NAME: Raspberry Tart, The
DESCRIPTION: "She was a raspberry tart In her little poke bonnet, With a great big bunch Of thing-a-mees upon it; With a pinafore dress That was just the thing And a little toy dog On the end of a string... Bow wow!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: nonballad dog clothes
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 29, "The Raspberry Tart" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Reportedly a fragment of a music hall song. - RBW
File: MCB029
===
NAME: Rat Coon, Rat Coon
DESCRIPTION: "Rat coon, rat coon, can you-all dance? No Why? Cause my tail's too short. Putty addy bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum. Putty addy bum-bum bum-bum bum.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914
KEYWORDS: animal nonsense
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 265, "Rat Coon, Rat Coon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7815
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Raccoon" (theme)
NOTES: This could, from its text, be a fragment of "Raccoon" (or almost anything else). But the metrical pattern is different, so -- given that Randolph offers only one verse -- I classify the two as separate. - RBW
File: R265
===
NAME: Ratcliffe Highway
DESCRIPTION: The sailor wanders down Ratcliffe Highway (and stops at an ale-house. What happens thereafter varies, e.g. he meets a girl, he fights with the landlady, etc.). After his business is done, he welcomes the chance to return to sea, even on a lousy old tub
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905
KEYWORDS: sailor courting whore fight
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Britain
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 114-116, "As I Was A-Walking Down Ratcliffe Highway" (2 text, 2 tune)
Hugill, pp. 200-201, "Ratcliffe Highway" (1 text plus 3 fragments, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 155-157]
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 85, "Ratcliffe Highway" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RATCLIF* RATCLIF2*
Roud #598
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Blow the Man Down" (floating lyrics; the songs often cross-fertilize)
cf. "The Deserter"
NOTES: Ratcliffe Highway is a road in London near Limehouse Reach. It ran near the docks of the British East India Company. Its was hardly the best part of town -- the "Ratcliffe Highway Murders" are mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes story _A Study in Scarlet_, and formed a backdrop for Thomas De Quincey's _Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts_.
The area's reputation eventually became so bad that the road was renamed St. George's Street. - RBW
One version of "The Deserter" has the man recruited on Ratcliffe Highway, and that version is also known by the name of "Ratcliffe Highway." - PJS
File: Doe114
===
NAME: Rathaspeck Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: Thomas Power and James Kehoe from Rathaspeck had "gained an honest livelihood by toiling on the land." They take a boat out in Wexford Harbour "to pass away their evening, engaged by line and hook." They can not swim and drown when their boat capsizes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1947 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck fishing
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 68-69, "The Rathaspeck Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ran068
===
NAME: Rathlin Song, A
DESCRIPTION: "Where the fulmar flies on Rathlin head O'er the lake on the cliff by the sea, My love and I, in days that are dead, Watched the white clouds floating free.... But my love flew away... And I sob like the mateless dove." She prays her love will return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H696, p. 290, "A Rathlin Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6893
File: HHH696
===
NAME: Ration Blues (I Wonder What's the Matter)
DESCRIPTION: "Well, I wonder what's the matter, What's the matter with Captain Mac, He done got mad.... I've got the ration blues...." The singer tells of being sent out to cut wood, and sugar, but the land apparently does not yield even when cleared
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (recorded from Jesse Hendricks by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: work prison hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Jackson-DeadMan, p. 85, "Ration Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Jackson, noting that the Texas prison system did not ration prisoners' food, speculates that the version he recorded from Jesse "G. I. Jazz" Hendricks comes from a popular song which he cannot locate.
However, I note another Texas prison song, "I Wonder What's the Matter," recorded by the Lomaxes in 1934. I incline to think that that may have been the origin of this song. Perhaps commodity rationing during World War II would have brought in the references to rationing? Prisoners, after all, would have a harder time swapping things, or buying them on the black market, than those outside, and so would be more affected by the restrictions. - RBW
File: JDM085
===
NAME: Rattle Snake (II): see Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)
===
NAME: Rattler: see Old Rattler (File: CNFM104)
===
NAME: Rattlesnake
DESCRIPTION: Various animals are asked about their characteristics, e.g. "Muskrat, muskrat, what makes you smell so bad? I've been in the bottom all my life Till I'm mortified in my head." "Rattlesnake, rattlesnake, what makes your teeth so white?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recording, Land Norris)
KEYWORDS: animal questions dialog nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 83, "Rattlesnake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 394, "Muskrat" (1 text)
Roud #6395
RECORDINGS:
Land Norris, "Muskrat" (OKeh 40404, 1925)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Mister Rabbit" (theme)
File: LoF083
===
NAME: Rattlesnake Song, The: see Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)
===
NAME: Rattlin' Roarin' Willie
DESCRIPTION: Rattlin' Willie goes to the fair to sell his fiddle. Someone urges him, "O, Willie, come sell your fiddle... And buy a pint o wine!" He refuses; "The warl' would think I was mad." He plays in "guid company"; his wife(?) says "Ye're welcome hame to me."
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Scots Musical Museum, #194)
KEYWORDS: music commerce drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 91, "(Johnny, come lend me your fiddle)" (1 text, which appears to mix elements from "Rattlin' Roarin' Willie" with something rather like "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?")
DT, RTLNROAR
Roud #6192
NOTES: Like most Burns pieces, this has a traditional stub -- there is an item in Gammer Gurton's Garland,
John, come sell thy fiddle
And buy thy wife a gown.
No, I'll not sell my fiddle
For ne'er a wife in town.
(Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #91, p. 86)
The Baring-Goulds mention a note by Sir Walter Scott that Willie was a real fiddler who was tried and executed for murder. - RBW
File: DTrtlnro
===
NAME: Rattling Bog, The
DESCRIPTION: Cumulative song about the "great chain of being." Sample: "On this branch there was a twig/Rare twig, a rattling twig/Twig on the branch and the branch on the tree and the tree in the bog/Bog down in the valley-o." Most versions complete a circle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1877 (Miss M. H. Mason, _Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs_)
KEYWORDS: ritual cumulative nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland) Wales US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Randolph 459, "The Green Grass Grew All Round" (1 text)
BrownIII 133, "The Pretty Pair Tree" (1 text)
Fuson, pp. 87-88, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (1 text)
SharpAp 206, "The Tree in the Wood" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Sharp-100E 98, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 58, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 258-260, "The Tree in the Bog" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 92, "On This Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 107, "The Stump" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 88, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 200, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text)
Kennedy 96, "An Wedhen War An Vre (The Tree on the Hill)" (1 Cornish text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 391, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (1 text)
DT, RATLNBOG*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 38, #4 (1994), p, 80, "Hi! Ho! The Rattling Bog" (1 text, 1 tune, indirectly from Seamus Ennis)
Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 6, prints a Danish text, "Langt Udi Skoven," with a loose English translation, which is a similar cumulative song about a tree, but the idea is so simple that they might be independent
Roud #129
RECORDINGS:
Doney Hammontree, "The Tree in the Wood" (AFS; on LC12)
Mike Kent, "The Tree" (on NFMLeach)
Old King Cole, "And The Green Grass Grew All Around" (Edison 52310, 1928)
Premier Quartet, "And the Green Grass Grew All Around" (CYL: Edison [BA] 1808, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "Green Grass Grows All Around" (on PeteSeeger20)
Uncle Don, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (Conqueror 9013, 1938)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Derriere Chez Nous (Behind Our House)" (theme)
cf. "Little Bird" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Green Grass Growing All Around
The Endless Circle
NOTES: The Cornish words printed by Kennedy are by Talek, based on English texts with some Breton influence.
The "Rattling Bog" title is obviously rare, but I used it because it seemed the most popular pop folk title. I may have been wrong about that. - RBW
File: ShH98
===
NAME: Rattling Railway Boy, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer left home at twenty two. He went from town to town working on the railroad with his "whole estate" in his handkercheif. His money went for drink. He met and married a girl but left her in May. She tells her baby "Your daddy's a Railway Boy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1986 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: marriage rambling abandonment railroading baby rake wife
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 59, "The Rattling Railway Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: McB1059
===
NAME: Raven and the Crow, The
DESCRIPTION: "The corbie with his roupie throat Cried frae the leafless tree... Come o'er the loch wi me!" The crow asks why he should come. He is told a farmer has plowed his field and seeded it; there is much corn to be had. The farmer shoots both birds
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: bird death food farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 34, "The Raven and the Crow" (1 text)
NOTES: I haven't met this elsewhere, but it feels enough like a traditional song that I'm indexing it. - RBW
File: MSNR034
===
NAME: Ravenal, The
DESCRIPTION: The trawler Ravenal, returning to St Pierre from the Grand Banks, is lost in a storm. "Wreckage was found on Lorie's shore. She may have struck a sunker, but such things we'll never know; We only know her eighteen men died in the waters cold"
AUTHOR: Isaac Harris
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 31, 1962 - Ravenal is "missing. Presumed iced up & capsized" (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 92, "The Ravenal" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Schooner Marion Rogers" (tune)
NOTES: Lories Beach is in Placentia Bay on the south Newfoundland coast.
Sunker: "A submerged rock over which the sea breaks, familiar form of SUNKEN ROCK, BREAKER, GROUNDER" (Source: _Dictionary of Newfoundland English_ at  site of Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage). - BS
File: LeBe092
===
NAME: Raz-Ma-Taz-A-Ma-Tee: see Three Dukes (File: R551)
===
NAME: Real Old Mountain Dew: see Good Old Mountain Dew (File: LxA180)
===
NAME: Reason I Stay on Job So Long
DESCRIPTION: "Reason I stay on job so long, Lawd, dey gimme flamdonies an' coffee strong." "Reason I love my captain so, 'Cause I ast him for a dollar, Lawd, he give me fo'." "Reason why I love Boleen, She keeps my house An' shanty clean." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: work
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 46-47, "Reason I Stay on Job So Long" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15568
File: LxA046
===
NAME: Reason Why, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is picked up by a beautiful woman. She takes him to a house and then to bed: "You are the nicest boy I've seen today... I would love a jewelled ring." In the morning a man comes in and kicks him into the gutter. He pays and doesn't ask why 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1884 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3238))
KEYWORDS: love sex violence prison punishment trial beauty drink food wife children whore ring
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1745
RECORDINGS:
Walter Pardon, "One Cold Morning in December" (on Voice15)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3238), "The Reason Why" ("One night in cold December, I've reason to remember"), H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Firth b.28(13), Firth c.17(151), 2806 c.15(284), 2806 c.15(284), "The Reason Why"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Annie of the Vale" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian Harding B 11(3238), 2806 c.15(284) and Firth b.28(13))
cf. "The Young Man Badly Walked" (plot)
NOTES: The description is based on Walter Pardon's version on Voice15.
The following description, based on broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3238), tells a story with a different ending: The singer was picked up by a beautiful woman. She took him in tow. He paid for brandy and oysters. A dandy kicked him into the gutter. The police took him to the station-house. Before a magistrate, his wife and children he is sentenced to 30 days.
Keywords combine both stories.
Walter Pardon's version has a simple chorus:
And she said, "Come, come along, old boy,
And don't look so bashful and shy
She really was a beauty. I thought it was my duty,
So I paid and never asked the reason why.
The broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3238) version has each "chorus" modified to advance the story. - BS
File: RcTReWhy
===
NAME: Rebel Acts of Hyde, The
DESCRIPTION: "It's now I will relate, Though in a broken way, How the rich in Hyde Did carry the poor away." The singer tells how the people of the deep south and the rich carried the area from the Union, alludes to its recapture, and says that some stayed true
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 281, "The Rebel Acts of Hyde" (1 text)
Roud #6644
NOTES: The secession crisis of 1860/1861 proceeded in two stages: The seven deep southern states seceeded before Fort Sumter. The border states (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina) stayed loyal until Lincoln called for troops after Sumter.
All four of the latter states had strong pockets of unionism. In Virginia, they were mostly in the western part of the commonwealth, and eventually gained their own state (West Virginia). The same might have happened in east Tennessee had Union troops been able to capture the area sooner. Arkansas unionism was mostly in the Ozarks, too remote for anyone to notice.
North Carolina was more complicated. It didn't have a concentrated Union area, so Union forces could not hold. But unionism was probably stronger in North Carolina than any other Confederate state, and not confined to the mountains as in Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
Hyde County and the town of Hatteras, the site of this song, are in fact on the eastern coast of North Carolina, Hyde County being on the north short of Pamlico Sound and Hatteras actually on the outer banks.
Hatteras itself was captured by Union forces on August 28-29, 1861, the first real amphibious operation of the war, and conquest of the Pamlico area continued from there. This song almost sounds like a local's protest of loyalty in an attempt to curry favor with the occupying authorities. - RBW
File: BrII281
===
NAME: Rebel Soldier, The
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses about this lonely soldier's life. "It's grapeshot and musket, And the cannons lumber loud. There's many a mangled body with blankets for a shroud." Characteristic line: "I am a rebel soldier and far from my home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar separation home
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Randolph 246, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 50, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune -- an abridged composite version)
JHCox 76, "The Rebel Soldier" (2 texts, but only the first belongs here; the second is The Sweet Sunny South (I) [Laws A23])
Hudson 117, pp. 258-259, "O Lillie, O Lillie," mostly "Rye Whiskey" but with some verses belonging here; also 116, p. 258, "I'll Eat When I'm Hungry" (1 fragment, a single stanza based on "Rye Whiskey" but probably belonging here: "I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry, If the Yankees don't kill me, I'll live till I die")
Brewster 91, "One Morning in May" (1 text, in which it is a "poor stranger" rather than a "rebel soldier" and with many floating lyrics)
SharpAp 157, "The Rebel Soldier, or The Poor Stranger" (7 texts, 7 tunes, but A and probably F are "The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)")
Sandburg, pp. 136-138, "One Morning in May" (2 text, 1 tune, but only the "B" text, "The Troubled Soldier," belongs here; "A" is "One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing)" [Laws P14])
Silber-CivWar, pp. 72-73, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 211-213, "Jack o' Diamonds" (1 text; this particular Lomax offering contains elements of "Jack o Diamonds/Rye Whisky," "The Wagoner's Lad," The Rebel Soldier," and others)
Roud #259
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)" (meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "The Wagoner's Lad" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Jack of Diamonds"  (floating lyrics)
cf. "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Blind Fiddler"
NOTES: Randolph's version is specific to the Missouri campaigns of General Sterling Price, but more generic versions of the song are abundant.
The first line, interestingly, seems to float; Sharp, Brewster, and Cox each have version from "One Morning In May" or the like (One morning, one morning, one morning in May, I heard a poor soldier lamenting and say"; another text (to the tune of "Rye Whisky") starts with lyrics from "Banks of the Nile" or something similar ("Oh Polly, oh Polly, it's for your sake alone"). - RBW
File: R246
===
NAME: Rebel's Escape, The [Laws A19]
DESCRIPTION: The soldier relates the tale of his desertion. In prison, he gets the guard drunk and sneaks off. He crosses a river on a raft. Reaching home, he wakes his wife and children, who give him a meal and advise him to "go to Dixie's land."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Thomas, "Devil's Ditties")
KEYWORDS: prisoner escape war abandonment Civilwar desertion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws A19, "The Rebel's Escape"
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 534-535, "War Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 807, REBESCAP* WARSONG*
Roud #2207
NOTES: Desertion was a chronic problem during the Civil War (which is the probable, though not certain, source of this song). Both armies were subject to disease and deprivation (the Southern due to lack of resources, the Northern due to pure incompetence and stupidity). And neither had a real system of leave, or a way to bring soldiers back to the colors.
This song, therefore, probably does match the experience of a fair number of unenthusiastic soldiers (especially as the draft took effect in the North).
On the other hand, deserting to the South probably wasn't a good idea; it left the soldier's family without his paycheck, it would subject him to punishment after the South lost -- and quite possibly it would force him into the sourthern ranks, where conditions were even worse. The South was so short of soldiers and supplies that they eventually started demanding deserters join their army. - RBW
File: LA19
===
NAME: Rebellion of 1798, The
DESCRIPTION: Rebel exploits, poisonings and massacres are recounted, from Lord Edward Fitzgerald to Father Murphy, and their defeat at each turn by yeomen and Orangemen, in Kildare, Antrim, Ballynahinch, Wexford and Kilkenny. "Down, down, croppies lie down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1798 (_Falkener's Dublin Journal_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1798 - Irish rebellion against British rule (source: "1798 - Calendar of Events" at IrelandOn-Line site)
May 19, 1798 - Lord Edward Fitzgerald arrested
June 2-3, 1798 - Rebel defeat at Kilcock, Co. Kildare
June 7, 1798 - Rebel defeat at Antrim
June 13, 1798 - United Irishmen under Henry Monro defeated at Ballynahinch
June 21, 1798 - Government recaptures Wexford
July 2, 1798 - Father Murphy (1753-1798) captured, executed, and cremated.
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 50, "The Rebellion of 1798" (1 text)
NOTES: It may not be clear from my description that this ballad is against the rebellion. The tag line of each verse is the chorus of the Orange song "Croppies Lie Down." - BS
It sounds to me as if this might be a sort of an answer to "Croppies Lie Down (II)."
For the career of Edward Fitzgerald, see the notes to "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)." For Ballynahinch and Henry Monro(e) see "General Monroe." For Father Murphy, see especially "Father Murphy (I)." 
File: Moyl050
===
NAME: Reborn Again
DESCRIPTION: "Reborn, soldier, going to reborn again, Oh, going to reborn again...." "Reborn again, reborn again, Oh, you can't get to till you're reborn again." "Paul, and Silas, dar in de jail...  One watch while de other pray."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Bible floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 256-257, "Reborn Again" (1 text)
NOTES: The King James Bible refers to the need to be "born again" in John 3:3, 7 -- though most scholars now consider this a mistranslation. The same Greek word means "again" and "from above," and the structure of the passage makes it clear that this is deliberate wordplay: Jesus is saying "You must be born from above"; Nicodemus interprets it as "born again." (The Gospel of John uses this sort of wordplay frequently.) - RBW
File: ScNF256B
===
NAME: Recent Kanab Tragedy, The
DESCRIPTION: "In Kanab they will remember This Twenty-Fourth of July." "For two of the town's best men are lying In their coffins awaiting earth." "It happened because of hot anger -- A quarrel about their water right." Roundy kills Seegmiller, then kills himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder suicide family farming
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 23, 1899 - The Kanab murders
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 243-244, "(The Recent Kanab Tragedy)" (1 text)
NOTES: In Utah, water was (and is) a precious commodity; Burt explains that each farmer was given a certain period of time to use the water in irrigation ditches. The Roundy/Seegmiller quarrel arose when Roundy accused Seegmiller of withholding some of the water he was due. Roundy murdered Seegmiller, and took his own life when he heard that one of Seegmiller's hands was coming after him.
Burt believes her mother, who certainly transcribed the piece, might be the author. - RBW
File: Burt243
===
NAME: Recruited Collier, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of her lover, a collier now in the army. She is terrified; he's looking forward to the adventure. She points out the coals her family burns, which his hands hewed. He bids her farewell, asking her not to forsake him; she says her life is over
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (Pinto & Rodway, _The Common Muse_)
KEYWORDS: loneliness love army parting mining lover soldier worker trick drink recruiting
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, RECRUCOL*
Roud #3503
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs, "The Recruited Collier" (on IronMuse1, Briggs3)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jimmy's Enlisted
NOTES: In the versions of this song that I've heard, the collier took the shilling after a sergeant got him drunk (standard English recruiting method). Despite what the girl said, he feels perhaps less enthusuastic than determined to make the best of it.
Though the traditional texts seem most often to be known as "The Recruited Collier," two of the three texts cited in _Grangers's Index to Poetry_ are filed under "Jimmy's Enlisted." There is no indication of authorship. - RBW
File: DTrecruc
===
NAME: Recruiting Sergeant, The: see Arthur McBride (File: PBB093)
===
NAME: Red and Green Signal Lights, The: see The Child of the Railroad Engineer (The Two Lanterns) (File: R685)
===
NAME: Red Apple Juice: see Sugar Baby (Red Rocking Chair; Red Apple Juice) (File: ADR82)
===
NAME: Red Bird
DESCRIPTION: "Red bird soon in the morning (x2), Red bird, red bird soon in the morning. (x2)" "What's the matter with the red bird soon in the morning?" "Cat got the red bird soon in the morning." "Hog got the red bird soon in the morning."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 405, "Red Bird" (1 text)
Roud #11682
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Red Bird" (on PeteSeeger21)
File: FSWB405
===
NAME: Red Cap's Hole
DESCRIPTION: Ships caught in a gale are too far out to make Avondale or Harbour Main and ride out the weather in Red Cap's Hole. "When news got to their native homes" the "gallant band marched down by land To help the toilers home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Blondahl)
KEYWORDS: help sea ship storm
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Blondahl, pp. 95-97, "Red Cap's Hole" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The only names I recognize here, Avondale and Harbour Main, are in Conception Bay. - BS
File: Blon095
===
NAME: Red Green: see Rocky Road (Green Green) (File: CNFM154)
===
NAME: Red Herring, The
DESCRIPTION: Song describes the uses made of various parts of the herring, e.g., "Herring's eyes, puddings and pies/Herring's head, loaves of bread."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 ("Cape Cod Dialect")
KEYWORDS: fishing ritual cumulative nonballad humorous animal
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,North,South)) Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 86-87, "The Red Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 296, "The Herring Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 118, "The Jolly Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 578-579, "The Herring Song" (1 text)
Lehr/Best 50, "The Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #128
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Doughty, "Herrings' Heads" (on Voice07)
Mikeen McCarthy, "The Herring" (on Voice14)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sow Took the Measles"
cf. "The Mallard"
cf. "Alouette (I)"
cf. "The Farmer and the Crow"
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Herring's Head
The Herring's Heid
The Jovial Herring
The Jolly Red Herring
NOTES: This is essentially the same song as the American "Sow Took the Measles" [and Roud lumps them - RBW]; "The Farmer and the Crow" (also American, but also found in Sweden) marries this song to "The Carrion Crow." -PJS
Kennedy declares his "Herring Song" and "The Red Herring" to be the same. I'm not sure I agree; while the theme is the same, the lyrics and stanza form are different. But he's seen more versions than I have; I tentatively follow his lead. The danger, of course, is that Kennedy will lump anything with anything. - RBW
File: VWL086
===
NAME: Red Iron Ore [Laws D9]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells of a trip he took on the E.C. Roberts. They set out from Escanaba with a load of ore, and at last wind up in Cleveland. Life aboard an ore boat was not pleasant, but the sailor is proud of the good time the ship made
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: ship travel
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws D9, "Red Iron Ore"
Rickaby 45, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 12-14, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 119-122, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 176-178, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 477-479, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 63, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 183-184, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 95, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
DT 612, REDIRON*
Roud #2233
RECORDINGS:
Stanley Baby, "The 'E. C. Roberts'" (on GreatLakes1)
Harry Barney, "Red Iron Ore" (1938; on WaltonSailors; a fragment with a chorus probably from a "Sailor's Alphabet" song)
James Putnam, "Red Iron Ore" (1938; on WaltonSailors)
Art Thieme, "Red Iron Ore" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme06)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Iron Ore by 'Fifty-Four" (tune)
cf. "Joe Livermore" (form, tune)
NOTES: I have made several attempts to locate the _E. C. Roberts_, with partial success -- the Great Lakes has ships by that name, but I have yet to identify one which was an ore carrier. There was an _E. C. Roberts_ sailing Lake Michigan in 1871; she lost her jib boom in a collision near Chicago that April. An _E. C. Roberts_ also grounded in the lakes in 1865.
Possibly the same as the preceding, and surely the best candidate, is an _E. C. Roberts_ mentioned on page 18 of Julius F. Wolff, Jr., _Lake Superior Shipwrecks_, (Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., Duluth, 1990). She was carrying ore in 1872 when she stopped at Marquette, Michigan. A major storm blew up, and because she was unloading coal, there was no way to get her moving quickly. She (and one other ship) had to be scuttled on September 18.
Curiously, Walton/Grimm/Murdok, p. 119, says that "The _Roberts_, 273 gross tones, was built in Cleveland in 1856 for Brown and Reddington of that city for the general carrying trade. It remained on the lakes for over half a century." One of Walton's infomants claimed to have sailed on her when she served as an ore carried. I wonder if this is the right boat, though, since a general carrier would not make an ideal ore boats. And not even Walton can identify this particular trip.
If we look for vessels named the _Roberts_ but with variations in the initials, there was a boat the _E. K. Roberts_ which sailed the Great Lakes in the late nineteenth century. According to Wes Oleszewski's _Ghost Ships, Gales & Forgotten Tales: True Adventures on the Great Lakes_ (Avery Color Studios, 1995), p, 100, she was active at the time of the gale of November 10-11, 1883. I do find it noteworthy that a ship named the _Escanaba_ was active at this time, hauling other ships around Mackinac. I would bet a great deal that it's the same _Escanaba_ even if it isn't the same _Roberts_.
Google searches reveal the _E. K. Roberts_ as a steamer launched commissioned in 1883; renamed _City of Windsor_ in 1890 and _Michipicoten_ in 1910, she burned in 1927; she was originally a fish tug but later carried passengers.
One of Walton's informants, J. Sylvester Ray, claimed that Billy Clark of Buffalo wrote the song, but a second informant, John W. Green, attributed it to Peter O'Donnell.
Walton lists this as second only to _The Bigler_ in popularity with Great Lakes sailors.
The tune is a bit of a conundrum. Dean/Rickaby (whose version is reprinted by Lomax and Peters) and Sandburg use the Derry Down tune. The versions Walton collected do not have the Derry Down refrain, and are in major rather than minor; they seem to be based on "The Dreadnought" [Laws D13]. The by-blows listed in Walton ("Bound Away  on the Twilight," "A Trip on the George C. Finney") seem to use the Dreadnought form. This is a matter which perhaps calls for further investigation. -  RBW
File: LD09
===
NAME: Red is the Rose
DESCRIPTION: The singer praises his love; they have promised faithfulness. But "It's all for the loss of my bonnie (brown)-eyes lass I'm leaving my homeland forever." Chorus: "Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows... But my love is fairer than any."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1980 (Sing Out!)
KEYWORDS: love separation emigration flowers
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
DT, REDROSE*REDROS2*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 28, #2 (1980), p, 22, "Red Is the Rose" (1 text plus a variant stanza, 1 tune, the Joe Heaney version, with the variants being from Sarah Makem)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Loch Lomond" (tune)
NOTES: Joe Heaney and Makem and Clancy both thought this older than "Loch Lomond," with which it shares a tune. While possible, I think this pretty unlikely. Obviously this is an emigration song, which hints at a nineteenth century date. Loch Lomond is probably eighteenth century. In terms of documented collections, "Loch Lomond" wins by about a century. - RBW
File: So28n3a
===
NAME: Red Light Green Light: see Rocky Road (Green Green) (File: CNFM154)
===
NAME: Red Light Saloon, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes to (Bangor) on (July 4). (The train) being late, he is "forced" to visit the Red Light Saloon. Quickly recognized as a (logger/cowboy), liquor and women give him their attention. His "ellick" grows hard; he goe off with a five dollar girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: logger cowboy sex drink bawdy whore money
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) US(SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 249-250, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 11, pp. 74-76, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REDLIGHT* REDLITE2*
Roud #9424
NOTES: In Logsdon's text, the singer ends up having sex with a five dollar whore. These days, that sounds cheap -- but Logsdon points out that that was a lot at the time apparently indicated in the song.
Doerflinger's and Logsdon's tets are so different that I thought about splitting the songs. But Doerflinger has only three verses; I suspect it has been shortened, either by Doerflinger or his informant. So I'm lumping them. - RBW
File: Doe249
===
NAME: Red Mantle, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer asks her husband for a red mantle to wear to the fair. He buys it; but when she arrives at the fair she discovers fashions have changed, and "green mantles carried the day." She tears the red mantle to shreds and goes home in tears
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956 (NovaScotia1)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer tells her husband her desire: a red mantle to wear to the county fair. He replies that money is scarce, but he will do what he can. He buys it for her; she sets out for the fair, but when she arrives she discovers fashions have changed, and "green mantles carried the day." She tears the red mantle to shreds and goes home in tears.
KEYWORDS: pride poverty request clothes colors husband wife vanity
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 107, "The Red Mantle" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST RcTReMan (Partial)
Roud #2777
RECORDINGS:
Angelo Dornan, "The Red Mantle" (on NovaScotia1)
NOTES: Political allegory? Fashion statement? - PJS
It's too bad we don't have more versions, to give us a clue where the song came from. Angelo Dornan, I suspect, would have called it a statement on the fickleness of fashion and women's wants; his text seems to have no political statement as such. But if, as is sometimes true, green is the color of mourning, and red of course the color of war and British soldiers' uniforms, this could indeed be a report of a change from, say, pro-war to anti-war sentiment. - RBW
File: RcTReMan
===
NAME: Red Plaid Shawl, The
DESCRIPTION: "One summer's morning I took a ramble" and meet a girl in "a red plaid shawl." The singer wants a kiss; she wants a treat. He says he is a clerk. With his money spent, she knocks him out. When he wakes next morning his coat, chain and watch are gone.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: crime courting robbery clothes trick
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 84, "The Old Plaid Shawl" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(59), "The Red Plaid Shawl", unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 16(222b), Firth b.27(141), "The Red Plaid Shawl"
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 20(59) seems more complete than O'Conor and is the basis of the description. I use the Bodleian Harding B 20(59) title as Name to try to avoid confusion with Francis Fahy's "The Ould Plaid Shawl." - BS
File: OCon084
===
NAME: Red River Shore, The: see The New River Shore (The Green Brier Shore; The Red River Shore) [Laws M26] (File: LM26)
===
NAME: Red River Valley, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer and his love are parting (either may be singing, and either may be leaving). "Come and sit by my side [ere you leave me]; do not hasten to bid me adieu; just remember the Red River Valley, And the (sweetheart) who loved you so true..."
AUTHOR: original text ("The Bright Mohawk Valley") by James Kerrigan, 1896?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: separation river farewell
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,SE,So) Canada(West)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Randolph 730, "The Red River Valley" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
BrownIII 260, "Red River Valley" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more)
Cambiaire, pp. 81-82, "Red River Valley" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 88-89, "The Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 52, "The Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 130-131, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 65, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 56, "Red River Valley" (3 texts, 1 tune; the first text is "Red River Valley"  and the third is the variant "Lost River Desert"; the second is a variant of "Nobody's Darling on Earth"); also 102, "Red River Gal" (1 text, 1 tune, consisting of square dance instructions set to this rune)
Arnett, p. 124, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 115, "Red River Valley" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 457, "Red River Valley"
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "Red River Valley" (source notes only)
DT, REDRIVAL*
Roud #756
RECORDINGS:
Gene Autry, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 20085/Columbia 37184, 1946)
Bascom & Blackwell, "Sherman Valley" (OKeh 45008, 1925)
Beverly Hillbillies, "Red River Valley" (Brunswick 421 [w. Tom & Ezra], 1930/Vocalion 03164, 1936)
Bud Billings Trio, "Red River Valley" (Victor V-40267, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4058, 1933) [Bud Billings is a pseudonym for Frank Luther; record may have been issued as by Bud Billings & Carson Robison]
Bob Brooks, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 15689-D, 1931)
[Bill] Childers & [?] White, "Red River Valley" (OKeh 45208, 1928)
Luther Clarke & the Blue Ridge Highballers, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Columbia 15069-D, 1926)
Ned Cobben, "Red River Valley" (Harmony 901-H, 1929)
Sid Harkreader, "Red River Valley" (Paramount 3141, 1928; Broadway 8202, c. 1930)
Kelly Harrell, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Victor 20527, 1926; on KHarrell01)
Hill Billies, "Red River Valley" (Regal Zonophone [UK] MR-1698, 1935)
Bradley Kincaid, "Red River Valley" (Champion 15710 [as Dan Hughey]/Supertone 9403, 1929; Champion 45098, c. 1935) (Vocalion 5476, c. 1930/Vocalion 04647, 1939) (Decca 5048, 1934)
Dr. Lloyd & Howard Maxey [Massey], "Bright Sherman Valley" (OKeh, unissued, 1927)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Sherman Valley" (OKeh 45008, 1926)
Frank Luther & Zora Layman, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Decca 5028, 1934)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Red River Valley" (Victor 21421, 1928)
Lester McFarland & Robert A. Gardner, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Brunswick 169/Vocalion 5174, 1927; Supertone S-2031 [as Kentucky Mountain Boys], 1930)
Bill Mooney & his Cactus Twisters, "Red River Valley" (Imperial 1096, n.d. but post-World War II)
Holland Puckett, "The Bright Sherman Valley" (Challenge 329 [as by Harvey Watson]/Gennett 6433/Herwin 75562 [as by Robert Howell]/Silvertone 5064, 25064, 8153, 1927/Supertone 9254 [as by Si Puckett; issued 1929])
[Hugh Cross &] Riley Puckett, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 15206-D, 1927) (Bluebird B-8335/Montgomery Ward M-8481, 1940; rec. 1939)
Ranch Boys, "Red River Valley" (Decca 5045, 1934)
Goebel Reeves, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Melotone M-12186, 1931)
Texas Jim Robertson, "Red River Valley" (Victor 27552, 1941)
Carson Robison Trio, "Red River Valley" (Romeo 1233/Banner 0615/Perfect 12591/Jewel 5871/Conqueror 7492, 1930) (Clarion 5109-C, 1930) (Crown 3025, 1930)
Pete Seeger, "Red River Valley" (on PeteSeeger32)
Leo Soileau & his Four Aces, "Red River Valley" (Decca 5182, 1936; rec. 1935)
Carl T. Sprague, "Cowboy Love Song" (Victor 20067, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman and the Dixie Mountaineers, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Edison 51951, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5383, 1927)
Sunshine Sue w. Joe Maphis, "Red River Valley" (Astra 1215, n.d.)
Texas Drifter, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Melotone M-12186, 1931)
Art Thieme, "Red River Valley" [instrumental version] (on Thieme02)
Vagabonds, "Red River Valley" (Bluebird B-5297/Montgomery Ward M-4479, 1934)
Harvey Watson [pseud. for Riley Puckett], "The Bright Sherman Valley" (Challenge 329, 1927)
SAME_TUNE:
When It's Hogcalling Time (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 158)
(Conqueror 8485, 1935; Perfect/Melotone 6-08-51, 1936; Conqueror 9512 [as Gene Autry Trio, "Answer to the Red River Valley"], 1940)
Hartman's Tennessee Ramblers, "New Red River Valley" (Bluebird B-6162, 1935' Bluebird B-8894 [as Tennessee Ramblers], 1941)
NOTES: The Fifes consider their "Little Darling" text ("Come sit by my side, little darling, Come lay your cool hand on my brow, And promise me that you will never Be nobody's darling but Mine") to be a Red River Valley variant. As, however, the chorus does not fit the "Red River Valley" tune, and the rest of the words go with this "Nobody's Darling on Earth," I classify it there.
Fuld reports a claim by Fowke that this song predates the Kerrigan text, and that the original was sung as early as 1869 in Canada, referring to the Red River of the North. I know of no supporting evidence for this claim. On the other hand, the song was recorded repeatedly in the early part of the twentieth century, with major variants in text and few versions mentioning the Mohawk Valley; this is certainly indirect evidence that the song is older than the Kerrigan version and originally referred to some other river, presumably either the northern or the southern Red.
The "Sherman Valley" variant is interesting, because there is no significant river by that name. There is a town called Sherman in Texas, though, not far south of the Red River (it's almost due north of Dallas). There is also a Sherman Peak in Colorado, southwest of Denver; it has no connection with the Red River that I can see. - RBW
File: R730
===
NAME: Red Rocking Chair: see Sugar Baby (Red Rocking Chair; Red Apple Juice) (File: ADR82)
===
NAME: Red Rocks of Bell Isle, The
DESCRIPTION: A Bell Island man is found wounded in a battle in which the Germans are defeated. He thinks of home and has a message to be carried to his mother and sweetheart at Wabana. "It's down with Adolph Hitler, God save our gracious King!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: war dying patriotic soldier
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 93, "The Red Rocks of Bell Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Wabana is on Bell Island in Conception Bay, not far from St John's. - BS
File: LeBe093
===
NAME: Red Rose Top, The: see The Seeds of Love (File: K167)
===
NAME: Red Rosy Bush: see Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove) (File: Wa097)
===
NAME: Red Sea
DESCRIPTION: "When Moses was leading the Israelites, Red Sea, Pharaoh tried to catch them just for spite, Red Sea. Oh, Pharaoh he got drowned...." The remaining verses are about Jesus and how he cares for and takes away the sins of the poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious disaster death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 629, "Red Sea" (1 short text, with one stanza printed under #629 and the rest under #610!)
MWheeler, p. 70-71, "Red Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10021
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (lyrics)
NOTES: It's possible that this is a much-evolved version of "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep"; they have lyrics in common and are both about the Exodus (at least in their first verses). But they had separated enough that I would consider them separate songs.
It's worth noting that the Bible does not say that Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) -- though it doesn't say he wasn't, either. Exodus 14:27-28 reads "the Egyptians fled [into the sea], and YHWH scattered the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered Pharaoh's chariots and horesemen and all his army that had followed [the Israelites] into the sea; not one of them survived." - RBW
File: MWhee070
===
NAME: Red Wing (I)
DESCRIPTION: Red Wing, "a pretty little Indian maid," is in love with a brave, but he has died in battle. "Now the moon shines down on pretty Red Wing... So far beneath the stars her love is sleeping, While Red Wing's weeping her heart away."
AUTHOR: Kerry Mills and Thurland Chattaway
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) death battle
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 50, "Red Wing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 39, pp. 207-210, "Red Wing" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text is "Red Wing (I)" while the "B" text is one of the bawdy parodies)
DT, REDWNG*
Roud #4784
RECORDINGS:
George W. Ballard & chorus "Red Wing" (CYL: Everlasting 1150, n.d.)
Homer Christopher & Raney Van Vink, "Red Wing" (OKeh 45097, 1927)
Dudley & McDonough "Red Wing" (Victor 17233, 1912)
Redd Evans & his Billy Boys, "Red Wing" (OKeh 4836, 1923)
Fox Chasers, "Red Wing" (OKeh 45477, 1930)
Frankie & Johnny, "Red Wing" (Conqueror 7976, 1932)
Buell Kazee, "Red Wing" (Brunswick 210, 1928; Supertone S-2057, 1930 [as Buell Kazee & Sookie Hobbs])
Kendall & Kelly, "Red Wing" (Chamption 15582, 1928)
Fred Potter, "Red Wing, An Indian Fable" (CYL: Edison [BA] 541, n.d.)
Frederick H. Potter w. the New York Military Band, "Red Wing"  (CYL: Edison [BA] 1543, c. 1912)
Riley Puckett, "Red Wing" (Columbia 15226-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
George Reneau, "Red Wing" (Vocalion 14896, 1924)
Walter Scanlan, "Red Wing" (Edison 52063, 1927)
[Frank] Stanley & [Henry] Burr "Red Wing" (Columbia 3681, 1907; Columbia A468, 1909) (CYL: Albany 1366, n.d.) (CYL: Columbia 33163, prob. 1907) (Standard 3681, n.d.) 
Stone Mountain Entertainers [Blue Ridge Highballers], "Red Wing" (Broadway 8159, c. 1930; rec. 1927)
Floyd Thompson & his Hometowners "Red Wing" (Vocalion 5331, c. 1929)
Frank Welling & John McGhee "Red Wing" (Conqueror 7976, 1932)
Art Wenzel & his Ragtime Cowboys, "Red Wing" (Pan Am 027, n.d.)
Male duet, "Red Wing" (Busy Bee A-128, c. 1907)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Wing (II)"
cf. "Union Maid" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Red Wing (II) (File: EM214)
Union Maid (by Woody Guthrie) (Greenway-AFP, p. 300; Silber-FSWB, p. 132; DT, UNIONMD; recordings on on Almanac4, PeteSeeger01, PeteSeeger41, PeteSeeger48)
(Charlie Chaplin parody) (Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 211-212; see under "Red Wing (II"))
File: FCW050
===
NAME: Red Wing (II)
DESCRIPTION: Red Wing, the unafraid Indian maid, allows the cowboys intimacies, until she is made pregnant.
AUTHOR: original version by Kerry Mills and Thurland Chattaway
EARLIEST_DATE: original version copyright 1907
KEYWORDS: bawdy parody whore childbirth Indians(Am.) derivative
FOUND_IN: Australia US(MW,Ro,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Cray, pp. 214-216, "Red Wing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 566-570, "Red Wing" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 212, "Redwings" (sic) (1 tune, which Meredith et al seem to associate with the bawdy version)
Logsdon 39, pp. 207-210, "Red Wing" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text is "Red Wing (I)" while the "B" text is one of the bawdy parodies)
DT, REDWNG2*
Roud #4784
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Wing (I)"
NOTES: As with most bawdy parodies, there may be several elements combined here. Cray's version and most of Randolph's involve the Indian Maid quickly losing that distinction at the hand of cowboys. Meredith/Covell/Brown's fragment of text talks about the ragged clothes of Charlie Chaplin (presumably in his "Little Tramp" role). Logsdon's "B" text has the girl so "afraid some buckaroo would ram it up her flue" that "she crammed it full of sand" to make sure he would not "reach the promised land" -- but it has the Charlie Chaplin chorus. How these elements came to combine, or separate, would need a more detailed study than I am in position to give. - RBW
File: EM214
===
NAME: Red-Haired Man's Wife, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks his sweetheart, by letter and in person, to leave her husband. She had sworn fidelity but married the red-haired man instead. She will not "break the command" He offers a way out: "For the Patriarch David had a number of wives"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2188))
KEYWORDS: courting rejection wife husband marriage hair Bible
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
OLochlainn 97, "The Red-Haired Man's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REDWIFE
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, pp. 60-62, "Bean an Fhir Rua" ("The Red-Haired Man's Wife") [Gaelic and English] (1 text, 1 tune)
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 232-233, "The Red Man's Wife" (1 text, translated by Douglas Hyde)
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 128-129, "The Red Man's Wife" (1 text, translated by Douglas Hyde)
Roud #3046
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2188), "The Red Haired Man's Wife," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Firth b.25(347), Harding B 26(564), Firth c.18(83), "The Red Haired Man's Wife"; 2806 c.16(206), 2806 b.9(113), Harding B 25(1603)[some words illegible], "The Red Hair'd Man's Wife"
NOTES: According to Milner and Kaplan, _A Bonny Bunch of Roses_, this is based on a Gaelic song, Bean An Fhir Ruaidh.
The argument that the Patriarch David was repeatedly married has its problems. There is the nitpicky one that, based on the standard definition, he was not a Patriarch; they preceded the Judges, and David was after.
More to the point, while David had many wives, and they produced many sons, the sons fought over the inheritance; eventually the oldest three died at the hands of their relatives. Solomon, the survivor, also took many wives, but they "turned away his heart after other gods" (2 Kings 11:3).
Various others in the Bible had multiple wives, but the only significant patriarch to have multiple wives *simultaneously* was Jacob, who had two wives (Rachel and Leah) and two concubines, who collectively gave birth to the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
I know of no instance whatsoever of a wife in the Bible with multiple husbands. Unless you count the Woman of Samaria, anyway (John 4:16-19); Jesus said that she had had five husbands and was apparently cohabiting with a sixth man. But this was presumably sequential marriage.
There is one interesting sidelight: Recent research seems to indicate that women are most likely to have affairs when they are at the most fertile time of their monthly cycle. The rest of the time, they aren't interested. This is unconscious; the women themselves are not aware of when they are fertile. It just seems to be the urge (found in many apparently monogamous creatures) for the female to get the best male genes. Maybe the singer showed up at the wrong time. Or maybe he was as genetically hopeless as the song makes him sound.  - RBW
The song translated from Gaelic in Bell/O Conchubhair is quite different from the "Englished" version. Further, there is a story to be told that sets the stage: "Our song is no simple tale of lust. Fair lad and red-head were apprentices to the rich tailor. His only daughter and the fair lad were in love, betrothed to be married.... The foxy boy stole some silver knives of the tailor's and hid them in his rival's baggage [cf. Genesis 44]. Discovered. Three years in gaol. Came out to find his love married to the rogue." Now the song starts in either version; in the Gaelic he has no answer from her but the outcome is likely the same.
Hoagland's version follows the story told in Bell/O Conchubhair commentary. - BS
File: OLoc097
===
NAME: Red, White, and Blue: see Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)
===
NAME: Red, White, and Red, The
DESCRIPTION: The Confederate soldiers proudly boast of their new flag, "The Red, White, and Red!" They promise the guard their land, and proclaim, "They never will subdue us, that you will see. While there's Davis, Bragg, Beauregard, Johnson, and Lee...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1946 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic bragging
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 10, 1861 - Battle of Big Bethel. Although trivial in size (some 6000 troops engaged, casualties totalling about 110), it was the first land battle of the war. Federal troops under Benjamin Butler ("Old Picayune," almost certainly the worst general of the war) were easily defeated by Confederates under John Bankhead Magruder
Nov. 8, 1861 - The Trent Affair (The Mason and Slidell Affair): The two Confederate diplomats are taken off the Trent by Captain Charles Wilkes of the San Jacinto in clear violation of the then-current international policy regarding neutral rights
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Warner 22, "The Red, White, and Red" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 223, "On the Plains of Manassas" (1 text, with a stray reference to Manassas but otherwise this song)
BrownIII 375, "The Red, White, and Red" (3 texts; the "A" text, with mentions of Mason and Slidell and Manassas, seems to be a later, expanded version)
ST Wa022 (Partial)
Roud #769
NOTES: This song is item dA36 in Laws's Appendix II. 
Among the figures mentioned in this song are:
Magruder - John Bankhead Magruder, winner at Big Bethel, set aside after the Peninsula campaign
Old Picayune - Benjamin F. Butler, a complete military incompetent who always kept his job because of his Republican political connections. He seems to have been given his nickname after a (female) character in a minstrel song, Picayune Butler
Davis - Jefferson Davis, Confederate president (at this time still a provisional president)
Bragg - Braxton Bragg, at the time of Big Bethel a general commanding part of the southern coast. He later was appointed commander of the Army of Tennessee
Beauregard - P.G.T. Beauregard, who had directed the bombardment at Fort Sumter and later held field command at First Bull Run (though his later career was not overly successful)
Johnson - almost certainly an error, either for Albert Sidney Johnston (first commander of the Tennessee army, killed at Shiloh) or Joseph E. Johnston, who preceded Lee in command in northern Virginia and held a succession of later posts
Lee - Robert E. Lee (who did not achieve a significant command in the Confederate army until 1862)
Stonewall - Thomas "Stonewall": Jackson, at the time of Big Bethel commanding a small force near Harper's Ferry but destined to command a famous brigade at First Bull Run and, of course, become Lee's chief subordinate and a southern legend. 
"The Mason and Slidell Affair": James Mason and John Slidell were Confederate diplomats who were bound for London and Paris, were on the British ship _Trent_ when it was stopped by the U. S. S. _San Jacinto_  commanded by Charles Wilkes. Wilkes took off the diplomats, prompting a furor. Washington eventually gave in to British and French pressure and sent Mason and Slidell on to their destinations.
McCulloch: Ben McCulloch, a general in the west, one of the co-commanders at Wilson's Creek, killed at Pea Ridge. Despite the song, he never gave evidence of enough competence to truly frighten the Yankees, and he never was sole commander at a major battle. - RBW
File: Wa022
===
NAME: Redbird and Jaybird
DESCRIPTION: "The jaybird sat on the redbird's nest. The redbird sat and mourned." Verses about the birds and their lives, with additional (floating?) material about partridges pulling a plow, a man riding a goose across a creek, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: bird courting
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 154, "Redbird and Jaybird" (2 texts; "A" appears to be mixed and "B" is a fragment)
NOTES: Although the older of Brown's two sources lists the redbird as sitting on the jaybird's nest, the newer version, in which the jaybird moves in on the cardinal, is almost certainly correct. Jays are related to crows, and will make off with other birds' eggs. - RBW
File: Br3154
===
NAME: Redemption Song, The
DESCRIPTION: Adam and Eve squander "the heritage of heaven." Christ confounds the sages in the temple, heals the sick, shares "the Pasch," is crucified, rises and "redeemed us all." "We're safe from Satan's wrath." "That will lead us home to Heaven and our Salvation"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: death religious Jesus Bible
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 47-48, "The Redemption Song" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bean Dubh an Ghleanna" (tune, according to Tunney-StoneFiddle)
File: TSF047
===
NAME: Redesdale and Wise William [Child 246]
DESCRIPTION: Redesdale tells William that he can win any woman's favor "wi ae blink o my ee." William bets his head against Redesdale's lands that Redesdale cannot win his sister. Redesdale courts the sister, fails to win her (though he burns down her house)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: courting sex gambling virtue wager
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 246, "Redesdale and Wise William" (3 texts)
Bronson 246, "Redesdale and Wise William" (1 version, properly associated with "Johnnie Cock")
Roud #243
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fiddler's Bitch" (plot)
cf. "The Twa Knights" (plot)
File: C246
===
NAME: Redwings: see Red Wing (II); also Red Wing (I) (File: EM214)
===
NAME: Reedy Lagoon, The
DESCRIPTION: "The sweet scented wattle sheds perfume around Delighting the bird and the bee, While I lie and take rest in my fern-covered nest." The rambler relaxes and thinks back on the friends and the girl he has left behind. He misses them, but cares little
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: rambling Australia separation
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 144-145, "The Reedy Lagoon" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REEDYLAG*
File: PASB144
===
NAME: Reedy River
DESCRIPTION: "Ten miles down Reedy River, a pool of water lies, And all the year it mirrors the changes in the skies." The singer recalls riding with Mary Campbell to the pool. They build a homestead. But now "The wattle blossoms golden above my Mary's grave."
AUTHOR: Words: Henry Lawson (1867-1922) / Music: Chris Kempster
EARLIEST_DATE: 1981 (recording, Bok/Trickett/Muir)
KEYWORDS: love courting river death burial racing farming
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
DT, REEDYRIV
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 42, #1 (1997), p, 27, "Reedy River" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is pretty definitely not traditional, but now well enough known among folkies that I included this entry as a placeholder to say it's not traditional. - RBW
File: DTreedri
===
NAME: Reeling Song: see Linktem Blue (Reeling Song) (File: FlBr034)
===
NAME: Reform and Whigs
DESCRIPTION: A wife complains of politics which has driven her husband "clean dementit." He has no time for work "to save us frae starvation" for worrying about the nation's problems. She begs him "Leave them wha can to mak' the laws ... lat the nation look to itsel"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: nonballad political husband wife
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 596, "Reform and Whigs" (1 text)
Roud #6046
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Quaker's Wife" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
File: GrD3596
===
NAME: Regimental Song: see Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going) (File: SBoA050)
===
NAME: Regular Army-O, The
DESCRIPTION: The volunteer joined the army three years ago, and has been suffering every since under "Sergeant John McCafferty and Corporal Donahue" as well as "forty miles a day on beans and hay." Captured by Indians, the soldiers at last escape army life
AUTHOR: Harrington and Hart?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: soldier army warning abuse
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Dean, p. 67, "The Regular Army, Oh" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 177, "The Regular Army-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REGARMY*
Roud #4747
File: LoF177
===
NAME: Regular Army, Oh, The: see The Regular Army-O (File: LoF177)
===
NAME: Reid Hoose
DESCRIPTION: "Reid Hoose it is a fairm toon It stands upon a knowe Ye maybe ken the fairmer o't For he's a muckle yewe."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 362, "Reid Hoose" (1 fragment)
Roud #5905
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 fragment. - BS
I have a feeling this is built upon "The Earl of Errol" [Child 231] or one of its metrical offspring, but there is no evidence of this except the form of the GreigDuncan fragment. - RBW
File: GrD3362
===
NAME: Reid's Express
DESCRIPTION: "You'll get on board of Reid's Express to travel the icy rail" to the station at Badger Brook and lumber "just like a slave... 'twill carry you to your grave." "When I gets home no more I'll roam and the lumbering woods I'll shun."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: lumbering hardtimes logger
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 757-758, "Reid's Express" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9800
NOTES: Badger Brook, later Badger, is not far from Bonavista Bay on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. - BS
File: Pea757
===
NAME: Reidh-chnoc Mna Sidhe (Dark Fairy Rath, The)
DESCRIPTION: The singer "in search of my love" meets her and is warned. "'Touch me not, and approach me not near; I belong to this Rath, and the Fairy host here.'" He tries to hold her but she disappears.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1884 (Mangan's translation _Poets and Poetry of Munster,_ according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: courting magic supernatural
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 43, "The Dark Fairy Rath" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "The original Gaelic of this song is attributed to George Roberts about whom, if he existed, nothing is known" (source: OLochlainn-More). - BS
In the earliest known phase of Irish mythology, the Sidhe (Aes Sidhe, the People of the Hills) were the remnants of the Tuatha De Danaan, who had been defeated and driven underground by the Celtic invaders. Later the name came to be used of any generic fairy or sprite -- but the first sense may have more meaning in context.
A rath was the Irish name for a fortification or earthwork. - RBW
File: OLcM043
===
NAME: Reilly the Fisherman: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Reilly's Daughter: see O'Reilly's Daughter (File: EM101)
===
NAME: Reilly's Farewell: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Reily's Jailed: see William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10] (File: LM10)
===
NAME: Rejected Lover, The [Laws P10]
DESCRIPTION: The girl tells the singer not to return; she prefers freedom to marriage. She later changes her mind; he is no longer interested. She warns others against her mistake
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection loneliness
FOUND_IN: Irelan US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws P10, "The Rejected Lover"
JHCoxIIB, #15, pp. 155-156, "You Can't Come Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 91, "Servant Man" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 145, "You Can't Come Again" (1 short text)
SharpAp 109, "The Rejected Lover" (10 texts, 10 tunes, but version "A" is actually a mishmosh of floaters including "Who will shoe..." and "A-roving on a winter's night...")
Darling-NAS, pp. 136-137, "The Rejected Lover" (1 text)
SHenry H589, p. 344, "The Rejected Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 495, REJCTLVR*
Roud #412
RECORDINGS:
Eddie and Gracie Butcher, "Don't Come Again" (on IREButcher01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nancy (I)" [Laws P11] (plot)
cf. "Nancy (II) [Laws P12] (theme)
cf. "The Slighted Suitor" (plot)
cf. "Braes of Strathblane" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Alexander
NOTES: The notes to Henry/Huntington/Herrmann question the connection between their "Rejected Lover" song and Laws P10. They have a point; there isn't much lyric similarity. The plots are alike, however, and the form -- and the two are so widely separated in space that great divergences are possible. Plus there are almost no other versions clearly associated with the Henry text. It seemed easier to lump them.
The Henry text contains several odd Biblical allusions. First, "I'll travel to Mount Nebo, where Moses viewed the Ark." This is patently absurd. Mount Nebo is in Moab, many hundreds of kilometres from Urartu (Ararat), the resting place of the Ark. What Moses saw from Mount Nebo was the future homeland of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 34:1-5).
Equally strange is the reference to Mount Ararat as the place "where Noah did embark." The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (plural! -- Genesis 8:4). But there is no reason to think he started there.
There are several mysteries about this song. Laws lists only the texts from Sharp, ignoring Brown and the various references there. The notes in Brown don't help; they link it with "The Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter" [Laws H12] -- which it may have influenced, but which is clearly not the same song.
Cox's and Fuson's versions seem to form a subgroup (which may even be an independent song which has mixed with this one), marked by the steady use of the title line "(You/I) (can't/need not) come again." Both versions, though rather defective, stress an exchange of letters (perhaps the young man has joined the army?); this may have been imported from "A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.)" [Laws P9]. - RBW
File: LP10
===
NAME: Relief of Derry, The
DESCRIPTION: "Dartmouth spreads her snow-white sail, Her purple pennant flying O: While we the gallant Browning hail, Who saved us all from dying" [Mountjoy] rams the blockade and seems stranded -- "we mourned our falling city" -- but "a favouring gale" frees it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: battle rescue death Ireland patriotic food
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES:  Jul 28, 1689 - Browning's ships break the 105 day seige of Derry (source: Kilpatrick [see Notes])
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OrangeLark 8, "The Relief of Derry" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry" (subject: the siege of Derry) and references there
NOTES: On July 28, 1689 three ships -- _Mountjoy_, _Dartmouth_, and _Phoenix_ -- on the Foyle broke the seige bringing food; captain of the _Mountjoy_ was Michael Browning, who was killed in the battle. (source: Cecil Kilpatrick, "The Seige of Derry: A City of Refuge" at the Canada-Ulster Heritage site) - BS
File: OrLa008
===
NAME: Religion Is the Best of All
DESCRIPTION: "Oh it's come along fathers And don't you want to go, And join that happy company That's going on before." Chorus: "Religion is the best of all (x3), I feel it in my soul." Continues for mothers, brothers, sisters, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 656, "Religion Is the Best of All" (1 text)
Roud #7579
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Am Going to Heaven" (lyrics)
File: R656
===
NAME: Religion So Sweet (I)
DESCRIPTION: "O walk Jordan long road, And religion so sweet. O religion is good for anything, And religion so sweet." "Religion makes you happy." "O member, get religion." "O I gwine to meet my savior." "I seek my Lord and I find him."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 13, "Religion So Sweet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11847
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Religion So Sweet (II)" (lyrics)
File: AWG013A
===
NAME: Religion So Sweet (II)
DESCRIPTION: Baptizing song/sermon: "Let's go down to Jurdon (x2)... De ol' ribber Jurdon is mighty deep, but 'ligion is so sweet." The candidates are told of the benefits of baptism, told that Jesus requires it, and reminded of the "sweetness" of religion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Lomax-ABFS)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 582-583, "'Ligion So Sweet" (1 text)
Roud #11061
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Religion So Sweet (I)" (lyrics)
File: LxA582
===
NAME: Religious Use of Taking Tobacco, A: see Tobacco's But an Indian Weed (File: Log262)
===
NAME: Remember A, Remember B
DESCRIPTION: "Remember A, remember B, But first of all, remember me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 232, (third of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
NOTES: This sounds like something from a greeting card to me, but Henry presents it as a fragment of a song, so we index it. Even though the above sentence is longer than Henry's fragment.... - RBW
File: MHAp232B
===
NAME: Remember Me
DESCRIPTION: The singer's ship is ready to sail. He hopes his sweetheart and old Ireland boys will remember him. They spend the night drinking together and he sails away. He bids Killarney farewell. "Alas my friends I am away, Here's my hand but you have my heart"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 19C (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 26(567))
KEYWORDS: love emigration farewell sea ship Ireland nonballad friend drink
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: ()

BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(567), "Remember Me" ("Our ship is ready to sajl [sic] away"), P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.8(216), 2806 b.9(3), 2806 c.8(290), "Remember Me"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Our Ship Sails Ready to Sail Away" (shares opening verses)
NOTES: Wright-Irish (_Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs_) pp. 111, 170-173, has two versions of "Our Ship Sails Ready to Sail Away" and one of "Remember Me" and considers them to be variants of the same song. His longest version of "Our Ship ..." and his "Remember Me" share three verses almost exactly; "Our Ship ..." adds six 4-line verses and "Remember Me" adds five 4-line verses and, in these lines, the songs share no lines. "Our Ship ..." is a farewell to Nora, and besides to Dublin, Delgany and Wicklow; "Remember Me" is a farewell to old Ireland boys, and besides to Killarney. My inclination is to keep them as two separate songs. - BS
File: BdRemMeI
===
NAME: Remember Me Early
DESCRIPTION: "Remember me early, remember me late, Remember the night we swang on the garden gate."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Mrs. Henry C. Gray, or her maid)
KEYWORDS: nonballad courting
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 239, (no title) (1 short text)
File: MHAp239A
===
NAME: Remember the Barley Straw: see Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw) (File: K188)
===
NAME: Remember the Glories of Brian the Brave
DESCRIPTION: "Remember the glories of Brian the brave... To light us to victory yet." Tell the invading Danes that we prefer "to bleed for an age ... than to sleep but a moment in chains." Do not let those that died "upon Ossory's plain" have fallen in vain
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846 (_Irish Melodies_ by Thomas Moore, according to Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: battle nonballad patriotic Ireland
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 23, 1014 - Battle of Clontarf. Victory and death of Brian Boru
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
O'Conor, p. 48, "Brian the Brave" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, p. 111, "Brian the Brave"
Roud #12820
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(75), "Brian the Brave", The Poet's Box (Belfast), 1846-1852; also Harding B 15(33a), "Brian the Brave" 
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Brien the Brave
NOTES: Brian Boru (Boruma), born c. 942, became king of Munster after the murder of his brother Mathgamain in 976, and then set out to become High King of Ireland. By about 1002, he was recognized as such by most major Irish lords.
Although Brian's enemies are called Danes in the song, in fact they were Viking raiders allied with rebels from Leinster (see, e.g. Mike Cronin, _A History of Ireland_, p. 8; Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, _A History of Ireland_, p. 56). The two sides met at the Battle of Clontarf, on Good Friday 1014, and Brian's Munster forces were victorious though he was slain. In practice, that was a defeat for Brian, since it ended the fragile Irish unity. The Vikings did go away, for the most part -- but that was more because Swein Forkbeard and his son Canute were conquering England than anything else. - RBW, (BS)
File: OCon048
===
NAME: Remember the Poor
DESCRIPTION: "Cold winter is coming with his keen cutting breath...." With the fields barren and the cold coming on, the listeners are urged to remember the poor. This is urged both because the listeners have something to spare and because it is the Christian thing
AUTHOR: Words: John Fielding / Music: H. T. Dyring (source: broadside LOCSheet, sm1877 01347)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1826 (broadside Harding B 11(843))
KEYWORDS: poverty help religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 161, "The Snow Is on the Ground" (1 field text plus a songster version, 1 tune)
ST Wa161 (Partial)
Roud #1121
BROADSIDES:
Harding B 11(843),  "Remember the Poor," Angus (Newcastle), 1774-1825
LOCSheet, sm1877 01347, "Always Remember the Poor", [publisher illegible] (Jersey City), 1877
Murray, Mu23-y1:079, "Remember the Pooor," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Cold Winter is Coming
File: Wa161
===
NAME: Remember the Poor Tramp Has to Live
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a tramp, tells how hard his life is, asks for understanding. Chorus ends "Remember that the poor tramp has to live"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Walter Morris)
KEYWORDS: poverty rambling begging hardtimes hobo
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 351-354, "The Poor Tramp Has to Live" (1 text plus a broadside print, 1 tune)
BrownIII 357, "The Tramp Song" (1 text, a noticeably defective transcription)
Roud #11720
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Singers, "The Tramp Song" (Columbia 15647-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
Dock Boggs, "Railroad Tramp" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
Walter Morris, "The Railroad Tramp" (Columbia 15101-D, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "The Poor Tramp Has to Live" (matrix GEX 493-A recorded 1927, released 1927-1928 as: Herwin 75535 [as by Stoneman], Gennett 6044 [as by Ernest V. Stoneman and his Graysen County Boys], Challenge 324/Challenge 398/Champion 15233 [all as by Uncle Jim Seaney], Challenge 244/Silvertone 5001/Silvertone 8155/Silvertone 25001/Supertone 9255 [all as by Uncle Ben Hawkins]); "The Poor Tramp"  (Victor 20672, 1927); Ernest V. Stoneman and His Dixie Mountaineers, "Remember the Poor Tramp Has to Live" (Edison, unissued, 1928); Ernest Stoneman [and Eddie Stoneman], "Broke Down Section Hand" (Vocalion 02655, 1934)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
 cf. "The Tramp (II)" (plot)
cf. "The Tramp's Story" (plot)
NOTES: Boggs states he learned the song from a recording in the late 1920s, but as he doesn't give a name or title I left initially Boggs' recording as the earliest verified to date.
The Walter Morris recording is placed here tentatively; if it can be verified as this song, it would constitute the earliest verified appearance. - PJS
(John Green of Tennessee, who had access to a copy, tells me that it is "The Poor Tramp," so the date has been updated.)
I don't know what Boggs's source was, but Ernest V. Stoneman and the Stoneman Family recorded this on several occasions, the first in 1927. It appears possible that the Brown version (which comes from a manuscript collection) predates this, but unfortunately this is one of the many undated items in the collection; we don't even know when Brown received the manuscript.
The first appearance of the song Cohen could find was a Wehman broadside, apparently in print by 1886; it lists Billy Kearney as the author, and the tune as "True As Steel." It is very different from the Stoneman text and doesn't even mention railroads. I'd call them recensionally different -- perhaps even separate songs -- and so leave the Stoneman recording as the earliest date, subject to Paul's caveat about the Morris recording. - RBW
File: RcRtPTHL
===
NAME: Remember Well and Don't Forget
DESCRIPTION: "Remember well and don't forget, You have a friend that loves you yet."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love friend
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 231, (first of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
File: MHAp231A
===
NAME: Reminiscences: see Titles of Songs (Song of Songs, Song of All Songs, Song of Song Titles) (File: R515)
===
NAME: Remon
DESCRIPTION: (Creole) French: "Mo parle Remon, Remon, Le parle Simon, Simon, Le parle Titine, Titine, Li tombe dans chagrin. O femme Romulus! O belle femme Romulus! O femme Romulus! O belle femme que ca voule mo faile!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 110, "Remon" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 215, "Remon" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LxA215
===
NAME: Removal of Napoleon's Ashes, The
DESCRIPTION: At Waterloo Napoleon was forced to yield. Marie Louisa wept and cursed the gold that bribed "False Grouchy." A monument is erected in Paris "to contain the ashes of his heart, And every Frenchman that passes by respectfully a tribute pays"
AUTHOR: John Morgan (source: broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(116), Harding B 13(205), Harding B 11(3256), Curzon b.41(63) and Harding B 15(256a))
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1856 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(116)); c.1845 (broadside NLScotland L.C.1270(016)) [see Notes]
KEYWORDS: battle separation betrayal France wife Napoleon
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: December 15, 1840 - Napoleon's ashes are returned to Les Invalides in Paris (source: "Hotel des Invalides" on Travel Channel site)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 206, "Napoleon Bonaparte" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(116), "Ashes of Napoleon," J. Cadman (Manchester), 1850-1855; also Harding B 15(256a), Firth b.34(197), "[The: Removal of Napoleon's Ashes"; Harding B 11(117), "The Ashes of Napoleon"; Harding B 13(205), Curzon b.41(63) [many words are difficult to read], Harding B 11(3256), "The Removal of Napoleon Buonaparte's Ashes"; Firth c.16(100), "Napoleon's Remains"; 2806 c.15(105), Harding B 19(14), "The Removal of the Remains of Napoleon, from St. Helena"
LOCSinging, as111620, "Removal of Napoleon's Ashes," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(016), "The Ashes of Napoleon," James Kay (Glasgow), c.1845
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wheels of the World" (for the charge that Grouchy betrayed Napoleon)
cf. "Napoleon Bonaparte (III)" (for the charge that Grouchy betrayed Napoleon)
cf. "The Royal Eagle" (subject: Marie Louisa's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "The New Bunch of Loughero" (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)"  (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
NOTES: The commentary for broadside NLScotland L.C.1270(016) states "James Kay worked in Glasgow as printer during the mid-1840s." - BS
Emmanuel Grouchy (1766-1847) commanded one of the wings of Napoleon's army in the Waterloo campaign, and his failure to arrive at Waterloo may have cost Napoleon the battle. The charge that he betrayed Napoleon occurs also in "Napoleon Bonaparte (III)" (see that song for a discussion) and in "The Wheels of the World," but there is no reason whatsoever to believe that it is true.
Although the conceit is common in folk song, there  is even less reason to think that Marie Lousia of Austria grieved for him, since she became involved with other men before he was even dead. (See the notes to "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)"; also "The Royal Eagle" and "The New Bunch of Loughero") - RBW
File: Moyl206
===
NAME: Requiem for the Croppies
DESCRIPTION: "The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley," the croppies fought with pikes and would "stampede cattle into infantry." "Until, on Vinegar Hill, the fatal conclave.... And in August the barley grew up out of the grave"
AUTHOR: Seamus Heaney (1939-) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death burial
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 21, 1798 - The Wexford rebels are defeated at Vinegar Hill
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 141, "Requiem for the Croppies" (1 text)
File: Moyl141
===
NAME: Restless Dead, The: see The Unquiet Grave [Child 78] (File: C078)
===
NAME: Resurrected Sweetheart, The: see The Unquiet Grave [Child 78] (File: C078)
===
NAME: Resurrection Morn, The
DESCRIPTION: "O run, Mary, run, Hallelu, hallelu, O run, Mary, run, Hallelujah!" "It was early in the morning." "That she went to the sepulchre." "And the Lord he wasn't da." "But she see a man a-comin'." "And she thought he was the gardener...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus resurrection Easter Bible
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 54, "The Resurrection Morn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12014
NOTES: Tthis is a pretty close paraphrase of John 20:1-17, though interpreted in the light of the other gospels
* Mary (Magdalene) came to the tomb early on Sunday morning (John 20:1)
* The tomb was empty (John 20:2, though this does not use the word "empty"; as a matter of fact, none of the gospels use the word "empty" to describe the tomb!
* "She thought he was the gardener": John 20:15 (though John never says that Mary saw Jesus approach)
* "Oh touch me not": John 20:17
* "For I am not yet ascended": John 20:17
* "Tell to my disciples": John 20:17 again, though the word used in the Bible is not "disciples" but "brothers" (which, in Christian context, is probably to be read as "comrades, members of the Church"). The King James Bible translates this properly; the use of the word "disciples" is probably a memory of Matt 28:19 or some such
* "That the Lord is arisen": This is the one phrase in the song with no real ties to John; Jesus says in 20:17 that he is *ascending*, but that presumably means ascending to heaven.
* "So run, Mary, run": Mary runs to Peter and the Beloved Disciple in John 20:2; she does not run in 20:18, but merely comes/goes (same word in Greek). Close enough, though. - RBW
File: AWG054
===
NAME: Resurrection, The: see Free Salvation (The Resurrection) (File: FSC079)
===
NAME: Retour du Mari Soldat, Le: see Brave Marin (Brave Sailor) (File: LeBe013)
===
NAME: Retour du Marin, Le: see Brave Marin (Brave Sailor) (File: LeBe013)
===
NAME: Return of Charlie Horse, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is spending an evening at Mahers and steps out for some air. Looking over Angel Pond, he sees the ghost of Charlie horse. When the mist closes in the singer loses sight of Charlie and goes back inside to tell the boys.
AUTHOR: Omar Blondahl
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Blondahl)
KEYWORDS: horse ghost
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Blondahl, pp. 20-21, "The Return of Charlie Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Concerning Charlie Horse" (tune, chorus, subject and references there)
File: Blon020
===
NAME: Return of Pat Molloy
DESCRIPTION: Molloy returns to Dublin after four years in America and is stopped by "a castle-hack" who accuses him of being a Fenian. He is, but he has returned with money to take Molly and his mother to America. He and Molly marry and all move to New York.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging as111690)
KEYWORDS: marriage emigration return reunion America Ireland patriotic money
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Brigid Tunney, "Wee Paddy Molloy" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
Paddy Tunney, "Paddy Molloy" (on IRPTunney02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pat Malloy" [Laws Q24] (character of Pat Malloy/Molloy)
NOTES: Notes to IRPTunney02: "This is a song linked with the Fenian Rising of 1867. Many of the Fenians learned their soldiering in America during the Civil War and then returned to Ireland to fight their own battle."
Broadside LOCSinging as111690, which is longer than Paddy Tunney's version on IRPTunney02, is the basis for the description.
Broadside LOCSinging as111690: H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site.
Broadside LOCSinging as111690 includes the note "Sung, with unbounded applause, by William H. Lindsey."- BS
Most scholars don't seem to link this to Laws Q24, "Pat Malloy," though Laws notes a sequel to that ballad, 'Molly's Welcome to Pat Malloy." But in Laws Q24, we learn that Pat is in love with Molly, that he goes to America, and that he returns home at the end. This is a clear sequel to those events -- possibly a political rewrite, given the mention of the Fenians. 
The Fenians were an organization devoted to freeing Ireland. The organization was founded in 1858 by James Stephens, and quickly spread; the British government felt the need to suppress the group in 1865. Stephens and others were taken prisoner; although he escaped, it turned him cautious; he no longer had the nerve to take aggressive action. That pretty well killed the group as an active set of rebels; their attempt at an Irish rebellion failed in 1867. - RBW
File: RcRoPaMo
===
NAME: Returned Soldier, The
DESCRIPTION: French. A couple takes in a passer-by because their son is also a soldier. They worry about the boy. The passer-by reveals that he is their son
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage soldier separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, p. 517, "The Returned Soldier" (1 text, reportedly incomplete)
NOTES: Sort of a Riley ballad, only with the parents rather than the lover being the ones fooled. - RBW
File: Beld517A
===
NAME: Reuben and Rachel
DESCRIPTION: Rachel speculates to Reuben about "What a good world this would be If the men were all transported Far beyond the northern sea." Reuben, shocked, tries to fathom the idea; at last he offers marriage. Rachel accepts
AUTHOR: Words: Harry Birch / Music: William Gooch
EARLIEST_DATE: 1871
KEYWORDS: dialog transportation courting love humorous marriage
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 180-183, "Reuben and Rachel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 460, "Reuben and Rachel"
Silber-FSWB, p. 345, "Reuben, Reuben" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 86, "Reuben, Reuben" (1 text)
DT, REUBRACH*
ST RJ19180 (Full)
Roud #15451
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Winnipeg Whore" (tune)
cf. "The Swede from North Dakota" (tune)
File: RJ19180
===
NAME: Reuben James
DESCRIPTION: Describes the sinking of the destroyer "Reuben James" by submarines off the coast of Iceland, the loss of 100 men [and the rescue of 44]. Chorus: "What were their names, tell me what were their names/Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?"
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie & Pete Seeger w. the Almanac Singers
EARLIEST_DATE: November, 1941
KEYWORDS: battle navy war death rescue ship derivative
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Oct. 31, 1941 - U. S. destroyer Reuben James, an old 4-stacker, is the first American ship sunk in World War II.
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 84, "Reuben James" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie, "Sinking of the Reuben James" (on AmHist2)
Pete Seeger, "Reuben James" (on PeteSeeger41)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Reuben James" (on SeegerTerry)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wildwood Flower" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sinking of the Reuben James
NOTES: There is some dispute over the authorship of this song; most alumni of the Almanac Singers say that Guthrie wrote the verses, Seeger added the chorus, but Seeger insists that other members of the group also contributed lyrics. - PJS
The _Reuben James_ was one of the the four-stack destroyers built by the U.S. Navy in the period 1917-1920, and was of the class that was "lent" to Britain. At the time of her sinking, she was based at Hvalafjordur, Iceland, and she sank while escorting convoy HX-156 from Argentia, Newfoundland.
The ship was a member of the _Clemson_ class, which (according to _Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I_) were 310 feet long, 31 feet wide. Figures as to her displacement vary; the most widely-accepted figure seems to be 1091 tons. She was initially fitted with four 4" guns and four 21" torpedo tubes; her speed when new was 35 knots. She would of course have undergone some refits in the period between the two wars, and was almost certainly somewhat slower than her 1920 speed. She was named for the man who saved Stephen Decatur's life when both were serving on the _Intrepid_.
It will be noted that the _Reuben James_ was sunk *before* the United States officially joined the Second World War. By this time, however, the U.S. Navy was unofficially escorting convoys to Britain. While U.S. ships normally did not sink submarines, they helped the British track them. What's more, the U.S.S. _Greer_ had actually fired on a German submarine (U-652) on September 4. Thus German action against U.S. ships was not unjustified.
The _Reuben James_ was not the first U.S. naval vessel to be attacked by the Germans in World War II. Apart from the incident between the _Greer_ and U-652, the destroyer U.S.S. _Kearny_ was damaged on October 17, and the oiler _Salinas_ was torpedoed on October 30. When U-562 sank the _Reuben James_ the next day, it was not really much of an escalation -- but it came as a shock to the American people.
Guthrie was correct in saying that 44 men were saved, but the ship's crew totaled 159 (a very full complement; the ships were designed for a crew of about 130), so casualties actually totaled 115.
The sinking of the _Reuben James_ , we must emphasize, did *not* cause the U. S. to go to war (indeed, the U. S. didn't declare war on Germany; Germany declared war instead). Even if it had, Guthrie's confident prediction that American battleships would engage the Germans was short-sighted. Some people say falsely that battleships were useless in World War II -- but while they had their uses, fighting the German navy wasn't one of them. Battleships are useless against submarines, and at the time the Reuben James was sunk, there was not one American battleship fast enough to catch *any* of the handful of German surface ships. It wasn't until the _North Carolina_ finished fitting out some months later that the U. S. actually had a battleship "mighty" enough (read: fast enough) to fight even against German surface navy. 
The last verse of this song as usually sung today ("Many years have passed...") was added by Fred Hellerman. - RBW
File: PSAFB084
===
NAME: Reuben Ranzo
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Ranzo, boys, Ranzo." Typically concerns the life of Reuben Ranzo, a landlubber who "was no sailor" but wound up aboard ship and had to learn fast -- or, perhaps, had enough schooling to turn to navigation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1882
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 23-25, "Reuben Ranzo" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdoch, pp. 63-64, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 54-56, "Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 70, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 89-91, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 240-244 "Reuben Ranzo" (2 texts & fragments, 1 tune - second text is in Swedish & English) [AbEd, pp. 175-178]
Sharp-EFC, XXXII, p. 37, "Poor Old Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 144-146, "Reuben Renzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 50-53, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 101, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 560-561, "Reuben Renzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 313-314, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 83, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
DT, RBNRANZO
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). A fragment of "Reuben Ranso" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #3282
RECORDINGS:
Noble B. Brown, "Reuben Ranzo" (AFS, 1946; on LC26)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brindisi Di Marinai' (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Brindisi Di Marinai (File: Hugi245)
NOTES: Linscott speculates that "Renzo" is a corruption of "Lorenzo," which is at least reasonable -- but then comments that "It is probable too that Lorenzo may be a mythical hero." For this supposition there is not a shred of evidence that I can find.
Hugill mentions the "Lorenzo" possibility, but notes that "Reuben" doesn't fit well in that case. He lists three other theories: That it refers to the Danish sailor Daniel Rantzau, that it was an Eastern European Jew with a name like Reuben Ronzoff, or that Reuben derives from the description "Rube" for an inexperienced hand. Evidemce is, of course, lacking.
The ending also varies; Terry mentions Ranzo marrying the Captain's daughter, or being thrown overboard (and having additional adventures undersea), and him being flogged as a thief.
Bone, who has the virtue of actually getting this from sailors, was "inclined to think that [Ranzo] was in the word alone," noting that the word somehow seems to suit the action of hauling. - RBW
File: Doe023
===
NAME: Reuben Renzo: see Reuben Ranzo (File: Doe023)
===
NAME: Reuben Wright and Phoebe Brown
DESCRIPTION: Phoebe loves Reuben; her parents disapprove, and Reuben doesn't think much of them either. They determine to marry; her father grabs a shotgun. He accidentally kills his daughter. Reuben kills the father -- and awakes from his terrible dream
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1896 (Phineas Garrett's "One Hundred Choice Selections")
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Phoebe loves Reuben; her parents disapprove, and Reuben doesn't think much of them either. The young people determine to marry, and start for the parsonage in the rain, while her father grabs a shotgun. Instead of hitting Reuben, he kills his daughter. Reuben kills the father, tears his hair -- and awakes from his terrible dream
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness courting elopement love violence murder revenge death dream humorous recitation father children
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #5414
RECORDINGS:
Hamilton Lobdell, "Reuben Wright and Phoebe Brown" (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Young Sailor Bold (I) (The Rich Merchant's Daughter)" [Laws M19] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Love, Murder, and Almost Matrimony
NOTES: Each verse has the third line recited as prose, rather than sung. - PJS
This reportedly originated in one of the Hamlin's Wizard Oil songsters. I can't find any references in Spaeth, but this really sounds like something Charlie Case might have written. - RBW
File: RcRWaPB
===
NAME: Reuben, Reuben: see Reuben and Rachel (File: RJ19180)
===
NAME: Reuben's Train
DESCRIPTION: Lyric piece about Reuben's train and travels. Versions vary widely; most contain a verse something like this: "Reuben had a train and he put it on the track, Hear the whistle blow a hundred miles."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Grayson & Whitter, as "Train 45")
KEYWORDS: train nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 503-517, "Reuben's Train/Train 45/900 Miles" (2 texts plus exceprts equivalent to about three more, 2 tunes; the first text is close to "Reuben's Train," the second to "Nine Hundred Miles," but the article is mostly devoted to showing how the two songs mix)
BrownIII 236, "Reuben's Train" (2 texts, with "A" being closer to "Nine Hundred Miles" than "B")
Warner 133, "Reuben's Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 302, "Reuben" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3423
RECORDINGS:
Emry Arthur, "Reuben Oh Reuben" (Paramount 3295, c. 1931; on BefBlues2)
Dock Boggs, "Ruben's Train" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1)
Carolina Ramblers String Band, "Ruben's Train" (Banner 33085/Romeo 5345, 1934; Melotone M-13947, c. 1935)
Bill Cornett ,"Old Reuben" (on MMOKCD)
Elizabeth Cotten, "Ruben" (on Cotten02)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Train 45" (Victor 21189, 1928, rec. 1927, on GraysonWhitter01) (Gennett 6320, 1927/Champion 15447 [as by Norman Gayle], 1928)
Vester Jones, "Old Reuben" (on GraysonCarroll1)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers [or Wade Mainer], "Riding on Train Forty-Five" (Bluebird B-7298, 1937; Victor 27493, 1941)
Wade Mainer & the Sons of the Mountaineers, "Old Reuben" (Bluebird B-8990, 1941)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Riding on That Train 45" (on NLCR06, NLCRCD2)
Poplin Family, "Reuben" (on Poplin01)
Wade Ward, "Old Reuben" [instrumental] (on Holcomb-Ward1)
Doc Watson, "Old Ruben" (on Ashley02, WatsonAshley01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Nine Hundred Miles"
cf. "Rain and Snow"
SAME_TUNE:
Jack O'Diamond Blues (recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Old Reuben
NOTES: I know two tunes for this piece. One resembles "Nine Hundred Miles" and "Rain and Snow"; these three songs seems to have cross-fertilized (so much so, in fact, that I literally cannot tell which one was the more direct ancestor of the Grayson & Whitter recording; I placed it there almost arbitrarily).
The other is that used by Frank Proffitt, who said of it, "This is one of the oldest simple banjo tunes.... It was generally the first tune learned, by playing two strings. There are about fifty different verses to this" (quoted by Warner).
G. B. Grayson is said to have turned "Reuben's Train" into "Train 45" -- but they are still so close that I think they can be considered one song. - RBW
File: Wa133
===
NAME: Revolutionary Tea [Laws A24]
DESCRIPTION: Mother Britain is angry that her daughter America will not pay the tea-tax. The mother sends the daughter a great deal of tea and demands she pay the tax (on pain of a beating); the daughter dumps the tea into the ocean
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: political rebellion commerce money patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec. 16, 1773 - Boston Tea Party. Americans protest the British tax on tea by dumping a shipload into Boston Harbor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont) US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws A24, "Revolutionary Tea"
JHCoxIIB, #25, pp. 188189, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 59-61, "The Rich Lady Over the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 54-56, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 8-9, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 368, REVTEA*
Roud #1934
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Granny Wales (Granny O'Whale, Granua Weal)" (subject: The Tea Tax)
NOTES: For background on the Tea Tax, see the notes to "Old Granny Wales (Granny O'Whale, Granua Weal)." - RBW
File: LA24
===
NAME: Reynardine [Laws P15]
DESCRIPTION: A lady meets Reynardine (the singer for most of the song). He courts her while bidding her not to reveal his name. He says he has a castle in the forest and that she can reach him by calling him. He then vanishes (?); she warns women against such rakes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Journal from the Sharon)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction supernatural warning betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws P15, "Rinordine"
Belden, pp. 286-288, "Rinordine" (2 texts plus excerpts from 1 more)
Randolph 99, "Rinordine" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 47, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 76, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering15 , Rinordine"" (1 confused text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 113, pp. 143-144, "Ryner Dyne" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 222-223, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 112-113, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 32, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 138-139, "Reynardine" (1 text)
DT 341, REYNDINE* REYNDN2*
ST LP15 (Full)
Roud #397
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs "Reynardine" (on ESFB2, Briggs2, Briggs3)
A. L. Lloyd, "Reynardine" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd3)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(310), "Reynardine," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.8(253), "Reynardine"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shannon Side" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Mountains of Pomeroy" (subject)
NOTES: Although the name "Rinordine" is pretty definitely the older and more traditional, I've used the title "Reynardine" because that seems more common today.
Some have tried to connect this song in some way to the tale of the crafty Reynard the Fox. None of the links strike me as successful, though of course Bold Reynard may have influenced the shift from "Rinordine" to "Reynardine." - RBW
File: LP15
===
NAME: Rhyme of Old Steamboats
DESCRIPTION: Poem composed of the names of steamboats, rhymed with each other. Sample: "The Fred Wyerhauser and the Frontenac, The F. C. A. Denckmann and the Bella Mac, The Menomenee and the Louisville, The R. J. Wheeler and the Jessie Bill...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: river recitation nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 586, "Rhyme of Old Steamboats" (1 text)
NOTES: It's not clear whether this was ever sung, or just recited. - NR
So much for the theory that people made better use of their time in the days before television. - RBW
File: BMRF586
===
NAME: Rhynie
DESCRIPTION: Singer recalls his first job, working at (or for) Rhynie. The work is ill, the wages small, the rules onerous. The place is miserable, but he dare not leave before the season ends for fear of losing his fee. When it does end, he hits the road cheerfully
AUTHOR: John Riddel ? (source: Greig #9, p. 2)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1899 (Ford 1899 series)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes abuse farming worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 207-208, "Linten Lowrin" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 348, "Jock o' Rhynie" (7 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord, p. 268, "The Bogend Hairst" (1 text, a short version that might possibly be mixed with something else)
Roud #3090
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Rhynie" (on FSB3)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Barnyards of Delgaty" (tune, chorus, theme)
cf. "Linton Lowrie" (tune)
cf. "The Cockies of Bungaree" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rhynie's Jock
The Bonny Toon o' Huntly
NOTES: I'm sorely tempted to lump this with, "Barnyards of Delgaty" -- they share the same theme, tune and chorus, and are clearly closely related. But there's no overlap in the actual words, and the man from whom, "Rhynie" was collected, John Strachan, also sang a separate version of "Barnyards," so I split them. - PJS
Greig #9 quoting a correspondent Mrs Corbet: "... I may mention that 'Jock o' Rhynie' and 'Bogieside' are both by the same author [John Riddel, again according to Mrs. Corbet, in Greig #28], but am of the opinion that he was not the author of the 'Barnyards o' Delgaty,' but rather that the author of that song has borrowed a good many of the verses belonging to 'Jock o' Rhynie,' with a few alterations." GreigDuncan3 347 has more comments on the distinction between this song and "The Barnyards o' Delgaty" and, in GreigDuncan3 348, quotes Duncan's note to Greig agreeing that the songs are not the same.
GreigDuncan3: "Duncan wrote to Greig on 1 February 1908 saying: 'Your last correspondent's statements (and Mr Milne's [see note to [GreigDuncan3] 347 'The Barnyards o' Delgaty']) about the song beginning, 'In New Deer pairis,' etc. ending in 'jock o Rhynie' and being different from 'The Barnyards' agree with my own information." 
GreigDuncan3: "Greig notes in Ob. 20 [I don't find it there] that the octogenerian William Forsyth told him 'that he remembers as a boy hearing his mother sing "Jock o' Rhynie." This would carry the song back say to 1830." 
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Mains of Rhynie (348,349) is at coordinate (h2-3,v5) on that map [roughly 31 miles WNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: RcRhynie
===
NAME: Ribbon Blade, The
DESCRIPTION: Roman Catholic Mick Sheridan passes a parade of Yeomen. They surround him and Colston says "he commands the Ribbon Blades." They jail him in Ballina and, when bribery fails to convince him to "make discovery," hang him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: Ireland execution prison political
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 132, "The Ribbon Blade" (1 text)
NOTES: "Following an affray at Loughgall in Co. Armagh in 1795 the Orange Order was founded, while the Yeomen were also established in June 1796. These were made up mainly of men from the Orange Lodges." (source: _The 1798 Rebellion_ on the Hogan Stand site)
Zimmermann p. 19: "In some parts of Ulster, Protestant and Catholic tenants were mingled and contended for the land; the peasantry was thus divided into two camps, each having its oath-bound association. This led to a sort of religious war. At the end of the eighteenth century the Catholic "Defenders" were opposed to the Protestant "Peep o'Day Boys" or "Orangemen." The "Defenders" were succeeded by the "Ribbonmen."
An example of the conflict is the "Battle of Crossgar," March 17, 1849 (source: _17 March 1849- Battle of Crossgar_ at the Orange Pages site).
Ballina is in County Mayo. - BS
For more on the Orange Order and its founding and the troubles it inspired, see e.g. the notes to "Dialogue Between Orange and Croppy, "The Grand Mystic Order' and"The Boys of Wexford," - RBW
File: TSF132
===
NAME: Rich Amerikay [Laws O19]
DESCRIPTION: A young farmer is leaving Ireland. His rich sweetheart urges him not to go to a foreign land, but Ireland is too impoverished for him. Seeing that she cannot change his mind, she at last decides to go with him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: poverty courting emigration
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf) US(MA)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws O19, "Rich Amerikay"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 97, "Rich Amerikay" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 27, "Wild Amerikay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1916
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Star of Donegal" (plot)
File: LO19
===
NAME: Rich and Rambling Boy, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Rich and Rare Were The Gems She Wore
DESCRIPTION: A knight meeting a beautiful lady wearing gems and a gold ring asks why she is not afraid to walk alone in Ireland. She answers: "No son of Erin will offer me harm; For tho' they love woman and golden store, Sir Knight! they love honor and virtue more!"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.28(6a/b) View 6 of 8)
KEYWORDS: virtue beauty gold Ireland patriotic knight
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 111, "Rich and Rare Were The Gems She Wore" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(6a/b) View 6 of 8, "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore", R. March & Co. (London), 1877-1884; also Firth b.26(338), "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore"
NOTES: Not one of Moore's hits; Granger's Index to Poetry doesn't mention a single anthology containing the piece, and I know of no traditional collections. - RBW
File: OCon111
===
NAME: Rich Counsellor: see The Lawyer Outwitted [Laws N26] (File: LN26)
===
NAME: Rich Irish Lady, A (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.) [Laws P9]
DESCRIPTION: Sally at first scorns a suitor, then changes her mind and calls for him. She admits that she is dying for love of him. He informs her that he intends to dance on her grave. She takes three rings from her fingers for him to wear while dancing, then dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1808 (journal by Hannah Lowell of Plum Island, Massachusetts)
KEYWORDS: courting dying funeral revenge sailor
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,MW,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (27 citations)
Laws P9, "A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.)"
Bronson 295, "The Brown Girl" (49 versions, but very many of these, #1, #3, #8, #13, #16, #17, (#19), #24, #25, #35, #36, #41, #44 are listed by Laws as "A Rich Irish Lady," as is #8 though it mixes with "The Death of Queen Jane"; #2, #5, #10, #15, #20, #21, #29, #32a/b, #34, #37, #38(a), #45, #47, #49 are apparently LP9 as well; #4, #6, #7, #11, #31, #38b, #39, #42 are fragments which appear more likely to be LP9; #14, #22, #23, #27 are fragments identified by Laws with LP9 though this cannot be proved; #9 (frim Baring-Gould) is definitely the Child version, and #33, #48 probably; #18 is a fragment that might be part of "Glenlogie"; #26, #28 have no text; #30, #40, #43 might be either)
SharpAp 44, "The Brown Girl" (7 texts plus 4 fragments, 11 tunes, though the "D" fragment at least could be from "Glenlogie"; although listed as Child 295, every full text appears to be Laws P9; some of the fragments might be either) {Bronson's #17, #16, #14, #18, #42, [F not in Bronson], #36, #35, #41, #46, #22}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 418-425, "Sally and Her True Love" (2 text plus 2 broadside versions, 3 tunes; the "A" text has an artificial happy ending carelessly grafted on) {Bronson's #1, #1, #19}
Belden, pp. 111-118, "A Brave Irish Lady" (5 rexts, 2 tunes; it appears that Laws does not consider one of these versions, probably version E, to be this song, but it certainly belongs to the same family)
Randolph 40, "Pretty Sally of London" (5 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes; it is possible that the fragment is Child #295) {A=Bronson's #44, B=#24, F=#15}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 104-107, "Pretty Sally of London" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 40F) {Bronson's #15}
BrownII 90, "A Brave Irish Lady" (3 texts)
Hudson 27, pp. 128-130, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts, listed as Child #295 but clearly this piece)
Davis-Ballads 50, "The Brown Girl" (8 texts plus 2 fragments, all versions of this rather than Child #295; 3 tunes, all entitled "The Brown Girl"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #42, #31, #23}
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 98, "There Was a Young Lady" (1 fragment; tune on p. 389) {Bronson's #38b}
Brewster 26, "The Brown Girl" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 244-2426, "The Fair Damsel from London" (1 text from the Green Mountain Songster)
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 285-291, "The Irish Lady, or Sally from London" (2 texts, one of them being from the Green Mountain Songster; 1 tune, lacking lyrics but said to be this piece)
Gardner/Chickering 52, "Fair Lady of London" (1 text)
Niles 64, "The Brown Girl" (1 text, 1 tune, listed as Child 295)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 29, "Fair Sally (The Brown Girl)" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version) {Bronson's #1}
Karpeles-Newfoundland 24, "Pretty Sally" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
JHCox 114, "Pretty Sally" (4 texts plus mention of 2 more; Laws does not list the "B" text as belonging here, but it clearly does.)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 92, "The Sailor from Dover" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #10}
SHenry H72, pp. 374-375, "Am I the Doctor?" (1 text, 1 tune -- a version with the hatred toned down and with verses reminiscent of "Glenlogie")
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 111-112, "Pretty Sally" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 678-680, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts, but "B" is Laws P9)
Darling-NAS, pp. 135-136, "A Rich Irish Lady" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 146, "A Rich Irish Lady" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2324, "A seaman of Dover, sweet William by name"
DT (295), AMIDOCTR* BRNGIRL*
Roud #180
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "Sally" (on Cansler1)
Cas Wallin, "Fine Sally" (on OldLove) {cf. Bronson's #14}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Brown Girl (I)" [Child 295]
cf. "Glenlogie, or, Jean o Bethelnie" [Child 238] (lyrics in some texts)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The English Lady Gay
Fine Sally
NOTES: Considered by some to be a variant of "The Brown Girl" (Child #295). The plot is identical except that the male and female roles are reversed. Laws declares that the two should be considered separate but related ballads. This agrees with, e.g., Cohen, Cox, and Randolph, but disagrees with Pound, Sharp, Davis, Scarborough, Flanders (naturally; she's lumped more absurd things than this) and (tentatively) Hudson, as well as (implicitly) Bronson and Roud. - RBW
I added "sailor" as a keyword because at least some versions have a sailor as a protagonist. -PJS
File: LP09
===
NAME: Rich Lady Gay, The
DESCRIPTION: "It was of a rich lady she had gold in store. She was loved by the rich and was good to the poor." She meets a ploughboy and gives him a letter. Later she proposes. He says she's "too good for a poor man's wife." They marry. She takes up house-keeping.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1975 (recording, Harry Upton)
KEYWORDS: love marriage farming money
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1714
RECORDINGS:
Harry Upton, "The Rich Lady Gay" (on Voice05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cupid the Plowboy" [Laws O7] (plot)
NOTES: Maybe this is related to "Cupid the Plowboy" [Laws O7]. Here is a comparison of Harry Upton's "Rich Lady Gay" on Voice05 with Greenleaf/Mansfield "Cupid the Plowboy [Laws O7]" 79, "The Plowboy" and broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(773) "Cupid, the Pretty Ploughboy":
** Rich Lady Gay:
A rich lady sees a plowboy in the fields and falls in love with him.
She tells him she has a letter for him. He reads it and says it must be for "some other much higher renowned."
Another day she meets him in the field but he says "you're too good to be a poor man's wife"
He admits he loves her.
She agrees to marry him.
They quickly go to church and are married.
She takes up housekeeping and they live happily. 
** Cupid the Plowboy:
A rich lady sees a plowboy in the fields and falls in love with him.
She considers writing him a letter and thinks he'll think her bold; nevertheless, she will do it.
She rejects a wealthy suitor because she loves Cupid, who "has caused me all this pain."
He hears her complaint and says he loves her.
She agrees to marry him.
They quickly go to church and are married.
They have plenty of gold and "each other do adore."
So far I have found no broadside for "Rich Lady Gay." Apparently, neither has Steve Roud.
The motif of the rich woman enjoying wifely chores not common among the wealthy is also in "The Golden Glove" [Laws N20]. - BS
File: RcRiLaGa
===
NAME: Rich Lady over the Sea, The: see Revolutionary Tea [Laws A24] (File: LA24)
===
NAME: Rich Man and Lazarus, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all thoughtless people by whom Adam came...." Listeners are reminded of Lazarus in heaven and the Rich Man in Hell. The song consists mostly of the lecture to the Rich Man which took place after he died.
AUTHOR: Edward B. Miller?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad punishment Hell
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 55, "Dives and Lazarus" (1 text)
Roud #6567?
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dives and Lazarus" [Child 56] (subject) and references there
NOTES: Jesus's story of the rich man and Lazarus is found in Luke 16:19-31 (the Lazarus of John 11, 12 is unrelated).
It's worth remembering that this is not something that actually happened in the Bible; rather, it is a story Jesus told as a warning.
The status of this piece is extremely dubious; it was reportedly collected from the author. Our general policy is to exclude such songs. But the whole story comes at so many removes that we can't prove Miller's authorship (or even, I suspect, his existence).
I nonetheless incline to agree that the song is not traditional; it's too weak.
I don't know if this is the Ed Miller who is also credited with "The Triplett Tragedy," but time and place make it possible. - RBW
File: BrII055
===
NAME: Rich Man and the Poor Man, The: see Hi Ho Jerum (File: FSWB025)
===
NAME: Rich Man Rides on a Pullman Car: see She Gets There Just the Same (Jim Crow Car) (File: DarNS355)
===
NAME: Rich Man's Daughter, The: see Captain Wedderburn's Courtship [Child 46] (File: C046)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant (I), The: see Young Sailor Bold (I), The (The Rich Merchant's Daughter) [Laws M19] (File: LM19)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant (II), The: see William and Harriet [Laws M7] (File: LM07)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant and his Daughter, The: see Young Sailor Bold (I), The (The Rich Merchant's Daughter) [Laws M19] (File: LM19)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant in Galway, The
DESCRIPTION: The sorrowful singer says "My love is tall and handsome, well shaped in every limb." Her father, a rich Galway merchant, advertises her 1400 pound fortune and sends her love "to plough the ocean"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond02)
KEYWORDS: grief love separation sea father lover sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #6999
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Rich Merchant in Galway" (on IRRCinnamond02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Disguised Sailor" (subject) 
cf. "The Young Maid's Love" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
My Love is Tall and Handsome
NOTES: One factor distinguishing this ballad from other imprest-or-sent-away-lover ballads is that it is told by the woman. Cinnamond's version has only two verses but seems complete and, in any case, any additional verses do not seem likely to lead to a happy ending: "when I think of my darling boy my sorrows do renew." - BS 
File: RcTRMiGa
===
NAME: Rich Merchant's Daughter (I), The: see Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser) [Laws N6] (File: LN06)
===
NAME: Rich Merchant's Daughter (II), The: see The Highwayman Outwitted [Laws L2] (File: LL02)
===
NAME: Rich Nobleman's Daughter, A: see Caroline and Her Young Sailor Bold (Young Sailor Bold II) [Laws N17] (File: LN17)
===
NAME: Rich Old Farmer, The: see The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)
===
NAME: Rich Old Lady, The: see Marrowbones [Laws Q2] (File: LQ02)
===
NAME: Rich Old Miser, A [Laws Q7]
DESCRIPTION: The singer has been courted by "a rich old miser" nearly four times her age. She marries him, but he becomes jealous without cause (and beat her). At last she retaliates by breaking a ladle over his head, teaching him to be civil
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: marriage age abuse punishment
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws Q7, "A Rich Old Miser"
Linscott, pp. 227-229, "The Ladle Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 46, "The Battle with the Ladle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering ,175 "A Rich Old Miser" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
DT 521, LADLESNG
Roud #1004
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "In Duckworth Street There Lived a Dame"
File: LQ07
===
NAME: Rich Rambler, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Rich Ship Owner's Daughter, The: see Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)
===
NAME: Rich Wedding Cake, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is offered a piece of cake. In it are "insides of old concertinas," flute keys, trout hooks...." They "blow a spot off of the side" with a cannon. When he bites into it "my tooth crumbled off on a button Of a trouser rolled up on the waist."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: wedding food humorous talltale
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 92-93, "The Rich Wedding Cake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6467
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Trinity Cake" (Theme: an inedible cake)
File: Pea092
===
NAME: Rich Widow, The
DESCRIPTION: "I am a rich widow, I live all alone, I have but one daughter And she is my own. Daughter, oh daughter, Go choose you a man, Choose you a good one, Or else choose none." (The widow marries off her daughter, says she's bound to obey, and wishes her well)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: courting mother children marriage playparty
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Linscott, pp. 19-20, "I Am a Rich Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden 23, "Here's an Oul' Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13181
File: Lins019
===
NAME: Rich Young Farmer, The: see William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer) [Laws N30] (File: LN30)
===
NAME: Richard (Irchard) of Taunton Dean
DESCRIPTION: Herchard/Irchard/Richard courts Miss Jane, saying, "I can reap and I can mow..." and earn his ninepence every day. She replies that she needs  silks and satins. He perseveres, saying he has pigs and will inherit more if they marry; she consents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (recording, Aunt Fanny Rumble)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage bargaining farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: ()

ST RcIOTD (Full)
Roud #382
RECORDINGS:
Aunt Fanny Rumble, "Richard of Taunton Dean"  (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Tony Wales, "Richard of Taunton Dean" (on TWales1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lucindy, Won't You Marry Me?"
File: RcIOTD
===
NAME: Richard and I
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves poor Richard. Her parents will have him transported if she insists on marrying him. On "the day we had planned to wed" he is taken and sent to Van Dieman's land. She and her servant girl go to Van Dieman's land. She and Richard marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1954 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: love marriage emigration reunion separation abduction transportation family
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 49, "Richard and I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2279
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" [Laws M6] (theme) and references there
File: CrMa049
===
NAME: Richardson's Farewell
DESCRIPTION: "Injured Boston now awake While I a true confession make...." The singer, called "the Informer," got a "wretch of wretches" with child, but the crime was blamed upon a Parson. The singer confesses to every other evil and bids farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: pregnancy crime punishment execution clergy betrayal
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 179-181, "(The LIFE and humble CONFESSION of Richardson the Informer" (1 text); also p. 182, (no title) (a fragment of another broadside about Richardson)
NOTES: This is one of those items that belongs in a bad songs contest. Ebenezer Richardson came to be known as "The Informer" during the 1760s as the American colonies tried to avoid British imports, and in the struggles of the time, Richardson accidentally shot and killed a boy named Christopher Sneider. Richardson was sentenced to death, but he eventually was pardoned.
The outraged populace could do nothing but pin every crime, natural and unnatural, on the fellow while dreaming of hanging him. This broadside is the result -- and it's as much a crime against humanity as anything Richardson ever did. - RBW
File: Burt179
===
NAME: Richie Story [Child 232]
DESCRIPTION: An Earl's daughter is courted by one or more noble lords, but loves none but her father's servant, Richie Story. He tries to dissuade her by pointing out his poverty. At last he gives in. She goes with him and is set to work in his household
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: nobility love poverty servant courting family elopement
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 232, "Richie Story" (9 texts, but the text in the appendix is "When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23])
Bronson 232, "Richie Story" (9 versions, but #9 is "When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23], and #7 and #8 may be as well)
Leach, pp. 592-593, "Richie Storie" (1 text)
DT 232, RICHILAD*
Roud #97
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23]
cf. "Matt Hyland" (plot)
cf. "The Kitchie-Boy" [Child 252] (plot)
NOTES: Child considers "The Duke of Athol" (="Huntingtower," Laws O23) to be a relative of this song, probably a rewrite. It should be noted, however, that the plots are by no means identical (and it appears that the influence, if any, goes the other way; "Huntingtower" ends with the revelation that the lover is rich, which feature Child considers an addition to "Richie Story"), and there is little lyrical similarity. - RBW
File: C232
===
NAME: Richmond Blues: see Baby, All Night Long (File: CSW172)
===
NAME: Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel
DESCRIPTION: Singer, ostensibly a soldier in the Union army, sings of the difficulties involved in attempting to capture Richmond, VA. The Union generals have all failed badly. The singer wonders who will try next, as the Confederates, "fight like the devil"
AUTHOR: Words: unknown/ Music: Daniel Emmett
EARLIEST_DATE: 1863 (sheet music)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, ostensibly a soldier in the Union army, sings of the difficulties involved in attempting to capture Richmond, VA. McDowell is defeated by Stonewall Jackson, Fremont gets lost, Banks loses his supplies, the Galena, Monitor and Naugatuck are driven off, McClellan finds it hard going. Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclamation, Pope is defeated at the second battle of Manassas, and Burnside's men are slaughtered. The singer wonders who will try next, as the Confederates, "fight like the devil"
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar war derivative
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thomas-Makin', p. 67, (no title) (1 short text, perhaps this though it refers to Jordan rather than Richmond; it looks like a mix of the original and the parody)
DT, RCHMNDHR*
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel" (on NLCREP4)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as111720, "Richmond a Hard Road to Travel" or "The New Jordan," unknown, 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" (original song, tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel (File: R305) 
NOTES: This parody of Emmett's "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" was composed by an anonymous Confederate sympathizer, probably around 1864. - PJS
Actually, it was 1863. This is shown by the sheet music -- but also by the fact that the last battle mentioned is Fredericksburg (late 1862).
The verse which refers to McDowell is perhaps somewhat deceptive; McDowell was the first commander of what would later be the Army of the Potomac, and led it to defeat (over his protests) at First Bull Run/Manasses (July 21, 1861). The Confederates were commanded by Joseph E. Johnston, who arrived just before the battle with four brigades from the Shenandoah Valley, but the local commander was P.G.T. Beauregard, who usually gets most of the credit. (Though the real problem for the Unionists was that their troops were utterly raw.) Stonewall Jackson was only a brigade commander at Bull Run; his steadiness helped save the Confederates, but affected the overall battle only slightly.
"Wooley-Horse" Fremont and Nathaniel P. Banks commanded forces in the Shenandoah Valley in the Spring of 1862. Neither was competent, and there was no overall Valley strategy or commander, and as a result Stonewall Jackson was able to outmaneuver both (battles such as Kernstown, Mar. 23, 1862, though this was not part of the Valley Campaign proper, and a tactical defeat for the Confederates; McDowell, May 8, 1862; Front Royal, May 23; Winchester, May 25; Cross Keys/Port Republic, June 8-9).
Banks is called "Commissary Banks" because his supply wagons provided so much sustenance to Jackson's soldiers.
The verse about the 1862 campaign on the James River (mentioning the _Galena_, the _Monitor_, and the _Naugatuck_) also tells only part of the story -- omitting, e.g., the whole story of the blockade of Hampton Roads, including the battle of the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac/Virginia_.
Drewry's Bluff was a high head above the James River below Richmond. It was the key position guarding Richmond against river assault. Union ships started in this direction early in the Peninsular Campaign, but no serious assaults could be contemplated until the waters of Hampton Roads were safe for Union vessels.
It was only after Norfolk was captured and the _Merrimac_ scuttled (May 11) that the Federals were able to sail in force up the James River toward Richmond. The battle at Drewry's Bluff took place on May 15, 1862. The fleet included the new light ironclad _Galena_. (The _Naugatuck_ was a non-ironclad, and of no particular account.) The _Galena_ was anchored below the guns on the bluff -- but her armor plating was not up to the job, and she had to retire damaged after using up her ammunition. The problems with her armor proved so bad that it was later removed and she served the rest of the war as a wooden boat. James L. Nelson, Reign of Iron: The Story of the first Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merimack_, Perennial, 2004, p.89, records an officer writing of her, "She is not shot-proof; ball came through, and many men were killed with fragments of her own iron." I
The _Monitor_ also tried to take part, but her turret-mounted guns could not elevate enough to hit the target. (The other ships also had trouble in this regard.)
Thus the real moral of this story was not that the Union ships were inferior (in fact, their performance was better than Confederate equivalents) but that seagoing vessels were not equipped to assault land targets well above river level.
The reference to McClellan and the Peninsula is a reference to the Peninsular Campaign of March-July 1862. McClellan took the Army of the Potomac by sea down to the "Peninsula" between the James and York rivers, and set it marching northwest to Richmond. He was delayed for a long time at Williamsburg, where he prepared a regular siege -- but the defender there was Magruder, not Longstreet.
The Peninsula Campaign ended when Robert E. Lee (newly appointed to command the Army of Northern Virginia) tricked McClellan to giving up the siege of Richmond in the Seven Days' Battles (June 25-July 1). It was here that Longstreet (then a senior division commander) and the Hills (A.P. Hill and D. H. Hill, also division commanders) first came to prominence.
Pope is John Pope, appointed to command large portions of McClellan's forces after the Peninsular campaign. He managed to produce an amazing amount of bombast about having his headquarters in the saddle and seeing the enemy's backs -- but had his forces enveloped and smashed at Second Bull Run (August 29-30, 1862). Pope was relieved and sent west.
The song omits the Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862), in which McClellan threw back Lee's ill-advised invasion of Maryland, returning to the plot at the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 12, 1862), at which the new Federal commander Ambrose Burnside threw pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River in order to attack Lee in a prepared defensive position. The result, unsurprisingly, was a slaugher.
The song concludes by asking who would be next; the answer was Joseph Hooker, who lost the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was succeeded by George Meade, who won Gettysburg and kept command of the Army of the Potomac until the end of the war. - RBW
File: RcRIHRTT
===
NAME: Richmond on the James
DESCRIPTION: The women mourn the fine men slain "On a blood-red field near Richmond, Richmond on the James." A soldier lies dying as his life-long comrade sadly watches. The dying man sends tokens to his family and sweetheart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar death farewell
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1862 - Peninsula Campaign. The Union army approaches Richmond for the first time, only to be repelled by Robert E. Lee in the Seven Days' Battles
1864-1865 - Grant's campaign against Petersburg and Richmond, eventually leading to the fall of the city
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Warner 64, "Richmond on the James" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RICHJAME*
Roud #4811
NOTES: The notes in Warner speculate that this is an offshoot of "The Dying Ranger" [Laws A14]. This is possible, but no more than that; songs like this are a dime a dozen.
File: Wa064
===
NAME: Riddle Song, The: see I Gave My Love a Cherry
 (File: R123)
===
NAME: Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1]
DESCRIPTION: A knight arrives to court three sisters. The youngest goes to bed with him. He promises to marry her if she can answer his riddles. She does, and he either marries her or is revealed as the Devil.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1680 (broadside, Bodleian 4o Rawl. 566(193))
KEYWORDS: courting Devil riddle marriage family questions
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,SE) Britain(England(North,West),Scotland)
REFERENCES: (23 citations)
Child 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (5 texts)
Bronson 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (7 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 429-430, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (scraps and notes only)
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 45-50, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text plus two riddle fragments possibly associated with this, 1 tune); also pp. 299-315, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" (3 texts plus two fragments, 5 tunes; the "A" text and the F fragment and tune are mixed with "Riddles Wisely Expounded")
Leach, pp. 47-51, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (3 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 116-118, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text; 1 tune entitled "The Devil's Nine Questions") {Bronson's #5}
Davis-More 1, pp. 1-7, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text plus an excerpt from another, 1 tune)
OBB 9, "The Riddling Knight" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 4, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (2 texts)
PBB 10, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
Niles 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded"  (3 texts, 3 tunes, but only the first, "The Devil's Questions," is Child 1)
Lomax-FSNA 86, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 110-111, "The Devil's Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 25 ,"Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 717, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 86-87, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 80-81, "Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom" (1 tune, partial text)
Stokoe/Reay, pp.  56-57, "Lay the Bent to the Bonnie Broom" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #1 and its comments on Bruce/Stokoe}
Darling-NAS, pp. 18-19, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2508, "There was a Lady of the North-Country"
DT 1, JNFRGNTL BONBROMQ* DEVLNINE *
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #343, "There Was a Knight" (1 text)
ST C001 (Full)
Roud #161
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 4o Rawl. 566(193), "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded" or "The Maids Answer to the Knights Three Questions", F. Coles (London), 1674-1679; also Douce Ballads 2(168b), "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded" or "The Maids Answer to the Knights Questions"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Gave My Love a Cherry"
SAME_TUNE:
"Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian 4o Rawl. 566(193) and Douce Ballads 2(168b) -- though that may be just the "tune name" for this song)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jennifer Gentle
There Was a Man Lived in the West
NOTES: This ballad is also, as "Sven Nordmand," found in Danish tradition.
"Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom", cited in Chappell/Wooldridge, should not be confused with the version of "The Twa Sisters" that uses those words as a refrain. - PJS
File: C001
===
NAME: Riddling Knight, The: see Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1] (File: C001)
===
NAME: Ride in the Creel, The: see The Keach i the Creel [Child 281] (File: C281)
===
NAME: Ridge-Running Roan, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer vows to tame a wild horse. After 17 days of pursuit the cowboy ropes him, discovering that at some point he'd been saddled and bridled, but was still wild. The horse eventually throws him and runs back to the ridges with all of his gear
AUTHOR: Curley Fletcher
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Curley Fletcher, "Songs of the Sage")
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer hears of a wild horse and vows to tame it. After 17 days of pursuit the horse quits the ridges for softer ground and the cowboy ropes him, discovering that at some point he'd been saddled and bridled, but was still wild. Mounting, "I thought I was up on the hurricane deck/Of an earthquake and cyclone a-havin' a wreck." The horse eventually throws him and runs back to the ridges with all of his gear
KEYWORDS: work animal horse cowboy worker
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Harry Jackson, "The Ridge-Running Roan" (on HJackson1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Strawberry Roan" (theme)
NOTES: There's clearly a relationship to "Strawberry Roan" (also by Fletcher), but the plots are different enough that I've split them. - PJS
File: RcTRiRuR
===
NAME: Ridin' in a Buggy
DESCRIPTION: "I'm ridin' in a buggy, O yes, O yes, It's a golden bright buggy... O Candy, Candy gal, Woncha hurry, Candy gal, Swing your partner, Candy gal... Now choose two partners... And I wants a good rappin'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: dancing courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 262, "Ridin' in a Buggy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LoF262
===
NAME: Ridin' on de Cable Car
DESCRIPTION: "Come hurry to de wicket And get a first-class ticket Risin' on de cable car." The singer describes the rider's experiences: Paying six cents to be jammed in a crowd on a hot day, having someone step on your toe, being harangued by a politician
AUTHOR: H. O. Lawrence?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: travel technology
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 509, "Ridin' on de Cable Car" (1 text)
Roud #7593
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Climbing up the Golden Stairs" (tune)
File: R509
===
NAME: Riding Boy from Powder River
DESCRIPTION: "Riding boy from Powder River Rides the broncs until they shiver, Rides the gals until they quiver, He's the riding boy!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse bawdy
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin 39, "Riding Boy from Powder River" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr039
===
NAME: Riding Down to Portsmouth
DESCRIPTION: A sailor falls in love with a pretty maid while "riding down to Portsmouth." After he promises to marry she sleeps with him and steals his gold watch and purse. He leaves the landlord his pony in pawn till he returns from the war.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 20(41))
KEYWORDS: sex theft whore sailor horse trick promise
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1534
RECORDINGS:
Tom Willett, "Riding Down to Portsmouth" (on Voice02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(41), "Riding Down to Portsmouth," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(1453), "Riding Down to Portsmouth"
NOTES: Probably just as well that wedding didn't come off.... - RBW
File: RcRdDTPo
===
NAME: Riding Herd at Night
DESCRIPTION: "Riding herd at night, a lonely exile singing," the singer falls into waking dreams of "the cot where my love lies dreaming of me." Even as he drives herds in Wyoming (a job he never imagined), his thoughts are in Ireland. He recalls the holidays there
AUTHOR: John Henry Macaulay
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration cowboy work separation homesickness
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H588, pp. 220-221, "Riding Herd at Night" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Bet you never thought you would see an Irish cowboy song. - RBW
File: HHH588
===
NAME: Riding on a Donkey: see Hieland Laddie (File: Doe050)
===
NAME: Riding on That Train 45: see Reuben's Train (File: Wa133)
===
NAME: Riding on the Dummy
DESCRIPTION: "Of all the ways of travelling, by coach or carryall... the dummy beats them all." People step on each others' toes and bump into each other; people fall in each others' laps; etc. But the singer is happy "Riding on the dummy With the darling I adore."
AUTHOR: Words: Sam Booth/Music: Frederick G. Carnes
EARLIEST_DATE: 1885 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: courting travel technology
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 511, "Riding on the Dummy" (1 text)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 485-490, "On the Dummy Line" (about "The Dummy Line (II)," but it includes a cover of the sheet music to this piece)
Roud #7595
NOTES: Randolph reports, "The front part of the streetcars used in California in the early days was open and was called the dummy."
Randolph's text is a curious mixture of themes; the first two verses describe the dangers of riding the dummy; the chorus describes the sights seen from the train and the pleasure of riding with one's darling; the final verse describes the lovers' visit to a park. One suspects a composite text. - RBW
This should not be confused with "The Dummy Line." - PJS
File: R511
===
NAME: Riding on the Tramway
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a lady "looking out of a window at the New Tramway" The cost is only two pence. He gets on and sat next to her. He asks her to marry, she agrees, they marry and, he says, "we'll soon have fresh conductors on the New Tramway"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 19C (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.16(155))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage technology
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leyden 15, "The New Tramway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6988
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Horse Tramway" (on IRRCinnamond01) (fragment; only the chorus and one verse)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.16(155)[some words illegible] , "Riding on the Tramway" ("It was on one summer's evening, not very long ago"), T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also Firth c.26(5)[some words illegible] , "Riding on the Tramway"
NOTES: Leyden: The horse-drawn Belfast Tramway system was opened in 1872. Unlike the horse-omnibuses, it ran smoothly on a metal track. "A journey in such a horse tram was much smoother, faster and quieter than that in a horse-omnibus jolting its way through cobbled streets."
Broadside Bodleian Firth c.16(155): "sung with immense success by Hyram Travers." - BS
File: Leyd015
===
NAME: Riel's Song
DESCRIPTION: French: "Quand je partis ma chere Henriette, Tu n'avais pas encore quinze ans." The singer (Riel?) left home before Henrietta was fifteen. With the fighting over, he has come home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: family sister home separation return foreignlanguage
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1870 - Riel's uprising
FOUND_IN: Canada
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 124-126, "Riel's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Chanson de la Grenouillere ('Song of Frog Plain,'Falcon's Song)" (subject)
cf. "Pork, Beans and Hard Tack" (subject)
cf. "The Toronto Volunteers" (subject)
cf. "Between the Forks and Carleton" (subject)
cf. "Chanson de Louis Riel" (subject)
NOTES: Tradition attributes this song to Louis Riel himself. Whether this is true we cannot tell, but the song fits the facts of Riel's life, and Riel is known to have written poetry.
Riel was born in 1844 to a Metis (French-Indian cross-breed) family. In the late 1860s, the new Dominion of Canada began to organize the Red River region. This organization would have broken up the farms and deprived the Metis of their livelihood.
When their protests failed, Riel led a group of Metis to organize a "Republic of the North-West," and set conditions for joining Canada. Unfortunately, Riel made the mistake of executing a man by the name of Thomas Scott. The government sent a force of 1200 men to clear up the situation. In August 1870, Riel fled to the United States and the rebellion ended.
Ironically, the Canadian government granted most of the rights Riel had demanded to the inhabitants of the hastily-reorganized Manitoba district.
Riel was back in Canada by 1871, and earned the informal thanks of the government for helping repel a Fenian raid. But when he was elected to parliament in 1873 and 1874, he was not permitted to take his seat; from 1874 to 1879 he was under formal sentence of banishment. Riel spent the time teaching school in Montana, and for a while was confined to a mental hospital.
In July 1883 Riel returned to Manitoba to attend the wedding of his sister. But in 1884, at the request of the Metis of Saskatchewan (now being pushed out of that province as they had been pushed from Manitoba fifteen years earlier), he organized a second rebellion.
Although the Canadian army had trouble catching up with the Metis and their Indian allies, General Middleton fought skirmishes on April 24 and May 2, then defeated Riel at Batoche on May 12, 1885 when the entrenched Metis ran out of ammunition. After a trial which had something of the air of a circus (his attorneys claimed insanity; Riel himself said -- with some truth -- that he had only been responding to political necessity), Riel was hanged late in that year.
John MacDonald (1815-1891), the Canadian Premier, heard many appeals to commute Riel's sentence, but decided that Riel had to hang to keep Ontario happy. Quebec, however, was outraged, and some historians believe that the decline of the Conservative Party in Canada (until then the dominant political force) dates from Riel's hanging.
For songs about the second rebellion, see "Pork, Beans and Hard Tack," "The Toronto Volunteers," and "Between the Forks and Carleton." There is a second song allegedly by Riel, also dating from this late period, indexed as "Chanson de Louis Riel (Riel's Song II)."
Riel's career was poignant enough that it still inspires songs. Rather better than this, to my mind, is Bill Gallaher's "The Last Battle," recorded by Gordon Bok on "In the Kind Land." - RBW
File: FMB124
===
NAME: Rifle Boys, The
DESCRIPTION: A girl loves one of Lord Hopkin's grenadiers. Her mother asks how she will get by on so little pay. The girl is not deterred. Her mother would confine her. The drum major leads the grenadiers out of town, breaking every girl's heart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1855 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 15(257b))
KEYWORDS: courting parting army clothes Scotland mother soldier
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 89, "The Hopkin Boys" (7 texts, 6 tunes)
Roud #588
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 15(257b), "Rifle Boys" ("The rout has come this afternoon, that we must march to-morrow"), E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also Firth c.14(191), Firth c.14(192), Firth c.14(193), Harding B 11(1940), Harding B 15(257a), Harding B 15(258a), Harding B 11(3861), "[The] Rifle Boys"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lord Hopkin
The Grenadiers are Marching
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: "The 'Hopkin' or 'Hopetoun' version of this song applies to the Hopetoun Fencibles (1793-8) who wore red coats with light grey-blue facings." In the texts, the uniform seems to be the main attraction. - BS
Though this raises a complication in the mention of rifles. It is no great surprise that the girls would be attracted to the grenadiers over other soldiers; grenadiers were specially selected, and were generally taller, stronger, and healthier than ordinary soldiers. But -- they didn't carry rifles!
Until the invention of the Minie bullet, and the adoption of rifle muskets which used it in the 1850s, almost all infantrymen used smoothbore muskets. There were a few riflemen associated with each army, but they were few -- it took about two minutes to load, aim, and fire a muzzle-loading rifle, meaning that a smoothbore could fire about five times as fast. So riflemen were specialists, and rare. - RBW
File: GrD1089
===
NAME: Rifleman's Song at Bennington
DESCRIPTION: "Why come ye hither, redcoats? Your mind what madness fills?" The singer warns the British soldiers of danger in America. They are asked if there are no graves in Britain for them. He promises a quick death "If flint and trigger hold but true."
AUTHOR: Words: John Allison / Music traditional, set by John Allison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: battle patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 16, 1777 - Battle of Bennington.
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Botkin-NEFolklore, pp. 543-544, "Rifleman's Song at Bennington" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 280, "The Riflemen At Bennington" (1 text)
DT, RIFLEBEN*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Riflemen of Bennington" (on PeteSeeger32)
NOTES: Recorded by John and Lucy Allison. There is no reason to believe this song ever circulated in oral tradition.
The Battle of Bennington was part of John Burgoyne's campaign that ended at Saratoga. Burgoyne had a long supply train, and was forced to forage to supply his troops. He ordered Colonel Friedrich Baum to take about 650 men to raid the Colonial supply center at Bennington.
The colonial leader John Stark is believed to have had about 2000 men, although they were poorly organized (almost all were militia, which in the Revolutionary War translated as "individuals with guns who came and went as they pleased"). This large force surrounded Baum, who ignored them until fired upon, then fought until his ammunition gave out. He was killed as his men tried to cut their way out, and most of the remaining British forces surrendered.
This very nearly doomed Burgoyne's expedition. He could perhaps have retreated -- but that wasn't politically wise. So he sat, and starved, and eventually had to surrender. For further background, see the notes to "The Fate of John Burgoyne." - RBW
File: BNEF543
===
NAME: Riflemen at Bennington, The: see Rifleman's Song at Bennington (File: BNEF543)
===
NAME: Rigby Johnson Chandler
DESCRIPTION: Floating lyrics, united by the refrain "Rigby Johnson Chandler" or  similar. Examples: Old man went out to plow And he hooked up a hog with a Jersey cow"; "Two old maids sitting in the sand"; "[My woman] went to the circus and ran off with the clown."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1969
KEYWORDS: nonsense nonballad drink oldmaid floatingverses chickens
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fife-Cowboy/West 10, "Rigby Johnson Chandler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11084
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Salty Dog" (floating lyrics)
File: FCW010
===
NAME: Rights of Man, The
DESCRIPTION: Shiel dreams of a meeting at Athlone. Granua says "Britannia No more shall rob you of the rights of man." A man from the sky brings a shamrock. Granua promised to free them before long. The meeting parts "in exultation" at daybreak as Shiel wakes 
AUTHOR: Richard Lalor Shiel (1791-1851) 
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(214))
KEYWORDS: dream Ireland patriotic religious
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 18, "The Rights of Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(214), "Rights of Man" ("I speak in candour, one night in slumber"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 b.9(62), Firth b.26(432), "Rights of Man"
LOCSinging, as111750, "Rights of Man," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, RB.m.143(013), "Shiel's Rights of Man," unknown, c.1870
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Eileen McMahon" (aisling format)
cf. "Granuaile" (aisling format) and references there
NOTES: Sheil was Daniel O'Connell's chief assistant when O'Connell founded the Catholic Association in 1823. (source: "Roman Catholic Relief Bill" in _The Catholic Encyclopedia_ at the New Advent site. Also see "Richard Lalor Sheil" at the same site.)
Broadsides LOCSinging as111750 and Bodleian 2806 b.9(62) appear to be duplicates.
Broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(013) commentary: "Granua (also spelt Grainne). The daughter of the mythical Irish warrior and folk hero, Finn McCool, Granua is also used as a symbol for Ireland - much like the figure of Britannia is employed as a symbol for Great Britain."
The man from heaven with the shamrock, "the three leaved plant ... it is three in one, To prove its unity in that community, That holds lenity the Rights of Man," could be Saint Patrick. Zimmermann p. 43: "According to a fairly recent legend, St. Patrick held a trefoil [shamrock] as an illustration of the Trinity. The plant had become a religious emblem and a badge of nationality about 1700. In 1778, the Cork Volunteers sang a song entitled 'The Shamrock Cockade', and by then the colour itself had acquired a political meaning."
Broadside LOCSinging as111750 is the basis for the description.
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Rights of Man" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
"Strongbow" is Richard de Clare (Richard FitzGilbert), one-time Earl of Pembroke (died 1176), who led the first English invasion of Ireland in 1170.
Tom Paine (1737-1809) published _The Rights of Man_ in 1791-1792, and it was an inspiration to the more intellectual of the 1798 rebels; most histories of the period contain multiple references to his writing. It's ironic to note that Ireland's French allies would imprison Paine for a time during the the quasi-war with the United States -- and even more ironic that Paine's last major work before the 1798 was _The Age of Reason_, which attacked several important Catholic doctrines.
For a discussion of this type of song as a example of the genre known as the "aisling," see the notes to "Granuaile."
There is, of course, a fiddle tune, "The Rights of Man." There is no reason to think the two have anything to do with each other. - RBW
File: BrdTRoM
===
NAME: Rigs of London, The: see Up to the Rigs (File: K192)
===
NAME: Rigs of Rye, The: see Two Rigs of Rye [Laws O11] (File: LO11)
===
NAME: Rigs of the Times, The
DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Honesty's all out of fashion; These are the rigs of the times...." Detailing all the sharp business practices of the day, e.g. the butcher who charges two shillings a pound "and thinks it no sin" -- while placing his thumb on the scale!
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes poverty lie money landlord
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South)) US(MA,MW,NW,SE,So) Canada(Newf) Australia
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Kennedy 237, "The Rigs of the Time" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 433-434, "Song of the Times" (1 text)
BrownIII 332, "Hard Times" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 89, pp. 215-216, "Hard Times" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering ,184 ""Hard Times (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 332-334, "Hard Times" (1 text)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 14-16, "The Rigs of the Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 206-208, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune -- a Canadian adaptation created by William James Emberly in 1936 to describe conditions in the Great Depression)
Peacock, pp. 57-59, "Hard Times" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Fowke/MacMillan 17, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 183, "Hard Times" (1 text, the first six verses being "Courting the Widow's Daughter" and the last seven being a reduced version, minus the chorus, of "The Rigs of the Times")
Blondahl, pp. 13-14, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 28-29, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIGSTIME*
Roud #876
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Hard, Hard Times" (on NFOBlondahl01,NFOBlondahl02)
Ken Peacock, "Hard Times" (on NFKPeacock)
J. W. "Charger" Salmons & friends: "The Rigs of the Time"  (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Pete Steele, "The Song of Hard Times" (on PSteele01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Don't Come to Michigan" (lyrics)
cf. "Old David Ward" (lyrics)
cf. "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" (subject)
cf. "The Steam Doctor" (lyrics)
cf. "Fine Times in Camp Number Three" (lyrics)
NOTES: Most scholars (e.g. Belden, Cox, Kennedy) assume that "The Rigs of the Times" (with chorus "Singing, Honesty's all out of fashion, These are the rigs of the times, times, me boys, These are the rigs of the times") is the same as "Hard Times" (with a short chorus such as "these times, these (hard/queer) times").
Personally, I'm not convinced, as the two seem to fall into very distinct groups. But because the equation is so common, I've followed it in the index. - RBW
Blondahl: "This ... was sent in by Paul Emberly, who informs that the lines were written by his late father." - BS
File: K237
===
NAME: Riley
DESCRIPTION: "Riley, Riley, where are you, Wo, Riley! Wo, ma-an!" "Riley's gone to Liverpool... Riley's gone an' I'm goin too." "Wish I were Cap'n Riley's son... I'd lay around and drink good rum." "Thought I heard my cap'n say... Tomorrow is our sailin' day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935
KEYWORDS: sailor ship work drink travel
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-FSNA 278, "Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is a pastiche of verses from various songs, e.g. "Leave Her, Johnny," "Ginny's Gone to Ohio" (which also has some resemblance in the tune), etc. Lomax related it to "Stormalong" (a connection I don't see). You can probably find other relatives if you look hard enough. - RBW
File: LoF278
===
NAME: Riley Luffsey
DESCRIPTION: "O'Donald and Luffsey (first names Frank and Riley) And Wannigan, known as Dutch..." were true friends and "never too bashful to shoot." "The Marquis de Mores... had recently come from France"; Luffsey dies in a shootout; de Mores is acquitted
AUTHOR: Clell G. Cannon ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder foreigner trial  accusation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 238-239, "(Riley Luffsay)" (1 text)
NOTES: It's not as bad as that first line would make you think -- but it's close.
De Mores apparently was a French businessman who set up a cattle operation in North Dakota. It was a bit too big and bustling for the locals, who engaged in a certain amount of petty sabotage. De Mores perhaps fought back a little too vigorously. - RBW
File: Burt238
===
NAME: Riley to Ameriky: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8]
DESCRIPTION: Riley and his sweetheart are forbidden by her father to marry. Aided by the girl's mother, Riley goes to America and buys a plot of land. He comes back; the two set out for America. Their ship is wrecked on the way. Before dying the girl blames her father
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: courting love mother father exile wreck death
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (21 citations)
Laws M8, "Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley)"
Greig #110, p. 2, "John Rylie" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan1 22, "John Riley" (6 texts, 2 tunes)
SHenry H468, pp. 441-442, "John Reilly the Sailor Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 7, "Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 49, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text)
Warner 147, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 39, pp. 89-90, "Jack Riley" (1 text, containing only the beginning portion of the song)
Chappell-FSRA 37, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 105-108, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 170-171, "Johnny Riley" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 102-103, "Young Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 60, "Johnny Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 90, "Riley to Ameriky" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 698-700, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 13, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 45, "Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 84, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 67, "Will O'Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 43, "Reilly's Farewell" (1 text)
DT 463, RILYFRWL JREILLY4*
Roud #270
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Young Reilly the Fisherman" (on IRRCinnamond03)
Michael Flanagan, "O'Reilly to America" (on IRClare01)
Mrs. Edward Gallagher, "Young Riley" (on MRHCreighton)
Sarah Anne O'Neill, "John Reilly" (on Voice04)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(257b), "Riley the Fisherman," A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1845-1859; also Firth c.12(287), Firth b.26(209), Harding B 11(1864), Harding B 11(1865), Harding B 11(3286), "Riley the Fisherman"; 2806 c.16(201), "Riley's Farewell"
Murray, Mu23-y4:036, "John Riely," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(072), "John Reily," James Lindsay, Glasgow, c. 1870
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "William and Harriet" [Laws M7]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Riley the Fisherman
John Rally
Willie Riley
Reilly
NOTES: Not to be confused with the broken-token "John Riley." [Nor should the] "Young Riley" [versions] be confused with the "Young Riley" that's an alternate title to "O'Reilly from the County Leitrim." - PJS
File: LM08
===
NAME: Rineen Ambush, The
DESCRIPTION: The IRA ambush Black and Tan lorries in Rineen, County Clare. "The Black and Tans put up their hands and the peelers too likewise." "Gallant Irishmen together should unite ... And have another ambush soon to fight the Black and Tans!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1974 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle patriotic IRA
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1920-1921 - The Black and Tan War
Sep 22, 1920 - A partly successful ambush of Black and Tans by the Mid Clare Brigade of the IRA was followed by a successful retreat (source: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan).
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 26, "The Rineen Ambush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5222
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "The Rineen Ambush" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "A large monument now stands at Rineen Cross in memory of that day's events and their appalling aftermath [reprisals by RIC and Black and Tans] which are still embedded deeply in the memory of the people of Clare.
Sir Robert Peel established the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1812 and its success led, in 1829, to the Metropolitan Police Act for London. Originally the term "Peeler" applied to the London constabulary. (source: _Sir Robert "Bobby" Peel (1788-1850)_ at Historic UK site.)
In this song the term is applied to the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary). - BS 
The Black and Tans (for which see "The Bold Black and Tan") were a special English constabulary recruited to quell Irish violence. They failed, and in fact contributed to the brutality.
For one song about the aftermath to this event, see the notes to "Mac and Shanahan." It will tell you something of the violence of the period that none of the six histories I checked (including three devoted specifically to this period, one of which is largely a catalog of atrocities) mentions any of these events. - RBW
File: RcRinAmb
===
NAME: Ring a Ring o' Roses: see Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)
===
NAME: Ring Around o' Rosies: see Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)
===
NAME: Ring Around the Rosie
DESCRIPTION: Singing game, with lyrics something like "Ring around the rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes, ashes, We all fall down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 881 (Greenway's _Mother Goose_, according to Baring-Gould-MotherGoose)
KEYWORDS: nonballad playparty
FOUND_IN: US(MW,NE) Britain(England(All)) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Linscott, pp. 49-50, "Ring Around ' Rosies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 227, "Ring Around the Rosy" (1 text, tune referenced)
SHenry H48c, pp. 10-11, "Ring a Ring o' Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 443, "Ring-a-ring o' roses" (4 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #639, p. 253, "(Ring-a-ring-a-roses)"
ST PHCF227a (Full)
Roud #7925
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Ring Around the Rosie" (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03)
NOTES: The words cited here are the ones I learned (I don't remember playing the game, but I've heard the song), and Pankake's text is almost identical. Presumably this is the form most common in the American Midwest. Newell, however, cites older (and presumably more original) forms, and Gomme offers a variety with quite diverse refrains.
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose notes that some have connected this to the Great Plague. But they also observe that this is a very weak link, denied by most who have seriously studied the matter. - RBW
File: PHCF227a
===
NAME: Ring My Mother Wore, The
DESCRIPTION: "This earth has many treasures rare In gems and golden ore, My heart hath one more treasure rare, The ring my mother wore." The child received it from the mother's dying hand, and will treasure it always
AUTHOR: Louis Della?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Randolph); copyrighted 1860
KEYWORDS: mother death ring
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 699, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 474-475, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 699)
Roud #7372
RECORDINGS:
[Roy Harvey and the] West Virginia Ramblers, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (Champion 16456, 1931)
File: R699
===
NAME: Ring the Bell, Watchman
DESCRIPTION: "High in the belfry the old sexton stands, Grasping the rope in his thin bony hands." He waits until he hears: "Ring the bell, watchman! ring! ring! ring! Yes, yes! the good news is now on the wing... Glorious and blessed tidings. Ring, ring the bell!"
AUTHOR: Henry Clay Work
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 113-114, "Ring the Bell, Watchman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RINGBELL*
Roud #13630
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Click Go the Shears" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Click Go the Shears (File: MA024)
Oh Molly Reilly (Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 159)
Palmer's Suits (Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 180)
NOTES: Like many Henry Clay Work songs, the lyrics to this were too vague to gain much hold in tradition, but the tune too good to ignore. There is a sailing parody, "Strike the Bell, Second Mate"; in Australia, it produced the well-known "Click Go the Shears." - RBW
File: DTringbe
===
NAME: Ring-a-ring o' Roses: see Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)
===
NAME: Ring-Dang-Doo (I), The
DESCRIPTION: A young woman lets a lad ride her "ring dang doo," is kicked out of her house by her father for losing her maidenhead, and takes up prostitution. In some versions she gives her customers a social disease; in others her career ends when she dies of the pox
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous disease sex whore
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada Britain(England) US(Ap,MA,MW,Ro,So,SW), West Indies
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cray, pp. 182-186, "The Ring-Dang-Doo" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 147-151, "The Rang-a-Tang-Too" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Logsdon 51, pp. 240-244, "London Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1880
RECORDINGS:
Anonymous singers "The Ring-A-Rang-A-Roo" [fragment] (on Unexp1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rackyman Doo (Ring-Dang-Doo (II))" (euphemism)
NOTES: The first version in Randolph-Legman I (p. 147) is to the unrecognized melody of "The Irish Washerwoman," the second to "The Arkansas Traveler." - EC
File: EM182A
===
NAME: Rinky Dinky Di-Lo
DESCRIPTION: A man loses his "leg," shot off by his mother-in-law; the doctor makes a wooden replacement; but the man cannot wear a spur on it; and things in the family go from bad to worse.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy injury doctor family
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 358-360, "Rinky Dinky Di-Lo" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is one of a group of "mal-mariee" songs and ballads, Legman notes in Randolph-Legman I, similar to "I Wish I Was Single Again," "Devilish Mary," etc. - EC
File: RL358
===
NAME: Rinordine: see Reynardine [Laws P15] (File: LP15)
===
NAME: Rio Grande
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "[Heave] away, Rio... And we're bound for the Rio Grande." Most versions revolve about a sailor preparing to leave port, and the girl (or girls) he is about to leave behind (with or without regret)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor parting
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (15 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 64-66, "Rio Grande" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 34-36 "Rio Grande" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 114-115, "The Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 86-87, "Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 111-112, "Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 87-96, "Rio Grande" (8 texts plus several fragments, 2 tunes; the 5th text is a Norwegian version, "Opsang for 'Preciosa'") [AbEd, pp. 80-87]
Sharp-EFC, XXI, p.24, "Rio Grand" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 146-148, "Rio Grande" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 21-23, "Away, Rio!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 488-489, "The Rio Grande" (1 text+floating verses, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 20, "Bound to Rio" (1 text)
Mackenzie 104, "The Rio Grande" (2 texts, 2 tunes); "I'm Bound For the Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 93, "Rio Grande" (1 text)
DT, RIOGRAN
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Rio Grande" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #317
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Away, Rio" (General 5017A, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Fishermen's Group, Cadgwith, "Rio Grande" (on LastDays)
Joseph Hyson, "Rio Grande" (on NovaScotia1)
Minster Singers, "Rio Grande" [medley w. "Blow the Man Down"] (Victor 61148, n.d.; prob. c. 1903)
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Away Rio" (AFS 4232 A, 1939; on LC27 as "Rio Grande"; in AMMEM/Cowell)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Away for Rio,
Bound for the Rio Grande
Oh, Aye, Rio
NOTES: The "Rio Grande" of this song is almost certainly not the river of southwestern North America, but rather the province Rio Grande do Sul of southern Brazil. - RBW
File: Doe064
===
NAME: Ripest Apple, The
DESCRIPTION: "The ripest apple the soonest rotted, The purest love the soonest cold, A young man's words are soon forgotten...." The singer asks that he speak her name kindly, recalls how they loved, says she will be true, and says she will never find his like
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: lover betrayal separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 165, "The Ripest Apple" (1 text)
Roud #6580
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Will Put My Ship In Order" (floating lyrics)
File: BrII165
===
NAME: Ripest of Apples: see Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) AND The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: E098)
===
NAME: Ripon Sword-Dance
DESCRIPTION: "Christmas time has now been approaching." The characters have come from far away. Room is made for each and each has his lines: General "Warrington" from Waterloo, Hieland laddie, Tom the tinker, Beelzebub, Big Head, St George and doctor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1980 (recording, The Ripon Sword Dancers)
KEYWORDS: Christmas humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
The Ripon Sword Dancers, "Make Me a Room, For I Am A-Coming" (on Voice16)
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice16: The Ripon Sword Dancers used this song in their Boxing Day mummers' play completed, in its entirety, in two minutes and fifty seconds. 
For two similar examples of Christmas song/sword-dance/drama see Robert Bell, editor, [The Project Gutenberg EBook (1996) of] Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), "The [Wharfdale] Sword-Dancers' Song" ("The first that enters on the floor") and "The [Durham] Sword-Dancers' Song and Interlude" ("Good gentlemen all, to our captain take heed"). - BS
I find myself wondering if this might not be a sort of inland equivalent of thing like the "Pace-Egging Song," which introduces Lord Nelson, Lord Collingwood, and the hands serving under them. Here, it is Wellington ("Warrington,") the land her of Waterloo, as Nelson was the naval hero of Trafalgar. - RBW
File: RcRiSwDa
===
NAME: Ripping Trip, A
DESCRIPTION: About the troubles of a sailing trip to San Francisco, each verse ending "Rip goes the --" (boiler, engine, your money, etc.). The trip features a defective engine, a savage captain, poor food, disease, and poverty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1858 (Put's Golden Songster)
KEYWORDS: sea gold mining hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 14, "A Ripping Trip" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIPTRIP*
Roud #8059
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "A Ripping Trip" (on LEnglish02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Pop Goes the Weasel" (tune) and references there
File: FCW014
===
NAME: Rise and Shine
DESCRIPTION: "God said to Noah, there's gonna be a floody, floody.... (So) Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory... Children of the Lord." Noah builds the ark; the animals arrive, including elephants and kangaroos; it rains; it dries up
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: religious flood humorous
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 388, "Rise And Shine" (1 text)
DT, RISESHIN
Roud #11968
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Children of the Lord" (on PeteSeeger11)
File: FSWB388A
===
NAME: Rise Me Up from Down Below
DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus "Whiskey-oh, Johnny-oh! Oh, rise me up from down below, down below, oh, oh, oh oh! Up aloft this yard must go, John! Rise me up from down below!" The verses describe "the world down below," where the "fires do roar," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: shanty Hell
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Doerflinger, p. 47, "Rise Me Up from Down Below" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 281-282, "Rise Me Up From Down Below" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 207]
ST Doe047 (Partial)
Roud #9440
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Whiskey Johnny" (identical chorus, different verses celebrating whiskey)
File: Doe047
===
NAME: Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)
DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives at his love's window and begs  to come in. She asks who is there. He identifies himself, and she allows him to enter. When he leaves, he rejoices, "For late last night I've been with my lass." In other versions, his ghost bids farewell.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: nightvisit courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 34, "The Ghostly Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 89, "Hearken, Ladies, and I Will Tell You, Or The Constant Lovers" (1 text)
Kennedy 159, "A Health to All True-Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 63, "Here's a Health To All True Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3135
RECORDINGS:
John Reilly, "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" (on Voice10)
Belle Stewart, "Here's a Health to all True Lovers" (on Voice06)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Will Put My Ship In Order" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" [Child 248] (plot)
cf. "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)" (plot)
cf. "Let Me In This Ae Nicht" (plot)
cf. "Willy O!" (theme)
cf. "I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober" (two verses)
NOTES: This is a difficult conundrum, in that there are versions of this song with very similar words but plots with very different directions: One is a nightvisiting song, the other a ghost returning to his love after long absence.
In earlier versions of the Index, I split these two ballads, as "Rise Up Quickly" and "The Ghostly Lover" -- after all, the ghost is a pretty significant change; this was in contradiction to Roud, who lumped them.
Making things trickier still, one important text (Kennedy's) is "I Will Put My Ship In Order" without the first and last verses. It's not just the same plot; it's the same *words*. The two assuredly have a common origin, though in fact the songs have different endings. But fragments could file with other songs.
It is amazing that Kennedy, who is an impossible lumper and included at least one completely unrelated text from Sam Henry in his notes, failed to observe the connection to "I Will Put My Ship In Order." Kennedy's text is incredibly composite in its choruses, taking items from "I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober" and "Love is Teasing." But the Ord text implies that these are not an original part of the song. Many of the other versions have also picked up extraneous material.
The title I have assigned here is not based on any traditional version; I pulled it out of Kennedy's text because the extant titles were so unhelpful and inorganic to the texts.
Adding it all up, I wonder if this could possibly be a mix of "I Will Put My Ship In Order" and some lost Ghostly Lover song. Or is the "Ghostly Lover" version a mix of the nightvisiting version of this song with "The Grey Cock" or something of that type? In any case, it's a mess which admits of no easy solution. - RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield names its text "The Ghostly Lover" though the ghost does not appear. "Although the words do not seem to bear out the title, the White girls insist this is a song about a lover who was drowned, but rose from his watery grave to see his sweetheart once again." Another ghostly example is John Reilly's "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" on "The Voice of the People, Vol 10: Who's That at my Bed Window?," Topic TSCD 660 (1998): here the text is clearly what we are calling "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" with the "where is the blushes" verse from "Willy O!" added to provide the ghost. The discussion of the Costello version in the notes to "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248]" give a similar example in which verses of both "Willy O!" and "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" are inserted unchanged into another ballad.
"Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" has distinguishing lines that stand out when verses are imported into another ballad. For example,
... "Who's that at my bed window,
Disturbing me from from my long night's rest?"
"I am your lover; sure pray discover...."
"...I'm wet, love, unto the skin." [as opposed to "I've got wet through all my clothes" in "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)"].
"I'll be guided without a stumble....
It may begin with a treacherous journey that might have led the traveller to stumble:
"Over hills and lofty mountains,
Oh dear! oh dear! I'm forced to go...."
"Let the night be dark as the very dungeon [or dunghill]..." - BS
File: Ord089
File: Ord089
===
NAME: Rise Up, Shepherd
DESCRIPTION: "There's a star in the east on Christmas morn, Rise up, Shepherd, and follow." The shepherd is advised to "Leave your sheep and leave your lambs" and follow the star to where Jesus is
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious shepherd Christmas
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 253, "Rise Up, Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 373, "Rise Up, Shepherd, And Follow" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #85, "There's a Star in the East" (1 text)
Roud #15289
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow" (on PeteSeeger37, PeteSeeger42)
NOTES: Although everything mentioned here comes from the Gospels, there is no evidence that the shepherds behaved as described. The star is mentioned only in Matthew (2:2, 9-10), and it seems to have been visible only to the Magi ("Wise Men") -- at least, Herod and his advisors couldn't tell which star it was.
The shepherds who see Jesus, on the other hand, are found only in Luke (2:8-20). They are not guided by the star, but given explicit directions by an angel. - RBW
File: LoF253
===
NAME: Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow: see Rise Up, Shepherd (File: LoF253)
===
NAME: Rise Ye Up: see Earl Brand [Child 7] (File: C007)
===
NAME: Rise, Ole Napper: see Napper (File: Br3123)
===
NAME: Rising in the North, The [Child 175]
DESCRIPTION: The Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland, suspected of treason, go into rebellion, bringing in others such as Master Norton. They gather their forces, but are delayed in besieging a castle. Loyal forces defeat the rebels
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: nobility rebellion
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1558-1603 - Reign of Elizabeth I
Nov 14, 1569 - Beginning of the northern rebellion
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 175, "The Rising in the North" (1 text)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 266-278, "The Rising in the North" (2 texts, one being that in the Reliques and the other being the manuscript copy)
Leach, pp. 484-488, "The Rising in the North" (1 text)
Roud #4005
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" [Child 176] (subject)
cf. "The Earl of Westmoreland" [Child 177] (subject)
cf. "Rookhope Ryde" [Child 179] (context)
NOTES: The Percies of Northumberland and the Nevilles of Westmoreland were the great lords of the English north; on those rare occasions they agreed on anything, they could usually take Northumbria with them.
The north was also conservative; Catholicism was strongest there. By 1569, Elizabeth was securely Protestant, and her heir Mary Queen of Scots was in her custody.
The "Rising in the North" did not actually begin in Northumbria; Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, first contacted the Spanish about giving the throne to Mary. His interest, however, was political (he resented the power of the Cecils); he quickly backed down. (Though he would rebel again in 1571 and be executed.)
With the Duke of Norfolk out of the picture, the northern earls took over. They did not actually demand Elizabeth's overthrow -- but wanted Mary back on the Scottish throne and a restoration of Catholicism in England. The threat to replace Elizabeth with Mary was obvious.
The northern Earls succeeded in raising the north (including even Yorkshire, led by its sheriff Richard Norton), but they did not capture Queen Mary and could not bring the rest of the country to their banner (Holinshed says they gathered about seven thousand men, but even this may be exaggerated; such reports often are).
However large the rebellion was, it was dispersed by the end of December, with the rebels in full flight. Leonard Dacre tried to fan the flames in 1570, but he was easily suppressed. Some eight hundred rebels were executed.
For the sequel to this, see "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" [Child 176] and "The Earl of Westmoreland" [Child 177]. - RBW
File: C175
===
NAME: Rising of the Moon, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh! Then tell me, Sean O'Farrell, Tell me why you hurry so...." The singer is told that the "pikes must be together at the rising of the moon." The pikes gather, but are spotted and defeated. The listeners are told, "we will follow in their footsteps."
AUTHOR: Words: John Keegan Casey (1846-1870)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (reference in _The Nation_, Feb 23, 1867, according to Zimmermann); c.1865 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1798 - Irish Rebellion
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
O'Conor, p. 111, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
PGalvin, p. 35, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 67, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 69, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 117, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 322, "The Rising Of The Moon" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 120-121, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, tune on p. 22)
DT, RISEMOON*
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 21-22, 497, "The Rising of the Moon"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 550-551, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
Roud #9634
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Rising of the Moon" (on IRClancyMakem03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(189), "The Rising of the Moon," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 b.10(205), "The Rising of the Moon"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune) and references there
cf. "Bannow's Bright Blue Bay" (tune)
NOTES: John Keegan Casey was a nineteenth century Irish patriot. He wrote this song in prison, where he died at the age of twenty-three. He was regarded as being very promising, but of course died very young; this is the only piece of his to have any wide circulation.
The reference to "pikes" accurately shows one of the problems of the 1798 rising. The rebels in Wicklow, for instance, had over ten thousand men enlisted to their cause -- and guns for only a thousand of them, and too little powder even for that thousand weapons.
Their alternative was the pike. These they had in sufficiency, since local blacksmiths could and did make them. And they also had the advantage of being easy to use: An illiterate farmer boys wouldn't know how to use a musket, but (in theory) anyone could figure out how to stick an enemy with a pike.
Of course, against real soldiers armed with firearms, they would have been quite useless. Pikes had been a genuine military weapon at the time of the last great battles in Ireland, the Boyne and Aughrim (see G.A. Hayes-McCoy, _Irish Battles: A Military History of Ireland_, pp. 219-220), but the ratio of musketeers to pikemen had been steadily rising; even at the Boyne, there were some regiments on the Williamite side with no pikes at all. And, by 1798, the bayonet had replaced the pike in all modern armies.
Still, the British were doing what they could to stop even pike production; Viceroy Camden was concerned about the way blacksmiths were turning them out (see Robert Kee, _The Most Distressful Country_, Volume 1 of _The Green Flag_, p. 68).
To add to the problems, the leadership of the United Irishmen were almost all in British custody by the time the of the 1798 uprising. The uprising was almost forced; the British were determined to root out all hints of rebellion; rather than be rounded up, the local cells went into revolt. But they no longer had leaders to coordinate their activities.
Robert Gogan, _130 Great Irish Ballads_ (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 34, says that in Casey's original, the rebels met by the Inny River, but he feared that this would bring extra British attention, so he changed it to the "shining river." - RBW
OLochlainn-More, pp. viii-ix: "John Keegan Casey's 'Rising of the Moon' had to be included for the spendid air my grandfather John Carr of Limerick had to it. (I hate to hear it sung to 'The Wearing of the Green' -- a tune which does not suit at all)." The OLochlainn-More tune is very much the tune as I remember Richard Dyer-Bennet singing it in the early 1950's (probably the one available on the 1957 LP Dyer-Bennet 4000). - BS
File: PGa035
===
NAME: Rising Sun, The: see The House of the Rising Sun (File: RL250)
===
NAME: Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now
DESCRIPTION: The singer marries a woman who, from laziness, ignorance or slovenliness, does nothing right (milks the cow in the chamber pot, churns butter in a boot). In some versions she dies of shame (because "she pishit in the bed").
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (Sumner)
KEYWORDS: marriage food humorous husband wife 
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Bord)) US(Ap,MW,So)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Randolph 439, "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" (2 texts, 1 tune)
LPound #118 pp. 236-237 "I Bought Me a Wife" (1 text)
JHCoxIIA, #13A-C, pp. 57-60, "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin," "Dandoo" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "B" text omits the beating and has the husband run away; it may well be a version of this although it might alternately be Child #277 mixed with "Devilish Mary" [Laws Q4] or something like it)
DT 277, RISSROSS
ADDITIONAL: Lucille Burdine and William B McCarthy, "Sister Singers" in Western Folklore, Vol. IL, No. 4 (Oct 1990 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 408-410 "There's a Piece of Bread A-laying on the Shelf" (1 text)
James Orchard Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (London, 1886 ("Digitized by Google")) #477 p. 243, ("I married my wife by the light of the moon") (1 text)
J.A.C. Leland, "Two Folksongs from Ohio" in Western Folklore, Vol. VII, No. 1 (Jan 1948 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 65-66 "The Shiftless Wife" (2 texts, including one added by the editors from Halliwell 1886)
Heywood Sumner, The Besom Maker (London, 1888 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 15-16, "Hobbelty Bobbelty How Now" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lucille Burdine and William B McCarthy, "Sister Singers" in Western Folklore, Vol. IL, No. 4 (Oct 1990 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 408-410 "There's a Piece of Bread A-laying on the Shelf" (1 text)
Lucy E. Broadwood and J.A. Maitland, editors, English County Songs, (London, 1893), pp. 92-93, "Robin-a-Thrush" (1 text, 1 tune) [Not yet indexed as Broadwood/Maitland pp. 92-93].
Roud #117
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "Nickety Nackety Now Now Now" (Gennett 6077/Champion 15247 [as Smilin' Tubby Johnson]/Silvertone 5011, 1927; Supertone 9189, 1928) (Conqueror 7889, 1931)
Ridgel's Fountain Citians, "The Nick Nack Song" (Vocalion 5455, 1930; on CrowTold01)
Pete Seeger, "Risselty-Rosselty" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01) (on PeteSeeger12)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277] (theme: difficult wife) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Cooper of Fife
The Wee Cooper of Fife
Bandoo
Gentle Virginia
Kitty Lorn
Kitty Alone
Dan-you
The Old Man Who Lived in the West
NOTES: This song is usually considered a variant of "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277].  We (PJS and BS) believe this is a different song.
A text is "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" if:
*  the wife is beaten under a sheep's skin, or
*  the wife's relatives and class are mentioned, or
*  the wife states high-flown reasons for not working [for example, she fears "soiling a gay gold ring" or "high heeled shoe" or "shaming her gentle kin"] or
*  the wife's high class is an issue, or
*  when the husband asks for dinner she tells him to make it himself, or
*  the wife mends her ways, or
*  the husband is a "wee cooper", or
*  as a last resort for a small fragment, the chorus is a "Dandoo, dandoo ..." or "For gentle, for Jenny, my rosamaree ... As the dew falls over the green valley" variation.
If the wife is beaten the sheep's skin is crucial to distinguish the song from other wife beating songs like "The Holly Twig" [Laws Q6], "The Wicked Wife o' Fife" [GreigDuncan7], "The Daughter of Peggy-O," or even Sumner's version of "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" [he beats her in the chorus, to no effect].
A text is "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" if:
*  the wife is ignorant, slovenly, or stupid, but not shrewish or too fine to work, or
*  the wife dies in bed
A "Risselty, Rosselty" wife never improves.
Most refrains follow the pattern also found in "The Wee Cooper of Fife" version of Child 277 - 
 "Nickety, nackity, noo, noo ... Sing, hey Willy Wallachie, how John Dugal alane, quo' rushitie rue, rue, rue" (DBuchan) - 
but the usually nonsense words vary widely.  For example
*  "Nickety-nackety now, now, now ... Nickety-nackety hey John Dafferty, willopy, wallopy, rusty coke wallacky, nickety-nackety, now, now, now" (Chubby Parker)
*  "Nickety nackety, now, now, now ... High, willy, wally, and Jenny bang, doodle, sandy go vestego, now, now, now" (LPound)
*  "Nickety Nackety, no, no, no ... Hi Willy Wally and Charlie Bill Doodle and Sandy go, Rusty go, no, no, no" (Leland)
*  "Nickety nackety, now, now, now ... Nickety nackety, age of laffety, whillecky whollecky, rusco quality, Nickety nackety, now, now, now" (Burdine/McCarthy)
*  "Risselty-rosselty now, now, now ... Risselty-rosselty, hey bom-bosselty, nicklety, knacklety, rustical quality, willaby-wallaby now, now, now" (Pete Seeger)
*  "Risselty-rosselty now, now, now ... Risselty-rosselty, hey 
bombosity, nickety nackity, retrical quality, willaby wallaby now, now, 
now" (also Pete Seeger)
*  "Moppety, moppety, mono ... With a high jig jiggety, tops and petticoats, Robin-a-Thrush cries mono" (Broadwood/Maitland)
*  "Neagletie, neagletie, now, now ... Heich, wullie, williecoat, bang John Douglas, Robin o Rasheltree, now, now" (Lyle-Crawfurd2)
*  "Hobblety bobblety how now ... With a heigh down ho down duffle green petticoat Robin he thrashes her now now" (Sumner)
*  "A tidy housewife, a tidy one ... And I hope she'll prove a tidy one" (Halliwell)
The Lyle-Crawfurd2 150 "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" text, "Robin o Rasheltree" [E. B. Lyle, editor, Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs, Volume 2 (1996)], includes verses like "My wife she's a hure of aw the sluts She roastit a hen baith feathers and guts."  Maybe the common form of "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" was a bawdy text that editors and some singers cleaned up: "this song was made for gentlemen, If you want any more ...." [Broadwood/Maitland].  Crawfurd seems never to censor a text. - BS, PJS
File: C277RR
===
NAME: River in the Pines, The: see The River through the Pines (File: LoF056)
===
NAME: River Lea, The
DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. One fine day in May sailor finds himself broke and ships aboard the (River Lea). He spends the rest of the song (and presumably rest of the voyage) singing of all things he won't do any more once this voyage is over.
AUTHOR: Sam Peck ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor ship
FOUND_IN: US Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Colcord, pp, 181-182, "The River Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 586-589, "The River Lea," "The Anglesey" (2 texts, 2 tunes -- the first being quoted from Colcord) [AbEd, pp. 406-409]
ST Hugi589 (Partial)
Roud #351
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7] (similar story)
NOTES: Colcord says this was composed by a shantyman named Sam Peck. It obviously bears some relation to "Dixie Brown," though it has no mention of shanghaiing or robbery. Hugill also mentions (though does not corroborate) Colcord's claim, and states that it was quickly pulled into the popular shanty repertoire for use at the capstan. - SL
File: Hugi589
===
NAME: River Lee, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the Lee by moonlight. For example, sounds of the "gurgling brook" at night are compared to "the lute's harmonious languor" rather than "the trumpet's clangour, Or the nerve-wounding fife"
AUTHOR: Richard Alfred Millikin (1767-1815) (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1818 (_The Harmonica_, written c.1803, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: river lyric music
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 220-222, "The River Lee" (1 text)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
An Ode to Cynthia
NOTES: Richard Alfred Millikin is best-known for writing "The Groves of Blarney"; of works in this index, he also wrote "The Groves of Blackpool." - RBW
File: CrPS220
===
NAME: River of Jordan, The
DESCRIPTION: Jesus meets John the Baptist, is baptized. King Naaman, a leper, calls for Elijah, he is to dip in Jordan and "wash your spots away."  Jordan is far away, so the singer will find "an altar in an old-fashioned church/and my River of Jordan that will be"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963 (recording, Poplin Family)
KEYWORDS: disease Bible religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Poplin Family, "The River of Jordan" (on Poplin01)
NOTES: Probably recently-composed, but it may be entering the tradition. - PJS
It certainly has enough errors to be traditional. The story of Jesus meeting John the Baptist is found in Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3; compare John 1.
Naaman's leprosy is found in 2 Kings 5. He was not a king but a general in the service of the King of Damascus. And he did not consult with Elijah but Elisha -- and Elisha volunteered to be consulted; Naaman had been sent to the King of Israel to be cured. - RBW
File: RcTroJor
===
NAME: River of Life
DESCRIPTION: "Soon we'll come to the end of life's journey, And perhaps we'll never meet anymore, Till we get to heaven's bright city, Far away on the beautiful shore." A description of the beauties of heaven, where the singer obviously expects to go
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 85, "River of Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa085 (Partial)
Roud #16394
RECORDINGS:
Buna Vista Hicks, "River of Life" (on USWarnerColl01)
File: Wa085
===
NAME: River Roe (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders by the river, and comes by the Roe Mill, where Captain Moody and his workers are about their tasks. The singer must return home, but the Roe holds him entranced
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: rambling river nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H649, p. 171, "The River Roe (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13531
File: HHH649
===
NAME: River Roe (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks what place can "match the dark Roe." The singer recalls the history of Cooey na Gal and the church at Dungiven, then describes all the places along the Roe until the "tired" river flows into Loch Foyle.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: river nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H629, p. 171-172, "The River Roe (II)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13532
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of the Roe" (for Cooey-na-Gal) and references there
NOTES: For "Cooey-na-Gal" O'Cahan and Dungiven Priory, see the notes on "The Banks of the Roe." - RBW
File: HHH629
===
NAME: River Roe (III), The
DESCRIPTION: A nobleman's son meets a servant maid he won't name. "But her master's habitation is on the river Roe." He proposes. She promises to meet him the next day. They meet, she agrees, and they marry the next evening. "She has servants to attend her"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(152))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage nobility servant river
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, pp. 47-48, "The River Roe" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(152), "The River Roe", H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also 2806 b.9(236), 2806 b.11(202), Harding B 19(79), 2806 c.15(78), Harding B 26(578), 2806 b.11(230), 2806 b.11(206), "The River Roe"
NOTES: A number of Bodleian broadsides have dropped the first two lines (something like "As I went out one evening all in the month of May, When Flora's flowering mantle had deck'd the meadow gay", or lines ending in "June" and "bloom") and start with the third line in O'Conor: "I espied a lovely fair one, and her did not know." - BS
File: OCon047
===
NAME: River through the Pines, The
DESCRIPTION: "O Mary was a maiden when the birds began to sing, She was sweeter than the blooming rose so early in the spring...." She loves (Charlie), a shanty boy; the two are married. But he dies at his work; they are buried together
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage separation work logger death burial
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont,Que)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Rickaby 30, "The River in the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 56, "The River in the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #37, "The River through the Pine" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
ST LoF056 (Partial)
Roud #669
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Town of Brandywine
NOTES: As "The River in the Pines," this song is item dC33 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: LoF056
===
NAME: River-Driver's Lament, The (I Am a River Driver)
DESCRIPTION: I went lumbering at sixteen and courted a pretty girl who caused me to roam. "Sure I'm a river driver and I'm far away from home." "Now I'm old and feeble and in my sickness lie Just wrap me up in my shanty blankets and lie me down to die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: As an entity, 1959 (Peacock); Fowke's fragment dates to 1958
KEYWORDS: courting death lumbering drink rambling floatingverses logger
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 759-760, "The River Driver's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #59, "I Am a River Driver" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #4564
NOTES: Floating verses include adaptations of "I'll eat when I'm hungry", "Build me a castle" and "I'm ... and a long way from home" and "wrap me up in my shanty blankets." - BS
Fowke's very short text ("I'll eat when I'm hungry and drink when I'm dry; If the water don't drown me I'll live till I die, If the water don't drown me while over it I roam, For I am a river driver and far away from home") could be just a lumberjack adaption of "Rye Whiskey," but it's close enough to Peacock to allow us to tentatively lump them. - RBW
File: FowL69
===
NAME: River, Stay Way
DESCRIPTION: "You keep going your way; I'll keep going my way; River, stay way from my door... You don't need my cabin; River, stay way from my door. Don't come up any higher; I'm so alone, just my bed and fire... Don't start breaking my heart."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Henry; collected by Susie A. Blaylock from an unnamed source)
KEYWORDS: river loneliness home nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 189, "River, Stay Away" (1 text)
NOTES: This is one of those items that could easily float in and out of any bluesy semiballad. I suspect that it did so, and probably belongs with something else in the Index. but without a tune, there is no way to say what. - RBW 
File: MHAp189
===
NAME: River's Up and Still A-Rising
DESCRIPTION: "River's up and still a-rising, Just got back from a negro baptizing." "Farewell, mourners (x2), Goodbye, I'se gwine to leave you behind." Most verses are about improbable dress: "Had an old hat, had no brim, Looked like a blue jay sitting on a limb."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: humorous river nonballad clothes bird
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 326, "River's Up and Still A-Rising" (1 text)
Roud #16840
File: Br3326
===
NAME: Riverhead La'nchin' on Jubilee Day, The
DESCRIPTION: Men come from all around St Mary's Bay and as far as St John's on Jubilee Day "for to help Uncle Steve get the craft under way." Once the ship was "out in Riverhead Arm... we cheered for the King." There are toasts all around.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: ship moniker
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 882-883, "The Riverhead La'nchin' on Jubilee Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9809
NOTES: This must be the Silver Jubilee Day for King George V, May 6, 1935. St Mary's Bay is on the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula. - BS
File: Pea882
===
NAME: Riverhead Line: see The Bonavist Line (File: Pea768)
===
NAME: Rivers of Texas, The (The Brazos River)
DESCRIPTION: The singer lists the various rivers of Texas he has seen, noting that "Down by the Brazos I courted my dear." But now she has left him, and "I never will walk by the Brazos no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation river
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 201, "The Brazos River" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIVTEXAS*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 36, #3 (1991), pp, 72-73, "Down by the Brazos" (1 text, 1 tune, from the Scragg Family)
Roud #4764
RECORDINGS:
Irene Carlisle, "The Brazos River" (AAFS-L30, 1942?)
Art Thieme, "Down by the Embarass" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme05)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Down by the Embarras (Illinois version)
The Rivers of Georgia
NOTES: Paul Stamler notes that there are "non-Texas" versions of this song (see the alternate titles), though I have never encountered them. I know that at least one modern "folk" composer has created a localized version; I suspect the traditional versions are of similar origin. Though I am not sure which is the original. - RBW
As far as I can tell, the Texas version was first. I also gather someone tried to rewrite it for Nebraska, but they didn't have enough rivers to finish a verse. - PJS
File: R201
===
NAME: Road to Dundee, The
DESCRIPTION: "Cauld wind was howling o'er moor and o'er mountain"  when the singer meets a girl asking her way to Dundee. He says he can't easily tell her, but will show her the way. As they approach the town, they exchange tokens and part. And no, they *don't* marry
AUTHOR: Mackay (per OLochlainn)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: travel courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Ord, pp. 152-153, "The Road to Dundee" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 95, "Sweet Carnloch Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROADDUND* RDUND2
Roud #2300
File: Ord152
===
NAME: Road to Heaven, The
DESCRIPTION: "The road to heaven by Christ was made, With heavenly truth the rails are laid, From earth to heaven the line extends... I'm going home to die no more." The Christian life is compared to a railway: "The Bible is the engineer," "God's love the fire," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1854 (Chamber's Journal, according to Cohen)
KEYWORDS: railroading religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 605-610, "I'm Going Home to Die No More/The Railway Spiritualized" (2 texts plus 2 broadside prints, 1 tune)
Belden, p. 468, "The Railroad to Heaven" (1 text)
Randolph 600, "The Road to Heaven" (1 text)
Roud #7940
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Gospel Singers (Buell Kazee, Lester O'Keefe, and others), "I'm Going Home to Die No More" (Brunswick 152, 1927)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(024), "The Spiritual Railway" ("The line to Heaven by Christ was made"), James Lindsay (Glasgow), c. 1855.
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Spiritual Railroad
File: R600
===
NAME: Road to Peterhead, The
DESCRIPTION: On the road to Peterhead the singer is invited to join a party of three score lads and lasses. He follows them to a house where he sees a bride. He joins the parade of "more than seven score and ten,"  and describes the feast and happy wedding
AUTHOR: William Lillie (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: wedding dancing music
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig 52, p. 1, "The Road to Peterhead" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 613, "The Road to Peterhead" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5631
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 quotes a note written about 1860 that Lillie wrote the song "on visiting a Penny Wedding at Sandhole, Longside." - BS
For another Penny Bridal song, see "The Blythesome Bridal." - RBW
File: GrD3613
===
NAME: Road to the Isles, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer hears "a far croonin'" calling him back to the Hebrides. He lists the places he will visit on his way home, and says, "If it's thinkin' in your inner heart the braggart's in my step, You've never smelt the tangle o' the Isles."
AUTHOR: Words: Kenneth Macleod
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Kennedy-Fraser)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad travel
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy-Fraser II, pp. 240-241, "The Road to the Isles" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RDISLES*
NOTES: On its face, this is just another pseudo-folksong by Kenneth Macleod to a Hebridean tune, but my father seems to have learned it orally. I suppose it was from some radio program, but who can tell? When in doubt, we index -- and add apologetic notes like these. - RBW
File: KFrII240
===
NAME: Roast Beef of Old England, The
DESCRIPTION: "When mighty roast beef was the Englishman's food, It ennobled our hearts and strengthened our blood." The singer complains about the new-fangled French ragouts, and recalls the good old days of Queen Elizabeth, the Armada -- and beef
AUTHOR: Richard Leveridge (c. 1670-1758)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1855 (Chappell), but known to be in use at least a century before that
KEYWORDS: food royalty battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1558-1603 - Reign of Elizabeth (I)
1588 - Voyage of the Spanish Armada
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 95-96, "The Roast Beef of Old England" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Not, as far as I can tell, an actual folk song -- but, prior to the adoption of "God Save the King," this was as close as England, and particularly the English navy, came to having an anthem. It probably belongs here on that basis. - RBW
File: ChWII095
===
NAME: Rob Roy [Child 225]
DESCRIPTION: Rob Roy comes to the lowlands and captures a wealthy lady. He orders her to marry him; she refuses. He prepares to kidnap her, and allows no delay. They are married without her consent. He describes his valor and bids her be content
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803
KEYWORDS: marriage abduction rejection
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 8-9, 1750 - Abduction of Jean Key by Robert MacGregor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(High)) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 225, "Rob Roy" (12 texts)
Bronson 225, "Rob Roy" (3 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 296, "Rob Roy" (1 text, possiby derived from print)
Leach, pp. 583-585, "Rob Roy" (1 text)
DT 225, ROBROY
Roud #340
NOTES: This song is accurate enough as far as it goes, but far from complete. Rob Oig ("Young") was the fifth son of Walter Scott's Rob Roy, and a real desperado. In 1736 (when he was perhaps no older than twelve), he shot a trespasser and was outlawed when he refused to appear in court.
After spending time in the British army, he returned to England and married for the first time (despite still being outlawed). When this wife died, he and his brothers determined to marry him to Jean Key, a wealthy widow of nineteen. This rough wooing took place as described in the ballad.
In the sequel, the MacGregors were forced to release Jean Key (who died within a year), and both James MacGregor (who organized the plot) and Robert MacGregor were eventually brought to trial; James escaped, but Robert was executed in 1754. - RBW
File: C225
===
NAME: Robber Hood's Death: see Robin Hood's Death [Child 120] (File: C120)
===
NAME: Robber, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Robbie Tampson's Smitty: see Robin Tamson's Smiddy [Laws O12] (File: LO12)
===
NAME: Robert Barnes Fellow Fine: see John Smith My Fellow Fine (File: SNR026)
===
NAME: Robert's Farm: see Down on Penny's Farm (File: LoF147)
===
NAME: Roberta: see Alberta, Let Your Hair Hang Low (File: BMRF576)
===
NAME: Robie and Grannie: see Robie and Granny (File: GrD3557)
===
NAME: Robie and Granny
DESCRIPTION: Robie and Granny go to town and spend half-a-crown on drink. On the way home Granny falls into a ditch. Robie tries to pull her out, falls, "cursed her and ca'd her an auld drunken soo" and all she could do is cry "Pu' Robie, pu' [pull]."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous abuse
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #161, p. 2, "Robie and Grannie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 577, "Robie and Granny" (1 text)
Roud #1579
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Robbie and Grannie
File: GrD3557
===
NAME: Robin Adair
DESCRIPTION: "What's this dull town to me? Robin's not near." The singer laments her missing Robin Adair, who is her only source of joy and mirth, who "made this town heaven and earth."
AUTHOR: Words: Lady Caroline Keppel
EARLIEST_DATE: 1793 (Edinburgh Musical Miscellany)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fuld-WFM, p. 468, "Robin Adair"
DT, ROBADAIR  (cf. EILAROO.NOT)
Roud #8918
RECORDINGS:
Inez Barbour, "Robin Adair" (Phono-Cut 5198, c. 1915)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Eileen Aroon" (tune)
cf. "Sadly to Mine Heart Appealing" (portions of Stephen Foster's tune)
NOTES: This is perhaps not a folk song in its own right. But as it uses the same melody as "Eileen Aroon," which pretty definitely does belong, I thought it best to include it.
Lady Caroline Keppel fell in love with Robin Adair (a surgeon, and so presumably below her station) in the 1750s, and wrote this song in consequence. She was eventually permitted to marry him (only to die in 1769 at the age of 32), but at the time the song was written, she thought she would not be allowed to wed Robin. - RBW
File: DTrobada
===
NAME: Robin and John: see Robin Hood and Little John [Child 125] (File: C125)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Allen a Dale [Child 138]
DESCRIPTION: Robin observes a young man cheery one day, downcast the next. He is Allen a Dale; his bride-to-be has been betrothed to another. Robin goes in disguise to the church on the wedding day, calls in his men, and ensures she marries Allen after all.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1723
KEYWORDS: Robinhood disguise love marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Child 138, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
Bronson 138, comments only; cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 173, "[Drive the cold winter away]"
GreigDuncan2 272, "Allen-a-Dale" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 397-400, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
OBB 121, "Robin Hood and Alan a Dale" (1 text)
PBB 68, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
DBuchan 51, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
BBI, RZN8, "Come listen to me, you gallants so free"
DT 138, RHALANAD
Roud #3298
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
This particular part of the Robin Hood story seems to have arisen in the seventeenth century. In the earliest versions of the legend (Sloane MS.), the betrayed lover is not Allen but Scarlock. But by the nineteenth century, Allen's name had become a regular part of the legend. - RBW
File: C138
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Arthur O'Bland: see Robin Hood and the Tanner [Child 126] (File: C126)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne [Child 118]
DESCRIPTION: Little John and Robin separate; Little John is taken after trying to stop an invasion by the Sheriff. Meanwhile, Robin meets Guy; they fight, and Robin slays Guy. He then takes his clothes and horn and rescues John
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood outlaw fight rescue
FOUND_IN: US(SE)?
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Child 118, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
Bronson 118, comments only; cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 277, "The Chirping of the Lark" (1 tune)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 102-116, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
BrownII 32, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text, said in the Brown collection to "certainly derive" from this piece, but this is a stretch. It may be this, but it is only a disordered fragment, which looks to me to combine aspects of several Robin Hood ballads; the only real link with this is the reported title "Robin Hood and Guy of Gusborne")
Leach, pp. 334-340, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
OBB 116, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 68-76+320-321, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
TBB 26, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
DT 118, RHGISBOR
Roud #3977
NOTES: This is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (The earliest known copy (from the Percy folio) is somewhat corrupt, but shows survivals of a much older text, and seems to be at least two centuries older than the manuscript. It is noteworthy that a fragment of the same story, in dramatic form, appears on the back of a slip of financial sheets from 1475/6 C.E. For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]).
Bronson notes that Chappell associated a tune with this piece, but that the association was Chappell's own, on weak grounds, and therefore does not cite the melody. - RBW
File: C118
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Little John [Child 125]
DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood meets John Little on a bridge. They agree to fight until one falls into the brook. Robin is dunked. He blows his horn for his men and offers John a place among them. John accepts and is re-named Little John, though he is seven feet tall.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1624 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood outlaw fight
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Child 125, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text)
Bronson 125, "Robin Hood and Little John" (2 versions+ 1 in addenda)
Creighton/Senior, p. 67, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 fragment)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 19-20, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 366-372, "Robin Hood and Little John" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 339, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text)
Niles 45, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, RZN22, "When Robin Hood was about twenty Years old"
DT 125, RHLITJON*
Roud #1322
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Robin Hood and Little John" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #1}
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 3(125a), "Robin Hood and Little John," C. Sheppard (London), 1791 [barely legible]
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Robin and John
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
This is one of the few Robin Hood ballads with a genuinely traditional tune (two, in fact), though one of the texts may have been influenced by print. - RBW
File: C125
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Maid Marian [Child 150]
DESCRIPTION: Robin, while Earl of Huntingdon, woos Maid Marian. Then, outlawed, he keeps to the wood, disguised. She dresses as a page to seek him. They meet and fight, unrecognized, till both are wounded. He calls a halt, she knows his voice, they celebrate.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1795 (Ritson)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood love courting fight disguise
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 150, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
Bronson 150, comments only
Leach, pp. 423-425, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
BBI, RZN3, "A bonny fine maid of noble degree"
Roud #3992
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
It is noteworthy that Marion is not an original part of the Robin Hood legend. Where she came from must remain a matter of speculation.
J. C. Holt (_Robin Hood_, p. 160) believes that the story of Robin and Marian derives from Adam de la Halle's thirteenth century play "Robin et Marion." In this romance, Marian is a shepherdess whose fidelity to Robin causes her to fend off a lusty knight. This legend entered the French May Games, and was used by John Gower. At some point Marian became Queen of the May Games. With Robin also a character in the games, their union was almost inevitable.
In fact, things may not be that complex. Tauno F. Mustanoja, in "The Suggestive Use of Christian Names in Middle English Poetry" (published in Jerome Mandel and Bruce A. Rosenberg, eds., _Medieval Literature and Folklore Studies_) notes that Robin and Marion are typical names for rustic lovers in French and English romance. If Robin were to find a lover, the name Marion was almost to be expected.
The Broadside Index notes that this piece is "Smithson's parody of Robin Hood ballads," and Child observes that the broadside is signed S.S.
The absurd lateness of this particular song is shown by the mention in verse 3 that "neither Rosamond nor Jane Shore" could surpass Marian in beauty. It would not be unreasonable to find a mention of Rosamund (Clifford) in a Robin Hood ballad; she was the mistress of King Henry II, the father of Richard the Lion-Hearted and the great-grandfather of Edward I (Kings widely associated with the Robin Hood legend).
The mention of Jane Shore, though, is astonishingly anachronistic. Elizabeth Lambert, known as Jane Shore (for her story, see the song "Jane Shore") was the mistress of King Edward IV (died 1483) and was probably born in the 1450s. She thus was active fully a century after our first known mention of Robin Hood. A song which mentions her could hardly come from before 1475.
What's more, it could be a lot later. In an age before photography, when portraits had to be painted and copied by hand, the assumption was that the most beautiful women were kings' mistresses. But, after the reign of Edward IV, there were few noteworthy royal mistresses. Edward IV's son Edward V was pre-pubescent when he was deposed. Richard III, who came next, lasted only two years and didn't have time for mistresses (and seems to have been puritanical anyway). That strange, strange man, Henry VII, seems to have been very sexually unadventurous. Henry VIII had mistresses, but they were forgotten in the tale of his many wives. Edward VI was a boy, too young for such things. Mary I and Elizabeth I were female; they obviously had no mistresses. James VI and I seems to have been homosexual; he had no mistresses. Charles I was another with a quiet home life. Thus the next king after Edward IV to have a noteworthy mistress was Charles II (ascended 1660), who had quite a collection, including Nell Gwin. So this rather feeble item could be very late indeed.
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C150
===
NAME: Robin Hood and Queen Katherine [Child 145]
DESCRIPTION: The king proposes a wager with Queen Katherine, his archers against any she may choose. She sends for Robin and his men, giving them false names. They win and are revealed but the king has promised not to be angry with any in the queen's party.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1656 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood contest trick royalty
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 145, "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine" (3 texts)
Bronson 145, (extensive) comments only
Leach, pp. 413-417, "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine" (1 text)
BBI, RZN10, "Gold tane from the Kings harbengers"
Roud #72
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood's Chase [Child 146]"
NOTES: There is no historical "Queen Katherine"; the wife of King Stephen (1135-1154) was Matilda; the wife of Henry II (1154-1189, the first king usually associated with Robin Hood) was Eleanor of Aquitaine; Richard I (1189-1199) married Berengeria of Navarre; John (1199-1216) has as his primary wife Isabella of Angouleme; Henry III (1216-1272) married Eleanor of Provence; Edward I (1272-1307) married first Eleanor of Castile and then Margaret. By this time the longbow was established, and Robin Hood's exploits with the bow would no longer have been noteworthy. Leach speculates that one of Henry VIII's wives (either Catherine of Aragon or Catherine Howard) is meant!
The sequel to this story is told in Child 146, "Robin Hood's Chase."
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C145
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Beggar (I) [Child 133]
DESCRIPTION: Robin meets a beggar who asks charity. They fight. The beggar wins. Robin gives him his horse and clothes, goes on to Nottingham in the beggar's attire. There he finds three of his band are to be hanged. He blows his horn to summon his men who rescue them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood begging execution rescue disguise
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 133, "Robin Hood and the Beggar I" (1 text)
Bronson 133, comments only
Leach, pp. 385-388, "Robin Hood and the Beggar, I" (1 text)
Roud #3391
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C133
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Beggar (II) [Child 134]
DESCRIPTION: Robin asks money of a beggar who answers disdainfully. They fight. The beggar wins and goes off. Robin is found by three of his men. He sends two to avenge his disgrace. They ambush the beggar, but he bribes and tricks them and gets away.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1795
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight rescue escape trick money
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 134, "Robin Hood and the Beggar II" (1 text)
Bronson 134, "Robin Hood and the Beggar II" (1 version)
GreigDuncan2 264, "Robin Hood and the Beggar" (1 fragment)
Leach, pp. 388-397, "Robin Hood and the Beggar, II" (1 text)
Roud #3392
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C134
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Bishop [Child 143]
DESCRIPTION: Robin sees a bishop with a large company and fears to be taken. He appeals to an old wife, trades clothes with her, returns to his men. She is taken for him, but they rescue her, take money from the bishop, make him say mass and ride away backwards.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1656 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood clergy disguise rescue
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 143, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 text)
Bronson 143, comments only
Flanders-Ancient3, p. 117, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 fragment of a single line, identified as this seemingly by title; there is no real reason to think it is this ballad)
Leach, pp. 408-411, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 text)
Niles 47, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (2 texts, 2 tunes, of which only the second could be this ballad, and even it is mixed with Child 140)
BBI, RZN5, "Come gentlemen all, and listen a while"
Roud #3955
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (plot, lyrics)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C143
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford [Child 144]
DESCRIPTION: The Bishop of Hereford enters Barnsdale and finds Robin Hood killing a deer. He tries to convince Robin Hood to come before the king. Robin refuses, gives the Bishop dinner, and then extracts the price -- several hundred pounds, plus a dance or a mass
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1749
KEYWORDS: Robinhood hunting clergy money
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 144, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (2 texts)
Bronson 144, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (3 versions)
Leach, pp. 411-413, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (1 text)
OBB 120, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (1 text)
PBB 70, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (1 text)
DT 144, RHOODBSH*
Roud #2338
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (plot, lyrics)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C144
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Butcher [Child 122]
DESCRIPTION: Robin goes to Nottingham in the guise of a young butcher who sells cheap and spends freely. The sheriff returns with him to the forest for bargain-priced cattle. He is shown deer, then captured and relieved of his gold. He is released for his wife's sake.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1657 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood trick commerce robbery
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 122, "Robin Hood and the Butcher" (2 texts)
Bronson 122, comments only
OBB 119, "Robin Hood and the Butcher" (1 text)
BBI, RZN4, "Come all you brave gallants & listen a while"
Roud #3980
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C122
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar [Child 123]
DESCRIPTION: Robin learns of a friar's prowess and seeks him out. Each submits once to carrying the other over water, then the friar dumps Robin in. They fight long, then Robin's men and the friar's dogs enter the fray. The friar is invited to join the band.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood clergy fight outlaw
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 123, "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" (2 texts)
Bronson 123, "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 361-365, "Robin and the Curtal Friar" (1 text)
OBB 118, "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" (1 text)
BBI, RZN13, "In summer time when leaves grow green"
Roud #1621
NOTES: This friar is otherwise known as Friar Tuck, so called because his frock is tucked up. Child says Curtal relates to the keeping of the "curtile", or vegetable garden, but acknowledges that others thought it meant he had a curtailed, or shortened, frock. - KK
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
There is a record of a "Friar Tuck," though not in any way associated with Robin Hood. Two writs of 1417 mention a man of that name who had gathered a gang of outlaws in Surrey and Sussex. He remained at large in 1429 (though nothing was heard of him in the interval); his true name was reported to be Robert Stafford.
The association of Robin Hood and the Friar may have arisen from the May Games (in which both a Friar and Robin were characters), and the Friar may possibly have been associated with Friar Tuck because the latter was an outlaw.
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
Bronson has extensive notes on the dubious nature of the tune of this piece, which is from Rimbault based on an alleged handwritten copy no longer found in the book where Rimbault claimed to find it. - RBW
File: C123
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow [Child 152]
DESCRIPTION: The sheriff of Nottingham plots to catch Robin by means of an archery competition. Robin and his men go, but dress differently and scatter in the crowd, so are not recognized. Robin wins. To gloat, he sends a letter to the sheriff, by arrow.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1777
KEYWORDS: Robinhood contest disguise
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 152, "Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow" (1 text)
Roud #3994
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C152
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Monk [Child 119]
DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood decides to take mass in Nottingham. He quarrels with Little John after a shooting match, and proceeds alone. A monk betrays him to the sheriff. John and Much trick the king into giving them his seal; they go to the sheriff and rescue Robin
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: ms. Cambridge Ff. 5.48, c. 1450
KEYWORDS: Robinhood clergy captivity rescue
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Child 119, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
Bronson 119, comments only; cf. Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 53-54, "Oh, How They Frisk It, or, Leather Apron, or Under the Greenwood Tree"
Leach, pp. 340-349, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 327, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
OBB 117, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
Niles 42, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text, 1 tune -- another questionable JJN collection)
Gummere, pp. 77-89+321-322, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
TBB 27, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 81, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Iona & Peter Opie, The Oxford Book of Narrative Verse, pp. 22-32, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #148, "In Summer" (1 fragment, consisting of the first five verses)
Roud #3978
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Robin Hood and the Twenty Pounds of Gold
NOTES: In terms of the date of the manuscript, this is regarded as the oldest surviving Robin Hood piece (though in fact, except for John Jacob Niles's probable fake, it does not seem to survive outside the one manuscript). It is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]).
Bronson observes that Chappell associated a tune with this piece, but that the association was Chappell's own, on weak grounds, and therefore does not cite the melody. The Opies quote Dobson and Taylor to the effect that this was more likely recited than sung.
The Cambridge manuscript, again according to the Opies, is sort of a do-it-yourself minstrel kit: 135 pages not only of tales but also prayers and prophecies. - RBW
File: C119
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Old Maid: see Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Old Woman: see Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Pedlar: see The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood [Child 132] (File: C132)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Pedlars [Child 137]
DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood, Will Scarlett, and Little John try to stop three pedlars, succeeding only by sending an arrow into one of their packs. They fight. Robin appears to be slain. His antagonist administers a supposed healing balsam, making him puke on reviving.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight injury medicine trick
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 137, "Robin Hood and the Pedlars" (1 text)
Roud #3987
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C137
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Potter [Child 121]
DESCRIPTION: A potter defeats Robin. Robin disguises himself as the potter. He sells pots in Nottingham, giving some to the Sheriff's wife. She invites him home. He offers to take the Sheriff to Robin. Robin robs the Sheriff, sending him home with a horse for his wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1795 (Ritson)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight trick disguise gift
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 121, "Robin Hood and the Potter" (1 text, with "The Playe of Robyn Hode" in an appendix)
Leach, pp. 352-360, "Robin Hood and the Potter" (1 text)
Niles 44, "Robin Hood and the Potter" (1 text, 1 tune -- as dubious as any other JJN Robin Hood ballad)
Roud #3979
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Potter and Robin Hood
NOTES: This is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]). 
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150), with this one being the earliest) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
This is probably the earliest, and in many ways the best, example of this genre, though it is hardly typical (since it has a second part dealing with the trick played on the Sheriff). Paul Stamler offers the following only-mildly-exaggerated description of the typical ballad of this type:
"Robin Hood meets just about anyone and they quarrel about something really stupid. Robin picks a fight, and since the other person is always bigger, stronger, and a better fighter, he wins. Robin then makes nice with him and invites him to join all the other people who've beaten him up. Somewhere during all this, Robin raises an extremely symbolic horn to his lips. Privately, everyone in Robin's band agrees that Robin would do better if he stayed on his meds." - RBW
File: C121
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon [Child 129]
DESCRIPTION: Aragon has encircled London, demanding its princess, unless three champions defeat him and his two giants. Robin Hood, Little John, and Robin's nephew Will Scadlock do so, gaining pardon. Will gains the princess and is reunited with his father.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1749
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight royalty pardon
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 129, "Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon" (1 text)
Bronson 129, "Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon" (1 version)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 233-240, "Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon" (1 text, 1 tune, which even the editors admit is full of absurdities and whose verses Bronson calls "rather deplorable") {Bronson's [#1]}
BBI, RZN18, "Now Robin Hood, Will Scadlock, and little John"
Roud #3983
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
This is an instance where oral tradition didn't do anything for a ballad; Child calls his text vapid, and the New Brunswick version from J. P. A. Nesbitt (found in Barry/Eckstorm/Smyth) could almost be held up as an example of "when ballads go bad."
It is probably obvious that there isn't a hint of history in this ballad; the attacker in the ballad is a Turk, but Aragon was a Christian state, centered around Barcelona. The Aragonese could not have have hoped to attack England until after the union with Spain.
The whole business might have been suggested by the bad  blood between Spain and England over the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon -- but that of course didn't end in invasion. - RBW
File: C129
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Ranger [Child 131]
DESCRIPTION: Robin is stopped from killing a deer by a forester. They fight. Robin is bested and offers the other a place in his band. He blows his horn to summon his men, the forester joins them, and all celebrate.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1777
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 131, "Robin Hood and the Ranger" (1 text)
Bronson 131, "Robin Hood and the Ranger" (2 versions)
Roud #933
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C131
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Scotchman [Child 130]
DESCRIPTION: "Bold Robin Hood to the north he would go... with valour and mickle might... To fight and recover his right." Robin meets a Scotsman, and offers him a job providing he can pass a test of strength. The Scot pummels Robin and joins his band
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 130, "Robin Hood and the Scotchman" (2 texts)
Bronson 130, comments only
BBI, (no number given; should perhaps be ZRN24), "Then bold Robin Hood to the north"
Roud #3984
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C130
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Shepherd [Child 135]
DESCRIPTION: Robin comes upon a shepherd and demands to know the contents of his bag and bottle. The shepherd defies him. They fight. The shepherd wins. Robin blows his horn. Little John answers the call but the shepherd thrashes him as well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight shepherd
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 135, "Robin Hood and the Shepherd" (1 text)
Bronson 135, comments only
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 451, "Robin Hood and the Shepherd" (brief notes only)
BBI, RZN1, "All gentlemen and yeomen good"
Roud #3985
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C135
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Sheriff: see Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Tanner [Child 126]
DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood meets a tanner in the woods; they fight. After two hours Robin blows his horn. Little John comes running; Robin says the other has tanned his (Robin's) hide. Little John offers to continue the battle; Robin says no, praising the tanner's skill.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1657 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South)) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 126, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (1 text)
Bronson 126,  "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (3 versions+ 2 in addenda)
Davis-Ballads 31, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (1 text, 1 tune entitled "Robin Hood and Arthur O'Bland") {Bronson's #3}
Leach, pp. 372-376, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 4, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 94, "Robin Hood and Arthur O'Bland" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
BBI, RZN12, "In Nottingham there lived a jolly Tanner"
DT 126, RHOODTAN*
Roud #332
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
Bronson, in searching for the tunes of the Child Ballads, notes that many are the same tune, and that tune is most likely to be "Arthur A Bland." Which, if it is anything, is this. So this may be one of the "core" Robin Hood ballads. Except -- all this is based on a few tag lines, which are often unreliable. - RBW
File: C126
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Tinker [Child 127]
DESCRIPTION: A Tinker asks help arresting Robin Hood for 100 pounds. Robin tricks him into drinking himself to sleep. On waking he learns his companion was Robin. He finds Robin; they fight. Robin yields, then blows his horn for reinforcements. The Tinker joins them.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1777
KEYWORDS: Robinhood trick
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 127, "Robin Hood and the Tinker" (1 text)
Bronson 127, comments only
Leach, pp. 376-380, "Robin Hood and the Tinker" (1 text)
BBI, RZN14, "In summer time when leaves grow green"
Roud #3982
NOTES: Child describes this as a "contemptible imitation of imitations." - KK
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C127
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Twenty Pounds of Gold: see Robin Hood and the Monk [Child 119] (File: C119)
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight [Child 153]
DESCRIPTION: The king sends a knight with 100 to arrest Robin. The knight goes alone to Robin to request surrender. Robin refuses and battle ensues. The knight (retires/is killed) but Robin, wounded, sends for a monk whose bloodletting ends his life. The men scatter.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1741
KEYWORDS: Robinhood knight battle injury death clergy
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 153, "Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight" (1 text)
Bronson 152, comments only
Roud #3995
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood's Death" [Child 120] (subject)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C153
===
NAME: Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons: see Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)
===
NAME: Robin Hood Newly Revived [Child 128]
DESCRIPTION: Robin sees a young man skillfully kill a deer, offers him a place,  is answered disdainfully. They fight. Impressed, Robin asks the stranger who he is. He is Robin's sister's son, who has slain his father's steward. Robin makes him next under Little John
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1777
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight family
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 128, "Robin Hood Newly Revived" (1 text)
Bronson 128, comments only
Leach, pp. 380-383, "Robin Hood Newly Revived" (1 text)
BBI, RZN7, "Come listen a while you Gentlemen all"
DT 128, RHNEWREV
Roud #3956
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" [Child 132] (theme)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C128
===
NAME: Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140]
DESCRIPTION: Robin learns from (a women/their mother) that three men are to be hanged for deer-killing. He meets a (palmer/beggar) who confirms this. Robin insists on trading clothes, goes disguised to Nottingham, blows his horn for his men, and rescues the three.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1786
KEYWORDS: Robinhood execution disguise rescue
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,West),Scotland) US(NE,SE)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Child 140, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (4 texts)
Bronson 140, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (7 versions+2 in addenda)
GreigDuncan2 243 (plus 1 verse on p. 547), "Robin Hood and the Squires" (2 texts)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 2420-242, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 69-72, "Bold Robin Hood Rescuing the Three Squires" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 107-116, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (3 texts, with A1 and A2 being variant versions from the same informant, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2, with some small variants}
BrownII 140, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (1 text with variants from several performances by the same informant)
Friedman, p. 341, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (1 text)
OBB 122, "Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons" (1 text)
PBB 69, "Robin Hood and the Sheriff" (1 text)
Niles 47, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the second perhaps being mixed with Child 143)
Chase, pp. 124-126, "Bold Robin Hood" (1 text, 1 tune, clearly this piece although it has many floating lyrics, e.g. from "The House Carpenter") {Bronson's #4}
Darling-NAS, pp. 87-90, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (1 text)
DT 140, RH3SQUIR*
Roud #71
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Robin Hood and the Old Maid
Robin Hood and the Old Woman
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C140
===
NAME: Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly [Child 141]
DESCRIPTION: One of Robin's men, Will Stutly, is to be hanged. Robin and his men swear to rescue him or die trying. At the gallows Little John leaps from a bush, unbinds Will, and gives him a sword. They fight back to back as the archers chase the sheriff and his men
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood execution rescue fight
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 141, "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" (1 text)
Bronson 141, "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" (1 version)
Davis-Ballads 32, "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" (1 text, 1 tune entitled "The Rescue of Will Stutly") {Bronson's [#1]}
Leach, pp. 402-403, "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" (1 text)
BBI, RZN21, "When Robin Hood in the Green wood"
DT 141, ROBHDWST*
Roud #3957
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C141
===
NAME: Robin Hood Side: see Scarboro Sand (The Drowned Sailor) [Laws K18] (File: LK18)
===
NAME: Robin Hood Was a Forrester Bold
DESCRIPTION: "O Robin Hood was a forrester good As ever drew bow in a merry greenwood, And the wild deer will follow, will follow." "Little John with his arms so long, He conquered them all with his high ding dong, And the bugles did echo, did echo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood
FOUND_IN: US(Ap) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
JHCox 34, "Robin Hood" ( text)
Roud #1303
NOTES: Cox's text is only a fragment of what was presumably a longer ballad (probably a late broadside, though I find no reference in the Broadside Ballad Index to this particular text). It doesn't look like any of the Child "Robin Hood" ballads, either. But it is traditional, so here it sits until someone figures out its ancestry. - RBW
File: JHCox034
===
NAME: Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage [Child 149]
DESCRIPTION: Robin and his mother visit her brother, who makes Robin his heir and gives him Little John as a page. Robin takes Little John to his band in the forest. He meets shepherd Clorinda who impresses by shooting a buck. They go to Titbury feast and are married.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1716
KEYWORDS: Robinhood family mother brother servant outlaw marriage
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 149, "Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor and Marriage" (1 text)
BBI, RZN17, "Kind gentlemen will you be patient awhile"
Roud #3991
NOTES: Child notes that this ballad has several elements at variance with the bulk of the Robin Hood tradition. - KK
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C149
===
NAME: Robin Hood's Chase [Child 146]
DESCRIPTION: Robin leaves London after the feats of Child 145. The king, repenting of his pardon, goes after him. Robin leads a chase through many towns, back to London, then to Sherwood. The king returns to London to learn cunning Robin had sought him there.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood royalty escape
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 146, "Robin Hood's Chase" (1 text)
Bronson 146 comments only
Leach, pp. 418-420, "Robin Hood's Chase" (1 text)
BBI, RZN9, "Come you gallants all, to you I do call"
Roud #3989
NOTES: It should perhaps be noted that the wife of Henry II (the "King Henry" of most Robin Hood ballads; reigned 1154-1189) was named Eleanor. The first Henry to have a wife named Katherine was Henry V (reigned 1413-1422); Henry VIII (1513-1547) marred several Katherines. But both these kings are far too late for Robin Hood's era. For further details, see the entry on Child 145.
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C146
===
NAME: Robin Hood's Death [Child 120]
DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood, feeling ill, travels to (Kirkly-hall) to be blooded. The prioress sets out to bleed him to death. Only as he nears death does Robin realize what is happening; he calls to Little John. It is too late to save Robin; he arranges for his burial
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1786
KEYWORDS: Robinhood death burial medicine betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Child 120, "Robin Hood's Death" (2 texts)
Bronson 120,  "Robin Hood's Death" (1 version)
Davis-Ballads 30, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text, 1 tune entitled "The Death of Robin Hood") {Bronson's [#1]}
Leach, pp. 349-352, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 345, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
OBB 125, "The Death of Robin Hood" (1 text)
Niles 43, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 90-93+322-323, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 94, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
BBI, (no number; perhaps should be ZRN23?), "When Robin Hood and Little John"
DT 120, ROBHDTH*
Roud #3299
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "The Death of Robin Hood" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme06) [with introductory verses from other Robin Hood ballads]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight" [Child 153] (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Robber Hood's Death
NOTES: This is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]). The earliest known copy (from the Percy folio) is very defective, but seems to be at least two centuries older than the manuscript.
This perhaps the most popular of the basic Robin Hood ballads (note that it is one of only eight Robin Hood pieces for which we have an authentic tune); fragments have been found in America as recently as the twentieth century.
Unlike most Robin Hood tunes, this has an unquestionably legitimate tune, from Davis. - RBW
File: C120
===
NAME: Robin Hood's Delight [Child 136]
DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood, Little John, and Will Scarlock are met in the forest by three keepers. They fight. The keepers get the better of it. Robin asks to blow his horn but is refused. Robin invites them to compete at drinking sack instead. They become friends.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight drink
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 136, "Robin Hood's Delight" (1 text)
Bronson 135, comments only
BBI, RZN20, "There's some will talk of Lords and Knights"
Roud #3986
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C136
===
NAME: Robin Hood's Golden Prize [Child 147]
DESCRIPTION: Robin, disguised as a friar, asks alms of two priests in the wood. They claim that they were robbed and have nothing. Robin follows them and forces them to reveal the gold they are carrying. He makes them vow never to lie or cheat in the future
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1656 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood money clergy lie
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 147, "Robin Hood's Golden Prize" (1 text)
Bronson 147, comments only
Leach, pp. 420-422, "Robin Hood's Golden Prize" (1 text)
OBB 123, "Robin Hood's Golden Prize" (1 text)
BBI, RZN11, "I have heard talk of Robin Hood"
Roud #3990
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C147
===
NAME: Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham [Child 139]
DESCRIPTION: Robin at age 15 falls in with 15 foresters in Nottingham. He intends to enter a shooting match. They taunt him with his youth. He wagers on his ability and wins by killing a hart, but they refuse to pay. He kills them all, escapes to the merry green wood.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1656 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood hunting contest escape money youth
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Child 139, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 text)
Bronson 139, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (2 versions)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 69-70, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 text (composite from 2 singers), 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Creighton-NovaScotia 7, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Leach, pp. 400-402 "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 text)
BBI, RZN19, "Robin Hood he was a tall young man"
DT 139, RHPROGNT
Roud #1790
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Wood 402(14, 15), "Robin Hoods Progresse to Nottingham," F. Grove (London), 1623-1661; also Wood 401(37) [partly illegible], "Robin Hoods Progresse to Nottingham"; Douce Ballads 3(120a), "Robin Hood's progress to Nottingham" [subtitle "Shewing how he slew fifteen foresters"]
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
This, according to broadside Bodleian Douce Ballads 3(120a) and all other broadsides withi list a tune, is to be sung to the tune of "Bold Robin Hood." But Bronson notes that this song cannot be identified, and that several Robin Hood ballads use the same stanza form. - BS, RBW
File: C139
===
NAME: Robin Redbreast: see The Banks of the Gaspereaux [Laws C26] (File: LC26)
===
NAME: Robin Redbreast's Testament
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks the robin how long it has been there; it says twenty years, but now it's sick and would make its testament. He gives parts of his body to the Hamiltons, to serve them, and others to repair bridges. He scorns the wren who mourns for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: bird death lastwill farewell
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
GreigDuncan3 646, "Robin's Testament" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
SHenry H527, pp. 20-21, "Robin Redbreast's Testament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 194, "(Robin Redbreast's Testament)" (1 text)
DT, ROBNTEST
Roud #3900
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Robin
Robin Sick and Wearie
NOTES: In the time-honored tradition of folklorists assigning big meaning to small verse, I suspect this has a political undertone. (Probably someone has talked about this before, but I haven't seen it yet.) My first thought was of the period at the end of the reign of Mary Stuart and the beginning of James VI and I in Scotland, when the Hamilton and Lennox factions were struggling over the regency. But the Hamiltons were not yet Dukes.
Testing additional versions, I think the likely time period is c. 1649 and the end of the reign of Charles I. The robin is said to be "e'en like a little king," which fits, and his reign of "mair than twenty year" fits Charles, who came to the throne in 1625 and was executed in 1649.
In that case, the Duke of Hamilton is James, First Duke of Hamilton (1606-1649). An indecisive and ineffective figure, he finally ended up leading royalist forces at Preston in 1648, where he was crushed by Cromwell. He was executed about a month after Charles himself. - RBW
File: HHH527
===
NAME: Robin Spraggon's Auld Grey Mare: see Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud (File: FVS311)
===
NAME: Robin Tamson's Smiddy [Laws O12]
DESCRIPTION: The singer has been sent to the smithy to have the mare shod. While there he woos the smith's daughter behind her father's back. The girl dislikes his poor clothes; he says she can mend them. She decides to run off with him rather than live an old maid
AUTHOR: Alexander Rodger (1784-1846) (source: Whistle-Binkie)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1842 (in _Whistle-Binkie_, as "My Auld Breeks, air the Corn Clips")
KEYWORDS: clothes courting elopement horse
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US(MW) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws O12, "Robin Tamson's Smiddy"
Logan, pp. 365-367, "My Minnie Ment My Auld Breeks" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 67, "Robin Tamson's Smiddy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 39, "Robbie Tampson's Smitty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 14, "Robbie Tampson's Smitty" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 671, RTSMITTY
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Rodger, editor, _Whistle-Binkie_, Third Series (Glasgow, 1842), pp. 64-66, "My Auld Breeks"; also Whistle-Binkie, (Glasgow, 1878), Vol I, pp. 377-378, "My Auld Breeks"

Roud #939
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(573), "Robin Thompson's Smiddy," J. Moore (Belfast), 1846-1852; also 2806 c.16(207)=Harding B 11(3301), "Robin Thompson's Smiddy"; Harding B 11(2103), "Duddy Breeks" or "Robbin Thompson's Smiddy"; Firth b.26(528), "Robin Tamson"; Harding B 11(1018), Harding B 11(331), "Duddy Breeks"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(42b), "Robin Tamson's Smiddy," Poet's Box (Dundee), c 1880-1900
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cornclip" (tune, per Whistle-Binkie)
File: LO12
===
NAME: Robin the Smuggler
DESCRIPTION: Old Robin brewed "the pure mountain bead, The Forres and Elgin folk liked it gweed." "As the Tuesdays and Fraidays cam roon' The cairtie was packit [by Robin and his wife] wi' peats for the toon, Wi' a keg in the middle." They have not been seen recently.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: crime drink
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan2 261, "Robin the Smuggler" (1 text)
Roud #5851
NOTES: GreigDuncan2: "Cf. 'The Kellas Peatfutherer' in the _Elgin Courant and Courier_ of 24 March 1939, where it is said that the song was written by James Simpson from Mortlach about 1850 and was usually sung to the air of 'Muirlan' Willie'. The subject was Robert or Robbie Milne (1792-1870), a crofter at Newton of Kellas." 
GreigDuncan2: "Learnt twenty-two years ago, from a man who had been feed in Morayshire and got it there. Noted 21st February 1907. This air is a version of 'Muirland Willie'...." - BS
File: GrD2261
===
NAME: Robin's Testament: see Robin Redbreast's Testament (File: HHH527)
===
NAME: Robyn and Gandeleyn [Child 115]
DESCRIPTION: Robyn hunts deer. Just after felling one he is himself slain by an arrow. His knave Gandeleyn seeks its source, finds Wrennok the Dane, challenges him, and avenges Robyn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1430 (British Museum -- Sloane MS. 2593); printed by Ritson 1790
KEYWORDS: hunting death fight revenge
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 115, "Robyn and Gandeleyn" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 332-334, "Robin and Gandeleyn" (1 text)
OBB 112, "Robyn and Gandeleyn" (1 text)
DT 115, RHGANDYN
Roud #3976
NOTES: E. K. Chambers (_English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages_, p. 131) thinks that this is a sort of proto-Robin Hood ballad. But Child dismisses this notion, and rightly I think (but see below)
Chambers also notes that the source (Sloane MS. 2593) contains many carols, and believes that this was intended to be sung at Christmas. This is basically bunk (it doesn't help that Chambers literally hasn't the sense to tell what is a carol, or even what is a traditional song).
Sloane MS 2593 *does* contain many religious works, including the well-known "Adam Lay Ybounden" and "I Sing of a Maiden That Is Makeless" and others -- but it has plenty of secular works as well, including "I Have a Yong Suster" (the earliest form of "I Gave My Love a Cherry"), some drinking lyrics, and at least a few riddles.
If this isn't a Robin Hood song, it may nonetheless have some very indirect connections with that corpus. As with several of the older Child ballads ("Hind Horn" [Child 17], "King Orfeo" [Child #19], "Blancheflour and Jellyflorice" [Child 300], this may connect with a Middle English romance.
The romance in this case is "Gamelyn." The plot in brief: Sir John of Boundys, dying, leaves his property to his sons John, Ote, and Gamelyn. Gamelyn is set aside. Placed in bondage by his brother, he is freed by Adam the Spencer; they take revenge and flee to the greenwood. The oldest brother, now sheriff, declares him an outlaw. Gamelyn comes to the court, is taken prisoner, but is set free when Ote stands his bail. Gamelyn attacks the court, gains his freedom, and is pardoned by the King.
The similarities of "Gamelyn" to the Robin Hood cycle are obvious, and it is possible that "Robyn and Gandelyn" is a worn down version of the romance; they are about as close as "Hind Horn" and "King Horn" (i.e. not very). But that doesn't make the ballad an ancestor of the Robin Hood corpus; rather, it is at best a cousin.
"Gamelyn" is one of the best-attested of the Middle English romances, though the reason is "bizarre" (Larry D. Benson, _The Riverside Chaucer_, p. 1125): It's included in many manuscripts of Chaucer! The Cook's Tale ends abruptly, and it appears that some scribes, feeling the need to supply a complete story, plugging in this account. (The dialect, it must be admitted, matches Chaucer, but the seven-stress lines don't.)
There are some 16 manuscripts in Manley and Rickert's "c" and "d" groups of _The Canterbury Tales_, which are associated with the inclusion of Gamelyn, though not all of these are complete; we also find it, e.g., in the well-known Harley 7334. Several critical editions have been published, but I have not studied the matter further. - RBW
File: C115
===
NAME: Rock 'N' Row Me Over: see One More Day (File: FSWB086B)
===
NAME: Rock About My Saro Jane
DESCRIPTION: The singer, despite "a wife and five little children," decides to "take a trip on the big Macmillan." The troublesome operations of the boat are described. Chorus: "Oh, there's nothing to do but sit down and sing And rock about my Saro Jane."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: ship river love work
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Lomax-FSUSA 47, "Rock About My Saro Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax- FSNA 277, "Rock About, My Saro Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 747, "Rock About, My Saro Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 92, "Rock About My Saro Jane" (1 text)
DT, SAROJANE
Roud #10052
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Rock About My Saro Jane" (Vocalion 5151, 1927; also probably issued as Brunswick B-1024, 1929 and Brunswick 80091, n.d.; on TimesAint03)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Rock About My Saro Jane" (on NLCR14)
File: LxU047
===
NAME: Rock All Our Babies to Sleep: see Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own) (File: R393)
===
NAME: Rock Island Line (I), The
DESCRIPTION: "The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road, The Rock Island Line is the road to ride." About life in general, engineering on the Rock Island Line, and anything else that can be zipped into the song
AUTHOR: unknown (heavily adapted by Huddie Ledbetter)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (recording, Kelly Pace et al)
KEYWORDS: railroading train nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 472-477, "The Rock Island Line" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 102, "Rock Island Line" (1 text)
DT, ROCKISLL
Roud #15211
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Pace & group of prisoners, "Rock Island Line" (AFS 248 A1, 1934; on LC8, LCTreas)
NOTES: How much of this is genuinely "folk" is hard to tell. The earliest version collected [was] at Cummins Prison Farm (Arkansas) in 1934. The collection was made by John & Ruby Lomax; Lead Belly was their driver. Working from this and perhaps some floating material, Lead Belly created a song which he interspersed with patter about railroad work. The Weavers regularized this, and Alan Lomax added "new material"; one wonders if the prisoners would have recognized the result. - PJS, RBW
One of the verses found in revival versions is present [in the Pace recording on 1934], ("Jesus died to save me in all of my sin/Glory to God, we goin' to meet Him again"), as is the standard chorus. 
Mr. Pace's name is spelled "Kelly" throughout LC8, but,"Kelley" on LC10. I have no idea which is correct. - PJS
Cohen uses the spelling "Kelly Pace," but of course he may have had the same problem.
Cohen also documents the evolution of the song, which apparently began as an Arkansas work song. Lead Belly, as noted, probably learned it in 1934. When he recorded it for the Library of Congress in 1937, he used a subset of the Pace verses, with a line of patter about cutting trees; the song is still a work song.
When Lead Belly recorded it again in 1944 for Capitol, he had added a couple of verses not from Pace ("I may be right and I may be wrong"; "A-B-C double X-Y-Z") and had a new line of railroad patter. Soon after, he recorded it for Folkways, in what seems to have become the canonical version, ending with him telling the rainroad agent, "I fooled you."
It's unfortunate we don't have more information about how Lead Belly performed the song in concert in these years. It's quite a demonstration of "live fire" folk process, though. - RBW.
File: FSWB102
===
NAME: Rock Island Line (II), The: see Fox River Line, The (The Rock Island Line) [Laws C28] (File: LC28)
===
NAME: Rock o' Jubilee
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, rock o' jubilee, poor fallen soul, O Lord, do rock o' jubilee." "I have no time to stay at home." "My father('s) door wide open now." "Mary, girl, you know my name." "The wind blow east, he blow from Jesus."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 25, "Rock o' Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: AWG025
===
NAME: Rock o' My Soul: see Good Lordy, Rocky My Soul (File: FSWB357B)
===
NAME: Rock of Ages (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me, Let me hide myself in thee." The singer admits to the inability to meet God's demands, and asks forgiveness and protection
AUTHOR: Words: Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778)/Music: Thomas Hastings (1784-1872)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1775 (first stanza; remainder of text 1776, both in "The Gospel Magazine"; music published 1832)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 357, "Rock of Ages" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 469-470, "Rock of Ages"
DT, ROCKAGES*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp. 120-121, "Rock of Ages" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5429
RECORDINGS:
Henry Burr, "Rock of Ages" (Columbia 1781, 1904)
Peerless Quartet, "Rock of Ages" (Paramount 33010, 1919)
Hamlin Male Quartet, "Rock of Ages" (Supertone 9267, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over the Rock of Ages)"
NOTES: Augustus Montague Toplady is most famous for writing the words to this song. Charles Johnson's _One Hundred & One Famous Hymns_ gives a brief biography which seems to consist mostly of denomination-jumping. He is said to have been "always in frail health," which explains his early death.
He is credited with two volumes of religious lyrics. Nonetheless _Granger's Index to Poetry_ lists only seven of his works which made it into their voluminous database (and it appears that two of those are actually alternate names for this piece). This is of course the one most cited (twelve times under various titles). - RBW
File: FSWB357C
===
NAME: Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over the Rock of Ages)
DESCRIPTION: "Way down yonder in the lonesome valley, clef' for me, clef' for me (x2), Way down yonder in the lonesome valley, Let God's bosom be my pillow. Hide me over the rock of ages, clef' for me, clef' for me." "What you gon' do when the world's on fire?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 547, "Rock of Ages" (1 text plus a fragment and mention of 1 more)
Fuson, p. 204, "Hide Thou Me" (1 text, probably a mix, with the form of "Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over Rock of Ages" but verses from "Jacob's Ladder")
Roud #5429
RECORDINGS:
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Rock of Ages" (Brunswick 190, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rock of Ages (I)"
NOTES: The notes in Brown suggest that this is an "adaption" of the standard "Rock of Ages." Most likely, since the phrase "rock of ages" is assuredly not Biblical. But this is clearly a separate song. - RBW
File: Br3547
===
NAME: Rock to See the Turkey Run
DESCRIPTION: "Rock to see de turkey run, Run, run, run, run, run, run, Rock to see de turkey run, Run, run, run, run, run, run, Rock to see de turkey run, Run, run, run."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 196, "Rock to See de Turkey Run" (1 short text)
File: ScaNF196
===
NAME: Rock-a My Soul
DESCRIPTION: "Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham (x3), Oh, rock-a my soul," "When I went down to the valley to pray... My soul got happy and I stayed all day." "When I was a mourner just like you... I mourned and mourned till I come through."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 73, "Rock o' My Soul" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 573, "Good Lordy, Rocky My Soul" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 357, "Rock-a My Soul" (1 text)
Roud #11892
RECORDINGS:
Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, "Rock My Soul" (Bluebird B-7804/Montgomery Ward M-7596, 1938; RCA Victor 20-2921, 1948; on Babylon)
Taylor sisters, "Rock-a My Soul" (on HandMeDown2)
NOTES: The reference to Abraham's bosom alludes to the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). In 16:22, Lazarus dies and is carries to Abraham's bosom. Although the phrase does not occur elsewhere, it came to have the sense of "heaven."
It is interesting to note that the version they shoved down our throats as children ran "Rock-a my soul," which sounded like someone rocking on a rocking chair or in a cradle. But Allen/Ware/Garrison give it as "Rock o' my soul" -- i.e. "Rock of my soul." This, as a reference to God, is more Biblical and much more comprehensible. - RBW
File: FSWB357B
===
NAME: Rock-A-By Ladies
DESCRIPTION: "Four little prisoners here in jail, here in jail, here in jail, Four little prisoners here in jail...." The four are charged with shooting "the old man instead of the son." The required "dollar and a half to set them free" is given and they are released
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty trial freedom
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 579, "Rock-a-by Ladies" (1 text plus fragments from other sources)
Roud #502
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "London Bridge Is Falling Down" (tune & meter)
File: R579
===
NAME: Rock-A-Bye Baby
DESCRIPTION: The nursery rhyme: "Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top, When the wind blows, the cradle will rock...." Folk versions often add more verses (or make changes to the first), e.g. about the farmer who goes hunting to feed the baby
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: text: 1784 (Gammar Gurton's Garland, according to Opie-Oxford2); tune: 1884 (see notes)
KEYWORDS: lullaby
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Warner 190, "Rocky By Baby, By-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H591a, p. 6, "Heezh Ba" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 113, "Rock-a-Bye Baby in the Tree-Top" (1 text with variants)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 86, "Rockaby Baby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 22, "Hush-a-bye, baby, on the tree top" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #550, p. 224, "(Hush a by Baby)"
Silber-FSWB, p. 408, "Rock-A-Bye, Baby" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 468-469+, "Rock-a-Bye Baby"
ST Wa190 (Partial)
Roud #2768
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "What'll I Do with the Baby-O" (words)
cf. "Tony Went Walking" (lyrics)
NOTES: The first reported printing of the words to this piece is from about 1765, in "Mother Goose's Melody." It does not seem to have become a song -- or at least to have adopted its current melody -- until 1872, when Effie I. Crockett (1857-1940) allegedly sang it to an infant she was babysitting. The result was published in 1884, with Crockett adopting the pseudonym "Effie I. Canning."
In the Sam Henry text, the song starts with the singer recalling being "airy and handsome" and going out partying; but "noo I am auld... fittin' for nae thin' but rockin' the cradle. Rockin' the cradle is nae work, ava," then breaks into the standard lyrics. It's probably a composite, but with only six lines of the original, most of which are similar to floating material, the other half is probably beyond identification; there are points of contact with "Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)."
The Montgomeries (Montgomerie-ScottishNR #134) have a piece which looks vaguely related, beginning, "Hoolie, the bed'll fall! Who'll fall with it? Two eyes, two hands, And two bonnie feet."
According to folklore (or at least Katherine Elwes Thomas), this originally referred to the Old Pretender, James III son of James II of England, and the whole stanza refers to James II's deposition as a result of having a Catholic heir. Uh-huh. - RBW
There are examples on the Library of Congress American Memory site of other melodies for the song and other texts incorporating the tree top verse:
LOCSheet, sm1881 16221, "Lullaby Baby Upon the Tree Top," White, Smith & Co. (Chicago), 1881; also sm1881 14963, "Lullaby Baby Upon the Tree Top" (tune)
LOCSinging, sb10078a, "Dig, Dig, Dig" or "Hush-a-bye Baby," unknown, n.d.; also as102980, "Dig, Dig, Dig" or "Hush-a-bye Baby" - BS
File: Wa190
===
NAME: Rock-a-Bye Baby in the Tree-Top: see Rock-A-Bye Baby (File: Wa190)
===
NAME: Rock, Chariot, I Told You to Rock
DESCRIPTION: Biblical statements linked by the refrain "Judgement goin' to find me!" E.g., "Rock, Chariot, I Told You to Rock, Judgement goin'... Won't you rock, chariot, in the middle of the air... I wonder what chariot comin' after me...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson et al)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 50-52, "(Rock, Chariot, I Told You to Rock)" (1 text); p. 227, "Rock Chariot" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10961
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, Earthy Anne Coleman & Price Coleman, "Rock Chariot, I Told You to Rock" (on NFMAla2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" (subject)
NOTES: This is based on Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel 1, but with hints of the Assumption of Elijah (2 Kings 2). - RBW
File: CNFM050
===
NAME: Rock'd in the Cradle of the Deep
DESCRIPTION: "Rock'd in the cradle of the deep, I lay me down in peace to sleep; Secure I rest upon the wave, For thou Oh! Lord, hast power to save." The singer reiterates a simple faith: God can save, the storms cannot harm me, I will sleep sound whatever happens
AUTHOR: Words: Emma Hart Willard / Music: Joseph Philip Knight
EARLIEST_DATE: Words: 1832 / Music: 1840
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 184-189, "Rock'd in the Cradle of the Deep" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
James Cherry, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (Berliner 0964X, 1896)
Edison Quartet, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (CYL: Edison 2217, c. 1897)
William F. Hooley, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (Victor 3067, 1904)
J. W. Myers, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (Zonophone 322, 1905)
Original Bison City Quartette, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep") (CYL: Ohio Phonograph Co., no #, c. 1893)
Standard Quartette, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (CYL: Columbia 2247, rec. c. 1895)
Frank C. Stanley, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (Victor 4867, 1906)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Drover's Dream" (quoted in that song)
SAME_TUNE:
Locked in the Stable with the Sheep (cf. Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 84)
File: RJ19184
===
NAME: Rock's Poteen
DESCRIPTION: The singer's "soul for every ill prepares, Whilst I've poteen to cheer me." He prefers Rock's poteen to Briton's ale and beer. Wine is for "stupid sots." "Then fill your glass of sparkling juice That never met a gauger's nose."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 78-79, "Rock's Poteen" (1 text)
NOTES: Morton-Ulster: "A 'Gauger' was a member of the Revenue Police, who until their disbandment in the mid 1850s, had been charged with the suppression of illicit distillation -- poteen making."
Croker-PopularSongs: "From 1802 to June 1806 ... no less than 13349 unlicensed whisky-stills ... were seized in Ireland.... This song, in praise of poteen, is copied from _Captain Rock in London, No.2_" - BS
File: CrPS078
===
NAME: Rocking the Baby to Sleep: see Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own) (File: R393)
===
NAME: Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)
DESCRIPTION: The old man laments "about rocking the cradle and the child not his own." Though at the time he had been happy to marry a lighthearted lass, he now finds her out at parties all the time (or keeping company with other men)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(282))
KEYWORDS: marriage age wife husband children infidelity bastard
FOUND_IN: Ireland US(SE,So) Britain(Wales) Canada(Newf) Australia
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Randolph 393, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 166, "Show Me the Man Who Never Done Wrong (or, Rocking the Baby to Sleep)" (1 text, 1 tune -- a curious version in which it appears at first that it is the woman, not the man, who is betrayed)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 168-169, "The Wee One"; p. 266, "Rock All Our Babies" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 212, "Rocking the Cradle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 143-145, "Old Man Rocking the Cradle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 478-479, "The Milkman's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 192, "The Old Man's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune); also 190, "Run Along, You Little Dogies" (1 text, 1 tune, mostly "Get Along Little Dogies" but with a chorus partly from this piece!)
DT, ROCKCRAD ROCKCRA2
Roud #357
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Rocking the Cradle" (on IRRCinnamond02)
Richard Hayward, "County Mayo Fragment" (Rex 15016A/matrix DR 11812-2, 1947)
A. L. Lloyd, "Rocking the Cradle" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd4)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Tossing the Baby So High" (Vocalion 5013, 1926)
Neil Morris, "Rock All the Babies to Sleep" (on LomaxCD1707)
Charlie & Bud Newman, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (OKeh 45431, 1930; rec. 1928)
Riley Puckett, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (Columbia 107-D, 1924)
George Reneau, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (Vocalion 14997, 1925)
Jimmie Rodgers, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (Victor 23721, 1932; Regal Zonophone [UK] MR-2200, 1936; rec. 1930)
Paddy Tunney, "The Old Man Rocking the Cradle" (on Voice01); "Rocking the Cradle" (on IRPTunney01)
Dave Turner [pseud. for Dick Parman], "Rock All Our Babies To Sleep" (Supertone 9374, 1929)
Fay & Jay Walker, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (Broadway 8093, c. 1925)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(282), "Rocking the Cradle," J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin), 1850-1899; also Harding B 19(65), 2806 c.15(202), "Rocking the Cradle"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Unhappy Jeremiah (The Brats of Jeremiah)" (plot)
cf. "Hush-a-Bye, Baby" (plot)
cf. "When I Was Single (II)"
cf. "Seoithin Seo" (tune, according to Sean O Boyle, notes to David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland")
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Tossing the Baby So High (Uncle Dave Macon version)
NOTES: An Irish legend has it that the chorus, "Hi-ho, hi-ho, my laddie, lie easy, For perhaps your own daddy might never be known. I'm seein' and sighin' and rockin' the cradle, And nursing the baby that's none of my own," was sung by the Virgin Mary to the baby Jesus. In English, no doubt. - RBW
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "Rockin' the Cradle" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)) - BS
File: R393
===
NAME: Rockingham Cindy: see Jinny Go Round and Around (File: R272)
===
NAME: Rocks and Gravel
DESCRIPTION: "Rocks and gravel makes a solid road (x2), Takes a do-right woman to satisfy my soul." Unrelated verses, largely about the ways a man can go wrong (and, perhaps, abandon his woman)
AUTHOR: Alan Lomax & W. B. Richardson ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: drugs gambling abandonment
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 77, "Rocks and Gravel" (1 text)
File: FSWB077A
===
NAME: Rocks In De Mountens: see Take This Hammer (File: FR383)
===
NAME: Rocks of Bawn, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer warns fellow-laborers not to hire with any master without knowing what the work will be. He describes his decrepit condition, and declares that even the British army would offer a better life (but he has not been invited to join)
AUTHOR: Martin Swiney ? (attribution by Dominic Behan, according to Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Collected by Sam Henry)
KEYWORDS: disability poverty farming work army boss worker
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
SHenry H139, p. 42, "The Rocks of Bawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 23, "The Rocks of Baun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 4, "The Rocks of Bawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROCKBANN
Roud #3024
RECORDINGS:
Seamus Ennis, "The Rocks of Bawn" [incomplete] (on Lomax42, LomaxCD1742)
Joe Heaney, "The Rocks of Bawn" (on Pubs1, Voice05)
Tom Lenihan, "The Rocks of Bawn" (on IRTLenihan01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lovely Jane from Enniskea" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Lovely Jane from Enniskea (File: MoMa005)
NOTES: In the seventeeth century, Cromwell's army's drove the Irish "to Hell or to Connaught" -- to the submarginal lands of the western coast, where life was exceptionally hard. - PJS
Although it is quite true that the Irish were concentrated in the poorest lands, especially in the far west (note that almost all native speakers of Gaelic are in the west), Cromwell is hardly the only guilty party (though his guilt was extreme; see the notes to "The Wexford Massacre"). The British initially settled in the "Pale" around Dublin, and most later colonists also landed in the east. Thus there was a constant westward pressure on the native Irish -- especially those unwilling to accept British institutions such as the Anglican church. - RBW
File: DTrockba
===
NAME: Rocks of Giberaltar, The: see The Lowlands of Holland (File: R083)
===
NAME: Rocks of Gibraltar, The: see The Lowlands of Holland (File: R083)
===
NAME: Rocks of Scilly, The [Laws K8]
DESCRIPTION: The singer leaves his new wife to go to sea. Lonely, he fears a disaster -- and meets one when a storm runs his ship onto the Rocks of Scilly. Another singer tells how only four sailors survive, not including the first singer. His wife dies of sorrow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(83))
KEYWORDS: sailor storm wife death
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(England(West))
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws K8, "The Rocks of Scilly"
Creighton/Senior, pp. 200-201, "Rocks of Scilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 62, "The Rocks of Scilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 50, "The Rocks of Scilly" (1 text)
DT 400, SCILLRCK
Roud #388
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(83), "Rocks of Scilly," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Firth c.12(118), Harding B 17(261a), Harding B 16(231a), Harding B 11(3303), "[The] Rocks of Scilly"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gentle Boy (Why Don't Father's Ship Come In)" (theme)
NOTES: "The Isles of Scilly -- 40 miles off the extreme western tip of England -- are a beautiful, sometimes wild, place where more ships have been wrecked than anywhere else in the world." (Source: _Tresco Times--The Last Piece of England_ quoted at the Tresco Isles of Scilly site) - BS
File: LK08
===
NAME: Rocky Banks of the Buffalo, The: see Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14] (File: C014)
===
NAME: Rocky Brook: see Samuel Allen [Laws C10] (File: LC10)
===
NAME: Rocky By Baby, By-O: see Rock-A-Bye Baby (File: Wa190)
===
NAME: Rocky Mountain Side: see The False Young Man (The Rose in the Garden, As I Walked Out) (File: FJ166)
===
NAME: Rocky Road (Green Green)
DESCRIPTION: Playparty, with several possible plots, but typical chorus "Green green, rocky road, Some (young) lady's green. Tell me who you love, tell me who you love...." In one game, a girl is called into a circle, calls a boy, and so forth
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, children of Lilly's Chapel School)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 154, "(Green, Green, Rocky Road)" (1 text); p. 277, "Green Green Rocky Road" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #15657
RECORDINGS:
Children of Lilly's Chapel School, "Green Green Rocky Road" (on NFMAla6, RingGames1)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Green Green
Green Green Rocky Road
Red Green
Red Light Green Light
NOTES: This should not be confused with the shape-note hymn "Rocky Road," nor with the pop-folk song "Green, Green", both of which are separate songs.
The version of this song usually sung by revival singers was adapted by Len Chandler from the traditional song found in Courlander. The folk-revival version also incorporates lyrics from "Rosie, Darling Rosie," which was also collected and recorded by Courlander. - PJS
File: CNFM154
===
NAME: Rocky Road (II): see Rough, Rocky Road (Most Done Suffering) (File: Br3632)
===
NAME: Rocky Road to Dublin, The
DESCRIPTION: An emigrant from Tuam recounts his comical misadventures on the way to England. He is flirted with in Mullingar, robbed in Dublin, put with the pigs on board ship, and ends in a brawl with "the boys of Liverpool."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3304))
KEYWORDS: emigration humorous Ireland
FOUND_IN: Ireland US
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Hodgart, p. 207, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (1 text)
SHenry H44, pp. 178-179, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 19-20, "Rocky Road to Dublin" (1 text)
OLochlainn 51, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RCKYDBLN*
Roud #3012
RECORDINGS:
American Quartet, "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (Victor 17900, 2926; rec. 1915)
Sam Ash, "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (Little Wonder 254, 1915)
Liam Clancy, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (on IRLClancy01)
Marguerite Farrell, "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (Columbia A1920, 1916; rec. 1915)
Osey Helton, "Rocky Road to Dublin" (Broadway 5122A, c. 1931)
Edward Herborn & James Wheeler, "Rocky Road to Dublin" (Columbia A2217, 1917)
Bill McCune & his Orch. "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (Vocalion 04281, 1938)
Premier Quartet, "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (CYL: Edison [BA] 2817, n.d.)
Allen Sisson, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" [instrumental] (Edison 51559, 1925)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3304), "Rocky Road to Dublin," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 18(417), Johnson Ballads 2804 [same as LOCSinging as203070]; Harding B 11(454), "Rocky Road to Dublin"
LOCSinging, as203070, "The Rocky Road to Dublin," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(417)]; also as111860, "The Rocky Road to Dublin"
NOTES: [Tune listed in broadsides LOCSinging as203070 and Bodleian Harding B 18(417) as "Irish Jig." True, but hardly helpful.... - RBW/BS]
Broadside LOCSinging as203070: 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: Hodg207
===
NAME: Rocky Road to Georgia: see Rocky Road to Jordan (Long Summer Day) (File: R590)
===
NAME: Rocky Road to Jordan (Long Summer Day)
DESCRIPTION: "Out a sweetheart hunting, long a summer day." "Where shall I find her, long a summer day?" "Here is where I found her, Rocky road to (Jordan/Georgia)." "Walk and talk together...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting playparty
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 590, "Rocky Road to Georgia" (1 text)
Roud #7650
File: R590
===
NAME: Roddy McCorley
DESCRIPTION: "Oh see the fleet-foot host of men..." who are hurrying to stage a rescue. "For young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today." They are too late. The song recalls McCorley's actions; he would not turn traitor even to save his life
AUTHOR: Words: Ethna Carberry (1866-1902)
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1798 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion death execution
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: February 28, 1800 - Rody McCorley hanged in Toome. (source: Moylan citing John Moulden)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
OLochlainn-More 100, "Rody MacCorley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 17, "Rody Mac Corly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 123, "Rody MacCorley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 324, "Roddy McCorley" (1 text)
DT, RMCORLEY*
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Roddy McCorley" (on IRClancyMakem02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rody McCorley" (subject)
NOTES: The Fiddler's Companion site says "McCurley was a County Antrim rebel leader in the rising of 1798." 
The rebels [were] defeated at Antrim in June 1798. If any of [the details in the song "Rody McCorley are] accurate he might have been executed Good Friday, April 6, 1798 or, more likely, March 22, 1799.
Zimmermann: "Rody McCorley was hanged c.1798." [But see Moylan's note.]
A. T. Q. Stewart, _The Summer Soldiers: The 1798 Rebellion in Antrim and Down_, Blackstaff Press, 1995, p. 156, gives this account: "Of the Toome rebels are remembered at all, it is because of Roddy McCorley. A young Presbyterian from Duneane whose family had been evicted from their farm after the death of his father, he was in hiding for nearly a year after the rebellion before being betrayed, tried by court martial at Ballymena, and hanged 'near the Bridge of Toome' on Good Friday, 1799." In the footnote to this paragraph, Stewart adds, "Though hardly mentioned in Presbyterian annals, Roddy McCorley is a major figure in nationalist martyrology because he became the subject of a famous song." Guess which one.
Moylan: .". by Ethna Carberry (Anna [Johnson] MacManus b. 1866), was written in the 1890s and may have been based on ["Rody McCorley"]. - BS
According to Hoagland, _1000 Years of Irish Poetry_, p. 775, the name was spelled "Carbery" (a spelling supported by _Granger's Index to Poetry_, though Robert Gogan,  _130 Great Irish Ballads_ [third edition, Music Ireland, 2004], p. 112, has the spelling "Ethna Carbury"); her collected poems were published posthumously in _The Four Winds of Erin_. _Granger's_ cites six of her poems; this, interestingly, is not among them. - RBW..
File: FSWB324
===
NAME: Rodney's Glory
DESCRIPTION: "Good news to you I will unfold, 'Tis of brave Rodney's glory." In 1782 Rodney defeats De Grasse and the French fleet off Fort Royal. Five French ships are captured and thousands slain. "Now may prosperity attend Brave Rodney and his Irishmen"
AUTHOR: Eoghan Rua O Suilleabhain (Owen Roe O'Sullivan) (1748?-1784) (source: Hoagland; cf. Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.12(24))
KEYWORDS: battle navy death sea ship
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: April 12, 1782 - Admiral George Brydges Rodney defeats French Admiral the Count De Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes in the Caribbean and brings the captured French ships into Fort Royal
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Moylan 8, "Rodney's Glory" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 349-351 "Rodney's Glory" (1 long text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(24), "Rodney's Glory," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(133a), "Rodney's Glory," unknown, c.1890
NOTES: Moylan: "Serving with Rodney was a thirty-three-year-old Irishman -- the Gaelic poet Eoghan Rua O Suilleabhain from Sliabh Luachria.... He took part in the engagement with De Grasse and composed this song ... as a way of ingratiating himself with his commander and thereby obtaining his discharge. The ploy was apparently unsuccessful...." - BS
According to Arthur Herman, _To Rule the Waves_, pp. 316-318, George Brydges Rodney (1718-1792) was anything but a good example: although he made captain at the astonishing age of 23, he "had an unquenchable greed for money that corrupted everything he touched. He stole from captured prizes... and cheated other officers out of prize money. He treated everyone with high-handed arrogance... He was also a degenerate gambler, and the outbreak of war found him in France, hiding from debtor's prison."
But he was known as a fighter, so he was pulled out of retirement to command the Leeward Islands station during the late stages of the American Revolution. (He was thoughtfully supplied with several officers to watch over his accounts and actions.) It was a rather desperate time for Britain; the navy was still recovering from severe budget cuts under the Prime Minister Grenville in the 1760s (see Don Cook, _The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies_, pp. 56, 114-115).
In 1780, at Cape Finisterre (the so-called "Midnight Battle"), he changed naval rules by attacking from the windward, making it impossible for a defeated enemy to simply flee.
But his great victory was the Battle of the Saintes. Britain had lost at Yorktown the year before, and de Grasse's fleet which has won the naval part of the Yorktown campaign threatened to destroy the British position in the Carribean as well. De Grasse, based at Fort Royal at Martinique, was supposed to rendezvous with the Spanish and attack Jamaica. Instead, Rodney caught him on April 12. According to Trevor N. Dupuy, Curt Johnson, and David L. Bongard, _The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography_, p. 637, he sank one ship and captured five (a sixth of the French fleet). Andrew Keegan and Andrew Wheatcroft, _Who's Who in Military History_, p. 265, however, says he captured nine ships then and after. Despite these discrepancies, every source seems to agree that his win at the Saintes allowed Britain to continue its mastery of the sea, allowing it to remain a great Colonial power. - RBW
File: Moyl008
===
NAME: Rody MacCorley: see Roddy McCorley (File: FSWB324)
===
NAME: Rody McCorley
DESCRIPTION: Rody McCorley is betrayed in Ballyscullion by Dufferin and McErlean. Testimony that he was "a foe unto the crown" leads to prison in Ballymena and hanging "upon Good Friday... Convenient to the Bridge of Toome"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: rebellion betrayal execution prison trial Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: February 28, 1800 - Rody McCorley hanged in Toome. (source: Moylan citing John Moulden)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn-More 21, "Rody McCorley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 122, "Rody McCorley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9756
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Roddy McCorley" (subject)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "This is the authentic 1798 ballad"
The Fiddler's Companion site says "McCurley was a County Antrim rebel leader in the rising of 1798." 
The rebels [were] defeated at Antrim in June 1798. If any of this is accurate he might have been executed Good Friday, April 6, 1798 or, more likely, March 22, 1799 [but see Moylan's note].
The ballad is recorded on two of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Roisin White, "Rody McCorley" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes)
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Roddy McCorley" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
File: OLcM021
===
NAME: Roger the Ploughboy
DESCRIPTION: Roger meets milk-maid Sue. He would take her to the fair to buy hair ribbons. She eventually agrees. In a grove "he gave her a ribbon to roll up her hair." She said it could not be bought at a fair. They marry. "Roger continues to roll up her hair"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2578))
KEYWORDS:  love marriage seduction
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #17772
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "The Lark in the Morning" (on Voice05) [a mixture of "The Lark in the Morning" and "Roger the Ploughboy"]
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2578), "Roger the Ploughboy" ("Young Roger the ploughboy was a crafty young swain"), H., Such (London), 1863-1885; also Firth b.34(258)[some words are illegible], "Roger the Ploughboy"; 2806 c.16(113), "Roger the Plow Boy"
NOTES: The description is based on broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(2578).
See recording Paddy Tunney, "The Lark in the Morning" (on Voice05). The first verse is a fragment of "The Lark in the Morning"; the second is a fragment of "Roger the Ploughboy." - BS
Is it just me, or does this sound like someone is trying to stick a happy ending on "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?"
File: BdRotPlo
===
NAME: Roger the Tinker Man: see Jolly Old Roger (File: R496)
===
NAME: Roger's Courtship
DESCRIPTION: Roger's father instructs the boy in how to find a wife. He should dress in his best and kiss each pretty girl he meets. He meets (Grace/Nell), and tries his procedure. She slaps him. He asks how she dare reject such a fine specimen as he, then goes home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection father clothes
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H820, pp. 257-258, "Roger's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #575
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jan's Courtship
Roger and Nell
Robin's Courtship
File: HHH520
===
NAME: Rogers The Miller: see The Gray Mare [Laws P8] (File: LP08)
===
NAME: Rogue, The
DESCRIPTION: The girl walks down the street "like a good girl should" followed by a rogue, a sailor, a knave or some such. She rather coyly seduces him. (He coyly gets her pregnant.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1620 (in Bishop Percy Folio Manuscript as the fragmentary "A Dainty Ducke")
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex seduction pregnancy
FOUND_IN: US(So) Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kinloch-BBook XXVII, p. 82-83, "The Knave" (1 text)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 187-190, "The Rogue" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT, KNAVEKN NAVENAVE*
Roud #8156
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
A Gob Is a Gob
Knaves Will Be Knaves
File: RL187
===
NAME: Roisin Dubh (Dark Rosaleen)
DESCRIPTION: Gaelic. The singer laments being kept from his dark Rose. He warns that help is coming from the Pope but they will be apart. He would do anything if he could be with her. The end of the world will come before she would die.
AUTHOR: see notes
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963 (IRPTunney02)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage love war separation nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859 (reprint of 1855 London edition)), Vol II, pp. 19-21, "Dark Rosaleen" [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 143-145, "Dark Rosaleen" [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]; pp. 145-146, "Roisin Dubh" [translated by Eleanor Hull];  pp. 146-148, "Roisin Dubh" [translated by Padraic Pearse]
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 134-135, 500, "Roisin Dubh" [translated by Thomas Furlong (1794-1827)]; pp. 136-139, 504, "Dark Rosaleen" [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, p. 60, "Dark Rosaleen (1 text) [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 56-58, "Dark Rosaleen" (1 text) [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
Thomas Kinsella, _The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1989), pp. 273-275, "Dark Rosaleen" (1 text) [translated by James Clarence Mangan]
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #192, "Dark Rosaleen" (1 text)  [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "Roisin Dubh" (on IRPTunney02)
NOTES: Hayes: "This impassioned ballad, entitled in the original 'Roisin Dubh' (or The Black Little Rose), was written in the reign of Elizabeth by one of the poets of the celebrated Tirconnellian chieftain, Hugh the Red O'Donnell. It purports to be an allegorical address from Hugh to Ireland, on the subject of his love and struggles for her, and his resolve to raise her again to the glorious position she held as a nation before the irruption of the Saxon and Norman spoilers."
Sparling: "Mangan ... always maintained that it was in reality a love-song with an infusion, but no more, of allegorical meaning."
Sparling p. 136 states that "Furlong's version is much more literal but this [Mangan's version] conveys a better idea of the intense fire and passion of the original."
Paddy Tunney sings a Gaelic three verse version on IRPTunney02. The notes to that album have a translation by either Tunney or Peter Boyle. The published translation among ADDITIONAL references closest to that translation is Eleanor Hull's seven verse translation [Hoagland pp. 145-146], though parts of other translations are recognizable. The description is based on Eleanor Hull's and James Clarence Mangan's version. - BS
Hoagland attributes this to Owen Row Mac Ward, who presumably is the poet of Red Hugh O'Donnell mentioned by Hayes. (For Red Hugh, see the notes to "O'Donnell Aboo (The Clanconnell War Song)"). It seems reasonable to attribute the poem to the sixteenth century, given the references to religious persecution, but while that is surely the earliest possible date, there is nothing in the song to prevent a seventeenth century date, or even one from the early eighteenth, I think. (Sullivan attributes it to the nineteenth century, which seems improbable.) Kinsella says that Mangan's translation is "from the Irish of Costello."
The translations are so diverse that it is sometimes difficult to see them as from the same original. Some of this may be because the translators (notably Paidraic Pearse) had axes to grind. - RBW
File: RcRoiDub
===
NAME: Roll and Go
DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. "O Sally Brown she promised me, a long time ago. She promised for to marry me, Way-ay roll and go." Combination of "Sally Brown" and "A Long Time Ago" with an entirely different tune.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor courting parting
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hugill, p. 167, "Roll and Go" (1 text, 1 tune -- quoted from Sharp-EFC) [AbEd, p. 134]
Sharp-EFC, X, p. 12, "Roll and Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2628
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Long Time Ago" (refrain)
cf. "Sally Brown" (verses)
NOTES: Sharp seems to be the only source for this. Hugill classed it as separate from it relatives ("Sally Brown" and "Long Time Ago") though if it had to be declared one or the other, I'd put it with "Sally Brown" as they are both usually used as capstan shanties. - SL
File: Hugi167
===
NAME: Roll Down Dem Bales o' Cotton
DESCRIPTION: "Roll down dem bales o' cotton (x3), I ain't got long to stay here now."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 243, "Roll Down Dem Bales o' Cotton" (1 short text)
File: Br3243
===
NAME: Roll Down the Line: see Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line (File: ADR98)
===
NAME: Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms
DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Roll in my sweet baby's arms (2x)/Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back/Roll in my sweet baby's arms." Floating verses, e.g. "Ain't gonna work on the railroad/Ain't gonna work on the farm"; "Where was you last Friday night...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (recording, Buster Carter & Preston Young)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad floatingverses separation
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 178, "I'll Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 159, "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (1 text)
DT, ROLLBABY*
RECORDINGS:
Buster Carter & Preston Young, "I'll Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (Columbia 15690-D, 1931)
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (Mercury 6372, c. 1951)
Monroe Brothers, "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (Bluebird B-6773, 1937)
New Lost City Ramblers, "I'll Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (on NLCR03)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Late Last Night When Willie Came Home" (words)
cf. "My God, How the Money Rolls In" (words)
NOTES: Paul Stamler lists this as a humorous song. I thought I should add that the versions I've heard have been done "straight," often with a blues feel. - RBW
File: CSW178
===
NAME: Roll Me From the Wall
DESCRIPTION: The singer is courted by young men who wish to roll her from the wall. Her parents force her to marry an impotent old man. He dies and leaves her land and money. She marries a young man who does roll her from the wall but spends all her money.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: age marriage sex death money
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Morton-Ulster 11, "Roll Me From the Wall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8302
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Foot of the Mountain Brow (The Maid of the Mountain Brow)" [Laws P7] (tune)
cf. "Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Jim Carroll's notes to IRTravellers01: "Arranged or 'made' marriages were very much an accepted part of rural life in Ireland up to comparatively recent times... Women from poor house-holds which were unable to support the whole family would readily marry older farmers looking for a housekeeper, or maybe widowers with young children to care for." - BS
There was an additional reason for this well-attested problem: The shortage of land in pre-famine Ireland. Since a boy could not marry until he had land to support his family, he had to wait until his father died -- and even that might not leave enough property for marriage. So there was a shortage of eligible young men, forcing the women either to wait themselves (which meant more burdens on their parents) or to marry a widower. - RBW
File: MorU011
===
NAME: Roll Me Over
DESCRIPTION: The singer begins with number one, "when the fun has just begun," and progressing to number ten, when "it's time to start again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy shanty humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England) US(ubiquitous) New Zealand
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 325-327, "Roll Me Over" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 389-392, "Roll Me Over" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #10133
RECORDINGS:
Larry Vincent's Pearl Trio, "Roll Me Over" (Pearl 50, c. 1949)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Yo Ho, Yo Ho"
cf. "Drive It On"
cf. "Put Your Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away" (tune)
cf. "Kissing Song (II -- She Just Kept Kissing On)" (form)
SAME_TUNE:
Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away (File: Hugi508)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Roll Me Over in the Clover
NOTES: This is perhaps the most popular formula song in the English language. - EC
Hugill thinks this derived from the shanty "Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away," with which it shares a tune. I wouldn't be surprised if the kinship goes the other way. Even more likely to be a descendant is "Kissing Song (II -- She Just Kept Kissing On)." - RBW
File: EM325
===
NAME: Roll Me Over in the Clover: see Roll Me Over (File: EM325)
===
NAME: Roll on the Ground (Big Ball's in Town)
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses: "Let's have a party, let's have a time/Let's have a party, I've only a dime"; "Work on the railroad, sleep on the ground/Eat soda crackers, ten cents a pound." Chorus: "Roll on the ground, boys, roll on the ground (x2)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1899 (recording, Billy Golden)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly concerning high life: "Get on your big shoes, get on your gown/Shake off those sad blues, Big Ball's in town"; "Let's have a party, let's have a time/Let's have a party, I've only a dime"; "My love's in jail, boys, my love's in jail/My love's in jail, boys, who's going her bail?" And "Work on the railroad, sleep on the ground/Eat soda crackers, ten cents a pound." Chorus: "Big Ball's in Boston [Nashville], Big Ball's in town/Big Ball's in Boston, we'll dance around." Or, in the other common version, "Roll on the ground, boys, roll on the ground (x2)."
KEYWORDS: prison dancing drink humorous nonballad floatingverses dancetune
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
BrownIII 234, "Working on the Railroad" (1 text plus two unrelated fragments, the "B" and "C" fragments probably belong here; the "A" text is a jumble starting with "Working on the Railroad" but followed up by what is probably a "Song of All Songs" fragment)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 200, "Big Ball's In Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 199, "Roll On The Ground" (1 text)
DT, ROLLGRND*
Roud #12114 (and probably others)
RECORDINGS:
Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers, "Big Ball in Town" (Brunswick 241, 1928)
Georgia Yellow Hammers, "Big Ball in Memphis" (Victor V-40138, 1929)
Billy Golden, "Roll on the Ground" (Berliner 0539, c. 1900; Victor A-616, c. 1901; rec. 1899) (CYL Albany 1131 [as "Roll On de Ground"], n.d.) (CYL: Lambert 5077 [as "Roll on de Ground"], n.d. but c. 1900) (Victor 16804, 1911 [as "Roll on de Ground"]; rec. 1905)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, "Roll on the Ground" (Brunswick 186, 1927)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Big Ball's in Town" (King 622, 1947)
Fate Norris & his Playboys, "Roll 'em on the Ground" (Columbia 15435-D, 1929)
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, "Big Ball In Town" (Columbia 15204-D, 1927)
Taylor-Griggs Louisiana Melody Makers, "Big Ball Up Town" (Victor 21768, 1928)
Thaddeus C. Willingham, "Roll on the Ground" (AFS, 1939; on LC02, LCTreas)
Unidentified artist [label reads "Negro Shout"], "Roll on the Ground" (Busy Bee 67, c. 1904)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Big Ball's in Boston
NOTES: Harry Oster has reported an anti-Semitic variant from Louisiana, "Hook Nose In Brooklyn." - PJS
Cohen/Seeger/Wood report "This tune is the sort that exists only for itself and its suitability on the banjo, the words being only very freely attached and often with reference to a drunken state." This seems to be true of most variants, except perhaps for the prejudiced version mentioned by Paul. - RBW
Maybe so; the piece, however, seems to have begun life as a "coon song" -- a popular minstrel piece. - PJS
File: CSW200
===
NAME: Roll On Weary River, Roll On
DESCRIPTION: "Roll on, weary river, roll on, Don't take me away with your song, Your waters are deep, many secrets they keep...." "I'm down by the river alone, No place on earth to call home...." The singer, poor and lonely, asks the river to stay away from her home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1976 (recording, Hedy West)
KEYWORDS: river loneliness hardtimes nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 28, #2 (1980), p, 27, "Roll On Weary River, Roll On" (1 text, 1 tune, as sung by Hedy West and learned from her grandmother)
File: Sov28n2b
===
NAME: Roll On, Boys
DESCRIPTION: "Roll on, boys, You make your time; I am so broke down, I can't make mine." "I once was young, As you must see; But age has got The best of me." "Someday you'll think Of me I know When you are old And cannot go." Other verses of hard work and old age
AUTHOR: adapted by John Daniel Vass?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (collected by Shellans from John Daniel Vass)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes age nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Shellans, p. 47, "Roll On, Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7329
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Take This Hammer" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: This song is quite a conundrum. It seems clearly related to the "Roll On, Buddy" versions of "Take This Hammer," but it never uses either the words "Roll on, buddy" or "take this hammer," and much of the song is about the worker failing because of age.
Plus we know that the informant, John Daniel Vass, was capable of rewriting a song; Shellans has several instances of items Vass reworked from traditional materials. Shellans does not say that that happened here, but it seems the best explanation. On that basis, I'm classifying this very tentatively as its own song, but one that clearly should be linked with the extended "Take This Hammer" family. - RBW
File: Shell047
===
NAME: Roll On, Buddy (I): see Take This Hammer (File: FR383)
===
NAME: Roll On, Buddy (II) [Roll On, Buddy, Roll On]
DESCRIPTION: Assorted verses: "I'm going to the East, Karo" "You'd better quit your rowdy ways/You'll get killed some day" "My home's down in Tennessee." Cho: "Roll on, buddy, roll on...You wouldn't roll so slow/If you know what I know/Yes, roll on, my buddy, roll on"
AUTHOR: Lyrics: Charles Bowman/tune: traditional
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Charlie Bowman & his Brothers)
KEYWORDS: travel death floatingverses nonballad home wife homesickness
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Bowman & his Brothers "Roll On, Buddy" (Columbia 15357-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Monroe Bros. "Roll On Buddy" (Bluebird B-6960, 1937)
Sam & Kirk McGee, "Roll On, Buddy"(on McGeeSmith1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms"
cf. "Rock About My Saro Jane" (tune)
cf. "Take This Hammer" (chorus -- the "Roll On, Buddy" variant)
NOTES: This should not be confused with the "Roll On, Buddy" variant of "Take This Hammer"; although it was assembled by Charlie Bowman, who also was involved in assembling "Nine-Pound Hammer" as a delimited song when he was a member of Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, this is an entirely separate song. I use "floatingverses" as a keyword mostly because of the "rowdy ways" verse; the rest don't seem to have exact analogues elsewhere. - PJS
Further research shows that the author, Charlie Bowman, was not only familiar with the other "Roll On, Buddy," but held the copyright on that song, having assembled it from traditional fragments in collaboration with Al Hopkins. - PJS
File: RcROBRO2
===
NAME: Roll On, Columbia
DESCRIPTION: Tribute to the Columbia River, the development along it, and the Bonneville Power Administration that manages both: "Roll on Columbia, roll on (x2), Your power is turning our darkness to dawn, So roll on, Columbia, roll on."
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941
KEYWORDS: technology nonballad river
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 348-349, "Roll On, Columbia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 233, "Roll On, Columbia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 166-167, "Roll On, Columbia" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROLCOLUM
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Roll On, Columbia" (on AmHist2) (on PeteSeeger41)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodnight Irene" (tune)
NOTES: I've seen people claim that the tune Woody used was "Goodnight Irene"; others say it's "My Bonnie." I guess he managed to modify it enough to fool at least a few people.... - RBW
"My Bonnie"? Naah. This is "Goodnight Irene", almost unchanged. - PJS
Obviously true of the chorus. The verse has been altered to a greater degree. Not that it really matters. - RBW
File: SBoA348
===
NAME: Roll On, Little Dogies: see The Cowboy's Dream (File: R185)
===
NAME: Roll Over
DESCRIPTION: "There were ten in the bed, and the little one said, 'Roll over, roll over.' So they all rolled over and one fell out." "There were nine in the bed..." "There was one in the bed And the little one said, 'Good night.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: nonballad humorous
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 386, "Roll Over" (1 text)
File: FSWB386C
===
NAME: Roll the Boat Ashore (Hog-eye I)
DESCRIPTION: Tales of sailing or mountain life, held together with a chorus such as "With a hog-eye! Roll the boat ashore and a hog-eye (x2). All she wants is a hog-eye man." Typical verse: "Who's been here since I been gone? (Someone) with his sea-boots on."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonballad shanty
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownIII 186, "Row the Boat Ashore" (1 text, with all the verses changed to land pursuits)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 836, "The Hog-Eye Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 380, "Hog-Eye" (1 fragment, seemingly a ruined version of the chorus, 1 tune)
ST San380 (Partial)
Roud #331
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sally in the Garden" (many floating verses)
NOTES: Paul Stamler points out a connection between this and "Sally in the Garden," which often mentions Sally being involved with a hog-eye man. Given that both songs are rather amorphous, it can be difficult in the case of short or excerpted texts to tell which is which (and, indeed, Roud appears to lump them).
Nonetheless I would maintain that they are separate songs, based on form. This one is a shanty. Colcord's version is perhaps typical; it has a long (three and a half line) chorus, and the verses have more syllables than "Sally in the Garden." For an example, see the Supplemental Tradition.
Whall suggests that "hog-eye" in this case has nothing to do with the usual sexual meaning; a "hog-eye" reportedly was a California coastal barge, and the reference to the Gold Rush. - RBW
File: San380
===
NAME: Roll the Chariot: see We'll Roll the Old Chariot Along (File: Doe049)
===
NAME: Roll the Cotton Down
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Roll the cotton down." The young man (from Alabama) joined the (Black Ball) line (and now looks back and describes the curious doings on a Black Ball vessel)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 33-34, "Roll the Cotton Down" (3 texts, 1 tune)
walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 62-63, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 84-86, "Roll th' Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 62, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 144-145, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 152-158, "Roll the Cotton Down," "De Runer Von Hamborg (The Runners of Hamburg)" (9 texts-2 in German, 1 tune. The fifth version is basically "Paddy Works on the Railway," sixth is "A Long Time Ago." In the German versions the characteristic line "roll the cotton down" is frequently replaced with "Oh, come, a beer for me.") [AbEd, pp. 123-126]
GreigDuncan1 3, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROLLCTTN* ROLLCOTT2*
Roud #2627
RECORDINGS:
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Roll the Cotton Down" (AFS 4232 B2, 1939; on LC27, in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Long Time Ago" (tune, floating lyrics)
cf. "Roll, Alabama, Roll" (tune)
cf. "Lower the Boat Down" (similar tune)
cf. "Run, Let the Bullgine Run" (tune)
File: Doe033
===
NAME: Roll the Old Chariot Along: see We'll Roll the Old Chariot Along (File: Doe049)
===
NAME: Roll the Tater (Rolly Rolly)
DESCRIPTION: "Don't you think he's a nice young man? Don't you think he's clever? Don't you think that him and me Would make a match forever? Rolly roll, rolly roll, Rolly roll the 'tater." The singer likes music/dancing so much that she wants to join the Shaker band
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (JAFL 28)
KEYWORDS: courting dancing food
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 582, "Roll the 'Tater" (1 text)
Roud #7670
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Weevily Wheat" (floating lyrics, meter)
NOTES: Randolph believes this song completely unconnected to "Weevily Wheat." But my immediate reaction on reading the piece was to think of that song.  No wonder ballad indexing is so hard! - RBW
File: R582
===
NAME: Roll the Union On
DESCRIPTION: "We're going to roll, we're going to roll, we're going to roll the union on." Verse: "If the (boss, scabs, etc.) get(s) in the way, we're going to roll right over him (them)...we're going to roll the union on"
AUTHOR: Probably John Handcock/Handcox
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (recording, John Handcock)
KEYWORDS: labor-movement nonballad boss scab worker
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, ROLUNION*
RECORDINGS:
John Handcock, "Going to Roll the Union On" (AFS 3237 A2, 1937)
Pete Seeger & Chorus, "Roll the Union On" (on PeteSeeger01)
NOTES: John Handcox (with an X) was a sharecropper and organizer; he apparently based the song on the hymn "Roll the Chariot On" (which seems to be not the same as "We'll Roll the Old Chariot Along" as found in Sandburg; they share a verse, but not the tune or meter). I have been unable to find a copy of "Roll the Chariot On". - PJS
File: DTroluni
===
NAME: Roll the Woodpile Down
DESCRIPTION: Pumping or capstan shanty. Verse lines end with "way down in Florida" and "an' we'll roll the woodpile down." Full chorus: "Rollin' rollin' rollin' the whole world round. That brown gal o' mine's down the Georgia Line, an' we'll roll the woodpile down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong
FOUND_IN: West Indies US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hugill, pp. 160-161, "Roll the Woodpile Down" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 128]
DT, WOODPLDN*
Roud #4443
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Haul the Woodpile Down
NOTES: Hugill states that this is the sea version of "Haul the Woodpile down." [Indexed as "Hold the Woodpile Down," which is a more Dave Macon-ish version of the title. - RBW] Probably originated in the West Indies of American south, and was popular at sea right up to the end, one of Hugill's sources remembers it sung on board as late as 1920. Technically this could have been entered under "Hold the Woodpile Down"; however that entry kept making references to "Roll the Woodpile Down" and there was no entry for that cross-reference so I decided to add one, especially since this is likely the original that Uncle Dave Macon's version came from. - SL
Since this song seems to predate "Roll the Woodpile Down," and is also more coherent, it seems reasonable to consider this the original. - RBW
File: Hugi160
===
NAME: Roll Them Simelons
DESCRIPTION: "O Miss Mary, I am so sorry, Bound for Texas, I am so sorry. Roll them simelons, roll 'em round, Keep them simerlons rollin' down. Roll them simelons, roll 'em down, All them pretty girls down town."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hudson 157, p. 302, "Roll Them Simelons" (1 short text)
Roud #4511
File: Hud157
===
NAME: Roll Your Leg Over
DESCRIPTION: In this quatrain ballad, singers hypothecate that if the girls were ducks, rabbits, bricks, etc., they would be drakes, hares, masons, and euphemistically enjoy lustful pleasures.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous nonballad animal
FOUND_IN: Australia [from an American student] Canada US(MW,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cray, pp. 301-309, "Roll Your Leg Over" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman II, pp. 643-647, "Roll Your Leg Over" (2 texts)
DT, ROLYRLEG
Roud #10410
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hares on the Mountain"
cf. "Creepin' and Crawlin'"
cf. "The Twa Magicians" [Child 44]
NOTES: This more or less recently composed bawdy song -- the earliest text recovered dates from the second world war -- is ultimately descended from "The Twa Magicians" (Child 44). See Cray, pp. 306 ff. - EC
G. Legman offers extensive notes in Randolph-Legman II. - EC
Paul Stamler suggests that this is a strongly bawdy version of "Hares on the Mountain." The dependence, in lyrics and form, is obvious, but this text apparently has taken on a life of its own in army circles. I must admit that I question the connection with "The Twa Magicians." Cray concedes there are no intermediaries between "The Twa Magicians" and the "Hares on the Mountain/Sally My Dear" complex. - RBW
File: EM301
===
NAME: Roll, Alabama, Roll
DESCRIPTION: The Alabama is built in Birkenhead by Jonathan Laird. After a long career of commerce-raiding, the Kearsarge catches her off Cherbourg and sinks her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925
KEYWORDS: shanty battle navy Civilwar
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 15, 1862 - Launching of the C.S.S. Alabama
June 19, 1864 - The Alabama sunk by the U.S.S. Kearsarge
FOUND_IN: US(MA) New Zealand
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 35-37, "The Alabama" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 65, "Roll, Alabama, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 159, "Roll, Alabama, Roll!" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 126-127]
Scott-BoA, pp. 245-247, "Roll, Alabama, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 350-351, "The Alabama" (1 text)
Silber-CivWar, p. 70, "Roll, Alabama, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROLLALAB*
Roud #4710
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll the Cotton Down" (tune)
NOTES: When the Civil War began, the Confederates had neither navy, nor merchant fleet, nor significant shipbuilding capability; all rested in the hands of the North. Facing economic strangulation, the South explored every avenue to build a fleet.
Early in the war, the British were willing to help the Confederates build a navy. One of the ships built for this purpose was the _Alabama_, a fast commerce-raider. Built by Jonathan Laird, Ltd. at Birkenhead near Liverpool, the Federals protested her building from first to last, but somehow the papers never quite came through in time. (Allan Nevins, _The War for the Union: War Becomes Revolution 1862-1863_, Scribners, 1960, pp. 266-267, describes how American Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams kept bringing new details to the British government about the _Alabama_. The British government theoretically agreed to try to stop work on the ship, but the local customs inspectors ignored their instructions.)
After the completion of the hull in 1862, the _Alabama_ sailed for the Azores to pick up arms and her Captain, Raphael Semmes (brother of the Confederate General Paul Semmes, killed at Gettysburg).
Over the next two years, the _Alabama_ sank a total of 69 Union merchant vessels, formally valued at $6,547,609.
Although she once ran the blockade to enter the Confederate port at Galveston, the _Alabama_ was generally unable to stop at Confederate ports; when she needed repairs in 1864, she stopped at the French port of Cherbourg. An American got off word of her presence there, and the _Kearsarge_ was waiting when the _Alabama_ sailed. Soon after the _Alabama_ crossed the three mile limit, the _Kearsarge_ moved in; the Confederate ship sank some forty minutes later. Her crew was rescued by a British yacht.
According to Fletcher Pratt, _A Compact History of the United States Nacy_, pp. 151-152, there wasn't much difference in actual fighting power between the _Alabama_ and the _Kearsarge_. But the _Kearsarge_ was a well-drilled ship with properly-trained gunners. _Alabama_, which constantly had to change bases, could never lay in an adequate supply of powder and shot, so her gunners were much less accurate. And _Kearsarge_ had two very heavy 11-inch guns. As a result, Kearsarge was able to score many more damaging hits and destroy her opponent while taking very little damage.
The _Alabama_ was a great success, but few ships followed her. The Americans demands for reparation, known as the "Alabama Claims," caused the British to stop building ships for the Confederacy. (In fact the claims covered the damage done by eleven ships; the total bill was $19,021,000, largely due to the _Alabama_, the _Shenandoah_, $6,488,320; and the _Florida_, $3,698,609). The Americans were finally paid some $15.5 million in 1873.
According to James P. Delgado, _Lost Waships: An Archaeological Tour of War at Sea_, Checkmark, 2001, p. 122, the wreck of the _Alabama_ was found off Cherbourg in 1984, and some artifacts have been recovered.- RBW
For a broadside on the same subject see
LOCSinging, as112570, "The Sinking of the Pirate Alabama," J. Magee (Philadelphia), 1864; also hc00026b, "The Sinking of the Pirate Alabama"; cw103190, "Kearsarge and Alabama" 
attributed to Silas S. Steele, "Tune: 'Teddy the Tiler,' or 'Cannibal Islands.'"  - BS
File: Doe035
===
NAME: Roll, Boys, Roll
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Oh Sally Brown she's the gal for me, boys Roll, boys roll boys roll. Sally Brown she's the gall for me boys, Way high Miss Sally Brown."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor
FOUND_IN: West Indies
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, p. 170, "Roll, Boys, Roll!" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 137-138]
NOTES: Hugill got this from his friend "Harding the Barbarian," a black sailor and shantyman from Barbados. Harding said it originated in the West Indies and was popular in ships which carried chequerboard crews. - SL
File: Hugi170
===
NAME: Roll, Jordan, Roll (I)
DESCRIPTION: "My brother sitting on the tree of life And he heard when Jordan roll, Roll, Jordan, Roll, Jordan, Roll, Jordan, Roll.""O preacher, you oughta been there."  "My sister sitting on the tree of life." "He comes, he comes, the Judge severe." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: river freedom religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 1, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 631, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (2 short texts plus a fragment)
Scott-BoA, pp.195-196 , "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 240, "Roll, Jordan, Roll"; 241, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 369, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (1 text)
Roud #6697
RECORDINGS:
Elizabeth Bivens, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (on HandMeDown2)
Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, "Roll Jordan Roll" (Victor 16453, 1910; rec. 1909); "Roll Jordon [sic] Roll" (CYL: Edison [Amb.] 980, rec. 1912)
Lt. Jim Europe's Singing Serenaders, "Roll Jordan Roll" (Pathe 22105, 1919) (Pathe 020851, 1923 [as Jim Europe's Singing Serenaders])
Tuskegee Institute Singers, "Roll, Jordan Roll" (Victor 18237, 1917; rec. 1915)
NOTES: The texts of this piece differ significantly; the verse lines quoted above are typical but by no means universal. There seem to have been adaptions for particular situations. The line "Roll, Jordan, Roll" is, of course, characteristic. - RBW
File: SBoA195
===
NAME: Roll, Jordan, Roll (II)
DESCRIPTION: Humorous verses for "Roll, Jordan, Roll," e.g. "Kate went a-fishing the other night, Roll sweet Jordan roll, She broke eleven hooks and never got a bite..." "[A chicken] sneezed so hard with the whooping cough It sneezed its head and tail both off."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 303, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (1 text)
BrownIII 469, "Way Down Yonder on Cedar Street" (1 short text)
Roud #6697
NOTES: Brown's six-line fragment is not in the same form as Randolph's song, and doesn't mention the Jordan. But they start with the same lines; in the absence of real data to classify the Brown text, I lump them. - RBW
File: R303
===
NAME: Roll, Julia, Roll: see The Liverpool Judies (Row, Bullies, Row; Roll, Julia, Roll) (File: Doe106)
===
NAME: Rolled the Stone Away
DESCRIPTION: "In ancient days, when Israel's host In darkest bondage lay, The mighty power of God was shown, He rolled the stone away. He rolled the sea away, He rolled the sea way. With Jesus ever near, No foe I have to fear. He rolls the sea away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 630, "Rolled the Stone Away" (1 fragment)
Roud #11930
NOTES: The Brown text looks very composite (what exactly was rolled away -- the Red Sea or the stone closing Jesus's tomb?) -- but with so little text, we can hardly separate the components. - RBW
File: Br3630
===
NAME: Roller Bowler
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Short refrain: "Hooray you roller bowler." Full refrain: Timme high-rig-a-jig and a ha ha ha, Good morning ladies all." Verses concern courting or at least chasing women.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty courting
FOUND_IN: Britain West Indies
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hugill, pp. 348-349, "Roller Bowler" (3 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 260-263]
Sharp-EFC, XII, pp. 14-15, "Roller, Bowler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8283
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Good Morning, Ladies All
File: Hugi348
===
NAME: Rollicking Bill the Sailor: see Bollochy Bill the Sailor (File: EM081)
===
NAME: Rollicking Boys Around Tandragee, The
DESCRIPTION: The song is about Tandragee, its "darling colleens" and "rollicking boys." Other places have their fine points but Tandragee has its wonderful dancers, bold men and rare singers. "The gem of oul' Ireland is Tandragee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (IRTunneyFamily01)
KEYWORDS: dancing music Ireland nonballad home
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 91-92, "The Rollicking Boys Around Tandragee" (1 text)
Roud #3106
RECORDINGS:
Michael Gallagher, "The Rollicking Boys Around Tandaragee" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bunch of Green Rushes that Grew on the Brim" (tune, according to Tunney-StoneFiddle)
NOTES: This song strings together references to other songs: "The House That Jack Built," "The Praties They Grow Small," "Donnybrook Fair," "Irish Jaunting Car," "The Rakes of Kildare," ...; and famous men: Robert Emmet, Burke, Dan O'Connell and Thomas Moore.
Tunney-StoneFiddle: .".. a good-humoured swipe is made at quite a few sacred cows.... 'That', he [the singer] maintained, 'is the satire to slay all stage-Irishmen!'" - BS
File: TSF091
===
NAME: Rollin' Down the Line: see Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line (File: ADR98)
===
NAME: Rollin' Home by the Silvery Moon
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Chorus: "Rollin' home (x4) by the light of the silvery moon. Happy is the sailor who has shipped aboard a whaler, when she's rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Chorus: "Rollin' home (x4) by the light of the silvery moon. Happy is the sailor who has shipped aboard a whaler, when she's rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' home." Verses run "Here's to the good ol' beer (claret, rum, etc) mop it down" (also x4). The verses get more bawdy after finishing with the available beverages.
KEYWORDS: drink sailor shanty bawdy
FOUND_IN: US Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 180-81, "Rollin' Home by the Silvery Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Hugi 180
===
NAME: Rolling a-Rolling: see The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)
===
NAME: Rolling Down to Old Maui (Mohee)
DESCRIPTION: The sailors, having spent many months in Kamchatka and the Bering Sea, are happy to flee the northern gales and return to temperate climes in Maui/Mohee. The look forward to seeing the girls
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1858 (Journal from the Atkins Adams)
KEYWORDS: whaler return sailor sea 
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 27-28, "Rolling Down to Old Mohee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 197-198, "Rolling Down to Old Maui" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 228-230, "Rolling Down to Old Maui" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MAUI1* MAUI2* MOHEE3*
Roud #2005
File: SWMS027
===
NAME: Rolling Home
DESCRIPTION: The sailors are "Rolling home, rolling home, rolling home across the sea, Rolling home (to wherever home is)." They describe they voyage, the girls or whatnot they have left behind, and the joys of returning to home (and sweethearts)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: ship travel return reunion
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Australia Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 155-160, "Rolling Home" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 52-55, "Rolling Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 133-136, "Rolling Home" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 182-191, "Rolling Home" (4 texts- 3 English, 1 German; 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 146-149]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 141-143, "(Rolling Home)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 54-55, "Rolling Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 95, "Rolling Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 40, "Rolling Home to Merry England" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 320-321, "Rolling Home" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 96, "Rolling Home" (1 text)
DT, ROLLHOME ROLLHOM2 ROLLHOM3
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 32, #4 (1987), p, 80, "Rolling Home" (1 text, 1 tune, as sung by Captain Leighton Robinson)
Roud #4766
RECORDINGS:
Morris Houlihan, "Rolling Home" (on NFMLeach)
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Rolling Home" (AFS 4230 A, 1939; on LC27; on LC27, in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Kevin Barry" (tune)
cf. "Magelhan" (adaption of text)
NOTES: Silber credits this to Charles Mackay, but the variety of verses known to me (most of which do not occur in Silber) implies that this is a genuinely traditional song. - RBW
Hugill in _Shanties from the Seven Seas_ (Mystic Seaport,1994) p. 145 says "Its origin is a bit doubtful, but most collectors seem to think it is based on a poem of Charles Mackay, written on board ship in 1858.... No one has discovered as to whether it is mentioned in any books prior to 1858; if this was the case it would more or less prove that the shanty came first."
Mackay's chorus is "Rolling home, rolling home, rolling home, dear land to thee, Rolling home to merry England, rolling home across the sea" per Leach in notes to NFMLeach. Leach thinks "MacKay used the chantey refrain [rather] than that he contributed it. Certainly the Newfoundlanders think that this chantey is older than the middle of the [19th] century." - BS
File: Doe155
===
NAME: Rolling Home to Merry England: see Rolling Home (File: Doe155)
===
NAME: Rolling in the Dew (The Milkmaid)
DESCRIPTION: Boy: Where are you going? Girl: Milking. Boy: May I come? Girl: Why not? Boy: What if I lay you down? Girl: Then you'll help me up. Boy: What if you get pregnant? Girl: You'll be the father....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1842 (Halliwell), according to Kennedy
KEYWORDS: dialog seduction
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,So) Britain(England(Lond,South)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Randolph 79, "The Milking Maid" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Eddy 52, "The Milkmaid" (1 text)
Hudson 132, pp. 277-278, "The Milkmaid" (1 text plus mention of "numerous" others)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 137-138, "Where Are You Going, My Pretty Fair Maid?" (1 text)
Doerflinger, pp. 68-70, "Sacramento" (3 texts, 2 tunes, with the third text deriving its tune from this piece; the other two texts are independent)
Hugill, pp. 92, 210-211, "Rio Grande" (1 fragment, version "c" of "Rio Grande," with the text of this song and the chorus of "Rio Grande") [AbEd, p. 85]; "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, version "e" of "Blow the Man Down" sung to the that tune as well as those of "Rio Grande" and "Goodbye, Fare-ye-well") [AbEd, pp. 165-166]
Sharp-100E 44, "Dabbling in the Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 238-239, "Rolling in the Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 189, "Rolling in the Dew" (1 text, 1 tune); also 94, "Pelea era why moaz, moes fettow teag? [Where Are You Going To, My Pretty Maid?" (1 text + Cornish translation, 1 tune)
Leather, p. 205, "The Milkmaid's song" (1 censored excerpt, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 112, pp. 228-229, "The Milkmaid"; p. 230, "The Pretty Milkmaid" (2 texts, neither of which recounts the seduction)
JHCox 125, "The Milkmaid" (2 texts)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 46, "My Pretty Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 317, "Where are you going to, my pretty maid?" (3 texts)
BBI, ZN242, "As I walked forth one summers day" ("Dreadful expansion of 'Where are you going my pretty maid, I'm going milking sir, she said'")
DT, DABBLDEW* MILKMDFR*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #219, "Dabbling in the Dew" (1 text, probably cleaned up)
Roud #298
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Rolling in the Dew" (on FSB2CD, Maynard1, Voice10)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(348), "Where Are You Going My Pretty Maid?," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Firth b.34(275) View 2 of 2, "Where Are You Going My Pretty Maid"
LOCSheet, sm1882 21563, "O Where Are You Going, My Pretty Maid?," J. M. Russell (Boston), 1882 (tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Seventeen Come Sunday" [Laws O17]
cf. "The New-Mown Hay"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Where Are You Going, My Pretty Fair Maid?
NOTES: A number of the versions of this piece, such as Pound's two, end seemingly BEFORE the seduction; the man asks the girl about her wealth, and she replies, "My face it is my fortune," whereupon he abandons her. I suspect, however, that these versions are bowdlerized, with the seduction eliminated from the middle.
In some cases this may be editors' bowdlerization, but it may have happened naturally in a few instances (note that Laura Ingalls Wilder actually quotes such a version in chapter 13 of _By the Shores of Silver Lake_!). - RBW
One of the reasons milkmaids were held in such romantic esteem was for their smooth, fair, and un-pockmarked skin, which came from their contact with cowpox and resultant immunity to smallpox -- thus the milkmaid's remark, "My face is my fortune."
Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. - PJS
There seem to be several pieces of this sort floating about. _Gammer Gurton's Garland_ and others have one running,
Little maid, pretty maid, whither goes thou?
Down in the (forest/meadow) to milk my cow.
Shall I go with thee? -- No, not now;
When I send for thee, then come thou.
(See Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #101, p. 90.) I suspect it is actually this, not "Rolling in the Dew," that Kennedy is citing for his date. - RBW
File: R079
===
NAME: Rolling King: see South Australia (File: Doe071)
===
NAME: Rolling Neuse, The
DESCRIPTION: "When Greene's horn blew a long, loud blast, At early day's bright dawning, In slumber my heart was pulsing fast. I was dreaming of the morning When Nancy would be my youthful bride." As he prepares to fight, he prays for her happiness
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: battle love courting dream
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 366, "The Rolling Neuse" (1 short text)
Roud #11746
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wind That Shakes the Barley" (subject)
NOTES: Brown's informant listed this as a fragment, and so it appears to be. As it stands, it looks rather like "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," though whether that comparison would stand in a full-length version is not clear.
Greene is doubtless Nathaniel Green (1742-1786), who had a long career in the Continental (American Revolutionary) army. In October 1780 he was given command of what would now be called something like the southern theatre of the war. He successfully lead Cornwallis around by the nose, and despite minor setbacks, captured most southern cities by the end of 1781.
The Neuse River flows into Pamlico Sound in North Carolina, but this cannot be used to date the song more precisely; the soldier seemingly is not serving on the Neuse but thinking of his home near it. - RBW
File: Br3366
===
NAME: Rolling of the Stones, The: see The Twa Brothers [Child 49] (File: C049)
===
NAME: Rolling River: see Shenandoah (File: Doe077)
===
NAME: Rolling Stone, The [Laws B25]
DESCRIPTION: Hard times leave a husband wanting to move to (California); his wife wishes to stay at home. She wins the argument by pointing out that they might be killed by Indians on their way
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes travel settler
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,So)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws B25, "The Rolling Stone"
Belden, pp. 351-352, "The Rolling Stone" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Randolph 194, "The Rolling Stone" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 186-188, "The Rolling Stone" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 194A)
Fuson, p. 100, "The Stone that Is Rolling" (1 text)
FSCatskills 87, "The Rolling Stone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 161-163, "The Wisconsin Emigrant" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 387, ROLLNGST*
Roud #710
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Husband's Departure" (form, lyrics)
File: LB25
===
NAME: Rolly Roll: see Roll the Tater (Rolly Rolly) (File: R582)
===
NAME: Rolly Trudam: see Lolly-Too-Dum (File: LxU012)
===
NAME: Rolly Trudum: see Lolly-Too-Dum (File: LxU012)
===
NAME: Romish Lady, The [Laws Q32]
DESCRIPTION: A young woman is a closet Protestant (she reads the Bible and refuses to worship angels). Her Catholic mother has her imprisoned. Tried before the Pope, she is burned at the stake. She pardons her tormentors while blaming her mother for her fate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1586 (stationer's register)
KEYWORDS: religious death execution
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws Q32, "The Romish Lady"
Belden, pp. 450-455, "The Romish Lady" (5 texts; it appears that Laws omits version "C" from his list, but it is clearly the same piece)
Eddy 97, "The Romish Lady" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 149, "An Account of a Little Girl Who Was Burnt for Her Religion" (1 text)
Randolph 604, "The Death of a Romish Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 56, "The Romish Lady" (1 text with variant readings)
Hudson 28, pp. 137-139, "The Death of a Romish Lady" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 175-178, "A Lady's Daughter of Paris," with local title "There Was a Romish Lady" (1 text; tune on p. 404)
Brewster 49, "The Death of a Romish Lady" (1 text plus a fragment)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 94-97, "The Romish Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 25, pp. 63-66, "The Death of a Romish Lady" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1518, "It was a Ladies Daughter, of Paris properly"
DT 540, ROMSHLDY*
Roud #1920
NOTES: This song obviously dates to a time when Catholic-Protestant tensions were high, though it is not clear whether this dates it from before Henry VIII's break with Rome (1533), or during the reign of Mary I (1553-1558).
The song is known to have been in existence in the time of Charles II, 1660-1685, and a fragment is apparently found in John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont's 1611 play "The Knight of the Burning Pestle." (I say "apparently" because the reference is extremely brief. All that we have are the title -- "A Lady's Daughter of Paris, Properly" -- and
part of the first line -- "It was a lady's daughter..."; it is unusual in that it is a ballad *not* sung by Merrythought.)
Many of the charges leveled here are, sadly, true though overblown. The statute "De heretico comburendo"  was enacted in England in 1401 (it had passed earlier in most continental countries) -- but very few English martyrs other than Tyndale were burned.
The Catholic laity was long forbidden to read scriptures -- but Catholic translations of the Bible into English first appeared in 1582.
Most of the other implied charges (e.g. worship of idols, slavish adherence to priests) are traits shared with at least some Protestant churches.
Curiously, in a piece so clearly controversial, there are no direct scriptural quotations. The claim "I'll live by faith forever" obviously is based on Romans 1:17 and its host of parallels; the phrase "the pride of life" is an allusion to 1 John 2:16 (KJV; NRSV renders "pride in riches"); the injunction "shed not a tear for me" may hark back to Luke 23:28; the statement "while my poor body is burning, my soul the Lord shall see" is reminiscent of the last minutes of Stephen (Acts 7:55f.); her forgiveness of her persecutors also refers back to Stephen (Acts 7:60) as well as Jesus's pardon of his killers (Luke 23:34 in the KJV; many early Bible manuscripts omit this verse). - RBW
File: LQ32
===
NAME: Rookery, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a maid and accompanies her home "in Blarney Lane, convenient to the Rookery." She invites him to her room for sport and whisky punch. He wakes drunk, minus twenty pounds, a watch and coat. The neighbors laugh. Young men be warned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: sex seduction robbery drink whore warning
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OCanainn, pp. 42-43, "The Rookery" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Gold Watch" [Laws K41] (plot) and references there
File: OCan042
===
NAME: Rookhope Ryde [Child 179]
DESCRIPTION: The singer curses those who raid Rookhope. Northern thieves descend upon Rookhope when most of the high officials were away. But the raiders are seen, pursued, and taken in battle. The singer praises those who repelled the raid
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1792 (Ritson, "The Bishopric Garland")
KEYWORDS: poaching robbery punishment
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 179, "Rookhope Ryde" (1 text)
Roud #4008
NOTES: Child dates this "ryde" (raid) to the time of the Rising in the North (for background, see "The Rising in the North" [Child 175]), and this seems likely enough. However, neither the song itself nor outside sources give enough details to make this verifiable. The only other evidence is implicit: The Rising distracted or removed so many lords, sheriffs, and bailiffs that it made such a vast raid possible. - RBW
File: C179
===
NAME: Rookie's Lament
DESCRIPTION: "I ain't been long in this here army, Just a few days since I arrive." The new recruit complains about sergeants, drill, hiking, cavalry, cavalry horses, military medicine, military discipline, and anything else that springs to mind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: army soldier hardtimes
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 548-551, "A Rookie's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15543
NOTES: All this whining and he didn't even mention military food. - RBW
File: LxA548
===
NAME: Room Enough
DESCRIPTION: "My Lord says there's room enough, Room enough in Heaven for us all. My Lord says there's room enough, So don't say away." Sisters, brothers, sinners, backsliders are told, "Don't stay away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Work)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 94-95, "My Lord Says There's Room Enough in Heaven for Us All" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12313
NOTES: Jackson notes that this is used as a church and camp song -- but also notes its suitability for field work because it is so easy to improvise; all the lead singer has to do is come up with a noun to start a line, and then repeat it a few times and go into the chorus. - RBW
File: JDM094
===
NAME: Room Was So Cold and Cheerless, The
DESCRIPTION: "The room was so cold and cheerless and bare," almost without furniture and with broken windows. The cradle sits empty, the woman is dying of hunger and cold. Her husband is a drunkard and will not reach Heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Henry, collected from Rachel Brackett)
KEYWORDS: death abandonment husband wife drink clergy Bible Hell warning
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 116-117, "The Room Was So Cold and Cheerless" (1 text)
NOTES: The song states in the final stanza, "A verse in the Bible, the minister read, 'No drunkard shall reach heaven," it said."
There is no verse in the Bible which uses those precise words. The reference is, I believe, to 1 Corinthians 6:[9-]10, which reads, "Fornicators, odolators, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, [10] thieves, the freedy, the drunk, the ill-tongued, bandits -- none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God." However, it also goes on to say that the readers *used to be* these things, but were freed by the work of Jesus. Although all of these things are (seemingly) sinful, as I read the passage, it is not the sin but the attitude of the sinner which determines salvation. I grant that this is a fairly subtle distinction -- clearly it was lost on the author of this song. - RBW
File: MHAp116
===
NAME: Root, Abe, or Die: see Root, Hog, or Die (Confederate Version) (File: R248)
===
NAME: Root, Hog, or Die (Confederate Version)
DESCRIPTION: Various cracks about the incompetence or cowardice of the Yankees, ending by saying "We'll make the Dutch (or Old Abe, or any other tempting target) root hog or die." Also praises the confederate armies in extravagant terms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar parody patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 10, 1861 - Battle of Wilson's Creek
FOUND_IN: US(So,SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Belden, pp. 361-362, "Root, Abe, or Die" (1 text)
Randolph 248, "Root Hog or Die" (1 text, with an element of "The Bonnie Blue Flag" mixed in)
BrownIII 372, "Root Hog or Die" (1 short text, perhaps mixed)
DT, ROOTHOG2*
Roud #7829
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
cf. "The Jolly Union Boys" and references there (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
NOTES: Randolph's version of this song is very specific to Missouri; see his notes.
Belden's version, at first glance, has almost nothing in common with Randolph's brief and mixed-up version. But both are from the Ozarks, and both involve the Missouri campaigns of Nathaniel Lyon and the Battle of Wilson's Creek. If they aren't the same piece, they are communal efforts on the same theme. Close enough.
Brown's short text is another matter; it seems more generically Confederate, and refers to Fort Sumter. But it's too short to file separately.
For the complex background to the Battle of Wilson's Creek, see the notes to songs in the cross-references, notably "The Jolly Union Boys" and "Joe Stiner." - RBW
File: R248
===
NAME: Root, Hog, or Die (V)
DESCRIPTION: Minstrel song? "Root, Hog, or Die," with some "Walkin' in the Parlor" verses: "The greatest ole nigger that I eva' did see, Looked like a sick monkey...." "I come from Alabama with a pocketful of news..." Cho: "Chief cook and bottle washer...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Allsopp)
KEYWORDS: cook work nonballad floatingverses food
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 161, ("Root, Hog, or Die")
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
cf. "Walkin' in the Parlor" (lyrics)
File: FWA161A
===
NAME: Root, Hog, or Die (VI -- Cowboy Bawdy variant)
DESCRIPTION: The singer heads to Arizona to punch cattle. He takes a holiday in Phoenix, where was pretty girl says she will "see what I can do for your root, hog, or die." He contracts a venereal disease; "that's why I lost the head of my root, hog, or die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1976 (collected by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: bawdy cowboy sex disease disability
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Logsdon 22, pp. 140-142, "Root, Hog, or Die" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3242
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gay Caballero" (theme of disease destroying sexual organs)
cf. "The Fire Ship" (plot) and references there
File: Logs022
===
NAME: Root, Hog, or Die [Laws B21]
DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives in California broke and takes a job making hay. He soon gambles his pay away, gets drunk, and lands in jail. A friend pays his fine; he warns against the dangers of playing poker
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: poverty drink gambling prison reprieve
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws B21, "Root Hog or Die"
Randolph 422, "Root Hog or Die" (5 texts, mostly short and perhaps excerpted, 3 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 347-349, "Root Hog or Die" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 422C)
Silber-FSWB, p. 57, "Root, Hog, Or Die" (1 text)
DT 598, ROOTHOG3
Roud #3242
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (II)"
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (III)"
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (IV)"
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (V)"
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (Confederate Version)"
File: LB21
===
NAME: Root, Hog, or Die! (II)
DESCRIPTION: A bull-whacker recalls good times in Salt Lake City when his Chinese whore could roll her hog eye, and he would root hog or die.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy whore foreigner
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 576-582, "Root, Hog or Die!" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 11, "Root Hog or Die" (2 texts, 1 tune, with the "A" and "B" texts being different forms of the song. "A" appears to be a cleaned-up version of this form.)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
NOTES: The supplemental texts supplied by Legman in Randolph-Legman I are more interesting than the one stanza fragment that Randolph collected. - EC
[Note: Randolph actually collected five "clean" versions of this piece, but all -- except that listed as "Root Hog or Die (Confederate Version)" -- are quite fragmentary. - RBW]
I am not entirely sure that the Fife "A" text is a variant of this piece (though it starts in the same way). But if it isn't, it needs its own entry -- and I'm tired of the proliferation of "Root Hog or Die" versions.... - RBW
File: RL576
===
NAME: Root, Hog, or Die! (III -- The Bull-Whacker)
DESCRIPTION: A "Western" "Root Hog" version, with the singer herding cattle and keeping an eye out for local wildlife. He complains about the hard life and bad food, but also talks about the pretty girls
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: work travel animal whore
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 171, "Root, Hog, or Die" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 430-432, "The Bull-Whacker" (1 text)
Fife-Cowboy/West 11, "Root Hog or Die" (2 texts, 1 tune, of which the "B" text, "The Philosophical Cowboy," appears to belong here)
DT, ROOTHOG1*
Roud #4292
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Philosophical Cowboy
NOTES: The final verses of this version resemble the bawdy text (Root, Hog, or Die II), and one wonders if this version might not have been cleaned up.  But the lead-in is completely different. - RBW
File: LoF171
===
NAME: Root, Hog, or Die! (IV)
DESCRIPTION: "I'll tell you all a story that happened long ago, When the English came to America... The Yankees boys made 'em sing 'Root hog or die.'" The singer describes various English defeats: the Tea Party, Bunker Hill, Yorktown, Baltimore, New Orleans
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (a text reported by Belden to be this was found in the 1859 Dime Song Book)
KEYWORDS: battle patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec. 16, 1773 - Boston Tea Party. Americans protest the British tax on tea by dumping a shipload into Boston Harbor
June 17, 1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (fought on Breed's Hill, and won by the British, though at heavy cost)
Oct 19, 1781 - Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown (not really as a result of being defeated; his supply line had been cut by the French navy)
Aug 24, 1814 - A British force under Robert Ross captures Washington, D.C. after brushing aside the incompetent defenders. (Madison's administration had already fled). Two days later the British leave for Baltimore.
Sept 13, 1814 - Battle of Fort McHenry, which saves Baltimore from the British attack.
Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which British General Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulse Pakenham.
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, p. 334, "Root Hog or Die" (1 text)
Roud #4734
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
File: Beld334
===
NAME: Rory O'Moore: see Rory O'More (File: OCon090)
===
NAME: Rory O'More
DESCRIPTION: "Young Rory O'More courted young Kathleen Bawn." He teases her. She says Mike loves her and dreams of hating Rory. Rory says "drames always go by contraries," After thrashing Dinny Grimes and Jim Duff he asks her to marry. They marry and retire to bed.
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3313))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage fight dream
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, p. 90, "Rory O'More" (1 text)
Roud #6125
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3313), "Rory O'More", J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth b.27(136), Harding B 11(1513), Firth c.17(129) [only partly legible], Harding B 11(2596), Harding B 25(72), 2806 b.11(243), Harding B 16(233c), Harding B 11(3312), Firth b.34(212) View 2 of 2, 2806 c.16(297), Johnson Ballads 342, 2806 c.15(328), "Rory O'More"
SAME_TUNE:
Too-Ril-Te-Too (The Robin and the Cat) (File: Lins293)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rory O'Moore
NOTES: Since O'Conor omits the fourth(final) stanza broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3313) was used for the Description. - BS
At least one source sub-titles this "Good Omens."
There was an Irish nationalist, Rory O'More, who was a leader of the 1641 rebellion (and a grandfather of Sarsfield, for whom see "After Aughrim's Great Disaster." It doesn't appear he is connected with this song, though. - RBW
File: OCon090
===
NAME: Rory of the Hill
DESCRIPTION: The bold Tip mountaineer" "Rory of the Hill" asks if Scully is dead." Rory tells how Scully and the agent turned him and his mother out. Since then he, like Michael Hayes, shot a landlord or agent. He fled to New York, but has returned to Ireland.
AUTHOR: Thomas Walsh (according to broadside Bodleian 2806 b.10(137)) or I. Walsh (according to broadsides Bodleian Firth b.26(102), Bodleian Firth c.26(154) and Bodleian 2806 c.8(278))
EARLIEST_DATE: 1868 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: emigration return murder America Ireland
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 75, "Rory of the Hill" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(102), "Rory of the Hills" ("At Slievenamon the man who asked me was Scully dead?"), T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899 ; also Firth c.26(154), "Rory of the Hills"; 2806 b.10(137), "Rory of the Hill"; 2806 c.8(278), "Roary of the Hill"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Whole Hog or None" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian 2806 b.10(137) and Bodleian 2806 c.8(278))
cf. "The Battle of Ballycohy" (subject: the shooting of Billy Scully)
cf. "The Gallant Farmers' Farewell to Ireland" (subject: Michael Hayes)
File: Zimm075
===
NAME: Rory of the Hills
DESCRIPTION: A son asks why a "rake up near the rafters" is not used to make hay. His father, Rory of the Hill, takes him to meet his old comrades and then reveals that the rake hides a sword. He does his soldier's drill and says "You'll be a Freeman yet, my boy"
AUTHOR: Charles J. Kickham (1828-1882) (See Notes)
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 40(2) View 1 of 4)
KEYWORDS: rebellion patriotic father farming
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
O'Conor, pp. 74-75, "Rory of the Hills" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 128-130, "Rory of the Hill" (1 text)
DT, RORYOMOR*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 525-526, "Rory of the Hill" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 40(2) View 1 of 4, "Rory of the Hill" ("That rake up near the rafters"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?), 1877-1884
NOTES: Broadside Harding B 40(2) View 1 of 4 has the lines strangely rearranged and some of the text is missing. _Irish Minstrelsy_ by H. Halliday Sparling (London, 1888), pp. 28-30, 502, "Rory of the Hills" makes the attribution to Kickham. [Supported by Hoagland.  - RBW] - BS
For the career of Kickham, an Irish nationalist who helped organize the Irish Republican Brotherhood, see the notes to "Patrick Sheehan [Laws J11]."
Healy, pp. 130-131, has a second "Rory of the Hill" song. It appears related only by title. - RBW
File: OCon074
===
NAME: Rosa Becky Diner: see Lead Her Up and Down (Rosa Becky Diner, Old Betsy Lina) (File: R552)
===
NAME: Rosa Betsy Lina: see Lead Her Up and Down (Rosa Becky Diner, Old Betsy Lina) (File: R552)
===
NAME: Rosa Lee McFall
DESCRIPTION: Singer loves Rosa Lee McFall and sings her praises. He proposes to her; she accepts, but then dies. He vows to roam the world alone "'till God prepares my place in heaven With my Rosa Lee McFall"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: grief courting love death mourning travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Monroe & His Kentucky Pardners, "Rosa Lee McFall" (RCA Victor 21-0054, 1949)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Rosa Lee McFall" (on NLCR13)
NOTES: This plot shows up enough times that I have the sneaking suspicion "Rosa Lee McFall" is a variant of another song. Since I don't know which, however, I've indexed it on its own. - PJS
File: RcRLMcF
===
NAME: Rosabella Fredolin
DESCRIPTION: Sailor sings about his "greatest delight," a rope maker's daughter who betrayed him when he sailed away. She tore up his letters to use as hair curlers. When he hears of this he writes a farewell to her and adds mention of her drinking and smoking habits.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1844
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Sailor sings about his "greatest delight," a rope maker's daughter who betrayed him when he sailed away. She tore up his letters to use as hair curlers. When he hears of this he writes a farewell to her and adds mention of her drinking and smoking habits. This was often sung to the tune of "Ane Madam," a Swedish version of "Blow the Man Down."
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sailor courting rejection farewell hair drink
FOUND_IN: Sweden
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 216-219, "Rosabella Fredolin" (2 texts-English & Swedish, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ane Madam" (tune)
NOTES: Hugill took this from _Sang under Segel_ (1935) where the compiler (Sternvall) says that it came from a seaman's song-book dated 1844. - SL
File: Hugi216
===
NAME: Rosaleen Bawn
DESCRIPTION: The singer wishes Rosaleen Bawn to come away with him. He tells how the May moon is the perfect time to escape. He tells her she will soon forget her home, and that he will make her happy and, apparently, rich
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting nightvisit elopement
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H63, p. 247, "Rosaleen Bawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13337
NOTES: It is by no means clear, from the song, whether the singer is rich, is handing the girl a line, or is just given to hyperbole. Sam Henry reports that the singer was courting the daughter of his employer, and had nothing to offer her. This doesn't really seem to suit the song. - RBW
File: HHH083
===
NAME: Rosalie: see Little Old Log Cabin by the Stream (Rosalie) (File: R710)
===
NAME: Rosamond's Downfall: see Fair Rosamond (File: Lins193)
===
NAME: Rosamund Clifford
DESCRIPTION: King Henry II loves Rosamund Clifford, and constructs a bower at Woodstock to guard her from Queen Eleanor's jealousy. The King and Rosamund talk at length. He departs for the wars. Queen Eleanor poisons Rosamund
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy) (Broadside registered 1656)
KEYWORDS: love separation death poison royalty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1154-1189 - Reign of Henry II
c. 1176 - Death of Rosamund Clifford
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 154-164, "Fair Rosamund" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2820, "When as King Henry rul'd this Land/"; cf. BBI, ZN2442, "Sweet youthful charming ladies fair"
cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 163-164, "Rosamund" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Queen Eleanor's Confession" [Child 156] (subject)
cf. "Fair Rosamond" (subject)
SAME_TUNE:
When Anne, a Princess of renown/The Glorius Warriour (BBI ZN2817)
NOTES: Romantic pieces based on the tale of Rosamund Clifford seem to have been fairly common, but I have lumped them all here, excerpt for "Fair Rosamund," on the grounds that few can be demonstrated to be traditional. 
The versions listed above seem to fall into two families; the Percy text goes with the broadside "When as King Henry Ruled this Land"; Chappell's version is a "Sweet Youthful Charming Ladies Fair" type of text.
There are traditional elements to the songs, however, as the folk accounts do not match the actual facts. This possibly justifies their inclusion here.
The facts are these: Henry II truly did marry Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he truly did have an affair with Rosamund Clifford. Rosamund seems to have been the true love of Henry's life.
Beyond this, all is conjecture. We do not have dates of Rosamund's romance with Henry, and the evidence conflicts. Geoffrey, Bishop of Lincoln, is said to have been their (second) son, born in 1159. But this conflicts with other evidence about Henry's amours. Also, Henry was still busily having children by Eleanor at that time. The last child of Henry and Eleanor was the future King John, born 1166/67. Henry was still a relatively young man of about 34, while Eleanor was about 45 and probably incapable of bearing further children.
Rosamund was the daughter of Walter FitzPonce, who took the surname Clifford upon gaining the title of Clifford Castle (by marriage) some time before 1138. The date of Rosamund's birth is uncertain. She died around 1176, but the death was the result of natural causes. Indeed, by the 1170s, Henry had Eleanor under virtual house arrest; even had she wanted to, she probably could not have arranged Rosamund's death. - RBW
File: Perc2154
===
NAME: Rosanna: see Farewell, Dear Rosanna [Laws M30] (File: LM30)
===
NAME: Rose and the Thyme, The: see The Rue and the Thyme (The Rose and the Thyme) (File: Ord187)
===
NAME: Rose Blanche, La (The White Rose)
DESCRIPTION: French: "Par un matin je me suis leve (x2), Plus mantin que ma tante (x2)." The singer enters a garden and is picking white roses when her lover approaches. She falls and "breaks her ankle." The "doctor" tells her to bathe it in water and white roses
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: love flowers courting injury foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Canada
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 118-119, "La Rose Blanche" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FMB118
===
NAME: Rose Conley: see Rose Connoley [Laws F6] (File: LF06)
===
NAME: Rose Connoley [Laws F6]
DESCRIPTION: The singer kills Rose by drugging her (with "burglar's wine"), stabbing her, and throwing her in the river. He commits the crime on his father's assurance that "money would set [him] free," but the assurance was false; he is to be hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: murder drugs river execution wine
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws F6, "Rose Connoley"
Warner 110, "Rose Connally" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 249, "Rose Connally" (1 text plus excerpts from 1 more)
Lomax-FSUSA 83, "Down in the Willow Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 137, "Rose Connelly" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 91, "Rose Connoley" (2 texts)
Darling-NAS, pp. 202-203, "Willow Garden" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 223, "Down In The Willow Garden" (1 text)
DT (311), WLLWGRDN*
Roud #446
RECORDINGS:
Texas Gladden with Hobart Smith, "Down in the Willow Garden" (Disc 6081, 1940s)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Rose Conley" (Victor 21625, 1927; on GraysonWhitter01)
Charlie Higgins, Wade Ward & Dave Poe, "Willow Garden" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1702)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers [or Wade Mainer & Zeke Morris], "Down in the Willow" (Bluebird B-7298/Montgomery Ward M-7307, 1937)
Charlie Monroe & His Kentucky Pardners, "Down in the Willow Garden" (Victor 20-2416, 1947)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Down in the Willow Garden" (on NLCR16)
Osborne Brothers & Red Allen, "Down in the Willow Garden" (MGM 12420, 1957)
NOTES: Almost every version of this song contains a crux: Just *what* did the killer cause Rose to drink? Burglar's wine? Burgundy wine? Something else (Texas Gladden sung either "virgin" or "Persian"; one of Cox's informants had something like "merkley").
Burgundy, frankly, makes no sense. The usual tune (as sung, e.g., by Grayson and Gladden) calls for two syllables, and burgundy isn't going to knock a girl out, either.
Problem is, no one knows what "burglar's wine" is. But that, of course, invites correction, perhaps to "burgundy." It makes no sense to assume that "burgundy" is original and corrected to "burglar's"; this produces a paradox. If "burglar's wine" is meaningless, a listener is not likely to  hear the song as to make nonsense (it might happen once, but not several times, and Cox and Grayson show "burglar's wine" to be widespread). And if "burglar's wine" does exist, then it could be an original reading.
Thus I do not doubt that "burglar's wine" is the earliest extant reading in the tradition. It may even be original; I seem to recall reading somewhere that it was a drugged wine. But I can't find the reference.
Lyle Lofgren, who has studied the piece, proposed an emendation which makes reasonable sense: "[Russell Bartlett's "Dictionary of Americanisms"] gave me a candidate:  'burgaloo,' a popular pear variety at the time, identified in the dictionary as a variant of  'virgelieu.'" - RBW
File: LF06
===
NAME: Rose in June
DESCRIPTION: "Was down in the valleys, the valleys so deep, To pick some plain roses to keep my love sweet, So let it come early, late or soon, I will enjoy my rose in June." "O, the roses are red, the violets blue." "O love, I will carry the sweet milking pail."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: love courting flowers lyric 
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 256-257, "Rose in June" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1202
File: CoSB256
===
NAME: Rose in the Garden, The: see The False Young Man (The Rose in the Garden, As I Walked Out) (File: FJ166)
===
NAME: Rose O'Grady: see Sweet Rosie O'Grady (File: Dean062A)
===
NAME: Rose of Alabama, The
DESCRIPTION: "Away from Mississippi's vale, With my old hat there for a sail, I crossed upon a cotton bale To Rose of Alabama." The singer courts Rose. His banjo falls into the stream. "And every night... To hunt my banjo for an hour... I meet... my flower."
AUTHOR: Words: Silas S. Steele
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846
KEYWORDS: music courting love trick river
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scott-BoA, pp. 214-215, "The Rose of Alabama" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: SBoA214
===
NAME: Rose of Allandale, The
DESCRIPTION: "The sky was clear, the morn was fair, Not a breath came over the sea When Mary left her highland home And wandered forth with me." The singer recounts his travels and hardships, noting that the love of Mary, the Rose of Allandale, helped him through
AUTHOR: Sidney Nelson and Charles Jefferys, according to Gogan
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: love travel
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 257-260, "The Rose of Allendale" (1 text, 1 tune); also p. 260, "(Mary's Cot)" (1 text, with the first verse belonging here though the rest is from "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy")
DT, ALANDAL*
Roud #1218
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:118, "The Rose of Allandale," unknown, 19C; also Mu23-y4:036, "The Rose of Allendale," unknown, 19C
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sweet Rose of Allandale
Sweet Rose of Allendale
NOTES: Robert Gogan,  _130 Great Irish Ballads_ (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 128, is the source for the statement that this is by Nelson and Jefferys. I don't trust that too far, since he seems to think this patently Scottish song is Irish. - RBW
File: SWMS257
===
NAME: Rose of Allendale, The: see The Rose of Allandale (File: SWMS257)
===
NAME: Rose of Britain's Isle, The [Laws N16]
DESCRIPTION: Jane falls in love with a servant, who is then sent to sea. She follows him in disguise and is wounded in battle. Her secret having been revealed, her lover marries her. They return home to find her father willing to forgive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: exile cross-dressing sea marriage father
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws N16, "The Rose of Britain's Isle"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 29, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 50, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 61-63, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 48, "Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 37, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text)
Manny/Wilson 90, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 447, ROSEBRIT
Roud #1796
File: LN16
===
NAME: Rose of England, The [Child 166]
DESCRIPTION: A rose springs up in England, but is rooted up by a boar. The rose returns via Milford Haven, gathers his forces, wins the field, becomes king, and receives great praise.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1750 (Percy folio)
KEYWORDS: royalty rebellion flowers political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1485 - Death of Richard III. Accession of Henry VII
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 166, "The Rose of England" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, p. 91, "The Rose of England" (1 fragment, with lyrics somewhat resembling Child's but so short that it may not be the same song)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 149-150, "The Rose of England" (1 text, the same fragment as Flanders/Olney)
Roud #4001
NOTES: To tell the history of the Wars of the Roses in less than thirty thousand words is impossible (especially since it involves the story of Richard III, who is perhaps the most controversial figure in all of human history), but here goes anyway:
In 1399, King Richard II was deposed (with good reason; he was an inept despot).
The throne, however, did not pass to his heir (his great-grand-nephew, a Mortimer) but to his cousin Henry IV. This was acceptable as long as Henry IV and his son Henry V were alive. But in 1422, just after he had been declared heir to the kingdom of France, Henry V died, leaving as his only heir a nine month old boy, Henry VI.
Without a strong king, England soon lost control of France (the last possessions outside Calais were lost by 1453). To make matters worse, Henry VI was feeble-minded, and was married to a tremendously ambitious queen, Margaret of Anjou. Their inept government descended into chaos when Henry went mad.
Eventually a civil war arose between Henry's partisans and the partisans of Richard Duke of York (the legitimate heir of Richard II). Richard of York probably didn't really want the throne, but when Margaret had him killed, Richard's son Edward had no choice but to seize power (1461). It took Edward (IV) ten years to gain a firm grip on power (it is probably not coincidence that Edward gained firm control in 1471, when his brother Richard turned 18. Richard was Edward's chief support in the last years of his reign). Edward reigned for another twelve peaceful years. Then disaster struck. Edward died young in 1483, leaving as his heir a twelve year old boy (Edward V) who was in the hands of a rapacious faction. When a rumor arose that Edward V was illegitimate, Richard seized the throne. (The fact that his seizure cost a couple of people their heads should not conceal the fact that it was arguably legal and undoubtably the best thing for England.)
The Lancastrian faction (which had earlier supported Henry VI) managed to find a new candidate for the throne in Henry Tudor, a semi-illegitimate descendent of Henry IV's father John of Gaunt. By a minor miracle, Henry defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and became king as Henry VII. (Despite the song, it should be noted that Richard III was far more legitimate than Henry VII, was probably a better soldier, gave every evidence of being a decent man when politics wasn't involved, and was *not* deformed. Henry, by contrast, was a cheap, rather ugly coward.) To firm up his claim, Henry also had to marry Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth.
It is ironic to note that Henry was often proclaimed as a gift from God designated to rescue England from Richard. But Henry's arrival corresponded to the arrival of the "Sweating Sickness," which apparently killed tens of thousands of people by the time of the last known outbreak in 1551. (According to _The Wordsworth Encyclopedia of Plague & Pestilence_, there were outbreaks in 1485, 1507-1508, 1516-1517, 1529, and 1551). Thus the sickness was virulent just about exactly as long as there were male Tudors on the throne. No, I don't think the facts actually related. But it's something for the "divine intervention" folks to consider.)
The title "The Rose of England" came from Henry's adopted token of the red rose -- and also from the white rose that was the token of the House of York (the family of Edward IV, Richard III, and Elizabeth). Whether Henry VII was an improvement over Richard III can be debated -- but certainly he was no rose. Perhaps the best evidence of this is the company he kept: The three men most responsible for making him king were
- Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who was murdered by his own people for his behavior
- Sir William Stanley, a multiple turncoat who had been spared by Richard and who saved Henry's life -- but was executed by Henry half a dozen years later for treason! (Of which more below.)
- Lord Thomas Stanley, Sir William's brother and Henry's stepfather, another turncoat whom Richard had spared. He lived to become Earl of Derby, but Henry kicked him out of his government
Henry's Chancellor was John Morton, Bishop of Ely, whose chief accomplishment was his ability to extort money from Henry's subjects.
All in all, a man with very unpleasant associates. The best thing that can be said for Henry VII is that he was the grandfather of Elizabeth I -- but, of course, Edward IV was Elizabeth's great-grandfather, and Richard III her great-great-uncle.
The sundry references in this song include the following:
"A crowned king... ouer England, Ireland, and France": The kings of England had claimed the throne of France since the time of Edward III -- but in Henry VII's time, only Calais was still in Henry's hands, and the only use Henry made of the title was to use it to extort money for "invasions" he had no intention of carrying out. 
"Milford Hauen": Milford Haven, the town in Wales where Henry VII landed when he set out to attack Richard III.
"Sir Rice ap Thomas": Rhys ap Thomas was a Welsh chieftain who brought his forces over to Henry Tudor (in return for promises of high office).
"Erle Richmond": The closest thing Henry Tudor had to a legitimate title; his father had been appointed Earl of Richmond by Henry VI in 1452. (Though Edward IV withdrew the title while Henry was still a boy; see Elizabeth Jenkins, _The Princes in the Tower_, Coward, McCann & Geoghan, 1978, p. 22).
"Sir William Stanley": As noted above, Sir William Stanley was the brother of Lord Thomas Stanley (c. 1435-1504; second Lord Stanley and by this time first Earl of Derby), who was the third husband of Margaret Beaufort, Henry's mother. Thomas Stanley was a member of Richard's government, but (for obvious reasons) the Stanleys would have preferred the Tudor on the throne.
The Brothers Stanley, however, refused to show their colors; both brought forces to the Battle of Bosworth -- and then refused to fight! A. H. Burne, _The Battlefields of England_ (a compilation of two volumes from the 1950s, _Battlefields of England_ and _More Battlefields of England_, with a new introduction by Robert Hardy), Pen & Sword, 2005. p. 289,, says that such a battle has never occurred in English history: Four armies forming a square, with Richard III and Henry Tudor facing each other and the two Stanleys taking the other two sides of the square between them. Only when Richard ordered his charge against Henry did William Stanley intervene; his forces killed Richard and probably saved Henry Tudor's life.
It surely says something about both William Stanley and Henry Tudor that, in 1495, Henry accused William Stanley of treasonable support for a pretender and had him executed. Henry's only sign of gratitute to the man who put him on the throne was to pay for Stanley's burial. (Though some suspect that Henry went after Sir William to get his hands on his money.)
"The Erle of Oxford": John de Vere (c. 1443-1513), the (Lancastrial) Earl of Oxford, and a sort of a "yellow dog Lancastrian": He'd support a yellow dog for king as long as it wasn't a Yorkist.
"King Richard": Richard III. The reference in the song to a boar who rooted up the rose of England is probably an allusion to Richard's emblem of the White Boar.
The part about rooting up the Rose of England doubtless refers to the disappearance of Edward V. Shortly after being set aside as King, Edward and his brother Richard disappeared. Their fate was and is unknown (there are a couple of skeletons that might be theirs, but Elizabeth II has refused to allow genetic testing to find out for sure). It is likely that Richard killed them -- but even Henry VII couldn't offer any proof of that; there are those who think he killed Edward V himself, and if those unknown skeletons are really those of the Princes in the Tower, it's also possible that Edward V died of dental problems. It's a mystery that simply cannot be solved.
For additional details on Richard III's story, see the notes to "The Vicar of Bray" and especially "The Children in the Wood  (The Babes in the Woods) [Laws Q34]. - RBW
File: C166
===
NAME: Rose of Glenfin, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves Molly from Magherafin, "the Rose of Glenfin." She swears she would be his but marries another. He curses any young man "who'd shower on any woman too much affection"; when your money's gone she'll go "with some other man's son"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 61, "The Rose of Glenfin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10365
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Handsome Molly" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The verse that travels from "Handsome Molly" here takes the form
Don't you mind lovely Molly when you gave me your hand,
You swore on the bible that you would be mine.
But it's now you've gone and married and you broke all those vows,
I am sorry for to leave you, farewell a stor mo chroi.
McBride added two verses of his own but I think deleting them does not leave this song to be "Handsome Molly," "Went to Church Last Sunday" or any of their relatives.
Glenfin is in Donegal. - BS
File: McB1061
===
NAME: Rose of Glenshee, The: see The Lass of Glenshee [Laws O6] (File: LO06)
===
NAME: Rose of Killarney
DESCRIPTION:  "Oh! promise to meet me where twilight is falling." A love lyric to the "sweetest and fairest of Erin's fair daughters, Dear rose of Killarney, Mavourneen Asthore."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: love lyric nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 18, "Sweet Rose of Killarney" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 142, "Rose of Killarney" (1 text)
Roud #2788
File: CrSNB018
===
NAME: Rose of Tralee, The
DESCRIPTION: "The pale moon was rising above the green mountain." He describes his love's beauty. "Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me, Oh, no, 'twas the truth in her eyes Ever dawning, that made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee."
AUTHOR: Words: C. Mordaunt Spencer/Music: Charles W. Glover ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt); originally published in London c. 1845
KEYWORDS: love lyric nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
O'Conor, p. 80, "The Rose of Tralee" (1 text)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 100-101, "The Rose of Tralee" (1 text)
Mackenzie 141, "The Rose of Tralee" (1 text)
DT, TRALEE*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 493, "The Rose of Tralee" (1 text)
Roud #1978
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B.11(1290), "The Rose of Tralee" ("The pale moon was rising above the green mountain"), H. Such (London) , 1863-1885
LOCSheet, sm1850 660580, "Rose of Tralee," Peters, Webb and Co. (Louisville), 1850; also sm1850 482010, "Rose of Tralee" (tune)
NOTES: Source: Re author--"St Patricks Day--March 17, 2003" on the Eastern Illinois University site. - BS
The editors of _Granger's Index to Poetry_ lists two possible authors, the first possibility being William Pembroke Mulchinock (1820?-1864; this claim is supported, and perhaps derived from, Hoagland) and our listed author Spencer the second. (The latter attribution is supported by the uncredited Amsco publication _The Library of Irish Music_, which however seems to me to be a rather poor source. _Sing Out_, Volume 38, #4 [1994] lists Glover as the author, not separating the words and music; it gives Glover's dates as 1806-1863.)
Robert Gogan, _130 Great Irish Ballads_ (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 18, supports the attribution to Mulchinock, and notes that he was a frequent contributor to the well-known Irish journal _The Nation_. But Gogan also tells a pretty folkloric story about the song: That Mulchinock, who was from Tralee, fell in love with a local girl, Mary O'Connor, and sent him away. When he returned home, he met the funeral procession for his beloved Mary, and wrote this song in her memory. Obviously it could have happened. But what are the odds in real life?
Neither proposed author wrote anything else that has shown any sign of enduring.
The _Sing Out!_ article reports that the song was sung by John McCormak in the 1930 movie "Song o' My Heart," which is what made the piece truly popular. - RBW
File: OCon080
===
NAME: Rose the Red and White Lily [Child 103]
DESCRIPTION: Rose and Lily are each loved by a son of their cruel stepmother, who attempts to part them. The girls disguise themselves as boys and go into service with their erstwhile loves. After much adventure they are revealed and reunited, each couple marrying.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1783
KEYWORDS: love stepmother separation disguise cross-dressing reunion marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 103, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (3 texts)
Bronson 103, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (2 versions)
GreigDuncan1 162, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (1 text)
OBB 55, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (1 text)
DBuchan 21, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #1}
Roud #3335
File: C103
===
NAME: Rose Tree, The: see The Juniper Tree (The Wicked Stepmother, The Rose Tree) (File: Cha047)
===
NAME: Rosebud in June
DESCRIPTION: Singer celebrates joys of spring, dancing on the green, and sheepshearing.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1840
KEYWORDS: ritual dancing nonballad sheep
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Sharp-100E 93, "It's a Rosebud in June" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROSEBUDJ*
Roud #812
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Here's the Rosebud in June
Rosebud in June
NOTES: This song, a simple pastoral on its face, has ritual overtones. Note the chorus: "We'll pipe and we'll sing, Love/We'll dance in a ring, Love/When each lad takes his lass/All on the green grass/And the lads and the lasses to sheep-shearing go." Ring-dancing was characteristic of rituals in pre-Christian Europe. Other verses have hints of sympathetic magic as well. -PJS
File: ShH93
===
NAME: Rosedale Shores: see Rosedale Waters (The Skeptic's Daughter) (File: R601)
===
NAME: Rosedale Waters (The Skeptic's Daughter)
DESCRIPTION: The skeptic's daughter sets out to refute the Christians. She is instead converted. Her father orders her to reject the faith. She refuses his order, and is cast from his home. But soon her parents come to her, begging her to return and convert them
AUTHOR: Music: F. T. Alexander?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1897 (manuscript known to Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious rejection separation help father children
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 601, "The Skeptic's Daughter" (1 text plus an excerpt, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 418-422, "The Skeptic's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 601A)
Roud #4644
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Protestant Maid" (subject: religious conversion) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rosedale Shores
NOTES: This piece may have been used by Holy Rollers to try to convert souls, but all I can say is that its utter banality would be likely to convert me the other way.... - RBW
File: R601
===
NAME: Rosemary and Thyme: see The Elfin Knight [Child 2] (File: C002)
===
NAME: Rosemary Fair: see The Elfin Knight [Child 2] (File: C002)
===
NAME: Rosemary Lane [Laws K43]
DESCRIPTION: A sailor meets a girl at an inn, and induces her to go to bed with him. In the morning he gives her gold and says, "If it's a boy, he will (fight for the king/be a sailor); if a girl, she will wear a gold ring."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: seduction separation clothes floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Australia US(Ap,MA,NE,SE,So,SW) Canada(Queb) Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws K43, "Home, Dearie, Home (Bell-Bottom Trousers)"
Cray, pp. 72-75, "Bell Bottom Trousers" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 81-88, "Bell Bottom Trousers" (6 texts, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 34, "The Boy Child" (1 short text, which Laws calls a "ribald fragment." Fragment it is, with only two of the regular verses, including "If it be a girl...." But I suspect the other two verses are a mixture from another, heavily bawdy, song, which we might title something like "eleven inches in")
Ohrlin-HBT 72, "Button Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune, with a cowpuncher as the visiting man!)
Gardner/Chickering ,165 "Jack, the Sailor Boy" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 43, "Rosemary Lane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 166, "Bell-Bottomed Trousers" (1 text)
Colcord, pp. 167-168, "Home, Dearie, Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 498, "Home, Dearie, Home" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 366]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 146, "Bell-Bottom Trousers" (1 text; this follows a text and tune of "Home, Dearie, Home," i.e. "Ambletown," plus a stanza of Henley's adaption and an alternate chorus)
Fuld-WFM, p.  139, "Bell Bottom Trousers"
DT 319, BELLBTTM* HOMEBOYS* RASPLANE RASPLAN2* ROSELANE*
Roud #269
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs, "Rosemary Lane" (on Briggs1, Briggs3)
Liam Clancy, "Home Boys Home" (on IRLClancy01)
Jerry Colonna, "Bell Bottom Trousers" (Capitol 204, 1945)
Chris Willett, "Once I Was a Servant" (on Voice11)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 624, "The Servant of Rosemary Lane" ("When I was a servant in Rosemary-lane"), J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840; also Harding B 15(279a), Harding B 11(4221), "The Servant of Rosemary Lane"; Bodleian,  Harding B 17(130a), "Home, Dear Home" (with the "Home, Dear Home" chorus, several verses of this, and perhaps a rewritten ending)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "When I Was Young (Don't Never Trust a Sailor)" (plot, floating lyrics)
cf. "Ambletown" (floating lyrics, theme)
cf. "Pretty Little Miss" [Laws P18] (theme)
cf. "A North Country Maid"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Oak and the Ash, The
Drury Lane
Raspberry Lane
Once When I Was a Servant
NOTES: The history of this song is extremely complex and obscure. The extended family is listed in the Index under three titles: "Rosemary Lane," "Ambletown," and "When I Was Young (Don't Never Trust a Sailor)." However, these may represent as many as five songs, or perhaps only a single one.
The three basic plots are as follows:
* "Rosemary Lane" (a title selected because, unlike Laws's title "Home, Dearie, Home," it is unique to this version) is a British ballad of a servant who is seduced and then abandoned by a sailor. It exists under many titles, e.g. "Bell-Bottomed Trousers."
* "When I Was Young" has the same plot but in a very reduced form; what matters is not the method of the seduction but simply that it happens. This song frequently has a bawdier feel. It ends with a warning, "Don't ever trust (a sailor) an inch above the knee."
* "Ambletown" (another title chosen because it is unambiguous) involves a sailor who learns from a letter that he is a father, and desperately wants to return home to see the child.
The greatest difficulty concerns the relationship between "Rosemary Lane" and "Ambletown." In plot, they are quite distinct. A comparison of the lyrics, however, shows that as much as half the material in "Ambletown" occurs also in "Rosemary Lane" (which is longer, seemingly older, and much more common). As many as three stanzas regularly "cross": "If it be a boy, he will fight for the king"; "And it's home, dearie, home"; and "The oak and the ash and the bonnie birchen tree." (The latter two may be derived from yet another song, "A North Country Maid" ).
It should also be noted that "Ambletown" could function as an ending to "Rosemary Lane," particularly if the warning about not trusting a sailor is not the original ending. This has not, however, been observed in tradition.
Extensive examination of the texts of the songs could not finally resolve the question. The Ballad Index Board is tentatively of the opinion that "Rosemary Lane" and "Ambletown" now are separate songs, which have cross-fertilized heavily but remain distinct. It is quite possible, however, that one (probably "Ambletown") is an offshoot of the other, with a new (clean) plot built around the same verses.
In addition, "Rosemary Lane" has undergone extensive evolution *after* the cross-fertilization stage. Our guess is that it began with a relatively "clean" broadside of seduction (now seemingly lost). This likely contained the "If it be a boy" stanza, but probably not the others. Tradition then mixes in the other common stanzas, and set to work on the song, producing both clean and bawdy versions. - RBW, DGE, PJS
An addendum: Don Duncan brings to my attention the poem "O Falmouth Is a Fine Town," by William E. Henley (1878), which has the following first verse:
O Falmouth is a fine town with ships in the bay,
And I wish from my heart it's there I was to-day;
I wish from my heart I was far away from here,
Sitting in my parlor and talking to my dear.
For it's home, dearie home--it's home I want to be.
Our topsails are hoisted, and we'll away to sea.
O the oak and the ash and the bonnie birken tree,
They're all growing green in the old countrie.
Henley admitted that part of the song, including the chorus, was old. Duncan speculates that "Falmouth..." is the rewrite of "Rosemary Lane" we postulated above. This seems quite possible -- but if so, then Henley's poem has gone into oral tradition itself, and experienced a great deal of folk processing. Thus, the essential outline we described above seems to be accurate.
Just in case that weren't complicated enough, Allan Cunningham produced a poem, "Hame, Hame, Hame," which once again used some of the same lyrics: "Hame, hame, hame, hame, fain wad I be, O hame, hame, hame, to my ain countrie!" The rest, though, seems simply a hymn to home, "When the flower is in the bud, and the lead is on the tree, The lark shall sing me hame to my ain countrie...." For this text, see, e.g., Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #191, "Hame, Hame, Hame."- RBW
File: LK43
===
NAME: Rosen the Bow: see Rosin the Beau (File: R846)
===
NAME: Rosenthal's Goat: see Bill Grogan's Goat (File: SRW141)
===
NAME: Roses are Red
DESCRIPTION: "Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: (before 1934 -- cf. Henry)
KEYWORDS: nonballad flowers
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 238, (no title) (1 short text: "Roses red, violets blue, cucumbers green and so are you"!); p. 243 (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: Granger's Indes to Poetry credits this to Mother Goose, but I do not know which edition first contained it. Except for Henry, I have seen no evidence that it is a song and not simply a rhyme. Nonetheless I learned it, somewhere, so I suppose it's traditional in some degree.
It certainly has inspired parodies -- e.g. Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #146, offers "Roses are red, Violets are blue, The shorter the skirt, The better the view" and "Roses are red, Cabbages are green, If my face is funny, Yours is a scream." - RBW
File: MHAp238A
===
NAME: Rosewood Casket: see Little Rosewood Casket (File: R763)
===
NAME: Rosey Anderson: see Rosie Anderson (File: Log392)
===
NAME: Rosey Apple Lemon and Pear
DESCRIPTION: Singing came of courting. "(Mary Wilson), fresh and fair, A bunch of roses she shall wear, Gold and silver byher side, I know who is her bride." "Rose, apple, lemon, or pear." "Take her by the lily-white hand."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND_IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 71, "Singing Game (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #41, "Rosy Apple, Lemon or Pear" (1 text)
Roud #6492
NOTES: Some of the versions of this, such as the Montgomeries', appear to have mixed with "Weevily Wheat" or one of its relatives. With pieces like this, it's hard to tell. - RBW
File: MSNR071
===
NAME: Rosie
DESCRIPTION: "Be my woman, gall, I'll / be your man. Every Sunday's dollar / in your hand. Stick to the promise, gall, 'at / you made me. Weren't gonna marry till-a /I go free. Well Rosie / oh Lord gal, When she walk she reel and / rock behind..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: prisoner love abandonment
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Courlander-NFM, p. 107, (no title) (1 text); pp. 262-263, "Rosie" (1 tune, partial text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 62-65, "Rosie" (1 text, 1 tune, probably composite)
Roud #15507
File: CNFM107A
===
NAME: Rosie Anderson
DESCRIPTION: Rosie marries Hay Marshall, but soon attracts the attention of Lord Elgin. Elgin dances with Rosie and takes her home. After more wantonness on her part, Marshall divorces Rosie. She is left to lament her fate (and court a soldier or become a prostitute)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: marriage adultery nobility betrayal
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 184-187, "Rosey Anderson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 91-92, "Rosey Anderson" (1 text)
Logan, pp. 392-395, "Rosey Anderson" (1 text)
DT, ROSANDER
ST Log392 (Full)
Roud #2169
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:010, "Rosy Anderson," unknown (Glasgow), no date
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Peggy and the Soldier (The Lame Soldier)" [Laws P13] (plot)
cf. "The Brewer Laddie" (plot)
NOTES: Logan has many details about the facts behind this ballad (though providing few dates). Rosie reportedly married Thomas Hay Marshall at the age of 16, urged on more by her parents than her own desires. The divorce was rather more messy than the ballad shows, as Marshall had neglected his wife. Sadly, the affair ended with Rosie walking the streets of London.
The Lord Elgin mentioned in this ballad is also the one who walked off with the Grecian marbles. All in all, not the sort of person I'd want to let into the house. - RBW
File: Log392
===
NAME: Rosie Belle Teeneau, The
DESCRIPTION: In habitant dialect. The Rosie Belle Teeneau is manned by Jean Baptiste DuChene and family, and sails the Great Lakes. On one trip, they carry a cargo of gunpowder without knowing what it is. It, and DuChene, are blown up. Sailors are warned of explosives
AUTHOR: unknown (published by William Edward Baubie)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Baubie, French Canadian Verse)
KEYWORDS: humorous sailor ship death
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 158-160, "Legend of hte Rosie Belle Teeneau" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "De Scow Jean La Plante" (main character)
NOTES: That this is a legend, and not fact, is obvious from the fact that gunpowder is not itself explosive; it *burns*, and must be primed. No such events are described in the song.
It is not clear to me that this poem/song is traditional. Walton's version is from print, and there is no mention of having heard even a portion of it from tradition. But the notes imply that the legend of DuChene and the gunpowder is traditional -- indeed, there is another poem about him, ""De Scow Jean La Plante," which involves a different boat and a different voyage but has a "Captain Batteece" and ends with the boat blowing up. This probably isn't folk song. It may be folk tale. - RBW
File: WGM158
===
NAME: Rosie Nell
DESCRIPTION: "How oft I dream of childhood days, Of tricks we used to play.... I'd rather be with Rosie Nell, a-swinging in the lane." But then "Aunt Jemima Brown" introduces Rosie to another fellow. The singer warns men against getting too involved with women
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1868 (The Champaign Charlie and Coal Oil Tommy Songster)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity warning
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Fuson, p. 99, "Rosy Nell" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 114-116, "Rosie Nell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 871, "Swinging in the Lane" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "Rosie Nell" (source notes only)
ST San114 (Partial)
Roud #2870
RECORDINGS:
Walter "Kid" Smith & Norman Woodlief with Posey Rorer, "I'd Rather Be with Rosy Nell" (Gennett 6858/Challenge 431, 1929)
The Virginia Dandies [alternate name for Walter "Kid" Smith & The Carolina Buddies], "Rosy Nell" (Crown, unissued, 1931)
File: San114
===
NAME: Rosie, Darling Rosie
DESCRIPTION: "Rosie, darling Rosie, Ha ha Rosie (x2)" "Way down yonder in Baltimore, Ha ha Rosie, Need no carpet on my floor." "Grab your partner and follow me..." "Some folks say preachers won't steal..." "Stop right still and study yourself..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950 (recording, children of Brown's Chapel School)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 155-156, "(Rosie Darling Rosie)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11008
RECORDINGS:
Children of Brown's Chapel School, "Rosie, Darling Rosie" (on NFMAla6, RingGames1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Coney Isle" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Some Folks Say that a Preacher Won't Steal" (lyrics)
NOTES: Lyrics from this song made their way into the folk-revival version of "Rocky Road (Green Green)," but they don't share lyrics in their traditional versions. - PJS
File: CNFM155
===
NAME: Rosin Box, The
DESCRIPTION: A tinker comes to solder among the ladies with "his soldering-iron tool." An old woman asks that he solder her bones. "A country chap" takes the tinker's daughter but she is rescued. If a woman had been honest, she'd have "a baby belonging to me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967 (recording, Johnny Reilly)
KEYWORDS: sex tinker
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #2501
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Reilly, "The Rosin Box" (on Voice07)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rozzin Box
NOTES: I won't pretend to understand how "the tinker he was nasty and was looking for a swap When up steps a country chap took his daughter in a truck" ties into the rest of this. On the other hand the sexual coding seems clear in the chorus "with his rosin box and itchy pole, his hammer, knife and spoon, And his nipper-tipper handstick and his soldering iron tool." - BS
File: RcRozBox
===
NAME: Rosin the Beau
DESCRIPTION: "Old Rosin," who has travelled the whole country/world, is preparing to depart from this life. He hopes that future generations will emulate him, and asks to be remembered (usually with alcohol). Details vary widely
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1860 (broadside, LOCSinging as110360)
KEYWORDS: drink death party burial
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(MA,Ro,SE,So,SW) Ireland
REFERENCES: (16 citations)
Belden, pp. 255-258, "Old Rosin the Beau" (2 texts)
Randolph 846, "Old Rosin the Bow" (2 short texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 386-387, "Old Rosin the Bow" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 846A)
Warner 159, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 32, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text)
Chappell-FSRA 64, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text)
Hudson 77, pp. 203-205, "Rosin the Bow" (2 texts)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 171-175, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 5, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan3 698, "Rosen the Beau" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 281, "Rosin, the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H698, p. 51, "Old Rosin the Bow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp.  37-39, "Old Rosin, the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 100, pp.209-211, "Rosin the Bow" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 202, "Old Rosin The Beau" (1 text)
DT, ROSINBOW*
Roud #1192
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Rosin the Bow" (on IRClancyMakem01)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as110360, "Old Rosin the Beau," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also sb40517a, "Old Rosin the Beau"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Acres of Clams (The Old Settler's Song)" (tune)
cf. "Lincoln and Liberty" (tune)
cf. "Sherman's March to the Sea" (tune)
cf. "Henry Clay Songs" (tune)
cf. "The Men of the West" (tune)
cf. "Straight-Out Democrat" (tune)
cf. "A Hayseed Like Me" (tune)
cf. "Tippecanoe" (tune)
cf. "He's the Man for Me" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Acres of Clams (The Old Settler's Song) (File: LxU055)
Lincoln and Liberty (File: San167)
Sherman's March to the Sea (File: SBoA248)
Just Tread on the Tail of Me Coat (File: R474)
The Mill-Boy of the Slashes (Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 39-40; cf. "Henry Clay Songs," File: SRW039)
Old Hal o' the West (Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 39-40; cf. "Henry Clay Songs," File: SRW039)
Straight-Out Democrat (File: SRW043)
The Men of the West (File: PGa030)
A Hayseed Like Me (File: Grnw060)
Tippecanoe (File: Br3397)
He's the Man for Me (File: RcHtMfM)
NOTES: Although this song is only moderately popular, and has been heavily folk processed, songs which have borrowed its tune were very common, particularly in the nineteenth century (see, e.g. "Acres of Clams," "Lincoln and Liberty").
Cohen cites Dichter and Shapiro to the effect that sheet music of this song (author not listed) was published in 1838. Whether this is actually the origin of the song (especially the tune) is not clear. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as110360: 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: R846
===
NAME: Rosin the Bow: see Rosin the Beau (File: R846)
===
NAME: Roslin on the Lee
DESCRIPTION: Sir Simon Fraser and Sir John Comyn led "ten thousand hielan' laddies Drest in their tartan plaidies." "For one hour and a quarter There was a bloody slaughter Till the English cried for quarter And in confusion flee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: battle England Scotland
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 111, "Roslin on the Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5785
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Battle of Roslin
NOTES: Bodleian, 2806 c.11(109) ["Performer: Simpson, MacGregor"], "Roslin on the Lee" ("Just leave your tittle tattle"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1849-1880 appears to be this ballad but could not be downloaded to be verified.
GreigDuncan1: "This Scottish victory over an English force took place at Roslin, south of Edinburgh, on 24 February 1303."
For some background on Scotland's rebellion against Edward I see "Scots Wha Hae (Bruce Before Bannockburn)." - BS
This is one of those cases where folklore significantly exaggerates. Yes, there was scattered opposition to the occupation by Edward I after the defeat of Wallace at Falkirk -- but there wasn't much. Sir Simon Fraser and John Comyn the Red were among the leaders -- but both would eventuallly submit to Edward I (see Magnus Magnusson, _Scotland: The Story of a Nation_, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000, pp. 151-152). It was, in fact, Robert Bruce's murder of the Red Comyn which formally started his war with Edward I (Magnusson, pp. 165-166).
Roslin was little more than a skirmish, involving far fewer men than this song would imply -- and was so minor that it was not even mentioned in the first six Scottish histories I checked. Its strategic significance was nil. - RBW
File: GrD1111
===
NAME: Rossa's Farewell to Erin
DESCRIPTION: O'Donovan Rossa, on a ship, bids "Farewell to friends of Dublin." He will return sometime. He recalls joining the Fenian Brotherhood in 1864, curses "those traitors Who did our cause betray ... Nagle, Massey, Corydon, and Talbot" and sent him to jail.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1865 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: exile rebellion prison pardon Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 5, 1871 - Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa is freed from jail by amnesty on condition that he exile himself. He arrives in New York Jan. 19, 1871. (see Notes)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
OLochlainn 34, "Rossa's Farewell to Erin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 70, "O'Donovan Rossa's Farewell to Dublin" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 136-137, "O'Donovan Rossa's Farewell (to Dublin)" (1 text)
ST OLoc034 (Partial)
Roud #3040
NOTES: (Source Ireland's Own site "Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa (1831-1915)" from George Treanor, Irish Heritage Group): Formed the Phoenix Society of Skibbereen for the fight for independence. That organization joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), or Fenians, which formed in 1858. Rossa was arrested in 1858 for association with the Fenians, and again in 1865 after the Fenian Rising. His sentence was for writing seditious articles. He was treated badly in jail, and released in 1871 by amnesty on condition that he go into exile. In New York Rossa continued writing in support of the Fenian movement and was involved in planning bombing attacks in England. He died in the United States.
Rossa and four others -- the "Cuba Five" -- arrive in New York on January 19, 1871 on board the steamer Cuba (Source: History Cooperative site; Irish Culture and Customs site) - BS
In Charles Sullivan's _Ireland in Poetry_, p. 101, there is a poem, "The Returned Picture," credited to Mary O'Donovan Rossa (and she was a poet, having published _Lyrical Poems_ in 1868). If this item is to be believed, Rossa's guards never let him see his wife, or the child still unborn when he was imprisoned, nor even let them see their picture. I cannot verify this. But certainly his was a difficult life; in addition to the above, Terry Golway, in _For the Cause of Liberty_, p. 113, his father was one of those who starved to death during the potato famine.
Not that his behavior was exactly above reproach; Golway on p. 148 reports that he was known for flinging the contents of his chamber pot at his jailors. In context, one can hardly blame them for tying his hands behind his back for a month (see also Robert Kee, _The Bold Fenian Men_, being Volume II of _The Green Flag_, p. 62).
In his life, Rossa wasn't a particularly effective figure, and he died senile in New York at the age of 84 -- but his body, shipped back to Ireland, proved a powerful rallying point for nationalists. (This even though Kee, p. 238, says that Rossa toward the end of his life inclined toward the moderate methods of John Redmond.) Padraig Pearse gave his funeral elegy, and used it to call for Irish independence -- even as thousands of Irish boys were volunteering to serve in the British army.
Rossa was another of those Irishmen (like, e.g. Cathal Brugha) who changed his name to make it more "Irish"; according to Kee (p. 4), he was born Jeremiah Donovan Rossa (not O'Donovan).
The informers mentioned in the song are a varied lot. Corydon was a Fenian courier who worked for the headstrong Captain McCafferty, who revealed a plan to attack the Chester Castle military storehouse (Kee, p. 36). Nagle was a worker at the _Irish People_ who was more spy than informant; he carried off correspondence coming through the paper's offices (Kee, p. 23). Thomas Talbot was a professional detective who infiltrated the Fenians under the name John Kelly (Kee, p. 25).
Gordon Massey was the most important but most equivocal; it's not sure if he turned informer before or after he was taken by the British (Kee, pp. 32-33). A Crimean veteran who had gone to America and changed his name several times; he was given high seniority in the Fenian movement based on his alleged command experience, but was betrayed by Corydon (Kee, p. 39). - RBW
File: OLoc034
===
NAME: Rosy Apple, Lemon or Pear: see Rosey Apple Lemon and Pear (File: MSNR071)
===
NAME: Rosy Banks of Green, The
DESCRIPTION: Josephine and Charlie, a sailor, have been in love since they were in school. Her father shoots them. Josephine, dying, is glad she is going to meet her dead mother and Charlie. They "never shall be parted on the rosy banks of green"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: murder courting love father sailor reunion
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 701-704, "The Rosy Banks of Green" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 136, "Rosy Banks of Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4437
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Rosy Banks So Green
File: Pea701
===
NAME: Rosy Nell: see Rosie Nell (File: San114)
===
NAME: Rothesay-O
DESCRIPTION: "Last Hogmanay, at the Glesga Fair, there were me, mysel', and several mair, We a' gaed aff tae hae a tair And spend the nicht in Rothesay-O." And a tear it truly was, as they drank, sang, fought, slept, and were bitten by bugs in Rothesay.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: party drink humorous
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 282, "Rothsay-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 205, "Rothesay, O" (1 text)
DT, ROTHSAY-O*
Roud #2142
RECORDINGS:
Louis Killen & Pete Seeger, "Rothesay-O" (on PeteSeeger47)
Davie Stewart, "Rothsay-O" (on FSB10)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Tinkler's Waddin (The Tinker's Wedding)" (tune)
cf. "The Day I Went to Rothesay O" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
The Tinkler's Waddin (The Tinker's Wedding) (File: RcTTWttw)
File: K282
===
NAME: Rothiemay
DESCRIPTION: The singer praises "bonnie Rothiemay" on the banks of the Deveron. He tells about the seasons' effects, Milltown, the churchyard and other landmarks including the "Hoose" that "shelter lent" Mary, Queen of Scots. He recalls growing up in Rothiemay.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: pride nonballad home
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 518, "Rothiemay" (1 text)
Roud #6002
NOTES: Mary, Queen of Scots, visited Rothiemay Castle in 1562 (source: "Mary's Progresses" at Marie Stuart Society site).
Milltown of Rothiemay is about 40 miles northwest of Aberdeen. - BS
Mary's visit to Rothiemay took place on the night of 4 September, according to Rothiemay's web site (http://www.rothi.co.uk/). The date is interesting. According to Magnus Magnusson, _Scotland: The Story of a Nation_, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000, p. 347, "In the summer of 1562 Mary went with Lord James Stewart on a campaign against the most powerful Catholic family in Scotland, the Gordons of Huntly; George Gordon, the fourth Earl of Huntley (the 'Cock of the North,' as he was called) and one-time Chancellor of Scotland, died of apoplexy after being captured in a skirmish in October."
George Gordon, it has been suggested, was the hero of "Geordie" [Child 209].
The events in "The Fire of Frendraught" [Child 196] also involved the lord of Rothiemay.
At least one of the landmarks in the song, the castle of Rothiemay, was demolished in 1963. But it appears, from the town web site, that they are still proud of their history. And there were many mills there. - RBW
File: GrD3518
===
NAME: Rothsay-O: see Rothesay-O (File: K282)
===
NAME: Rotten Potatoes, The
DESCRIPTION: Tenants are starving. At all costs save your corn and meal. Sell your cattle. The politicians will have a plan. The rents will be reduced. Food will be had "from Russia and Prussia and Americay." Potatoes have failed since '45. Things will improve.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1847 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: starvation Ireland nonballad food
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 58, "A New Song on the Rotten Potatoes" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)" (subject: The Potato Famines) and references there
NOTES: Although the singer hopes for help from the politicians, a change in government actually meant that Ireland was given *less* help as the famines stretched on.
The potatoes suffering from the blight didn't exactly rot. They just shrivelled away -- not that the difference made any difference. For details on the blight and its effects, see the notes to "Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)." - RBW
File: Zimm058
===
NAME: Rough Pavement
DESCRIPTION: The paved roads on the Island: "In springtime the potholes occur everywhere Oh that black roller-coaster will kill me." Mainland the roads are smooth. "My wife's not accustomed to such a smooth trip, So we pulled the car over and we followed the ditch!"
AUTHOR: Allan Rankin
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad technology travel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 221-223, 253, "Rough Pavement" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13995
File: IvDC221
===
NAME: Rough, Rocky Road (Most Done Suffering)
DESCRIPTION: "It's a rough, rocky road, And I'm 'most done struggling/suffering (x3), I'm bound to carry my soul to the Lord. I'm bound to carry my soul to Jesus, I'm bound to carry my soul to the Lord." "My (father's/etc.) on the road, And he's 'most done...."
AUTHOR: J. C. Brown ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (recording, Tuskegee Institute Singers)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad travel Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
BrownIII 632, "Rough, Rocky Road" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 25, "Most Done Ling'rin Here" (1 text, 1 tune, with a verse from "Run, Nigger, Run" plus the "If you get there before I do" floating verse and a chorus that might be this)
Roud #11832
RECORDINGS:
Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, "Rocky Road" (Columbia 15274-D, 1928; on AAFM2) 
Emmett Brand, "Most Done Traveling (Rocky Road)" (on MuSouth06)
Fisk University Jubilee Singers, "Most Done Travelling" (Columbia A2901, 1920)
Tuskegee Institute Singers, "Most Done Trabelling (sic)" (Victor 18447, 1918)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Most Done Suffering
File: Br3632
===
NAME: Round About the Ladies: see Go In and Out the Window (File: R538)
===
NAME: Round About the Punchbowl
DESCRIPTION: "Round about the punchbowl," "First time never to fall," "Second time catching time," "Third time kissing time"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Marshall, _Popular Rhymes And Sayings Of Ireland_, according to Leyden)
KEYWORDS: nonballad drink playparty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leyden 21, "Round About the Punchbowl" (2 texts)
Roud #12974
NOTES: Leyden describes the ring game for this song.
Leyden's second version, "collected by Clara M Patterson at Ballymiscaw Primary School in the 1890s," adds floating lines "Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes" [see "Banbury Cross"] and "Up the heathery mountain and down the rushy glen We dare not go a-hunting for Conor and his men" [see, for example, "Shane Crossagh"] - BS
File: Leyd021
===
NAME: Round and Round the Levee: see Go In and Out the Window (File: R538)
===
NAME: Round and Round the Village: see Go In and Out the Window (File: R538)
===
NAME: Round It Up a Heap It Up
DESCRIPTION: Corn-husking song, "Round it up a heap it up a Round it up a corn, A joog-a-loa." "De big owl hoot and cry for his mate, My honey, my love! Oh, don't stay long, oh, don't stay late... It ain't so fur to de goodbye gate."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food work
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 201, "Round It Up a Heap It Up" (1 text, plus a "Juba" fragment)
NOTES: The full stanza ("De big owl hoot....") is reported to come from Harris's _Uncle Remus and His Friends_. The relationship between that text and the traditional song is not clear. - RBW
File: Br3201
===
NAME: Round River Drive
DESCRIPTION: Recitation; multiple stories of Paul Bunyan
AUTHOR: Unknown; versified by Douglas Malloch
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: lumbering talltale humorous logger work recitation
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 95, "Round River Drive" (1 text)
Roud #6523
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Paul Bunyan" (subject)
cf. "Paul Bunyan's Big Ox" (subject)
NOTES: This is an encyclopedic collection of Bunyan tales, which despite its length made it into oral tradition. Paul Bunyan is sometimes derided as a phony folk-hero, and he's certainly been heavily commercialized, but Beck makes clear that these were genuine folk tales.- PJS
The story is in fact quite a bit more complicated than that; see the notes to "Paul Bunyan." - RBW
File: Be095
===
NAME: Round Rye Bay for More
DESCRIPTION: "We'll go round Rye Bay for more, my tars, Round Rye Bay for more" South of the buoy at Rye Bay the singer lost his trawl where "Old Crusty he told me that I shouldn't stray." The singer will go back when our money's gone.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1976 (recording, Johnny Doughty)
KEYWORDS: nonballad shanty sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #8095
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Doughty, "Round Rye Bay for More" (on Voice02)
NOTES: On Voice02 Johnny Doughty sings the verse beginning "South of the buoy down Rye Bay way" as a parody of, and to the tune of, "South of the Border Down Mexico Way," by Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr, recorded by Frank Sinatra in the 1950's. - BS
File: RcRRBfM
===
NAME: Round the Bay of Mexico
DESCRIPTION: "Round the Bay of Mexico, Way, oh Susiana, Mexico is the place that I belong in...." The singer tells of courting girls "two at a time" and having them love him "because I don't tell everything that I know." He heads off to the fishing ground
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (field recording, Henry Lundy & David Pryor)
KEYWORDS: sailor courting
FOUND_IN: Bahamas
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 83, "Round the Bay of Mexico (Bay of Mexico)" (1 text)
Roud #207
RECORDINGS:
Henry Lundy & David Pryor, "Round the Bay of Mexico" (AAFS 512 B2, 1935; on LC05, LomaxCD1822-2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cape Cod Girls" (lyrics)
NOTES: This is listed as having "new lyrics" by Paul Campbell (the Weavers, collectively), and "music adaption" by Tom Geraci. I have seen relatively little of the material elsewhere; this looks more like a new song from traditional materials than a touched-up traditional song. - RBW
Nope -- the song as touched up by the Weavers and friends is still quite close to the field recording from the Bahamas in 1935. - PJS
File: FSWB083B
===
NAME: Round the Corn Sally
DESCRIPTION: "Five can't catch me and ten can't hold me, Ho, round the corn, Sally, Round the corn, round the corn, round the corn, Sally! Ho, ho, ho, round...." "Here's your iggle-quarter and here's your count-aquila." "I can bank, ginny bank, ginny bank the weaver."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: nonballad money
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 68, "Round the Corn, Sally" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12025
NOTES: Allen/Ware/Garrison can make little of the text of this, and I can't say I blame them -- but might that last verse have somehow floated in from the chorus of "Jenny Dang the Weaver"? - RBW
File: AWG068A
===
NAME: Round the Corner, Sally
DESCRIPTION: Short-haul or halyard shanty. "Round the corner we will go, round the corner Sally." Verses refer to women or places where women may be found.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor whore
FOUND_IN: Britain US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Colcord, p. 45, "Round the Corner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 389-390, "Round the Corner, Sally" (2 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 297-298]
Sharp-EFC, XLII, p. 47, "Round the Corner, Sally" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RNDCORNR*
Roud #4697
NOTES: According to Hugill "round-the-corner-sallies" are at least loose women and often full-fledged prostitutes. - SL
Dana's _Two Years Before the Mast_ lists a song "Round the Corner" as a favorite shanty in his sailing days. If it is this piece, it would provide an Earliest Date for the song -- but Colcord notes that there is no reason to identiry them. Indeed, she seems to think them distinct -- but her reason is that this song is "almost too slight" to have merited mention. This would be a stronger argument if her text didn't look rather bowdlerized. - RBW
File: Hugi389
===
NAME: Round-Up Cook, The: see Punchin' Dough (File: FCW037)
===
NAME: Rounding the Horn
DESCRIPTION: Sailor describes hard trip around Cape Horn (in the frigate "Amphitrite"), and the pleasures (mostly female) of shore-leave in Chile. The singer says that Spanish girls are superior to (English) women, who have no enthusiasm and steal your clothes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907
KEYWORDS: travel sea ship shore drink sailor whore clothes theft
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 90, "Rounding the Horn" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H539, pp. 97-98, "The Girls of Valparaiso" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 177-178, "The Girls Around Cape Horn" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RNDHORN* RNDHORN2
Roud #301
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Round Cape Horn" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the Amphitrite" [Laws K4] (subject)
cf "The Painful Plough" (tune)
cf. "Come All You Worthy Christian Men" (tune)
cf. "Van Dieman's Land (I)" [Laws L18] (tune)
NOTES: The brig _Amphitrite_ was built in 1820 and engaged in South American trade. A frigate of the same name was lost in 1833 while carrying female convicts to Australia (see "The Loss of the Amphitrite"). - PJS
Roud, in one of his stranger acts of lumping, combines this with "The Loss of the Amphitrite" [Laws K4]. They only common element I can see is the ship name. - RBW
File: VWL090
===
NAME: Roundup in the Spring
DESCRIPTION: A group of cowboys meet in a hotel and swap tales. An old man listens eagerly. He was a cowboy, too, and recalls the work. He concludes, "I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring."
AUTHOR: claimed by Jack C. Williams and Carl Copeland
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Recording, Vernon Dalhart; also Publications of the Texas Folk-Lore Society, Vol. VI); the Copeland text copyrighted 1916
KEYWORDS: cowboy age work
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 20, "Roundup in the Spring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11309
RECORDINGS:
Leon Chappelear "I'd Like to Be In Texas (For the Roundup in the Spring)" (Champion 45068, c. 1935; Montgomery Ward M-4950, 1936)
Vernon Dalhart "I'd Like to Be In Texas" (Vocalion 5044, 1926)
Bradley Kincaid "I'd Like to Be In Texas" (Decca 12053, n.d.)
[Asa] Martin & [James] Roberts, "The Roundup in the Spring" (Perfect 12906/Melotone 12642 [as by Asa Martin], 1933; on WhenIWas1)
File: Ohr020
===
NAME: Rouse, Hibernians
DESCRIPTION: "Rouse, Hibernians, from your slumbers! ... Our French brethren are at hand." Erin's sons defeat the tyrants now. "Apostate Orange ... Sure you might know how Irish freemen Soon would put your Orange down" "Vive la, United heroes"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1798 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland nonballad patriotic
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Aug 22, 1798 - 1100 French troops under General Humbert land at Killala Bay in County Mayo. He would surrender on Sept. 8, and by May 23 the Mayo rising had been suppressed with some brutality
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Zimmermann 18, "Rouse, Hibernians" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 113, "Rouse Hibernians" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Viva La!" (tune)
cf. "Men of the West" (subject)
NOTES: Zimmermann quotes Musgrave: "This was found on the mother of Dougherty, a United Irishman who was killed by Woollaghan at Delgany, in the county of Wicklow in autumn 1798. She was seen to throw it out of her pocket, yet she swore she never saw it." - BS
This is rather a curious piece, since the 1798 rebellion in Wicklow and the east was already over by the time General Humbert made the first French landing in the west of Ireland. For details on that event, see the notes to "Men of the West." - RBW
File: Zimm018
===
NAME: Rousie's Song
DESCRIPTION: "They shore them wet on Monday, And they shore them wet again; How in the hell can a rousie live On twenty points of rain?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: work sheep
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 278, "Rousie's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Meredith et al explain that rouseabouts were paid by the week, and were allowed to "laze about" -- and get paid! -- if the shearers declared it too wet to work.
This doesn't make sense, though -- if rain lets workers get a paid vacation, why should they complain about it? And if it doesn't rain, they can always finish up and go elsewhere. So I have to suspect that this predates the work of the shearers' union, and comes from the days when the workers were paid only for work done. I'll admit that I don't know, though. - RBW
File: MCB278
===
NAME: Roustabout Holler
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Po' roustabout don't have no home, Makes his livin' on his shoulder bone." The singer, loading sacks of cottonseed on the steamer Natchez, has no home and a sore shoulder, but does have a "little gal in big New Orleans."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: work river
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 571, "Roustabout Holler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15599
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Levee Camp Holler"
cf. "Steel Laying Holler"
File: BMRF571
===
NAME: Roving Bachelor, The
DESCRIPTION: The bachelor comes to town determined to find a wife. Seeing a woman, he engages her in conversation and learns of her tastes and her fortune (as well as how she treats her family). (Since her wealth is enough and he suits her fancy, they get married)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Grieg)
KEYWORDS: rambling courting marriage dialog bachelor
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H650a+b, pp. 263-264, "The Roving Bachelor" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #1649
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Roving Journeyman, The
NOTES: This is recognized less by the details of the plot than by the constant repetition of the phrase, "The next question that I asked/axed her...."
Creighton has a fragment also titled "The Roving Journeyman," but it looks more like a version of "With My Swag All On My Shoulder."
Henry's second version asks "did her father deal in flax?" This appears to be a reference to the several periods in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when the Irish linen industry tried to build itself up. Typically the British would open the markets, the Irish would try to build an industry, and the British would reimpose the tarriff walls, crushing the Irish flax farmers. It's not clear from the song whether it takes place during the up or down points of the cycle. - RBW
File: HHH650
===
NAME: Roving Blade, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Roving Cowboy (I): see Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)
===
NAME: Roving Cowboy, The: see Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys (File: R189)
===
NAME: Roving Gambler Blues: see The Roving Gambler [Laws H4] (File: LH04)
===
NAME: Roving Gambler, The (The Gambling Man) [Laws H4]
DESCRIPTION: The singer freely admits his addiction to gambling, cards, and a roving life. But he also has an eye for the ladies. In one town he meets with a "pretty little girl" who takes him home and then decides to follow him wherever he goes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: gambling courting rambling floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,Ro,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (18 citations)
Laws H4, "The Roving Gambler (The Gambling Man)"
Belden, pp. 374-377, "The Guerrilla Boy" (4 texts, 1 tune, but only the first 2 texts are this piece)
Randolph 835, "The Guerilla Man" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 323-325, "The Guerrilla Man" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 835A. Cohen notes that the printed melody fits only the first verse; there is probably an error in the transcription, causing a line to be omitted)
BrownIII 49, "The Journeyman" (3 text)
Brewster 87, "The Blue-Coat Man" (1 text, a curious version in which the gambler, upon seeing enemies, "willingly shot them down"; 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 75, "The Roaming Gambler" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 131, "The Gambling Man" (1 text, incorporating the "Pretty Little Foot")
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 98-99, "The Roving Gambler" (1 text; a number of his other texts also have verses probably from this song; see the references under "On Top of Old Smokey")
Sandburg, pp. 312-313, "The Roving Gambler" (3 texts, 1 tune. The "A" and "C" texts, clearly go here; the "B" text is possibly distinct though mostly floating verses)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 150-151, "The Roving Gambler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 21, pp. 136-139, "The Buckskin Shirt" (1 text, 1 tune, a strange composite starting with "The Roving Gambler (The Gambling Man) [Laws H4]), breaks into a cowboy version of "Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me)," and concludes with a stanza describing the happy marriage between the two)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 889, "The Roving Gambler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 592, "The Wandering Steamboatman" (1 partial text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 226-227, "The Roving Gambler" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 54, "Rambling, Gambling Man" (1 text, with more than a little influence from the "I'm a Rambler, I'm a Gambler" texts of "The Wagoner's Lad"); p. 60, "Roving Gambler Blues" (1 text)
Thomas-Makin', p. 122, "The Rustlin' Gambler" (1 text, probably a mix of this with other gambler songs)
DT 645, ROVINGMB
Roud #498
RECORDINGS:
Frank Bode, "Roving Gambler" (on FBode1)
Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, "Roving Gambler" (Crown 3159, 1931; Paramount 3302, 1932; Varsity 5082, Montgomery Ward M-3025, Homestead 23041, Continental 3012 [as Pete Daley's Arkansas Fiddlers], n.d.)
Vernon Dalhart, "Rovin' Gambler" (Edison 51584, 1925) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5027 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], n.d.) (OKeh 40479 [as Tobe Little], 1925) (Columbia 15034 [as Al Craver], 1925) (Grey Gull/Radiex 4135 [as Jeff Calhoun], 1927)
Hobart Delp & band, "Roving Gambler" (on Persis1)
Kelly Harrell, "Rovin' Gambler" (Victor 19596, 1925; on KHarrell01) (Victor 20171, 1926; Montgomery Ward M-4367, 1933; on KHarrell01)
Claude Moye, "Roving Gambler" (Champion 16118 [as Asparagus Joe], Supertone 9712 [as Pie Plant Pete], 1930; Superior 2643 [as Jerry Wallace], 1931; Champion 45063, Melotone [Can.] 45063 [both as Pie Plant Pete; as "Rovin' Gambler"], 1935)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Roving Gambler" (on NLCR01)
George Reneau, "Rovin' Gambler" (Vocalion 15148, 1925; Vocalion 5077, 1926)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "The Roving Gambler" (Columbia 15447-D, 1929)
Welby Toomey, "Roving Gambler"  (Gennett 6005, Champion 15209 [as Herb Jennings], Silvertone 5006, Challenge 229 [as Clarence Adams], 1927; Silvertone 8151, Supertone 9252, 1928; Herwin 75532, n.d.; rec. 1926)
Doug Wallin, "The Roving Gambler" (on Wallins1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "True-Born Irish Man (With My Swag All on My Shoulder; The True-Born Native Man)" (plot)
cf. "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Been All Around This World)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Almost Done" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Gambler" (theme, floating lyrics)
cf. "Sailing Out on the Ocean" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I Met a Handsome Lady" (lyrics)
cf. "The Soldier Boy (III) (The Texas Volunteer): (lyrics)
File: LH04
===
NAME: Roving Highlander, The: see The Braemar Poacher (File: GrD2253)
===
NAME: Roving Irishman, The: see True-Born Irish Man (With My Swag All on My Shoulder; The True-Born Native Man) (File: MA062)
===
NAME: Roving Jack the Baker
DESCRIPTION: Roving Jack the baker returns from war with a good pension. He meets a girl with 15 pounds of her own. He courts her with lies to get her money. He promises to marry her but hopes not to. He makes her drunk, takes her to bed, steals her money, and leaves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: greed courting sex lie theft drink rake
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leyden 32, "Roving Jack the Baker" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Merrily Kiss the Quaker" (tune, per Leyden)
cf. "Gold Watch [Laws K41]" (plot, with sex roles reversed) and references there
File: Leyd032
===
NAME: Roving Journeyman (I), The: see True-Born Irish Man (With My Swag All on My Shoulder; The True-Born Native Man) (File: MA062)
===
NAME: Roving Journeyman (II), The: see The Roving Bachelor (File: HHH650)
===
NAME: Roving Newfoundlanders (I), The
DESCRIPTION: The singer, musing at home, thinks about all the Newfoundlanders who have sailed and fished in all parts of the world. They have also taken part in historic world events (mostly confined to the 19th century) The singer tells us he is from Harbour Grace.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: Canada patriotic bragging
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 183, "The Roving Newfoundlanders" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 15, "Roving Newfoundlander" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, pp. 55, "The Roving Newfoundlanders" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 71, "The Roving Newfoundlanders" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6362
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "The Roving Newfoundlander" (on NFOBlondahl02,NFOBlondahl05)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Bob  Bartlett" (character) and references there.
NOTES: Judging by the historic events mentioned (the Boer War, the Spanish-American War of 1898 and going to the "Pole"), we can determine that the song is from the early twentieth century. Robert Abram Bartlett was born in Brigus, Conception Bay and began exploring the Arctic in 1897. He was with Admiral Robert Peary in 1909 when [the latter reportedly reached] the North Pole, being the commander of Peary's ship. - SH
For a good deal more on Captain Bob  Bartlett, see the notes to "Captain Bob  Bartlett"; also "Ballad of Captain Bob Bartlett, Arctic Explorer." For the quest for the Pole, see "Hurrah for Baffin's Bay." - RBW
File: Doy55
===
NAME: Roving Newfoundlanders (II), The
DESCRIPTION: "Ye roving boys of Newfoundland, come listen unto me." In 1863, Shea hires 55 men to work on the railway. They run away to Canada, work on a riverboat and are robbed, ship on the Morning Bloom which sinks on George's Bank; only seven reach St John's
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: death drowning commerce fishing river sea ship work ordeal storm wreck Canada sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 150, "The Roving Newfoundlanders" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 916-921, "George's Banks" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 78, "George's Banks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #17756
CROSS_REFERENCES:
The Shea Gang
You Roving Boys of Newfoundland
NOTES: This is a tough one to pin down.
This is surely not about the Newfoundland Railroad which was not begun until 1881.  The Windsor Branch Railway in Nova Scotia opened in 1856 and is at least possible as the railroad in question.
Peacock's versions of the song have the date as 1868 and he has "Shea's gang" building the Canadian Pacific Railway; but the Canadian Pacific Railway construction began in 1875 after scandals and false starts in the early Seventies.
As for the wreck of the Morning Bloom on George's Bank: I find no record of that[;] the Northern Shipwrecks Database 2002 lists well over 200 ships by name lost on George's Bank between 1822 and 1995.
A July 2002 note by Wilfred Allan at Nova-Scotia_Seafarers-L_ Archives site states "Georges Bank is at the edge of the Atlantic continental shelf between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia. Thus it straddles both the U.S and Canadian borders ... about 250 km by 150 km in area." - BS
We have four texts -- Greenleaf/Mansfield 150, Leach-Labrador 78, Peacock p916A and Peacock p919C -- and we're not likely to find more [Mercer :see bibliography at the end of this note]. This seems a good time to sum up.
In response to my query about railway history as it might relate to Peacock's version and comments, Dave Knowles, Librarian of the C. Robert Craig Memorial Library in Ontario -- established to collect, preserve and make available to the public materials that document the history of rail transportation in Canada -- was kind enough to join me in speculating about the railway and to suggest further paths to follow in researching this problem.
Mr Knowles's thoughts -- quoted by permission with the understanding that "so much of it is guesswork or gut instinct that it really doesn't qualify as research" -- follow and are interspersed among the comments on the railway section of this discussion. He writes, "On balance I suspect that the situation in the song is generic rather than specific. Given the song's length it probably developed over the years with consequent changes in names and facts in order to match the times, the tune, and perhaps even the audiences. In all probability many songs were melded together to create the epic."
While I don't go that far, I did become convinced that the ballad is a constructed "Odyssey" with episodes to work back to "Ithaca" rather than a retelling of an historic journey; why, for example, would even a storm-driven Gloucester fisherman work so hard to reach St John's rather than heading home?
As for the rest of the statement: certainly, the components were in the air for years and, as Greenleaf/Mansfield 183 illustrates, the idea of combining the different adventures of "The Roving Newfoundlanders" in a single song was not new (though Greenleaf/Mansfield 183 does not stitch them together into a single adventure). 
Songs about work fill the collections. There are a few songs about fishing on your own in the season: "Rowing in a Dory" where you are "the captain and the crew," "The Fisher Who Died in his Bed," "John Yetman," "Western Boat," .... There are a few more about trying to get through the hard times at home off season like "Brown Flour" and "Fish and Brevis." There are far more about leaving home for seasonal fishing: "The Herring Gibbers," "Taking Back Gear in the Night," "High Times in our Ship," not to count the many "The Wreck of ..." and "The Loss of ..." that end in disaster.
There are many about leaving home for seal hunting, logging, hauling cargo etc.: "Maurice Crotty," "The Sealer's Song," "Twin Lakes," "Jerry Ryan," "The Badger Drive," and some about spiking on railways: "The Boys at Ninety-Five," "The Bonavist Line," "Drill Ye Heroes, Drill." There are ballads about leaving the island for seasonal work: "Labrador," "The Girls of Newfoundland," "The Track to Knob Lake,."... There are ballads about leaving the island for years to earn a stake, like "The Green Shores of Fogo" and "My Dear, I'm Bound for Canady." Finally there are ballads about emigrating when hard times are too much to bear, like "The Emigrant from Newfoundland" and "The Low-Backed Car."
This ballad has five episodes and they cover some of this variety of situation.
(1) In 1863/1868/1872 they (maybe 55 or 62) leave Newfoundland to get work. 
My first problem was in taking this range of dates seriously. What was going on in those years? Is this is just meant to refer to "a ways back"?
(2) In three of the four versions, the first stop is to railway construction for Shea (maybe in "Canada"). The conditions being very bad, they run away.
Peacock puts this job at Crow's Nest Pass, and, in 1961, his seventy-seven year old informant reminisced about hearing the old-timers talk about that hard time. If Peacock was right then this episode referred to a Canadian Pacific Railway project in the winter of 1897-1898; Crow's Nest Pass -- or Crowsnest Pass -- is just east of the border between southern Alberta and British Columbia. 
Dave Knowles continues on the subject of what workers were likely to be found on railway construction gangs between 1860 and 1900. My original question to him involved the likelihood that Newfoundlanders were contracted as a group in 1863-1872. "The dates cited in the song were in the sixties. There were many different railways built in what is today's 'Canada' beginning in the 1830s. The first railway into Ottawa was 1854, and the Grand Trunk between Montreal and Toronto was 'abuilding' in the 1856-8 period. Most of these early railways were short and soon ended up in the three major systems of Grand Trunk, Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern....
"As far as labour is concerned most of it was local, contracted and sub-contracted out. Stone bridges, stations etc would require skilled stone masons and carpenters who were a higher level of worker than needed for the roadbeds. The Grand Trunk (between Montreal and Toronto), in contrast, however, was built by British railway contractors Peto, Brassey, Bates and Jackson who imported a crew (estimated at 3000) of the famous 'navvies' from Britain. They returned to Britain at the end of construction. The western end of the CPR in the early 1880s used labourers imported from China!
"In the days before steam or diesel powered construction equipment the work was hard and I gather the attrition rates were pretty high. Consequently labourers were sought from wherever they could be found. Many contractors were involved. I suspect that there were many 'Sheas' among the contractors and sub-contractors as well as in the labour force. In the Ottawa area the Royal Engineers had used many Scots and Irish stone masons on the necessary works of the Rideau Canal, and there was a substantial colony of Irish immigrants located to the west and south of Ottawa." He goes on to recommend Fleming and Coleman as sources for further information, both of which were very useful.
I followed Dave Knowles's lead to look at sources of railway labor throughout the period. The ballad holds together best if the railway work is actually in the East, on the Intercolonial in the Maritimes. The original Intercolonial plan had considered Imperial Government orchestration of Irish emigration to alleviate both the famine and shortage of labour [Fleming, pp. 49-50] I could find no reference to the actual source after 1862 [Fleming, pp 55-64].
The work on the Grand Trunk before the 1860s required temporary contracting of 3000 navies from England because "there was no local labour worth speaking of" [Coleman, pp. 183-184]. English navies continued to be used. While "the navvy age" continued until about 1900 [Coleman, p. 20] the last "great work" in Britain was completed in 1875 [Coleman, p.192] and by 1888 "navvies from London were starving at Toronto" [Coleman, p. 191].
By 1880 use of Chinese labor had become a major issue in the west [Berton, p. 373]. While locals were against the competition, the railway builders preferred Chinese labor. Not only were wages low for Chinese labor but there was "little to fear" in regard to working condition monitoring from a government and public hostile to the Chinese [McKee and Klassen, p.21]. And, besides, in 1885, "Chapleau wrote that 'as a railway navvy, the Chinaman has no superior'" [Berton, p. 374]. Restriction of Chinese immigration by imposition of a $50 head tax, in 1885, reopened the labor market to Canadians [18thC] as the navvy source dried up. By 1887 there were sites employing no Chinese [Turner, pp. 17-18].
By the time of the Crow's Nest Pass project working conditions for white workers were an issue and the description of the situation is very much like that described by the ballad. Thirty-five hundred were employed in construction [Cousins, p 32]. "Complaints reached Ottawa, and in January 1898... a commission [was appointed] to inquire into the treatment of laborers in the Crowsnest construction crews. Its report, submitted in April, told a tale of poor accommodation, bad sanitary conditions, and low wages.... Cases of desertion and of nonpayment of wages by contractors were fairly frequent; there was some violence in the camps and occasionally a murder" [Lamb, p. 212]. 
Anyone in Ottawa, or near a Canadian library, wishing to investigate the Crow's Nest Pass project further might consider the following sources: _Report of Commissioner N.W.M.P. 1898 (Ottawa: King's Printer, 1898), and _Report of the Commission Inquiring into the Death of McDonald and Fraser of the Crow's Nest Railway_, R.C. Clute Commissione. 1899 Ottawa. Sessional Papers No. 70 Vol. 33 No. 14, may be included in Government of Canada Files at ArchiviaNet, at www.archives.ca/02/0202_e.html, Reference RG43, Railways and Canals, Series A-I-2, Volume 348, File 9080, Access code 90, File Title: Crow's Nest Pass Railway Co. - Labour Conditions. Keywords: Crow's Nest Pass Railway Co. Outside Dates: 1897-1907, File aiding number: 43-50. 
(3) In the two versions for which 55 run away, their next job is on a riverboat in Canada (maybe around Montreal); until their money is stolen.
I have seen no other Newfoundland references to river boating. That is hardly surprising since there were no Newfoundland river boats. However, the story is different for the rest of what is now Canada. The first commercial steamboat voyage on the St Lawrence -- between Montreal and Quebec -- took place in 1809, two years after Fulton's Clermont went into service on the Hudson [Croil, pp. 50, 312].
By the time of the years actually mentioned in the ballad commercial steam powered river boats were common in Quebec and Ontario [Croil, pp. 307-332]. At the time of the Crow's Nest Pass project "some of the finest river steamers in the Dominion" were on the Columbia River and Kootenay Lakes, about 160 miles away [Croil, pp. 338-339]. And while river boats may not have been in Newfoundland, steamers were. Steam service began in the 1840's and steamers were used in seal hunting in 1862 [Croil, pp. 354-355]. So Newfoundlanders were knowledgeable steamship hands throughout the period we are considering and steamships were used commercially where the events may be supposed to take place. Whether they actually took place in the context of the ballad is the question.
(4) They eventually go through Halifax to Boston (or Gloucester) and ship aboard the _Morning Bloom_ (or _Morning Glow_) for George's Banks. On November 22, in a bad storm, either their ship, or _Jubilee_, lose 22 men (but no ship is mentioned as sinking). 
There is no question about the dangers on George's Banks [cf. "Fifteen Ships on George's Banks" and "George's Bank" (II)]. However, there is no record of a severe storm on some November 22, or thereabouts, that I can find in the Northern Shipwrecks Database for the period in question. Part of the problem may be that no sunk ships are named in the ballad and that the database only records lost ships. However, if the date referred to a real storm I'd expect some ship to have been lost and reported.
(5) Having escaped that storm they continue fighting strong seas. Eventually they see the lighthouse at Cape Ray (built 1871) or Cape Race (starts operation 1856) or Sarne's Point and, of the remaining crew of 18, only 7 survive to reach Cape Spear (built 1835)and St John's.
There's nothing here that we can say is evidence of some one historic event.
>>*BIBLIOGRAPHY*<<
Berton [Pierre Berton, _The Impossible Railway. The Building of the Canadian Pacific_ (Knopf, 1983)]
Coleman [Terry Coleman, _The Railway Navvies: A History of the Men Who Made the Railways_ (BCA, 1972)]
Cousins [William James Cousins, _A History of the Crow's Nest Pass_ (Historic Trails Society of Alberta, 1981)]
Croil [James Croil, _Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States_ (William Briggs, 1898)]
Fleming [Sanford Fleming, _The Intercolonial. A Historical Sketch of the Inception, Location, Construction and Completion of the Line of Railway Uniting the Inland and Atlantic Provinces of the Dominion_ (Dawson Brothers, Montreal, 1876)]
Lamb [W. Kaye Lamb, _History of the Canadian Pacific Railway_ (MacMillan 1977)]
McKee and Klassen [Bukk McKee and Georgeen Klassen, = _Trail of Iron. The CPR and the Birth of the West, 1880-1930_ (Douglas & McIntyre, 1983)]
Mercer [Paul Mercer, _Newfoundland Songs and Ballads in Print 1842-1974 A Title and First-line Index_ (Newfoundland, Canada: Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Publications, 1979)]
Turner [Robert D. Turner, _West of the Great Divide; an Illustrated History of the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia 1880-1986_ (Sono Nis Press, Victoria, 1987)]
18thC [18th Century History site: CHAPTER V. THE YEARS OF FULFILMENT] - BS
File: GrMa150
===
NAME: Roving Ploughboy, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer asks that her horse be saddled so she can follow the ploughboy.  After sleeping last night "on a fine feather bed," she will sleep tonight in a barn in his arms. She says none can compare with him, and bids her home farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953 (Kennedy)
KEYWORDS: love elopement worker farming farewell
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Kennedy 260, "The Roving Ploughboy-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2138
RECORDINGS:
John MacDonald, "The Roving Ploughboy-O" (on FSB3)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gypsy Laddie" [Child 200] (theme, lyrics, tune)
NOTES: Paul Stamler suggests that this is a version (or, perhaps more correctly, a fragment) of "The Gypsy Laddie," and it's true that about half the lyrics appear in that song, and the general theme is the same, and there are similarities in the tune as well.
But the song seems to have circulated independently, and the key element of "The Gypsy Laddie" is missing: there is no sign of the wife abandoning her husband, or of him pursuing. Allowing the strong possibility that this is a fragment of the longer ballad, I still incline to split them.
Kennedy associates this with Ord's "The Collier Laddie." That strikes me as much more of a stretch. - RBW
File: K260
===
NAME: Roving Ranger, The: see Texas Rangers, The [Laws A8] (File: LA08)
===
NAME: Roving Shantyboy, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you tru-born shantyboys wherever you may be." The singer describes how he met a pretty girl and took her on my knee. The song shifts to the girl's viewpoint as she laments that "he was away by the first of may." She laments with her child
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: courting rambling pregnancy logger baby
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #57, "The Roving Shantyboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4359
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh No Not I" (plot)
cf. "Rambleaway" (plot)
NOTES: Fowke considers this to be "adapted from an older British song, but here the original has proved harder to identify." It appears to me *very* similar to "Rambleaway," including that song's shift in viewpoint: The man describes the seduction, the woman the consequences. Though the lyrics have points of contact with "The Foggy Dew" and others. - RBW
File: FowL56
===
NAME: Row After Row
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a-thinkin of you, honey, Thinkin' 'case I love you so... As I hoe down row after row." "Row after row, my baby (x3)... When I think of her the rows get shorter...." "So I keep on a-hoein' an a-hoein', Thinkin' of Miss Lindy Lou."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: worksong farming love
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 211-212, "Row After Row" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: ScaNF211
===
NAME: Row Boat (Ride About)
DESCRIPTION: "Row boat (or: "Ride About"), row, where shall I row?" The young man comes to Miss Mary's door and asks if she is in. She is, and the wedding is set for (the next day)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage playparty
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 678, "Ride About, Ride About" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "B" text is mixed with "Uncle John Is Sick Abed")
BrownIII 73, "Row the Boat, Row the Boat" (2 texts plus a fragment)
Roud #13080
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wallflowers" (form, floating lyrics)
NOTES: The editors of Brown claim that their texts are remnants of "Wallflowers." This is one of those unprovable things; what similarities they have are all floating elements. The "B" text in Brown, "Tommy Jones," has clearly been conflated with something else to make it  a true, if somewhat incoherent, ballad -- but what that something else is I cannot tell. - RBW
File: R678
===
NAME: Row the Boat Ashore: see Roll the Boat Ashore (Hog-eye I) (File: San380)
===
NAME: Row the Boat, Row the Boat: see Row Boat (Ride About) (File: R678)
===
NAME: Row Us Over the Tide
DESCRIPTION: Two children come up to a boatman, asking him to "row us over the tide." The report that their mother is dead and their father has abandoned them; they have no home.
AUTHOR: E. C. Avis?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recordings, Kelly Harrell, Bela Lam); Avis is said to have published the song in 1888
KEYWORDS: mother father orphan death separation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, ROWTIDE*
Roud #9132
RECORDINGS:
The Blue Sky Boys, "Row Us Over the Tide" (Bluebird B-6567, 1936)
Clarence & Claude Ganus, "Row Us Over the Tide" (Vocalion 5312, 1929)
Kelly Harrell & Henry Norton, "Row Us Over the Tide" (Victor 20935, 1927; on KHarrell02)
Bela Lam & His Green County Singers, "Row Us Over The Tide" (Okeh 45126, 1927)
Lulu Belle & Scottie (Okeh/unissued, 1940)
Mr. & Mrs. E. C. Mills, "Row Us Over the Tide" (Brunswick/unissued, 1929)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Orphan's Lament (Two Little Children, Left Jim and I Alone)" (subject)
cf. "I Saw the Pale Moon Shining on Mother's White Tombstone" (subject)
NOTES: As far as I know, no version of this song reveals *why* the children want to cross the water. (Of course, the versions of the song aren't particularly coherent.) One suspects that, in the original, they interpreted crossing the tide as going to heaven.
Joan Sprung knew a report connecting this with the 1878 yellow fever epidemic (in which at least 20,000 people died, mostly along the Mississippi river between New Orleans and Memphis).
The Blue Sky Boys recording put a very different twist on this song, ending with a chorus about Jesus taking the children away to heaven. This is clearly a rewrite to give a potential tragedy a preudo-happy ending. - RBW
File: DTrowtid
===
NAME: Row-Dow-Dow
DESCRIPTION: Singer, Clarkie, and two others go out poaching pheasants; keepers arrive, and the singer and Clarkie are captured. They are taken to Wandsworth Gaol. Released on Christmas eve, he has a drink and rejoices, but Clarkie doesn't get out until mid-January
AUTHOR: Words: Possibly Fred Holman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1956 (recorded from George Maynard); tune is older
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, his friend Clarkie and two others go out poaching pheasants; keepers arrive, the two other men leave, and the singer and Clarkie are captured and charged before the magistrate. Convicted, he asks to be fined but is sentenced to six weeks; his friend gets two months. They are taken to Wandsworth Gaol; he sneaks his tobacco in past the guards. He is put to work pumping water and grinding flour. Released on Christmas eve, he has a drink and rejoices, but Clarkie doesn't get out until mid-January
KEYWORDS: captivity fight poaching prison punishment trial freedom hunting drink friend prisoner
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Kennedy 354, "Row-Dow-Dow" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROWDOWDW
Roud #902
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Shooting Goshen's Cocks Up" (on Maynard1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bow Wow Wow" (tune) and references there
NOTES: According to Kennedy, Goshen was either a local placename or the owner of a game preserve. The tune, variously known as "The Barking Barber" or "Bow Wow Wow," is said to date from the time of George II; Chappell published it in 1858. - PJS
File: K354
===
NAME: Row, Bullies, Row: see The Liverpool Judies (Row, Bullies, Row; Roll, Julia, Roll) (File: Doe106)
===
NAME: Row, Molly, Row (Molly Was a Good Gal)
DESCRIPTION: "Molly was a good gal and a bad gal, too, Oh, Molly, row, gal." The captain and pilot make brief appearances: "I'll row dis boar and I'll row no more...." "Captain on the biler deck a-heaving of the lead... Calling to the pilot to give "turn ahead...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924
KEYWORDS: river nonballad ship work
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 590, [no title] (1 text)
Courlander-NFM, p. 120, "Molly Was a Good Gal" (1 text)
File: BMRF590A
===
NAME: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
DESCRIPTION: "Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream, Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1852 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1852 511180)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 412, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 475-476, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1852 511180, "The Old Log Hut" or "Row, Row Your Boat," Firth, Pond and Co. (New York), 1852; also sm1853 710040, sm1853 531440, "Row, Row Your Boat" or "The Old Log Hut" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Row, Row, Row Your Boat (Throw Your Teacher Overboard) (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 93)
Propel, Propel, Propel Your Craft (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 208)
Glub, Glub, Glub Your Boat (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 213)
NOTES: Fuld reports that this text, with a different tune, was published in sheet music form in 1852; this version had music by R. Sinclair, but the words were unattributed (said to be sung by "Master Adams of Kunkels Nightingale Opera Troupe").
Another melody was published in 1854; the common melody was first published in 1881, with a credit (not necessarily of authorship) to E. O. Lyte. - RBW
File: FSWB412C
===
NAME: Rowan County Crew (Trouble, or Tragedy), The [Laws E20]
DESCRIPTION: An account of the Tolliver-Martin feud, which the legal system is powerless to end. Casualties of the fighting include John Martin, Floyd Tolliver, Sol Bradley (an innocent bystander), and Deputy Sheriff Baumgartner; even this does not end the feud
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1918 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: feud death fight injury
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1884 - Date of the Tolliver-Martin shootings
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws E20, "The Rowan County Crew (Trouble, or Tragedy)"
Thomas-Makin', pp. 5-9, "Rowan County Troubles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 169, "The Rowan County Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 61, pp. 161-162, "The Tolliver Song" (1 text)
JHCox 39, "A Tolliver-Martin Feud Song" (1 text)
JHCoxIIB, #1A-C, pp. 111-118, "The Rowan County Crew" (2 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 891-892, "Rowan County Troubles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 194-195, "The Rowan County Crew" (1 text)
DT 703, ROWANCRW
Roud #465
RECORDINGS:
Dock Boggs, "Rowan County Crew" (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Ted Chesnut, "The Rowan County Feud" (Champion 15524 [possibly as Cal Turner], 1928; on KMM)
Robert L. Day, "The Rowan County Crew" (AFS, 1938; on KMM)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A West Virginia Feud Song" (theme, lyrics, metre)
cf. "Death of Samuel Adams" (lyrics)
NOTES: Jean Thomas, who knew both James W. Day (who had been in the area when the feud started) and Lucy (Mrs. John) Martin, has extensive notes about the arguments which led to this feud.
Interestingly, Thomas attributes this song to James W. Day, not "Jilson Setters," even though she always calls him "Setters" elsewhere. I can't even find a hint in Thomas that the two were the same. - RBW
File: LE20
===
NAME: Rowdy Soul
DESCRIPTION: "I'm a rowdy soul (x2), Don't care whether I work or not." The singer raised no crop last year; he blames the poor soil. He hopes to build a better house, safe from yellowjackets.  He describes his partying lifestyle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (recording, Janie Scott Kincey)
KEYWORDS: work home hardtimes party floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, pp. 93-94, "Rowdy Soul" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10034
RECORDINGS:
Janie Scott Kincey, "Sometimes I Ride an Old Grey Mare (I'm a Rowdy Old Soul)" (AFS CYL-23-3, 1933)
Will Starks, "I'm a Rowdy Soul" (AFS 6653 B3, 1942)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Whoa Back, Buck" (floating lyrics)
File: MWhee093
===
NAME: Rownd Yr Horn (Round the Horn)
DESCRIPTION: Welsh shanty. Describes a voyage round the horn. Ch. translates: "Come Welshmen all and listen to my tale, How we sailed our packet round the Horn! Twas the third day of the seek boys, When dawn was just abreakin', we passed the rocky shores of Anglesey!"
AUTHOR: Music: R.J. Tomas ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty ship travel
FOUND_IN: Wales
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 563-564, "Rownd Yr Horn" (2 texts-Welsh & English, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is the only sea shanty I've ever heard recorded with harp accompaniment (!) -- by Ar Log on "Ar Log II." According to their liner notes, R. J. Tomas (a Welshman living in America) wrote the tune unde the title "Annie Deg o'r Glen." The words were provided by "Dick Common Sense." - RBW
File: Hugi563
===
NAME: Roxie Ann
DESCRIPTION: "Roxie Ann's a foolin' gal, She fools me all the while, She's been a long time foolin', foolin', She's been a long time foolin' me." "She fools me in the mornin', She fools me in the night..." "I'm goin' to tell my maw on you, I'm goin' to tell my paw..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (JAFL 27)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting trick
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 539, "Roxie Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7647
File: R539
===
NAME: Roy Bean
DESCRIPTION: "Cowboys, come and hear the story of Roy Bean in all his glory. 'The law west of the Pecos' read his sign." Bean runs most of the businesses in his part of the world, and uses them to enhance his power and increase his fortune
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: cowboy lawyer robbery
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 413-415, "Roy Bean" (1 text)
DT, ROYBEAN
Roud #4629
RECORDINGS:
Marc Williams, "Roy Bean" (Decca 5010, 1934)
File: LxA413
===
NAME: Roy Neal: see Dublin Bay (Roy Neal) (File: R691)
===
NAME: Roy Neil and His Fair Young Bride: see Dublin Bay (Roy Neal) (File: R691)
===
NAME: Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch
DESCRIPTION: "Roy's wife of Aldivalloch (x2), Wat ye how she cheated me As I came owre the Braes o' Balloch?" Singer complains that Roy's wife has cheated him; she has sworn she loves him and will be his, but instead she has robbed him and left him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1791 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: adultery infidelity marriage betrayal bawdy wife
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 125, "Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch" (1 text, with dialect retained; one suspects print influence)
Roud #5137
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl, "Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch" (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743)
SAME_TUNE:
Know Ye Not That Lovely River (by Gerald Griffin) (Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 422)
NOTES: According to Lomax, this was originally a bawdy song in folk tradition; the words were sanitized by, "Mrs. Grant of Carron" [in the eighteenth century], and the song then drifted back into tradition. - PJS
According to the notes in MacColl, _Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland_, "John Roy of Aldivalloch was married to Isabel Stewart [on February 21, 1727). Roy was considerably older than his wife [who ran away with] David Gordon of Kirktown. She was pursued by Roy and brought back after a chase over the Braes of Balloch....
"Margaret Roy... said that the song had been made by a shoemaker living in the neighbourhood of Aldivalloch. The tune was first pubished in Walsh's 'Twenty-Four Country Dances' (1724) as Lady Frances Wemy's Reel, but is almost certainly considerably older." - RBW
File: RcRWOA
===
NAME: Royal Blackbird, The: see The Blackbird (I -- Jacobite) (File: R116)
===
NAME: Royal Eagle, The
DESCRIPTION: "A royal lady bewail'd her sad fate" near Vienna. "My Eagle, she cried, now lies in St Helena." She recalls how he left her, and his exploits and says she will look for help to rescue him. "If I cannot find him, I'll fly to old Erin."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Napoleon love political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1815 - Defeat at the Battle of Waterloo forces Napoleon into exile
1821 - Death of Napoleon
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Zimmermann 31, "The Royal Eagle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 203, "The Royal Eagle" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Green Linnet" (theme: Napoleon)
cf. "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)" (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "The New Bunch of Loughero" (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) - BS
This song shares with "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)" and "The New Bunch of Loughero" 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: Zimm031
===
NAME: Royal Fisherman, The: see The Bold Fisherman [Laws O24] (File: LO24)
===
NAME: Royal George, The: see The Mermaid [Child 289] (File: C289)
===
NAME: Royal Oak, The
DESCRIPTION: While sailing on the "Royal Oak", the singer and his fellows spy ten Turkish men-of-war. They sink three, burn three, drive three off, and capture the last, which they drag into Portsmouth harbor. The singer praises their skipper, Capt. Wellfounder.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan1 fragment)
KEYWORDS: fight navy sailor foreigner
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Greig #64, p. 2, ("Two we sunk, and two we brunt") (1 fragment) 
GreigDuncan1 40, "The Marigold" (1 fragment)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 91, "The Royal Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 42, "Turkish Men-o'-War" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 56, "The Marigold" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROYALOAK*
Roud #951
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Turkish Men of War
NOTES: [Lloyd repeats's Firth's suggestion that] the song is based on "Kempthorne's repulse of the seven Algerine ships, December 29, 1669." - PJS
Just for the record: I know of no instance of Turkish warships getting close enough to England to be hauled to Portsmouth. - RBW
While Leach-Labrador calls this "The Marigold," its ship's name is the Martha Jane, with "Captain White from fair Bristow" - BS
File: VWL091
===
NAME: Royal South Down Militia, The: see The South Down Militia (File: OLoc090N)
===
NAME: Rub-a-dub-a-dub: see The Limejuice Tub (File: MA140)
===
NAME: Rub-a-dub-dub
DESCRIPTION: "Rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a tub." They are the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker. They may have gone to the fair, or "jumped out of a rotten potato."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1797 (cf. Baring-Gould-MotherGoose)
KEYWORDS: worker
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Opie-Oxford2 460, "Rub-a-dub-dub" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #133, p. 106, "(Rub-a-dub-dub)"
Roud #12983
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Rub a Dub Dub
File: BGMG133
===
NAME: Ruby Were Her Lips: see The Irish Girl (File: HHH711)
===
NAME: Rude and Rambling Boy, A: see The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: LP24)
===
NAME: Rue: see Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme) (File: FSWB163)
===
NAME: Rue and the Thyme, The (The Rose and the Thyme)
DESCRIPTION: Told mostly in floating lyrics: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry that my fortune's  been so bad, Since I've fa'en in love wi' a young sailor lad." They exchange letters and flowers; she says he may keep his rose and she will keep her thyme.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection virginity floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ord, p. 187, "The Rose and the Thyme" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 52, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "The Young Sailor Lad" (6 texts, 5 tunes)
Roud #858
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wagoner's Lad" (lyrics)
cf. "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)" (lyrics)
cf. "Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme)" (theme, symbols, lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: "Often heard sung fifty and sixty years ago. Noted 1905." - BS
File: Ord187
===
NAME: Rue and Thyme: see Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme) and related songs (File: FSWB163)
===
NAME: Rue the Day: see My Husband's Got No Courage in Him (File: K213)
===
NAME: Rufus Mitchell: see I Picked My Banjo Too (File: Br3594)
===
NAME: Rufus's Mare
DESCRIPTION: Rufus sadly walks to town after his mare is stolen by Tozer. He tells his story: Tozer had given him a lame mare, which he cured, whereupon Tozer requisitioned the animal back. Rufus expects Tozer to end in Hell.
AUTHOR: George Calhoun
EARLIEST_DATE: 1971
KEYWORDS: horse poverty injury hardtimes gift theft
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Doerflinger, pp. 264-265, "Rufus's Mare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4167
NOTES: According to Doerflinger, this is a true story. Rufus Woodcock had lost his horse and was too poor to buy another. A nearby preacher, Reverend Tozier, had a lame horse that he could not cure. Rather than keep feeding the animal, Tozier gave it to Woodcock. Woodcock cured the horse, whereupon Tozier "borrowed" it back and never returned it. Rufus managed to reclaim the horse, but then Tozier came and again reclaimed it by force.
This song is item dH50 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Doe264
===
NAME: Rugby Song, The
DESCRIPTION: A formula song in which the singer -- were she of a mind to marry -- asserts that the kind of man she would wed would play a succession of positions on a rugby team.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous marriage sports
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada US(MW,SW) New Zealand
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 365-368, "The Rugby Song" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #10142
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
If I Were the Marrying Kind
File: EM365
===
NAME: Ruggleton's Daughter of Iero: see The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin [Child 277] (File: C277)
===
NAME: Rule, Britannia
DESCRIPTION: "When Britain first at Heav'n's command Arose from out the azure main... This was the carter of the land: 'Rule, Britannia, Britannia, rule the waves: Britons never, never, never will be slaves."
AUTHOR: Words: David Mallett? James Thompson? / Music: Thomas Augustine Arne?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1740 ("Alfred: A Masque")
KEYWORDS: political England navy ship nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 191-193, "Rule, Britannia" (1 tune, partial text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 477, "Rule, Britannia"
Roud #10790
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Married to a Mermaid" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Married to a Mermaid (File: Harl174)
NOTES: Not really a traditional song, but obviously a popular one.
The irony is that, for most of its history, Britain had a weak navy, or no navy at all. (The result of this was a long series of invasions, often successful. In just the eleventh century, there was Swein Forkbeard's invasion of 1014, Canute's invasion of 1016, Harald Hardrada's invasion of 1066, and of course William the Bastard of Normandy's invasion of 1066 -- the one that earned him the name "William the Conqueror.")
It wasn't until the sixteenth century that Britain firmly established its navy -- but, of course, there has not been a successful outside invasion of Britain since.
Various claims have been made for the authorship of this piece. All that can be said with certainty is that the first publication was in "Dr. Arne's" 1740 stage works.
The original text, as noted, read "Britannia, rule the waves"; later, this was altered in some versions to "Britannia RULES the waves" -- a statement which was absolutely true only in the nineteenth century. Might be time to go back to the old form.... - RBW
"Rule Britannia," for some reason, is item CLVIII in Palgrave's _Golden Treasury_. - RBW
File: ChWII191
===
NAME: Rules of Masonry, The
DESCRIPTION: "None but an atheist can ever deny But that [masonry] came first from on high." God is "the first Great Master of Masonry." Adam first wore "a fig-leaf [mason's] apron." Solomon's temple conformed "to the just-formed rules of Masonry"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: Bible nonballad religious
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #155, pp. 1-2, "Freemason's Song" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 468, "The Rules of Masonry" (1 text)
Roud #5967
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Building of Solomon's Temple" [Laws Q39] (theme: Building the First Temple)
cf. "The Plumb and Level" (theme: Building the First Temple)
NOTES: It is technically true that the Masons had secrets -- rituals, handshakes, and even a so-called secret code of a very simple sort, based on a tic-tac-toe grid and an x, so that, e.g., the letter "o" was "|-|"; the letter "i" was "|-."; and the letter "w" was "\/" (for details, and clearer drawings -- the above are not quite right -- see Fred B. Wrixon, _Codes, Ciphers, & Other Cryptic & Clandestine Communications_, Barnes & Noble, 1998). But few of these secrets were really very secret.
I do find the idea of masonry coming "from on high" a little funny. The first real building project described in the Bible is the Tower of Babel (in Genesis 11), and look how *that* turned out.
As for Masons building Solomon's temple (a tale also found in "The Building of Solomon's Temple" [Laws Q39]), we find a description in chapters 5-8 of 1 Kings (and 2 Chronicles chapters 2-6 with a foreshadowing in 1 Chron. 28-29). But it clearly was not built by masons; it was probably designed by Phoenicians, and certainly constructed by slaves. - RBW
File: GrD3468
===
NAME: Rules of the Road at Sea (Sailor's Rhymes)
DESCRIPTION: Not a song; a series of rhymes by which sailors would learn how to behave at sea. e.g. "When both side lights you see ahead, port your helm and show your Red. Green to Green or Red to Red, perfect safety, go ahead." Most concern weather prediction.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938
KEYWORDS: sailor nonballad ship
FOUND_IN: US Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Colcord, pp. 204-207, "Rules of the Road" (various short texts)
NOTES: I wasn't sure whether to include this, since it really isn't a shanty. However, it would seem that these rhymes served a similar purpose to the shanties in that they helped the work along. - SL
And indeed the "rules" vary from the universally familiar ("Red [sky] at night", which is traditional even in my family -- and I don't have many family traditions!) to some which appear to deal with conditions in a particular harbor. We'll just file this as a lumping entry for all sailors' rhymes. - RBW
File: Colc204
===
NAME: Rum By Gum (Temperance Union Song)
DESCRIPTION: "We're coming, we're coming, our brave little band, On the right side of temperance we do take our stand.... Away, away with rum, by gum, The song of the (Salvation Army/Temperance Union)." Various verses on the value of sobriety
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Welch & Moore, Michigan's Favorite College Songs)
KEYWORDS: drink political nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 317, "Temperance Song" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment without the chorus)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 6-7, "Away With Rum" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 233, "Away With Rum" (1 text)
DT, (AWAYRUM*) (AWAYRUM2*) (AWAYRUM3*) (AWAYRUM4*) (AWAYRUM5*)
ADDITIONAL: Roy Dickinson Welch & Earl Vincent Moore, _Michigan's Favorite College Songs_, Sixth Edition, University Music House, 1921 (available on Google Books), p. 224, "Away with Rum" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12765
NOTES: Warning: All the Digital Tradition versions are parodies of one sort or another (AWAYRUM5 is 35 verses, almost all silly, almost all modern). Many singers today sing this as a joke. But the roots of this piece are almost certainly serious (compare Randolph's version).
Thanks to Jim Dixon for pointing out the Wallace & Moore version. - RBW
File: R317
===
NAME: Rum Saloon Shall Go, The
DESCRIPTION: "A wave is rolling o'er the land With heavy undertow, And voices sounding on the strand, The rum saloon shall go. Shall go, shall go, We know, we know, A cry is sounding o'er the land, The rum saloon shall go." The song promises to lift the curse of drink
AUTHOR: Words: Jno. O. Foster/Music: Jno. R. Sweeney
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (copyright claim)
KEYWORDS: drink political
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 333, "The Rum Saloon Shall Go" (1 text)
Roud #7805
File: R333
===
NAME: Rummy Crocodile, The: see The Wonderful Crocodile (File: MA134)
===
NAME: Rummy Dummy Line, The: see The Dummy Line (File: DTdumyli)
===
NAME: Run Along, You Little Dogies: see Get Along, Little Dogies AND Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own) (File: R178)
===
NAME: Run Come See
DESCRIPTION: "It was in nineteen hundred and twenty nine, I remember that day pretty well...." The singer describes the great storm that threatened the Ethel, Myrtle, and Praetoria, sinking the last. The Captain, George Brown, calls on the passengers to pray
AUTHOR: claimed by "Blind Blake" Higgs
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940s (recording, Blake Higgs)
KEYWORDS: religious ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1929 - The Bahamas are devastated by a hurricane with little or no advance warning. Three boats, the Ethel, Myrtle, and Praetoria, bound for Andros, are caught in the storm; the Praetoria sinks, and thirty-three are lost.
FOUND_IN: Bahamas
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 58, "Run Come See" (1 text)
DT, RUNCOME
RECORDINGS:
John Roberts & group, "Pytoria (Run Come See Jerusalem)" (on MuBahamas2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Great Storm Pass Over" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Run Come See Jerusalem
NOTES: John Roberts claims to have composed this song within four days of the ship's sinking, rather than Blake Higgs. On reading his account, I'm inclined to believe him. - PJS
File: FSWB058
===
NAME: Run Come See Jerusalem: see Run Come See (File: FSWB058)
===
NAME: Run Here, Doctor, Run Here Quick
DESCRIPTION: Hammer song or similar: "Run here, doctor (huh), Run here quick (huh), Little Mary (huh) Swallowed a stick."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: doctor work injury
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 246, "Run Here, Doctor, Run Here Quick" (1 short text)
NOTES: The notes in Brown include various references which make it appear that they regard this as a version of "Shortenin' Bread." I don't see it. - RBW
File: Br3246
===
NAME: Run Mollie Run
DESCRIPTION: Verses from different songs. "Miss Liza was a gambler, learned me how to steal"; "I went down to Huntsville, I did not go to stay..."; "Oh, Liza, poor girl...she died on that train"; "Cherry  like a rose"; "Run, Mollie, run/Let us have some fun"
AUTHOR: Henry Thomas assembled it, at any rate
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Henry Thomas)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Confused verses, mostly narrative, but apparently from different songs. "Miss Liza was a gambler, learned me how to steal"; "I went down to Huntsville, I did not go to stay/Just got there to do a little time, wear that ball and chain"; "Oh, Liza, poor girl...she died on that train"; "Cherry  like a rose"; "Run, Mollie, run/Let us have some fun"
KEYWORDS: captivity love beauty prison death gambling cards floatingverses prisoner dancetune
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas, "Run Mollie Run" (Vocalion 1141, c. 1928 [rec. 1927]; on BefBlues1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Molly and Tenbrooks" [Laws H27] (lyrics)
NOTES: This song's a mess -- a composite of several songs, about half of which are ballads, half not. But it seems important to include, if for no other reason than that it *is* a composite. I strongly suspect -- no, I'm certain -- this was a dance tune; the rhythm is certainly right. - PJS
File: RcRunMol
===
NAME: Run Mountain
DESCRIPTION: Dance tune with floating verses: "I went up on the mountain to get me a load of pine..."; "Me six miles from my home... Me upstairs with another man's wife..."; Chorus: "Run mountain, chuck a little hill (x3)/There you'll get your fill."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1949 (recording, J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Dance tune with floating verses: "I went up on the mountain to get me a load of pine/I put it on the wagon, I broke down behind"; "Me six miles from my home and the chickens crowing for day/Me upstairs with another man's wife, better be a-getting away"; "I went up on the mountain to give my horn a blow/I thought I heard my true love say, yonder comes my beau"; "If I had a needle and thread as fine as I could sew/I'd sew my true love to my side and down the road I'd go." Chorus: "Run mountain, chuck a little hill (x3)/There you'll get your fill."
KEYWORDS: adultery love work dancing humorous nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 206, "Run Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers "Run Mountain" (King 819, 1949)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Run Mountain" (on NLCR04)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Down the River I Go" (words)
cf. "Whoop 'em Up Cindy" (words)
cf. "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard" [Child 81] (words)
cf. "The Hunt is Up" (words)
NOTES: One of dozens of songs in southeastern and Appalachian tradition that reshuffle similar verses with new choruses and tunes. - PJS
File: CSW206
===
NAME: Run Old Jeremiah
DESCRIPTION: "Good Lord, by myself (x3), You know I've got to go, You got to run, I got to run, You got to run By myself (x3)." Song describes traveling, freedom, (God as) the rock, and other themes of the poor and oppressed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Field Recording, J.A./Alan Lomax)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 197-200, "(Run Old Jeremiah)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15505
NOTES: The Lomax field recording of this song is incomplete at both beginning and end, but it would appear that the complete song would simply have continued the themes found in the extant portion. - RBW
File: CNFM197
===
NAME: Run to Jesus
DESCRIPTION: "Run to Jesus, shun the danger, I don't expect to stay much longer." The singer describes the difficulties of the path he must follow, but also the rewards to be found at the end. The refrain "I don't expect to stay much longer" ends each verse
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (J. B. T. March, "The Story of the Jubilee Singers")
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad travel
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 89-90, "Run to Jesus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15263
NOTES: Reportedly sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who had it from Frederick Douglass. Douglass remarked that this song prompted him to consider running from slavery. - RBW
File: Grnw089
===
NAME: Run with the Bullgine: see Run, Let the Bullgine Run (File: Hugi342)
===
NAME: Run, Let the Bulgine Run: see Run, Let the Bullgine Run (File: Hugi342)
===
NAME: Run, Let the Bullgine Run
DESCRIPTION: Shanty or railroading song. Refrain: "Run with/let the bulgine run. Way-yah oh-i-oh, Run with/let the bulgine run." Many verses repeat the "running" theme, i.e. "we'll run all day to Frisco Bay." Used as both a capstan and halyard shanty.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (L. A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong sailor nonballad railroading
FOUND_IN: Britain US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Colcord, p. 64, "Run With the Bullgine" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 342-344, "Run, Let the Bulgine Run" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 257]
Sharp-EFC, XIII, p. 16, "Let the Bullgine Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Hugi342 (Full)
Roud #4711
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll the Cotton Down" (tune)
NOTES: "Bullgine" was American Negro slang for a railway engine. - SL
(We might add that, in the early days of steamships, it was not unusual for railroad engines to be used in steamships.) - RBW
File: Hugi342
===
NAME: Run, Molly, Run: see Molly and Tenbrooks [Laws H27] (File: LH27)
===
NAME: Run, Nigger, Run
DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Run, nigger, run, The (calaboose/patter-roller) will get you. Run, nigger run...." Various verses on the life of the slave, usually pertaining to punishment and perhaps the run to freedom
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1851 (Serenader's Song Book)
KEYWORDS: slave freedom escape nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 89, "Run, Nigger, Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 457, "Run, Nigger, Run" (4 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 2 more, all short and with hints of mixture but with this chorus)
Randolph 264, "Run, Nigger, Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 248, "Run, Nigger, Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 225-226, "Run, Nigger, Run" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 264)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 12, "Run, Nigger, Run" (1 text, 1 tune; it appears that this has mixed with something else, but the version isn't long enough to be sure what); also p. 24, "Run, Nigger, Run" (2 texts, 1 tune, both short); also p. 25, "Most Done Ling'rin Here" (1 text, 1 tune, with a verse from this plus the "If you get there before I do" floating verse and a chorus that might be "Rough, Rocky Road")
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 228-231, "Run, Nigger, Run" (1+ texts, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 906, "Run, Nigger, Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3660
RECORDINGS:
Dr. Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters, "Run Nigger, Run" (Brunswick 275, 1928)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Run Nigger, Run" (OKeh 40230, 1924)
Sid Harkreader & Grady Moore, "Run Nigger Run" (Paramount 3054, 1927)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Run, Nigger, Run" (Vocalion 15032, 1925)
Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Run, Nigger, Run" (AFS 196 A1, 1933; on LC04)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Run Nigger Run" (Columbia 15158-D, 1927)
Clint Howard, Gaither Carlton, Fred Price & Doc Watson, "Run, Jimmie, Run" (on WatsonAshley01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Shortenin' Bread" (tune)
cf. "Some Folks Say that a Preacher Won't Steal" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Paddy-Roller
Pateroller Song
Run, Boy, Run
Run, Johnny, Run
Run, Slave, Run
NOTES: In Lomax we find the following explanation (quoted at several hands' remove):
"Just after the Nat Turner Insurrection in 1832 the Negroes were put under special restrictions to home quarters, and patrolmen appointed to keep them in, and if caught without a written pass from owner they were dealt with severely then and there; hence the injunction to 'Run, Nigger, Run, the Patter-roller Git You' to the tune of 'Fire in the Mountain....'" - RBW
File: R264
===
NAME: Run, Sallie, My Gal: see Bugle, Oh! (File: Br3197)
===
NAME: Runaway Bride, The
DESCRIPTION: "If you go to the North Countrie... You'll hear how the bride from the blacksmith ran To be a liggar lady." Townfolk gather to the wedding; the bride is missing. The audience laughs at the groom's expense. Men are warned of Hieland lads luring their girls
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: marriage abandonment
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ord, pp. 462-463, "The Runaway Bride" (1 text)
Roud #2876
NOTES: Ord reports this to be based on an event which occurred "near the end of the eighteenth century." Given the song's history (analogs appear in Herd and the Scots Musical Museum), that date seems a bit late. - RBW
File: Ord462
===
NAME: Runaway Train, The: see The Little Red Train (File: EM224)
===
NAME: Rural Courtship: see The Monymusk Lads (File: Ord068)
===
NAME: Rurey Bain: see Sir Lionel [Child 18] (File: C018)
===
NAME: Russia, Let That Moon Alone
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Russia, let that moon alone, Moon ain't worryin' you! God told you to till the earth, God didn't tell you to till the moon! You can make your sputnickles And your satellites, You can't get God's moon." The moon is for light, not exploration
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963 (Courlander)
KEYWORDS: technology nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 78-79, (no title) (1 text); p. 260, "Russia, Let That Moon Alone" (1 tune, partial text)
NOTES: It's hard to believe that this silly bit of Luddite-ism can be traditional; on its face, it must have been written between 1959 (when the Soviet Union sent up the first Luna satellites) and Kennedy's announcement that the United States would try to beat the Soviets there.
Courlander's notes imply that it is from a field recording, but I'm not sure how far to trust that.
I hope it goes without saying that the Bible says nothing, positive or negative, about lunar exploration, manned or unmanned. - RBW
File: CNFM078
===
NAME: Russian Bear, The
DESCRIPTION: "The French he cries ye British rise Along with us prepare And go and help the gallant Turk To hunt the Russian bear." "The bear he is a sulky brute, And naething will he eat Unless he gets some Turkish wings, He likes a dainty treat"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: war Russia nonballad animal
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 156, "The Russian Bear" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5826
NOTES: The description is all of the GreigDuncan1 text. The song refers to the Crimean War. - BS
File: GrD1156
===
NAME: Russian Sing for Heaving the Anchor
DESCRIPTION: Tune only, no text. According to Hugill, Russian seaman had few real shanties and apart from the songs quotes by Smith there is nothing in the literature.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (L.A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage nonballad shanty worksong
FOUND_IN: Russia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, p. 572, "Russian Sing for Heaving the Anchor" (1 tune only, no text-quoted from Smith)
File: Hugi572
===
NAME: Rustlin' Gambler, The: see (tentatively) The Roving Gambler [Laws H4] (File: LH04)
===
NAME: Rusty Jiggs and Sandy Sam: see Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail [Laws B17] (File: LB17)
===
NAME: Rusty Old Rover: see The Cobbler (I) (File: R102)
===
NAME: Ryans and the Pittmans, The: see We'll Rant and We'll Roar (File: FJ042)
===
NAME: Rye Straw
DESCRIPTION: Dance tune: "Dog shit a ryestraw, dog shit a jackstraw/Dog tore his asshole tryin' to shit a hacksaw." "Dog shit a ryestraw, dog shit a minner/Dog shit a catfish big enough for dinner" 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (recording, Uncle "Am" Stuart)
KEYWORDS: injury dancetune nonballad animal dog
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #16847
RECORDINGS:
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Rye Straw" (on BLLunsford01)
Clayton McMichen & Riley Puckett, "Rye Straw" (Columbia 15521-D, 1930, rec. 1929)
Doc Roberts, "Rye Straw" (Champion 16026, 1930)
Uncle "Am" Stuart, "Rye Straw" (Vocalion 14843, 1924; Brunswick [Canada] 1003, n.d.)
Unidentified singer, "Grubbing Hoe" (on Unexp1)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Joke on the Puppy
The Unfortunate Pup
NOTES: With the exception of the anonymous version on "The Unexpurgated Folk Songs of Men" (Unexp1), none of the recorded versions includes the lyrics, although every American fiddler knows them. On the Skillet Lickers' recording, when the fiddler announces that the tune will be "Ryestraw," someone replies, "All right, but let your conscience be your guide." - PJS
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, in his recording of this song, noted "There are a lot of unprintable and unsingable stanzas to the old song. However, that is not confused with what we boys used to do in the old days, gather around... and possibly some of the boys would repeat maybe some questionable stanzas and follow it with 'Rye straw, rye straw, rye straw.'"
Incidentally, I've seen at least one "clean" mnemonic for this song, though presumably it is not the original. - RBW
File: RcRyStra
===
NAME: Rye Whiskey
DESCRIPTION: A song of intense alcoholism: "Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I cry; If I don't get rye whiskey I surely will die." "If the ocean was whisky and I was a duck, I'd dive to the bottom...." Many verses about how drink has affected the singer's life 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: drink rambling floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (20 citations)
Belden, pp. 374-377, "The Guerrilla Boy" (4 texts, 1 tune; the first of two texts filed as "C" is this song)
BrownIII 50, "Jack of Diamonds" (4 texts, all short; some may be "Jack of Diamonds (II)")
Hudson 79, pp. 207-208, "Jack of Diamonds" (1 short text); 117, pp. 258-259, "O Lillie, O Lillie," mostly a "Jack of Diamonds" text but with verses which mix it with "The Rebel Soldier"; also 116, p. 258, "I'll Eat When I'm Hungry" (1 fragment, a single stanza based on this song but probably belonging with "The Rebel Soldier": "I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry, If the Yankees don't kill me, I'll live till I die")
Randolph 405, "Rye Whiskey, Rye Whiskey" (6 texts, 1 tune); also 494, "Tie-Hackin's Too Tiresome" (1 fragment, 1 tune, an extract from a longer version)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 344-345, "Rye Whiskey, Rye Whiskey" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 405A); pp. 375-376, 'Tie Hackin's Too Tiresome" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 494)
Fuson, p. 157-159, "His Wants," "My Welcome," "I'll Live Till I Die  (second, ninth, and tenth of 12 single-stanza "jigs") (3 fragments, all sometimes found with this song though all are floating verses)
Sandburg, p. 307, "Way Up On Clinch Mountain" (2 text, 1 tune, but only the "A"  text belongs here; "B" is perhaps "Sweet Lulur")
Lomax-FSUSA 64, "Rye Whiskey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 170-173, "Rye Whiskey" (1 text+minor fragments, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 855-857, "Rye Whisky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 142-143, "Clinch Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 69, "Rye Whiskey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 92, "If the River Was Whiskey" (1 text, built around W. C. Handey's "Hesitating Blues" but with most of the verses from this song)
Darling-NAS, pp. 286-287, "Jack o' Diamonds" (1 text, heavily mixed with "Logan County Jail"); pp. 287-288, "Rye Whiskey" (1 text)
MWheeler, pp. 112-113, "Beefsteak When I'm Hongry" (1 text, 1 tune, a mixed fragment I file here on the basis of the first verse; the others are from elsewhere)
Thomas-Makin', p. 121, (no title) (1 text, all floating verses, some of which are, or can be, part of "Rye Whiskey" and all of which are drink-related)
Silber-FSWB, p. 233, "Rye Whiskey" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 5, "Rye Whiskey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 211-213, "Jack o' Diamonds" (1 text; this particular Lomax offering contains elements of "Jack o Diamonds/Rye Whisky," "The Wagoner's Lad," The Rebel Soldier," and others)
DT, RYEWHISK* MOONSHI4* (RYEWHISx)
Roud #941
RECORDINGS:
Jules Allen, "Jack O' Diamonds" (Victor 21470, 1928; Montgomery Ward M-4464, 1934)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Drunkard's Hiccups" (OKeh 45032, 1926; rec. 1925)
Wilf Carter, "Rye Whiskey" (Bluebird [Canada] 58-0058, 1948)
Yodeling Slim Clark, "Rye Whiskey" (Continental 8012, n.d.)
Homer & Jethro, "Rye Whiskey" (King 571, 1947)
Harry Jackson, "Jack o' Diamonds" (on HJackson1)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers "Drunkard's Hiccoughs" (Bluebird B-8400, 1940)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Drunkard's Hiccups" (on NLCR08)
Elmo Newcomer, "Rye Whiskey" CroMart 100, n.d. but prob. late 1940s - early 1950s)
Bill Nicholson w. Zane Shrader, "Jack of Diamonds" (AFS; on LC14)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "If the River Was Whiskey" (with verses from this song though also related to "Hesitation Blues" or Handy's "Hesitating Blues"; Columbia 15545-D, 1930; on CPoole02)
Tex Ritter, "Rye Whiskey, Rye Whiskey" (Vocalion 5493, c. 1931; Vocalion 04911, 1939) (Edison Bell Winner [U.K.] W-21, 1933); "Rye Whiskey" (Capitol 40084, 1948)
Reaves White County Ramblers, "Drunkard's Hiccups" (Vocalion 5247, 1928)
Hobart Smith, "Drunken Hiccups" (on LomaxCD1706)
Pete Seeger, "Whiskey, Rye Whiskey" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
Jilson Setters [pseud. for James W. "Blind Bill" Day], "Way Up On Clinch Mountain" (Victor 21635, 1928; on RoughWays1, KMM)
Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, "Jack O' Diamonds" (Herwin 75561, c. 1927)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wagoner's Lad" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Greenback Dollar"
cf. "Sailing Out on the Ocean" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Jack of Diamonds (I)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Jack O'Diamonds
Drunken Hiccups
NOTES: This song merges almost continuously with "The Wagoner's Lad" (which itself has offshoots such as "I'm a Rambler, I'm a Gambler"); see that song also for the full list of variants.
The "Jack of Diamonds" subfamily of this song is well known, and perhaps would be considered by some a separate song, but contains so much mixture with this song that I don't see any way to separate them. - RBW
File: R405
===
NAME: Rye Whiskey, Rye Whiskey: see Rye Whisky (File: R405)
===
NAME: Ryebuck Shearer, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes how anyone can gain respect if he is a ryebuck shearer. He is told that he will never be that good, but stoutly maintains that he'll get there someday
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953 (collected by John Meredith fromJac Luscombe)
KEYWORDS: sheep work 
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 23, "The Ryebuck Shearer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 144-145, "The Ryebuck Shearer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 118-119, "The Ryebuck Shearer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 196-197, "The Ryebuck Shearer" (1 text)
NOTES: A "ryebuck shearer" is an expert shearer (also called a "gun"), usually expected to shear a "century" -- a hundred sheep in a day. The name often referred specifically to the "ringer," or best shearer in the shed. - RBW
File: MA023
===
NAME: Ryner Dyne: see Reynardine [Laws P15] (File: LP15)
===
NAME: 'S mise chunnaic an t-longnadh (Mermaid Song) (It Is I Who Saw The Wonder)
DESCRIPTION: In Scots Gaelic: "It is I who saw the wonder/One early morning as I was looking for sheep/A girl with flowing brown hair/Sat on a flat rock of the gulls." The mermaid and her brothers are involved in a mysterious, bloody fight in a rocky cave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (recording, Penny Morrison)
KEYWORDS: fight mermaid/man supernatural
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Penny Morrison "'S mise chunnaic an t-longnadh [Mermaid Song] (It Is I Who Saw The Wonder)" [fragment] (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743)
NOTES: Alas, Lomax provides only the introductory verses and a maddeningly brief summary of the song. - PJS
File: RcSMCATL
===
NAME: S-A-V-E-D
DESCRIPTION: The singer complains about the sins of others, spelling each out (e.g. they "d-a-n-c-e" while wearing a new "h-a-t"). The singer, though, need not worry about such things; "It's g-l-o-r-y to know I'm s-a-v-e-d."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad sin
FOUND_IN: US Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Leach-Labrador 124, "S-A-V-E-D" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 349, "It's G-L-O-R-Y To Know I'm S-A-V-E-D" (1 text)
Roud #9539
RECORDINGS:
The Blue Sky Boys, "I'm S-A-V-E-D" (Bluebird 8401, 1940)
The Georgia Yellow Hammers, "I'm S-A-V-E-D" (Victor 21195, 1928)
Karl & Harty, "I'm S-A-V-E-D" (Perfect 6-10-54, 1936)
Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers, "S-A-V-E-D" (Columbia 15097-D, 1926)
NOTES: Obviously a composed song, but I've no knowledge of the source. I've heard it enough times that I suspect it belongs in the Index. There is a list of relatively recent recording by revival singers (along with an unattributed text and tune) in _Sing Out!_, Volume 38, #4 (1994), p. 68. - RBW
File: FSWB349
===
NAME: Sa Up and Rise
DESCRIPTION: "Sa up and rise, my merry lads, For a' maun rise, for a' maun rise"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #163, p. 3, ("Sa up and rise, my merry lads") (1 fragment) 
GreigDuncan3 442, "Sa Up and Rise" (1 fragment)
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 fragment.
Greig's correspondent, John Milne, has this fragment be the chorus of a song his grandfather sang "telling the joys to be derived from first-class farm-work, workmen, and working-gear" at "Mill of Boyndlie [sic]." 
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Mill of Boyndie (441) is at coordinate (h6-7,v6) on that map [near Banff, roughly 41 miles NNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: GrD3442
===
NAME: Sabbath Has No End
DESCRIPTION: Gwine to walk about Zion, I really do believe, Walk about Zion, I really do believe, Walk about....Sabbath has no end. I did view one angel In one angel stand, Let's mark him down with the forehead." "Going to follow King Jesus." "I love God certain."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 69. "Sabbath Has No End" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12027
NOTES: There are several references in the Bible to people with special marks on their foreheads. In Ezekiel 9, a man clothed in linen is instructed to mark the foreheads of those who dislike idolatry, so that they may be spared persecution. But most of the mentions are in the Apocalypse.
In 7:3, the servants of God are to receive a mark on the forehead. In 9:4, those who do not have it are to be punished. In 14:1, the name of the Father and the Lamb are written on the heads of saints. Servants of God also have a mark on their foreheads in 22:4.
On the other hand, in 13:16, the servants of the Beast are marked so that they can engage in commerce. In 14;(, it is declared that these will be punished. This mark is also mentioned in 20:4. The Great Whore also has a name on her forehead in 17:5.
I guess this is what happens when you don't have tamper-proof ID cards.... - RBW
File: AWG069
===
NAME: Sable Island Shore
DESCRIPTION: A tribute to the lifeguards at the Sable Island lighthouse who "glide from the beach to the roaring seas The lives of the crews to save ... They risk their lives in their daily work ... On the Sable Island shore"
AUTHOR: Ted Germain
EARLIEST_DATE: 1964 (NFOBlondahl04)
KEYWORDS: rescue ship shore wreck nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Sable Island Shore" (on NFOBlondahl04)
NOTES: Ted Germain is a Nova Scotia musician. "One of his early compositions, Sable Island Shores, became a local hit and would lead Germain to a recording contract and a series of albums for London Records." (Source: From the East Coast Music Awards Canada site, re 2004 Stompin' Tom Award Recipients)
Sable Island, Nova Scotia, about 23 miles long, is about 110 miles, at its nearest point, from the Nova Scotia coast. According to the Sable Island Preservation Trust site: more than 350 wrecks have been recorded there since 1583; a lifesaving station operated there from 1801 until 1958.
Blondahl04 has no liner notes confirming that this song was collected in Newfoundland. Barring another report for Newfoundland I do not assume it has been found there. There is no entry for "Sable Island Shore" in _Newfoundland Songs and Ballads in Print 1842-1974 A Title and First-Line Index_ by Paul Mercer. - BS
File: RcSaIsSh
===
NAME: Sable Island Song (I)
DESCRIPTION: "On the stormy western ocean ... Lies a barren little island." The singer signs to be government caretaker, wear government clothes, chase "crazy horses" and "wild cattle," swallow inedible food: "Get off Sable Island Or you'll be crazy in a year"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton - Nova Scotia)
KEYWORDS: work food ordeal animal
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 142, "Sable Island Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST RcSabIsl (Partial)
Roud #1838
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Sable Island" (on NFOBlondahl03)
NOTES: Creighton-NovaScotia: "The author of this song is said to be one of the sons of the well-to-do in Halifax who was sent to Sable Island ... to be cured of his fondness for the cup."
Sable Island, Nova Scotia, about 23 miles long, is about 110 miles, at its nearest point, from the Nova Scotia coast. 
Blondahl03 has no liner notes confirming that this song was collected in Newfoundland. Barring another report for Newfoundland I do not assume it has been found there. There is no entry for "Sable Island" in _Newfoundland Songs and Ballads in Print 1842-1974 A Title and First-Line Index_ by Paul Mercer. - BS
The song in its current form, based on the information in Creighton, must be dated to 1904 or after, when Gordeau Park was founded. - (RBW, BS)
File: RcSabIsl
===
NAME: Sable Island Song (II)
DESCRIPTION: Hard times for "banned steeves" at Main Station. They steal from other boys "and only call that fun" but the busy-bodies "in the castle... their tongues were never still." The "steeves" nail a postal to their door and refuse to take it down.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: accusation hardtimes food theft
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-NovaScotia 143, "Sable Island Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS143 (Partial)
Roud #1839
NOTES: Creighton-NovaScotia. "In 1926 the wireless men lost some potatoes and accused Main Station men ["banned steeves"] of taking them.... The [people in the castle] are the wireless operator and his wife." I guess "postal" should be read as "post" [I take it to mean 'letter" or "accusation" - RBW]. See other Sable Island songs for confirmation of the hard times there. - BS
The Communal Composition advocates would love this. According to Creighton's notes, the Main Station staff each wrote a verse as a competition to see who could do best. Little surprise, then, that the result is ragged and tells an imperfect story. But as for Creighton's comment that "the song-making instinct is not dormant" -- no, it's not, as anyone who listens to rock music can tell. The instinct to make GOOD songs is another matter.... - RBW
File: CrNS143
===
NAME: Sacramento: see Ho for California (Banks of Sacramento) (File: E125)
===
NAME: Sacramento Gals
DESCRIPTION: Singer praises the beauty and elegance of Sacramento gals, with their bustles, hoops, and powdered, painted faces. Refrains: "Nipping around, around, around"; "As they go nipping around"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1858 (Put's Golden Songster)
KEYWORDS: beauty clothes nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "Sacramento Gals" (on LEnglish02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bobbing Around" (tune)
NOTES: Among the verses cited, "They're here and there, like Santa Anna/They're fresh and mellow like ripe banana" stands out as an exemplar of how tastes in compliments have changed. I believe Walt Kelly parodied that at one point -- "Your eyes are warm as sweet manana/Soft and gooey like fried banana." Not a verse I'm likely to forget - PJS
File: RcSacrGa
===
NAME: Sad and Lonely Comrade
DESCRIPTION: Bobby dies and his father and mother mourn. "Prepare to meet your darling with Christ up in the skies. We all have loved ones sleeping, all in a churchyard bed, And why not try to meet them in a moment we are dead"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: death religious father mother
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leach-Labrador 52, "Sad and Lonely Comrade" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab052 (Partial)
Roud #9987
NOTES: Leach's informant thought this a local song about a Labrador event, though he didn't know details. I suspect he was right, though; the song is unsophisticated and the poetry neither good nor clear. - RBW
File: LLab052
===
NAME: Sad and Lonesome Day: see See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (File: ADR92)
===
NAME: Sad Condition
DESCRIPTION: "A young lady sat down in a sad condition/A-mourning the loss of her own true love/Some folks say that he was taken/In the wars with Germany/Hi-lee, 'tis not so/I'll turn back and be your beau/Turn my elbow to my wrist/I'll turn back in a double twist"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1907 (JAF20)
KEYWORDS: grief love war death mourning dancing playparty lover
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SharpAp 263, "Sad Condition" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #940
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Killy Kranky" (lyrics)
NOTES: This is a weird hybrid of what sounds like a remnant of a tragic lover-lost-in-the-army ballad and a few lines from a playparty, "Killy Kranky." But that has no narrative to speak of, and this one does, sort of, so it gets its own entry. Oh, the version collected by Sharp came from Hindman, KY, where various generations of Ritchies attended the settlement school. - PJS
File: ShAp2263
===
NAME: Sad Courtin', The: see The Suffolk Miracle [Child 272] (File: C272)
===
NAME: Sad Song, The: see Lady Mary (The Sad Song) (File: R698)
===
NAME: Saddest Face in the Mining Town, The
DESCRIPTION: A miner takes leave of his girl, noting that tomorrow they will be married, He goes down in the mine, which caves in. The bells, instead of tolling for a wedding, toll for his funeral. Years later, his body is found, and the white-haired bride knows it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1976 (collected by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: beauty mining death disaster corpse wedding
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Logsdon 58, pp. 265-267, "The Saddest Face in the Mining Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10108
NOTES: The deft work of this song is impressive: The contrast between the "fairest face in the mining town" and the "saddest face in the mining town,' and an overall air of understatement, make it especially poignant. Logsdon is reminded of an old ballad, but it strikes me as more parlor poetry (though exceptionally good of its kind). We might note that the idea of the wedding bell that instead rings a funeral note is hardly unique to this song -- A. E. Housman used it, with equal brilliance and images even more spare, in "Bredon Hill." - RBW
File: Logs058
===
NAME: Saddle Tramp (Saddle Bum), The
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of life as a "saddle bum" or "saddle tramp," riding the grub-line, moving from ranch to ranch, singing for his keep. When things get cool, he "forks his bronc" and moves on. Over winter, he stays with his Neta, and promises to be true to her
AUTHOR: Curley Fletcher
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Curley Fletcher, "Songs of the Sage")
KEYWORDS: rambling travel music nonballad animal horse lover hobo
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Harry Jackson, "The Saddle Bum" (on HJackson1)
NOTES: The "grub line" or "chuck line" refers to the practice of offering itinerant cowboys or workers a few days' food and lodging as they passed through. - PJS
File: RcSadTra
===
NAME: Sadie (I): see Frankie and Albert [Laws I3] (File: LI03)
===
NAME: Sadie (II): see Bad Lee Brown (Little Sadie) [Laws I8] (File: LI08)
===
NAME: Sadie Ray
DESCRIPTION: "Near a cool and shady woodland Where the rippling streamlets flow Dwelt a maiden kind and lovely But 'twas in long years ago." He describes their love and plans to marry, "But she's dead, my Sadie Ray." He prepares to meet her in Heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (recorded by Ashley & Foster)
KEYWORDS: love death separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 770, "Sadie Ray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4314
RECORDINGS:
[Clarence] Ashley & [Gwen] Foster, "Sadie Ray" (Vocalion 02900, 1935)
NOTES: Printed in one of the Hamlin's Wizard Oil songbooks, probably in the 1880s. - RBW
File: R770
===
NAME: Sae Will We Yet: see And Sae Will We Yet (File: FVS256)
===
NAME: Safe at Home in the Promised Land: see Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children, The Promised Land) (File: San092)
===
NAME: Said Frohock to Fanning
DESCRIPTION: "Said Frohock to Fanning, 'To tell the plain truth, When I came to this country I was but a youth... And then my first study was to cheat for a hoss.'" Fanning and Frohock happily exchange tales of cheating those around them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: political robbery
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 279, "Said Frohock to Fanning" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "From Hillsborough Town the First of May" (subject)
cf. "When Fanning First to Orange Came" (subject)
cf. "Who Would Have Tho't Harmon" (subject)
NOTES: One of four "regulator" songs in Brown. The regulators were a group of protesters against high taxes and fees, found mostly in North Carolina though some also were active in South Carolina.
The Regulators formally organized in 1766, when William Tryon (1725-1788) was governor of North Carolina (1765-1771); he defeated them at Almance in 1771. That was Tryon's way; as governor of New York (1771-1778) he was equally harsh. His successors then turned to compromise.
Edmund Fanning, a Yale graduate of 1757, was a favorite of Tryon's; after moving to North Carolina, he went from being a local attorney to a Superior Court clerk and legislator. He also built a reputation for extreme avarice, making him a particular target for the regulators (and vice versa). A loyalist during the Revolution (commanded the King's American Regiment of Foot), he died in London.
The notes in Brown observe three men named Frohock held station in North Carolina in the Regulators. They suspect Thomas Frohock is meant, but this is beyond proof.  - RBW
File: BrII279
===
NAME: Saighdiuir Treigthe, An (The Forsaken Soldier)
DESCRIPTION: Gaelic. Singer wakes and throws away his uniform. He hears gossip about his sweetheart and cuts off his finger. He will die before Easter but would return from the dead if she calls him. He curses his father for driving him to drink and the army.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage love nonballad injury soldier death ghost separation
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 168-169, "An Saighdiuir Treigthe" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, pp. 115-116, "An Saighdiur Treigthe" ("The Deserted Soldier") [Gaelic and English]
NOTES: Tunney-StoneFiddle includes both the Gaelic and Paddy Tunney's English translation. However, I used Bell/O Conchubhair for most of the description because it seemed a better match for what little Gaelic I could follow. Tunney has one additional verse. - BS
File: TSF168
===
NAME: Sail Away Ladies
DESCRIPTION: Dance tune with floating verses: "Ever I get my new house done/Sail away, ladies, sail away/Give the old one to my son/Sail away...."  "Don't you worry, don't you cry... You'll be angels by and by" Etc. "Chorus: "Don't'ye rock 'em, di-de-o (x3 or x4)".
AUTHOR: Words assembled by Uncle Dave Macon
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Uncle Bunt Stephens)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Dance tune with floating verses, and some that should be: "Ever I get my new house done/Sail away, ladies, sail away/Give the old one to my son/Sail away, ladies, sail away"; "Children, Don't You Grieve and Cry/You're gonna be angels by and by"; "Come along, girls and go with me/We'll go back to Tennessee". Chorus: "Don't'ye rock 'em, di-de-o (3-4x)". "Sail away, ladies, sail away" is the verse refrain.
KEYWORDS: dancing drink humorous nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 203, "Sail Away Ladies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 251, "Sail Away Ladies" (1 text)
MWheeler, p. 15-16, "Oh, When I Git My New House Done" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment with no chorus but verses similar to this)
Silber-FSWB, p. 42, "Sail Away Ladies" (1 text)
DT, SAILLADI*
RECORDINGS:
Henry L. Bandy, "Sail Away Ladies" (Gennett test pressing GEx14361, 1928; unissued; on KMM)
Logan English, "Old Doc Jones" (on LEnglish01)
Uncle Dave Macon & his Fruit Jar Drinkers, "Sail Away Ladies" (Vocalion 5155, 1927; on TimesAint02)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Sail Away, Ladies" (on NLCR05)
Parker & Dodd "Sail Away Lady" (Banner 32817/Melotone 12745/Romeo 5250, 1933)
Uncle Bunt Stephens, "Sail Away Ladies" [instrumental version] (Columbia 15071-D, 1926; on AAFM2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Down the River I Go" (words)
cf. "Carve That Possum" (portion of tune)
NOTES: This started out as a fiddle tune, to which Uncle Dave [Macon] added his own unique brand of nonsense--some original, some floating verses. -PJS
Not to be confused with the song sung by W.C. Handy: "Sail away, ladies, sail away; Sail away, ladies, sail away. Never mind what de sisters say, Just shake your Dolly Varden and sail away." - RBW
File: CSW203
===
NAME: Sail, O Believer
DESCRIPTION: "Sail, O believer, sail, Sail over yonder, Sail, O my brother, Sail over yonder." The listener is invited to join in the work and view the promised land. "For Jesus comes... And Jesus locks the doors... And carries the keys away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 24, "Sail, O Believer" (1 fragment plus a short text which they believe to be the same song, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 197-198, "Sail, O Believer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11976
File: SBoA197
===
NAME: Sailing at High Tide: see Sailing in the Boat (File: LoF013)
===
NAME: Sailing in the Boat
DESCRIPTION: "Sailing in the boat when the tide runs high, (x3) Waiting for the pretty girl(s) to come by and by." The rest is floating verses on courting, e.g. "Here she comes so fine and fair, Sky blue eyes and curly hair, Roses in her cheek, dimple in her chin...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: courting ship nonballad playparty floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 13, "Sailing in the Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 812-813, "Sailing at High Tide" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LoF013 (Full)
Roud #6665
File: LoF013
===
NAME: Sailing Out on the Ocean
DESCRIPTION: Singer is sailing the ocean; says if he gets shot or drowned there will be no one to weep for him. Despite his mother's usual warning, he gambled and lost his life savings while drunk. The only girl he has loved has turned her back on him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Haskell Wolfenbarger)
KEYWORDS: loneliness warning gambling courting floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Haskell Wolfenbarger, "Sailing Out on the Ocean" (Vocalion 5390, 1930; on RoughWays2)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "On Top of Old Smoky" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Roving Gambler (The Gambling Man)" [Laws H4] (floating lyrics)
cf. "Rye Whiskey" (floating lyrics)
File: RcSOOtO
===
NAME: Sailing, Sailing
DESCRIPTION: Known mostly for the lines in the middle of the chorus: "Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main, For many a stormy wind shall blow ere Jack comes home again." About the "bold and free" life of the sailor, and his true heart, and his return home
AUTHOR: Godfrey Marks
EARLIEST_DATE: 1880 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: sailor sea ship nonballad home
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Silber-FSWB, p. 89, "Sailing Sailing" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 483, "Sailing"
DT, SLNGSLNG
SAME_TUNE:
Sailing the Union Way (Greenway-AFP, p. 235)
File: FSWB089
===
NAME: Sailor and His Bride, The [Laws K10]
DESCRIPTION: The sailor's widow reports that her husband went to sea three years ago, after only three months of marriage. His ship was lost in a storm; she wishes that she could join him in his watery grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1879 (Brown); there is a broadside from slightly before this
KEYWORDS: sailor storm wreck death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Laws K10, "The Sailor and His Bride"
GreigDuncan1 19, "The Sailor and His Love" (1 text)
Randolph 762, "My Lovely Sailor Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Eddy 34, "The Sailor and His Bride" (2 texts, 1 tune)
JHCox 113, "The Sailor and His Bride" (2 texts)
BrownII 112, "The Sailor's Bride" (2 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 31, "Charlie and Mary" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 439-440, "Early Spring" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 558, SAILBRDE
Roud #274
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sailor's Sweetheart
My Soldier Boy
File: LK10
===
NAME: Sailor and His True Love: see Pleasant and Delightful (File: DTplesde)
===
NAME: Sailor and his True Love (II): see Farewell, Charming Nancy [Laws K14] (File: LK14)
===
NAME: Sailor and Nancy, The: see William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8] (File: LN08)
===
NAME: Sailor and the Ghost, The [Laws P34A/B]
DESCRIPTION: A pregnant girl hangs herself after being abandoned by her lover. The guilty youth goes to sea to escape her ghost, but the spirit follows and finds him. She threatens the captain until he is produced, and then burns the ship with him aboard
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1805 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 10(68))
KEYWORDS: pregnancy abandonment ghost disaster suicide
FOUND_IN: US(MA,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England,Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Laws P34A, "The Sailor's Tragedy (The Sailor and the Ghost A)"/P34B, "Handsome Harry (The Sailor and the Ghost B)"
Greig #130, pp. 2-3, "The Ghost So Grim" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 341, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "The Ghost So Grim" (7 texts, 2 tunes) 
BrownII 68, "Handsome Harry" (1 text, identified by Laws as P34B)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 151-154, "The Dreadful Ghost" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 116-117, "The Dreadful Ghost" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 398-403, "The Sea Ghost" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 18, "The Sailor's Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 92, "The Sailor's Tragedy" (1 text)
DT 512, DREDGHOS
Roud #568
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 10(68), "The Sailor and the Ghost," Laurie and Whittle (London), 1805; also 2806 c.8(242), "The Sailor and the Ghost"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Glen/The New York Trader (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B)" [Laws K22]
cf. "On One Thursday Evening" (tune, according to GreigDuncan2))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Murdered Girl
The Spirit Grim
File: LP34
===
NAME: Sailor and the Lady, The: see The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen [Laws O13] (File: LO13)
===
NAME: Sailor and the Shepherdess, The [Laws O8]
DESCRIPTION: A wandering young sailor, seeing a shepherdess asleep by the sea, goes up to her and kisses her. Surprised into wakefulness, she begins to cry, but the sailor offers marriage, and she accepts
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1698))
KEYWORDS: sailor courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws O8, "The Sailor and the Shepherdess"
Mackenzie 53, "The Sailor and the Shepherdess" (1 text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 37, "The Shepherdess" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H104, p. 457, "The Gentle Shepherdess" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 473, SAILSHEP
Roud #959
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1698), "The Sailor's Courtship" ("As a pretty young shepherdess was minding her sheep"), J. Evans (London) , 1780-1812; also Harding B 16(239b), Firth b.25(330), Firth c.13(193), Firth c.13(194), Harding B 11(3262), "[The] Sailor's Courtship"; Harding B 16(238c), "Harding B 11(3374), [The] Sailor and Shepherdess"
File: LO08
===
NAME: Sailor and the Tailor (II), The: see The Boatsman and the Chest [Laws Q8] (File: LQ08)
===
NAME: Sailor and the Tailor, The [Laws P4]
DESCRIPTION: A girl and a sailor agree to marry after he finishes his voyage. When he returns, he finds that she will soon marry a tailor. He meets them and persuades the girl to change her mind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: sailor wedding infidelity rejection love
FOUND_IN: Britain(England) US(MA) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws P4, "The Sailor and the Tailor"
Sharp-100E 73, "The Watchet Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 167-168, "Jack the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 134-135, "Jack the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "The Sailor and the Tailor" (source notes only)
DT 492, SAILTAIL
Roud #917
File: LP04
===
NAME: Sailor Bill
DESCRIPTION: "I've sailed to the east and I've sailed to the west, They call me Sailor Bill, I have come to seek my own blood kin That settled in the hills." The sailor tells how, after sailing far, he looks for his family and settles down "with my Preston kin."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: sailor home return reunion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', p. 32, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: Thomas's informants thought this the work of William Calvert Preston. This seems possible, since that family gave her the song. - RBW
File: ThBa032
===
NAME: Sailor Bold: see The Sailor Boy (I) [Laws K12] (File: LK12)
===
NAME: Sailor Bold (II), The
DESCRIPTION: The sailor "came to his true love to let her know That he once more to sea must go." She saysd "pray stay at home" with her because cannons may injure him. He says "pray stay at home" and she will always be in his mind. She watched him sail.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1814 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(104))
KEYWORDS: request war farewell separation wife sailor
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: ()

BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(104), "The Sailor Bold" ("A sailor bold the best of hearts"), G. Wood (Liverpool), c. 1814
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sailor Bold (III)" (shares the first verse)
NOTES: The description is based on broadside Bodleian Harding B 28(104)). - BS
File: BdSaBol2
===
NAME: Sailor Bold (III), The
DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells his sweetheart he must sail. He promises to be true. Perhaps says, "we shall return victorious men, The joy and pride of Christendom" She recounts the dangers of sailing and war. He leaves. She receives a comforting letter from him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: love war farewell sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 62, "The Sailor Bold" (1 text)
Roud #5813
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sailor Bold (II)" (shares the first verse)
File: GrD1062
===
NAME: Sailor Boy (I), The [Laws K12]
DESCRIPTION: A girl asks her father to build her a boat so that she may search for her lover. She describes the boy to a passing captain, who tells her he is drowned. She gives directions for her burial, then dies of grief or dashes her boat against the rocks
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2298))
KEYWORDS: ship death lover drowning loneliness separation sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South,West),Scotland) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf,Queb)
REFERENCES: (30 citations)
Laws K12, "The Sailor Boy I"
Belden, pp. 186-191, "The Sailor Boy" (6 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph 68, "The Sailor's Sweetheart" (3 text plus 2 fragments, 4 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 68-70, "The Sailor's Sweetheart" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 68C)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 318-320, "Oh, Captain, Captain, Tell Me True" (1 text; tune on pp. 441-442)
Brewster 54, "Sweet William (The Sailor Boy)" (1 text)
Eddy 33, "Sweet William" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 25, "The Sailor Boy" (1 short text; the first 6 lines are "The Sailor Boy"; the last twelve are perhaps "The Butcher Boy")
Rickaby 18, "The Pinery Boy" (1 text, 1 tune; also a fragment in the notes)
Leach, pp. 736-737, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 9, "The Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 43, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 27, "Broken Ring Song fragment" (1 single-stanza fragment, 1 tune); 44, "My Sailor Lad,  "Sailor Bold" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Warner 53, "I'll Sit Down and Write a Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 106, "Sweet William" (12 texts, 12 tunes)
Sharp-100E 72, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 35, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 94, "A Sailor's Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 110, "Sweet William (The Sailor Boy)" (3 texts plus mention of 6 more)
BrownII 104, "The Sailor Boy" (5 texts, mostly short, plus excerpts from 4 more and mention of 2 more and 1 very short fragment; several texts, notably "C," are mixed with "The Butcher Boy"; "E" is a mix with something unidentifiable as only part of the song is printed; "H" is apparently a mix of floating material, only partly printed; "J" is mostly from some unidentified ballad; "L" appears to mix this with "The Apprentice Boy" [Laws M12])
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 177-178, "The Soldier Boy" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 39-40, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune, a composite version)
Lomax-FSNA 55, "The Pinery Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 272-273, "A Sailor's Trade Is a Roving Life" (1 text, with the manuscript damaged by water)
Morton-Ulster 7, "My Boy Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 56, "My Boy Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 34, "My Fine Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 25, "Sweet William" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Darling-NAS, pp. 97-98, "Sweet Soldier Boy" (1 text)
DT 403, PINERYBY* SAILIFE*
Roud #273
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "A Sailor's Trade is a Weary Life" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
Dock Boggs, "Papa, Build Me a Boat" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1) (a complex version, with this plot but many floating verses, e.g. from "The Storms Are On the Ocean")
Rufus Crisp, "Fall, Fall, Build Me a Boat" (on Crisp01)
Dan Hornsby Trio, "A Sailor's Sweetheart" (Columbia 15771-D, 1932; rec. 1931)
Liz Jefferies, "Willie, the Bold Sailor Boy" (on Voice03)
Mikeen McCarthy, "Early in the Month of Spring" (on IRTravellers01)
Maggie Murphy, "Willie-O" (on IRHardySons)
Mrs. Otto Rindlisbacher, "The Pinery Boy" [instrumental] (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
Phoebe Smith, "Sweet William" (on Voice11)
Art Thieme, "The Pinery Boy" (on Thieme04)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2298), "The Maid's Lament for her Sailor Boy," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.12(226), Harding B 11(3375), Harding B 25(1684), "Sailor Boy" ("Down by a chrystal river side"); Firth c.12(227), "The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] (lyrics)
cf. "A Soldier's Life" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "The Deep Blue Sea (I)" (plot)
cf. "Taven in the Town" (lyrics)
cf. "The Croppy Boy (I)" [Laws J14]" (tune, per Morton-Ulster 7) 
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Pinery Boy
Papa, Papa, Build Me a Boat
A Shantyman's Life
I Have No One to Love Me
Captain Tell Me True
The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary
NOTES: Paul Stamler suggests that "The Deep Blue Sea" is a worn-down version of this song. He may well be right (see the notes to that song), but I believe that the characteristic of Laws K12 is the girl's request of a boat. Since "Deep Blue Sea" lacks that feature, I tentatively separate the songs.
Art Thieme's "Pinery Boy" version of this song is localized thoroughly to Wisconsin, mentioning the Dells, the Wisconsin river, etc. It's interesting to note that there is a town in Wisconsin (on Lake Pepin) called Maiden Rock -- but the name seems to predate the local version of this song; the story is that an Indian girl committed suicide there after being separated from her lover. The town of Winona is said to be named after her. - RBW
Creighton-NovaScotia shows a collector misled by a source. The version is only a single verse, identical to broadside Bodleian, Firth c.12(227), "The Sailor Boy and his Faithful Mary" ("A sailor's life is a merry life"), J.Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866. The singer, in this case, thought this was a returned lover ballad -- from Creighton's title -- of the broken ring type.
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "Early, Early All in the Spring" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)). Like Morton-Ulster 7, Hammond's version shares its tune with "The Croppy Boy (I)." - BS
The Dan Hornsby Trio recording is included by deduction; I have not heard it. - PJS
File: LK12
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NAME: Sailor Boy (II), The: see The Prince of Morocco (The Sailor Boy II) (File: LN18)
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NAME: Sailor Boy, The: see The Faithful Sailor Boy [Laws K13] (File: LK13)
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NAME: Sailor Boy's Farewell, The: see The Forfar Sodger (File: FVS163)
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NAME: Sailor Courted a Farmer's Daughter, A: see The Constant Lovers [Laws O41] (File: LO41)
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NAME: Sailor Courted, A: see The Constant Lovers [Laws O41] (File: LO41)
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NAME: Sailor Cut Down in His Prime, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer sees one of his shipmates "wrapped up in flannel yet colder than clay." He dies, and details of the burial are given. His headstone warns sailors, "Never go courting with the girls of the city; Flash girls in the city were the ruin of me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: death disease whore burial funeral
FOUND_IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 201, "The Sailor Cut Down in His Prime" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 117, "The Sailor Cut Down in His Prime" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, YNGMNPRM
Roud #2
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Doughty, "The Streets of Port Arthur" (on Voice12)
Harry Upton, "The Royal Albion" (on Voice02)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Streets of Laredo" [Laws B1] (tune & meter, plot) and references there
cf. "The Unfortunate Rake" (tune & meter, plot)
cf. "The Bad Girl's Lament (St. James' Hospital; The Young Girl Cut Down in her Prime)" [Laws Q26] (tune & meter, plot)
NOTES: One of the large group of ballads ("The Bard of Armagh," "Saint James Hospital," "The Streets of Laredo") ultimately derived from "The Unfortunate Rake." All use the same or similar tunes and meter, and all involve a person dying as a result of a wild life, but the nature of the tragedy varies according to local circumstances.
For the treatment of syphilis prior to the twentieth century, see the notes to "The Unfortunate Rake." - RBW
File: LoF201
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NAME: Sailor Deceived, The: see Early, Early in the Spring [Laws M1] (File: LM01)
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NAME: Sailor Fireman, The: see I'll Fire Dis Trip (File: Br3222)
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NAME: Sailor in the Alehouse, The: see Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)
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NAME: Sailor in the North Country, A
DESCRIPTION: A sailor and his beautiful wife meet a captain who is smitten with the lady. He summons the sailor and sends him to the West Indies. Within a few days of his leaving the captain makes a pass at the wife, who refuses him and pledges her constancy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: virtue adultery love marriage rejection parting separation wife sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 93, "A Sailor in the North Country" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1504
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "A Sailor in the North Country" (on Maynard1, Voice12)
File: VWL093
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NAME: Sailor Laddie, The
DESCRIPTION: "I've been east and I've been wast" to Dundee and Montrose, "And the bonniest lad that ever I saw" "ploughs the raging sea" and "wears the tarry clothes." "So away with my sailor laddie Away with him I'll go"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 55, "The Sailor Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5808
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Dundee
NOTES: There is a version of "The Gypsy Laddie" very similar to this in feeling and to some extent even in lyrics; I suspect this may be a rewrite of a version of that song. - RBW
File: GrD1055
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NAME: Sailor Likes His Bottle-O, The
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "So early in the morning the sailor likes his bottle-o! A bottle of rum, a bottle of gin, a bottle of old Jamaica Ho!" Verses carry on about all the things a sailor might love: women, tobacco, fighting, etc...
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty drink sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain West Indies
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Colcord, p. 75, "Bottle O!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 55-57, "So Early in the Morning" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 52-53]
Sharp-EFC, XLVI, p. 51, "The Sailor Loves His Bottle-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SAILBOTL
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Sailor Like the Bottle O!" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sailor Loves
File: Hugi055
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