going Across the Sea." The other fragments contain verses typical of "Shady Grove," "Old Joe Clark," and others)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 428-430, "Old Joe Clark" (5 texts, 1 tune)
SharpAp 183, "Old Joe Clarke" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 25, "Old Joe Clark" (1 text, 1 tune -- plus the modern adaption "Round and Round Hitler's Grave")
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 277-279, "Old Joe Clark" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 814-818, "Old Joe Clark" (1 collated text, 1 tune)
JHCox 174, "Old Joe Clog" (1 text, partly from "Old Joe Clark" and partly floating verses, several of them from "Shady Grove")
Abrahams/Foss, p. 89, "Old Joe Clark" (1 partial text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 35, "Old Joe Clark" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 249-250, "Old Joe Clark" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 206, "Old Joe Clark" (1 text)
DT, JOECLARK*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 209, "(Old Joe Clark)" (1 text)
Roud #3594
RECORDINGS:
James "Iron Head" Baker, "Old Joe Clark" (AFS 200 A3, 1933)
H. M. Barnes & his Blue Ridge Ramblers, "Old Joe Clark" (Brunswick 313, 1929)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Fare You Well Old Joe Clark" (OKeh 40038, 1924; rec. 1923) (OKeh 45198 [as "Old Joe Clark"], 1928, rec. 1927)
James Crase, "Old Joe Clark" (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, "Old Joe Clark" (Gennett 6223/Challenge 333/Herwin 75565, 1927; on GoingDown)
The Hillbillies, "Old Joe Clark" (OKeh 40376, 1925) (Vocalion 15369, 1926)
Vester Jones, "Old Joe Clark" (on GraysonCarroll1)
Bradley Kincaid, "Old Joe Clark" (Brunswick 485, c. 1930; Conqueror 8090, 1933)
Clayton McMichen & his Georgia Wildcats, "Old Joe Clark" (Varsity 5029, 1942)
John D. Mounce et al, "Old Joe Clark" (on MusOzarks01)
Glen Neaves & band, "Old Joe Clark" (on HalfCen1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Old Joe Clark" (on NLCR05, NLCR11)
W. Lee O'Daniel & the Light Crust Doughboys, "Old Joe Clark" (Vocalion 02975, 1935)
Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Old Joe Clark" (AFS 197 A1, 1933)
Fiddlin' Powers and Family, "Old Joe Clark" (Victor 19434, 1924) (Edison 51662, 1925)
Riley Puckett, "Old Joe Clark" (Columbia 15033-D, c. 1925)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Old Joe Clark" (Victor 20302, 1926); Ernest V. Stoneman Trio, "Old Joe Clark" (OKeh, unissued, 1927)
Pete Seeger, "Joe Clark" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Old Joe Clark" (Columbia 15108-D, 1926)
Wade Ward, "Old Joe Clark" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1702)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cuckoo Waltz" (floating lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
Fare You Well, Old Ely Branch (by Aunt Molly Jackson) (Greenway-AFP, pp. 268-269; on PeteSeeger13)
NOTES: Randolph-Legman I offers some of the rarely printed bawdy verses to this familiar square dance and quatrain ballad. - EC
Since this piece is often played as a fiddle tune, and since the verses are usually improbable, often come from other songs, and rarely show any connection to each other, this song has been suspected of having begun life as an instrumental. - RBW
Seeger states that Joe Clark was "an actual person, a veteran of the War of 1812." - PJS
I'd love to know what evidence there is to prove that this soldier inspired the song.... - RBW
This shouldn't be confused with the fiddle tune "Old Joe," which is separate. "Old Joe" is reported to have been a nickname for syphilis. - PJS
File: R533
===
NAME: Old Joe Clog: see Old Joe Clark (File: R533)
===
NAME: Old Joe's Barroom: see Saint James Infirmary (File: San228)
===
NAME: Old John Booker
DESCRIPTION: "Old John Booker, call that gone!" (repeated frequently, usually in groups of three). "I'm goin' down to telephone!" "Old John Booker, he feel like this!" "I'm goin' down -- on the farm!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 187-188, "(Old John Booker)" (1 text); p. 287, "Old John Booker" (1 tune, partial text)
File: CNFM187
===
NAME: Old John Wallis
DESCRIPTION: John Brown had an old mare. He wasn't bid one farthing for her at Caister fair. He had a cow that gave only enough milk for his sow. His hens got in his corn; he shot at them but killed his mare. He killed another mare running her head into a tree
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, Bob Brader)
KEYWORDS: farming humorous nonballad nonsense chickens horse floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #294
RECORDINGS:
Bob Brader, "Old John Wallis" (on Voice14)
NOTES: John Wallis's part in this song is only to ask John Brown "do you think this mare will die?" The rest of the song has to do with John Brown's misadventures. I list only a few of those in the description. He has others that I don't begin to understand. For example,
Old John Brown he went to plough,
And when he got there he didn't know how.
At every end he gave meows
He said he could plough from light to dark.
and
Old John Brown he had two fools
And he said he would make them lead his winter cows.
And if they didn't get back by noon,
He would eat the treacle and swallow the spoon.
I hope this is not supposed to make sense. - BS
I wonder if it isn't some sort of "song of all nonsense songs," with some garbling as the various elements came together. Roud lumps it with "Brian O'Lynn (Tom Boleyn)." I'm reminded of versions of "The Swapping Boy." Mix in a little of "Little Brown Dog" and a dead horse song, and voila! - RBW
File: RcOlJoWa
===
NAME: Old Johnny Booger
DESCRIPTION: Johnny Booger takes a wife. Doctor tells Johnny to rub her bad leg with gin. He thinks that a sin so he drinks the gin and rubs her leg with the bottle. Johnny falls in the river and there is no one to pull him out. He dies but can't get in heaven.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960s (recording, Jack Elliott)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous wife death river drowning
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North,South))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1329
RECORDINGS:
Jack Elliott, "Old Johnny Booger" (on Voice14)
NOTES: Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 14" - 8.9.02: "When I first came across this song, from a singer in Oxfordshire, the title was 'Old Johnny Bigger', the final word rhyming with the now unacceptable word 'nigger'. I presume that the song comes from the American Minstrel stage of the mid-19th century."
Jack Elliott's chorus on Voice14 is "Singing I do believe; I will believe. That old Johnny Booger was a gay old bugger And a gay old bugger was he." 
It is tempting to lump this [Roud #1329] with "Johnny Booker" [Roud #3441] but the verses and tune here have nothing in common with what I've read and heard. Yet another complication is the relationship of this song to "Johnny Boker" (I) [Roud #353]; for tune, text and structure's sake, I would keep it separate as well. - BS
File: RcOlJoBo
===
NAME: Old Johnny Booker Won't Do: see Johnny Booker (Mister Booger) (File: R268)
===
NAME: Old Johnston Thought It Rather Hard
DESCRIPTION: "Old Johnston thought it rather hard To ride over Beauregard; Old Johnston proved the deuce of a battle, And it's clear beyond a doubt That he didn't like the rout, And the second time he thought he'd try another." The Great Galena is also mentioned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar soldier battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 21, 1861 - First battle of Bull Run/Manasses fought between the Union army of McDowell and the Confederates under Johnston and Beauregard
April 6-7, 1862 - Battle of Shiloh. The army of U.S. Grant is forced back but, reinforced by Buell, beats off the army of A.S. Johnston. Johnston is killed. Both sides suffer heavy casualties (Shiloh was the first battle to show how bloody the Civil War would be)
May 15, 1862 - Battle of Drewry's Bluff
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 224, "Old Johnston Thought It Rather Hard" (1 fragment)
Roud #6618
NOTES: The editors of Brown conjecture that the first verse of this song, at least, refers to the Battle of Shiloh. Given the fragmentary state of the text, this is possible -- but I wonder.
There were two battles in the Civil War in which a southern general named Johnston was in command over Beauregard: At Bull Run/Manasses, where the Johnston involved was Joseph E. Johnston, and at Shiloh, where the Johnston was Albert Sydney Johnston.
To me, the song seems slightly more likely to refer to Bull Run. J. E. Johnston, arriving on the field with reinforcements, could have taken command over Beauregard, but generally deferred to his junior as Beauregard knew the ground. In addition, the Confederates at Bull Run were wavering when Johnston's troops arrived; there was no such rout at Shiloh. (There, it was the Union troops which ran.)
I hasten to add that this is pure conjecture. If true, however, the song may link vaguely with the "Bull Run" song of Cox; there are some metrical similarities.
If the song refers to the eastern campaigns, it would also explain the references to the _Galena_, a Union ironclad launched in 1862. She operated on the James River during the Peninsular Campaign, and she and the _Monitor_ (either of which, though probably the latter, could be the "Naval Wonder" of the song) tried to ascend the river to attack Richmond after the destruction of the _Merrimac/Virginia_ on May 9.
The attack on Drewry's Bluff failed; the Union vessels could not elevate their guns high enough to attack the Confederate works. The _Monitor_ suffered little damage (except that her crew was driven inside by sharpshooters, leaving them breathing foul and very hot air; see Harold Holzer and Tim Mulligan, Editors, _The Battle of Hampton Roads_, Fordham/Mariner's Museum, 2006, p. 48), but the _Galena_ proved very unsafe. James L. Nelson, _Reign of Iron: The Story of the first Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merimack_, Perennial, 2004, p.89, records an officer writing of her, "She is not shot-proof; ball came through, and many men were killed with fragments of her own iron."
Professor James Russell Soley, U.S.N., writing in volume II of the famous nineteenth century series _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_, p. 270., writes that in the battle of Drewry's Bluff, "In this position the _Galena_ remained for three hours and twenty minutes until she had expended all her ammunition. She came out of the action badly shattered, having been struck 28 times and perforated in 18 places." In the end, she was converted to an unarmored gunboat.
Another perspective on Drewry's Bluff, however, comes from John Taylor Wood, who was first a lieutenant in the Confederate Navy and then a Colonel in the army. He too wrote an article in _Battles and Leaders_ (found in the short edition abridged by Ned Bradford in 1956; I use the 1979 Fairfax Press edition): He declares that Drewry's Bluff had not been fortified until the _Virginia_ was scuttled, and manned only by a few guns, served mostly by the _Virginia's_ former crew. He considers the _Galena_ to have been very skillfully handled, But his summary of the battle (p. 108) is as follows:
"The _Monitor_, and others anchored just below, answered our fire deliberately; but, owing to the great elevation of the battery, their fire was in a great measure ineffectual, though two guns were dismounted and several men were killed and wounded. While this was going on, our sharp-shooters were at work on both banks.... Fining they could make no impression on our works, the _Galena_, after an action of four hours, returned down the riger with her onsorts.
"This was one of the boldest and best-conducted operations of the war.... Had Commander Rogers [of the Union navy] been supported by a few brigades,landed at City Point or above on the south side [of the James River], Richmond would have been evacuated. The _Virginia's_ crew alone barred his way to Richmond...." - RBW 
File: BrII224
===
NAME: Old Jones: see Put the Traffic Down (File: R334)
===
NAME: Old Judas
DESCRIPTION: "Old Judas was a traitor and the worst of his kind. He had a bag of money that he carried all the time." The singer details Judas's betrayal of Jesus, and his death, wonders why Jesus chose such a disciple, and warns others against love of money.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Collected by Shellans from John Daniel Vass)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious money lie betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shellans, pp. 87-88, "Old Judas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7336
NOTES: The statement that Judas had "a money bag" seems to be based on John 13:29. where Judas is said to have what the NRSV calls "the common purse," and also John 12:6. This also refers to Judas having the common treasury, and refers to him as a thief who steals from it. 12;6 is also the verse in which, after the anointing of Jesus's feet, he complains that the money was not given to the poor. (In the version of the story of the anointing in Mark 14:3-9 and parallels, it is not Judas who questions the behavior, but the crowd in general).
There is no evidence that Judas had been a thief prior to his involvement with Jesus, except for songs such as "Judas" [Child 23].
It is not really clear whether Judas betrayed Jesus for a high price or a low. Only Matthew tells the story (Matt. 26:15), and the text says literally "thirty of silver" -- hence thirty silver coins, but it it not clear which sort of silver coins. If, as is likely, we are meant to think of the Greek denarius (which was a silver coin massing 3.8 grams), the price -- while not "lordly" as in the source in Zech. 11:13) -- was not trivial; it represented a month or more of income for a hired worker. And it was allegedly enough to buy a field near Jerusalem, where land prices must have been high (Matt. 27:7).
In Matthew 27:3-4, Judas tries to return the money before his death. The song tries to reconcile the two incompatible versions of his death; Matt. 27:5 says he hanged himself, clearly dying in the process, with no broken ropes involved; his death by violent disease, in a field he himself bought, is told in Acts 1:18-19). - RBW
File: Shel087
===
NAME: Old Judge Duffy
DESCRIPTION: Judge Duffy "knew nothing about rules of the law," but "of judges he was one of the best." When the town's only blacksmith is clearly guilty of murder, Duffy orders a Chinese laborer hanged instead, because the blacksmith is needed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978
KEYWORDS: execution reprieve foreigner lie
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 51-52, "Old Judge Duffy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JDGEDFFY*
Roud #4780
File: MN2051
===
NAME: Old Keg of Rum, The
DESCRIPTION: "My name is old Jack Palmer, I'm a man of olden day, And so I wish to sing a song To you of olden praise. To tell of merry friends of old...." The singer describes his mates who gathered around "the old keg of rum," their work and their drinking
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Paterson's _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: drink moniker
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 249-253, "The Old Keg of Rum" (1 text)
NOTES: The text Paterson/Fahey/Seal appears likely to be based on "The Days of Forty-Nine," but without a tune, it's impossible to be sure. - RBW.
File: PFS250
===
NAME: Old Kentucky
DESCRIPTION: "You may go east, you may go west And sighs so grand you'll see. But after all, Kentucky is The place you'll wish to be." The singer describes the scenery, the "women always fair," the hospitality, the farming, etc. and hopes to be buried in Kentucky
AUTHOR: Billie Menshouse?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 174-175, "Old Kentucky" (1 text)
File: ThBa174
===
NAME: Old King and His Three Sons, The: see In Good Old Colony Times (File: R112)
===
NAME: Old King Buzzard
DESCRIPTION: "Old King Buzzard floating high, 'Sho do wish old cow would die.' Old cow died, old calf cried, 'Oh mourner, you shall be free.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: food bird animal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 193, (no title) (1 fragment)
File: ScNF193A
===
NAME: Old King Cole (I)
DESCRIPTION: Cumulative: "Old King Cole was a merry old soul, and a merry old soul was he. He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl and he called for his --- three." Sundry (soldiers/courtiers) are called in, make suitable remarks, and wait for the next rank
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd); the nursery rhyme form is quoted in William King's "Useful Transactions in Philosophy" (1708/9)
KEYWORDS: cumulative soldier drink humorous bawdy
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So) Britain(England(North,South),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Kennedy 302, "Old King Cole" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 151-153, "Old King Coul" (1 text)
Chappell-FSRA 107, "Old King Jimmy" (1 text, in which the same first stanza is repeated several times: "Old King Jimmy called for his wine And called for his fiddlers three," "Old Farmer Jimmy called for his wine..." "Old Preacher Jimmy..." "Old Sailor Jimmy...")
Randolph-Legman I, p. 158, "Old King Cole" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 171-173, "Old King Cole" (1 tune, which may or may not be related as no text is given)
Creighton-NovaScotia 91, "Old King Coul" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 112, "Old King Cole" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #206, p. 143, "(Old King Cole)"
Silber-FSWB, p. 278, "Old King Cole" (1 text)
DT, KNGCOLE* KNGCOLE2*
Roud #1164
RECORDINGS:
Martin Gorman, "Old King Cole" (on Voice07)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(269), "Old King Cole," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866 ; also Harding B 11(2808), "Old King Cole"
SAME_TUNE:
Old King Cotton (Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II, p. 199)
NOTES: Randolph-Legman I has a bawdy version of the drinking song and nursery rhyme. - EC
Various explanations have been offered for "King Cole." Colchester is said to have been named after a third century kinglet named Cole (Geoffrey of Monmouth's history, v.6, describes a "Coel Duke of Kaercolun/Colchester" as living in the time of Constantius the father of Constantine the Great -- but Geoffrey made up most of his history. He also gave us King Lear and much of the basic story of King Arthur).
Scotland had a King Colin (967-971). Various merchants and minor noblemen have also been suggested. Needless to say, none of these identifications is convincing. - RBW
Parody: Bodleian, Harding B 11(2809), "Old King Cole," J. Sharp (London), c.1845 - BS
File: K302
===
NAME: Old King Cole (II)
DESCRIPTION: "Old King Cole was a jolly old soul And this you may tell by his larnin', He eat corn bread till his head turn red And his old yellow cap needs darnin" Other verses are floaters: "My pretty little pink," "Coffee grows," "I'll take my knapsack on my back"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (Ritchie)
KEYWORDS: nonballad royalty floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 42-43, "[Old King Cole]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 81, "Old King Cole" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1164
NOTES: Roud lumps this with the standard "Old King Cole." But while the theme is similar, the lyrics and the meter are different. It's really more a floating verse collection than anything else; of Ritchie's 20 lines (five stanazas of four lines each), I would consider *at least* fourteen to be from other songs -- and I suspect in fact that the original was a composite song from which the singer forgot a few lines and patched in replacements. - RBW
File: JRSF042
===
NAME: Old King Coul: see Old King Cole (I) (File: K302)
===
NAME: Old King Jimmy: see Old King Cole (I) (File: K302)
===
NAME: Old Kingston Jail
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the conditions in Kingston Jail. The inmates talk of their desire to leave. Most of the song is devoted to the varied characters found in the prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: nonballad prison moniker
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 25-27, "Old Kingston Jail" (1 text)
ST FO025 (Partial)
Roud #4675
File: FO025
===
NAME: Old Kitarden
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a restless logger, leaves "Kitarden" (Katahdin), Maine. Arriving in Michigan, he is set to cooking instead of logging; he reminisces; when he and his friends arrive in Saginaw they will "make the taverns roar" with toasts to Kitarden and the girls
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, a logger, leaves "Kitarden" (Katahdin), Maine, because he is restless. He arrives in Michigan, but his cohorts put him to cooking rather than logging; he reminisces about Maine, and vows that when he and his friends arrive in Saginaw they will "make the taverns roar" with toasts to Kitarden and the "girls that we adore."
KEYWORDS: lumbering emigration logger work home cook
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 44, "Old Kitarden" (1 text)
Roud #8876
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" (lyrics)
NOTES: Maine, New Brunswick, and Ontario lumberjacks commonly came to Michigan for the season, or sometimes permanently. - PJS
File: Be044
===
NAME: Old Lady Come from Booster
DESCRIPTION: "Old lady came from Booster, She had two hens and a rooster, The rooster died, toe old lady cried, She couldn't get eggs like she used to." "Ranky tanky, button my shoe." "Pain in my head, ranky tanky; Pain in my shoulder... Pain all over me, ranky tanky"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1970 (collected in John's Island by Henrietta Yurchenko)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad chickens
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 22, #2 (1973), p, 27, "Old Lady Come from Booster" (1 text, 1 tune, the Johns Island version)
File: SOv22v2b
===
NAME: Old Lady Sally Wants to Jump
DESCRIPTION: "Old Lady Sally wants to jumpty-jump, Jumpty-jump, jumpty-jump... And Old Lady Sally wants to bow." The singer says to throw in a hook to catch a girl, notes there are "many fishes in the brook," and describes a preacher trying to preach his way to heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, children of Lilly's Chapel School)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad courting
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 153-154, "(Old Lady Sally Wants to Jumpty-Jump)" (1 text); pp. 275-276, "Old Lady Sally Wants to Jump" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #11003
RECORDINGS:
Children of Lilly's Chapel School, "Old Lady Sally Wants to Jump" (on NFMAla6, RingGames1)
File: CNFM153
===
NAME: Old Lady Sittin' in the Dining Room
DESCRIPTION: A ring-skipping song. "Choose the one the ring go round, Choose the one the morning, Choose the one with the coal black hair, And kiss and call her honey."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: playparty
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 705, "Old Lady Sittin' in the Dining Room" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Another "Weevily Wheat" variant? - RBW
File: BSoF705B
===
NAME: Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
DESCRIPTION: Singer says he knows an old lady who swallowed a fly; "I don't know why she swallowed that fly/Perhaps she'll die." She swallows a succession of animals, each to catch the last. At the end, "I know an old lady who swallowed a horse/She's dead, of course."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: death cumulative humorous animal bird bug horse
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, SWALLFLY*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "I Know an Old Lady (Who Swallowed a Fly)" (on PeteSeeger08, PeteSeegerCD02)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" (on SeegerTerry)
SAME_TUNE:
Pete Seeger, "Young Woman Who Swallowed a Lie" [feminist parody] (DT, SWALLLIE; on PeteSeeger45; on PeteSeeger47)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
File: RcIKAOLW
===
NAME: Old Lead (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John II)
DESCRIPTION: "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Killed Old Lead and home he run, Old Lead was eat, and John was beat, And Mary ran bawling down the street." How a drifter named John killed a tree dog named "Old Lead" and was punished for it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 76, (no title) (1 fragment)
cf. Baring-Gould-MotherGoose p. 221, note 74 "(Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (I)" (lyrics)
File: ScaNF076
===
NAME: Old Leather Bonnet, The: see Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.) (File: R342)
===
NAME: Old Leather Breeches, The
DESCRIPTION: "At the sign of the bell, on the road to Clonmel, Paddy Hegarty kept a night shaybeen."  When a party arrives demanding food and drink, Paddy supplies liquor, but for food can only cut up his leather breeches. When the trick is discovered, a riot ensues
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (OConor); 19C (broadside, LOCSinging as110230)
KEYWORDS: drink clothes party
FOUND_IN: Ireland Australia Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 232-233, "The Old Leather Breeches" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 75, "The Old Leather Breeches" (1 text)
OLochlainn 67A, "The Old Leather Breeches" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 71-72, "Leather Britches" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 37, pp. 123-125,171, "The Old Leather Britches" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 22-24, "The Ould Leather Breeches" (1 text)
Roud #923
RECORDINGS:
Richard Hayward, Ireland Calling (Glasgow,n.d.), pp. 14-15, "The Ould Leather Breeches" (text, music and reference to Decca F-2266 recorded Feb 6, 1931)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as110230, "Old Leather Breeches!," unknown, 19C
NOTES: Morton-Maguire: "It is common throughout Ireland and I have heard [it] in the Border's of Scotland."
The date and master id (GB-2648-1/2) for Hayward's record is provided by Bill Dean-Myatt, MPhil. compiler of the Scottish National Discography. - BS
File: MCB232
===
NAME: Old Leather Britches, The: see The Old Leather Breeches (File: MCB232)
===
NAME: Old Lord by the Northern Sea, The: see The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)
===
NAME: Old Lover's Wedding, An: see The Nobleman's Wedding (The Faultless Bride; The Love Token) [Laws P31] (File: LP31)
===
NAME: Old Lyda Zip Coon: see Hallelujah (File: R421)
===
NAME: Old MacDonald Had a Farm
DESCRIPTION: (Old MacDonald's) farm features a wide variety of livestock, described cumulatively, e.g. with the pig making an oink here and an oink there, the cow a moo-moo here and there, etc. until the entire farm is sounding off
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Tommy's Tunes)
KEYWORDS: animal farming cumulative nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Randolph 457, "The Merry Green Fields of the Lowland" (1 text); 458, "Old Missouri" (1 text)
BrownIII 125, "McDonald's Farm" (5 text)
Kennedy 310, "When I Was a Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, p. 83, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 389, "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 120, pp. 238-240, "Sweet Fields of Violo" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 410-412, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
Roud #745
RECORDINGS:
Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers, "McDonald's Farm" (Brunswick 224, 1928)
Englewood Four, "Old McDonald Had a Farm" (Champion 15451/Challenge 396, 1928 [as Henry County Four]; rec. 1927)
Sam Patterson Trio, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" (Edison 51644, 1925)
Dan Russo's Orioles, "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" (Columbia 2647-D, 1932)
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, "Old McDonald Had A Farm" (Columbia 15204-D, 1927)
SAME_TUNE:
Golly, Ain't That Queer (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 171-172)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Farmyard Song
NOTES: Are the pieces listed here really one song? It's not immediately obvious. The British and American versions are often very distinct, but there are intermediate versions, e.g. Randolph's.
Neither of Randolph's texts conforms to the common version of "Old MacDonald," and "The Merry Green Fields of the Lowland," in particular, looks older (It probably derives from the George Christy version "In the Merry Green Fields of Oland," from 1865; compare Sharp's "Merry Green Fields of Ireland" and Pound's "Sweet Fields of Violo"). But the cumulative pattern is the same (indeed, something very like it is quoted in _Pills to Purge Melancholy_ in 1707), so I assume the family is a unity.
Gilbert claims the piece (in which "My Grandfather," rather than "Old MacDonald, is the farmer) comes from a busker of the 1870s called "the Country Fiddler," but gives no details to verify this.
I use the "Old MacDonald" title because it is the best-known, though Fuld reports that this version did not appear until 1917 (and even then, it was "Old MacDougal"). - RBW
File: R457
===
NAME: Old Maid and the Burglar, The [Laws H23]
DESCRIPTION: The old maid prepares for bed by removing her teeth, wig, and glass eye. She then discovers the burglar hiding under her bed. She threatens to shoot him if he will not marry her. He answers, "Woman, for the Lord's sake, shoot!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1925 (recording, Riley Puckett)
KEYWORDS: oldmaid robbery humorous
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Laws H23, "The Old Maid and the Burglar"
BrownII 192, "The Burglar Man" (1 text)
Hudson 110, pp. 249-250, "The Old Maid and the Burglar" (1 text)
DT 780, OLMDBURG
Roud #658
RECORDINGS:
Reubin [Reuben?] Burns, "The Burglar Man" (Champion 15376, 1928; rec. 1927)
Bob Carpenter, "The Burglar Man" (on LomaxCD1702)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Burglar and the Old Maid" (OKeh 45259, 1928)
Bill Clifton, "Burglar Man" (Blue Ridge 403, n.d.)
Frank Hutchison, "The Burglar Man" (OKeh 45313, 1929; rec. 1928)
Riley Puckett, "Burglar Man" (Columbia 15015-D, 1925; rec. 1924)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "The Old Maid and the Burglar" (Edison 52369, 1928) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5531, 1928)
Arthur Tanner, "Burglar Man" (Silvertone 3514, 1926)
Henry Whitter, "The Burglar Man" (OKeh 45063, 1926); Henry Whitter & Fiddler Joe [Samuels], "The Burglar Man" (OKeh, unissued, 1926)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Warranty Deed" (theme)
File: LH23
===
NAME: Old Maid Song (IV): see I Wonder When I Shall Be Married (File: CoxII16)
===
NAME: Old Maid, The: see I'll Not Marry at All (File: E072)
===
NAME: Old Maid's Lament for a Husband, The: see The Old Maid's Song (File: R364)
===
NAME: Old Maid's Song (I), The
DESCRIPTION: An old maid laments her state, noting that her (two) sister(s were) popular, but she's been ignored all her life. She says she'd accept almost any man, and lists the good things she'd do for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1636 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: loneliness marriage nonballad family oldmaid
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,So) Ireland Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 65, "The Old Maid's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H138, p. 256, "The Black Chimney Sweeper" (1 text, 1 tune, in which a "black chimney sweeper" finally marries her)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 87-88, "The Black Chimney Sweeper" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, p. 102, "Sisters Susan" (1 text)
Logan, pp. 353-355, "The Old Maid's Lament for a Husband" (1 text, which is not lyrically similar to the usual versions of this song but has all the same plot elements)
Kennedy 210, "The Poor Auld Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, p. 461, "I Long to be Wedding" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 21, "Black Chimney Sweeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 186, "Old Maid's Song" (1 text)
DT, OLDMAID1 (OLDMAID2) OLDMAID6*
Roud #802
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2011), "Chimney Sweep's Wedding," J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1858-1861; also Firth c.20(31), "Chimney Sweeper's Wedding"; 2806 c.7(10), "Chimney Sweepers Weding"[sic]
LOCSinging, as102060, "The Chimney Sweepers Weding"[sic], P. Brereton (Dublin), n.d. 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Betsy Bell" (theme)
cf. "I'll Not Marry at All"
cf. "Time to be Made a Wife"
cf. "The Old Maid's Song" (II)
cf. "A'body's Like to be Married but Me"
cf. "No to be Married Ava" (theme)
cf. "I Wonder When I Shall Be Married" (theme)
cf. "O Gin That I Were Mairrit" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Take Her Out of Pity
The Old Maid's Lament
NOTES: Also collected and sung by Ellen Mitchell, "An Old Maid in a Garret" (on Kevin and Ellen Mitchell, "Have a Drop Mair," Musical Tradition Records MTCD315-6 CD (2001))
Broadsides LOCSinging as102060 and Bodleian Harding B 11(2011) are duplicates. - BS
File: R364
===