NAME: Wife of Usher's Well, The [Child 79]
DESCRIPTION: A mother sends her sons away to school, where they die. She swears not to believe in God until they return to her. Later, they do return, but as ghosts. At last they convince her (perhaps by means of the roasted cock crowing) to let them rest
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1802 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: ghost death mourning magic
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(West,South),Scotland)
REFERENCES: (36 citations)
Child 79, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (3 texts)
Bronson 79, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (58 versions)
Leather, pp. 198-199, "There Was a Lady in Merry Scotland" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
SharpAp 22 "The Wife of Usher's Well" (8 texts plus 9 fragments, 18 tunes){Bronson's #23, #18, #49, #20, #47, #4, #9, #50, #31, #5, #32, #43, #39, #40, #13, #14, #51, #7}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 17, "The Three Little Babes (The Wife of Usher's Well)" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 449-451, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (2 texts derived from Cox)
Belden, pp. 55-57, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (2 texts)
Randolph 19, "The Three Little Babes" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #10, #8}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 39, "The Three Little Babes" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 19B) {Bronson's #8}
Eddy 14, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #24}
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 187-194, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (2 texts, 2 tunes; the first version has textual but not melodic variants; the tunes are effectively the same, but the "B" text, while it starts with "Usher's Well" lyrics, is clearlly a rewrite; the boys go off to sea, return, and one marries a servant girl) {A=Bronson's #58}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 64-66, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #58}
Davis-Ballads 22, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (11 texts plus 1 fragment, 2 tunes entitled "The Three Little Babes," "Lady Gay"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #48, #33}
Davis-More 23, pp. 161-169, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (5 texts, 4 tunes)
BrownII 25, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (4 text plus 3 excerpts and mention of 2 more)
Hudson 14, pp. 93-95, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (2 texts)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 167-169, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text, locally titled "There Was a Lady, and a Lady Was She"; tune on p. 402) {Bronson's #57}
Ritchie-Southern, p. 69, "The Miracle of Usher's Well" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brewster 14, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 263-265, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (2 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 134-135, "Mary Hebrew" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 32, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 34, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (3 texts)
PBB 24, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text)
Niles 33, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Gummere, pp. 195-196+346-347, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text)
Fuson, pp. 59-60, "The Cruel Mother (Or Three Children)" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 91, "Lady Gay" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #30, though in 4/4 where Bronson marks 3/2!}
Chase, pp. 116-118, "Lady Gay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 58, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text)
JHCox 14, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (5 texts plus mention of 2 more)
LPound-ABS, 7, pp. 18-19, "Children's Song"; pp. 20-21, "Three Little Babes" (2 texts)
Darling-NAS, pp. 32-33, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (2 texts)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 80-81, "The Wife of Usher's Well" (1 text)
DT 79, LADYGAY* USHERWEL USHRWEL2*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #429, "The Wif of Usher's Well" (1 text)
Roud #196
RECORDINGS:
Texas Gladden, "Three Little Babes" (on LomaxCD1702); "The Three Babes" (AFS, 1941; on LC58)
Seena Helms, "Lady Bride and Three Babes" (on HandMeDown1)
Buell Kazee, "Lady Gay" (Brunswick 212, 1928) {Bronson's #30}
Jean Ritchie, "The Wife of Usher's Wells" (on JRitchie02)
Pete Seeger, "Lady Gay" (on PeteSeeger25)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Saint Stephen and Herod" [Child 22] (plot)
cf. "The Carnal and the Crane" [Child 55] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Dead Little Boys
The Wife of the Free
The Fine Lady Gay
The Cartin Wife
A Moravian Song
The Lady and the Children Three
The Three Pore Little Children
The Lone Widow
NOTES: Bronson makes the interesting observation that there is one Scottish tune for this song, unrelated to any other; two English tunes, related only to each other, and dozens of American collections, most of which (43 of them) have tunes related to each other but not to the Scottish or English forms.
It's hard to know what to do with Lena Bourne Fish's version (the "B" version in Flanders-Ancient2). The first lines are clearly part of this song; the ending is not. It belongs to the romances about a noble marrying a commoner. The tune is shared with Phyllis Burditt's version of "The Wife of Usher's Well," but Bronson finds that tune to be unique.
I'm lumping the two because there is still kinship, and I don't recognize the second half of Fish's song -- but I wouldn't be surprised if she has combined two songs.
The notion that excessive mourning (usually meaning mourning for more than a year and a day) results in the ghost being unable to rest is at least hinted at in several other songs, the most noteworthy being "The Unquiet Grave" [Child 78]. - RBW
File: C079
===
NAME: Wife Who Was Dumb, The: see The Dumb Wife (Dumb, Dumb, Dumb) [Laws Q5] (File: LQ05)
===
NAME: Wife Who Wouldn't Spin Tow, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the days before his wife was married, when she worked so hard on her father's farm. But now she is married, she does nothing except dress up and leave home. He would happily be rid of her if he could.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: marriage courting work
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 398, "The Wife Who Wouldn't Spin Tow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7615
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277] (theme)
File: R398
===
NAME: Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin, The [Child 277]
DESCRIPTION: A craftsman has married a wife above his station. She, being of good birth, refuses to do housework. Since she is gentle, he cannot beat her -- but he covers her in a sheepskin, thrashes THAT, and causes her to start working
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803
KEYWORDS: humorous wife abuse husband nobility
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South,West),Scotland(Aber,Bord) Canada(Mar) Ireland US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (36 citations)
Child 277, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (5 texts)
Bronson 277, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (63 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 322-325, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #33}
Belden, pp. 92-94, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #21}
Randolph 35, "Dan-Doo" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #51}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 222-225, "Cooper of Fife," "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #17, #9}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 221-222, "Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #45}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 76-98, "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin" (9 texts plus 5 fragments, 9 tunes) {D=Bronson's #17, J=#45, M=#9}
Fowke/MacMillan 79, "Jenny Go Gentle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 45, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (12 texts, several quite fragmentary, 2 tunes entitled "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin," "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin or Dandoo")  {Bronson's #38, #50}
Davis-More 39, pp. 305-315, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 44, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts)
Hudson 23, p. 123, "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin" (1 text)
Brewster 23, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (3 texts, though two are short)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 94-95, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #24}
Leach, pp. 658-660, "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin" (3 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 58-63, "The Wife in Wether's Skin -- Dandoo!"; "Geely Don Mac Kling Go" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 192-194, "The Wee Cooper o' Fife" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Friedman, p. 449, "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin" (2 texts)
Warner 44, "The Old Wether's Skin"  {Bronson's #29}; 103, "Dan Doo" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {cf. Bronson's 42a/b, from the same informant (Frank Proffitt) but not quite the same in text or tune}
FSCatskills 136, "Tinna Clinnama Clinchama Clingo" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
SharpAp 39, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (5 texts, 5 tunes) {Bronson's #38, #43, #25, #31, #44}
Ritchie-Southern, p. 70, "Gentle Fair Jenny" (1 text, 1 tune, with a chorus perhaps from "Riddles Wisely Expounded," and a text which may well mix this with "The Holly Twig" [Laws Q6]; I thought seriously about filing it there) {Bronson's #32}
Lomax-FSNA 85, "Gentle Fair Jenny" (1 text, 1 tune, claiming to be from Jean Ritchie, but Lomax does not cite a recording and the song bears very little resemblance in text or tune to Ritche's recorded version)
Sharp-100E 70, "Ruggleton's Daughter of Iero" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #36}
Niles 59, "The Unwilling Bride" (1 text, 1 tune, possibly of this ballad but, in my opinion, more likely a form of "The Holly Twig" [Laws Q6])
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 23, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #43}
Chase, pp. 122-123, "Nickety Nackety" (1 text, 1 tune)
DBuchan 63, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (1 text)
JHCox 29, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (5 texts)
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 "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" although it might alternately have mixed with "Devilish Mary" [Laws Q4] or something like it) {Bronson's #26}
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 167-169, "The Wife in Wether's Skin -- Dandoo!" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #46}
LPound-ABS, 6, pp. 16-17, "The Wife Wrapped in a Wether's Skin"; pp. 17-18, "Dandoo" (2 texts)
Darling-NAS, pp. 80-81, "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 174, "The Wee Cooper Of Fife" (2 texts)
DT 277, COOPFIFE DANDOO*
Roud #117
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "As the Dew Flies Over the Green Valley" (AFS 4197 B1, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell) {Bronson's #19a; cf. 18, 19b}
Frank Proffitt, "Dan Doo" (on Proffitt03) {Bronson's #42a/b}
Jean Ritchie, "Gentle Fair Jenny" (on JRitchie02) {Bronson's #32}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" (theme, plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Holly Twig" [Laws Q6] (plot)
cf. "The Daughter of Peggy-O" (plot)
cf. "The Wife Who Wouldn't Spin Tow" (theme)
cf. "Upside Down" (theme)
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: It has been speculated (see, e.g., Warner) that this ballad inspired Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." Evidence is, of course, completely lacking, though some Shakespeare authorities also mention the connection.
Barry et al have an even stranger theory, that this song, which occasionally has the sort  of "plant refrain" we know best from "Riddles Wisely Expounded" and "The Elfin Knight," is actually a description of an exorcism, in which the herbs and the beating both play a part!
American forms of this ballad are often much simplified, omitting, e.g., the mention of the wife's noble origin and/or the sheepskin. Ritchie's version is typical of this; such texts are hard to distinguish from degenerate forms of "The Holly Twig" [Laws Q6]. (Pound's "I Bought Me a Wife" seems almost to be mixed with "The Swapping Song.")
Typical of these degenerate forms is "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now," which we originally lumped with this song, but which we have now split off. For full details on how to separate them, see the notes to "Risselty, Rosselty." The basic distinction is that, in "The Wife Wrapt," he beats her; in "Risselty, Rosselty," he merely complains. But there are other indications which can be used for fragments. - RBW, (PJS)
To add to the confusion, there is a nursery song, apparently from Halliwell, beginning "I married a wife by the light of the moon, A tidy housewife, a tidy one." This is not either "The Wife Wrapt" or "Risselty-Rosselty," but it details the wife's strange and "slovenly" habits. And several lines of it, including the first, are found in various versions of Child 277, including e.g. the "B" version in Flanders-Ancient. - RBW
File: C277
===
NAME: Wild Amerikay [Laws O19]: see Rich Amerikay [Laws O19] (File: LO19)
===
NAME: Wild and Reckless Hobo, A: see Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum) [Laws H2] (File: LH02)
===
NAME: Wild and Wicked Youth, The [Laws L12]
DESCRIPTION: The singer recounts his (boyhood and) life, telling of his many daring robberies. Now, alas, he is condemned to die, and must leave his family. He concludes with directions for his funeral
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(2054))
KEYWORDS: outlaw farewell execution robbery trial funeral youth
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So) Britain(England,Scotland) Ireland Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (19 citations)
Laws L12, "The Rambling Boy (Wild and Wicked Youth)"
GreigDuncan2 260, "The Roving Blade" (3 texts)
Belden, pp. 136-137, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Randolph 148, "The Rambling Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Warner 101, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 83, "The Robber" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 63-64, "The Rich Rambler" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 43-44, "The Wretched Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 91-92, "The Reckless and Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 90, pp. 184-185, "The Rich and Rambling Boy" (1 text)
Kennedy 326, "Newlyn Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 35, "The Newry Highwayman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann p. 96, "The Bold and Undaunted Youth" (1 text fragment)
BrownII 121, "The Rambing Boy" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 96, "The Ramblin' Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 130-131, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife XIII, pp. 148-190 (29-30), "Cow Boy's Lament" (22 texts, 7 tunes, the "L" text being in fact a version of this piece)
Darling-NAS, pp. 106-107, "The Rambling Boy" (1 text)
DT 423, (RAKERAMB*)
Roud #490
RECORDINGS:
 O. J. Abbott, "The Bold and Undaunted Youth (The Rambling Boy)" (on Abbott1)
Clarence Ashley & Tex Isley, "Rude and Rambling Man" (on Ashley01)
Justus Begley, "The Roving Boy" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
Jumbo Brightwell, "Newry Town" (on Voice03)
Carter Family, "The Rambling Boy" (Bluebird B-8990, 1941/Bluebird 33-0512, 1944)
Wade Mainer, "Ramblin' Boy" (Bluebird 33-0512, 1944)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Rambling Boy" (on NLCR05)
Riley Puckett, "Ramblin' Boy" (Columbia 15605-D, 1930)
Bob Scarce, "Newlyn Town" (on FSB7)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2054), "The Wild and Wicked Youth," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Firth c.17(208), Harding B 11(576), Harding B 15(376a), Harding B 11(939), Firth c.17(6), Harding B 16(307a), Harding B 11(4205), Harding B 11(4211), Harding B 11(4212), Firth b.34(314), Harding B 11(3519A), Firth c.17(7), 2806 c.16(325), Harding B 17(338a), Harding B 20(117), Harding B 17(337b), "The Wild and Wicked Youth"; Harding B 28(235), "The Highway Man's Fate"; Harding B 26(67), "The Bold and Undaunted Youth" ("In Stephen's-green I was bred and born"), J. Moore (Belfast), 1852-1868
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Salisbury Plain" (theme)
cf. "It's Down in Old Ireland" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Rake and Rambling Boy
Adieu Adieu
The Flash Lad
NOTES: The Bodleian "The Wild and Wicked Youth" broadsides, and OLochlainn-More 35, include a version of the lines
"I robbed Lord Mansfield I do declare, ...
Lord Fielding's gang they did me pursue And taken I was, by that cursed crew."
The Bodleian notes to 2806 c.16(325) include references to the cast of characters: "Fielding, John, Sir, d. 1780; Mansfield, W.R., Baron Sandhurst, 1819-1876"
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(67) is another example of the "I robbed Lord Mansfield I do declare" group. Zimmermann's fragment seems to be from this version. In this case he falls in with "Fieldskin gang." - BS
Given the date of the song, I would think the Mansfield involved more likely to be William Murray, first Earl of Mansfield (1706-1793), who was Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1756. This has at least sometimes been corrupted to Lord Melbourne, presumably William Lamb, second Viscount Melbourne (1779-1848), the Prime Minister (on and off) from 1834 to 1841. But Mansfield is closer to the Era of the Highwaymen -- and, as Chief Justice, someone they would doubtless enjoy taking.
Fielding in fact might refer to John Fielding or his brother Henry, the author (died 1755). Henry Fielding was driven by poverty to take a post as Commissioner of the Peace for Middlesex in 1748. John Fielding, despite being blind, succeeded him in 1754 -- and dramatically improved law enforcement, though he didn't have the funding to carry out all his reforms. Still, he did enough that life became much harder for the highwaymen.
"Fielding's Gang" is presumably the Bow Street Patrol, founded by the Fieldings as the first almost-national police force in England. - RBW
The "Ramblin' Boy" versions of this song shouldn't be confused with the Tom Paxton song, "My Ramblin' Boy." - PJS
File: LL12
===
NAME: Wild Bill Jones [Laws E10]
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets his sweetheart, (Lula), walking with Wild Bill Jones. Since Bill will not leave Lula alone (or vice versa), the singer shoots him. Lula will not bail him out of prison, so the singer spends his last days wildly
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: courting revenge murder prison death jealousy
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws E10, "Wild Bill Jones"
Randolph 151, Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 139, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 114, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text)
Hudson 102, pp. 239-240, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text); cf. #13, pp. 91-93, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (1 fragments, of which "A" is the "Pretty Little Foot" with a chorus from "Careless Love" and "B" is two "Pretty Little Foot" stanzas artificially and wrongly extracted from the text of "Wild Bill Jones" cited above)
Cambiaire, p. 19, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text)
SharpAp 99, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 140, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 146, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 134-135, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 622, WILDBILL*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 23, #6 (1975), p, 5, "Wild Bill Jones" (1 text, 1 tune, apparently the Ralph Stanley version)
Roud #2246
RECORDINGS:
Clarence Ashley & Tex Isley, "Wild Bill Jones" (on Ashley01)
Frank Bode, "Wild Bill Jones" (on FBode1)
Dock Boggs, "Wild Bill Jones" (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Granville Bowlin, "Wild Bill Jones" (on MMOKCD)
Eva Davis, "Wild Bill Jones" (Columbia 129-D, 1924; on RoughWays2)
Logan English, "Wild Bill Jones" (on LEnglish01)
Kelly Harrell, "Wild Bill Jones" (OKeh 40486, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Wade Mainer & his Little Smilin' Rangers, "Wild Bill Jones" (Bluebird B-7249, 1937)
George Reneau, "Wild Bill Jones" (Vocalion 14998, 1925)
Ernest V. Stoneman "Wild Bill Jones" (Edison 51869, 1926) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5196, 1926)
Tobacco Tags, "Wild Bill Jones" (Bluebird B-8365, 1940)
Welby Toomey, "Wild Bill Jones" (Gennett 3228, 1926; Challenge 158 [as Bob Ferguson]/Challenge 324 [as John Ferguson], 1927; rec. 1925)
File: LE10
===
NAME: Wild Boy, The: see Wild Rover No More (File: MA069)
===
NAME: Wild Boy, The [Laws B20]
DESCRIPTION: The singer, guilty of murder and robbery, is arrested and jailed. His family deserts him, but a rich uncle bails him out. He vows to give up his wild ways.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Craddock)
KEYWORDS: family reprieve
FOUND_IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Laws B20, "The Wild Boy"
DT 842, WILDBOY
Roud #3241
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Limbo" (theme)
NOTES: The first stanza begins "My parents raised me ten-der-lee, They had no child but me, But I was bent on rambling-- With them I couldn't agree" and the story continues with bad company and jail. The composer seems familiar with "Limbo" and its rescue and conversion by a rich uncle of a rake to an honest man who has learned to shun the girls that "gurgle" over his money; here the "Wild Boy" is rescued and converted by a rich uncle to an honest man and we are led to believe "Agnes and ... Mabel, ... Mary likewise" will not get the better of him in the future. - BS
File: LB20
===
NAME: Wild Buckaroo, The
DESCRIPTION: "I've been ridin' cattle for most of my life, I ain't got no family and I ain't got no wife." The cowboy boasts of his exploits, tells of the places he has worked, describes what he likes, and concludes "I'm a high-loping cowboy and a wild buckaroo."
AUTHOR: Curley Fletcher ?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: cowboy bragging work bawdy
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fife-Cowboy/West 35, "Cowboy Boasters" (5 texts, 2 tunes; this is the "C" text)
Logsdon 15, pp. 102-107, "Wild Buckaroo" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #10091
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Strawberry Roan" (tune)
NOTES: Glenn Ohrlin credits this to Curley Fletcher.
These days this song is probably known best in its parody version, which Ohrlin also credits to Fletcher; in the parody, a succession of increasingly bawdy verses follows the clean ones. - PJS
Logsdon also credits a verion to Fletcher. The interesting question is whether all the songs listed e.g. by the Fifes as "Cowboy Boasters" can be lumped, and if not, how to split them -- the format of this, in two-line independent couplets, makes almost infinite rearrangement possible. It is noteworthy, for instance, how different are Logsdon's clean and dirty versions. - RBW
File: FCS35C
===
NAME: Wild Cat Back on the Pipe Line, The
DESCRIPTION: A wildcat shows up on the pipe line. Norman Matchett said "'twas a monkey." Freeman Hare swears "'twas a monsterous bear." Leclair, from Australia, said "'twas a big kangaroo." The singer, a hunter, says the others must have had too much wine at Willie's
AUTHOR: probably Jared MacLean
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: humorous animal wine nonsense
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 47, "The Wild Cat Back on the Pipe Line" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi047 (Partial)
Roud #9181
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Three Jolly Huntsmen" (theme)
File: MaWi047
===
NAME: Wild Colloina Boy, The: see The Wild Colonial Boy [Laws L20] (File: LL20)
===
NAME: Wild Colonial Boy, The [Laws L20]
DESCRIPTION: Transported from Ireland to Australia, (Jack Doolan) turns bushranger but robs only the rich. At last intercepted by troopers Kelly, Davis, and Fitzroy, he chooses to fight rather than surrender. He kills Kelly but is in turn shot by the other two
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: transportation outlaw death
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont) Australia Ireland
REFERENCES: (21 citations)
Laws L20, "The Wild Colonial Boy"
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 72, 124, 148-149, 255, "The Wild Colonial Boy"; p. 152, "Jack Dowling"; pp. 185-186, "John Doolan" (5 texts, 6 tunes)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 72-74, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 374, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text)
FSCatskills 113, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 133, "The Wild Colloina Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 130-131, "Jack Dolden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 54, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 128, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 77-78,257, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 99, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 229, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text)
Beck 90, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text)
SHenry H750, pp. 120-121, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 52-54, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 134-135, 299-300, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
PBB 97, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 80-81, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 110-111, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 201, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (1 text)
DT 427, COLONBOY* COLONBY2*
Roud #677
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (on Voice08)
John Greenway, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (on JGreenway01)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Wild Colonial Boy" (on Lloyd4, Lloyd10)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Donahue" [Laws L22]
NOTES: Philips Barry connects this song to the career of a Jack Dowling who was a bushranger in the 1870s. John Greenway, however, believes that Jack Doolan/Dolan/Duggan was an improved version of the historical Jack Donahue. He based this on the fact that two share initials, they were credited with many of the same feats in popular imagination, they shared similar fates, and the two ballads sometimes exchange tunes and choruses. Compare, however, Cazden et al. - RBW
Another candidate from Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03: "It has been suggested that the story is based on the life of one John Donaghue, a Dublin man who was transported for life in 1825, and who was killed by troopers in 1830." - BS
Harry Nunn, in _Bushrangers: A Pictorial History_ in fact reports (p. 76)  that the song "_Bold John Donoghue_ sung in the early 1830s glamorised his fictional deeds an heroic death. It was banned only to re-emerge, with minor variations, as ['The Wild Colonial Boy
]."
Given that this song is so widespread, though, I almost suspect that this song PRECEDES "Jack Donahue," and that the Australian song of that name is a conflation of this with the native Australian ballad referred to herein as "Bold Jack Donahoe."
In addition, though Laws does not list a broadside publication, one suspects that this piece began life in print, as the names of the troopers who killed Doolan almost never show variants.
In my personal library, as of this writing, I find twelve substantial texts of this song from verified sources. Seven of these do not give an intermal date for the song; of the five that do, three list (18)61, one 1862, and one (18)65. I suspect that this is, however, an error for the convict's age of "sixteen years."
One small point regarding the date: The troopers are said to have been mounted, and Australia didn't get a mounted police force until 1825. Even then, it was only 13 troopers; it didn't grow to as many as 150 men until 1839 -- by which time transportation to New South Wales was effectively ended.
Robert Hughes, who prints a version he took down in 1958 (_The Fatal Shore_, p. 242) says that "there used to be as may ways of singing 'The Wild Colonial Boy' as there were pianos in Australian parlors" -- which, in context, strikes me as an underestimate.
It's interesting to note that both Jack Doolan and the troopers who shot him have Irish names. _The Oxford Companion to Irish History_ notes that the Irish represented about a quarter of the migrants to Australia -- and that they were over-represented among both the convicts and the police. - RBW
File: LL20
===
NAME: Wild Goose Grasses, The: see Died for Love (I); also The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: McST055)
===
NAME: Wild Goose Shanty, The: see Huckleberry Hunting (File: Doe032)
===
NAME: Wild Goose, The: see Huckleberry Hunting (File: Doe032)
===
NAME: Wild Hog: see Sir Lionel [Child 18] (File: C018)
===
NAME: Wild Hog in the Woods: see Sir Lionel [Child 18] (File: C018)
===
NAME: Wild Horse Charlie
DESCRIPTION: Wild Horse Charlie tells the poet that he prefers his work to women. He explains that he had once been engaged to one. Later it turns out she had become engaged to a number of cowboys, taking money from each and then skipping town.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: courting marriage trick cowboy recitation
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 78, "Wild Horse Charlie" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Glenn Ohrlin, "Wild Horse Charlie" (on Ohrlin01)
File: Ohr078
===
NAME: Wild Irish Boy, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer reports on his arrival in the new world. Despite his poor clothes, history of gambling, and criminal record, the girls like him for his looks. But now he is punished for his crime with poverty, prison, and loneliness
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1875 (Barney & Rickey's Songster)
KEYWORDS: transportation gambling exile separation loneliness prison punishment emigration homesickness clothes father mother
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
FSCatskills 112, "The Wild Irish Boy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 26, "The Wild Irish Boy" (1 text)
ST FSC112 (Partial)
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "The Wild Irish boy" [fragment] (AFS A 4210 B1, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(490), "Wild Irish Boy", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
NOTES: The handful of traditional collections of this song have, at first glance, little resemblance to most of the broadsides. But Cazden et al managed to assemble enough versions that they are convinced of the identity of the pieces, and I think they're right.
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 18(490): 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: FSC112
===
NAME: Wild Irishman: see The Monkey Turned Barber [Laws Q14] (File: LQ14)
===
NAME: Wild Man of Borneo, The
DESCRIPTION: Cumulative song: "The wild man of (Borneo/Poplar) has just come to town (4x)" building to "The left whisker of the flea in the hair in the tail of the dog of the daughter of the wife of the wild man of Borneo has just come to town"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (collected from Charles Neville)
KEYWORDS: cumulative nonballad animal bug
FOUND_IN: Britain(Wales,England(South)) Canada(Mar) Australia
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 311, "The Wild Man of Borneo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 258, "The Wild Man of Borneo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, KINGCARA*
Roud #2145
RECORDINGS:
 Carl Jones, "Wild Man of Borneo" (OKeh 45516, 1931; rec. 1930)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Court of King Caractacus
The Wild Man from Poplar
Dyn Bach o Fangor
NOTES: [A variant version:] The fascinating witches who put the scintillating stitches in the britches of the boys who put the powder on the noses of the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Caractacus were just passing by." - (PJS)
The Digital Tradition credits the above tentatively to Rolf Harris. I can't prove that, but I suspect it is composed.
Caractacus was a proto-British king (son of Cunobelinus, who through the muddle of Holinshed became Shakespeare's Cymbeline). His exact date of accession is uncertain, but it was probably around 40 C. E.
At first he split power with his brother Togodumnus, but the latter died shortly after Claudius's Romans invaded Britain in 43. Caratactus continued to resist for years, mostly from Wales, but was eventually captured around 51 and spent the rest of his life in Rome.
It will presumably be evident that Caractacus didn't have much of a harem (or much time for one). I've no idea why he was picked on, rather than, say, a Persian monarch. - RBW
File: K311
===
NAME: Wild Miz-zou-rye, The: see Shenandoah (File: Doe077)
===
NAME: Wild Mustard River, The (Johnny Stile) [Laws C5]
DESCRIPTION: Johnny catches his foot among the logs while breaking up a jam; he is swept away as the jam breaks up. His badly torn body is recovered and buried by his fellow workers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Detroit News, reprinted in Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning
FOUND_IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws C5, "The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile)"
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 177-179, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 56, "Wild Mustard River" (4 texts, one called "The Old Tamarack Dam"; 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 111, "The Wild Mustard River" (1 text)
Fowke-Lumbering #30, "Johnny Stiles" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 100, "The Wild Mustard River" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 714, WILDMUST*
Roud #637
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "Johnny Stiles" (on Lumber01)
Joe Kelly, "Johnny Doyle" (on Lumber01)
Carl Lathrop, "The Wild Mustard River" (AFS, 1938; on LC56)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Old Tamarack Dam
NOTES: Fowke believes, on the basis of the distribution of variants, that this song originated in Ontario, but cannot cite an incident on which it is based.
Patrick Doyle of Halifax may have the solution. His great uncle Johnny Doyle died July 6, 1906 on a log drive in Ontario. He tells me that the river was the Moose River.
Based on his family's history (http://members.tripod.com/~CyberBart/doylhist.htm), it appears that Doyle would have been between 29 and 31 years old at the time. - RBW
File: LC05
===
NAME: Wild Oats (Turn, Young Man)
DESCRIPTION: "Turn, young men, from your evil ways; (Go/Don't) sow your wild oats in the early days -- that you may be happy when you grow old."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: playparty warning
FOUND_IN: US(NE,SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 65, "Wild Oats" (2 fragments)
Roud #7869
File: Br3065
===
NAME: Wild Ox Moan: see Black Woman (File: CNFM140)
===
NAME: Wild Privateer, The: see The Bold Privateer [Laws O32] (File: LO32)
===
NAME: Wild Rippling Water, The: see One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14] (File: LP14)
===
NAME: Wild Rover No More
DESCRIPTION: The singer "has been a wild rover for many a year; I've spent all my money on whisky and beer." After years of carousing, he has gone broke and/or struck it rich; he vows that "never no more, It's never, never, never I'll play The wild rover no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1829 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(2055))
KEYWORDS: rambling poverty money travel hardtimes drink landlord floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland) Australia Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 69-70, "Wild Rover" (a fragment); pp. 87-88, 127-128, "Wild Rover No More";  pp. 176-177, "I've Been a Wild Boy" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 296-297, "Wild Rover No More" (1 text)
Randolph 166, "The Horse-Thief" (1 text, 1 tune, which appears to be associated with this song although the text is so short that it might be part of a different piece)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 196-197, "The Wild Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 190-191, "Wild Rover" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 113, "The Wild Rover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 288, "Wild Rover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 146-147, "Wild Rover No More" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 65, "Wild Rover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 57, "Wild Rover" (1 text)
DT, WLDROVER*
Roud #1173
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Wild Rover No More" (on JGreenway01)
Sam Larner, "The Wild Rover" (on SLarner02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2055), "Wild Rover" ("I have been a wild rover these dozen years"), T. Batchelar (London), 1817-1828; Harding B 16(307d), Johnson Ballads 613, Firth c.18(239), Firth c.18(244), Harding B 25(2055), "[The] Wild Rover"; Harding B 11(4217), "Wild Rover!"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds)" [Laws K36] (plot)
cf. "Tambaroora Gold" (theme)
cf. "Moonshiner" (floating lyrics)
cf. "All My Trials" (lyrics)
cf. "Take Me Back to Tulsa" (lyrics)
cf. "The Strawberry Roan" [Laws B18] (tune)
cf. "Limbo" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
No, No, Never
NOTES: Meredith and Anderson claim that their fourth version, "I've Been a Wild Boy," has "no connection with the well-known 'Wild Rover No More.'" The same could be argued for Fahey's "The Wild Boy," since it lacks the "Wild Rover No More" chorus. Both songs also share an initial verse not found in the standard version:
My father died and left me his estate,
I married a lady whose fortune was great
And through keeping bad company I've spent all my store;
I've been a wild boy, but I'll be so no more.
It will, however, be observed that the basic plot of both these songs is that of the "Wild Rover." The also share extensive floating lyrics. It may well be that this mixed "Wild Rover" is a fusion of earlier pieces. At this time, however, I am unable to distinguish the two.
Interestingly, although the song predates "The Strawberry Roan" by a century or so, Greenway's version is sung to a variant of that tune. - RBW
Kennedy and MacColl/Seeger both lump this song with "Moonshiner." I don't think so -- although they share a few lines -- but they do deserve a cross-reference.
No, I'm not making up the "All My Trials" and "Take Me Back to Tulsa" cross-references; Sam Larner included the "If living was a thing was money could buy/The rich would live and the poor would die" and "Little bee sucks the blossom, big bee gets the honey" floaters in his version. - PJS
John Greenway's "Wild Rover," which seems to be pretty well mixed, refers to the prisoner being sent to "Nugget." This is surely an error for "Newgate," the famous English prison. - RBW
File: MA069
===
NAME: Wild Rovers
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you wild rovers and listen for a while... For love has been the ruin of many a man." The singer warns against love: "When you are married you are not your own man." He describes some of his miseries, and wishes luck to single and married alike
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love marriage wife warning drink
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 673, "Wild Rovers" (1 text)
Roud #4652
File: R673
===
NAME: Wild Sliav Gallen Brae: see Wild Slieve Gallon Brae (File: HHH540)
===
NAME: Wild Slieve Gallion Braes: see Farewell to Slieve Gallen (File: HHH795)
===
NAME: Wild Slieve Gallon Brae
DESCRIPTION: The singer is in love with a false-hearted girl. He sets out to view her home, but somehow goes astray and ends on Slieve Gallon Brae. There he meets a girl whose love has also been untrue. They marry and live happily on Slieve Gallon Brae
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry Collection)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal abandonment rambling marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H540, pp. 468-469, "Wild Slieve Gallon Brae" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 9A, "Wild Sliav Gallen Brae" (1 text)
Roud #3577
NOTES: Not to be confused with several other songs with similar titles. - RBW
File: HHH540
===
NAME: Wild Stormy Deep
DESCRIPTION: "On the wild stormy deep With Jesus I'll sleep And hold to his loving hand. In a home above I'll be there with God, and rejoice in a happy land." The singer prays, and God frees the singer from burden and sin
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 95, "Wild Stormy Deep" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa095 (Partial)
File: Wa095
===
NAME: Wilderness Lady, The
DESCRIPTION: At dinner in a London lord's house an English lady toasts King William "and to all his strong forces." The next day the "Wilderness lady" challenges her to a duel. Wounded, the English lady cries for mercy. An English lord interrupts the duel.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: fight rescue royalty nobility
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 34, "The Wilderness Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2295
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
A Health to the King
NOTES: The "King William" of this song is presumably William III (reigned 1688-1694 with Mary II; sole reign 1694-1702). William I the Conqueror/Bastard (reigned 1066-1087) and William II Rufus (1087-1100) are certainly too early. William IV (1830-1837) is chronologically possible, but his claim to the throne was unchallenged.
If the song were set in Ireland, I would consider that interpretation certain. But William III was also controversial in England, as he overthrew James II in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. - RBW
File: KaNew034
===
NAME: Wildwood Flower
DESCRIPTION: The singer prepares to deck herself out with flowers in her hair, in response to her former lover who now has abandoned her. She promises to behave joyfully and forget she knew him, and make him regret that he "neglected his pale wildwood flower"
AUTHOR: Words: Maud Irving / Music: Joseph Philbrick Webster (?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (recording, Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment beauty flowers
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
BrownIII 263, "The Pale Wildwood Flower" (3 texts plus a fragment)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 248-249, "[Pale Wildwood Flower]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 50-51, "Wildwood Flower" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 798, "The Wildwood Flower" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 500-501, "The Wildwood Flower" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 798A)
Silber-FSWB, p. 166, "Wildwood Flower" (1 text)
DT, WILDWFLR*
Roud #757
RECORDINGS:
The Carter Family, "Wildwood Flower" (Victor V-40000, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4432, 1934; rec. 1928) (Melotone 5-11-65, 1935); as "The A. P. Carter Family," "Wildwood Flower" (Acme 996, n.d.)
Carter Sisters & Mother Maybelle, "Wildwood Flower" (Columbia 21138, 1953)
John D. Mounce et al, "Wildwood Flower" (on MusOzarks01)
James Roberts, "Frail Wildwood Flower" (Gennett 6566 [as Wikel Miller]/Conqueror 7254 [as Joe Reeves], 1929; rec. 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Reuben James" (tune)
File: JRSF248
===
NAME: Wilkes Lovell [Laws E9]
DESCRIPTION: Two convicts escape from prison. Sheriff Wilkes Lovell, informed of this by his wife, pursues and recaptures them. The singer, who is one of the escapees, warns his listeners not to imitate him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (New Green Mountain Songster)
KEYWORDS: prison escape police wife
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Laws E9, "Wilkes Lovell"
DT 759, WILKLOVL
Roud #2247
File: LE09
===
NAME: Wilkins and Dinah: see Vilikens and His Dinah [LawsM31A/B] (File: LM31)
===
NAME: Will O'Riley: see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Will Ray
DESCRIPTION: "Oh Papa, dear Papa, please tell to me Just what you think of Will Ray." The father tells the girl to marry banker John Burns instead of poor Will. The daughter points out that Burns has just gone bankrupt and Ray become rich; the father relents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage money father lover children
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hudson 135, pp. 281-282, "Will Ray" (1 text)
Roud #4317
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Billy Grimes the Rover" (plot)
cf. "Peggy in the Morning" (plot)
NOTES: This looks to me very much like an elaboration of "Billy Grimes the Rover." But the plot about John Burns is not normal to that piece, so I have tentatively separated them. - RBW
File: Hud135
===
NAME: Will Stewart and John [Child 107]
DESCRIPTION: Will loves the Earl of Mar's daughter. His brother John successfully woos her for him. She sets requirements which he meets, but her father is against the match despite learning they are of high degree. They elope, gaining acceptance after a child is born
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1750 (Percy manuscript)
KEYWORDS: love courting nobility father elopement childbirth
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 107, "Will Stewart and John" (2 texts)
Roud #3973
File: C107
===
NAME: Will the Circle Be Unbroken
DESCRIPTION: The singer witnesses his/her mother being carried off for burial. Her example is praised. The singer wonders if they will meet again: "Will the circle be unbroken, By and by, Lord, by and by? There's a better home a-waiting In the sky, Lord, in the sky."
AUTHOR: Words: Ada R. Habershon?
EARLIEST_DATE: Original text and tune copyright 1908; later tune: 1927 (recording, Metropolitan Quartet)
KEYWORDS: religious death funeral burial mother
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 635, "Can the Circle Be Unbroken?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 440-442, "Can the Circle Be Unbroken?" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 635)
Silber-FSWB, p. 371, "Can the Circle Be Unbroken?" (1 text)
DT, CRCUNBRK*
Roud #3409
RECORDINGS:
Roy Acuff, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken"  (Perfect 16101, 1935) (OKeh 05587 [as Roy Acuff & his Smoky Mountain Boys], 1940)
Alphabetical Four, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" (Decca 7601, 1939; rec. 1938)
Clarence Ashley, Clint Howard et al, Jean Ritchie, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (on WatsonAshley01)
Bud & James Billings [pseuds. for Frank Luther and, perhaps, Carson Robison], "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (Bluebird B-6406, 1936; rec. 1928)
Brown's Ferry Four, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (King 530, 1946)
Rev. J. C. Burnett, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" (Columbia 14385-D, 1928)
The Carter Family, "Can the Circle Be Unbroken" (Conqueror 8529, 1935) (Columbia 20268, prob. c. 1946)
Doc Hopkins, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" (Radio 1411, n.d.)
Hallelujah Trio, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" (London 16020, 1950)
Frank & James McCravy, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (Brunswick 194, 1928; Jewel 5907/Oriole 1907/Perfect 12601/Challenge 876, 1930; Conqueror 7794, 1931; rec. 1927) (OKeh 45433, 1930)
William McEwan, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" (Columbia A1364, 1913; rec. c. 1912)
Metropolitan Quartet, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" (Edison 52111, 1927)
Monroe Brothers, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (Montgomery Ward M-7142, 1937)
Morris Brothers, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken Bye And Bye?" (Bluebird B-8103, 1939)
Silver Leaf Quartette of Norfolk, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (OKeh 8777/ARC 6-12-63/Vocalion 04395, 1930)
Frank Stamps & his All-Star Quartet, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (Montgomery Ward M-8194, 1939)
Frank Welling & John McGhee, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" (Champion 16035, 1930; Champion 45123 [as Welling Family Trio], c. 1935)
Westbrook Conservatory Entertainers, "Will That Circle Be Unbroken" (Broadway 8194, late 1920s)
J. B. Whitmire's Blue Sky Trio, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken There" (Bluebird B-8512, 1940)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Since I Laid My Burden Down" (tune)
NOTES: According to Cohen, the original version of this had words by Ada R. Habershon and music by Charles Gabriel and was published in 1907/8. That version, however, had a completely different tune from the familiar Carter Family version; the song has probably been subjected to recensional handling -- possibly by A. P. Carter. - RBW
File: R635
===
NAME: Will the Weaver [Laws Q9]
DESCRIPTION: The newly married man regrets his hasty marriage. He is told that his wife is seeing Will the Weaver. He surprises them at his home. Will hides up the chimney. The husband smokes him out, beats him, and sends him away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1793 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: marriage infidelity humorous
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Laws Q9, "Will the Weaver"
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 64-65, "Willy Weaver" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 47, "Bill the Weaver" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 199, "Father, Father, I Am Married" (1 fragment, so short that it could be a form of "Devilish Mary" but seeming by its form to belong here )
Chappell-FSRA 53, "Will the Weaver" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 237-238, "Will the Weaver" ("Will de Weaver") (1 text; tune on p. 418)
Brewster 98, "Will the Weaver" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 140, "Will, the Weaver" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 154, "Will the Weaver" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Shellans, p. 22, "Johnny and Old Mr. Henly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 133, "Bill the Weaver" (1 text)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 152-154, "Everyday Dirt" (1 text, 1 tune, rewritten by Dave McCarn)
Chase, pp. 184-185, "Will the Weaver" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H682, p. 505, "Will the Weaver" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 146-147, "Will the Weaver" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 170, "Everyday Dirt" (1 text)
DT 345, WILLWVR1* WILLWVR2* WILLWVR3 WILLWVR4
Roud #432
RECORDINGS:
Bill Carlisle, "Jumpin' and Jerkin' Blues" (Vocalion 02984, 1935; Conqueror 8789, 1937; Romeo 70264, prob. 1937, and issues on Banner, Melotone, Oriole and Perfect)
Dave McCarn, "Everyday Dirt" (Victor V-40274, 1930)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Everyday Dirt" (on NLCR02)
Charlie Parker & Mack Woolbright, "Will the Weaver"  (Columbia 15694-D, 1931; rec. 1927; on ConstSor1)
Mike Seeger, "Will the Weaver" (on MSeeger01)
Doc Watson, "Every Day Dirt" (on Watson01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2078), "Will the Weaver" [almost entirely illegible], J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Harding B 28(151), "Will, the Weaver," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; Harding B 11(4247), "Will, the Weaver"; Firth c.18(255), Firth c.18(254), "Will the Weaver"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boatsman and the Chest" [Laws Q8] (plot) and references there
NOTES: This and similar songs are sometimes traced back to a story in Boccaccio (seventh day, second story: Gianella, Peronella, and her husband). But the story is really one of the basic themes of folktale, and doubtless predates Boccaccio as well as these songs. - RBW
File: LQ09
===
NAME: Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go
DESCRIPTION: As the summer comes in, the singer goes courting (seducing): "Will ye go, lassie, go, And we'll all go together To pull wild mountain thyme All among the blooming heather." He offers her a bower , etc., but will find another girl if she refuses
AUTHOR: Jimmy McPeake?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957 (sung by Frank McPeake, according to Hammond-Belfast)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction sex
FOUND_IN: Britain Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 57, "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 141, "Will You Go, Lassie, Go" (1 text)
DT, WILDMTHY*
Roud #541
NOTES: Sometimes credited to Jimmy McPeake, and this is not improbable (particularly since the text seems fairly fixed), though I have no firm evidence either way. It's the sort of thing that wouldn't show up in the more staid collections....
Even if it isn't traditional, its popularity with revival singers probably means it should be included here.
Roud lumps this with "The Braes o' Balquither." - RBW
Hammond-Belfast: "Frank McPeake said at the time of recording [for the BBC series 'As I Roved Out']: 'There is a song that I heard an old uncle of mine singing years and years ago. It's 'Will ye go, lassie, go?'" - BS
Also sung by David Hammond, "Will Yo Go Lassie, Go?" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)) Sean O Boyle, notes to David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland": "This is one of the numerous Scots songs that have become localized in Ulster as a result of migratory labor between the North of Ireland and Scotland." - BS
File: FSWB141A
===
NAME: Will Ye Pad the Road wi' Me?: see Paddle the Road with Me (File: Wa032)
===
NAME: Will You Go Out West?
DESCRIPTION: The singer is looking for a girl to "go out west with me." He promises happy home -- a log cabin with a dirt floor and a blanket for the door. The girl will help with the farming while the husband goes hunting
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: courting exploration home
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 88, "Will You Go Out West?" (1 text+2 fragments, 1 tune)
ST FSC088 (Partial)
Roud #4604
File: FSC088
===
NAME: Will You Love Me When I Am Bald?
DESCRIPTION: "Will you love me when I am bald? When my hair is smooth and bare? For I must tell you now, sweet love, That I am surely getting there." The singer talks about how lack of hair will affect his behavior, but concludes that his love will still care for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Henry, collected from Ray Bohanan)
KEYWORDS: hair questions
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 30-31, "Will You Love Me When I Am Bald?" (1 text)
File: MHAp030
===
NAME: Will You Love Me When I'm Old?
DESCRIPTION: The singer repeatedly asks his true love if she will love him when he is old, tired, gray, etc.: "Life's morn will soon be waning And its evening bells be told, And my heart will know no sadness If you'll love me when I'm old."
AUTHOR: Words: P. Gilsey Cook / Music: Ralph Roland
EARLIEST_DATE: 1876 (sheet music, LOCSheet, sm1877 03501)
KEYWORDS: age love
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Randolph 824, "Will You Love Me When I'm Old?" (1 text)
BrownIII 273, "Will You Love Me When I'm Old?" (1 text plus mention of 5 more)
DT, ARUTRDME
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 38, #4 (1994), p, 49, "Are You Tired of Me, My Darling?" (1 text, 1 tune, the Carter Family version)
Roud #4334
RECORDINGS:
Charles Brook & Charlie Turner, "Will You Love Me When I'm Old" (Columbia 15756-D, 1932; rec. 1931)
Carter Family, "Are You Tired of Me Darling?" (Bluebird B-5956/Montgomery Ward M-4546, 1935)
Bill Cox, "Are You Tired of Me Darling?" (Melotone [Canada] 45092, 1935) (Decca 5497, 1938)
Earl McCoy & Jessie Brock, "Are You Tired of Me Darling?" (Columbia 15499-D, 1930; rec. 1929)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Are You Tired of Me Darling" (Brunswick 432, 1930; rec. 1927)
Blind Jack Mathis, "Are You Tired of Me Darling?" (Bluebird B-4956, c. 1933)
Aulton Ray, "Will You Love Me When I'm Old" (Gennett 6129, 1927)
L. K. Reeder, "Will You Love Me When I'm Old" (OKeh 45026, c. 1926; rec. 1925)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1877 03501, "Are you tired of me, darling?" Louis Meyer (Philadelphia), 1877 (tune); also sm1878 05722, "Are you tired of me, darling?" White, Smith & Co (Boston), 1878
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Are You Tired of Me, My Darling?
NOTES: The White Smith & Co sheet music lists the tune as by Fred Kenyon Jones; the Meyer music offers Ralph Roland. The tunes are different, and neither is the one I know (from Ed Trickett, I think), though the Roland tune looks closer.
A song entitled "Will You Love Me, Sweetheart, When I'm Old?" was published by A. J. Lamb and H. W. Petrie in 1895; I do not know if they are the same. - RBW
File: R824
===
NAME: Will You Wear Red?: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: Will You Wear the Red?: see Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)
===
NAME: Will You Wed with a Tarry Sailor? [Laws K37]
DESCRIPTION: The singer comes back from sea to meet his love Nancy. He asks her if she will marry him. She refuses him. He brings out his money; she changes her mind. With the shoe on the other foot, he refuses her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.13(198))
KEYWORDS: love courting money
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws K37, "Will You Wed with a Tarry Sailor?"
BrownII 109, "Poor Jack" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 65, "Jolly Jack" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 56, "Jack the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 723, POORJACK
Roud #530
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.13(198), "Tarry Sailor," J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 11(3735), Harding B 25(1884), Harding B 17(307a), Harding B 11(778), "Tarry Sailor"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Saucy Sailor (Jack and Jolly Tar II)" [Laws K38] (plot)
File: LK37
===
NAME: William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10]
DESCRIPTION: Riley and his sweetheart flee from her father, but are overtaken. Riley is jailed; the father asks that he be executed or transported. Colleen pleads for and wins his freedom instead. (Riley leaves the country, wearing the girl's ring for remembrance)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1829 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.11(51))
KEYWORDS: courting prison reprieve emigration elopement
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England) Ireland Jamaica Australia
REFERENCES: (23 citations)
Laws M10, "William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial)"
Belden, pp. 289-290, "William Riley" (1 text)
Randolph 115, "Willie Riley" (1 short text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
BrownII 128, "William Riley" (1 text)
Brewster 50, "William Reilly" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 91, "Willy Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 137, "Willie Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 74, "Courtship of Willie Riley" (1 very long text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 741-743, "Willie Riley" (2 texts)
FSCatskills 53, "Fair Julian Bond" (1 text, 1 tune. The opening of this ballad clearly resembles Laws M9, but the conclusion is closer to M10. The fragmentary state of the text may indicate a conflate version)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 8, "Willie Reilly and his Cailin Ban" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 40-42, "Willie Reilly and His Dear Colleen Ban" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 99-102, "The Trial of Willy Reilly" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 86, "Willy Reilly" (1 text)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 31-32, "Willie Riley" (1 text, tune referenced)
SHenry H234, pp. 436-437, "Willy Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 101, "William Reilly" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 224-225, "Reily's Jailed" (1 text, 1 tune, s very short version placed here on the basis of its first stanza)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, pp. 482-483, "William Reily's Courtship," "Reily's Trial," "Reily's Answer, Releasement, and Marriage with Coolen Bawn" (sic.) (source notes only)
DT 577, RILTRIAL
ADDITIONAL: Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 244-247, "Willy Reilly"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 302-304, "Willy Reilly" (1 text)
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 382-384, 516, "Willy Reilly"
ST LM10 (Full)
Roud #538
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "Willie Reilly and his Cailin Ban" (on IRTLenihan01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(51), "Riley and Colinband," T. Batchelar (London), 1817-1828; also Firth b.27(138), Harding B 16(228b), Harding B 25(1626)[many words illegible], "Riley and Colinband"; 2806 b.11(52), Johnson Ballads 2976, "William Riley and Colinband"; Harding B 11(1852), "Riley and Colinban"; Harding B 28(190)[some words illegible or lost], "Riley and Collinband"
LOCSinging, sb40465a, "Reily's Courtship", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864) [This is part 1];, sb40464b, "Reily's Releasement and Marriage with Cooleen Bawn", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 [This is part 2]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lady Elspat" [Child 247] (plot)
cf. "William Riley's Courtship" [Laws M9]
cf. "Mary Acklin (The Squire's Young Daughter)" [Laws M16] (plot)
cf. "Mary Neal" [Laws M17] (tune)
cf. "A Maid in Bedlam" (theme of a maid in Bedlam)
NOTES: Meredith/Anderson states that this song is based on an incident which took place in Donegal around 1745. Reilly, a Catholic, eloped with the protestant daughter of Squire Folliard -- an illegal match at the time. See Laws, who quotes the relevant details from Joyce.
Laws, following Cox, considers the three William Riley ballads (William Riley's Courtship [Laws M9], this one, and "Reilly's Answer, Releasement, and Marriage with Coleen Bawn" -- the last not found in tradition, but published by Will Carleton in 1855) to be a set of songs about the same character. The songs overlap, however, and may be the result of separate composition, with either M9 or M10 inspiring the other two. - RBW
All of the Bodleian broadsides corrupt what O'Conor, at least, has as "Colleen Bawn." O'Conor does not explain his sources.
Charles Gavan Duffy, _The Ballad Poetry of Ireland_, 1845, pp. 244-247, has this as "Willy Reilly" and translates "Coolen Bawn" as "fair young girl." - BS
Laws considers Creighton-NovaScotia 74 to be both M9 and M10. This 78 verse version is divided by Creighton into "Riley's Courtship" (26 verses: meets Laws' description of M9), "Trial" (20 verses: meets Laws' description of M10), "Marriage" (32 verses: meets Laws' description "which has not, so far as I know," says Laws, "been recorded from tradition, Riley is sentenced to be transported and is freed through his own petition to the Lord Lieutenant in time to rescue the girl from Bedlam and marry her." What am I missing? As I've noted, Creighton-NovaScotia 74, is one of Laws' sources for M9 and M10: why didn't he consider it for the "not ... recorded" Mx?).
Sparling, 1888: "The story on which this ballad is founded happened some eighty years ago; and as the lover was a Catholic farmer, and the lady's family of high Orange principles, it got a part character, which, no doubt, contributed to its great popularity." "Carleton has made it the foundation of a novel of the same name."
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "William Carlton's novel on Willie Reilly and his Cailin Ban first appeared in 1855 and was a best seller for years." [Though the Barnhart/Halsey _New Century Handbook of English Literature_ (revised edition, Appleton.Century/Crofts, 1967) does not list it among the major works of Carleton (1794-1869). Neither is it mentioned in Patrick C. Power's _A Literary History of Ireland_, which (p. 149) instead regards his most important work as the 1830-1833 collection _Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry_. - RBW]
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: LM10
===
NAME: William and Dinah: see Vilikens and His Dinah [LawsM31A/B] (File: LM31)
===
NAME: William and Eliza (Lough Erin's Shore)
DESCRIPTION: Willie is a servant to an English lady on Lough Erin's shore. She falls in love with him. He says her peers will scorn her if they marry, and prepares to leave her service. She begs him to stay; they marry. She comforts him when they leave Lough Erin
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection); 19C (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(227))
KEYWORDS: love courting servant nobility money marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H597, pp. 476-477, "Lough Erne's Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9057
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(227), "William and Eliza" or "Lough Erne Shore" ("You tender young lovers, draw near"), W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867 ; also 2806 c.15(162), Harding B 19(3), "William and Eliza" or "Lough Erne Shore"
NOTES: In reading this, I couldn't help but wonder what happened to the angry father who exiled the boy.
Chances are, if you know a song entitled "Lough Erin's Shore," then this isn't it. - RBW
File: HHH597
===
NAME: William and Ellen: see Earl Brand [Child 7] (File: C007)
===
NAME: William and Harriet [Laws M7]
DESCRIPTION: Lovers William and Harriet find their marriage plans thwarted by her father. They escape to sea, only to have their ship sink en route. They land upon a desert island, where they die of starvation and/or exposure
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.25(77))
KEYWORDS: courting ship wreck disaster death father
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws M7, "William and Harriet"
JHCox 104, "The Rich Merchant" ( text)
DT 741, RCHMRCHT
Roud #536
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(77), "William and Harriet," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.12(285), Harding B 15(380a), Harding B 15(379b), Harding B 15(380b), Harding B 16(308c), Johnson Ballads 1557, 2806 c.16(47), 2806 c.14(26), Firth b.26(248) [some lines truncated on the right], Firth c.26(65) [some words illegible], Harding B 16(308b), Harding B 11(3767), "William and Harriet"; 2806 c.14(136), Harding B 11(4221), Harding B 11(3764), "William and Harriet"
Murray, Mu23-y3:010, "William and Herriet" (sic.), unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(90), "William and Herriet" (sic.), unknown, c. 1860-1890
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "William and Phillis" (theme, tune)
cf. "The Island Unknown" (plot elements)
cf. "Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley)" [Laws M8]
SAME_TUNE:
William and Phillis (File: CrSNB033)
File: LM07
===
NAME: William and Margaret: see Fair Margaret and Sweet William [Child 74] (File: C074)
===
NAME: William and Mary: see Willie and Mary (Mary and Willie; Little Mary; The Sailor's Bride) [Laws N28] (File: LN28)
===
NAME: William and Mary's Farewell to Ireland
DESCRIPTION: Willy is leaving Ireland and Mary for America. If he would wait a season, she says, she would go with him. He refuses, saying he'll return with gold and take her to America. She says she'll elope with him now. He agrees, they marry and go to America.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Morton-Maguire); c.1850 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.16(129))
KEYWORDS: courting elopement marriage emigration America Ireland dialog
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Morton-Maguire 19, pp. 44-45,110,164, "My Charming Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2900
RECORDINGS:
John Maguire, "My Charming Mary" (on IRJMaguire01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.16(129), "The Emigrant's Farewell" ("Farewell dear Erin, I now must leave you"), J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), c.1850; also 2806 b.10(88), Harding B 19(59)[some words illegible], 2806 b.9(242), Harding B 19(91), 2806 c.15(70)[almost entirely illegible], "The Emigrant's Farewell"; 2806 c.8(123), Harding B 26(680), "William and Mary's Farewell to Ireland"
Murray, Mu23-y1:109, "The Emigrant's Farewell to Ireland," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Anach Cuain" (tune,according to notes to IRJMaguire01)
File: MoMa019
===
NAME: William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8]
DESCRIPTION: (William) has been ordered to war. His sweetheart (Nancy) offers to dress in men's clothes and accompany him. William says that Nancy is not strong enough; she assures him she will be. At last he agrees; they are married and go off together
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: separation cross-dressing marriage war
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So) Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (19 citations)
Laws N8, "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)"
Belden, pp. 177-180, "Lisbon" (3 texts, but the third is "The Girl Volunteer")
Randolph 42, "Men's Clothing I'll Put On" (Of Randolph's six texts, Laws puts only "B," "D," and "E" -- the last with melody -- with this song. In fact any of these versions -- especially "B" and "E" -- might be part of "The Banks of the Nile." "A" definitely goes with that piece, and "C" and "F" go with "Jack Monroe")
Chappell-FSRA 67, "Johnnie and Nancy" (1 text)
FSCatskills 29, "It Was Early One Monday Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 61, "Williams and Nancy" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, though the second text has the title "The Banks of the Nile")
Creighton/Senior, pp. 156-158, "William and Nancy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 66, "It Was On One Monday Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 202-205, "Jimmy and Nancy on the Sea" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Fowke/MacMillan 72, "Banks of the Nile" (1 text, 1 tune, considered by Fowke to be an abbreviated, localized version of "William and Nancy (I)" [Laws N8], but it could just as easily be a version of "The Banks of the Nile" [Laws N9])
Mackenzie 35A, "William and Nancy" (1 text)
SharpAp 121, "William and Polly" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 34, "William and Polly (Lisbon)" (1 text, 1 tune, "slightly shortened")
Fuson, pp. 67-68, "Sweet William" (1 text, a compound of the cross-dressing lover songs but more like this than any of the others)
GreigDuncan1 63, "The Sailor and Nancy" (1 text)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 58-59, "Lisbon" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H561, p. 458, "Lovely Annie (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN1749, "Margaret my sweetest, Margaret I must go" (listed as Laws N4 though the description sounds more like this piece)
DT 442, BANKNIL4 (BANKNIL2*?) BANKNIL3*
Roud #551
RECORDINGS:
Jim Molloy, "Lovely Nancy" (on NFMLeach)
Lee Monroe Presnell, "I Went to See My Molly" (on USWarnerColl01 -- a short text, probably this although it has an American Civil War setting)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(165), "William and Margaret" ("'Twas on a Monday, all in the month of May"), unknown, n.d.
Murray, Mu23-y1:039, "William and Margaret," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Monroe" [Laws N7]
cf. "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9]
cf. "High Germany"
cf. "The Girl Volunteer (The Cruel War Is Raging)" [Laws O33]
NOTES: The Sacred Harp has a tune "Lisbon" which, like many versions of this song, is in triple time. But based on the versions I've checked, they do not appear to be the same melody. - RBW
File: LN08
===
NAME: William and Nancy (II) (Courting Too Slow) [Laws P5]
DESCRIPTION: William loves Nancy, but sails away before he has married her. Eventually he learns that she has married another. He sickens with grief. Nancy comes to comfort him. Both eventually die of grief
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: courting sailor disease marriage infidelity death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So) Britain Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws P5, "William and Nancy II (Courting Too Slow)"
Belden, pp. 196-197 "Courting Too Slow" (1 text)
SharpAp 81, "William and Nancy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 317-318, "William and Nancy" (1 text, with local title "Come All Ye Umarried Men"; tune on p. 441)
Logan, pp. 364-365, "Courting Too Slow" (perhaps a comic rewrite of the original version?)
DT 493, WMNANCY
Roud #1918
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Bonny Brown Jane" (lyrics)
File: LP05
===
NAME: William and Phillis
DESCRIPTION: Phyllis tells William that her father will not have her wed a sailor. She dresses as a sailor and they sail for America. They escape a storm in a longboat and land in America, marry and live happily.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1174))
KEYWORDS: elopement cross-dressing emigration sea ship shore storm America father sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 33, "Phyllis and Young William" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1429
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1174), "William and Phillis," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(1173), 2806 c.16(159), Harding B 11(4228), Harding B 16(308d), Harding B 11(4227), Harding B 11(4229), Harding B 11(929), "William and Phillis"; Firth c.12(250), 2806 c.16(159), Harding B 11(4226), "William and Philis"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "William and Harriet" (theme; tune per broadsides Bodleian Harding B 11(1174), Bodleian Harding B 11(1173), Bodleian 2806 c.16(159), Bodleian Harding B 11(4226), Bodleian Firth c.12(250), Bodleian 2806 c.16(159), Bodleian Harding B 11(4228))
cf. "The Great Elopement to America" (plot)
NOTES: The Bodleian broadsides are more complete than Creighton-SNewBrunswick and are the source for the description; for example, Creighton-SNewBrunswick omits the cross-dressing.
"William and Phillis" is "William and Harriet" with a happy ending. Instead of dying together on a desert island, the lovers land in America, are helped back to health and live happily. - BS
File: CrSNB033
===
NAME: William and Polly: see William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8] (File: LN08)
===
NAME: William Atrimatoe Catches Hens
DESCRIPTION: "William Atrimatoe catches hens -- Puts them in pens. Some lay eggs; some lay none. White foor, speckled foot, trip and be gone Your way through the wood."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Mrs. Henry C. Gray, or her maid)
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 237, (no title) (1 short text)
File: MHAp237A
===
NAME: William Baker
DESCRIPTION: "William Baker's now in prison, And shortly hanged be, For the killing of one Prewitt, The world may plainly see." Baker invites Prewitt to join him, then ambushes him. He tells Prewitt's wife that he had abandoned her. But his crimes finally come out
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: prison execution crime lie murder
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Combs/Wilgus 71, pp. 169-170, "William Baker" (1 text)
Roud #4120
NOTES: This song is item dF48 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: CW169
===
NAME: William Beadle
DESCRIPTION: "A bloody scene I'll now relate Which lately happen'd in a neib'ring state, A murder of the deepest dye, I say...." Beadle "slew Himself, his consort, and his offspring too." The singer laments that such things can happen and hopes for a better day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder family father mother children
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec. 11, 1782 - William Beadle kills his wife, his children, and himself
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 6-7, "(William Beadle)" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lawson Murder (Charlie Lawson)" [Laws F35] (plot)
NOTES: This appears to be simply a broadside, with no hold on tradition (it's lousy poetry), and it doesn't really include enough specific data to identify it with certainty with the case of William Beadle -- but Burt's notes imply that this was clear from the overall presentation of the broadsheet. - RBW
File: Burt006
===
NAME: William Bluet (Blewitt)
DESCRIPTION: "There was a woman lived in Hampshire, She had one only son, and him she loved most dear." The young man spends his estate, then turns to crime. Taken and condemned, he bids a sad farewell to his mother and is executed. A dove hovers by his dying head
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: death crime punishment mother money bird
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Apr 12, 1726 - Execution of William Blewitt, a convicted housebreaker, pickpocket, and accomplice to murder, in Surrey
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Combs/Wilgus 125, pp. 151-152, "William Bluet" (1 text)
Roud #4298
File: CW151
===
NAME: William Cook
DESCRIPTION: "Hark, hark, my young friends, it's a melancholy call, The hour of death flying swiftly along." The dying young man (William Cook) reveals that he will miss his family, and describes how he will be buried. He asks to be remembered despite his misdeeds
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: death burial funeral family
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 608, "William Cook" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3128
File: R608
===
NAME: William Craig and Bold Manone: see Bold Manan the Pirate [Laws D15] (File: LD15)
===
NAME: William Glen: see Captain Glen/The New York Trader (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B) [Laws K22] (File: LK22)
===
NAME: William Goebel
DESCRIPTION: "Our grand old state is left in shame Since the death of William Goebel." Goebel's wisdom is praised, but the candidate he was running against, "Taylor saw his plan had failed." Someone, perhaps Taylor, arranges Goebel's death
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: murder political
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 30, 1900 (so DAB; Thomas says Feb. 3) - Assassination of William Goebel (1856-1900), formerly a reforming state senator; he was a candidate for governor of Kentucky in 1899, though he used some electioneering maneuvers to gain the nomination. The election outcome was disputed, though the legislature not surprisingly held that he was the winner of the election after his death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 188-190, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: Thomas says that Setters sang this to the tune of "Barbary Ellen," but since she doesn't say *which* tune of "Barbary Ellen," that doesn't help much. - RBW
File: ThBa188
===
NAME: William Guiseman: see Captain Glen/The New York Trader (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B) [Laws K22] (File: LK22)
===
NAME: William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer) [Laws N30]
DESCRIPTION: William's parents send him to sea to get him away from his sweetheart, whom they dislike. After a long journey he returns to find his love does not recognize him. He says William is dead. She grieves; he reveals himself and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: ship separation marriage reunion
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws N30, "William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer)"
Belden, pp. 156-160, "William Hall" (3 texts)
Randolph 46, "The Brisk Young Farmer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 100, "William Hall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson 40, pp. 154-155, "William Hall" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 265-266, "William Hall" (1 text, with local title "A Soldier Boy" and opening with several stanzas from "Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token)" [Laws N42]; tune on pp. 425-426)
SharpAp 171, "William Hall" (6 texts, 6 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 33, "William Hall" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
JHCox 96, "William Hall" (2 texts, 1 text)
LPound-ABS, 29, pp. 71-72, "The Rich Young Farmer" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 54, "The Rich Young Farmer" (1 text)
DT 458, BRSKFARM
Roud #400
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
File: LN30
===
NAME: William Hill
DESCRIPTION: William Hill worked land owned by the singer's uncle, who orders Hill to leave the land. Hill refuses and the uncle liquors the singer up to have him kill Hill. He shoots Hill, is convicted and sentenced to hang. His uncle is not punished.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: execution murder drink trial gallows-confessions
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 63-64, "William Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12466
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee: "[The singer] said William Hill was killed here in Prince Edward Island by his nephew." - BS
File: Dib063
===
NAME: William Hollander: see The Flying Cloud [Laws K28] (File: LK28)
===
NAME: William Johnston of Ballykilbeg
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves Ireland and "Fenians and traitors I'll ever disown," but cannot "set Erin's old harp above the crown." The Protestant boys wave Purple and Orange flags, hold King William's memory in esteem and toast William Johnston of Ballykilbeg.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic political
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OrangeLark 37, "William Johnston of Ballykilbeg" (1 text)
NOTES: "The redoubtable William Johnston [1829-1902] of Ballykilbeg [near Downpatrick, Co Down] was a legend in his own lifetime ... an Orange and Protestant folk hero second only to that other William of 'glorious, pious and immortal memory'." He led the campaign against the Party Processions Act. "It was his opposition to this legislation which was to make William Johnston of Ballykilbeg a folk-hero." [see "Bangor and No Surrender" and references there] Johnston was elected M.P. in 1868. The law was repealed in 1872. After some time away from Commons he was reelected in 1885 and remained until his death. He opposed Gladstone's Home Rule bills. (source: Ian McShane, "William Johnston of Ballykilbeg" on OrangeNet site) - BS
Jonathan Bardon, _A History of Ulster_, Blackstaff Press, 1992, pp. 354-355, describes Johnston's rise to prominence as follows: "Against the advice of the Irish Grand Lodge of the Orange Order, William Johnston announced that he woul lead a great parade from Newtownards to Bangor on 12 July 1867 in open defiance of the Party Processions Act. Johnston, owner of a small Co. Down estate and publisher of loyalist ballads, novels, and tracts, believed that if Catholics could turn funerals an unveilings into political demonstrations, Orangemen should be able to march ummolested by the law." (Which sounds reasonable until one realizes how often such marches ended in violence.) Reportedly the crowd occupied eight acres, which means it probably numbered in the tens of thousands.
Bardon, p. 355: "Johnston defiantly refused an apology to the authorities and in February 1868 he was sentenced to serve a short spell in prison.... Seen now as a martyr, 'fearless' and 'indomitable', on his release he was given a rapturous reception." He went on to call for the formation of an Orange Party.
Robert Kee, in _The Bold Fenian Men_ (being volume II of _The Green Flag_), Penguin, 1972, pp. 101-102, writes, "The radical streak in the Orange Society's activity was represented by William Johnston of Ballykilbeg House, the Grand Master of County Down, who, in March 1868, was sentenced to a month's imprisonment for marching, in defiance of the Party Proessions Act, from Newonards to Bangor at the head of a crowd of twenty to thirty thousand with beating drums, orange flags and a band playing the 'Protestant Boys' and other provocative tunes.
"Though educated opinion in Ulster disliked the Act under which Johnston was sentenced, it did not condemn the sentence itself. And the Protestant Defence Association... was to go out of its way to dissociate itself from the Orange Society altogether....
"Nonetheless, it was with the radical Orangement that the real vitality of the movement lay, and when Johnston was released from prison in April[,] special trains were run to Belfast for the celebrations."
Bardon, pp. 355-356: "A general election was called soon afterward, and when the Conservatives failed to nominate Johnston for Belfast, he put himself forward in any case" (and of course won).
Bardon, p. 358: "To the delight of his adherents, Johnston of Ballykilbeg got the Party Processions Act repealed by a private member's bill in 1870. The act had become completely unenforceable and was in danger of bringing the law into contempt owing to ludicrous [court] decisions.,, it seemed barely reasonable to impose fines of forty shillings each on John Kerr, for cursing the Pope, and on George Murray, for cursing the Pope and the Pope's granny; but it was plainly silly to levy the same fine on Teresa Brown for the even-handed naming of her two cats, 'Orange Bill' and 'Papist Kate'."
Johnston would later declare in the Commons that if the Home Rule Bill passed that Ulster would resist "at the point of the bayonet" (Bardon, p. 383), and warned that if the Union between Britain and Ireland were dissolved, "there would at once be a civil war in Ulster" (Keep, p. 104).
Interestingly, in all areas except religions tolerance, Johnston seems to have been well ahead of his time. According to R. F. Foster, _Modern Ireland 1600-1972_ Penguin, 1988, 1989, pp. 389-390, he was born at Ballykilbeg, educated at Dublin's Trinity College, joined the Orange Order in 1848, was MP for Belfast1868-1878, then became inspector of fisheries, but was "dismissed for violent speeches  against the Land League and Home Rule party"; returned to parliament in 1885, he remained a member until his death in 1902. He was an "advocate of security of tenure, temperance reform and women's sufferage." Foster lists two novels he wrote: _Nightshade_ (1870) and _Under Which King_ (1873); they are said to be strongly political. As literature, all his writings seem to have been complete failures; while a few things are (of course) found on the Internet, my library reveals nothing at all -- though his poem "Bangor and No Surrender" is in this Index. - RBW
File: OrLa037
===
NAME: William O'Roley: see The Mantle So Green [Laws N38] (File: LN38)
===
NAME: William Reilly: see William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10] (File: LM10)
===
NAME: William Reilly's Courtship: see William Riley's Courtship [Laws M9] (File: LM09)
===
NAME: William Riley's Courtship [Laws M9]
DESCRIPTION: William falls in love with Colleen at sight. Although warned about her harsh father, he seeks employment from the old man to be near Colleen. At last he asks to marry her. He is fired. The two try to elope. They are captured; the father has Riley jailed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (collected by Olive Dame Campbell; in SharpAp); +1881 (Christie, _Traditional Ballad Airs II_)
KEYWORDS: love courting father elopement prison servant
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Laws M9, "William Riley's Courtship"
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 96-98, "Willy Reilly's Courtship" (1 text)
Randolph 114, "Coleen Bawn" (1 text, with the name spelled "Coleen" in the title but "Colleen" in the text; 1 tune)
FSCatskills 53, "Fair Julian Bond" (1 text, 1 tune. The opening of this ballad clearly resembles Laws M9, but the conclusion is closer to M10. The fragmentary state of the text may indicate a conflate version)
LPound-ABS, 38, pp.86-89, "William Riley's Courtship" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 74, "Courtship of Willie Riley" (1 very long text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 104, "Loving Reilly" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, pp. 482-483, "William Reily's Courtship," "Reily's Trial," "Reily's Answer, Releasement, and Marriage with Coolen Bawn" (source notes only)
Roud #537
RECORDINGS:
cf. "The Footboy" (plot)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial)" [Laws M10]
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" [Laws M6] (plot)
cf. "Henry Connors" [Laws M5] (plot)
cf. "Jock Scott" (plot)
cf. "The Footboy" (plot)
NOTES: Laws, following Cox, considers the three William Riley ballads (this one, William Reilly's Trial [Laws M10], and "Reilly's Answer, Releasement, and Marriage with Coleen Bawn" -- the last supposedly not found in tradition) to be a set of songs about the same character. The songs overlap, however, and may be the result of separate composition, with either M9 or M10 inspiring the other two. - RBW
Laws considers Creighton-NovaScotia 74 to be both M9 and M10. This 78 verse version is divided by Creighton into "Riley's Courtship" (26 verses: meets Laws' description of M9), "Trial" (20 verses: meets Laws' description of M10), "Marriage" (32 verses: meets Laws' description "which has not, so far as I know," says Laws, "been recorded from tradition, Riley is sentenced to be transported and is freed through his own petition to the Lord Lieutenant in time to rescue the girl from Bedlam and marry her." What am I missing? As I've noted, Creighton-NovaScotia 74, is one of Laws' sources for M9 and M10: why didn't he consider it for the "not ... recorded" Mx?). - BS
File: LM09
===
NAME: William S. Shackleford
DESCRIPTION: "Though I am doomed to be hanged, in March, on the twenty-eighth day, I fear not the dreadful pang." Shackleford claims he did no wrong in murdering (Davis); it was self-defense. He laments that his account was not believed
AUTHOR: William S. Shackleford?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1890 (Chatham Record)
KEYWORDS: murder punishment execution
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov. 15/16, 1889 - Disappearance of John D. Horton
Nov. 23, 1889 - Discovery of Horton's body, bearing clear evidence of murder
Feb. 1890 - Trial of J. P. Davis (true name: William S. Shackleford) for the murder of Horton
March 28, 1890 - Execution of Davis/Shackleford
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 293, "Last Words of William Shackleford, Executed in Pittsboro, Chatham Co, March 28, 1890" (1 text; the reputed original text is found in the general introduction to items 293 and 294)
Roud #6649
File: BrII293
===
NAME: William Shackleford's Farewell Song As Sung by Shackleford: see My Warfare Will Soon Be Ended (File: BrII294)
===
NAME: William Taylor (II): see Keepers and Poachers (File: K254)
===
NAME: William Taylor [Laws N11]
DESCRIPTION: Willie is (about to be married when he is) impressed. His love dresses like a man and seeks him. She is revealed as a woman. The captain tells her that William is about to marry another. She shoots him. The captain gives her a command or marries her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1817 (Journal from the Herald)
KEYWORDS: murder betrayal pressgang
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England,Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (21 citations)
Laws N11, "William Taylor"  (Laws gives a broadside texts on pp. 93-94 of ABFBB)
Greig #101, p. 1, "Billy Taylor" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan1 169, "Billy Taylor" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
Belden, pp. 182-183, "William Taylor" (1 text)
Randolph 67, "Willie Taylor" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 106, "William Taylor" (1 text)
SharpAp 61, "William Taylor" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Sharp-100E 71, "William Taylor" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H213, p. 334, "Willie Taylor (a)"; H757, pp. 334-335, "Willie Taylor (b)" (2 texts, 2 tunes, both composite)
JHCox 120, "William Taylor" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 152-154, "William Taylor" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 315-316, "Billy Taylor" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 22, "Willie Taylor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 131, "Willy Taylor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 49, "William Taylor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 32, "Billy Taylor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 46, "Willie Taylor" (2 texts)
Manny/Wilson 61, "Brisk Young Seaman (Willie Taylor)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 94-95, "William Taylor" (1 text, with the ending lost, 1 tune)
DT 443, BLLYTYLR*
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907, p. 326, "The Female Lieutenant; or, Faithless Lover Rewarded"; p. 327, "Billy Taylor" (2 texts)
Roud #158
RECORDINGS:
Joseph Taylor, "Bold William Taylor" (on Voice06)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(233), "Bold William Taylor ," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Firth c.12(231), Firth c.12(234), Harding B 11(391), Harding B 11(3010)[some words illegible], "Bold William Taylor"; Harding B 25(2069), "William Taylor"; Firth c.12(232)[some words illegible], "The Female Lieutenant" or "Faithless Lover Rewarded"
LOCSinging, as113210, "William Taylor," Leonard Deming (Boston), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Une Belle Recompense (A Beautiful Reward)" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bold William Taylor
NOTES: Belden's version of this song ends with the girl drowning herself in grief. Laws mentions this only in connection with the Belden text, but it appears that Randolph's version also ends this way (it says only that the girl drowned, but Randolph marks a missing verse).I initially though this an Ozark attempt to moralize the song. But it occurs also in Brown. Cox has a similar, slightly less heavy-handed attempt; the girl is arrested but her fate not listed. Perhaps it's a general American urge to punish the "crime." - RBW
She likewise drowns herself in all three of Sharp's texts. - PJS
The "Bold William Taylor" broadsides end in marriage; "William Taylor" and "The Female Lieutenant" end in command. - BS
C. H. Firth treats his "Billy Taylor" as "A Burlesque Ballad" of his other text (in which the sailor is called "William Taylor"); he describes it as Sung by Mr. Emery, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. Still, they are clearly the same song, and both end with the girl as "lieutenant of the _Thunder Bomb_". The mention of bomb ships (mortar vessels) strongly dates those versions, at least, to the eighteenth or early nineteenth century. - RBW
File: LN11
===
NAME: William the Sailor: see The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen [Laws O13] (File: LO13)
===
NAME: Willie (I)
DESCRIPTION: Johnson tells Willie that if he comes to his father's house, he'll shoot him. He goes; Johnson kills him, then falls on his knees with grief. He turns to drink; when he returns, Officer O'Daniel arrests him. The hearse takes Willie to the cemetery
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Cotten
EARLIEST_DATE: 1979 (copyright, recording)
KEYWORDS: grief jealousy warning fight violence crime murder prison death burial police
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Elizabeth Cotten, "Willie" (on Cotten03)
NOTES: According to Cotten, Willie was a person, a "kind of tease. He found Johnson couldn't take it. And he'd tease him about his girlfriends...just say anything. And Johnson would believe it, and they said he got so mad he jumped on him then, said 'The next time you come to my father's house I'm going to kill you..' ..He just shot that boy, he shot him dead...I'll never forget that." The song, not traditional, is by a traditional performer and created in traditional style, so I index it. - PJS
File: RcECWill
===
NAME: Willie (II): see The Isle of Man Shore (The Quay of Dundocken; The Desolate Widow) [Laws K7] (File: LK07)
===
NAME: Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter [Child 102]
DESCRIPTION: Willie serves Earl Richard, loves and impregnates his daughter. Fearing Richard's wrath, they escape to the woods where the babe is born. Richard seeks his vanished daughter, finds her (alive/dead), accepts the child, and names him Robin Hood.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: love pregnancy nobility escape reunion childbirth Robinhood
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(AP)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 102, "Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter" (2 texts)
Bronson 102, "The Birth of Robin Hood (Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter)" (2 versions+1 in addenda)
OBB 113, "The Birth of Robin Hood" (1 text)
Roud #3910
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Willie o Douglas Dale [Child 101]" (plot)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Bronson is of the opionion that this is "a mere _rifacimento_ of [Child] No. 101," and it is difficult to argue the point. Bronson also notes that Aunt Molly Jackson, responsible for the American version {Bronson's #2}, had seen Buchan's text. - RBW
File: C102
===
NAME: Willie and Lady Maisry [Child 70]
DESCRIPTION: (The lady invites Willie to her bower.) On his way he kills all her father's guards (including her brother). She welcomes him but worries about the blood. Her father discovers them  together and kills Willie. The lady (dies of a broken heart/runs mad).
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1826 (Motherwell)
KEYWORDS: courting battle death family brother father murder madness
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 70, "Willie and Lady Maisry" (2 texts)
Bronson 70, brief comments only
PBB 34, "Willie and Lady Margerie" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 228-230+352-353, "Willie and Lady Maisry" (1 text)
DT 70, WILMAISY*
Roud #198
File: C070
===
NAME: Willie and Lady Margerie: see Willie and Lady Maisry [Child 70] (File: C070)
===
NAME: Willie and Mary: see The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: LM04)
===
NAME: Willie and Mary (II): see The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)
===
NAME: Willie and Mary (Mary and Willie; Little Mary; The Sailor's Bride) [Laws N28]
DESCRIPTION: A beggar comes to Mary's door three years after Willie went to see. He tells a fortune: Willie is shipwrecked and poor, and will never return to Mary. She says she will take him in any state. The beggar reveals himself as Willie, rich and ready to marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Journal from the Elizabeth)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise prophecy
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England) Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Laws N28, "Willie and Mary (Mary and Willie; Little Mary; The Sailor's Bride)"
Belden, pp. 152-153, "Mary  and Willie" (1 text plus reference to 1 more)
Randolph 57, "Mary and Willie" (2 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Hudson 39, pp. 153-164, "Mary and Willie" (1 text)
Brewster 95, "Willie and Mary" (1 fragment, likely this though it could be any of several disguised-lover songs)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 150-151, "The Single Sailor" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 78-79, "Little Willie and Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H118, pp. 315-316, "Mary and Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 93, pp. 200-202, "Mary and Willie" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 348-349, "William and Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 116-117, "The Beggarman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 457, WILLMARY*
Roud #348
RECORDINGS:
Marc Williams, "William and Mary" (Brunswick 274, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Little Willie
William and Mary
Little Mary, the Sailor's Bride
File: LN28
===
NAME: Willie Angler: see Willie Archer (The Banks of the Bann) (File: HHH614)
===
NAME: Willie Archer (The Banks of the Bann)
DESCRIPTION: Willie (Archer/Angler/Ingram) wanders by the Bann, meets a young girl, and seduces her. Afterward, he tells her that he cannot marry her because he is an apprentice. She asks his name; he gives it. She (?) warns young girls against men like him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(258a))
KEYWORDS: courting seduction apprentice abandonment sex
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H614, p. 384, "Willie Angler/The Banks of the Bann" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBoyle 3, "The Banks of the Bann" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BNKSBANN
Roud #3473
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Banks of the Bann" (on IRRCinnamond01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(258a), "The River Ban" ("In yonder noisy harbour called the sweet Hilltown"), Angus (Newcastle), 1774-1825; also Harding B 16(13b) , Harding B 11(140), 2806 b.11(263), "The Banks of [the] Band"; 2806 b.11(209), Harding B 25(108), "[The] Banks of the Ban"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Tripping Over the Lea" [Laws P19] (plot)
NOTES: Traditional singers tend to call this "The Banks of the Bann." But I use the title "Willie Archer" to prevent confusion with all the other songs of that title. - RBW
OBoyle: "The ... reference to Willie's apprenticeship in Raithfriland [Riverhead town in Harding B 17(258a)] would date the song sometime in the nineteenth century when the home-weaving of linen in eastern Ulster was superseded by the introduction of the power loom." - BS
File: HHH614
===
NAME: Willie Dear
DESCRIPTION: "I wisht I could see my Willie dear (x2), I used to think that I'd be the one To marry my lovin' Willie dear." The singer offers to write to Willie, and wishes she were a wild rose or a bee that she might see him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 817, "Willie Dear" (1 text)
Roud #7432
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Free Little Bird" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This song either derives from "Free Little Bird" or borrows heavily from it. But with no tune, no chorus, and hardly any plot, it's hard to prove the matter either way. - RBW
File: R817
===
NAME: Willie Down by the Pond (Sinful to Flirt) [Laws G19]
DESCRIPTION: A girl has been advised against flirting, but does it anyway. When her love Willie comes to her, she teasingly says she will not marry him. He drowns himself in the millpond. He is found with a rose from her hair at his lips
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting suicide drowning flowers
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Laws G19, "Willie Down by the Pond (Sinful to Flirt")
Cambiaire, pp. 49-50, "Willie Down by the Pond" (1 text)
BrownII 275, "They Say It is Sinful to Flirt" (1 text plus mention of six more)
Shellans, p. 41, "SInful to Flirt" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 772, SINFLIRT
Roud #421
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Mountain Singers, "Sinful to Flirt" (Columbia 15678-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
Delmore Brothers, "They Say It's Sinful to Flirt" (Bluebird B-7192, 1937)
Sim Harris, "Sinful to Flirt" (Homestead 16500, late 1920s)
Louisiana Lou, "Sinful to Flirt" (Bluebird B-5424, 1934)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Simple to Flirt" (Brunswick 578, 1931; rec. 1930)
Riley Puckett, "It's Simple To Flirt" (Columbia 15036-D, 1925)
Ernest V. Stoneman "Sinful to Flirt" (OKeh 40384, 1925) (Pathe 32271/Perfect 12350/Challenge 666/Conqueror 7064/Cameo 8220/Romeo 600/Lincoln 2825/Banner 2158/Domino 3985/Regal 8346/Homestead 16500/Oriole 947, 1927); "It's Sinful to Flirt" (Edison 52388, 1928) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5547, 1928)
Tom Watson, "It's Simple to Flirt" (Silvertone 3263, 1926)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "She Said She Was Only Flirting"
cf. "The Little White Rose" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Sinful Flirting
Poor Willie Dead and Gone
File: LG19
===
NAME: Willie Grahame
DESCRIPTION: Willy loves and murders his neighbor's/master's daughter. Following her dying advice he flees to sea. The ship won't sail. The captain says there must be a murderer on board. The lot falls on Willy. He confesses, is imprisoned and sentenced to die.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: love execution murder prison sea ship ritual
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #166, pp. 2-3, "Willie Graham" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan2 190, "Willie Grahame" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #953
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brown Robyn's Confession" [Child 57] (Jonah theme)
cf. "Captain Glen"/"The New York Trader" (The Guilt Sea Captain A/B) [Laws K22] (Jonah theme)
cf. "Willie Was As Fine A Sailor" (Jonah theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Wullie Gray
NOTES: The theme from Jonah 1:4-15: a man on board hiding guilt is the cause of "such a great tempest ... upon the sea that the ship was in danger of breaking up" [Jonah 1:4].
The confusion between this ballad and "Captain Glen"/"The New York Trader" (The Guilt Sea Captain A/B) [Laws K22] is illustrated not only by the GreigDuncan2 notes but by GreigDuncan2 191A of "Captain Glen" in which the captain's name is William Graham. - BS
File: GrD2190
===
NAME: Willie Gray
DESCRIPTION: "My schoolmates now I leave you I bid you a fond farewell." The boy departs his home "For a sailor boy to be." He bids farewell to his family and asks those around him to remember him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1846 (Journal from the Coral)
KEYWORDS: sailor family farewell youth
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 182-183, "Willie Gray" ( text)
Roud #2056
File: SWMS182
===
NAME: Willie Lennox: see Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33] (File: LQ33)
===
NAME: Willie Leonard: see Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33] (File: LQ33)
===
NAME: Willie Macintosh [Child 183]
DESCRIPTION: Willie Macintosh (probably in revenge for the slaying of the Earl of Murray; see Child 181) swears he will burn Auchindown, even if Huntly murders him. Macintosh succeeds in his efforts
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1808 (Finlay)
KEYWORDS: feud revenge fire
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1592 - Vendetta between the Earl of Huntly and Clan Macintosh
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland) US(NE)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 183, "Willie Macintosh" (2 texts)
Bronson 183, "Willie Macintosh" (1 version)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 264-266, "Bonny Willie Macintosh" (1 text, learned in Scotland)
Friedman, p. 266, "Willie Macintosh" (1 text)
OBB 134, "Willie Macintosh"
Roud #4010
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Burning of Auchindown
NOTES: The Willie Macintosh of this ballad was an ally of the Earl of Murray; [to avenge] Murray's death, he and his followers harried the Earl of Huntly, whose followers eventually caught up with Macintosh's men and defeated them. Contrary to the ballad, this Willie didn't burn Auchindown castle; that had been burned by another Willie Macintosh forty years before. - PJS
The only [known] tune [for this song] was miraculously preserved by either [Ewan] MacColl's father or else his mother. Yeah, sure! - AS
And Barry et al argue that the piece wasn't really meant to be sung. But even Bronson admits the effectiveness of the tune supplied by MacColl. - RBW
File: C183
===
NAME: Willie McGee McGaw: see The Three Ravens [Child 26] (File: C026)
===
NAME: Willie Moore
DESCRIPTION: Handsome young Willie Moore has courted and won the heart of fair Annie. Her parents do not approve of him. When Annie realizes her parents will not relent, she runs away and dies (kills herself?). Willie takes to wandering (and dies of a broken heart?)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Burnett & Rutherford)
KEYWORDS: courting love death separation hardheartedness father mother suicide burial
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Randolph 795, "Willie Moore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 90-92, "Willie Moore" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 795)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 36, "Willie Moore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 140, "Willie Moore" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WILLMOOR*
ST R796 (Full)
Roud #4816
RECORDINGS:
[Richard] Burnett & [Leonard] Rutherford, "Willie Moore" (Columbia 15314-D, 1927; on AAFM1, BurnRuth01, ConstSor1, KMM)
Doc Watson & Gaither Carlton, "Willie Moore" (on WatsonAshley01)
Doc Watson, "Willie Moore" (on RitchieWatson1, RitchieWatsonCD1)
NOTES: Randolph's informant, Paul Wilson, reported meeting a Rev. William Moore in 1936 who claimed this song was about him. This is one of those instances where one would prefer documentation. - RBW
File: R796
===
NAME: Willie O (I): see Mary o' the Dee (Mary's Dream) [Laws K20] (File: LK20)
===
NAME: Willie O (II): see Willy O! (File: CrMa113)
===
NAME: Willie o Douglas Dale [Child 101]
DESCRIPTION: Willie goes to serve at the English court. He loves and impregnates the king's daughter, Dame Oliphant. They leave the court; the child is born in the woods, They recruit a shepherdess and sail to Douglas Dale where he is lord and she now lady.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1783
KEYWORDS: love royalty nobility pregnancy escape childbirth home
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 101, "Willie o Douglas Dale" (4 texts)
Bronson 101, "Willie o Douglas Dale" (2 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 454, "Willie o Douglas Dale" (notes only)
Leach, pp. 310-313, "Willie o Douglas Dale" (1 text)
DBuchan 20, "Willie o Douglas Dale" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #1}
DT 101, WILDOUG
Roud #65
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter" [Child 102] (plot)
File: C101
===
NAME: Willie o Winsbury [Child 100]
DESCRIPTION: The king has been a prisoner; he returns to find his daughter looking ill. She proves to be pregnant; her lover was (Willie o Winsbury). The king orders Winsbury hanged, but upon seeing him, understands his daughter's action and allows the two to wed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Percy MS.)
KEYWORDS: pregnancy punishment pardon
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord),England(West,South)) US(Ap,NE) Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES: (17 citations)
Child 100, "Willie o Winsbury" (9 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #22}
Bronson 100, "Willie o Winsbury" (22 versions+1 in addenda, of which #2 is a Manx fragment which may not be related)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 224-225, "Willie o Winsbury" (notes only, claiming a verse in one of their versions of "Johnny Scot" is actually a "Willie" fragment)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 233-235, "Johnny Barbour" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #21}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 57-66, "Willie o Winsbury" (3 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes) {A=Bronson's #21, B=#20}
Greenleaf/Mansfield 13, "Young Barbour" (3 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #16, #13, #12}
Peacock, pp. 534-536, "John Barbour" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 14, "Willie o' Winsbury" (2 texts, 4 tunes) {Bronson's #17}
Leach, pp. 308-309, "Willie o Winsbury" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 7, "Willie O Winsbury" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lehr/Best 62, "John Barbour" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 45, "Willie o Winsbury" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 15, "Lord Thomas of Winesberry" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #11}
Combs/Wilgus 29, pp. 123-124, "Willie o Winsbury" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 71-73, "Willie O Winsbury" (1 text)
SHenry H221, pp. 490-491, "The Rich Ship Owner's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT WILLIWIN* WILLIWI2* WILLIWI3*
Roud #64
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "Johnny Barbour" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
Robert Cinnamond, "There Was a Lady Lived in the West" (on Voice17); "John Barlow" (on IRRCinnamond03) 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Lady Diamond" [Child 269] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Seven Sailor Boys
The Rich Shipowner's Daughter
NOTES: Only one king of England since the Norman Conquest has been taken captive by a foreign power: Richard I ("the Lion-Hearted"; "Richard Yes-and-No") was imprisoned by the Duke of Austria. All told, Richard spent only six months of his ten year reign (1189-1199) in England. Unfortunately for the truth of this song, Richard (who may have been homosexual) had no children. Few other English kings have been absent from England long enough for the events here to take place.
If we transfer the story to Scotland, we find that David Bruce (reigned 1329-1370) spent much of his life in English captivity, but again had no children. The earlier William the Lion (reigned 1165-1214) also spent time in English hands, and *did* have children (including two daughters, Margaret and Isabella) -- but also had no feelings, and would never have been guilty of such a crime as forgiving someone.
This leaves king John of France (reigned 1350-1364), who was taken prisoner by the Black Prince at Poitiers (1355), as the closest thing we have to an equivalent to the king in this ballad.
In some versions of the song, the hero Willie is himself a king in disguise; there is no evidence of this ever having happened in truth, though it is common in folktale (associated especially with James V of Scotland) - RBW
A fragment, Bodleian, 2806 c.11(90), "Lord Thomas of Winsborough" ("It happen'd on a time when the proud king of France"), unknown, n.d. may be this ballad but I could not download it to verify that. - BS
File: C100
===
NAME: Willie of Hazel Green: see John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)
===
NAME: Willie Rambler
DESCRIPTION: Willie Rambler leaves Lough Erne for Scotland and meets Mary "the pride of Glasgow Town." He asks that she "show to me the way." She offers him five hundred pounds to stay with her. "How could I leave Lough Erne's banks where my young Molly dwells?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1980 (IRHardySons)
KEYWORDS: courting request rejection rambling money Ireland Scotland
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #3576
RECORDINGS:
James Halpin, "Willie Rambler" (on IRHardySons)
NOTES: Notes to IRHardySons quote the sleevenotes to another album which present a different picture than mine: "Willie Rambler ... is quite a businessman and, when asked his price to stay with her, immediately demands five hundred pounds. After the price is agreed he then proceeds to praise the beauties of Ballyshannon and Lough Erne...." (reference is to Dermot McLaughlin notes to Gabriel McArdle, "Dog Big Dog Little," Claddagh CC51CD). - BS
File: RcWilRa
===
NAME: Willie Reilly: see William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10] (File: LM10)
===
NAME: Willie Reilly and his Cailin Ban: see William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10] (File: LM10)
===
NAME: Willie Reilly and His Dear Colleen Ban: see William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10] (File: LM10)
===
NAME: Willie Slain at Waterloo: see The Mantle So Green [Laws N38] (File: LN38)
===
NAME: Willie Taylor: see William Taylor [Laws N11] (File: LN11)
===
NAME: Willie the Weeper
DESCRIPTION: Willie the Weeper, a chimney sweep, is a hop addict. One night he has a particularly wild dream, with the (Queen of somewhere) making him promises. The further course of the ballad varies, but usually describes a crash
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: drugs dream
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
Randolph 507, "Willie the Weeper" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
PBB 115, "Willy the Weeper" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 204-205, "Willy the Weeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 184-185, "Willie the Weeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 223, "Willie the Weeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 103-106, "Willie the Weeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 123-125, "Willie the Weeper" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 26, "Willy the Weeper" (1 text)
DT, WILLWEP1 WILLWEP2
Roud #977
RECORDINGS:
Louis Armstrong, "Willie the Weeper" (Vocalion 3381, 1937)
Roy Evans, "Willie the Weeper" (Columbia 15687-D, 1931; rec. 1928)
Ernest Rogers, "Willie the Chimney Sweeper" (Columbia 15012-D, 1925) (Victor 20502, 1927)
Marc Williams, "Willie the Weeper" (Brunswick 240, 1928)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cocaine Lil" (tune)
File: R507
===
NAME: Willie Warfield [Laws I20]
DESCRIPTION: Willie Warfield, a heavy gambler who does not know when to quit, plays cards with the singer. The singer grows angry and shoots Warfield. He is imprisoned and his family will not help him, but his girlfriend pawns her jewels to raise his bail
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: gambling cards murder prison
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Laws I20, "Willie Warfield"
DT 844, WILWARF
Roud #6382
File: LI20
===
NAME: Willie Was As Fine a Sailor
DESCRIPTION: Willie and Mary plan marriage but his ship must "sail for a foreign land." If he proves false he prays her spirit haunt him until he dies. He is false. His captain writes Mary. She drowns herself and haunts him until a wave sweeps him overboard.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Hayward-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity curse suicide death sailor ghost
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Manny/Wilson 101, "Willie Was As Fine a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 82-84, "Now, Wullie was as Nice a Lad" (1 text)
ST MaWi101 (Partial)
Roud #2972
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Brown Robyn's Confession" [Child 57] (Jonah theme)
cf. "Captain Glen"/"The New York Trader" (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B) [Laws K22] (Jonah theme)
cf. "Willie Grahame" (Jonah theme)
cf. "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter (The Gosport Tragedy; Pretty Polly)" [Laws P36A/B]
NOTES: Manny/Wilson ends with the Jonah motif: "When an unknown wave swept o'er the deck, And swept him o'er the side ... The night grew calm and clear." cf. Jonah 1:15 "And they heaved Jonah overboard, and the sea stopped raging." - BS
File: MaWi101
===
NAME: Willie's Drowned at Gamerie: see Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215] (File: C215)
===
NAME: Willie's Fatal Visit [Child 255]
DESCRIPTION: Willie, having spent the night with Margaret, leaves before dawn because the cock crowed too soon. On the road he meets a ghost. Since he is a sinner and has not said a prayer for the road, the ghost tears him to shreds
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: sex separation ghost death bird nightvisit
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 255, "Willie's Fatal Visit" (1 text)
Bronson 255, "Willie's Fatal Visit" (2 versions)
Leach, pp. 623-625, "Willie's Fatal Visit" (1 text)
Roud #244
RECORDINGS:
Jeannie Robertson, "Willie's Fatal Visit (Willie's Fate)" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #2}
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" [Child 248] (plot)

NOTES: This sounds almost like an "alternate ending" for "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" [Child 248]. Hugh Shields conjectured that that was an "alba song" (see the entry on Child 248 for explanation). This, however, seems to me almost closer to the form Shields describes. - RBW
Also collected and sung by Ellen Mitchell, "Willy's Fatal Visit" (on Kevin and Ellen Mitchell, "Have a Drop Mair," Musical Tradition Records MTCD315-6 CD (2001)) - BS
File: C255
===
NAME: Willie's Ghost: see Willy O! (File: CrMa113)
===
NAME: Willie's Lady [Child 6]
DESCRIPTION: Willie travels to woo and wed a wife. His mother, not approving of the bride, casts spells to ensure that she will never bear a child. Willie tricks his mother into believing the baby has been born, and the mother blurts out the way to lift the spell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1783
KEYWORDS: magic mother wife pregnancy childbirth
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Child 6, "Willie's Lady" (1 text)
Bronson 6, "Willie's Lady" (1 version)
GreigDuncan2 346, "Simon's Lady" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 124-127, "Willie's Lady" (1 text, from print rather than tradition)
Leach, pp. 64-66, "Willie's Lady" (1 text)
OBB 6, "Willy's Lady" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 18, "Willie's Lady" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 252-255+356, "Willie's Lady" (1 text)
DBuchan 2, "Willie's Lady" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's [#1]}
DT 6, WILILADY
Roud #220
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Gil Brenton" [Child 5] (lyrics)
NOTES: At least one of the magic tricks described in this song is widespread in folklore: Pregnant women were supposed to remove all knots from their clothing to ease childbirth. - RBW
The Swedish ballad "Den Fortrollade Barnafoderskan (The Bewitched Mother-to-Be)" is essentially the same story, with variations in detail. - PJS
File: C006
===
NAME: Willie's Lyke-Wake [Child 25]
DESCRIPTION: Willie wants to know if his sweetheart loves him. On the advice of his (mother), he feigns death and  has his lover come to his wake. She despairs. Coming to the wake, she kisses the "corpse," which comes to life to accept her love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: love funeral trick
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord))
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 25, "Willie's Lyke-Wake" (5 texts)
Bronson 25, "Willie's Lyke-Wake" (4 versions)
Leach, pp. 110-111, "Willie's Lyke-Wake" (1 text)
OBB 61, "Willie's Lyke-Wake" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient1, p. 242, "Willie's Lyke-Wake" (1 fragment, two lines only, the second line of which is found in Child's "C" text of "Willie's Lyke-Wake," but a similar line is found in "The Beggar Wench," and the first line of this fragment, "Kind sir, if you please," may fit better with the latter)
DT 25, WILILYKE*
Roud #30
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Among the Blue Flowers and the Yellow
File: C025
===
NAME: Willie's on the Dark Blue Sea
DESCRIPTION: "My Willie's on the dark blue sea, He's gone far o'er the main." She prays that the winds will soon blow him home. A storm blows up; she prays more earnestly. At that moment Willie shows up and takes her in his arms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1849 (Journal from the Euphrasia)
KEYWORDS: sailor separation reunion
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 234-236, "Willie's on the Dark Blue Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 65, "Willie's On the Dark Blue Sea" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #2057
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1849 451530, "Willie's on the Dark Blue Sea," Oliver Ditson (Boston), 1849 (tune)
LOCSinging, as115070, "Willie's on the Dark Blue Sea," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also sb40576b, "Willie's on the Dark Blue Sea" 
NOTES: Broadside LOCSheet sm1849 451530 claims it is "Written and Composed by H.G. Thompson" but that may just refer to the arrangement.
Broadside LOCSinging as115070: 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: SWMS234
===
NAME: Willie's Rare: see Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215] (File: C215)
===
NAME: Willikins and His Dinah: see Vilikens and His Dinah [LawsM31A/B] (File: LM31)
===
NAME: Willow Garden: see Rose Connoley [Laws F6] (File: LF06)
===
NAME: Willow Green: see The Holly Twig [Laws Q6]; also The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin [Child 277] (File: LQ06)
===
NAME: Willow Tree (I), The
DESCRIPTION: Four farmers discover a man weeping by a grave. He tells that he had married Fanny just before he went to sea. She was told he had died, and married another. When he came home to see her, she died. He sits by her grave, and soon dies himself.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation marriage reunion death burial sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H789, pp. 419-420, "The Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7965
File: HHH789
===
NAME: Willow Tree (II), The: see Under the Willow She's Sleeping  (The Willow Tree) (File: R711)
===
NAME: Willow Tree (III), The: see Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme) and related songs (File: FSWB163)
===
NAME: Willow Tree, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer is a woman. Her love won't speak to her. She wishes his bosom were glass so she could "view those secrets of your heart." Her love is a sailor: "when he gets so far away, He hardly thinks no more of me" She would be happy to have him back.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (recording, May Bradley)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad sailor floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(West))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #60
RECORDINGS:
May Bradley, "The Willow Tree" (on Voice12)
NOTES: The Willow reference is not exactly the expected one.
As I pass by a willow tree, willow tree,
That willow leaf blew down on me.
I picked it up, it would not break.
I've passed my love; he would not speak.
The break is usually for an oak tree ("I leaned my back against an oak ... First it bent and then it broke") rather than a willow leaf. Maybe the travelled lines have been so corrupted here that it is a new song.
Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 10" - 4.9.02 considers this a version of "Tavern in the Town." I don't find enough of "Tavern"'s identifying lines to make that connection. - BS
There is some floating material here, though, e.g. the "heart made of glass" shows up in some versions of "My Dearest Dear." - RBW
File: RcTWilTr
===
NAME: Willy March
DESCRIPTION: Willy is stranded on the ice and can walk no further. He sends his companion, who is the only other survivor of their group, to the Cape St. Francis lighthouse for assistance but Willy dies before help can return.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (England, Vikings of the Ice)
KEYWORDS: recitation death disaster
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Doyle2, p. 80, "Willy March" (1 text)
Blondahl, p. 67, "Willie March" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ryan/Small, p. 107, "Willie March" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Doy80 (Partial)
Roud #7320
NOTES: Cape St. Francis is north of St. John's at the mouth of Conception Bay. - SH
File: Doy80
===
NAME: Willy O!
DESCRIPTION: Willy sails to the Bay of Biscay. Seven years later, he came to the girl's door. He says he is a ghost. The cock crows. He says his ghost will guard her. As he disappears he tells her "Weep no more for your Willy O"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan2); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.15(136))
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Seven years ago Willy went "on board the tender" and sailed to the Bay of Biscay. He does not answer Mary's letters. One night he comes to her bed-chamber door. She asks why he is so pale. He says the clay has changed his blushes. They discuss their old courtship. The cock crows. He says his ghost will guard her though his body lies in the West Indies. As he disappears he tells her "Weep no more for your Willy O"
KEYWORDS: ghost separation death nightvisit love bird
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
GreigDuncan2 338, "Willie O" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 113-114, "Willie O" (2 texts, 1 tune)
McBride 6, "The Bay of Biscay O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 3, pp. 5,100,155-156, "Willie's Ghost" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #179
RECORDINGS:
Bill Cassidy, "Biscayo" (on IRTravellers01)
Robert Cinnamond, "Ghost of Willie-O" (on IRRCinnamond02)
Nora Cleary, "Willie-O" (on Voice03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.15(136), "Willy O!" ("Come all you young maids that's fair handsome"), W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also Harding B 19(86), Firth c.12(293), "Willy O!"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)" (theme)
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian 2806 c.15(136) is the basis for the description.
Jim Carroll's notes to Bill Cassidy's "Biscayo" on "From Puck to Appleby: Songs of Irish Travellers in England," Musical Traditions Records MTCD325-6 (2003) say that Hugh Sheilds believes the main source of the "Willy O" broadside is "Sweet William's Ghost" (Child 77). I wonder if Sheilds meant that; except for the night-visiting ghost and the bird singing in Child 77.F or the moorcock announcing day in Paddy Tunney's "Lady Margaret" ("The Voice of the People, Vol 3: O'er His Grave the Grass Grew Green," Topic TSCD 653 (1998)), I don't find a connection. 
The broadside version of "Willy O!" has distinguishing lines that include
As Mary lay sleeping, her true love came creeping.... 
They spent that night in deep discoursing,
Concerning their courtship sometime ago....
John Reilly's "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" ("Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In") and Cecilia Costello's "The Grey Cock": Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 52-53, "The Grey Cock, or The Lover's Ghost" adds this verse from the broadside. 
O Willy dear where is the blushes,
That you had some time ago,
Mary dear the clay has changed them,
For I am the ghost of your Willy O.
Ewan MacColl's version of Cecilia Costello's "The Grey Cock" on Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Grey Cock" (on ENMacCollSeeger02) adds this verse from the broadside:
When she saw him disappearing,
Down her cheeks the tears did flow
Mary dear, sweetheart and darling
Weep no more for your Willy O. - BS
File: CrMa113
===
NAME: Willy Reilly: see William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10] (File: LM10)
===
NAME: Willy Reilly's Courtship: see William Riley's Courtship [Laws M9] (File: LM09)
===
NAME: Willy Vare
DESCRIPTION: Ellen Vare's sailor husband dies at sea. She has one son who becomes a sailor. His ship is wrecked in a storm. Willy survives alone on an island for three years. He is rescued by a ship seeking gold. He returns to his poor mother with gold and jewels
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: parting return reunion rescue sea ship disaster storm wreck mother sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 65, "Willy Vare" (1 text)
File: GrMa065
===
NAME: Willy Weaver: see Will the Weaver [Laws Q9] (File: LQ09)
===
NAME: Willy, Poor Boy
DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, utterly unconnected. "The train was almost started/The conductor come by with his lamp...." "I asked her if she loved me/She said she loved me some...." "Sometimes I live in the country, sometimes I live in town...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (recording, Roy Harvey & Jess Johnston)
KEYWORDS: railroading love hardheartedness loneliness poverty courting floatingverses lover train death drowning suicide gambling hobo
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 112, "Willy, Poor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Roy Harvey & Jess Johnston (or Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers) "No Room for a Tramp" (Champion 16187, 1931; on TimesAint05)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Willy, Poor Boy" (on NLCR03)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodnight, Irene" (words)
cf. "Sometimes I'm in This Country" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind" (floating verses)
cf. "Little Maud" (floating verses, some similarity in the tune)
NOTES: This song is almost impossible to describe; it is so disjointed as to be meaningless. - PJS
In fact it seems to consist entirely of lines borrowed from other songs. But it borrows from so MANY other songs that it has to file under its own name.... - RBW
Note that the "Sometimes I live in the country/Sometimes I live in town/Sometimes I take a fool notion/To jump in the river and drown" verse in this song predates the first recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene," with which the verse is usually associated, by two years. - PJS
File: CSW112
===
NAME: Willy, Willy
DESCRIPTION: "Where is my little one hiding tonight, Willy, Willy, Come from your hiding-place, little eyes bright, Willy, Willy, loving and true." "Ah, but my heart is forgetting its pain, Willy, Willy, Never on earth shall I see thee again, Willy, Willy...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: death separation hiding
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 713, "Willy, Willy" (1 text)
Roud #7378
NOTES: Randolph's source claims it came from the Civil War era, and there is certainly a hint of a song for a lost soldier boy. But it seems to me that there's also a bit of lullaby in there. I wish we knew more verses. - RBW
File: R713
===
NAME: Wilson Patent Stove, The
DESCRIPTION: "I remember very well, Jim, That Wilson Patent stove, That father bought and paid for, Jim, In the cloth that the girls wove. The people all wondered, Jim, When we got the thing to go, They swore it'd bust and kill us all Just fifty years ago."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Henry)
KEYWORDS: technology commerce
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 486, "The Wilson Patent Stove" (2 short texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #765
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Buy a Charter Oak" (theme)
NOTES: Randolph reports, "Many old settlers in Arkansas tell me that 'Wilson Patent' was the trade name of the first cookstoves sold here -- previously everybody cooked on the fireplace. Agents came through the county in wagons, trading stoves for handwoven counterpanes and carpets."
Roud lumps this with "Twenty Years Ago (Forty Years Ago)." It certainly has that look. But while it may be a loose fragment of that piece, given its current state, I think it better to separate the two. - RBW
File: R486
===
NAME: Wilson, Gilmore, and Johnson: see The Three Butchers [Laws L4] (File: LL04)
===
NAME: Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?
DESCRIPTION: "Hear the footsteps of Jesus, he is now passing by, Bearing balm for the wounded, healing all who apply...." "Wilt thou be made whole (x2)? O come, weary suff'rer, O come, sin-sick soul... Step into the current and thou shalt be whole."
AUTHOR: William J. Kirkpatrick
EARLIEST_DATE: 1882 copyright
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
FSCatskills 82, "Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FSC082
===
NAME: Wiltshire Wedding, The: see One Misty, Moisty Morning (File: OO2359)
===
NAME: Wily Auld Carle, The: see Marrowbones [Laws Q2] (File: LQ02)
===
NAME: Wim-Wam-Waddles: see The Swapping Boy (File: E093)
===
NAME: Winchester Gaol
DESCRIPTION: "There's a new county gaol in Winchester, Hants, Where the young prosecutor is going to provance." The prisoners are cold, their meals of bread and water are too small, and there is no liquor. "If you don't believe me... just you go a-poaching...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: prison punishment lawyer poaching food hardtimes
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 292-293, "Winchester Gaol" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1204
File: CoSB292
===
NAME: Wind and Rain, The: see The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)
===
NAME: Wind and the Snow, The
DESCRIPTION: "The wind and snow oer the cold world blow From the wild raging east to the west But noo I'm sitting snug at my warm chimney lug And I carena a fig for the blast"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan3 544, "The Wind and the Snow" (1 fragment)
Roud #6020
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 entry. - BS
File: GrD3544
===
NAME: Wind Blew the Bonnie Lass's Plaidie Awa', The
DESCRIPTION: Young woman goes to the butcher to buy beef, but he takes her in his arms, down they fall, and the wind blows her plaidie away. Three months later, her waist swells. The neighbors are upset; she blames the beef. (He marries her.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Young woman goes to the butcher to buy beef, but he takes her in his arms, down they fall, and the wind blows her plaidie away, not to be found. (He promises to pay for it.) Three months later, her waist swells; she says his beef is tough to chew. The neighbors are upset; she blames the beef. (He marries her, saying, "We shall hae the middle cut, it's tenderest of a'.")
KEYWORDS: sex clothes commerce lover food marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 75-76, "The Plaidie Away" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 96-97, "The Wind Blew the Bonnie Lass's Plaidie Awa'" (1 text)
Roud #2574
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy McBeath, Duncan Burke [instrumental], Jeannie Robertson [composite] "The Wind Blew the Bonny Lassie's Plaidie Awa'" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
Jimmy McBeath, "The Wind Blew the Lassie's Plaidie Awa'" (on Voice10)
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:029, "The Wind Blew the Plaidie Awa'," John Ross (Newcastle), 19C
NLScotland, RB.m.143(126), "The Bonnie Lassie's Plaidie," Poet's Box (Dundee), n.d.
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The White Cockade" (tune)
NOTES: It appears that several versions of this have been bowdlerized. The extent of the damage is not entirely clear. - RBW
File: RcWBTBLP
===
NAME: Wind Blew Up, the Wind Blew Down, The: see The Unquiet Grave [Child 78] (File: C078)
===
NAME: Wind Hath Blown My Plaid Away, The: see The Elfin Knight [Child 2] (File: C002)
===
NAME: Wind Is in the West, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the wind is in the west, And the guinea's on her nest, And I can't get any rest For my baby! I'll tell pap when he comes home Somebody beat my little baby!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: lullaby abuse baby
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 157 (partly repeated on p. 160), (no title) (1 short text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bookerman" (theme)
File: ScNF157A
===
NAME: Wind It Blew Up the Railroad Track, The: see The Little Red Train (File: EM224)
===
NAME: Wind That Shakes the Barley
DESCRIPTION: "I sat within the valley green, I sat me with my true love." The singer tries to decide between love of a girl and love of country. He is saying goodbye when an English bullet kills the girl. Now, filled with sad memories, he goes to fight the English
AUTHOR: Robert Dwyer Joyce (1830-1883) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1861 (Joyce's _Ballads, Romances and Songs_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion soldier death separation
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
PGalvin, pp. 98-99, "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 63, "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WINDBARL WINDCORN
Roud #2994
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (on IRClancyMakem03)
Sarah Makem, "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (on Voice08)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rolling Neuse" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Wind That Shakes the Corn
NOTES: The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Wind That Shakes the Barley" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
"The Wind That Shakes the Corn" appears to be a modern adaption of this rebel song, though I can't prove this. - RBW
File: PGa098
===
NAME: Wind That Shakes the Corn: see Wind That Shakes the Barley (File: PGa098)
===
NAME: Wind, The (Rain, Rain, the Wind Does Blow)
DESCRIPTION: "The wind, the wind, the wind blows high, The rain comes pouring from the sky." The girl says she will die if she doesn't get the boy she wants. The boys are fighting for her, but there is only one she will accept
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: courting playparty love
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
cf. Kinloch-BBook XIX, pp. 67-68, (no title) (1 text, a mishmash with some lines reminiscent of this)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 56, "Skipping" ("The wind and the wind and the wind blows high") (1 text)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 18, "I'll Tell My Ma" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST RcRRtWDB (Full)
Roud #2649
RECORDINGS:
Mrs Grant Covey, "Rain Rain the Wind Does Blow" (on NovaScotia1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I'll Tell My Ma" (lyrics)
NOTES: This item has a complicated story. The Clancy Brothers conflate this song with the "I"ll Tell My Ma" stanza. Roud lumps the two, and initial versions of the Index did as well. This is the more so as the versions are very unstable and localized -- e.g. Ben Schwartz describes the Nova Scotia version as follows: "'Rain rain the wind does blow ... Marie Richardson says she'll die If she don't get a fellow with a rolling eye.' She's from Halifax. 'All the boys are fighting for her ... Gordie Isnor will have her still.'"
Still, I've now seen enough versions which separate the two parts that I've split them. Best to check both, of course. - RBW
Hammond-Belfast and the Clancy Brothers version are almost the same song: one "I'll Tell My Ma" verse with the girl from Belfast City, and the rest of "The Wind(Rain, Rain, the Wind Does Blow)." 
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "I'll Tell My Ma" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)) Sean O Boyle, notes to David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland": .".. the polka rhythm is the basis of the tune which indicates that the song originated in the mid-nineteenth century."
NovaScotia1 notes: "Singing game ... the players formed up in couples and went around in a ring. A boy chose a girl, then the girl chose a boy and so on until they were all taken" - BS
Similarly the Scottish version in Montgomerie appears to be a skipping game. - RBW
File: RcRRtWDB
===
NAME: Winding Sheet Coffin, The
DESCRIPTION: "How swiftly the years of our pilgrimage fly, As weeks, months, and seasons roll silently by...." We are reminded that "The good rise to Heaven, but the bad sink to Hell." The singers wash their hands of sinners' blood and happily meet Christians
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Hell
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 658, "The Winding Sheet Coffin" (1 text)
Roud #7581
File: R658
===
NAME: Windsor
DESCRIPTION: Shape note hymn: "My God, how many are my fears, How fast my foes increase! Their number how it multiplies! How fatal to my peace."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1808 (Missouri Harmony)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 153, "Windsor" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: San153
===
NAME: Windstorm and Rain
DESCRIPTION: "In the last day of September, in the year nineteen nine, God almighty rose in the weather And that troubles everybody's mind." The song the storm, concluding, "God, he is in the windstorm and rain And everybody ought to mind."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: storm religious
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Courlander-NFM, p. 76, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: Reportedly based on a storm which struck Terrebone Parish in Louisiana in 1909. - RBW
File: CNFM076A
===
NAME: Windy Bill (I)
DESCRIPTION: "When Joshua camped at pore Jericho's town, He blew his horn till the walls tumbled down... I blow my own horn... That's why they call me Windy Bill." Assorted tall tales, many Biblical, and often offered as explanations for the name "Windy Bill"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: talltale humorous religious Bible
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 430, "Windy Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7611
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Walkin' in the Parlor" (theme)
NOTES: Among the Biblical incidents related in this story are:
* Jericho destroyed by Joshua: Josh. 6:15-21 (the preliminaries occupy Josh. 2 and the rest of Josh. 6)
* "David went round with a stone and a sling, And he beaned old Goliath and later was king, He ran with the wild bunch while Saul was alive" (David and Goliath: 1 Samuel 17; David's anointing: 1 Samuel 16; David flees into the Wilderness: 1 Sam. 19:10 to the end of the book, with preliminaries beginning in 18:9)
* "Esau was a farmer of the wild wooly kind, That could not stand work and being confined, He did not think titles to his land was quite clear, So he traded his farm for a sandwich and beer" (Esau the"hairy man": Gen. 27:11f.; Esau sells his birthright for a meal of bread and lentil stew: Gen. 25:29f.)
* "Sampson, that big boy, wore his hair long, Till he met with a jane and she got him in wrong, He slung a wicked jawbone, I do the same, That's how I got Windy Bill for a name" (Samson, his hair, and Delilah: Judges 16:4f.; Samson and the jawbone: Judges 15:14f.) - RBW
File: R430
===
NAME: Windy Bill (II)
DESCRIPTION: Windy Bill is convinced he can handle any steer. He and his mates place a wager on the matter, and they give him the worst bull available. Bill's rope technique is imperfect; he is thrown onto a rock pile. He pays up. Listeners are warned against bragging
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908 (Thorp)
KEYWORDS: cowboy gambling contest
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Thorp/Fife II, pp. 38-43 (11-12), "Windy Bill" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Fife-Cowboy/West 75, "Windy Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Larkin, pp. 68-71, "Windy Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 5, "Windy Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 18, pp. 123-126, "The Old Black Steer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WINDYBLL*
ADDITIONAL: Hal Cannon, editor, _Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering_, Giles M. Smith, 1985, pp. 26-27, "Windy Bill" (1 text)
Roud #4044
RECORDINGS:
J. D. Farley, "Bill Was a Texas Lad" (Victor V-40269, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4300, 1933;  rec. 1929; on AuthCowboys, WhenIWas1)
Harry Jackson, "Windy Bill" (on HJackson1)
Powder River Jack Lee, "The Old Black Steer" (probably Bluebird B-5298, 1934; on MakeMe)
NOTES: This song is item dB41 in Laws's Appendix II. It has been claimed by Ray Reed, and credited to George B. German. I know of no supporting evidence for the former claim, and the latter appears to refer instead to "Windy Bill's Famous Ride." Thorp claimed in 1921 to have heard the song in 1899, but the claim is not found in his 1908 edition.
Logsdon notes that there are distinct roping styles in Texas and California, and the difference accounts for the Windy Bill's result in the song. Logsdon quotes, seemingly with some approval, Ohrlin's suggestion that the song originated in Arizona where the two roping styles overlapped. - RBW
File: TF02
===
NAME: Windy Bill's Famous Ride
DESCRIPTION: A stranger comes up to Windy Bill. Bill boasts of his riding skill, and the stranger challenges him to come ride a difficult horse They take a long, wild ride in a car. When Bill asks where the horse is, the stranger tells him they just won a car contest
AUTHOR: George B. German
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929
KEYWORDS: cowboy technology trick travel recitation
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 70, "Windy Bill's Famous Ride" (1 text)
File: Ohr070
===
NAME: Windy Old Weather
DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "In this windy old weather, Stormy Old weather, When the wind blows We'll all pull together." Various fish jump from the sea and exhort the crew, e.g. "Up jumps the herring, the king of the sea, He laps on the foredeck and says, Helm's-alee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1950s (recording, Bob Roberts)
KEYWORDS: ship fishing nonballad storm shanty
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South, West)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 204-205, "Stormy Ol' Weather" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 232-233,"Stormy Weather Boys" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 112, "Stormy Weather" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WINDYWEA* (with a first verse from "Yea Ho, Little Fish" or the like) WINDYWE2*
Roud #472
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brown, "Windy Old Weather" (on Voice12)
Sam Larner, "Haisboro Light Song" (on SLarner01); "Windy Old Weather" (on SLarner02)
Bob Roberts, "Windy Old Weather" (on LastDays, FieldTrip1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Stormy Weather Boys" (tune & metre)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Boston Come-All-Ye
NOTES: I do not know that the two Larner recordings are in fact different -- these two compilations drew from the same collection of field tapes -- but as the titles are given as different I thought it prudent to separate them. - PJS
File: CoSB204
===
NAME: Wing Wang Waddle: see The Swapping Boy (File: E093)
===
NAME: Winnipeg Whore, The
DESCRIPTION: On the narrator's first trip to Canada, he visits the eponymous lady, and while having sex with her, has his watch and wallet stolen. (When he objects, he is thrown out.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (collected from Norman MacIvor by Walton)
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous sex theft whore
FOUND_IN: Australia US(Ap,SW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Cray, pp. 202-204, "The Winnipeg Whore" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 278-279, "The Winnipeg Whore" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 114-115, "The Buffalo Whote" (1 text)
DT, WINNIPG*
Roud #8348
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Gold Watch" [Laws K41] (plot) and references there
cf. "Reuben and Rachel" (tune) and references there
NOTES: The Walton text "The Buffalo Whore" is probably a deliberate rewrite, and could perhaps be considered a separate song -- but with only one text apparently known, it is probably not worth splitting off.
The change from a "Winnipeg Whore" to a "Buffalo Whore" is interesting, because Buffalo in sailing days had a rather wild reputation. It was the last possible port of call for Great Lakes boats too large to pass through the Welland Canal, so more sailors stopped there than any other port on the Lakes -- with predictable effect on the population of prostitutes and others who catered to sailors away from home.
I do note with interest that the American versions talk about a Winnipeg whore, while the Buffalo Whore version comes from Canada. It's almost as if the most interesting prostitutes lie over the border. - RBW
File: EM202
===
NAME: Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
DESCRIPTION: "Old Man Sargent, sitting at the desk, The damned old fool won't give us no rest. He'd take the nickels off a dead man's eyes...." The singer describes the bad conditions in the mills, and instructs listeners not to bury his body when he dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (collected by William Wolff at the School for Southern Women Workers, according to Doug deNatale and Glenn Hinson, in their article, "The Southern Textile Song Tradition Reconsidered," published in Archie Green, editor, _Songs about Work: Essays in Occupational Culture for Richard A. Reuss_, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1993, p. 88)
KEYWORDS: weaving factory technology work hardtimes death burial
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenway-AFP, p. 144, "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 371, "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 126, "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" (1 text)
DT, WNNSBORO*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" (on PeteSeeger13)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Hard Times in the Mill (I)" (floating verses)
File: Grnw144
===
NAME: Wint'ry Evening, A: see The Fatal Snowstorm [Laws P20] (File: LP20)
===
NAME: Winter Desires
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of the desires of loggers after the winter camp is broken up. They want good food (and lambast the camp cook), liquor, and new clothes. When they've run out of cash and the parties are over, they'll head back to the woods
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger food drink cook
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 34, "Winter Desires" (1 text)
Roud #8853
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme) and references there
NOTES: From Beck: "Though all of the songs about the logger's desires are not accepted by the mails, this one...is respectable." - PJS
File: Be034
===
NAME: Winter of '73, The (McCullam Camp)
DESCRIPTION: In 1873, the singer takes a job at Snowball's mill in Miramichi. A few weeks later, the mill closes, and he sets out for Indiantown. He meets some portagers, who bring him to McCullam's camp, where he has many adventures too complex to describe here
AUTHOR: Larry Gorman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1949
KEYWORDS: logger work unemployment
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1873 - Larry Gorman left home for Miramichi
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 214-215, "The Winter of '73 (McCullam Camp)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 36-39, "The Winter of Seventy-Three" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 49, "The Winter of '73 (McCullam Camp)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WINTER73
Roud #1942
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" and references there
File: Doe214
===
NAME: Winter of Seventy-Three, The: see The Winter of '73 (McCullam Camp) (File: Doe214)
===
NAME: Winter on Renous, A
DESCRIPTION:  October 9, 1904, "rovin' Joe" leaves Indiantown for lumbering with the sons of Morgan Hayes. "They had no mercy on a man But to work him day and night." He tries other crews but returns to Hayes. "I spent a winter on Renous And now I love their ways"
AUTHOR: Joe Smith, "a Miramichi man who liked to call himself 'the rovin' Joe'" (Manny/Wilson)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1961 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: lumbering ordeal humorous moniker horse
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Manny/Wilson 48, "A Winter on Renous" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi048 (Partial)
Roud #9180
File: MaWi048
===
NAME: Winter, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh the winter, oh the winter, oh the winter'll soon be over, children (x3), Yes my Lord." "'Tis Paul and Silas bound in chains." "You bend your knee on holy ground and ask the Lord to turn you around." "I has my trials here below."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 78, "The Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12039
File: AWG078
===
NAME: Winter's Gone and Past: see The Curragh of Kildare (File: DTcurrki)
===
NAME: Winter's Night: see My Dearest Dear AND 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: SKE40)
===
NAME: Wintry Winds, The: see The Fatal Snowstorm [Laws P20] (File: LP20)
===
NAME: Wisconsin Emigrant, The: see The Rolling Stone [Laws B25] (File: LB25)
===
NAME: Wise County Jail, The: see The Cryderville Jail (File: LxU090)
===
NAME: Wish I Had a Needle and Thread: see Going Across the Sea (File: RcItaly)
===
NAME: Wish I'd Stayed in the Wagon Yard
DESCRIPTION: Singer comes to town with his cotton. Carousers take him drinking but leave him the bill. He sees them by the missionary hall singing "Jesus Paid it All." He warns against such men -- "don't monkey with them city ducks, you'll find them slick as lard"
AUTHOR: Probably Arthur Hugh Tanner
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Peg Moreland)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, a country man, comes to town with a wagon-load of cotton, falls in with some carousers who take him drinking but leave him with the bill. As he walks down the street, he sees them by the missionary hall singing "Jesus Paid it All." He wishes he'd bought half a pint and stayed in the wagon yard, and warns others to do the same -- "don't monkey with them city ducks, you'll find them slick as lard"
KEYWORDS: warning betrayal drink humorous
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 21, #1 (1971), p, 19, "WIsh I Had Stayed in the Wagonyard" (1 text, 1 tune, the Lowe Stokes version, which they suspect is the original)
Roud #16279
RECORDINGS:
Lew Childre, "Wagon Yard" (Champion 16011, 1930) (Melotone 6-10-52, 1936)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Buy a Half Pint and Stay in the Wagon Yard" (OKeh 45528, 1931; rec. 1930)
Grandpa Jones, "Stay in the Wagon Yard" (King 912, 1950)
Peg Moreland, "Stay in the Wagon Yard" (Victor V-40008, 1929)
Lowe Stokes & his North Georgians, "Wish I Had Stayed in the Wagon Yard"  (Columbia 15557-D, 1930; rec. 1929)
Gordon Tanner, Smokey Joe Miller & Uncle John Patterson, "I Wish I'd Bought a Half a Pint and Stayed in the Wagon Yard" (on DownYonder)
NOTES: This seems to have been quite popular among early string bands, judging by recordings, but it doesn't seem to have made its way into folklore collections.
The tune for this song was also used by Byrd Moore & his Hot Shots for their version of "Three Jolly Huntsmen". - PJS
The Sing Out! notes compare the Stokes tune to "The Preacher and the Bear," - RBW
File: RcWISIWY
===
NAME: With All My Heart: see The King Takes the Queen (File: FSWB232)
===
NAME: With Her Dog and Gun: see The Golden Glove (Dog and Gun) [Laws N20] (File: LN20)
===
NAME: With Me Pit Boots On: see The Courting Coat (File: RcWMPBO)
===
NAME: With My Dog and Gun: see Where the Moorcocks Grow (The Mountain Stream; With My Dog and Gun) (File: K136)
===
NAME: With My Swag All on My Shoulder: see True-Born Irish Man (With My Swag All on My Shoulder; The True-Born Native Man) (File: MA062)
===
NAME: Witness
DESCRIPTION: Worksong: "Can I get a witness? Come and be a witness. Be a sanctified witness. Be a Holy Ghost witness. Jack o'Diamonds was a witness. Daniel was a witness" etc. The refrain "for my lord" can be added after each line; other Bible stories may be mentioned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Paul Robeson)
KEYWORDS: Bible nonballad religious worksong
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 176-184, "I Need Another Witness" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
RECORDINGS:
Paul Robeson, "Witness" (Victor 21109, 1927)
Texas state farm prisoners, "We Need Another Witness" (on NPCWork)
File: RcWtnss1
===
NAME: Wizard Oil (I)
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I love to travel far and near throughout my native land, I love to sell as I go 'long, and take the cash in hand...." The singer describes how in each town he visits they come up to him and declare "I'll take another bottle of Wizard Oil"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: commerce lie money
FOUND_IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp. 52-54, "Wizard Oil" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7592
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wizard Oil (II)"
NOTES: Sandburg's notes imply this piece may be by Harry E. Randall, but the matter is not clarified.
It probably was true that, in every town the salesman visited, he received testimonials to his product. Chances are, however, that he hired people to offer them.
Unlike Wizard Oil (II), this does not appear to be entirely a sales pitch. But it's close enough.... - RBW
File: San052
===
NAME: Wizard Oil (II)
DESCRIPTION: "I have written a song, so give me your attention, And I'll tell you what Wizard's Oil will and won't cure." The product proves capable of dealing with almost anything painful, "And a dollar a bottle is all it does cost."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: medicine disease trick commerce
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 506, "Wizard Oil" (1 text)
Roud #7592
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wizard Oil (I)"
NOTES: In the _Hamlin's Wizard Oil Songbook_ (1890s?), this is credited to "J. D Laurens, Comic Vocalist, expressly for Hamlin's Wizard Oil Company No. 7."
Based on the list of illnesses "cured," one suspects that Wizard's Oil was probably almost-pure alcohol, and that it worked simply by dulling the pain. - RBW
File: R506
===
NAME: Wo, Stormalong: see Stormalong (File: Doe082)
===
NAME: Woe Be Unto You
DESCRIPTION: "Woe be unto you (x2), You may throw yo' rocks an' hide yo' hands.... " "Well, it's woe be unto you (x2), You may dip yo' snuff an' hide yo' box..." "...You may dig yo' grave an' hide yo' spade, but it's woe be unto you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: nonballad sin
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 604-605, "Woe Be Unto You."
Roud #15558
NOTES: The Lomaxes call this a spiritual. I really don't see why. It looks more like a curse against hypocrites. - RBW
File: LxA604
===
NAME: Woke Up This Morning With My Mind on Freedom
DESCRIPTION: "Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom (x3), Hallelu (x4), Hallelujah." "Ain't no harm to keep your mind stayed on freedom." "Walkin' and talkin' with my mind stayed on freedom."  The singer does all things with a mind to freedom
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: freedom nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Silber-FSWB, p. 300, "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind on Freedom" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind on Jesus" (tune, lyrics, structure)
NOTES:  This song is clearly derived from the spiritual "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind on Jesus." - PJS
File: FSWB300A
===
NAME: Woke Up This Morning With My Mind on Jesus
DESCRIPTION: "I woke up this morning with my mind standing on Jesus (x3)/Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah" "I'm walkin' and talkin' with my mind..." "I woke up singing..." "I'm sayin' my prayers..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (recording, Roosevelt Graves & brother)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious Jesus
FOUND_IN: US(SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Roosevelt Graves & brother [Aaron or Uaroy Graves], "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind on Jesus)" (Perfect 6-11-74, 1936; on Babylon)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind on Freedom" (tune, lyrics, structure)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed on Jesus
Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Set on Jesus
NOTES: The freedom song "Woke Up This Morning With My Mind on Freedom" is obviously derived from this song. - PJS
File: RcWUTMWM
===
NAME: Woman Blue: see I Know You Rider (File: LxA196)
===
NAME: Woman from Dover: see Marrowbones [Laws Q2] (File: LQ02)
===
NAME: Woman from Yorkshire: see Marrowbones [Laws Q2] (File: LQ02)
===
NAME: Woman of Three Cows, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is poor. He tells the "Woman of Three Cows" that she is too proud and scornful of those less wealthy than herself. He recounts the Irish heroes who have met misfortune or death. She cannot measure up to them.
AUTHOR: English version by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (Duffy)
KEYWORDS: pride vanity nonballad animal poverty
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
OLochlainn-More 64, "The Woman of Three Cows" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 120, "The Woman of Three Cows" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 56-59, "The Woman of Three Cows"
Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol II, pp. 277-278, "The Woman of Three Cows"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 163-164, "The Woman of Three Cows" (1 text)
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 460-462, 504, "The Woman of Three Cows"
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 51-53, "The Woman of Three Cows"  (1 text)
Thomas Kinsella, _The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1989), pp. 273-275, "The Woman of Three Cows" (1 text)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "In this translation [James Clarence] Mangan [1803-1849] has bettered the original anonymous Gaelic verses 'Go reidh, a bhean na dtri mbo.'"
Duffy and Sparling quote Mangan: "This ballad, which is of a homely cast, was intended as a rebuke to the saucy pride of a woman in humble life, who assumed airs of consequence from being the possessor of three cows. Its author's name is unknown, but its age can be determined, from the language, as belonging in the early part of the seventeenth century. That it was formerly very popular in Munster, may be concluded from the fact that the phrase, Easy, oh, woman of the three cows! has become a saying in that province, on any occasion upon which it is desirable to lower the pretensions of a boastful or consequential person." - BS
The Gaelic original is said to be in Middle Irish, so it is fairly old. It will be seen that the translation is quite popular -- one of the most popular translated poems I've seen. - RBW
File: OLcM064
===
NAME: Woman the Joy and the Pride of the Land
DESCRIPTION: "Come married and single, together pray mingle, And listen awhile to these lines I relate; You that single have tarried, make haste and get married... For woman's the joy and the pride of the land." The theme is repeated in every verse
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield); 19C (broadside, Murray Mu23-y1:011)
KEYWORDS: 
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 185, "Women's the Joy and the Pride of the Land" (1 text)
Roud #4393
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:011, "Woman the Joy and Pride of the Land," J.Bristow (Glasgow), 19C; also Mu23-y1:045, "Woman the Pride of the Land," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "There's Nothing Can Equal A Good Woman Still" (theme, some words)
File: GrMa185
===
NAME: Woman the Pride of the Land: see Woman The Joy and the Pride of the Land (File: GrMa185)
===
NAME: Woman Trouble
DESCRIPTION: "She left me this morning, never said a word." The singer tells of hard work, comes close to despair, describes his venereal disease, is told he can't be cured, talks of those who tried to escape, 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (recorded from J. B. Smith by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes work disease floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 160-162, "Woman Trouble" (1 text)
NOTES: Like so may of J. B. Smith's songs, this one is extremely problematic. Some of it appears to float, but some appears to be his own composition. But a stanza refers to a venereal disease, which Jackson believes to be gonorrhea (and the symptoms fit) -- yet the song says there is no cure. In 1965? Is this an old fragment? But what about the context? Nor is the tune any help, since it was not transcribed. - RBW
File: JDM160
===
NAME: Woman, Woman, I See Yo' Man: see I Was Born on the River (File: MWHee033)
===
NAME: Woman's Rights
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of how her husband is agitated about the issue of women's rights, spending hours discussing it. He is afraid that, if women vote, men will never hold office again. He claims voting is not part of her nature. She intends to enjoy the right
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: husband wife political humorous
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Randolph 503, "Woman's Rights" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 376-378, "Woman's Rights" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 503A)
DT, WOMENRTS
Roud #7589
File: R503
===
NAME: Women Are Worse Than the Men, The: see The Farmer's Curst Wife [Child 278] (File: C278)
===
NAME: Won't You Go My Way
DESCRIPTION: Hauling shanty. Refrain: "Won't you/ye/yiz go my way?" Verses describe either consorting with a prostitute and now being glad to be married, or describe courting in general.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor whore courting
FOUND_IN: West Indies Britain
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Hugill, p. 505, "Won't Ye Go My Way" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 373]
Sharp-EFC, LVI, p. 61 "Won't You Go My Way" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8289
File: Hugi505
===
NAME: Won't You Leave Us a Lock of Your Hair
DESCRIPTION: Dermot speaks to Nora from the window at night. She will not marry him because her parents oppose him. She would be ruined if he's found at her window. A hand clutches his head and a voice says, as he runs, "Won't you leave us a lock of your hair?"
AUTHOR: J.J. Waller (? John Francis Waller 1809-?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865 (broadside, Murray Mu23-y1:139)
KEYWORDS: courting humorous nightvisit father
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
O'Conor, pp. 103-104, "Won't You Leave Us a Lock of Your Hair" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.27(19), "Won't You Leave Us a Lock of Your Hair", unknown, n.d.
Murray, Mu23-y1:139, "Won't You Leave Us a Lock of Your Hair", Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1865
NOTES: According to broadside Murray Mu23-y1:139, the tune of this is "The Low Back'd Car." It's not clear which song of that name is meant.
File: OCon103
===
NAME: Wonder Where Is My Brother Gone?
DESCRIPTION: "Wonder where is my brother gone? Wonder where is my brother John? He is gone to the wilderness, Ain't comin' no more. Wonder where will I lie down? (x2) In some lonesome place, Lord, down on the ground."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Courlander-NFM, p. 61, (no title) (partial text); p. 228, "Wonder Where Is My Brother Gone?" (1 tune, partial text)
Fuson, p. 150, "I Wonder Where My Father Be" (1 text)
Roud #10969
RECORDINGS:
Annie Grace Horn Dodson, "Wonder Where My Brother Gone" (on NFMAla2)
NOTES: Courlander's text (which is the basis for the description above) clearly refers to John the Baptist: "John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance..." (Mark 1:4; compare Matt. 3:1, Luke 3:2).
Fuson's text is much more secular: "I wonder where my father be, That he hain't been here with me. He's buried in some distant land And he won't be here with me. To sleep, to sleep, that lonesome sweet sleep, He is laid in his grave to sleep," and similarly with mother, brother, sisters, etc.
It may be that these are two separate songs, but neither seems sufficiently attested to make it worth splitting them. - RBW
File: CNFM061B
===
NAME: Wonderful Crocodile, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer, shipwrecked at (La Perouse), encounters the crocodile. He describes its immensity: Five hundred miles long, etc. Blown into its mouth, he lives well on the other things lost inside. At last the beast dies; the singer spends six months escaping
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(4288))
KEYWORDS: animal talltale monster sailor
FOUND_IN: Australia Ireland US(MW,NE) Britain(England(South,Lond)) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 134-135, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 157-159, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 196, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H231a, p. 28, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 292, "The Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 168-170, "The Rummy Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 230-232, "Crocodile Song" (1 text, probably this, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 60, "Crocodile Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 498-500, "The Wonderful Crocodile" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WONDCROC
Roud #886
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4288), "The Wonderful Crocodile," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also 2806 c.16*(150), Harding B 11(1317), Harding B 11(1141), Harding B 11(4289), Harding B 11(4290), Firth c.12(412), "[The] Wonderful Crocodile
NLScotland, RB.m.143(134), "The Crocodile," Poet's Box (unknown), c.1890 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
cf. "The Grey Goose" (theme)
SAME_TUNE:
End for End Jack (per broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(134))
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Rummy Crocodile
NOTES: The similarity to "The Derby Ram" should be obvious. It is also noteworthy that most versions show very little variation; one must suspect a broadside ancestor somewhere. - RBW
File: MA134
===
NAME: Wonderful Grey Horse, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer's horse "was rode in the Garden by Adam the day that he fell"; that turned him grey. The horse has been with Noah, ..., Brien the brave, Sarsfield at Limerick, and Daniel O'Connell. He is ready to run for a rider that will shake off Erin's yoke.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: first half 19C (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland patriotic talltale horse
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1014 - Battle of Clontarf and death of Brian Boru
July 12, 1691 - Battle of Aughrim
1775-1847 - Life of Daniel O'Connell
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Zimmermann 44A, "The Grey Horse" (1 text)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 158, "The White Steed" (1 text)
Roud #13451
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.169(243), "The Wonderful Grey Horse," unknown, c.1840
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Gray Mare (I) (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull)" (theme)
cf. "Bean an Fhir Rua" (tune, according to Tunney-StoneFiddle)
NOTES: "Brien the Brave" is of course Brian Boru, winner of the Battle of Clontarf in 1814, for whom see "Remember the Glories of Brian the Brave."
Sarsfield is Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan (died 1693), the last of the great commanders who fought for James II; for his history, see "After Aughrim's Great Disaster."
Daniel O'Connell was the Irish hero who fought for emancipation, Repeal (of the Union between Britain and Ireland), and the place of the Irish in parliament; he is mentioned in dozens of songs; for more on him, see the cross-references under "Daniel O'Connell (I)." - RBW
File: Zimm044A
===
NAME: Wonderful Watford
DESCRIPTION: "Wonderful, wonderful Watford, Where the Little Missouri flows, We're proud of all our Norwegians And all that makes it so. You can ride o'er the plains and the coulees... And still be in wonderful Watford, The most wonderful place that I know."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ohrlin-HBT 11, "Wonderful Watford" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Beautiful Texas" (tune)
NOTES: I strongly suspect that the author of this piece never set foot outside North Dakota!
The Little Missouri is a tributary of the Missouri River, which is by no means little in North Dakota. - RBW
File: Ohr011
===
NAME: Wondrous Love
DESCRIPTION: "What wondrous love is this... that caused the lord of bliss To bear the dreadful curse for my soul." The singer has been saved from the burden of sin by Christ's sacrifice; therefore he/she praises God and the Lamb
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1868
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad reprieve
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Lomax-FSUSA 98, "Wondrous Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 153-154, "[Wondrous Love]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 160-161, "Wondrous Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 261, "Wondrous Love" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 350, "Wondrous Love" (1 text)
DT, WONDLOVE
Roud #5089
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "Wondrous Love" (on Barker01)
Fisk Jubilee Singers, "When I Was Singin' Down" (on Fisk01)
Ganus Brothers Quartet, "Wondrous Love" (Columbia 15331-D, 1928)
Georgia Sacred Harp Quartette, "Wondrous Love" (OKeh 40195, 1924)
Old Harp Singers of Eastern Tennessee, "Wondrous Love" (on OldHarp01)
Pete Seeger, "Wondrous Love" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Through All the World Below" (tune & meter)
cf. "Dear Companion (The Broken Heart; Go and Leave Me If You Wish To, Fond Affection)" (tune)
NOTES: This is that oddest of oddities: A song that files under *its own name* in the Sacred Harp! - RBW
File: LxU098
===
NAME: Wood Hauler, The: see The Backwoodsman (The Green Mountain Boys) [Laws C19] (File: LC19)
===
NAME: Wood Scow Julie Plante, The: see The Wreck of the Julie Plante (File: FJ174)
===
NAME: Woodchopper's Song
DESCRIPTION: "Ole Mister Oak, yo' day done come, Zim-zam-zip-zoo, Gwine chop you down an cahy you home! Bim-bam-biff-boom!" "Buhds in de branches fin' anodder nes'!... Ole Mister Oak Tree, He gwine to his res'!" Woodsman and axe go about their job 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: worksong nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 214-215, "Woodchopper's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: ScNF214B
===
NAME: Woodman, Spare That Tree
DESCRIPTION: "Woodman, spare that tree, Touch not a single bough, In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now." The singer relates how his grandfather planted it and how his family delighted in it. "While I've a hand to save, Thy axe shall harm it not."
AUTHOR: Words: George Perkins Morris / Music: Henry Russell
EARLIEST_DATE: 1837
KEYWORDS: family home request reprieve
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 246-252, "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 23-26, "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (1 text, 1 tune, plus the parody "Barber, Spare Those Hairs")
Silber-FSWB, p. 253, "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (1 text)
Roud #13833
RECORDINGS:
Jack Mahoney, "Woodman Spare That Tree" (Columbia 15712-D, 1932; rec. 1931)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(503), "Woodman Spare That Tree," G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also Harding B 11(1186), Firth b.25(540), Harding B 11(4316), Harding B 11(4315), Harding B 11(4314), Harding B 45(23) View 2 of 3, Harding B 15(392a), Firth b.25(68), Harding B 11(64), Firth b.26(361), Firth b.28(36) View 2 of 2, Johnson Ballads 342, Harding B 11(4313), Harding B 15(391b), "Woodman Spare That Tree"; Firth b.25(600/601) View 1 of 2, "Woodman Spare The Tree"
LOCSheet, sm1840 371290, "Woodman! Spare That Tree!," Firth and Hall (New York), 1840 (tune)
LOCSinging, as115220, "Woodman, Spare That Tree," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as204080, "Woodman, Spare That Tree"
NOTES: The original sheet music of this piece contains a letter from Morris to Russell describing how the words came to be written. Apparently the piece is biographical; Morris was with a friend when said friend saw a tree on his childhood home being threatened. A payment of $10 ensured the tree's continued existence.
In later years Russell claimed that he was the friend and that the tree grew on Morris's home. However, Russell was rather given to exaggeration; if we are to believe anyone, we should probably believe Morris. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as115220: 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.
The dating for broadside Bodleian Firth b.26(503), before 1835, is at best questionable. Here is a quote from the Lesley Nelson-Burns site Folk Music of England Scotland Ireland, Wales & America collection: "The words to this song are a poem written by George Pope Morris in 1830. The music was written by Henry Russell. The song was published in 1837.... " - BS
File: RJ19246
===
NAME: Woodpecker's Hole, The
DESCRIPTION: The narrator sticks his finger in the woodpecker's hole in this quatrain ballad that hints of a story otherwise left untold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919
KEYWORDS: bawdy scatological bird humorous
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England) US(MW,NE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cray, pp. 226-228, "The Woodpecker's Hole" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #10134
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Dixie" (tune) and references there
cf. "Little Brown Jug" (tune)
File: EM226
===
NAME: Woods of Drumbo, The: see Drumboe Castle (File: PGa100)
===
NAME: Woods of Michigan, The: see Harry Dunn (The Hanging Limb) [Laws C14] (File: LC14)
===
NAME: Woods of Mountsandel, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, there's no play so sweet, you may search where you can, As the dear little town on the banks of the Bann." The singer recalls the happy times he courted Kathleen around Mountsandel. Summer is gone, and they are old, but they still love each other
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting age
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H6=H567, p. 275, ""The Woods of Mountsandel (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7970
File: HHH006
===
NAME: Woods of Rickarton, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye jolly ploughmen lads... The praises of your bonnie glen I would be fain to sing." The singer praises the woods of Rickarton, the streams, the men -- and especially the girls (while having harsh words for a wealthy but vicious woman)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1889 (GreigDuncan3 417C)
KEYWORDS: farming work courting money rejection
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan3 417, "The Woods of Rickarton" (2 texts, 4 tunes)
Ord, p. 251, "The Woods of Rickarton" (1 text)
Roud #5574
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Riccarton
Whistlin' at the Ploo
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Rickarton (417) is at coordinate (h9,v8) on that map [near Stonehaven, roughly 13 miles WSW of Aberdeen]. - BS
File: Ord252
===
NAME: Woodsmen's Alphabet, The: see The Logger's Alphabet (File: Doe207)
===
NAME: Woodville Mound: see Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)
===
NAME: Wooing (I), The: see The Courting Case (File: R361)
===
NAME: Wooing (II), The: see Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) AND The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: E098)
===
NAME: Woolloomooloo
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes his shady life since his  birth in Woolloomooloo. His father is a drunkard, and his parents fight so often that "Half the time they used to spend in jail." The singer eventually turns to robbery, and ends up in prison himself.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: family children crime prison Australia
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 194-195, "Woolloomooloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WOOLOO
NOTES: Woolloomooloo is an inner suburb of Sydney; at one time it had a rather bad reputation. - RBW
File: FaE194
===
NAME: Work of the Weavers, The
DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "If it wasna for the weavers, what wad ye do?... Ye wadna hae a coat o the black or the blue Gin it wasna for the work o the weavers." The verses describe those who insult weavers, and how -- despite this -- they depend on the weavers
AUTHOR: David Shaw
EARLIEST_DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: weaving work
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 200-202, "The Wark o' the Weavers" (1 text)
Ord, p. 391, "The Wark o' the Weavers" (1 text)
MacColl-Shuttle, pp. 10-11, "The Wark o' the Weavers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 127, "The Work of the Weavers" (1 text)
DT, WORKWEAV
Roud #374
RECORDINGS:
Liam Clancy, "The Weavers" (on IRLClancy01)
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Work of the Weavers" (on IRClancyMakem02)
NOTES: The words of this song were published by David Shaw (died 1856). I don't know where the tune came from. - RBW
File: FSWB127
===
NAME: Work-Song: see A Little Streak o' Lean (File: ScNF207B)
===
NAME: Workers of the World
DESCRIPTION: Anthem of the I.W.W.: "Fellow workers, pay attention To what I'm going to mention, For it is the fixed intention Of the workers of the world. And I hope you will be ready, True-hearted, brave, and steady, To gather 'round the standard..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: labor-movement nonballad
FOUND_IN: US Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 104, "Workers of the World" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA104
===
NAME: Workhouse Boy, The: see The Mistletoe Bough (File: R802)
===
NAME: Workin' Steer, The: see Courtin' in the Stable (The Workin' Steer) (File: Ord227)
===
NAME: World of Misery: see Shenandoah (File: Doe077)
===
NAME: Worms Crawl In, The
DESCRIPTION: "Did you ever think when the hearse goes by That you might be the next to die?.... The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, The worms play pinochle on your snout...." A detailed description of how corruption attacks a body in a grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923
KEYWORDS: death burial humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
BrownIII 142, "Old Woman All Skin and Bones" (4 texts plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more, all basically "Skin and Bones (The Skin and Bones Lady)," but the "B" text seems to have picked up a "Worms Crawl In" chorus)
Sandburg, p. 444, "The Hearse Song" (2 texts, 1 tune, containing these lyrics but with particularizations regarding a military burial; the result would probably qualify as a separate song if better known)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 556-557, "The Hearse Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 242, "The Hearse Song" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 124, "Did You Ever Think" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 657-658+, "The Worms Crawl In (The Hearse Song)"
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #92, pp. 86-88, "(There was a lady all skin and bone)" (contains this verse)
DT, WORMSCRA
Roud #15546
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Alonzo the Brave and Fair Imogene" (lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
The Scabs Crawl In (Greenway-AFP, p. 13; on PeteSeeger30)
Rootie-Toot-Toot (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 76)
NOTES: The Pankakes report that this has been attributed to the Crimean War. They do not cite a source for this information.
The key line, "The worms crawl out, the worms crawl in" appears as part of "Skin and Bones (The Skin and Bones Lady)" in the revised 1810 edition of _Gammer Gurton's Garland_, but it may have been an editorial insertion.
A similar lyric is found in the ballad of "Alonzo the Brave and Fair Imogene," but I don't know if that's a case of cross-dependence (let alone which way the dependence goes) or an independent evolution.
Charles Clay Doyle published a study of this, "'As the Hearse Goes By': The Modern Child's _Memento Mori_,' in Francis Edward Abernathy, ed., _What's Going On? (In Modern Texas Folklore)_ (1976; the Doyle essay begins on p. 175). This documents the widespread nature of the song (without giving really detailed statistics about its distribution). It also compares it with a Middle English tradition of songs about bodily decay -- a comparison I find rather a stretch.  - RBW
File: San444
===
NAME: Worried Man Blues
DESCRIPTION: "It takes a worried man to sing a worried song (x2), I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long." The singer describes how he was imprisoned and shackled. He is sentenced to (21) years. His girl takes a train and leaves him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: work prison train abandonment punishment
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 890, "Worried Man Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 240, (no title) (1 fragment, mentioning the train that is sixteen coaches long, which might be part of this or the song it inspired)
Silber-FSWB, p. 74, "Worried Man Blues" (1 text)
DT, WORRDMAN
Roud #4753
RECORDINGS:
Carolina Ramblers String Band, "Worried Man Blues" (Romeo 5118/Perfect 12787, 1932)
Carter Family, "Worried Man Blues" (Victor V-40317, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4742, 1935) (Perfect 07-05-55, 1937)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Won't Be Worried Long" (Bluebird B-6738, 1937)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Worried Man Blues" (on NLCR16)
Pete Seeger, "Worried Man Blues" (on PeteSeeger26)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Two Dollar Bill (Long Journey Home)" (tune)
cf. "Dink's Blues" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: While this song was copyrighted by A. P. Carter, he probably didn't write it; he may have picked it up from an African-American prison song. - PJS
Or, perhaps, a blues; Charley Patton's "Down the Dirt Road Blues" isn't really the same song, but it has a lot of similar phrases. Like the Carter text, Patton recorded his piece (not in the Index, since I don't think it's traditional in his form) in 1929. - RBW
File: BAF890
===
NAME: Worthington
DESCRIPTION: Shape note hymn: "Thou we adore, eternal name, And humbly own to thee. How feeble is our mortal frame, What dying worms are we."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1808 (Missouri Harmony)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible nonballad
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 154, "Worthington" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: San154A
===
NAME: Worthy Boys of Clone, The
DESCRIPTION: Four "worthy boys of Clone" put to sea at night on December 3. They drown: "A monstrous wave capsized the boat as o'er the Back she sailed." The boys' names are given.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1946 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck fishing
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 92-93, "The Worthy Boys of Clone" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Ranson: "The disaster took place about 1850....[The singer] believed the author of the song was a man named Rogers." - BS
File: Ran092
===
NAME: Wouldn't Drive So Hard
DESCRIPTION: A song of cotton workers. "Wouldn't drive so hard but I need de arns (x2). Snatchin' an' a-crammin' it in my sack, Gotter have some cotton if it breaks my back, Wouldn't drive so hard but I need de arns (x2)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: worksong harvest
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 210, (no title) (1 short text)
File: ScaNF210
===
NAME: Wounded Hussar, The
DESCRIPTION: When the battle ends Adelaide, "alone on the banks of the dark rolling Danube," finds Henry, her "wounded Hussar." He thanks her for coming "To cheer the lone heart of thy wounded Hussar." She says "thou shalt live" but he dies in her arms.
AUTHOR: Thomas Campbell
EARLIEST_DATE: 1799 (written 1797, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: war death lover soldier
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 159, "The Wounded Hussar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 175, "The Wounded Hussar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2699
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 402, "The Wounded Hussar," J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Harding B 28(93), Firth c.14(235), Harding B 15(393a), Harding B 15(393b), Harding B 22(354), Harding B 36(9) View 2 of 2, Harding B 25(2115), Harding B 25(2113), Harding B 11(3888), Firth b.26(176), Harding B 11(3039), Firth b.25(72), Harding B 17(347b), Harding B 12(131), Harding B 11(370), Firth c.13(50), Harding B 17(347a), Harding B 17(347a)"[The] Wounded Hussar"
SAME_TUNE:
Sweet Maiden I Admire Thee (per broadside Bodleian Firth c.14(235))
NOTES: South Riding Folk Network site: "The tune Captain O'Kane (spelled in various ways) is generally attributed to the harper Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), though this seems to rest solely on an unsubstantiated assertion by James Hardiman (Irish Minstrelsy, or, Bardic Remains of Ireland, 1831). During the first quarter of the 19th century, Thomas Campbell's verses, The Wounded Hussar, were set to it, and under this new name it spread throughout Britain."
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "The Wounded Hussar" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) 
Harte quoting J Cuthbert Hadden: "This ballad, now entirely forgotten, attained an extraordinary popularity [in Glasgow and London]." - BS
File: CrMa159
===
NAME: Wounded Soldier: see The Battle of Mill Springs [Laws A13] (File: LA13)
===
NAME: Wounded Spirit
DESCRIPTION: "It is true when I first read your letter That I blotted your name with a tear, I was young then, but now I know better."  The other lover apparently has changed her(?) mind and remembered her promises, but "now I love another, not you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Belden, p. 196, "Wounded Spirit" (1 text)
Roud #7945
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (subject)
NOTES: Belden has only a fragment of this piece, and I can find no more. The general plot seems pretty clear, though. - RBW
File: Beld196
===
NAME: Wounded Whale, The
DESCRIPTION: As the sun rises "from her ocean bed," the whaling crew spots a whale and sets out in pursuit. They wound the beast; it struggles and dives but at last must come to the surface, where the crew finishes the kill
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1836 (Journal of the ship _Dartmouth_)
KEYWORDS: whale whaler death
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 23-26, "The Wounded Whale" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 189-190, "There She Blows" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2004
File: SWMS023
===
NAME: Wraggle Taggle Gipsies, O, The: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, O, The: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Wraggle Taggle Gypsy, The: see The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)
===
NAME: Wrap Me Up in My Tarpaulin Jacket
DESCRIPTION: A dying sailor [lumberjack, stockman] bids his comrades farewell, asking them to "wrap me up" in his work clothing and make other arrangements for his funeral. (He recalls his early life and hopes to sleep undisturbed)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1826 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1594))
KEYWORDS: dying death funeral burial sailor logger shepherd
FOUND_IN: Britain Canada(Newf) US Australia
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Friedman, p. 439, "The Dying Stockman" (1 text)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 90-91, 226, "The Dying Stockman"; pp. 118-119, "The Dying Bagman"  (3 texts, 3 tunes); also probably pp. 264-265, "Cant-Hook and Wedges" (2 texts)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 170-171, "The Dying Stockman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 221-223, "The Dying Stockman" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 436-437, "Wrap Me Up in My Tarpaulin Jacket and The Handsome Young Airman" (2 short texts, 1 tune, with the "A" text going here and the "B" text being "The Dying Aviator")
Thorp/Fife XIII, pp. 148-190 (29-30), "Cow Boy's Lament" (22 texts, 7 tunes, the "K" text being in fact a version of "The Old Stable Jacket")
Manifold-PASB, pp. 82-83, "The Dying Stockman" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 281-282, "The Dying Stockman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 47, "Tarpaulin Jacket" (2 texts)
Leach-Labrador 98, "Jolly Best Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 880-881, "A Rambling Young Fellow" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT TARPJCKT*
Roud #829
RECORDINGS:
Frank Crumit, "Wrap Me Up in My Tarpaulin Jacket" (HMV [UK] B-8032, c. 1933)
John Greenway, "The Dying Stockman" (on JGreenway01)
Tex Morton, "Wrap Me Up With My Stockwhip and Blanket" (Regal Zonophone [Australia] G22904, n.d.)

BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1594)[some illegible words], "The Rakish Young Fellow," Angus (Newcastle), 1774-1825 ; also Harding B 11(3215), Harding B 16(218b), Harding B 25(1595)[some illegible words], Harding B 16(219a), Harding B 11(1211), Harding B 11(3216), Firth c.22(67)[almost entirely illegible but what is legible is recognizable as this song], Harding B 11(680), "[The] Rakish Young Fellow"
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Aviator"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Old Stable (Sable) Jacket
Derrydown Fair
NOTES: Compare the modern song "Fiddler's Green," which may have been inspired by this piece.
The number of parodies of this piece ("The Dying Stockman," "The Dying Lumberman") is astonishing, but most seem to have evolved rather than being deliberate rewrites. The Australian version known as "Cant-Hook and Wedges" claims to be an exception; the informants claim to have written it. Certainly the piece  has modern elements (e.g. a reference to the Model T Ford), but one is still inclined to doubt that it was created deliberately. - RBW
The contemplator.com Songs of England site has a version beginning "A tall stalwart lancer lay dying" with a note that "This appears in the Scottish Student's Handbook. The words were written by G. J. Whyte-Melville (1821-1878). The air was written by Charles Coote."
It is too easy to get hung up on the "wrap me up" line as a unique marker. In Peacock the line is just to "dress up in blue jacket and trousers," but that is the only substantial difference between Peacock and the broadsides. - BS
File: FR439
===
NAME: Wrap the Green Flag Round Me, Boys
DESCRIPTION: The dying soldier requestes, "Wrap the green flag 'round me, boys To die were far more sweet With Ireland's noble emblem, boys, to be my winding sheet." He wishes he had lived to see Irish victory, but promises his spirit will be near the flag
AUTHOR: J. K. O'Reilly
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland death soldier
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
PGalvin, pp. 75-76, "Wrap the Green Flag Round Me, Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Connected by Galvin with the Irish Civil War of 1922-1923 (for which see "The Irish Free State") -- though in fact the song could apply as well to the 1916 rebellion, or even to earlier revolts. Indeed, in some ways, earlier revolts would make more sense; by the time of the Civil War, Ireland was turning to the tricolor green/white/orange flag. - RBW
File: PGa075
===
NAME: Wreck at Kankakee, The
DESCRIPTION: About a (nineteenth century) train wreck on the Kankakee River. The train crew includes engineer Barker and fireman Hosler 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1981 (Cohen); apparently first printed 1891
KEYWORDS: train wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 272, "The Wreck at Kankakee" (notes only)
File: LSRa272E
===
NAME: Wreck at Latona, The: see The Wreck of the 1262 (The Freight Wreck at Altoona) (File: DTwrck12)
===
NAME: Wreck at Maud, The (Al Bowen)
DESCRIPTION: About a train wreck near Maud, Illinois
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1981 (Cohen)
KEYWORDS: train wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 23, 1904 - the Maud wreck
FOUND_IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 272, "Maud Wreck" (notes only)
Roud #3518
File: LSRa272H
===
NAME: Wreck between New Hope and Gethsemane
DESCRIPTION: The train of engineer Stergin is involved in a head-on collision on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
AUTHOR: Doc Hopkins, Karl Davis, Harty Taylor
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hopkins/Davis/Taylor, _Mountain Ballads and Home Songs_)
KEYWORDS: train wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 274, "Wreck between New Hope and Gethsemane" (notes only)
Roud #14028
File: LSRa274O
===
NAME: Wreck of No. 3, The (Daddy Bryson's Last Ride)
DESCRIPTION: Engineer Bryson's train is wrecked near Townsend, Tennessee
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1981 (Cohen)
KEYWORDS: train wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 30, 1909 - TheTownsend wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 274, "The Wreck of No. 3 (notes only)
Roud #14030
File: LSRa274I
===
NAME: Wreck of Number Four, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come railroad men and listen to me, A story you will hear, Of a wreck on the line of the old L and E...." The Number Four leaves the track. Engineer John Dailey is killed in the wreck. Listeners are reminded that death is always near
AUTHOR: Green Bailey
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (recording, Green Bailey)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death warning
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 31, 1928  - L & N train number four leaves the track near Torrent, Kentucky. 50-year-old engineer John Dailey (correct spelling) dies as he leaps from the cab; he is the only person killed
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 254-256, "The Wreck of Number Four" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Green Bailey, "The Wreck of Number Four" (Challenge 425 [as by Dick Bell], 1930; recorded 1929)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Wreck of Number Four and the Death of John Daily
File: LSRai254
===
NAME: Wreck of Number Nine, The [Laws G26]
DESCRIPTION: A railroad engineer, whose wedding is set for the next day, leaves his sweetheart and sets out on his train. Rounding a curve, he sees another train coming. He is mortally wounded in the crash. He leaves his fiancee the cottage that would have been theirs
AUTHOR: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: train wreck marriage death lastwill crash
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws G26, "The Wreck of Number Nine"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 267-271, "The Wreck of Number Nine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 684, "The Wreck of Old Number Nine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 451-453, "The Wreck of Old Number Nine" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 684)
Cambiaire, pp. 88-89, "Number Nine" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 77-78, "The Wreck of Number Nine" (1 text)
DT 668, COLDWIN
Roud #3229
RECORDINGS:
Bud Billings [pseud. for Frank Luther], "The Wreck of Number Nine" (Montgomery Ward M-8054, 1939)
Vernon Dalhart, "Wreck of The Number 9" (Lincoln 2712, 1927) (Gennett 6051/Silvertone 5005, 1927) (Brunswick 101, 1927) (Okeh 45086, 1927) (Cameo 1247, 1927) (Columbia 15121-D [as Al Craver], 1927); "Wreck of the Number Nine" (Radiex 4172 [as Jeff Calhoun], 1928)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineer's "On a Cold Winter's Night" (Victor 27496, 1941)
Ernest Stoneman, "The Wreck of the Number Nine" (Broadway 8054, c. 1930); "Wreck of Number Nine" (on Autoharp01)
Stanley G. Triggs, "The Wreck of the Number Nine" (on Triggs1)
NOTES: This, like "Zeb Tourney's Girl" [Laws E18], appears to be a Robison song that became traditional as a result of the Vernon Dalhart recording, though this seems to have had a stronger grip on tradition.
Indeed, Cohen states that, of the train wreck ballads he printed, only "Old 97" an "Engine 143" ("The Wreck on the C & O" [Laws G3]) were more popular. Both of the former are anonymous, and both based on real events; this is therefore the most popular fictional train wreck song, and also the most popular train song with a single known author.
It entered tradition very quickly; Henry collected his version from Mary E. King in 1929.
In recent years, a part of this tune has found some additional success (at least in bluegrass circles) as the basis for the chorus in the Goble/Drumm song "Coleen Malone." - RBW
File: LG26
===
NAME: Wreck of Old 97, The [Laws G2]
DESCRIPTION: "Steve" Broady is told that, due to a mix-up in numbering, his train is "way behind time." He is driving as fast as he can to make up the time when, on a long downgrade, his brakes fail. The train goes off the track; Broady dies at the controls
AUTHOR: disputed (tune by Henry Clay Work)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (recording, Henry Whitter); a 1922 variant form appears in Brown
KEYWORDS: crash wreck train death derivative
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sept 27, 1903 - "Old 97" goes off the track near Danville, killing engineer Joseph A. "Steve" Broady and at least ten others
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MA,Ro,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (13 citations)
Laws G2, "The Wreck of Old 97"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 197-226, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (6 texts plus excerpts, 1 tune, plus a sheet music cover and sundry excerpts from related songs including a text of "The Ship That Never Returned)
Randolph 683, "The Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 449-451, "The Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 683)
BrownII 217, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (6 field texts plus 3 more in the headnotes)
JHCoxIIB, #2A-B, pp. 118-121, "The Wreck of the Southern Ninety-Seven," "The Wreck of the Old 97" (2 texts, 2 tunes; both appear from their texts to have been learned from the Dalhart recording)
Cambiaire, p. 97, "The Wreck of Old Ninety-Seven" (1 text, another version probably derived from Dalhart)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 79-80, "Old Ninety-Seven" (1 text, with a little bit of "The Train That Never Returned" at the end)
Friedman, p. 318, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (1 text)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 449, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 214-215, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (1 text plus "The Rarden Wreck of 1893")
Silber-FSWB, p. 104 "The Wreck Of The Old 97" (1 text)
DT 634, WRECK97*
Roud #777
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (Edison 51361-R, 1924) (CYL: Edison [BA] 4898, prob. 1924) ; "Wreck of the Old 97" (Victor 19427-A, 1924) (Radiex 4131 [as Jeff Calhoun], 1927); "Wreck of the 97" (Bell 340, 1925) (Regal 8929, 1925/Apex [Can.] 8428, 1926); "Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (Champion 15121, 1926/Supertone 9241, 1928); "The Wreck of the Old 97" (Bluebird B-5335, 1934); "Wreck of the Southern No. 97" (Pathe 032068 [as Sid Turner], 1924) [this is a partial list; Dalhart is thought to have recorded "Wreck" several dozen times]
Kelly Harrell, "The Wreck on the Southern Old 97" (OKeh 7010, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Clayton McMichen & his Georgia Wildcats, "Wreck of the 97" (Varsity 5029, 1942)
John D. Mounce et al, "Wreck of Old 97" (on MusOzarks01)
George Reneau, "Wreck of The Southern Old 97" (Vocalion 5029, c. 1926)
Pete Seeger, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (on PeteSeeger17)
Ernest V. Stoneman Trio, "The Wreck of the Old 97" (OKeh, unissued, 1927)
Ernest Stoneman & Kahle Brewer, "Wreck of the Old 97" (OKeh unissued mx. 80344-A, rec. 1927; on ConstSor1)
Stoneman Family, "The Wreck of the Old Ninety-Seven" (on Stonemans01)
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, "The Wreck on the Southern Old 97" (Columbia 15142-D, 1927)
Ernest Thompson, "Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (Columbia 130-D, 1924)
Sid Turner, "Wreck of the Southern No. 97" (Perfect 12147, 1924)
Virginia Ramblers, "Wreck of Old 97" (OKeh, unissued, 1929)
Henry Whitter, "Wreck of the Southern Old 97" (Okeh 40015, 1924; rec. 1923)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ship That Never Returned" [Laws D27] (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "The Train that Never Returned" (tune & meter)
cf. "The Rarden Wreck of 1893" (tune & metre, theme)
cf. "The Flying Colonel" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Speakers Didn't Mind (Greenway-AFP, pp. 136-137)
On a Summer Eve (Greenway-AFP, pp. 138-139)
NOTES: Authorship claimed by, among others, David Graves George; the legal battles over the song were extended. Brown has extensive notes which summarize the situation well. If anyone deserves credit for the pop version, it is probably Henry Whitter, who took a seemingly-traditional version and worked it into the form of the Dalhart recording.
Cohen has even more extensive documentation on this process (summarizing several full-length monographs on the subject); he is surprisingly sympathetic to George (not claiming that he wrote the song but that he did make original contributions).
The song is, in any case, derivative. The tune is taken from Henry Clay Work's "The Ship that Never Returned," and "The Ship" gave rise to at least two train wreck songs: "The Train that Never Returned" and "The Rarden Wreck of 1893." I've seen both listed as the source for "Old 97" -- though neither looks much like the latter song in the Whitter rendition (which, to be sure, is much worn down from texts Cohen regards as earlier sources).
I would note, though, that several of Brown's texts (including "D" from 1922) fall between "Train" and "Old 97." - RBW
File: LG02
===
NAME: Wreck of Old Ninety-Seven, The: see The Wreck of Old 97 [Laws G2] (File: LG02)
===
NAME: Wreck of Old Number Nine, The: see The Wreck of Number Nine [Laws G26] (File: LG26)
===
NAME: Wreck of the 'Mary Summers', The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the Mary Summers as you will see, Loaded in St. Andrews for the old countrie." An ocean-going freighter encounters heavy weather and begins leaking. The crew pumps for a week to no avail, but are rescued by the William Bradley.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Fowke/MacMillan)
KEYWORDS: wreck rescue sea ship
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/MacMillan 14, "The Wreck of the 'Mary Summers'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4473
NOTES: From Fowke/MacMillan: "Collected from Charles Cates in Vancouver, 1960. Cates said he had the song from his father, an East Coast seaman, who said the _Mary Summers_ was a Nova Scotia ship, though there is no record of her in Canadian or British shipping registers." - SL
File: FowM014
===
NAME: Wreck of the 1256, The
DESCRIPTION: "On that cold and dark cloudy evenin', Just before the close of day, There came Harry Lyle and Dillard." An accident causes their train to fall into the James River. Lyle, with a head wound, dies in the cabin. Railroad men are warned of their danger
AUTHOR: Carson J. Robison (writing as Carlos B. McAfee)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death warning
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 3, 1925 - On a cold night, the 1256 hits a rockslide and is pitched into the James River. Engineer Harry Lyle is killed; crewman Sydney Dillard is saved by hoboes
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 240-242, "The Wreck of the 1256" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11528
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Wreck of the 1256" (Columbia 15034-D [as by Al Craver], 1925)
File: LSRai240
===
NAME: Wreck of the 1262, The (The Freight Wreck at Altoona)
DESCRIPTION: Freight train 1262 is heading down the mountain when the air brakes fail. The brakeman tightens the brakes by hand, but the train still crashes; engineer and fireman are killed. Listeners are urged to be prepared, for "you cannot tell when He'll call"
AUTHOR: Words: Fred Tait-Douglas/Music: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recordings, Vernon Dalhart)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Freight train 1262 is heading down the mountain when the engineer sounds the whistle; the air brakes have failed. The brakeman climbs out on the car tops and tightens the brakes by hand, but the train continues to accelerate. It crashes; the engineer and fireman are killed. Listeners are urged to always be prepared, for "you cannot tell when He'll call"
KEYWORDS: warning train death railroading work crash disaster wreck worker
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 29, 1925 - Freight #1262 crashes near Altoona, PA, apparently due to defective air brakes
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 243-246, "The Freight Wreck at Altoone/The Wreck of the 1262" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, pp. 64-65, "The Wreck at Latona" (1 text)
DT, WRCK1262
Roud #7128
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Freight Wreck at Altoona" (Victor 19999, 1926) (Columbia 15065-D [as Al Craver], 1926) (Radiex 4172 [as Jeff Calhoun], 1928; Sunrise 33056, 1929) (Herwin 75524, late 1920s) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5122, c. 1926)
Red River Dave, "Altoona Freight Wreck" (Musicraft 288, 1944)
Riley Puckett, "Altoona Freight Wreck" (Decca 5455, 1937)
NOTES: This comes pretty close to live journalism: The accident took place in late November 1925, and Dalhart was in the studio recording the result on January 15, 1926.
The REALLY strange part is, Cambiaire's head notes report of it, "Source: Edison Brown, who found it in old papers at his home in East Tennessee. This ballad has been sung for many years in the Cumberland Mountains." Sure, he calls the wreck site "Latona," but it's engine 1262, as in the commercial versions of the song. It looks as if either Cambiaire or Brown was tricked.
Altoona is a very interesting place for trains and train enthusiasts. The "Horseshoe Curve," built in the 1850s, was considered a major engineering feat at the time and is now an historical monument -- and it's steep (2375 feet/724 meters long, with a slope of 91 feet to the mile/17 meters to the kilometer). It's enough of a landmark to show up, e.g., in _Webster's Geographical Dictionary_. It looks almost like a hairpin, with a lake in the middle of the pin. It must be a really interesting region to drive a train.... - RBW
File: DTwrck12
===
NAME: Wreck of the 36, The: see The Wreck of Thirty-Six (File: ThBa112)
===
NAME: Wreck of the 444, The
DESCRIPTION: A wreck takes placeon the Norfolk and Western Railroad in Virginia, with crewmen Gillespie, Stuart, and Combs on the train.
AUTHOR: Bess McReynolds
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (WWVA Jamboree Book #2)
KEYWORDS: train wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 274, "The Wreck of 444" (notes only)
Roud #14031
File: LSRa274R
===
NAME: Wreck of the Annie Roberts, The
DESCRIPTION: Annie Roberts leaves Sydney, Nova Scotia for Lamaline, Newfoundland in a gale with a cargo of coal. The steamer Risenor crashes into the Annie and can only rescue one man.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 1, "The Wreck of the Annie Roberts" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: [Lehr/Best date this wreck to] October 22, 1913. Northern Shipwrecks Database places the collision in Sydney Harbour, makes the collision with SS Wabana, and estimates five lost.
I find no other reference to "a steamer Risenor" anywhere. - BS
File: LeBe001
===
NAME: Wreck of the Asia, The
DESCRIPTION: The paddlewheel steamer Asia leaves Owen Sound to cross Georgian Bay, but runs into a storm. The deaths of crew and passengers are described, including a newlywed couple; two cling to a lifeboat and survive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (a portion provided to Walton by Mrs. Robert Reed)
KEYWORDS: travel death drowning ship disaster storm wreck moniker sailor
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sep 14, 1882 - Paddlewheel steamer Asia sinks in Georgian Bay
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 208-209, "The Foundering of the Asia" (1 composite text)
Roud #3839
RECORDINGS:
C. H. J. Snider, "The Wreck of the 'Asia'" (on GreatLakes1)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" [Laws C1] (tune)
NOTES: The _Asia_ left Owen Sound topheavy and overloaded with freight, intended for merchants in northern towns preparing for winter. When the storm struck, the captain made a fatal mistake; instead of keeping the ship faced to the wind, he turned and attempted to head for French River, allowing the force of the gale to strike the ship broadside. When the ship sprang a leak, lifeboats were lowered, but, overloaded, they foundered, and all drowned except two, Dunk Tinkles (called "Tinkus" in the Snider recording) and a Miss Morrison, 19. They clung to an overturned lifeboat and drifted to shore, where they were found by an old Indian who took them to Parry Sound. Mr. Snider recalls learning the song in 1891, and later collected several other versions from residents of the Georgian Bay area. - PJS
Earlier editions of this Index said that over 200 were killed when the _Asia_ was wrecked, but this appears to be an exaggeration. William Ratigan's _Great Lakes Shipwrecks & Survivals_, revised edition, Eerdmans, 1977, p. 103, gives the number of people on the boat as 125 -- while noting that "Every cabin on the _Asia_ was filled with passengers, and there were others sleeping on every corner of the boat where a carpetbag or grain sack could cushion a head." Bruce D. Berman's _Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks_ (Mariner's Press, 1972), p. 235, also says that 125 were lost.
The ship was reportedly top-heavy; the cargo had been placed on deck rather than going to the effort of securing it in the hold. And the weather was rough, but Captain John Savage hated wasting time in port. He set out on September 13, 1882, even though the "boisterous wind" was causing "mountainous seas."
By the next day, when the boat reached the open lake, it was evident that she would not survive. Savage tried to head for an island to beach her, and ordered the cargo thrown overboard (Ratigan, p. 104).
The ship was within sight of Lonely Island when "about 11:30, she pitched up at the head and went down stern first, the cabins breaking off and the boats floating off as she did so."
The two survivors were Duncan A. Tinkiss (Ratigan's and Walton's spelling), who was 17, and Christina Ann Morrison, listed as "under twenty." Several lifeboats were launched, but they all disappeared -- and the boat with Tinkiss and Morisson aboard repeatedly turned over; it initially held more than 20 people, but only seven, including the captain, managed to stay aboard -- and all but the two teenagers were dead by the end of the day (Ratigan, p. 105-107). Unable to control the boat due to the loss of the oars, they were finally rescued by a sailing craft.
Ratigan, p. 108, says that Tinkiss died in 1910, but Miss Morrison lived another 55 years -- i.e. until around 1938.
Walton's version is based in part on "clippings," raising the possibility that the song was first published in a newspaper, but I do not know of any proof of this. - RBW
File: RcWreAsi
===
NAME: Wreck of the Atlantic: see The Loss of the Atlantic (II) (File: Pea933)
===
NAME: Wreck of the Avondale, The
DESCRIPTION: The lighter Avondale, bound from Carrick to the Gasworks, hits a bridge and is wrecked with 13 tons of coal. The crew -- Captain Britt, his little son, and dog -- survive.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: Nov 1903 (_Clonmel Chronicle,_ according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: river ship wreck dog children humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 20A, "The Wreck of the Avondale" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9777
NOTES: A river boat wreck on the Suir river in South Tipperary. - BS
File: OLcM020A
===
NAME: Wreck of the Belle Sheridan, The
DESCRIPTION: "In the year of 1880, On a cold November day, With coal bound for Toronto, They left the Charlotte Bay." The mates are named. The captain sees a storm coming. The ship goes aground off Weller's Bay. A few are rescued, but several related crewmen die
AUTHOR: Mike Ryan?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Toronto Evening Telegram)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck storm death
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 221-223, "The Wreck of the Belle Sheridan" (1 text, from print)
Roud #3842
File: WGM221
===
NAME: Wreck of the C & O Number Five, The
DESCRIPTION: "From Washington to Charlottesveile, then Staunton on the line Came the old Midwestern Limited...." The train hits a broken rail. It does not overturn, but veteran engineer Dolly Womack is killed by steam. He will pull a train in heaven
AUTHOR: Words: Cleburne C. Meeks / Music: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Oct 6, 1920 - The westbound "Sportsman" train, redirected onto the eastbound track because of a derailment, hits a broken rail and crashes into a bank. Engineer Dolly Womack is partly buried in coal and scalded to death by steam
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 236-239, "The Wreck of the C & O Number Five" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #14023
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Wreck of the C & O Number Five" (Brunswick 117 [as by Al Craver], 1927); (Columbia 15135-D)
NOTES: Inspired by his success with "Billy Richardson's Last Ride," which was also set to must by Carson J. Robison and recorded by Vernon Dalhart, Cleburne C. Meeks wrote his second poem about a train wreck which had occurred some years earlier. In this case, I rather suspect he intended it to use the tune of "Wabash Cannonball," but Robison again supplied Dalhart's tune. - RBW
File: LSRai236
===
NAME: Wreck of the C & O Sportsman
DESCRIPTION: "Far away on the banks of New River, While the deep shades of twilight hunglow," engineer Haskell and fireman Anderson drive the trail. It goes off the train on a curve. The two are killed. The singer recalls the loved ones at home
AUTHOR: Bernice "Si" Coleman (1898-?)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (recording, Si Coleman and his Railroad Ramblers)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 21, 1930 - The Sportsman wreck. Engineer Homer E. Haskell (who had been with the line 35 years) and fireman Henry G. Anderson are killed and three others injured
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 264-266, "The Wreck of the C & O Sportsman" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Roy Harvey and the North Carolina Ramblers (=Si Coleman and his Railroad Ramblers), "The Wreck of the C & O Sportsman" (Superior 2701, 1931
NOTES: Cohen notes that this wreck "was possibly thelast to be memorialized in song" -- but hardly a popular one; fewer than 500 copies of the original disc were sold, and the odds that the song became traditional arevery poor. - RBW
File: LSRai264
===
NAME: Wreck of the Christabel, The
DESCRIPTION: Sunday, Christabel is anchored in Bonavista harbour. It is wrecked by a gale with a crew of nine on board. One jumps in a rowboat "to try what he could do" but is lost. Monday the remaining crew are rescued by rowboats.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1985 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: rescue death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jun 7, 1885 - Christable/Christabel wreck in Bonavista Harbour (Lehr/Best, Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Lehr/Best 22, "The Wreck of the Christabel" (1 text)
NOTES: Northern Shipwrecks Database shows as the cause "Stranded fin anchor" and notes that a monument was erected(?). - BS
File: Lebe022
===
NAME: Wreck of the Dandenong, The
DESCRIPTION: The Dandenong sets sail from Melbourne with 83 people on board. In a storm of Jervis Bay, her propeller shaft breaks and she begins to sink. A barque saves as many as possible, but many go down with the ship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1954
KEYWORDS: wreck ship disaster death
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 48-49, "The Wreck of the Dandenong" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 164-165, "The Wreck of the Dandenong" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA048
===
NAME: Wreck of the Eliza, The
DESCRIPTION: Barquentine Eliza is wrecked "at the fatal sand of Cahore Point" by hurricane winds. Rescue attempts by rocket line and life-boat fail though the life-boat itself returns safely.
AUTHOR: Pat Ennis of Cahore
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec 24, 1895 - "The Eliza was lost at Cahore point"; three of the crew were rescued. (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 52)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 56-57, "The Wreck of the Eliza" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Jack Donahoe" (tune) and references there
NOTES: Cahore Point is south of the town of Gorey in northeast Wexford. According to the ballad it is "some leagues away" from home. - BS
File: Ran056
===
NAME: Wreck of the Enterprise (Machrihanish Bay)
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the storm of March 4, [18?]37. The Enterprise sails out from Peru and approaches Britain. The captain's wife calculates the position, but the ship runs aground. The crew drowns, while the folk on shore gather riches
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: death ship wreck
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H558, pp. 106-107, "The Wreck of the Enterprise" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9041
File: HHH558
===
NAME: Wreck of the Fanad Boat, The
DESCRIPTION: The boat sets out from Fanad with nineteen aboard "bound for the English harvest." A storm blows up and sinks the boat; fifteen of the nineteen are drowned. The singer lists their names and prays for them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: ship storm wreck disaster
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H602, pp. 107-108, "The Wreck of the Fanad Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10383
File: HHH602
===
NAME: Wreck of the G & SI
DESCRIPTION: On Christmas Day, engineer Van Martin's Train 64 is wrecked on the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1929 (recording by Happy Bud Harrison)
KEYWORDS: train wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 274, "Wreck of G & SI" (notes only)
RECORDINGS:
Happy Bud Harrison, "Wreck of The G.& S.I." (Vocalion 5350)
File: LSRa274P
===
NAME: Wreck of the Glenaloon, The
DESCRIPTION: A June night. A ship is in a dead wind and fog three leagues from land. The charts show no rocks or reefs but the captain thinks he sees a rock or wreck and sends a crew to investigate. It's the wreck of Glenaloon. They find and bury the dead crew.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: burial death sea ship wreck
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Mackenzie 162, "The Wreck of the Glenaloon" (1 text)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 172-176, "The Wreck of the Glenna Loon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3288
File: Mack162
===
NAME: Wreck of the Glenna Loon, The: see The Wreck of the Glenaloon (File: Mack162)
===
NAME: Wreck of the Gwendoline, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is cabin-boy on the Clonmel river boat Gwendoline. A storm comes up and they run aground. They walk ashore and go home by "ass an' car" Twenty horses pull her out of the weeds "but never more, by sea or shore, Will sail the Gwendoline"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: river commerce ship storm humorous wreck sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More, pp. 257-258, "The Wreck of the Gwendoline" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Star of the County Down" (tune) and references there
cf. "The E-ri-e" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Clonmel, South Tipperary, is on the river Suir. - BS
File: OLcM257
===
NAME: Wreck of the Hunnicut Curve, The
DESCRIPTION: "They called for a train crew at Paintsville, On a night that was rainy and drear." The train sets out, but goes off the tracks "only eight miles out of Paintsville On the Honnicut Curve so 'tis said." The brakeman lives, but the others die
AUTHOR: Buddy Preston?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 114-115, "The Wreck of the Hunnicut Curve" (1 text)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 274, "The Wreck of the Hunnicut Curve" (notes only)
ST ThBa114 (Partial)
Roud #14026
File: ThBa114
===
NAME: Wreck of the Huron, The [Laws D21]
DESCRIPTION: On a stormy night, the Huron receives orders to sail. The crew, despite the bad weather, obeys orders. The Huron runs aground on the North Carolina coast and is destroyed. A hundred crewmen's lives are lost
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: sea wreck disaster
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 24, 1877 - The U.S.S. Huron is wrecked near Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. The number of dead was estimated as between 98 and 106
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Laws D21, "The Wreck of the Huron"
BrownII 288, "The Wreck of the Huron" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more)
DT 727, WRKHURON
Roud #2239
File: LD21
===
NAME: Wreck of the John B., The: see The John B. Sails (File: San022)
===
NAME: Wreck of the Julia Dean, The
DESCRIPTION: "Nigh forty years have passed away... since the wreck of the Julia Dean." A heavy storm in the Straits [of Mackinac] drives her onto an island. The songs of birds and the sound of the waves are heard by the wreck, "meet requiem for the Julia Dean."
AUTHOR: Daniel Webster Whittle (1840-1901)?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1887 (published  by Whittle, according to Walton/Grimm/Murdock)
KEYWORDS: wreck
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 219-220, "The Wreck of the Julia Dean" (1 text)
NOTES: The notes in Walton/Grimm/Murdock connect this with an 1855 wreck. This is a big problematic, since Whittle published the poem in 1887, which is hardly "nigh forty years" after 1855. (And I have verified the 1887 date from pp. 83-84 of Marion Harland's 1901 book _With the Best of Intentions: A Midsummer Episode_, available on Google Books.) Adding to the confusion, at least two other boats named _Julia Dean_ were wrecked in the 1850s in the Upper Midwest, though both of these were apparently on the Mississippi, not the Great Lakes. I suspect there has been some confusion of details.
I must confess to some concern about the validity of Walton's "collection," too -- did the informant, Mrs. Bonner, actually have this from tradition? Whittle's poem, as published in Harland, has a line of asterisks just where Walton/Grimm/Murdock prints a line of dots, as if to imply an omission.
Daniel Webster Whittle was a Civil War veteran who became a modestly successful publisher of hymns, man of them under the name "El Nathan." I must confess that the only one of his compositions I've ever heard of is "Neither Do I Condemn Thee," and even that was much more staid than the Black Evangelical version I've heard. He did edit the memoirs of Philip Paul Bliss. - RBW
File: WGM219
===
NAME: Wreck of the Julie Plante, The
DESCRIPTION: "On wan dark night on de (Lak St. Clair)... de crew of de wood scow Julie Plante got scar' an' run below." The captain ties Rosie the cook to the mast, then jumps overboard. Both are drowned. The moral: "You can't get drown... so long you stay on shore"
AUTHOR: probably William Henry Drummond
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Rickaby; the poem was written before 1897)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: French-Canadian dialect song. On Lak St. Pierre, the wood-scow "Julie Plante" encounters a fierce storm. They've lost their skiff, and the anchor won't hold; the captain ties the cook (Rosie) to the mast, takes the life-preserver, and jumps overboard, saying he'll drown for her sake. (?) Next morning the boat is wrecked and all are found dead. The singer warns listeners to marry and live on a farm; "You can't get drown on Lak St. Pierre/So long as you stay on shore."
KEYWORDS: ship disaster humorous death warning work storm wreck
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont) US(MW)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Rickaby 22, "On Lac San Pierre" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Beck 76, "The Wreck of the Julie Plante" (1 text plus two fragments of another)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 155-158, "The Wood Scow Julie Plante" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 174-175, "The Wreck of the Julie Plante" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 62, "The Julie Plante" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FJ174 (Full)
Roud #4545
RECORDINGS:
Harry Barney, "The Wood Scow Julie Plante" (1938; on WaltonSailors)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Yim Yonson" (tune)
NOTES: Yes, that's "Lak." Why jumping overboard will save the cook, I don't know. - PJS
The hint here may come from Walton's classification of this as a scow boat song. The scows operated in very shallow water -- sometimes so shallow that you could stand on the bottom and keep your head above water. Of course, if the water is that shallow, you might as well stay aboard till the scow runs aground, because it can't sink very deep....
This was apparently a very well-known Great Lakes songl Walton found seven sailors who recalled complete or nearly-complete text.
Drummond's original poem (written, like most of his work, in "habitant" or French-Canadian English) was subtitled "A Legend of Lac St. Pierre" (Lake St. Peter). In oral tradition, however, this was often changed to the more familiar Lake St. Clair. According to Walton, Detroiters claimed the song as a true folk song, but there seems no absolute proof of this. - RBW
File: FJ174
===
NAME: Wreck of the Kinsale, The
DESCRIPTION: Kinsale leaves the Clyde for France November 18. In heavy winds and seas "'The engine's broke,' our captain said" and she drifts into the cliffs. A wealthy lady offers 500 pounds "to be secure" but drowns. From shore two Hook ladies rescue four.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1946 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 21, 1872: Kinsale's engine shaft snaps and ship is driven against a cliff; three of crew of nineteen and one passenger are saved (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 75)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Ranson, pp. 36-37, "The Wreck of the Kinsale" (1 text)
NOTES: Ranson: The singer said "the ballad was composed by a man named Carroll, a schoolmaster, in Templetown, at the time of the wreck. The bell of the 'Kinsale' hangs above the entrance to Duncannon school yard." - BS
File: Ran036
===
NAME: Wreck of the Lady Shearbrooke, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls sailing on the Lady Shearbrooke, and describes how the ship was wrecked on the rocks, with only 33 surviving. Upon returning to the banks of the Foyle, he sees Mary Doyle lamenting her lost love. He steps up and reveals himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: love separation ship wreck disaster reunion
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jul 19, 1831 - Lady Sherbrooke stranded at Mouse Island near Port aux Basques Newfoundland en route from Londonderry, Ireland to Quebec. See NOTES. (Source: Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND_IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H570, pp. 310-311, "Mary Doyle/The Wreck of the Lady Shearbrooke" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 79-82, "The Ship Lady Sherbrooke" (1 text)
Roud #1974
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lady of the Lake (The Banks of Clyde II)" [Laws N41] (plot)
cf. "Thomas and Nancy" [Laws K15] (theme)
NOTES: Smith/Hatt has the captain's name as Henry Gambols; Northern Shipwrecks Database has it as Henry Gambles. NSDB has various numbers of lost among the crew and cargo of immigrants: for example, 30/306, 30/360, 36/575 saved/total. - BS
File: HHH570
===
NAME: Wreck of the Maggie, The
DESCRIPTION: Maggie leaves Brooklyn in Bonavista Bay and arrives in St John's harbour "when Captain Blunden cried, 'My boys, there's a steamer bearing down.'" Maggie and the steamer Tiber crash. Many are drowned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: death ship crash wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Nov 7, 1896 - The Maggie sinks after collision with the Tiber in St John's Harbour (source: Northern Shipwrecks DataBase) 
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Leach-Labrador 80, "The Wreck of the Maggie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 70, "The Maggie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ryan/Small, pp. 42-43, "The Wreck of the Maggie" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab080 (Partial)
Roud #4413
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Loss of the Maggie" (subject)
File: LLab080
===
NAME: Wreck of the Mary Jane, The
DESCRIPTION: A song to "dryland sailors" about the Mary Jane, bound from Taghmon with a crew of 200 and a cargo of dung. When the cargo shifts in a storm the captain gives up hope. Short of tobacco they plan to put in at a pub. They run ashore at a doctor's door.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: ship storm wreck Africa Ireland humorous sailor
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn 20, "The Wreck of the Mary Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3026
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The E-ri-e" (theme) and references there
cf. "The Calabar" (theme and first line)
NOTES: Taghmon is in south central County Wexford (not on the coast). When the storm hits they steer for Timbuctoo, Mali, hardly a coastal port of call. The term "dryland sailor" -- to judge by broadside Bodleian, Firth c.12(409), "The Dryland Sailor!" ("I never was on board a ship ") -- refers to a panhandler who pretends to be an old sailor with faked injuries because "that's the thing that pays." - BS
File: Oloc020
===
NAME: Wreck of the Morning Mail, The
DESCRIPTION: George Minnick's Number 23 train is wrecked on the Pennsylvania Railroad in Illinois.
AUTHOR: Words: Jake Taylor
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939? (_Jake Taylor an His Rail Splitters Log Book_)
KEYWORDS: train wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 274, "The Wreck of the Morning Mail" (notes only)
File: LSRa274R
===
NAME: Wreck of the Morrissey, The
DESCRIPTION: Captain Charles Bailey takes the Morrissey from St Mary's Bay to Cape Breton. He picks up a load of fish at Bonne Bay and heads out to the Gulf of St Lawrence in spite of a hurricane.
AUTHOR: Nick Kane
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: sea ship storm wreck
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 981-982, "The Wreck of the Morrissey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9815
NOTES: The wreck and captain's name are reported in Northern Shipwrecks Database as occurring at Lat 46N Long 060W but with no date or further details. Those coordinates are on the east coast of Cape Breton Island near Mira Bay. - BS
File: Pea981
===
NAME: Wreck of the N & W Cannonball
DESCRIPTION: Two trains, one on the Norfolk and Western, the other on the Atlantic Coast line, collide in Virginia
AUTHOR: Words: Cleburne C. Meeks / Music: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1981 (Cohen)
KEYWORDS: train wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 27, 1903 - The Cannonball wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 272, "Wreck of the N & W Cannonball" (notes only)
Roud #14014
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Wreck of the N & W Cannonball" (Columbia 15378-D)
File: LSRa272G
===
NAME: Wreck of the Nimrod, The
DESCRIPTION: The steamship Nimrod sets out from Moreton Bay for Liverpool. When a storm blows up, not even the skilled crew can keep the ship from running aground. At last a bark picks up the survivors
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: ship storm wreck disaster rescue
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H717, p. 108, "The Wreck of the Nimrod" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13369
NOTES: Not related to "The Nimrod's Song," which is about seal hunters, nor (it is clear) is the ship the same as Ernest Shackleton's famous _Nimrod_, which sold to buy the ill-fated _Endurance_. - RBW
File: HHH717
===
NAME: Wreck of the Old 97, The: see The Wreck of Old 97 [Laws G2] (File: LG02)
===
NAME: Wreck of the Old Southern 97, The: see The Wreck of Old 97 [Laws G2] (File: LG02)
===
NAME: Wreck of the Rebecca, The (The Mary Cochrane)
DESCRIPTION: The singer emigrates to America. He takes ship. Part way through the voyage, the ship springs a leak. Eventually it overwhelms the pumps. Another vessel comes by and takes off the passengers shortly before she sinks
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: ship disaster emigration
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H565, p. 111, "The Wreck of the Rebecca"; H754, pp. 111-112, "The Good Ship Mary Cochrane" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #13370
NOTES: The two versions in the Henry collection are clearly derived from the same original lyrics (though the tunes are distinct); I've no idea how the ship ended with such different names. - RBW
File: HHH565
===
NAME: Wreck of the Regulus: see The Loss of the Regulus (File: Pea956)
===
NAME: Wreck of the Royal Palm
DESCRIPTION: On the Royal Palm and Ponce de Leon trains, heading home for Christmas, all is cheerful despite a storm. The trains collide; many are killed or hurt. The singer warns hearers to keep their orders straight; if they get their orders mixed it'll be too late
AUTHOR: Andrew Jenkins
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: grief warning train death railroading crash disaster storm wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec. 23, 1926 - Crash of Royal Palm & Ponce de Leon, on the Southern Railway
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 247-249, "The Wreck of the Royal Palm" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 218, "The Wreck of the Royal Palm" (1 text)
DT, ROYALPLM*
Roud #4149
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Wreck of the Royal Palm" (Brunswick 101/Romeo 350, 1927; Pathe 32380, 1928) (Gennett 6051/Silvertone 5005, 1927) (OKeh 45086, 1927) (Columbia 15121-D [as Al Craver], 1927)
Frank Luther, "Wreck of the Royal Palm" (Grey Gull 4200, 1928)
Clarence H. Wyatt, "The Wreck of the Royal Palm" (AFS 10,892 A5, 1954; on LC61)
NOTES: This song seems to have moved into tradition directly from Dalhart's recordings. - PJS
The song is idem dG51 in Laws's Appendix II. Brown, who is unaware of the authorship, gives details on the wreck, the result of bad weather and a failure to obey orders. 19 people were reported dead and 123 injured.
Cohen notes the curiosity that the song talks mostly about the Royal Palm though the deaths all occured on the Ponce de Leon. It also appears that the crew of the latter train was primarily responsible for the accident.
This is another case of Vernon Dalhart putting out a song as soon as possible after the accident; Dalhart recorded it on January 14, 1927, three weeks after the event. One wonders how Jenkins had time to get the song to him. - RBW
File: DTroyalp
===
NAME: Wreck of the Semmity (Yosemite), The
DESCRIPTION: The Yankee vessel Yosemite ("Semmity") crosses the Gulf in a storm with "a load of frozen herring" and crashes on a reef. All but one of the crew are rescued.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Jan 21, 1897 - wreck of the Yosemite "on Ram Island ... off the Nova Scotian coast" (Lehr/Best)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 983-984, "The Wreck of the Semmity" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 85, "The Old Smite" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9818
File: Pea983
===
NAME: Wreck of the Shenandoah
DESCRIPTION: "At four o'clock one evening On a warm September day A great and mighty airship From Lakehurst flew away." The dirigible encounters a storm and is wrecked. Fourteen people die. The mother of one of the crew watches in vain for the vessel
AUTHOR: Maggie Andrews (pseudonym of Carson J. Robison)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (recordings, Vernon Dalhart, Guy Massey)
KEYWORDS: technology disaster death wreck mother
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Sep 3, 1925 - Wreck of the naval dirigible Shenandoah, commanded by Lt. Commander Zachary Landsdowne
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 219, "The Wreck of the Shenandoah" (1 text)
ST BrII219 (Full)
Roud #4150
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Wreck of the Shenandoah" (Columbia 15041-D, 1925) (Edison 51620, 1925) (Cameo 809, 1925) (OKeh 40460 [as Tobe Little], 1925) (Vocalion 15125 [as Jep Fuller], 1925)
Guy Massey, "Wreck of the Shenandoah" (Perfect 12218, 1925)
NOTES: This is item dG52 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
I would've placed bets on "Maggie Andrews" being a pseudonym for Andrew Jenkins, but a website on the Shenandoah wreck (http://mike.whybark.com/archives/000093.html) states that it was actually a pseudonym for the team of Dalhart and Carson Robison. - PJS
According to Norm Cohen, "Maggie Andrews" was the maiden name of Robison's mother, and he copyrighted a lot of material under it. Of course, Robison also worked with Andrew Jenkins, so there could have been at least a little cross-influence. - RBW
File: BrII219
===
NAME: Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver, The: see Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)
===
NAME: Wreck of the Southern Ninety-Seven, The: see The Wreck of Old 97 [Laws G2] (File: LG02)
===
NAME: Wreck of the Steamship Ethie, The
DESCRIPTION: On the afternoon of December 10, 1919, the "Ethie"-- despite the skilled work of her crew -- encounters a terrible storm and runs aground around one o'clock in the morning. All manage to reach shore in a boatswain's chair.
AUTHOR: Maude Roberts Simmonds
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: wreck rescue ship
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Dec11, 1919 - Wreck of the Ethie (in the early morning)
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 138, "The Wreck of the Steamship Ethie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 59, "The Wreck of the Steamship Ethie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 88, "The Wreck of the Steamship Ethie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 86-87, "The Wreck of the Steamship Ethie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6345
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Come All ye Jolly Ice-Hunters" (theme)
NOTES: Elisabeth Bristol Greenleaf went to Sally's Cove as a volunteer teacher for Sir Wilfred Genfell's mission in the spring of 1920. Sally's Cove, near Bonne Bay on the west coast, is only two miles south from the wreck which occurred at Martin's Point.
For the account of her experiences with the song, consult R.D. Madison ed, _Newfoundland Summers: the Ballad Collecting of Elisabeth Bristol Greenleaf_ (Westerly, RI: The Utter Co., 1982), pp. 11-14. Some of the words are included with paraphrases inserted. - SH
Greenleaf's account is included in Greenleaf/Mansfield for this song - BS
Roud lumps this song with "Come All ye Jolly Ice-Hunters" -- a song with which it shares some elements, but this song is based on an incident almost a century more recent. - RBW
File: Doy59
===
NAME: Wreck of the Steamship Florizel, The
DESCRIPTION: A chronicle of the tragic wreck of the S.S. Florizel off Renews Rocks where 40 were saved out of 106.
AUTHOR: Words: Joan Endacott; Music: Harvey Freeman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: wreck sea ship disaster
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb 23/24 - Wreck of the Florizel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 140, "The Wreck of the Steamship Florizel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 31, "The Wreck of the Steamship Florizel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 72, "The Wreck of the Steamship Florizel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 38, "The Florizel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 84-85, "The Wreck of the Steamship Florizel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4417
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "The Wreck of the Steamship Florizel" (on NFOBlondahl04)
NOTES: An extensive account of this wreck is found in Cassie Brown's _A Winter's Tale._ Toronto: Doubleday Canada Ltd., 1992. The boat was taking passengers from St. John's to Halifax then on to New York. The authors of the song are from nowhere near the [site of] the  incident and the words were written three years after the wreck while the tune was written eleven years after. - SH
This song is item dD35 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Doy31
===
NAME: Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train
DESCRIPTION: The people of Tennessee want to know who wrecked their "gravy train"; bonds were issued to build highways, now the money's tied up, the people have nothing to show for it, and the banks have gone bust.
AUTHOR: Uncle Dave Macon
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer says the people of Tennessee want to know who wrecked their "gravy train"; in a major scandal, bonds were issued for $5 million to build highways, now the money's tied up, the people have nothing to show for it, and the banks have gone bust. A Dave Macon chorus: "And now we're up against it, and no use to raise a row/Of all the times I've ever seen, we're sure up against it now/The only thing that we can do is to do the best we can/Follow me, good people, I'm bound for the promised land"
KEYWORDS: crime theft political money
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "We Are Up Against It Now" (Vocalion 5009, 1926)
Uncle Dave Macon & Sam McGee, "Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train" (Okeh 45507, 1931; rec. 1930; on HardTimes2)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train" (on NLCR09)
NOTES: This is the only old-time song I know about embezzlement, making it hard to assign keywords. - PJS
File: RcWOTTGT
===
NAME: Wreck of the Vartry, The
DESCRIPTION: The Vartry sailed the Liffee overloaded with a cargo of Double X casks. A storm sinks her "ere they reached the Customs House" "All ye who drink of James's Gate (No matter what your sex), Take warning by the Vartry's fate, Thro' too much Double X!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: river ship drink storm wreck humorous
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1907 - wreck of the Guinness barge Vartry (OLochlainn)
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
OLochlainn, p. 231, "The Wreck of the Vartry" (1 fragment)
OLochlainn-More, pp. 251-252, "The Wreck of the Vartry" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Limerick Is Beautiful" (tune)
cf. "The E-ri-e" (theme) and references there
cf. "The Calabar" (theme and first line)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "In 1920 there were 12 Guinness barges in use.... The Vartry was built in 1902. The Wreck celebrated in the ballad occurred in 1907. These red and black funnelled steam barges plied the Guinness wharf near Kingsbridge, and the Customs House Quay, up to the year 1963." - BS
File: OLoc231A
===
NAME: Wreck of the Virginian Number Three, The
DESCRIPTION: "Come all you brave, bold railroad men and listen while I tell The fate of E. G. Aldrich...." He was "the oldest on the road," but still loved his work and would not retire. He and his fireman die in a crash. Railroad couples are told to be faithful
AUTHOR: probably Blind Alfred Reed
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (recording, Blind Alfred Reed)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death warning
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 24, 1927- A freight train and Virginia Rail passenger train #3 collide near Ingleside, West Virginia. The fault was apparently that of the crew of the passenger train. Engineer "Dad" Aldrich, fireman Frank O'Neal, and one other are scalded to death; 22 are injured
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 250-253, "The Weck of the Virginian Number Three" (1 text plus texts of two other songs about the same incident, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Blind Alfred Reed, "The Wreck of the Virginian" (Victor 20836, 1927)
NOTES: Cohen observes three recorded songs about this accident (recorded and probably composed by Blind Alfred Reed, Roy Harvey and the North Carolina Ramblers, and John McGhee). There is, at best, limited evidence that any of them went into tradition.
Cohen notes that the Reed recording was withdrawn from circulation at the request of the Virginia Railway -- ironic, given that the Reed version doesn't blame anyone. - RBW
File: LSRai250
===
NAME: Wreck of the Yosemite, The: see The Wreck of the Semmity (Yosemite) (File: Pea983)
===
NAME: Wreck of Thirty-Six, The
DESCRIPTION: "It was on one July morning About eight o'clock they say, When Thirty-Six left Ashland And thundered on her way." The train makes good time, but starts to shake and derails, scalding fireman Buddy Cheap to death though engineer McDonney is saved.
AUTHOR: Jim Dobbins?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 112-113, "The Wreck of Thirty-Six" (1 text)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 274, "The Wreck of the 36" (notes only)
ST ThBa112 (Partial)
Roud #14027
File: ThBa112
===
NAME: Wreck on the C & O, The [Laws G3]
DESCRIPTION: George Alley, a railroad engineer, is warned by his mother not to drive too fast. But George wants to set a speed record. As his train speeds, it runs into a rock from a landslide and is wrecked. George is killed; his mother gets to say "I told you so"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Railroad Man's Magazine, according to Cohen)
KEYWORDS: wreck train death mother railroading worker warning crash
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Oct 23, 1890 - Death of engineer George Alley when the FFV train on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was wrecked by a landslide near Hinton, West Virginia
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (14 citations)
Laws G3, "The Wreck on the C & O"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 183-196, "The Wreck on the C & O/Engine 143" (3 texts plus a reproduction of a broadside, 2 tunes; also an item, "There's Many a Man Been Murdered in Luzon," which appears related and may influence the date of this song)
Randolph 682, "The Wreck on the C. & O." (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Warner 179, "The Wreck on the C & O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shellans, pp. 60-61, "The F. F. V." (1 text, 1 tune)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 115-116, (no title) (1 fragmented text)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 62 "Engine 143" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-AFSB, pp. 31-34, "The Wreck on the C. & O. (The Death of Jack Hinton)" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 47, "The Wreck on the C. & O." (6 texts plus mention of 5 more; 2 tunes)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 725, "The Wreck on the C. & O." (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 451, "The Wreck on the C&O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 371, "There's Many a Man Killed on the Railroad" (1 text, 1 tune, a fragment with only the "There's man been killed on the railroad" stanza, which could be from this, or "Talmadge Osborne," or others)
Silber-FSWB, p. 100 "Engine 143" (1 text)
DT 635, ENGIN143*
Roud #255
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "Engine 143" (Victor V-40089, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4743, 1935; Bluebird B-6223, 1937; on AAFM1, RRinFS)
Duke Clark, "The Wreck of the F. F. & V." (Superior 2687, 1931)
Vernon Dalhart, "Wreck of the C & O #5" (OKeh 45102, 1927)
Austin Harmon, "George Allen" (AFS 2916 A, 1939; on LC61)
Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers, "The Brave Engineer" (Columbia 15174-D, 1927)
Bradley Kincaid, "Wreck on the C & O Road" (Gennett 6823/Champion 15710 [as Dan Hughey]/Supertone 9350, 1929; Champion 45098/Melotone [Canada] 45057, 1935)
George Reneau, "The C & O" (Vocalion 14897, 1924) (Vocalion 5050, 1927)
Charles Lewis Stine, "The Wreck of the C & O" (Columbia 15027-D, 1925; Harmony 5145-H, c. 1930)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Wreck of the C & O" (Edison 51823, 1926) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5198, prob. 1926), "The Wreck on the C & O"  (OKeh 7011, 1925)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Death of Talmadge Osborn" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Fatal Run" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The FFV
NOTES: Of the two songs about wrecks on the C & O (the other is "The C. & O. Wreck"), this one is the better known and probably older. Many versions have a chorus (not found in the Digital Tradition version), "Many's a man's been murdered by the railroad / And laid in his lonesome grave" (e.g. this chorus occurs in five of Cox's six texts). - RBW
Oh dear, this gets confusing. "Many a man's been murdered by the railroad" is an ending bridge from "The Fate of Talmadge Osborne." And it shows up here too.... - PJS
Cox supplies many further details about this song. According to his report, George Alley was thirty when he died, and already had four children. He lived for five hours after the wreck. Reportedly the fireman did jump from the engine, and survived.
Cohen has an extensive discussion of the song, noting that it has many errors in the text (e.g. he shows a photo of Alley, who had straight dark hair, not golden and not curly). He theorizes that the song was composed some years after the event, when memories were fading. It strikes me as at least as likely that the song is a modification of an older item, with the errors being holdovers from that piece. - RBW
File: LG03
===
NAME: Wreck on the Highway
DESCRIPTION: Singer sees automobile wreck with passengers killed,, "where whiskey and blood run together...I heard the wreck on the highway/But I didn't hear nobody pray"
AUTHOR: Dorsey Dixon
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930s
KEYWORDS: grief death crash disaster wreck
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
DT, WRCKHWAY
RECORDINGS:
Roy Acuff & his Smoky Mountain Boys, "Wreck on the Highway" (Okeh 06685, 1942; Columbia 37028, 1946; Columbia 37596/Columbia 20195, 1947; Columbia 52026, 1956)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Wreck on the Highway" (on NLCR08)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" (words)
File: DTwreckh
===
NAME: Wrecked Ship, The: see The Mermaid [Child 289] (File: C289)
===
NAME: Wren, The (The King)
DESCRIPTION: A tale of the hunting of the wren on Saint Stephen's Day. Boys go out, hunt the wren, and bring it home for a reward: "The wren, the wren, the king of all birds / St. Stephen's Day was caught in the forest / Although he be little, his honor is great..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: carol hunting wren
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 58-59, "The Wran" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WRENSONG WRENSNG2*
Roud #4683
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cutty Wren" (subject)
cf. "Hunt the Wren" (subject)
NOTES: The English legend that the wren is the king of birds has a parallel in German. A tale from the Brothers Grimm ("The Wren"/"Dier Zaunkonig," 1840, from Juhann Jakon Nikolas Musaus) explains that, when the birds decided they needed a king, they decided to hold a contest to find the king. First they said that the bird that could fly highest would be king. The eagle would have flown highest, but the wren rode on its back and so managed to climb higher still. Then the birds decided to try a digging contest. The wren slipped down a convenient mouse hole, and won that round also. So the wren became the king.
There is a similar Danish legend.
The German name of the wren, in fact, is zaunkonig, fence-king.
It's possible that the custom goes back to the Greeks; the Greek word BASILISKOS, "little king," is listed in Liddell & Scott as meaning, among other things, the golden-crested wren -- but they cite only one instance; the usual meaning of the word is "royal" or "official" (so, e.g., in the New Testament).
The identical equation seems to occur in Latin: "regulus" means "petty king" (compare rex, king), but the word is also used of the wren.
In many parts of the British Isles, it became the custom to capture a wren on St. Stephen's Day (December 26) and parade it about (perhaps while asking for alms).
Explanations of this custom vary. Kennedy quotes an account in which a wren's song aroused a sleeping sentry and saved English and Manx soldiers from an attack in Ireland. Richard Garnett and Edmund Gosse, _English Literature: An Illustrated Record_ four volumes, MacMillan, 1903-1904 (I used the 1935 edition published in two volumes), p. 298, claim that the "report of Brian Boru's great victory over the Danes on St. Stephen's Day survives in Ireland in a carol about a wren." (Uh-huh.)
Vallancey claims that the wren was used in augury by the Druids, and so Christian missionaries hunted it to prevent this use. Flanders and Olney also date it back to druidism.
Another story says that it will precede a future hero (e.g. King Arthur). Frazer compares the whole business to various coronation quests and hunts for sacred animals. Greenway offers perhaps the greatest stretch of all, considering the wren to represent the "indomitable peasant." - RBW
File: FO059
===
NAME: Wrestle On, Jacob
DESCRIPTION: ""I hold my brother with a trembling hand, The Lord will bless my soul, Wrestle on, Jacob, Jacob, day is a-breaking." "I will not let you go, My Lord. "Fisherman Peter out to sea" "He cast all night...." "He catch no fish, but catch some soul."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious fishing fight
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 4, "Wrestle On, Jacob" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11836
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wrestlin' Jacob" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: This bears a great deal of similarity to "Wrestlin' Jacob," in the Brown collection. Both refer to Jacob's wrestling with God, described in Genesis 32:22-32 (thought by many to be a converted folktale, since it sounds as if Jacob is wrestling with a night-demon, and it ends with a "just so" story about why the Israelites don't eat a certain muscle of the body).
The two, however, have somewhat different forms, and Brown lacks a tune to link them. Plus this song has a second incident, Peter's miraculous catch, derived from John 21:3-6 or Luke 5:3-6 or some combination of the two. On this basis, I am very tentatively splitting the song, while admitting that they could easily be lumped. (Roud lumps them). - RBW
File: AWG004B
===
NAME: Wrestlin' Jacob
DESCRIPTION: "Wrestlin' Jacob seek de Lawd. I will not let thee go. And wrestle all night till the break ob day." "Wrestle Jacob; day is a-breakin'." "(Brethren/Elders/etc., don't get weary (x4) For de work is almost done. Keep your lamps trimmed and burnin'...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious fight Bible nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 656, "Wrestlin' Jacob" (1 text)
Roud #11836
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Wrestle On, Jacob" (lyrics, subject)
NOTES: The wrestling match between God and Jacob at Peniel/Penuel, which ended as day broke, is told in Genesis 32:22-32. 
There is, incidentally, a strong folkloric element to the story; it appears that Jacob may originally have been wrestling with some sort of minor demon, and the story was cleaned up. Imperfectly, since the place is called both Peniel/Penual (and what was The Ineffable God doing in a wrestling match anyway?). It even has a "just so" moral: The Israelites did not eat a particular part of an animal, because the demon injured Jacob there.
This may well be the same as "Wrestle On, Jacob," since they have many common lyrics. The form is a little different, though, and "Wrestle On" has New Testament references not found here. If Brown had had a tune, that might have decided me in favor of lumping. But Brown doesn't have a tune, and when in doubt, we split. - RBW
File: Br3656
===
NAME: Wrestling With Rats: see The Waterford Boys (File: GrMa072)
===
NAME: Wretched Rambling Boy, The: see The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)
===
NAME: Wright and Ketchen Line
DESCRIPTION: Singer describes working on the Wright and Ketchen narrow-gauge lumber railroad, and the characters with whom he works. At the end of the season, he plans to go to Saginaw and spend his money.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work railroading moniker
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Beck 16, "Wright and Ketchen Line" (1 text)
Roud #8865
NOTES: This comes close to being a nonballad, since very little happens in it; after being turned out in the woods, everyone works -- after which the song deviates into character descriptions. - PJS
File: Be016
===
NAME: Write a Letter to Mother: see Come Raise Me in Your Arms, Dear Brother (File: R235)
===
NAME: Write a Letter to My Mother: see Come Raise Me in Your Arms, Dear Brother (File: R235)
===
NAME: Write My Mother I'll Be Home
DESCRIPTION: "There is somewhere the sun is shining, There is somewhere a little rain." The singer asks that a letter tell his mother he'll be home someday. The white folks have him on a chain gang. He asks Stella if he can be her fellow; she has another beau
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: prison home mother courting rejection
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 353, "Write My Mother I'll Be Home" (1 text)
Roud #11731
File: Br3353
===
NAME: Wrong Road, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer takes the "wrong road"; he gets drunk with a man, they quarrel; the singer shoots him. He warns hearers; he is "hanging from a scaffold/Between the earth and sky." He is going home, telling us "You might forget the singer/But don't forget the song"
AUTHOR: probably one of the Hall Brothers
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (recording, Hall Brothers)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer takes the "wrong road" in Alabama; he gets drunk with a man, they quarrel, and the singer shoots him. He warns listeners not to drink or keep bad company, for now he is "hanging from a scaffold/Between the earth and sky." He is going home to glory, having repented, but tells us "You might forget the singer/But don't forget the song"
KEYWORDS: warning fight violence crime murder punishment death drink
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Hall Brothers [Ron & Jay Hugh], "The Wrong Road" (Bluebird 7728, 1938; on RoughWays2)
File: RcTWrRo
===
NAME: Wyandotte's Farewell Song, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer sadly bids farewell to his ancestral home and prepares to head west. Various familiar scenes -- trees, streams, roads, church -- are fondly recalled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1845 (newspaper in Sandusky, Ohio)
KEYWORDS: nonballad parting travel Indians(Am.)
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Eddy 117, "The Wyandotte's Farewell Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST E117 (Full)
Roud #4342
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Fare Ye Well, Enniskillen (The Inniskillen Dragoon)" (tune)
NOTES: This reminds me strongly of "A Prisoner for Life (I - Farewell to Green Fields and Meadows)" -- while there are no common stanzas, the feeling is quite similar and they can be fit to the same tune. But "A Prisoner for Life" is in triple time, while Eddy transcribes this song in four. So I suppose they're separate. Particularly as this appears to be the song of an American Indian forced to leave home and go across the Mississippi (presumably to a reservation, perhaps in Indian Territory?).
In the song, the singer expresses gratitude to the "white friends, who first taught me to pray." This strikes me as laying it on a bit thick. - RBW
File: E117
===
NAME: Wylie Wife of the Hie Toun Hie, The [Child 290]
DESCRIPTION: A gentleman will give a reward to lie with the lass of the hie toun hie. The hostler's wife lures the girl in and locks the door behind her. The gentleman sleeps with her. Eventually he sees her and her baby, and marries her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1821
KEYWORDS: seduction sex marriage trick pregnancy children separation reunion love
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 290, "The Wylie Wife of the Hie Toun Hie" (4 texts)
Roud #125
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dainty Doonby" (plot)
cf. "The Broom of Cowdenknows" [Child 217] (plot)
cf. "The Sleepy Merchant" (plot)
cf. "The Bonnie Parks o' Kilty" (plot)
File: C290
===
NAME: Wyoming Massacre, The
DESCRIPTION: "Kind heaven assist the trembling muse While she attempts to tell Of poor Wyoming's overthrow By savage sons of hell." "One hundred whites in painted hue, Whom Butler there did lead..." offer terms of surrender to the defenders, then slaughter them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) war murder trick lie
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: July 1, 1778 - The Wyoming Massacre
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Burt, pp. 129-131, "(A TRAGICAL ACCOUNT of the battle between the People of Wyoming and the Indians of Westmoreland in the year 1778, in which two hundred of the Americans were unhappily sacrificed to the savage barbarity of some treacherous Americans and cruel savages, in a Poem by a Person then resident near the field of battle)" (1 excerpted text)
NOTES: The Wyoming Massacre was perhaps the worst incident of savagery in the Revolutionary War, but was not really atypical. The British, trying to fight a war at the end of a very long supply line, naturally tried to rely on locals as much as possible, and that meant Indians.
And the Indians weren't interested in anything in particular except loot, and the easiest way to provide loot was to allow massacres. On the whole, the Indians probably did the British more harm than good -- they were unreliable and often deserted, and frequently proved ineffective in battle, as e.g. in the Saratoga campaign. And they blackened the British reputation among wavering colonials.
The Wyoming massacre goes far to demonstrate why. John Butler (?-1794), a loyalist commissioned major, brought a force believed to have numbered in excess of 1000 to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. The only defence was a small, undermanned fort, and Butler induced it to surrender by offering honorable surrender and safety.
Once the gates were opened, Butler ordered a massacre. Accounts of what happened next vary, but at least two hundred people, and probably many more, died. - RBW
File: Burt121
===
NAME: X Y Z
DESCRIPTION: "Smash! Jemmy, let us buss, we'll off An' see Newcassel Races." They will watch "X Y Z that bonny steed... He's sure to win the Cup, man." Along the way, they encounter many improbable adventures
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: horse racing travel
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 164-166, "X Y Z" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3171
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Cameronian Rant" (tune)
File: StoR164
===
NAME: Yaller Gal, The
DESCRIPTION: In praise of the power of the yaller gal: "It takes a long, tall yaller gal To make a preacher lay his Bible down. It takes a long, tall yaller gal To make a bulldog break his chain." "I got a long, tall yaller gal On do road somewhere."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: seduction clergy nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 450, "The Yaller Gal" (2 fragments plus a brief World War I (?) parody about making Germans surrender)
Roud #11784
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Yallow Gal" (theme)
File: Br3450
===
NAME: Yaller Ribbon: see Around Her Neck She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (File: Arn149)
===
NAME: Yankee Doodle
DESCRIPTION: Concerning the exploits of a New England backwoodsman who joins Washington's colonial army. He sees many wonders his mind cannot comprehend. He is steadily teased: "Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle dandy...."
AUTHOR: sometimes credited to Dr. Richard Shuckburgh
EARLIEST_DATE: 1794
KEYWORDS: war rebellion humorous America
FOUND_IN: US(All)
REFERENCES: (12 citations)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 521-525, "Yankee Doodle" (4 texts, 1 tune, although 1 text is the Confederate version)
Linscott, pp. 115-118, "Virginia Reel" [medley of "The Irish Washerwoman," "The White Cockade," and "Yankee Doodle"] (1 tune for each of the three melodies, plus dance instructions)
Opie-Oxford2 548, "Yankee Doodle came to town" (6 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #109, p. 92, "(Yankee Doodle)"
Arnett, pp. 18-19, "Yankee Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 3-8, "Yankee Doodle" (1 text plus fragments)
Krythe 1, pp. 3-14, "Yankee Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 338-340, "Yankee Doodle" (1 text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 71, "Yankee Doodle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 292, "Yankee Doodle" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 659-660+, "Yankee Doodle"
DT, YANKDOOD*
Roud #4501
RECORDINGS:
Piper's Gap Ramblers, "Yankee Doodle" (OKeh 45185, 1928; rec. 1927)
Pete Seeger, "Yankee Doodle" (on PeteSeeger17) (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 31(146), "Yankee Doodle ("Father and I went down to camp, along with captain Goodwin"), A.W. Auner (Philadelphia), c.1860; also Harding B 31(128), "Yanke Doodle"[not misspelled in the text]
LOCSinging, sb40592b, "Yankee Doodle," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also hc00037b, "Yanke Doodle"[not misspelled in the text]
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Confederate 'Yankee Doodle'"
cf. "The Presidents (The Presidents in Rhyme)" (tune)
cf. "The Battle of the Kegs" (tune)
cf. "Devilish Mary" [Laws Q4] (tune)
cf. "Fair and Free Elections" (tune)
cf. "Uncle John is Sick Abed" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
Confederate "Yankee Doodle" (File: R249)
The Presidents (The Presidents in Rhyme) (File: R877)
The Battle of the Kegs (File: SBoA077)
Fair and Free Elections (File: FSWB284)
Uncle John Is Sick Abed (File: LIWUJISA)
The Times (Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 144-146)
The Embargo (Darling-NAS, pp. 342-344)
The Preposition Song (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 203)
James K. Polk campaign song: "The Democrats will be triumphant" (see John Siegenthaler, _James K. Polk_, Times Books, 2003, p. 91)
Sir William he, Snug as a flea (broadside lampooning General Sir William Howe's liason with Mrs. Loring) (see Stanley Weintraub, _Iron Tears: America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire: 1775-1783_, Free Press, 2005, p. 123)
NOTES: There is a reference to "Yankee Doodle" in a comic opera of 1767 ("The Disappointment, or The Force of Credulity" by Andrew Barton), but given the references in the common version to the continental army and "Captain Washington," the piece as commonly sung can hardly predate the Revolutionary War.
Krythe gives an extensive summary of the stories told about the song's origins, including a similar piece of doggerel allegedly dating to the time of Cromwell (died 1658). Most of them must be regarded as folkloric. Similarly Spaeth, in his _A History of Popular Music in America_, devotes thousands of words (pp.15-21) to the known history and alleged antecedents of the song. The sum, as Spaeth makes abundantly clear, tells us very little. We must confess that we really don't know the history of the song.
Laura Ingalls Wilder had a curious version (_Little House in the Big Woods_, chapter 2) with a chorus I have not seen elsewhere: "And I'll sing Yankee Doodle-de-do, and I'll sing Yankee Doodle" (x2). This portion of the Little House books is fictional (Laura did not live in Wisconsin at the age described), and so we cannot date the song, but it is presumably traditional.
This "Yankee Doodle" is obviously not to be confused with the 1812 song "The Constitution and the Guerriere," sometimes titled "Yankee Doodle Dandy-O." - RBW
I have not listed all the [broadside] variants ("Yankee Doodle No.2," "Yankee Doodle No.3," and others including an "Original Yankee Doodle") You can find them among the Bodleian and LOCSinging collections.
Broadside LOCSinging sb40592b: H. De Marsan dating per _Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song_ by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site.
Broadsides LOCSinging hc00037b and Bodleian Harding B 31(128) are duplicates. - BS
File: LxA521
===
NAME: Yankee Doodle Dandy
DESCRIPTION: "I have a daughter and you'd think she was a lady.... She has a sweetheart comes to see her nights... And the only tune he whistles right is 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.'" The young man causes so much trouble that the fathers vows to drive himoff
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: music courting humorous father
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Dean, p. 76, "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1 text)
Roud #21717
NOTES: I haven't been able to locate a source for this song, but it certainly sounds as if it originated on stage.
Reading this song, I couldn't help but think of Ulysses S. Grant, who was tone-deaf. He once commented that he knew only two tunes: One was "Yankee Doodle" and the other wasn't. What's more, according to William A. DeGregorio, _The Complete Book of U. S. Presidents_ 1993 edition, Barricade Books, p. 263, the former Julia Dent's parents disapproved of her marriage to Grant. Not quite the same situation as in this song, but you wonder if it didn't kick around in the author's mind a little. - RBW
File: Dean076A
===
NAME: Yankee Doodle Dandy-O: see The Constitution and the Guerriere [Laws A6] (File: LA06)
===
NAME: Yankee Dutchman, The: see Poor Schnapps (File: R218)
===
NAME: Yankee John, Stormalong (Liza Lee)
DESCRIPTION: Pulling shanty. Singer says that Liza Lee promised to marry him. He shipped out but promised her a ring, etc. Now she's jilted him. Remaining verses on general sailing themes. Chorus: "Yan-kee John, Storm-along." Colcord says this is of Negro origin.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor courting separation floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain US
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Colcord, p. 60, "Liza Lee" (1 fragment, 1 tune-quoted from Sharp-EFC)
Hugill, pp. 80, "Yankee John, Stormalong" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 74]
Sharp-EFC, XXXVI, p. 41, "Liza Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LIZALEE*
Roud #4698
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "A Hundred Years Ago" (lyrics)
NOTES: Recognized mostly by its choruses. The lyrics mostly float, with Hugill's version being about half "A Hundred Years Ago." - RBW
File: Hugi080
===
NAME: Yankee Land
DESCRIPTION:  A Belfast woman is seduced by "a sailor from a distant port" and said "he'd take me far away to his happy home in Yankee Land." We are left believing he reneges.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: seduction America sailor betrayal
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 96, "Yankee Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: GrMa096
===
NAME: Yankee Man-of-War (I), The: see The British Man-of-War (File: FSC013)
===
NAME: Yankee Man-of-War (II), The: see Paul Jones the Privateer [Laws A3] (File: LA03)
===
NAME: Yankee Man-of-War (III), The
DESCRIPTION: Describes a battle between an unnamed ship captained by John Paul Jones and an (also unnamed) English man-of-war. Jones chases down the man-of-war, catches up at 11 a.m., they fight "yardarm to yardarm" for five hours till the English flag comes down
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: navy ship battle foc's'le
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 180-181, "The Yankee Man-of-War II" (1 text)
Roud #625
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Paul Jones, the Privateer" [Laws A3] (subject of John Paul Jones)
cf. "Paul Jones's Victory" [Laws A4] (subject of John Paul Jones)
NOTES: Harlow listed this along with another "Yankee Man-of-War" (aka "Paul Jones the Privateer" [Laws A3]) though the words and meter is different, and the text clearly describes a different battle.  [Roud nonetheless lumps them, probably taking Harlow's word for it. - RBW]
The only battle I could find that might fit what's described here is one that took place on April 24, 1778 when Jones, captaining the _Ranger_, the captured the HMS _Drake_ off the coast of Ireland. However, that battle actually lasted only an hour or so, not five as this song describes. - SL
Some of this may be due to inaccurate reporting of what Jones said and did. Samuel Eliot Morison's biography _John Paul Jones_ (1959; Time-Life edition printed 1981) repeatedly laments the miserable state of Jones biographies, at one point he accuses a writer of "complete fabrication," adding that this author "found it easier to write Jones's letters himself than use the genuine ones in the Library of Congress." This does not, of course, prove that Morison's biography is accurate (though his reputation is high) -- but it proves that our sources as a whole are unreliable.
For a (largely Morison-derived) biography of Jones, see "Paul Jones's Victory" [Laws A4]. - RBW
File: Harl180
===
NAME: Yankee Manufactures
DESCRIPTION: "I wish I was in Yankee lad, And was a boy again, sirs... I'd never wander from my home... But stay at home, eat pumpkin pie Of Yankee manufacture." The singer boasts of things "of Yankee manufacture:" Pretty girls, George Washington, British defeats
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Songs of Yesterday)
KEYWORDS: bragging patriotic nonballad food
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: June 17, 1775 - American defeat at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Americans are pushed from their positions, but inflict heavy casualties on the British, and so feel they have earned some bragging rights.
Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulse Pakenham
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 535-536, "Yankee Manufactures" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: BNEF535
===
NAME: Yankee Retreat, The
DESCRIPTION: "The very next morning we marched very slow" and attacked the Yankees through brush and thorn. "General Averil" tries to encourage the troops, but "Jackson" pushes on
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 1-4, 1863 - Battle of Chancellorsville
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
JHCox 67, "The Yankee Retreat" (1 text)
Roud #5458
NOTES: With only two stanzas to work with, and no actual plot surviving, it's hard to tell what this song is about. Its connection with the Battle of Chancellorsville seems certain, however. In the first stanza, the singer reports "Fighting through briers, fighting through thorn, Such fighting I never saw since I was born."
The above description largely restricts the context to the "Wilderness" battles of Chancellorsville and the Wilderness. (The western battle of Chickamauga was also fought in a forest, but it doesn't fit the generals.) "Stonewall"Jackson was killed at the former (where he led the grand outflanking march which gave the Confederates victory), so it must be the battle involved.
"General Averil" is presumably William Woods Averell (1832-1900), who led a Union cavalry division. His troops had been expected to go on a raid before Chancellorsville, but bad weather held him up. As a result, he was placed in charge of scouting the Union right wing. Averell reported to Union commander Joseph Hooker that the Federal right flank was impassable. Jackson proved Averell wrong, and Hooker relieved him (though, in the grand Union tradition, Averell was reinstated and promoted -- only to be relieved by Sheridan in 1864 for lack of aggressiveness). - RBW
File: JHCox067
===
NAME: Yankee Shore
DESCRIPTION: "As I roved out one morning, being in the lovely month of May," the singer meets a girl. If she'd marry, he would take her to America. Though her father agrees, her parents grieve "when I took her from her parents and land her safe on the Yankee shore"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage emigration beauty sea America Ireland father mother sailor
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 233-234, "Yankee Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6462
File: Pea233
===
NAME: Yankee Tars
DESCRIPTION: Nature has bestowed the U.S. with every possible blessing, including "true Yankee hearts." A Navy is needed to "protect from each insolent foe." Examples of how "Yankee tars shall their country protect." Verses end with Dreadnaught's "derry down" line.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1902 (S. B. Luce's _Naval Songs_)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Nature has bestowed the U.S. with every possible blessing, including "true Yankee hearts." A Navy is needed to "protect from each insolent foe." Examples of how "Yankee tars shall their country protect." Verses end with Dreadnaught's "derry down" line. Two verses cite the battle between the Constitution and the Guerriere.
KEYWORDS: navy sailor America
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Harlow, pp. 189-190, "Yankee Tars" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9167
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Constitution and the Guerriere" [Laws A6] (partial story) and references there
cf. "The Dreadnaught" [Laws D13] (tune)
File: Harl189
===
NAME: Yankees Are Coming, The
DESCRIPTION: "The Yankees are coming! Away! Which way? Who saw them? Do tell us. And what did they?... Fifteen hundred, they say, and they are at Lamar." The people's fear is mentioned, as well as the unionists' entry into the town and their determination
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar soldier derivative
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hudson 124, pp. 264-265, "The Yankees Are Coming" (1 text)
Roud #4503
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Campbells Are Coming" (tune)
SAME_TUNE:
The Campbells Are Coming (File: FSWB281B)
NOTES: The references in this song make the historical situation hard to determine. The only specific names are:
Lamar (place name; there is a Lamar, Mississippi, but also one in Missouri). Both were the sites of small skirmishes: The one in Missouri on August 24 and November 5, 1862, both very small; the one in Mississippi on November 12, 1862 and only slightly larger (it involved the equivalent of a single brigade).
Mitchell (presumably a Confederate soldier, but the Confederacy never had a general of that name; the Union had a General Ormsby M. Mitchel who fought in the west but died 1862)
Grant (Ulysses S. Grant, who commanded at Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign)
Jayhawkers (usually refers to soldiers in Kansas or Missouri)
Vicksburg (the key to Confederate control of the Mississippi)
Pemberton (John C. Pemberton, the commander of the Vickburg garrison).
My best guess is that this refers to Benjamin H. Grierson's Mississippi raid of April 17-May 2, 1863, in which some 1700 soldiers raced from Tennessee to New Orleans, cutting railroads and spreading confusion. This helped Grant get his forced in position for the final attack on Vicksburg. But other possibilities cannot be discounted, especially if (as seems possible, since the song seems to shift between Union and Confederate persepectives) two songs have mixed. - RBW
File: Hud124
===
NAME: Yarmouth Fishermen's Song, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of a tough voyage, with high winds and seas, and few fish. Another ship comes close and cuts their anchor cable; their ropes catch fire. They limp into harbor, but proudly return to sea the next day. Singer toasts the master and crew
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953 (recorded from Harry Cox)
KEYWORDS: fishing sea ship drink sailor worker
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #2434
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "The Yarmouth Fishermen's Song" (on LastDays)
NOTES: According to the notes to the Harry Cox recording "What Will Become of England," Cox learned this song, "composed by one of his father's shipmates... from his father. Harry couldn't remember all the verses, however, and complete the song to the best of his ability." - RBW
File: RcTYFS
===
NAME: Yarn of the Nancy Bell, The: see The Fate of the Nancy Bell (File: Harl194)
===
NAME: Yavipai Pete (Old Iron Pants Pete)
DESCRIPTION: Cowboy Yavipai (Iron Pants) Pete is refused a job because he's not tough enough for the job. Pete lassos a bear with barbed wire, rides it back to the ranch (with a rattlesnake for a quirt) and asks whether he can have the job now. The rancher hires him
AUTHOR: Curley Fletcher
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Curley Fletcher, "Songs of the Sage")
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Yavipai (Iron Pants) Pete is described, a rough and rowdy but skilled cowboy. Refused a job by a rancher, who says he's not tough enough for the job, he lassos a bear with barbed wire, rides it back to the ranch (with a rattlesnake for a quirt) and asks whether he can have the job now. The rancher hires him, noting that the bear had eaten the range boss the previous night
KEYWORDS: travel clothes death farming work talltale animal boss cowboy
FOUND_IN: US(Ro,SW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Harry Jackson, "Old Iron Pants Pete" (on HJackson1)
NOTES: Jackson reports that this was originally an Arizona song, "Yavipi Pete," but that he and his fellow Wyoming ranch-hands renamed it, "Old Iron Pants Pete" and substituted local place names. - PJS
File: RcOIPP
===
NAME: Yaw, Yaw, Yaw!: see Ja, Ja, Ja! (File: Doe086)
===
NAME: Ye Ballade of Ivan Petrofsky Skevar: see Abdul the Bulbul Emir (I) (File: LxA341)
===
NAME: Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon: see The Banks o' Doon (File: CTbnksbr)
===
NAME: Ye Gae But to Your Beef-Stan'
DESCRIPTION: Cut a slice of meat -- but don't cut your hand -- for Besuthian. "Hogmanay!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: request food begging ritual nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig 161, p. 2, ("Ye gae but to your beef stan'") (1 fragment)
GreigDuncan3 643, "Ye Gae But to Your Beef-Stan'" (1 text)
Roud #6076
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Besuthian" (subject) and information there
cf. "Get Up Gudewife" (subject) and references there
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Besuthan
NOTES: Greig: "Miss Bell Robertson ... says [the rhyme] was sung by a man who came through Rosehearty begging when her grandmother was a girl, circ. 1775.... After singing the rhyme the man cried "Hogmanay!" - BS
For what little is known of the word "Besuthian," see "Besuthian." - RBW
File: GrD3643
===
NAME: Ye Gentlemen of England (I) [Laws K2]
DESCRIPTION: The singer wishes to remind the nobility of the dangers faced by seamen. He cites his own example. A storm off Ram's Head runs nine English ships aground. The largest ship (the Coronation?) loses almost all her crew, and the others are hardly better off
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1686
KEYWORDS: ship storm sailor
FOUND_IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws K2, "Ye Gentlemen of England I"
Flanders/Olney, pp. 193-195, "You Gentlemen of England Fair" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 66, "Ye Gentlemen of England" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 138, "You Gentlemen of England" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 47-49, "When the Stormy Winds Do Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. BBI, ZN3028, "You Gentleman of England, that lives at home at ease"
DT 555, GENENGLF
Roud #1803
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Bay of Biscay, Oh" [Laws K3]
cf. "Ye Parliament of England (I)"
cf. "Pretty Nancy of London (Jolly Sailors Bold)"
cf. "The Soldier and the Sailor" (theme)
cf. "We Shepherds Are the Best of Men" (stucture and theme:virtue and courage of an occupational group)
File: LK02
===
NAME: Ye Guardian Powers (Nancy Wilson)
DESCRIPTION: "Ye guardian powers that rule above, And know how fondly I do love, God grant to ease my tottering pain...." The girl's love has been banished by his father's command. She grieves and laments his absence at length
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation father
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Randolph 753, "Ye Guardian Powers" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 511-513, "Ye Guardian Powers" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 753A)
Roud #7397
NOTES: Randolph quotes Ozark folklore to the effect that this piece was written by a girl named Nancy Wilson "who committed suicide near Frankfort, Ky., in the early years of the nineteenth century."
One informant gave the story in even more detail: Nancy Wilson, an orphan, was hired by a wealthy family as a servant. The son of the household fell in love with her; the parents disapproved of the match. When he slept with her, they sent him away. She wrote this poem, then hanged herself. He came home for her, and hanged himself when he learned she was dead. Naturally, disasters followed for the family.
One can only suspect that this story is derived from a few dozen other similar ballads, e.g. "The Silver Dagger (I)" [Laws G21] - RBW
File: R753
===
NAME: Ye Ken Pretty Well What I Mean, O
DESCRIPTION: In an woman's house "you get your fill" with a "bonny servant lassie for to carry it all." A soldier asks for ale and takes the lass to bed. They name their genitals. His plump stallion falls in her well and comes out like "a half-drowned rat"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: sex bawdy servant soldier
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan1 50, "Green Leaves So Green" (3 fragments, 2 tunes)
Roud #3807
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Trooper Watering His Nag" (lyrics, style)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Steggie
NOTES: GreigDuncan1 fragments have none of the bawdy verses. John Mehlberg's immortalia.com site has a text as "Ye Ken Pretty Well What I Mean, O" that - Hamish Henderson reports - Arthur Argo got "from an elderly relative." That text is the basis of the description.
Perhaps Opie-Oxford2 541, "There Was an Old Woman Lived Under a Hill" is just a fragment of this ballad, censored, like the GreigDuncan1 fragments. - BS
I'm tempted to lump this with "The Trooper Watering His Nag" -- the lyric and sly tone are obviously quite close. But Roud and Ben Schwartz both leave them separate, so I am very tentatively doing the same. - RBW
File: GrD1050
===
NAME: Ye Landlords of Ireland
DESCRIPTION: The singer goes to America, then returns to Ireland -- to find that his mother had died in poverty. He kills the landlord to avenge her. Once again he flees, but sends a warning to the landlords that revenge is coming
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: poverty rambling murder death poverty revenge landlord
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 224-225, "Ye Landlords of Ireland" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA224
===
NAME: Ye Loyal Lovers
DESCRIPTION: A rich farmer's daughter loves Pat Molloy. When her father wouldn't agree to the marriage he enlists. He promises to marry her when he returns. She proves true but he returns married from "India's burning shore." Young maid: Never trust "a rovin' blade"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity marriage promise war separation India father return
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
OLochlainn-More 19, "Ye Loyal Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9232
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Brave Irish Lad" (tune) (OLochlainn-More)
File: OLcM019
===
NAME: Ye Maidens of Ontario: see Maids of Simcoe (Ontario) (File: Doe241)
===
NAME: Ye Mar'ners All: see Ye Mariners All (File: VWL103)
===
NAME: Ye Mariners All
DESCRIPTION: Singer, a sailor, describes the joys of booze and urges all to share them.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1838
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 103, "Ye Mar'ners All" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MARNERSA*
Roud #1191
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
A Jug of This
File: VWL103
===
NAME: Ye Noble Big Pine Tree
DESCRIPTION: A conversation between a singer and a majestic pine. The singer admits the tree's ancient dignity, but tells it of how the loggers will attack it and take it down, then goes on to the fate of the wood
AUTHOR: William T. Allen (Shan T. Boy)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: work logger
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Rickaby 12, "Ye Noble Big Pine Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Rick062 (Partial)
NOTES: Rickaby concedes that this piece, by the author of "The Banks of the Little Eau Pleine" [Laws C2] and "The Shanty Boy on the Big Eau Claire" [Laws C11] is probably not traditional, but includes it as a sample of Allen's work.
Most of Allen's work has a quirky side, and this is no exception, with lines such as "Your fall will sound like distant thunder, And fill the birds and squirrels with wonder...." "But seeing you're so sound and healthy, You'll make some lumberman more wealthy." But it seems more serious than most of his work. The tune is listed as "Will the Weaver." - RBW
File: Rick062
===
NAME: Ye Parliament of England (I)
DESCRIPTION: The Americans present their claims against England: First limiting trade, then impressing American sailors, then insulting American captains. The Americans of course have gone to war, and mention their naval victories
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1948 (Shay, though undated manuscripts are much older)
KEYWORDS: navy patriotic war
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1812-1815 - War of 1812
Aug 19, 1812 - the 44-gun U.S.S. _Constitution_ defeats and captures the 38-gun H.M.S. _Guerriere_ in the north Atlantic
Oct 18, 1812 - sloop U.S.S. _Wasp_ engaged with sloop H.M.S. _Frolic_ off North America; _Frolic_ is rescued by the arrival of the British ship of the line _Poictiers,_ which captures the _Wasp_
Oct 25, 1812 - the 44-gun U. S. S. _United States,_ commanded by Stephen Decatur, defeats the 38-gun H. M. S. _Macedonian_ in the mid-Atlantic
Dec 29, 1812 - U. S. S. _Constitution_ defeats the 38-gun H. M. S. _Java_ off Bahia, Brazil
Feb 24, 1813 - U. S. S. _Hornet_ defeats H. M. S. _Peacock_
Sep 5, 1813 - U. S. S. _Enterprise_, an experimental ship, fights an indecisive battle with H. M. S. _Boxer_
FOUND_IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 195-196, "Ye Parliament of England" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 278-279, "Ye Parliaments of England" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 158-160, "Ye Parliament of England" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 128-130, "Ye Parliament of England" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PARLENG*
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 308, "Ye Parliament of England" (1 text)
Roud #2078
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Ye Gentlemen of England (I)" [Laws K2]
cf. "Charge the Can Cheerily" (theme, ships)
NOTES: This ballad correctly identifies the American complaints that led to the War of 1812: restrictions on trade and the pressing of American seamen. It also highlights several small victories of the American navy (but ignores assorted American defeats, as well as the fact that many American ships, including the _United States_, were forced to stay in port for most of the war due to British blockade. The American fleet, composed of nothing larger than a frigate, in fact had no ability to challenge the British fleet of ships of the line).
Based on the events recounted, it would appear that this piece began life as a broadside in late 1812 or early 1813 (this based on the fact that it mentions the _Essex_ positively; the _Essex_ beat the _Albert_ in 1812 but was defeated by _Phoebe_ and _Cherub_ in 1814; see Donald R. Hickey, _The War of 1812_, pp. 156-157); it is possible that later versions added additional battles. - RBW
File: FO195
===
NAME: Ye Parliaments of England: see Ye Parliament of England (I) (File: FO195)
===
NAME: Ye Sons of Australia
DESCRIPTION: "Ye sons of Australia, forget not the brave, And gather wildflowers to place on their graves. They were four daring outlaws...." In praise of the Kelly gang. It mentions the hunt for them, and how Kelly's sister Kate warned them. The ending is implied
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (recording, Phil Shirley)
KEYWORDS: Australia outlaw death burial
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 99-100, "Ye Sons of Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 68-69, "Ye Sons of Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5475
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Kelly Song (Farewell Dan and Edward Kelly)" (subject)
cf. "Kelly Was Their Captain" (subject)
cf. "My Name is Edward Kelly" (subject)
cf. "Ballad of the Kelly Gang" (subject)
cf. "Stringybark Creek" (subject)
cf. "The Kelly Gang Were Strong" (subject)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Kate Kelly's Song
File: MA099
===
NAME: Ye Sons of Columbia: see Fuller and Warren [Laws F16] (File: LF16)
===
NAME: Ye Sons of Old Ireland
DESCRIPTION: "Ye sons of old Ireland, I'm sorry to hear, There is no money stirring this present new year." The gentry no longer eat "turtle and wine ... Their bellies that swelled with Napoleon's renown Will grow flat like old air-bags since Boney is down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (Joyce's _Old Irish Folk Music and Songs_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: war commerce nonballad political Napoleon hardtimes food
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Moylan 198, "Ye Sons of Old Ireland" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Moylan: "Times were good during the Napoleonic era as the war effort generated massive demand for goods and services in Ireland. An economic slump ensued after Napoleon's defeat as the war machine was wound down and armies were demobilized."[An interesting contrast to the situation presented in songs such as "The Troubles." From what I've read, Irish industry didn't benefit all that much, but the army did help soak up some of the vast surplus population -- for a while. - RBW] This is like the lines from "The Grand Conversation on Napoleon": "Napoleon he was a friend to heroes, both young and old, He caus'd the money for to fly wherever he did go." Here also is the main theme of "The Grand Conversation Under the Rose": "Come stir up the wars, and our trade will be flourishing." 
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, "You Sons of Old Ireland" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) - BS
File: Moyl198
===
NAME: Ye're Noo on Bogieside
DESCRIPTION: "Assist me, all ye muses, For to compose a song, 'Tis of a tyrant farmer Near Gartly did belong." The farmer continually demands more effort for small reward, reminding the staff "Ye're noo on Bogieside." The singer looks forward to the day he is free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes farming
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
GreigDuncan3 359, "Ye're Now on Bogieside" (1 text)
Ord, p. 281, "Ye're Noo on Bogieside" (1 text)
Roud #5600
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Bogieside
File: Ord281
===
NAME: Ye're Now on Bogieside: see Ye're Noo on Bogieside (File: Ord281)
===
NAME: Ye've a' heard tell o' the wife o' Gateside: see The Wife o' Gateside (File: GrD2207)
===
NAME: Yea Ho, Little Fish
DESCRIPTION: From the sailor to the fish: "Yea ho, little fish, don't cry, don't cry; Yea ho, little fish, you'll be a whale by and by." The singer talks of the voyage, of how the fish try to avoid capture, and of the love whose picture is "tattooed all over my chest"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: fishing sea
FOUND_IN: Australia Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 119-120, 133, "The Little Fish" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Manifold-PASB, p. 5, "The Little Fish" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, YEAFISH
Roud #5477
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Farewell, Little Fishes" (on PeteSeeger30)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Song of the Fishes (Blow Ye Winds Westerly)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Meredith and Anderson claim that this song is probably Portugese; their only basis for this, however, is the vague recollection of one of their informants. - RBW
File: MA119
===
NAME: Year of Jubalo, The: see Kingdom Coming (The Year of Jubilo) (File: R230)
===
NAME: Year of Jubilo, The: see Kingdom Coming (The Year of Jubilo) (File: R230)
===
NAME: Year of Seventy One, The
DESCRIPTION: New Years 1971. Bob Mack and Mickey ride Bob's tractor to Mass but it will not pass "Maggie's" where Bob always stops for a drink. Then, drunk, he drives into a ditch, losing Mickey to the road. Mickey swears he'll not ride in the tractor for a while.
AUTHOR: Jim McGonigle (source: McBride)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 71, "The Year of Seventy One" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: McB1071
===
NAME: Yellow Bittern, The: see An Buinnean Bui (File: HHH830)
===
NAME: Yellow Gal: see My Yallow Gal (File: LxA245)
===
NAME: Yellow Gals: see Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go) (File: Doe062)
===
NAME: Yellow Gals (Doodle Let Me Go)
DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Refrain: "Doodle let me go girls, doodle let me go, Hooraw my yaller girls, doodle let me go." Verses have dancing/drinking themes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty drink dancing
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Hugill, pp. 380-381, "Doodle Let Me Go" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 288-289]
Sharp-EFC, VIII, p. 9, "Do Let Me Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DOODLEGO
Roud #3221
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Do Let Me Go, Gels
NOTES: I've heard these lyrics sung, almost verbatim, as part of the "Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go)" family. But as that is an immigration song, and this is about sailing conditions, I am separating them while noting that they do seem to cross-fertilize. - RBW
File: Hugi380
===
NAME: Yellow Handkerchief, The (Flash Company)
DESCRIPTION: Singer once loved a young girl who wore a yellow handkerchief. Unfortunately, he kept "flash company", and he is now ruined and destitute; "Like a flower in the garden all my color has gone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1906 (Gardiner coll.)
KEYWORDS: disease love clothes lover floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Kennedy 360, "The Yellow Handkerchief" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 32, "The Yellow Handkerchief" (1 text, 1 tune); also 58, "The False-Hearted Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, FLASHCMP* (FALSHART*)
Roud #954
RECORDINGS:
Phoebe Smith, "Yellow Handkerchief" (on Voice11)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4190), "Flash Company" ("First I loved William, and then I loved John"), Thomas Smith (?), n.d
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, No, Not I" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: MacColl and Seeger, for some inexplicable reason, identify their fragement-of-a-fragment with Laws O 37 ("Mary on the Silvery Tide"). Their version is clearly not a unity, but since it has the chorus and form of this song (and the other bits and pieces are too small to identify), here it files.
Including their text "The False-Hearted Lover" is even more of a stretch, but it consists of one verse certainly from this song, one that seems unique, and four floaters; where else do you file it? - RBW
File: K360
===
NAME: Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go)
DESCRIPTION: The Irish adventurer comes to Mr. Tapscott, seeking passage to America. Tapscott arranges for (his) voyage, (charging an exorbitant price and) leaving the young Irishman to be plundered on the voyage. The youth vows to stay on the American shore
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1870
KEYWORDS: sailor emigration robbery
FOUND_IN: US(MA) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (10 citations)
Doerflinger, pp. 61-64, "Heave Away" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the last is "Heave Away, Me Johnnies")
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 73-74, "We're All Bound to Go" (1 text)
Hugill, pp. 298-301, "Lay Me Down," "Across the Western Ocean," "The Irish Emigrant", "Heave Away" (4 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 222-224]
O'Conor, p. 56, "Yellow Meal" (1 text)
Sandburg, p. 407, "Heave Away" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment of a shanty which could go here, or with "Heave Away, Me Johnnies," or perhaps somewhere else)
SHenry H827, pp. 100-101, "Yellow Meal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 98, "We're All Away to Sea" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 485-486, "Heave Away" (1 fragmentary text, recognized by the chorus line and perhaps only slightly related, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 325, "Heave Away" (1 text -- a fragment of a shanty which could go here, or with "Heave Away, Me Johnnies," or perhaps somewhere else)
DT, YELLMEAL*
Roud #15778
RECORDINGS:
Richard Maitland, "Heave Away" (AFS, 1939; on LC26)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Heave Away, Me Johnnies" (tune, meter, chorus)
cf. "Down in the Coal Mine" (part of tune)
cf. "Yellow Gals (Doodle Let Me Go)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The brothers William and James Tapscott (the former based in Britain and the latter in New York) ran a business arranging passage from Britain to America. (Often this involved shipping a girl from Ireland to meet her love, who had already gone to America.) As their clients were often completely ignorant, they frequently were able to make a very tidy profit indeed.
The "Yellow Meal" (pronounced "Yellow Male") versions of the text seem to have been adapted from a stage version.
Sam Henry has circumstantial details of the voyage of the _Joshua A. Walker_, mentioned in his text. Many versions, however, omit references to this ship. - RBW
File: Doe062
===
NAME: Yellow Rose of Taegu, The
DESCRIPTION: A reluctant soldier meets the Yellow Rose of Taegu, a good two-dollar whore, who makes him forget the perils of war. 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex soldier whore derivative
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 410-412, "The Yellow Rose of Taegu" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, YLLOWTX4*
Roud #10405
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Yellow Rose of Texas" (tune)
File: EM410
===
NAME: Yellow Rose of Texas, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer is going to see his "Yellow Rose" -- "The sweetest rose of color this (darkey) ever knew; Her eyes are bright as diamonds; They sparkle like the dew." He promises that "if I ever find her, we never more will part."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1858
KEYWORDS: love courting separation reunion
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (9 citations)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 253-257, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 28-29, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 20-21, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (1 text)
Hugill, p. 561, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 272, "The Yellow Rose Of Texas" (1 text)
JHCox 128, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 661+, "The Yellow Rose of Texas"
DT, YELLOWTX*
ADDITIONAL: Richard Hayward, Ireland Calling (Glasgow,n.d.), p. 4, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (text, music and reference to Decca F-2872 recorded Feb 24, 1932) 
ST RJ19253 (Full)
Roud #2800
RECORDINGS:
Gene Autry, "Yellow Rose of Texas" (Melotone M-12700/Vocalion 5498/Conqueror 8096 [as Gene Autry & Jimmy Long], 1933; OKeh 04998, 1939)
Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies, "Yellow Rose of Texas" (Decca 5273, 1936)
DaCosta Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, "Yellow Rose of Texas" (Gennett 6143, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Yellow Rose of Texas" [instrumental] (on NLCR07)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(748), "The Yellow Rose of Texas", H. De Marsan (New York, N.Y.), 1864-1878
LOCSinging, sb40591b, "The Yellow Rose of Texas", H. De Marsan (New York, N.Y.), 1864-1878; also cw106920, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Yellow Rose of Taegu" (tune)
cf. "The Bouncing Girl in Fogo" (theme, lyrics)
SAME_TUNE:
The Yellow Rose of Taegu (File: EM410)
Song of the Texas Rangers (NOT Laws A8; War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy, pp. 175-176)
NOTES: Extremely popular with Southern troops in the Civil War, and frequently parodied, the first known publication of this piece occurred in 1858 (published by William A. Pond). That version appears to be a minstrel piece; in it, both lovers are "darkeys." The only attribution is to "J.K.," who was and still remains unknown.
It is interesting that, in the Civil War, the troops often sang, "She's the sweetest rose of color this SOLDIER (or, later, FELLOW) ever knew." This would hardly have been acceptable to the Southern gentry; it was miscegenation. - RBW
James "Sparky" Rucker places this song in the period of the Mexican War [properly, the Texas rebellion - RBW, with thanks to Cirk R. Bejnar], stating that the "Yellow Rose" was Santa Anna's mulatto (American) girlfriend, who stole his battle plans before the battle of San Jacinto and delivered them to the American army. - PJS
Broadsides LOCSinging sb40591b and Bodleian Harding B 18(748): 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
Broadsides LOCSinging sb40591b and Bodleian Harding B 18(748) are duplicates.
The date and master id (GB-4029-2) for Hayward's record is provided by Bill Dean-Myatt, MPhil. compiler of the Scottish National Discography. - BS
File: RJ19253
===
NAME: Yeo Heave Ho!
DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. "Yeo heave ho! Round th' capstan go. Heave, men, with a will. Tramp an' tramp it still. The Anchor must be weighed (x2). Yeo heave ho! Yeo heave ho!" Similarly, "Yeo heave ho, cheerily we go." "...Raise her from below"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1888 (L.A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: shanty ship
FOUND_IN: Britain
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hugill, pp. 318-319, "Yeo Heave Ho!" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 240]
Roud #13269
NOTES: Given its inclusion in "Music of the Waters" and, according to Hugill, its form and tune, this may be one of the earliest examples of a capstan shanty, and may also be the sing-out referred to in Dana's _Two Years Before the Mast._ - SL
File: Hugi318
===
NAME: Yew-Pine Mountains, The: see Swannanoah Tunnel (File: CW166)
===
NAME: Yim Yonson
DESCRIPTION: "Yim Yonson ship from lumberyard Upon the scow Sam Patch." He knows nothing of boats, but  pretends to be a sailor. In a storm, the captain orders him to reef a sail. Yonson answers, "Der ben ten tousand tops'ls, yes, But only one Yim Yonson." He is fired
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1932 (collected from S. C. Jacobson by Walton)
KEYWORDS: sailor ship storm humorous
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, p. 166, "Yim Yonson (The Scow Sam Patch)" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wreck of the Julie Plante" (tune).
File: WGM166
===
NAME: Yo Ho Ho: see Dead Man's Chest  (File: LxA512)
===
NAME: Yo Ho, Yo Ho
DESCRIPTION: In this formula song, the singer tells of placing his hand successively on a woman's toe, knee, thigh, etc., and the results of his quest.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: The type appears in 1661, in Merry Drollery, as "There Were Three Birds"; then in the 1838 chapbook The Fancy! A Fanciful Collection of Fancy, Flash, and Amatory Songs as "Billy Go Leary"
KEYWORDS: bawdy seduction sex
FOUND_IN: Australia Canada Britain(England) US(Ap,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Cray, pp. 318-323, "Yo Ho, Yo Ho" (1 text, 1 tune plus 1 text for "Billy Go Leary")
Thomas-Makin', p. 31, (no title) (1 short text, which might or might not be this, but it is suggestive that it breaks off just as the sailor promises to tell a tale)
Roud #5586
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "There Were Three Birds"
cf. "Drive It On"
cf. "Gently, Johnny, My Jingalo" (Cecil Sharp's rewrite)
cf. "He Kept A-Kissin' On"
cf. "He Gave Her Kisses One"
cf. "How Ashamed I Was"
cf. "A-Rovin'"
cf. "The Girl in Portland Street" (plot, theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
I Laid My Hand upon Her Knee
NOTES: This song, as old as any in the English-language canon, survives in multiple variants sung to a variety of melodies. - EC
It appears Roud lumps this with "Gentry Johnny My Jingalo." That song has been so heavily redacted by Sharp that I can't lump them despite their, um, points of contact. - RBW
File: EM318
===
NAME: Yon Green Vallee: see Yon Green Valley (File: K168)
===
NAME: Yon Green Valley
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of a young man who courted her and swore he'd be true; for 11 months he was, but then left. She reminds him of his promise, but he must obey his "father's counsel." She recommends the single life, for "a contented mind bears no slavery."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: loneliness courting love sex marriage promise warning farewell abandonment baby lover oldmaid floatingverses
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Kennedy 168, "Yon Green Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 86-87, "Yon Green Valley" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 51, "Yon Green Vallee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 72, "Green Valley (The First Young Man Came A-Courting Me)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GOBOUND
Roud #2125
RECORDINGS:
Marie Hare, "Green Valley" (on MRMHare01)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Rambleaway" (plot)
cf. "Must I Go Bound" (lyrics)
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] (lyrics)
File: K168
===
NAME: Yon' Come Roberta: see The Midnight Special (File: R292)
===
NAME: Yonder Come Day
DESCRIPTION: Short phrases punctuated by the phrase "Yonder come day," with chorus "Yonder come day, day done broke, now, in my soul." Examples: "Yonder come day, I heard him say (x3)"; "It's a dying day"; "It's a burying day" ; "I was on my knees"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scott-BoA, pp. 321-323, "Yonder Come Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: SBoA321
===
NAME: Yonder Comes a Courteous Knight: see The Baffled Knight [Child 112] (File: C112)
===
NAME: Yonder Comes a Georgia Girl
DESCRIPTION: "Yonder comes a Georgia girl, Don't she look funny? She's got on a roundabout Without a cent of money." "Once I could have married you, Once I could my honey, When you wore your roundabout With a pocket full of money."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: clothes money courting
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 83, "Yonder Comes a Georgia Girl" (1 text)
Roud #7884
File: Br3083
===
NAME: Yonder Comes My Pretty Little Girl: see The Roving Gambler [Laws H4] (File: LH04)
===
NAME: Yonder Comes the Devil
DESCRIPTION: The Devil, with his pitchfork and shovel, tries to dig up potatoes in the turnpike road. "And the road was so hard and he couldn't get 'em up. So yonder run the Devil with his tail cocked up"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c.1973 (recording, Joe Jones)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad nonsense talltale Devil food
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Joe Jones, "Yonder Comes the Devil" (on Voice14)
File: RcYCtDev
===
NAME: Yonder Comes the High Sheriff
DESCRIPTION: "Yonder comes the high sheriff ridin' after me, Ridin' after me, yes, ridin' after me. Yonder comes... O it's captain, I don't want to go." "Been down to Frankfort servin' out my time...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg; recording, Ollis Martin)
KEYWORDS: prison police
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, p. 213, "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff" (1 short text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Ollis Martin, "Police and High Sheriff Come Ridin' Down" (Gennett 6306, 1928; rec. 1927; on StuffDreams1)
Poplin Family, "Goin' Back to Sumter" (on Poplin01)
NOTES: "Gotta Travel On" became enormously popular in the 1950s-1960s folk revival, to the point where it was a parodied cliche; the song was always credited to Paul Clayton. This song, though, is clearly its source. Ollis Martin's recording seems to have been made only a few weeks before Sandburg's book was published. - PJS
File: San213
===
NAME: Yonder Goes My Nora
DESCRIPTION: "Yon'er goes my Nora, gittin' drunk ergin (x2), Oh, Miss Sudie! She's got good booty, Di'mon' rings and fine clo'es too, But dat Nigger ain't gonna get Nothin' from me. Oh, dat woman can't friss me. Yon'er goes my Nora, gittin' drunk ergin."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: drink love clothes
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 214, (no title, but filed with the "Shine Reel") (1 short text)
File: ScNF214A
===
NAME: Yonder Hill There Is a Widow: see Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) AND The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: E098)
===
NAME: Yonder Mountain: see Pretty Saro (File: R744)
===
NAME: Yorkshire Bite, The: see The Crafty Farmer [Child 283; Laws L1] (File: C283)
===
NAME: Yorkshire Boy, The: see The Crafty Farmer [Child 283; Laws L1] (File: C283)
===
NAME: Yorkshireman in London, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives in London and offers to see a girl home. When they arrive at a whorehouse he tries to leave. She picks his pocket but he had put fish-hooks there and they strip her finger of her ring. He sells the ring.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3202))
KEYWORDS: ring theft trick humorous whore
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
GreigDuncan2 298, "The Yorkshireman in London" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #1640
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3202), "Quite Politely" ("When first in Lunnun I arriv'd"), J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Harding B 28(69), "When First in Lunnon I Arriv'd"; 2806 c.16(290), Harding B 25(2123), "Yorkshireman in London"; Harding B 28(280), "The Yorkshire man in Lunnon"; Johnson Ballads 963, Douce Ballads 4(57), Harding B 16(216c), Harding B 16(284c), Harding B 36(10) View 2 of 2, Harding B 11(62), Harding B 11(63), Harding B 11(1237), Harding B 11(3033), Harding B 11(3034), Harding B 11(3035), Harding B 11(3274), "Quite Politely"
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
When First in London
The Rigs of London
NOTES: The major theme here is of the not-so-simple country bumpkin. The listener, like the whore, is fooled. The singer, we think, is taken in, "'midst heavy rain and thunder," by the whore by "a dismal tale, how she was scar'd wi' thunder." When they arrive at her door "twenty lasses, aye, or more, Came out to have a better gloat, at bumpkin, as they call'd me" while other "folks cried poor lad he's undone." There must be other songs with this theme but none come to mind. - BS
There are quite a few on the general theme. "The Zebra Dun" [Laws B16] is about a cowboy who knows more than he appears to. The "Biter Bit" theme is common, found e.g. in "The Baffled Knight" [Child #112]. Australia and New Zealand have several songs about immigrants who refuse to be fooled by the locals. I can't think of anything involving this trick with a ring, or indeed outwitting a prostitute. - RBW
File: GrD2298
===
NAME: You Are False, But I'll Forgive You: see Forget You I Never May (File: R737)
===
NAME: You Better Love the Methodist
DESCRIPTION: "You better love the Methodist -- You go'n to die; You better love the Methodist -- You go'n to die; You don't know the day nor the hour. You better love the Methodist -- You go'n to die." Repeat with other denominations
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (Henry, from "a group of Negro singers at Montreat, North Carolina)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 194, "You Better Love the Methodist" (1 text)
NOTES: Henry's notes say "This is an endless song in which any word may be substitutes for Methodist...." However, the only other word he cites is "Baptist." An interesting point, as these were probably the two strongest denominations in the south in the period when this song was sung. I wonder if they would have mentioned, say, Catholics.... - RBW
File: MHAp194
===
NAME: You Boys O' Callieburn
DESCRIPTION: America has "wiled" the boys of Callieburn to leave adored Machrihanish and their parents behind. Rab MacKinlay has already gone. The boys know their parents will grieve but won't disown them. The boys are named.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1976 (recording, Willie Scot)
KEYWORDS: emigration parting America moniker nonballad
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #6932
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scot, "You Boys O' Callieburn" (on Voice04)
NOTES: Callieburn and Machrihanish are on the Kintyre peninsula, Argyllshire, Scotland. - BS
File: RcYBoCal
===
NAME: You Broken-Hearted Heroes: see Lovely Sally (You Broken-Hearted Heroes) (File: HHH549)
===
NAME: You Cain't Lose-A Me, Cholly
DESCRIPTION: Mild nonsense. The singer visits Willie Winston's to court. He reports "rowin' and my gal went through" and they break the bottom of the boat. He cannot afford the girl, "She use up a bale of money ev'y week." Ends with a hog and sheep talking
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1936
KEYWORDS: animal courting nonballad nonsense
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Lomax-FSNA 264, "You Cain't Lose-A Me, Cholly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 214, (no title) (1 fragment, ending "You can't lose me, Charlie")
Shellans, pp. 50-51, "Charlie You Can't Lose-a Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11658
NOTES: This is one of those pieces that can drive a folklorist crazy. The chorus is distinctive enough (despite the variant of Charlie/Cholly) as to be characteristic, but it's less clear what the song is about. The description is from Lomax, who of course could have fiddled with the piece -- or Lead Belly could have done so. The version in Shellans is different, about a man who goes to town and can't rid himself of a "yaller gal," but the Shellans text is from John Daniel Vass, who was happy to fiddle with texts. The song probably needs a detailed study to determine its actual origins and original content. - RBW
File: LoF264
===
NAME: You Call Me Dog, I Don't Care
DESCRIPTION: "You call me dog, I don' ker, Oh, my Lord! You call me dog, I don' ker, Oh, rockum jubalee!" "You call me cat, I don' ker...." "You call me mule...." "You call me snake...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal accusation
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 190, "You Call Me Dog, I Don' Ker" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: ScNF190A
===
NAME: You Can Dig My Grave: see Dig My Grave with a Silver Spade (File: FSWB351A)
===
NAME: You Can Run a Long Time
DESCRIPTION: The singer warns against disobeying God "You can run a long time... But your sins are going to find you out." He condemns the people around him, warns of various sins, accuses the listener of insufficient zeal, and otherwise makes an ass of himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious warning
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 66, "You Can Run a Long Time" (1 text)
Roud #7868
File: Br3066
===
NAME: You Can't Come Again: see The Rejected Lover [Laws P10] (File: LP10)
===
NAME: You Can't Hurry God
DESCRIPTION: The singer advises prayer, hope, and patience in times of trouble: "You can't hurry God, why don't you wait, my brother? Just obey the word you have heard. Keep on calling him, for in some day or 'nother, He will come and answer prayer."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Warner 172, "You Can't Hurry God" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa172 (Partial)
Roud #7489
File: Wa172
===
NAME: You Can't Keep a Shantyboy Down
DESCRIPTION: "Kind friends, your attention I'll ask for a while, A few facts I endeavor to show...." The singer notes that the workers are what prop up the building of society; the wealthy have money, but aren't really needed, but "You can't keep a shantyboy downs."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger work drink money
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #62, "You Can't Keep a Shantyboy Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4464
NOTES: From the description, you might think this political. I don't think it is. It's just a sneer on the rich: They have money, but we don't need them, and where would they be without us? - RBW
File: FowL62
===
NAME: You Canna Put It on to Sandy
DESCRIPTION: Sandy knows he's taken to be simple but in every case he is shown to be more clever than "anither fella." "I'm not sae green as you may seem, Did you think I'm soft as candy? ... you canna put it on to Sandy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recorded by Willie Kemp, according to Hall, notes to Voice07)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: A chap comments on Sandy's red hair; Sandy offers him some to seed his own bald scalp. Sandy is watching ducks at a farm; a hunter offers him a pound for a shot at one of the ducks; Sandy takes the money; the hunter's shotgun kills 21 ducks and he apologizes; Sandy says he can shoot again because the ducks aren't his. Sandy leaves a play after act one because the programme says act two is a year later. Sandy gets along well with his wife; he takes no offense when he finds a man in bed with his wife; he says he plays the same game with that man's wife.
KEYWORDS: adultery hair farming hunting humorous nonballad bird wife
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #5143
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy McBeath, "You Canna Put It on to Sandy" (on Voice07)
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice07: "'You Canna Put It on to Sandy' has the series of episodal verses associated with songs from the variety theatre, but was probably put together by Willie Kemp, the entertainer from Oldmeldrum, who recorded it in 1930." - BS
File: RcYCPIOS
===
NAME: You Caused Me to Lose My Mind: see In the Pines (File: LoF290)
===
NAME: You Fair and Pretty Ladies: see Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)
===
NAME: You Fight On
DESCRIPTION: "If your brother done you wrong, Take him to yourself alone; Tell him brother you done treated me wrong. You fight on, you fight on, with your sword in your hand, You fight on, yes, you fight on, Lawdy you fight on...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: brother religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Sandburg, pp. 248-249, "You Fight On" (1 short text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This appears to me to be based -- very loosely -- on Matt. 18:15: "If a brother sins [against you], bring it to his attention when the two of you are alone."
Note: the words "against you" are omitted by the two oldest manuscripts. - RBW
File: San248
===
NAME: You Got To Cross It For Yourself: see Lonesome Valley (I) (File: Wa162)
===
NAME: You Got to Move
DESCRIPTION: "You got to move (x2)... When God gets ready, you've got to move." In one form, "That preacher's got to move!" "That drunkard's got... " "I got..."  Whether high or low, policeman or prostitute, when the Lord gets ready, "you got to move"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1946 (recording, Two Gospel Keys)
KEYWORDS: warning nonballad religious whore clergy police gods
FOUND_IN: US(MA,SE)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #16194
RECORDINGS:
Rev. Gary Davis, "You Got to Move" (on GaryDavis02)
Brother Claude Ely, "You Got to Move" (King 1282, 1953)
Morning Star Hall Singers, "You Got to Move" (on SeaIslFF1)
Two Gospel Keys, "You've Got to Move" (Solo 10-007, 1946; on Babylon)
File: RcYGtoMo
===
NAME: You Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Around: see The Hound Dog Song (File: R512)
===
NAME: You Know Very Well What I Mean: see The Trooper Watering His Nag (File: RL044)
===
NAME: You Lovers All
DESCRIPTION: The girl recalls how her father's anger "drove my love away" to North America. She steals 500 pounds from her father to buy passage across the seas. She does not know where to look, but by chance finds her love quickly; they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation father emigration marriage reunion
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H525, p. 483, "You Lovers All" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1910
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Father's Servant Boy" [Laws M11] (plot)
cf. "Mullinabrone" (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
North America
The Flowers of Enniskillen
NOTES: This song is very similar to "My Father's Servant Boy," the only substantial difference between the two being that, in this song, the girl and boy sail for America separately. Even the first few words are the same. "Lumpers" would undoubtedly list them as the same song (so, e.g., Roud).
The Index, however, follows a "splitting" policy. My personal suspicion, in any case, is that "My Father's Servant Boy" is the older song, and was rewritten as a broadside to produce this. (Note the presence of a broadside version in Wright.) The kinship could, of course, be the other way -- both look like broadsides, without much softening by tradition. But "My Father's Servant Boy" seems to be slightly more widespread, giving it a slightly greater chance of being original. - RBW
File: HHH525
===
NAME: You Lovers All, to You I Call
DESCRIPTION: "You lovers all, to you I call. A story I will tell; How I, a swain, courted in vain A maid none could excel." "I fell in love so hard to move... But to my grief found no relief, for she was pitiless." The singer praises his love's great beauty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love beauty rejection
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 293, "You Lovers All, to You I Call" (1 text)
Roud #12200
File: Br3293
===
NAME: You Might Easy Know a Doffer
DESCRIPTION: "You might easy know a doffer" by her yellow hair and tools. Besides, "she'll always get a man." "You might easy know a weaver" by her greasy hair and tools. Besides, "she'll never get a man"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1978 (Hammond-Belfast)
KEYWORDS: sex bragging hair weaving humorous nonballad
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Leyden 13, "You Might Easy Know a Doffer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 23, "You Might Easy Know a Doffer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, EASYDOFF*
NOTES: Leyden: "Machines were used in the spinning room to spin linen yarn onto empty bobbins on a frame. When they were full the doffers had to "doff" or remove the bobbins and replace them with empty ones."(p. 62) "The song reflects the animosity which existed between doffers and weavers and expresses the doffers' point of view. The tools of the doffer were pickers, a scraper, hackle pins and whistle; these were tied around here waist on a piece of string."(p. 59, p. 175 for more details) - BS
In this case, the doffers probably had a point; theirs was the newer, faster, cheaper technology; the old methods of wearing were dying out. And a weaver would thus be more likely to lose her job, making her a less desirable prospect. - RBW
File: Leyd013
===
NAME: You Must Be Pure and Holy
DESCRIPTION: "When I was wicked and a-prone to sin, My Lord, brethren, ah my Lord, I thought I couldn't be born again." "You must be pure and holy (x3) To see God feed his lambs." "I'll run all 'round the cross and cry... Give me Jesus or I die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 107, "You Must Be Pure and Holy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12063
NOTES: The number of theologically questionable statements in the first few verses of this song is rather astounding. As Paul says in Romans 5:8, Christ died "while we were still sinners," and the apostle confesses to having been the chief of sinners. As for the King James mistranslation "born again," which should have been rendered "born from above," see the notes to "Reborn Again."
Apart from those not-so-trivial details, of course, the advice to live as well as one can is certainly good. - RBW
File: AWG107
===
NAME: You Must Live Holy
DESCRIPTION: "There's fathers and mothers all over the land, They're chewing and dipping as fast as they can... You must live holy and free from sin If you aim to get to glory and enter in...." Listeners are told how to live and told to read the Bible
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 643, "You Must Live Holy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7566
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Good Old Days of Adam and Eve" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Almost half of Randolph's text is devoted to the way women dress -- "with their hair bobbed off and their dresses to their knees." It seems clear that this version, at least, originated in the 1920s.
One wonders what the author would think of the styles of the late twentieth century. - RBW
File: R643
===
NAME: You Never Miss the Water till the Well Runs Dry
DESCRIPTION: The singer remembers mother's lessons about economy: "Waste not, want not is the maxim I would teach... Do not let your chances like sunbeams pass you by, For you never miss the water...." Now married, he teaches his children the same lesson
AUTHOR: Rowland Howard
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925
KEYWORDS: youth money
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 125-126, "You Never Miss the Water till the Well Runs Dry" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WASTENOT
Roud #5457
RECORDINGS:
Claude Sweet & Roy Davidson, "You'll Never Miss the Water" (Acme 1165, n.d.)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Waste Not, Want Not
File: SRW125
===
NAME: You Pretty Girls of Michigan
DESCRIPTION: "You pretty girls of Michigan, give ear to what I write, Of sailing on the stormy Lakes, in which we take delight." The sailors work while "Irishmen and the landlubbers" stay home. The singer urges girls to attend to sailors, who live such hard lives
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1933 (collected by Walton from Pat Banner and A. E. Baker)
KEYWORDS: sailor courting
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 101-103, "You Pretty Girls of Michigan" (1 text, presumably composite, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of Newfoundland (I)" [Laws K25] (form)
File: WGM101
===
NAME: You Rambling Boys of Pleasure (Down by Sally's Garden)
DESCRIPTION: "You rambling boys of pleasure, give ear to those few lines I write. Although I'm a rover, and in roving I take great delight." Singer recounts finding and losing his love, and laments that his roving ways are incompatible with love and home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1784 (OBoyle)
KEYWORDS: rambling love homesickness
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Ont) Ireland
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 79-81, "The Rambling Boys of Pleasure" (1 text)
OBoyle 22, "Rambling Boys of Pleasure" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 59, "Down by Sally's Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 47, "Rambling Rover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 52, "You Rambling Boys of Pleasure" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #386
RECORDINGS:


BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(250b), "Rambling Boys of Pleasure," J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Harding B 11(3222), Harding B 25(1596), Firth b.25(189), Harding B 16(219c), Harding B 15(250a), Firth c.18(237), Firth c.18(238), 2806 c.16(193), Firth c.18(235), Harding B 11(34), Harding B 16(220b), Harding B 20(22), Firth c.26(259), Harding B 28(144), "[The] Rambling Boys of Pleasure"; Johnson Ballads 614, Firth b.25(315), "You Rambling Boys of Pleasure"
LOCSinging, sb40467b, "Rambling Boys of Pleasure," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859 
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Down by the Sally Gardens" (lyrics)
NOTES: There are several examples of this in the Bodleian Library Broadsides Collection, dating from 1802 to 1892. Beginning around 1850 an additional verse began appearing going more or less like." "It was down by the salley gardens...." It is very likely this is the "half-remembered" verse that Yeats used to write "Down by the Sally Gardens." - SL
O'Boyle says that the "down in Sally's Garden" lines are in the first verse of the 1784 American manuscript in the Baker Memorial Library at Hanover, New Hampshire.
Of the Bodleian broadsides, "The Rambling Lover,"  Harding B 11(3222) c.1850, 2806 c.16(193) c.1850: include the line "Down by yon valley gardens."
Firth c.18(237) n.d., Firth c.18(238) 1850-1899: include the line "Down by yon sally garden."
Harding B 15(250a) 1858-1861, Firth c.18(238) 1850-1899, Harding B 11(34) n.d., Firth c.26(259) n.d.: include the line "It was down by Sally's gardens."
A closely related broadside, Bodleian, Firth c.18(234), "The Rambling Lover" ("Come all you gay and merry friends and stay with me while I do write"), unknown, n.d. includes the line "It was down by a flowery garden."
The one to compare to Yeats' is an unrelated broadside, Bodleian, Harding B 22(262), "Sally's Garden" ("It was down in Sally's garden"), unknown, n.d. It may be the same ballad as the illegible Bodleian, Harding B 25(1724), J.Jennings (London), 1790-1840. - BS
File: FowM059
===
NAME: You Ribbonmen of Ireland
DESCRIPTION: Ribbonmen: "Long may you reign May you roll in joy and splendour Till you raise your flag again." The singer recalls taking the Orange drum at Segimore. The Protestant "hates our religion and our ways" and curses any man that goes to church.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond01)
KEYWORDS: Ireland political religious
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

ST RcYRiMoI (Full)
Roud #3081
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "You Ribbonmen of Ireland" (on IRRCinnamond01)
NOTES: Supporting the Orange position is "beating the Orange drum"; taking the Orange drum then has figurative as well as literal meaning.
I was helped through Cinnamond's text by Lew Becker and John Moulden. The description is based on John Moulden's transcription from IRRCinnamond02 included in the Traditional Ballad Index Supplement. - BS
File: RcYRiMoI
===
NAME: You Say You Are of Noble Race
DESCRIPTION: "You say you are of noble race And I of low degree. We are all of Adam's race; Pray, what more can we be?" Reportedly, the girl turns down the boy because her status is higher than his
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 59, "You Say You Are of Noble Race" (1 fragment)
Roud #7844
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, No, Not I" (theme)
File: Br3059
===
NAME: You Shall Be Free (I): see Mourner, You Shall Be Free (Moanish Lady) (File: San011)
===
NAME: You Shall Be Free (II): see Ain't No Use Workin' So Hard (File: DarNS329)
===
NAME: You Shall Have a Horse to Ride: see All the Pretty Little Horses (File: LxU002)
===
NAME: You Stole My Pard: see Old Betty Larkin (Betsy Larkin, You Stole My Pard, Steal Partners, Stole My Partner) (File: R586)
===
NAME: You Talk About Your Greenbacks
DESCRIPTION: "You talk about your greenbacks being dollar bills, But you ought to see the Natchez when she passes Louisville." (Someone) talks about girls and how they make a living; the singer prepares to jump ship and his girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: river abandonment
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
MWheeler, p. 119, "You Talk About Yo' Greenbacks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10051
File: MWhee119
===
NAME: You Wonder Why I'm a Hobo (Naw, I Don't Want to Be Rich)
DESCRIPTION: A list of reasons why the hobo doesn't want to be a conductor, a banker, a broker, a doctor, adding up to this: "I just don't want to be rich" (or to have to work).
AUTHOR: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recordings, Carson Robison)
KEYWORDS: hobo money work questions
FOUND_IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 461, "You Wonder Why I'm a Hobo" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Carson J. Robison, "You Wonder Why I'm a Hobo" (Columbia 15547-D [issued under the pseudonym, "Travelin' Jim Smith" as well as perhaps under Robison's own name], 1930) (Champion 15986 [as, "Naw! I Don't Wanta Be Rich"]/Supertone 9672, 1930) (Broadway 8274/Crown 3084 [both as Carson Robison Trio], 1931). (Victor V-40226, 1930) (Brunswick 442, 1930) (OKeh 45537 [as, "Naw! I Don't Wanna Be Rich"], 1931; rec. 1930)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Who Said I Was a Bum?" (subject, attitude)
NOTES: I've also seen this credited to Mac McClintock. The attribution to Robison seems more likely, though; I suspect "Haywire Mac" merely recorded the piece and someone assumed he wrote it. - RBW
File: BRaF461
===
NAME: You, You, You (Somewhere Somebody's Waiting)
DESCRIPTION: "Somewhere somebody's waiting for you, Somewhere somebody's heart is true, Sometime you'll love somebody who'll love you true, Somewhere somebody's waiting for you, you, you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 276, "You, You, You" (1 fragment)
Roud #16176
File: Br3276
===
NAME: You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone
DESCRIPTION: Singer, now feeble, tells his sweetheart she'll miss him when he's gone. He asks who will care for her. He tells her to fence their garden; the children are married. Ch.: "You'll miss me when I'm gone...There's one kind heart will miss me when I'm gone"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (recording, Oaks Family)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer, aging and becoming feeble, tells his sweetheart she'll miss him when he's gone. He asks what she will do in wintertime, who will put their arms about her, who will share her sadness and gladness. He tells her to fence their little garden and tend the flowers; the children are all married. Ch.: "You'll miss me when I'm gone...There's one kind heart will miss me when I'm gone"
KEYWORDS: grief loneliness love marriage death family husband wife age
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #17225
RECORDINGS:
Oaks Family, "You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone" (Bluebird B-5807, 1935; rec. 1930; on KMM)
NOTES: In 1878 Hart Pease Danks and Arthur W. French published a song called, "You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone." This is not that song. - PJS
File: RcYMMWIG
===
NAME: You're a Little Too Small
DESCRIPTION: Even very small girls won't consider the singer, saying "you're young I know, perhaps you may grow, At present you're a little too small." When he inherits a million and the girls call him he refuses because "at present I'm a little too small"
AUTHOR: Al Haynes (source: Meade, Spottswood and Meade)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1887 (publication date, according to Meade, Spottswood and Meade)
KEYWORDS: courting bequest money humorous
FOUND_IN: Ireland US
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
McBride 48, "A Little Too Small" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4349
RECORDINGS:
Carolina Tar Heels, "You're a Little Too Small" (Victor V40007, 1928)
NOTES: The description follows the McBride text. The Carolina Tarheels recording has the singer getting closer to marriage, without succeeding, but omits the inheritance.
Meade, Spottswood and Meade: _Country Music Sources_ by Guthrie T Meade Jr with Dick Spottswood and Douglas S. Meade (Chapel Hill, 2002), p. 445. They also cite Haun, Mildred, Cooke County [Tennesee?] Ballads and Songs (M.A. Thesis, Vanderbilt U., Nashville, Tenn., 1937)], p.431. - BS
File: McB1048
===
NAME: You're As Welcome as the Flowers in May: see As Welcome as the Flowers in May (File: R856)
===
NAME: You're from the Nation
DESCRIPTION: "You're from the Nation, an I'm from Arkansas, But I got the Battle Axe, an' I know you want a chaw." "It sure is good terbacker, we chaw it all the time, I'm goin' to buy some Battle Axe if I ever get a dime."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1921 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: travel drugs nonballad hardtimes
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 585, "You're from the Nation" (1 text)
Roud #7671
NOTES: Randolph explains that Battle Axe is a brand of chewing tobacco. - RBW
File: R585
===
NAME: You're the Man That Stole My Wife
DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "You're the man that stole my wife (x3), You shouldn't have 'er for to save your life."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: husband wife nonballad betrayal
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownII 172, "You're the Man That Stole My Wife" (1 text)
Roud #6582
File: BrII172
===
NAME: You're Welcome as the Flowers in May
DESCRIPTION: The singer accuses Katie of calling him a rogue to her mother. He demonstrates this by stealing a kiss and trying to steal her heart. She calls that no theft; he is "welcome as the flowers in May." She says that they will marry if her mother consents
AUTHOR: J. E. Carpenter (per O'Conor)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: love courting flowers marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H804, pp. 262-263, "You're Welcome as the Flowers in May" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 152, "You're Welcome as Flowers in May" (1 text)
Roud #6917
NOTES: Despite the similarity in titles (perhaps inspired by a common saying), this appears to have no relationship at all with the Randolph song "As Welcome as the Flowers in May." 
Dan J. Sullivan in 1902 published a song "You're As Welcome As the Flowers In May"; I don't know which of the two traditional songs of that title, if either, it represents. - RBW
File: HHH804
===
NAME: You're Welcome To Me: see My Generous Lover (File: RcMGL)
===
NAME: You've Got to Be a Lover of the Lord
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, you've got to be a lover of the Lord (x3) Or you won't get to heaven when you die."
AUTHOR: Charles Wesley [and William Cowper]/ music: R. H. Reeves
EARLIEST_DATE: 1869 (Sacred Harp hymnal)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 654, "You've Got to Be a Lover of the Lord" (1 fragment)
Roud #7577
RECORDINGS:
Huggins & Phillips Sacred Harp Singers, "Lover of the Lord" (Vocalion 5273, rec. 1928; on Babylon)
NOTES: The Huggins & Phillips Sacred Harp Singers recording adds a verse of Cowper's "Oh, For a Closer Walk with God" to the song, probably to fill out the time on the record. - PJS
File: R654
===
NAME: You've Got to Put on Airs: see Putting on Airs (File: R460)
===
NAME: You've Got Your Big Gun, and I've Got Mine
DESCRIPTION: "You've got your big gun, and I've got mine. Just rap on the cartridge if you don't mind dying."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
BrownIII 501, "You've Got Your Big Gun, and I've Got Mine" (1 fragment)
Roud #11805
File: Br3501
===
NAME: Youghall Harbour
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a beautiful girl as he walks toward Youghall. He asks a kiss; she refuses, explaining that her former lover has driven her from Youghall. She will have no more to do with men. He says his intentions are honorable
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1901 (O'Conor); the "Answers to Youghall Harbour" date to before 1825
KEYWORDS: courting beauty rejection
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
SHenry H503, p. 273, "Youghall Harbour" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 95, "Yougall Harbor" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 198-199, "Youghall Harbour" (1 text, listed as a translation by Samuel Ferguson)
Roud #2734
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Answer to Youghal Harbour"
cf. "Foot and Mouth Disease" (tune)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Youghal Harbour
Yougal Harbour
NOTES: The versions of Youghall Harbour are so varied that I think they should be considered at least two ballads. [Though Roud lumps them. - RBW] Examples of "the other Youghall Harbors":
OLochlainn 8 and Bodleian, Harding B 28(20), "Answer to Youghall Harbour," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(2180), 2806 b.9(227), 2806 b.11(205), Harding B 25(2128), Firth b.27(11/12) View 1 of 2 [partly illegible], 2806 c.15(163), 2806 c.15(17), 2806 b.11(204), Harding B 19(3), "Youghal Harbour" ("As I roved out on a summer's morning") in which Nancy/Mary of Cappoquin has the singer's baby ["A darling baby for you I am rearing"] and is deserted by him twice. [This is in the Index as "Answer to Youghal Harbour."]
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2126), "Answer to Youghall Harbour," Angus (Newcastle), 1774-1825 in which the singer considers leaving "the fair maid of Caperqueen" at the altar;
Bodleian, Harding B 28(20), "Youghall Harbour" ("In Youghall harbour, on a summer's morning"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(4287), "Youghall Harbour" in which the singer is led to the altar and is sometimes exposed as a rake. This may just be an extension of "Answer to Youghall Harbour." - BS
File: HHH503
===
NAME: Youghall Harbour (II)
DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a girl like "the Queen of May." He seduces her after going "to a director" when she insists on "performance." But he values "neither Priest nor Deacon nor yet yon fair maid of Capperquin" and gains "the maiden flower of this silly female"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(20))
KEYWORDS: seduction virginity rake
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #2734
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Youghal Harbour" (on IRRCinnamond03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(20), "Youghall Harbour" ("In Youghall harbour, on a summer's morning"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(4287), "Youghall Harbour" 
NOTES: Listening to a traditional version on IRRCinnamond03, which is very close to broadside Bodleian Harding B 28(20) "Youghall Harbour," finally convinced me that this should be yet another "Youghall Hartbour" ballad (linked, as it is, by Roud to two others). This seems a much more likely prequel than "Youghall Harbour(I)" to "Answer to Youghal Harbour"; note that Armstrong printed both "Youghall Harbour (II)" and "Answer to Youghall Harbour" on the same sheet. - BS
File: RcYoHa02
===
NAME: Young Airly
DESCRIPTION: Lochiel and Airly ride away with Charlie. Argyle then rides to "glent to heav'n I' the dwelling o' young Airly." Lochiel mistakes the glow for sunrise but Ogilvie realizes Airly is burning. He mourns "mither and twa sweet babies" lost and curses Argyle.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1821 (Hogg2)
KEYWORDS: feud murder fire
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Hogg2 75, "Young Airly" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie House o Airlie" [Child 199] (subject and tune)
NOTES: "Lochiel" may refer to Alan Cameron (c. 1567-c. 1647) or Ewen Cameron (1629-1719), the 15th and 16th clan chiefs respectively (see "Cameron2" at Stirnet Genealogy site).
Hogg2 of both "Young Airly" texts: "Trusting to a note in Cromek's Collection [_Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song_], I never doubted that this was a song of 1745, and reserved it for this volume, and even for this latter division of it. I find, however, in searching for the event to which it relates, that it is the very oldest Scots song in the collection, being one of 1640."
Hogg2 has two ballads for this title. Hogg2 76 is Child 199. Hogg2 75 shares the tune and subject with Hogg2 76, but no lines with that text or any of Child's. - BS
My instinct, and evidently Hogg's, was to refer this to the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie, due to the reference to Charles and the fact that Lochiel was Charlie's most important supporter. But we should note that, in 1640, the king was Charles I, who was fighting (and would eventually lose) the English Civil War. And his son was Charles II, who would not be restored until 1660. - RBW
File: Hogg2075
===
NAME: Young Airly (II): see The Bonnie House o Airlie [Child 199] (File: C199)
===
NAME: Young Alanthia: see Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)
===
NAME: Young Alban and Amandy: see Olban (Alban) or The White Captive [Laws H15] (File: LH15)
===
NAME: Young Allan [Child 245]
DESCRIPTION: In a drunken gathering, Allan boasts of the speed of his ship. Challenged, he takes part in a race and is caught in a storm. Allan calls on a "bonny boy" to steer the ship (with offers of reward), then begs the ship to rescue him. Somehow, all survive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: ship storm gambling escape
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 245, "Young Allan" (5 texts)
Bronson 245, "Young Allan" (16 versions)
Greig #63, p. 1, "Young Allan" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 326, "Young Allan" (17 texts, 16 tunes) {A=Bronson's #13, B=#12, C=#11, D=#5, G=#10, H=#3,  I=#8, J=#7, K=#4,L=#6, M=#14, N=#16, O=#15, for R cf. #2}
Ord, pp. 320-322, "Young Allan" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 608-611, "Young Allan" (1 text)
DBuchan 58, "Young Allan" (1 text)
DT 245, YNGALAN* YNGALAN2*
Roud #242
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Sir Patrick Spens" [Child 58] (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Sailors o' Merrily Den
Miraladen
The Sailors and the Merry-go-round
The Sea Captains
NOTES: Child sees analogies between this ballad and mythical vessels which sailed at the will of their masters (e.g. the Phaeacian ships in _Odyssey_  viii.557 or the Scandinavian _Ellitha_). Given, however, the sorry state of the versions in Child, one may doubt how much of this is tradition and how much simply confusion. - RBW
File: C245
===
NAME: Young Alvin
DESCRIPTION: Alvin loves Melanie. He takes two horses to her father's house in Earl's Court. The chambermaid tells him that Melanie will be married the next day to Lord Farthington to satisfy her father's debt. They duel. Alvin wins and elopes with Melanie.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1974 (recording, Packie Manus Byrne)
KEYWORDS: courting elopement death fight father nobility
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #2988
RECORDINGS:
Packie Manus Byrne, "Young Alvin" (on Voice17)
NOTES: Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 17" - 15.9.02: "According to both R S Thomson and Frank Purslow (personal correspondence) versions of 'Young Alvin' appeared in late 18th-century chapbooks, although I [Mike Yates?] have not, so far, come across one."
Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Reviews - Volume 17" by Rod Stradling - 7.11.98: "Packie Byrne sings 'Young Alvin,' which I've never been entirely certain isn't a fake -- it certainly doesn't sound as if it's passed through many hands in the aural transmission process." - BS
I think I agree. "Alvin and Melanie?" Sounds like a sixties sitcom. And they'd have to elope a *long* way to avoid punishment for killing a lord. Some google searching seems to reveal that there is a literary original back there somewhere, though all the allusions were too oblique to actually cite (so much for finding everything on the Internet). - RBW
File: RcYoAlvi
===
NAME: Young and Growing: see A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing) [Laws O35] (File: LO35)
===
NAME: Young and Single Sailor, The: see Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)
===
NAME: Young Andrew [Child 48]
DESCRIPTION: Andrew woos a lady. He bids her to steal her father's money for their wedding. She brings the money; he takes her clothes and sends her home naked.  Her father refuses to let her in without the gold; she dies. (Her brothers hunt Andrew down.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1750 (Percy ms.)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Andrew woos a lady. They have sex. He bids her to steal her father's money for their wedding. She brings the money; he takes her clothes for his own lady and sends her home naked.  Her father refuses to let her in without the gold; she dies. (Her brothers hunt Andrew down, break his bones, and leave him to be eaten alive by a wolf.)
KEYWORDS: courting theft family abandonment infidelity greed hardheartedness sex betrayal manhunt revenge death
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Child 48, "Young Andrew" (1 text)
OBB 59, "Young Andrew" (1 text)
Roud #6740
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" [Child 9] (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Death of Young Andrew
NOTES: Child refers to similar ballads in Poland. - PJS
File: C048
===
NAME: Young Astronomer's Gaze, A
DESCRIPTION: "As I gaze in the starry heaven of blue, I see Orion and his neighbrs two; And of all the fixed stars... I see only a few, And none are very new, But as old as time is old." Saturn and its rings are mentioned, as well as the animals in the constellations
AUTHOR: George Mefford Bell?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Thomas-Makin', p. 256, "A Young Astronomer's Gaze" (1 text)
File: ThBa256A
===
NAME: Young Barbour: see Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)
===
NAME: Young Barnswell: see Sarah Barnwell (File: GrD2218)
===
NAME: Young Barnwell: see Sarah Barnwell (File: GrD2218)
===
NAME: Young Bearwell [Child 302]
DESCRIPTION: Young Bearwell and the mayor's daughter are in love. She learns that false rumors are spread about him, and gives him a ship to flee in. He comes to a foreign court. She grows lonely, and sends for him; her messenger learns of his success abroad
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: love courting lie exile ship sea separation loneliness
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 302, "Young Bearwell" (1 text)
DBuchan 39, "Young Bearwell" (1 text)
DT 302, YNGBEARW
Roud #3935
File: C302
===
NAME: Young Beichan [Child 53]
DESCRIPTION: A young lord is taken prisoner by a foreign king. The king's daughter frees him after receiving a promise that he will wed her in seven years. Seven years later she comes to England to see him being married. When he sees her, he marries her instead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1783 (Jamieson-Brown)
KEYWORDS: wedding marriage promise courting prison escape
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland,England) US(Ap,MW,NE,NW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)Ireland
REFERENCES: (50 citations)
Child 53, "Young Beichan" (14 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #94}
Bronson 53, "Young Beichan" (113 versions plus 9 in addenda)
Dixon I, pp. 1-10, "Young Bondwell" (1 text)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 106-122, "Lord Bateman" (5 texts, all very full, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #8, #87}
Randolph 11, "Lord Bateman" (4 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes) {A=Bronson's #3, C=#44, E=#7}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 25-28, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 11E) {Bronson's #7}
Eddy 10, "Young Beichan" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 49, "Lord Bateman's Castle" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #80}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 204-208, "Lord Bakeman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #11}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 54-57, "Lord Bakeman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 9-69, "Young Beichan" (19 texts plus 6 fragments, 8 tunes; a few of the versions combine multiple collections from family members or have other complex histories) {F=Bronson's #1, H=#11}
Davis-Ballads 12, "Young Beichan" (7 texts plus 2 fragments; the fragments, especially "I," might perhaps be "The Turkish Lady"; 2 tunes entitled "Lord Bateman and the Turkish Lady, or The Turkish Lady," "The Turkish Lady"; 3 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #55, #47}
Davis-More 16, pp. 102-110, "Young Beichan" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 14, "Young Beichan" (5 texts plus mention of 1 more)
Chappell-FSRA 7, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #35}
Hudson 8, pp. 75-76, "Young Beichan" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 210-213, "Young Beichan" (1 text, with local title "The Jailer's Daughter"; 1 tune on pp. 410-411) {Bronson's # 39}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 26-34, "Young Beichan" (4 texts plus 1 fragment, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #64, #3, #13}
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 7-8, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 7, "Lord Ateman" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 210-213, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 7, "Lord Bateman" (2 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #101}
Mackenzie 5, "Lord Bakeman" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #22}; "Lord Bateman" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lehr/Best 68, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Leach, pp. 169-174, "Young Beichan" (2 texts)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 58, "Lord Batesman, or the Turkish Lady" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #98}
Friedman, p. 128, "Young Beichan (Lord Bateman)" (1 text)
OBB 44, "Young Bekie"; 45, "Young Beichan"; 164, "The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman" (3 texts)
Warner 43, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 13 "Young Beichan" (7 texts plus 5 fragments, of which"D" and "L" in particular may be "The Turkish Lady"; 12 tunes){Bronson's #36, #99, #10, #107, #106, #110,  #14, #57, #42, #41, #102, #68}
Sharp-100E 6, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 22, "Young Beichan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 256-259+356-357, "Young Beichan" (1 text)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 10, "Lord Bateman (Young Beichan)" (1 text, 1 tune, slightly edited) {Bronson's #14}
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 276-277, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 100-102, "[Turkish Lady]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 22-23, "The Turkish Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 41, "Young Beichan (Lord Bateman)" (1 text)
DBuchan 7, "Young Bicham"; 8, "Young Bekie" (2 texts, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #112}
MacSeegTrav 8, "Young Beichan" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
TBB 2, "Young Beichan" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 84-86, "Young Bicham" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 101-103, "Lord Bateman" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H470, p. 491, "Lord Beichan" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 14, pp. 33-36, "Lord Bayham" (1 text)
JHCox 8, "Young Beichan" (3 text plus mention of 1 more)
JHCoxIIA, #7A-C, pp. 22-31, "A Turkish Lady," "Turkish Lady," "Lord Wetram" (3 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #54, #53, #93}
Darling-NAS, pp. 67-69, "Lord Bateman" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 212, "Lord Bateman" (1 text)
DT 53, LORDBATE* LRDBEICH* (The DT editors also list TURKLADY* as Child 53, but it belongs with Laws O26)
Roud #40
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best, "Lord Bateman" (on NFABest01)
Ollie Gilbert, "Lord Batesman" (on LomaxCD1707)
Roby Monroe Hick, "Young Beham" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
Aunt Molly Jackson, "Lord Bateman" (AFS; on LC57)
Willie Mathieson, "The King's Daughter" (on FSBBAL1)
Pleaz Mobley, "Lord Bateman" (AFS L 12, 1937; on LC12) {Bronson's #97}
Thomas Moran, "Lord Bateman" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Lord Bateman" (on NLCR14)
John Reilly, "Lord Baker" (on Voice17)
Balis Ritchie, "Lord Bateman and the Turkish Lady" (on Ritchie03)
Jean Ritchie, "Lord Bateman" (on JRitchie01)
Jeannie Robertson, "Lord Bateman" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
David Slaunwhite, "Lord Bateman" (on MRHCreighton)
Mary Sullivan, "Lloyd Bateman" (AFS; on LC57)
Joseph Taylor, "Lord Bateman" (cylinder, on HiddenE) {Bronson's #34}
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(174), "Lord Bateman," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also 2806 c.16(213), Harding B 11(2196), Firth c.21(10), Johnson Ballads 1687, Firth c.21(28), Firth b.25(164), Harding B 11(2198), Harding B 25(1140), Johnson Ballads 549[some words illegible], Harding B 11(2199), Harding B 11(2200), Firth b.25(93), "Lord Bateman"; Harding B 17(170b), Harding B 26(379), "Lord Beigham"
LOCSinging, as100980 [incomplete], "Lord Bakeman," unknown, 19C
Murray, Mu23-y1:030, "Lord Beigham," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(136a), "Lord Beigham," unknown, c. 1820
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Turkish Lady" [Laws O26]
cf. "The Araby Maid" (subject)
cf. "Mustang Gray (The Maid of Monterey)" (plot)
cf. "Thomas o Yonderdale" [Child 253] (plot)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lord Beham
Susan Price
Lord Batesman
Lord Akeman
NOTES: This song is commonly connected with the story of Gilbert Becket, the father of Thomas (the clerical adversary of England's Henry II). But, although the song's widespread currency implies that it is old, it is unlikely that it is that old.
Child believed that it may have been affected by the Becket legend, but was probably independent.
The plot very much resembles "The Turkish Lady" [Laws O26], and some scholars lump them, but the latter emphasizes the conversion of the princess rather than, as in this song, her pursuit and reunion.
It is interesting to note that, according to the tranlation of _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ made by James L. Rosenberg and edited with introduction by James L. Kreuzer (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1959, p. LII, the "love interests [in the crusading romances] were frequently unintentionally humorous: the Saracen princesses in literature were almost as aggressive in their behavior as the knights they aided."
A minor footnote: In the Scottish "Young Beichan" texts, the Turkish girl is typically called "Susan (Susie) Pye," with no obvious derivation that I can see. In the more numerous "Lord Bateman" texts, however, she is usually "Sophia." But "Sophia" (Greek for "wisdom") is not a Turkish name. Perhaps the girl had more reasons than love for wanting to escape. One might even speculate that she had (or that some singer intended her to have) a Christian mother. Or that she would rather marry an infidel than live in a harem.
And, yes, that's an awfully long chain of inference to hang on one name.... - RBW
File: C053
===
NAME: Young Bekie: see Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)
===
NAME: Young Benjie [Child 86]
DESCRIPTION: Benjie quarrels with his lover, who vows to seek another. He drowns her. During the night watch over the corpse [lykewake] she reveals to her three brothers who killed her. They ask whether they should behead or hang him. She bids them put out his eyes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1803 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: lover corpse funeral brother injury revenge ghost
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Child 86, "Young Benjie" (2 texts)
Bronson 86, "Young Benjie" (1 version)
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 453, "Young Benjie" (notes only)
Leach, pp. 280-283, "Young Benjie" (1 text)
OBB 91, "Young Benjie" (1 text)
DT 81, YNGBENJI*
Roud #3911
File: C086
===
NAME: Young Bicham: see Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)
===
NAME: Young Billy Crane
DESCRIPTION: The singer, "Nellie Harrison," is betrayed by "Cubit's" arrow and a handsome young man named Billy Crane. She describes how he courted her then went to sea. She declares she will dress in men's clothes and follow her love
AUTHOR: Larry Gorman
EARLIEST_DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: courting betrayal separation lament cross-dressing travel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Doerflinger, pp. 259-260, "Young Billy Crane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4164
NOTES: Said to have been inspired by real people, though the names have been changed. The original Nellie Harrison is said to have remained single her whole life.
This song is item dH46 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Doe259
===
NAME: Young Bung-'er-eye: see Quare Bungo Rye (File: Log416)
===
NAME: Young Butcher Boy: see The Three Butchers [Laws L4] (File: LL04)
===
NAME: Young Chambers
DESCRIPTION: Chambers's boat, smuggling liquor from St Pierre, is attacked and boarded by the crew of the Lady Clover. The crew are taken to Harbour Breton, tried, and thrown in jail. After four months of bad and meager rations they are released to run grog again.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: crime trial prison drink sea ship outlaw punishment
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 897-898, "Young Chambers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9939
NOTES: Peacock says "smuggling liquor from the French island of St Pierre off Newfoundland's south coast has been a lucrative business for decades, especially during the days of American prohibition." Harbour Breton is on the south coast of Newfoundland. - BS
File: Pea897
===
NAME: Young Charlotte (Fair Charlotte) [Laws G17]
DESCRIPTION: Pretty Charlotte, going to a dance on a cold night, refuses to dress properly; warm clothes would hide her charms. First she complains of the cold, but then says "I'm growing warmer now." When they arrive at the ball, her escort finds her frozen to death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: courting death beauty
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: Feb 8, 1840 - The New York Observer publishes a story, "A Corpse Going to a Ball," describing a tragedy like this one which took place on Jan 1, 1840
FOUND_IN: US(All) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES: (32 citations)
Laws G17, "Young Charlotte (Fair Charlotte)"
Belden, pp. 308-317, "Young Charlotte" (4 texts plus excerpts from 9 more and references to 2 more, 4 tunes)
Randolph 667, "Young Charlotte" (3 texts plus 5 excerpts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 528-532, "Young Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 667A)
Eddy 123, "Fair Charlotte" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 41, "Frozen Charlotte" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more, 2 tunes)
Dean, pp. 56-57, "Young Charlotte" (1 text)
BrownII 209, "Young Charlotte" (1 text plus mention of 3 more)
Hudson 60, pp. 182-184, "Young Charlotte" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Brewster 30, "Fair Charlotte" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 2 more, 2 tunes)
Rickaby 37, "Fair Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 35-38, "Young Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 305-309, "Young Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 723-725, "Young Charlotte" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 98-100, "Schaladi" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 58-59, "The Frozen Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 48, "Young Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 825-828, "Young Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 142-143, "Young Charlotte" (1 text)
LPound-ABS 44, pp. 103-107, "Young Charlotte" (1 text)
JHCox 80, "Fair Charlotte" (2 texts plus mention of 5 more; 1 tune)
JHCoxIIB, #4A-B, pp. 126-129, "Fair Charlotte," "Young Charlotte" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, pp. 110-110, "The Frozen Girl"; pp. 112-114,"Charlotte, the Frozen Girl" (2 texts)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 172, "Young Charlotte" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 735-737, "Young Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 51-55, "The Frozen Girl" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 150, "Young Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 64, "Young Charlotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 60, "Young Charlotte" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 220-221, "Young Charlotte" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 210, "Young Charlotte" (1 text)
DT 637, YNGCHARL*
Roud #260
RECORDINGS:
Delmore Brothers, "The Frozen Girl" (Montgomery Ward M-4458, 1934)
Warde Ford, "Fair Charlotte" (AFS 4203 A1, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
I. G. Greer w. Mrs. I. G. Greer, "Young Charlotte" (AFS; on LC14)
Eugene Jemison, "Fair Charlotte" (on Jem01)
Pete Seeger, "Young Charlotte" (on PeteSeeger29)
Vern Smelser, "Young Charlotte" (on FineTimes)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shepherd on the Hill" (theme)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Fair Sharlot
NOTES: This ballad is widely considered to be based on an incident which took place on Jan. 1, 1840, when a girl froze on her way to a ball (the story was reported in the Feb. 8 _New York Observer_). In 1843 (? -- Botkin says 1884, but Smith died in 1868) the poem "A Corpse Going to a Ball" was published by Seba Smith in "The Rover"; the ballad is frequently linked to that lyric.
The matter remains controversial, though; others have linked it to the death of Charlotte Dills, frozen to death in Auburn, Indiana in 1862. And Barry credited the song to a William Lorenzo Carter of Virginia and dated it before 1833 -- though he later accepted the attribution to Smith.
For what it is worth, Laws accepts the attribution to Smith. - RBW
File: LG17
===
NAME: Young Collins: see Lady Alice [Child 85] (File: C085)
===
NAME: Young Collins Green: see Lady Alice [Child 85] (File: C085)
===
NAME: Young Companions [Laws E15]
DESCRIPTION: The singer, born in Philadelphia, abandons his family to go to Chicago where he "sinned both might and day." At last he murders a girl and is condemned to die
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1910 (Lomax, Cowboy Songs)
KEYWORDS: family murder execution
FOUND_IN: US(So,SE,SW)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws E15, "Young Companions"
Randolph 161, "Taney County" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 153-155, "Taney County" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 161A)
Hudson 109, pp. 248-249, "Youth's Companions" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Larkin, pp. 109-111, "Young Companions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 33, pp. 186-189, "Bad Company" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 625, YNGCMPN*
Roud #786
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "I Was Born in Pennsylvania" (OKeh 40544, 1925; on KHarrell01)
File: LE15
===
NAME: Young Conway
DESCRIPTION: The singer tells how Conway and two others go to Renfrew and embark on a "Poland Spree." They find themselves in a fight, and eventually everyone turns on Conway. He dies of his injuries late the next day. Many grieve for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1965 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: murder death party
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke-Lumbering #42, "Young Conway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3678
NOTES: Apparently based on an incident of 1886, in Renfrew, in which Conway and his companions crashed a Polish wedding party. Their gift (a baby carriage) was not appreciated, and a fight broke out in which Conway was killed. Conway was stabbed some twenty times, but no one was charged because it was impossible to determine who struck the fatal blow.
According to Fowke's informant, Michael Cuddihey, singing this song in mixed (Irish and Polish) company was guaranteed to cause fights. - RBW
File: FowL42
===
NAME: Young Craigston: see A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing) [Laws O35] (File: LO35)
===
NAME: Young Daniel: see McLellan's Son (File: Pea831)
===
NAME: Young Diana: see Vilikens and His Dinah [LawsM31A/B] (File: LM31)
===
NAME: Young Donald: see Donall Og (Young Donald) (File: K031)
===
NAME: Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany, The [Child 288]
DESCRIPTION: The Queen appoints Essex to command the fleet against Germany. The Emperor, learning who opposes him, would avoid battle, but his son begs for the command. Essex is victorious, and the German prince must be exhibited in London before he is sent home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1764 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 2(5))
KEYWORDS: royalty sea navy battle prisoner patriotic
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 288, "The Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany" (2 texts)
Bronson 288, "The Young Earl of Essex's Victory over the Emperor of Germany" (2 versions)
GreigDuncan1 36, "Young Essex" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Roud #123
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 2(5), "Queen Elizabeth's Champion" or "A Famous Sea-Fight Between the Emperor of Germany, and the Earl of Essex" ("Come sound up your trumpets, and beat up your drums"), W. and C. Dicey (London), 1736-1763; also Douce Ballads 3(80b), "Queen Elizabeth's Champion" or "Great-Britain's Glory"
NOTES: Bodleian note to Harding B 2(5) and Douce Ballads 3(80b): "Subject: Naval battles; Essex, Robert Devereux, Earl of, 1566-1601" - BS
Needless to say, there is no history in this song. By the time Britain developed a respectable Navy, the "emperorship" of Germany (i.e. the Holy Roman Empire) was little more than a token office. As the Habsburg Empire, it would rise again (until destroyed by Napoleon), but by then, an Earldom wasn't enough to give a man command.
The broadside copy (Child's A) may be from the publishing house of John White, meaning that it was likely issued in the years before White's death in 1769. It is reasonable to assume that the Hannoverian Succession of 1714 had made the British more aware of Germany, and some anonymous (Jacobite?) balladeer decided to grant the English a victory over them.
Internal evidence, to be sure, points to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who of course was the first great Queen of England, and who was friendly with an Earl of Essex. Her reign also saw the voyage of the Spanish Armada, resulting in the first real battle of seagoing gunships. But the Germany of Elizabeth's time was in no sense a country; feuds between Catholics and Protestants were constant, and Protestants at that time generally did not go to war with Protestants.
This song should not be confused with the broadside "The Earl of Essex," printed e.g. by Logan. - RBW
File: C288
===
NAME: Young Edmon Bold: see Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low [Laws M34] (File: LM34)
===
NAME: Young Edmond Dell: see Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low [Laws M34] (File: LM34)
===
NAME: Young Edmond of the Lowlands Low: see Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low [Laws M34] (File: LM34)
===
NAME: Young Edward (I): see The Battle of Mill Springs [Laws A13] (File: LA13)
===
NAME: Young Edward (II): see The Drummer Boy of Waterloo [LawsJ1] (File: LJ01)
===
NAME: Young Edward Bold/The Lowlands Low: see Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low [Laws M34] (File: LM34)
===
NAME: Young Edward the Gallant Hussar: see Gallant Hussar, The (A Damsel Possessed of Great Beauty) (File: E147)
===
NAME: Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low: see Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low [Laws M34] (File: LM34)
===
NAME: Young Ellender
DESCRIPTION: A father sees Ellender with a man. Father would send the man "across the salt sea Where the loud cannons they roar" and confine Ellender on "bread and no water Once a day" She would go with him. A gold ring breaks in two and each takes half. He leaves. 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1969 (recording, Phoebe Smith)
KEYWORDS: courting ring brokentoken father
FOUND_IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES: ()

Roud #1750
RECORDINGS:
Phoebe Smith, "Young Ellender" (on Voice06)
NOTES: The notes to Phoebe Smith's version on Voice06 describe "the rather garbled text of 'Young Ellender.'" The elements of the fragmentary story are all familiar as are the images projected by the lines. It reminds me of parts of "Charming Beauty Bright" [Laws M3], "The Iron Door"[Laws M15], "The Jolly Plowboy"[Laws M24], "Pleasant and Delightful" and countless other token ballads. Nevertheless, so far I cannot make this a version of a ballad I know. I would add one or more of the keywords "captivity," "separation," "pressgang," "war" and "cross-dressing," if any of those attributes were more than hinted at or threatened. 
Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 6" - 25.8.02: "This appears to be a much fragmented version of Roud 539/Laws M15 'The Iron Door'...." The themes are right but I can't make the words fit. Line-by-line comparison with SHenry, Peacock, Creighton-NovaScotia and Creighton-Maritime shows that those texts are all closely related to each other and have no lines in common with "Young Ellender." - BS
File: RcYoElle
===
NAME: Young Emily: see Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low [Laws M34] (File: LM34)
===
NAME: Young Farmer's Offer, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer notes that, at twenty-one, he has come into his father's estate and become a farmer. He has a good bank balance and a cozy home; he asks, "And where's the lass to take my hand And be young Mrs. Armour?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: farming home courting
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
SHenry H776, p. 261, "The Young Farmer's Offer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6900
NOTES: In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Ireland, the shortage of land was so severe that children had to stay on their parents' properties until the parents died; they could not marry until they had a plot of land on which to live. This often meant that marriages didn't take place until the man, at least, was well into his thirties.
There may be a hint of that in this song: The singer is a landowner at twenty-one, making him a prime catch. - RBW
File: HHH776
===
NAME: Young Fisherman, The: see The Bold Fisherman [Laws O24] (File: LO24)
===
NAME: Young Folks, Old Folks: see Walkin' in the Parlor (File: Wa177)
===
NAME: Young Forbest
DESCRIPTION: Elmer Forbest, described as a good Christian man, works five years for John McBean. One day, as the crew is cutting the trees, the wagon holding the logs fails and Forbest is crushed. His comrades bury him and his family mourns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: logger death work
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Doerflinger, pp. 224-225, "Young Forbest" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4073
NOTES: This song is item dC52 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Doe224
===
NAME: Young Gal, Swing Your Tail
DESCRIPTION: Chantey/worksong: "Young gal, go swing your tail/Swing your tail to the South West gale." "Everybody gather round..." "Boys and children get troubled in mind..." "Everybody get converted..." Refrain: "Young gal, go swing your tail"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (recording, John Roberts)
KEYWORDS: nonballad shanty worksong storm
FOUND_IN: Bahamas
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
John Roberts, "Young Gal, Swing Your Tail" (on MuBahamas2)
NOTES: The annotation for LomaxCD1822-2 says that this song is related to the "Swing Your Tail" appearing on that CD, collected in 1935. I don't see it myself, other than the catch-phrase. - PJS
File: RcYGSYT
===
NAME: Young Girl Cut Down in her Prime, The: see The Bad Girl's Lament (St. James' Hospital; The Young Girl Cut Down in her Prime) [Laws Q26] AND The Unfortunate Rake (File: LQ26)
===
NAME: Young Girls, Can't You Hilo?: see Can't Ye Hilo? (File: Hug265)
===
NAME: Young Henry: see Henry and Mary Ann (Henry the Sailor Boy) (File: HHH037)
===
NAME: Young Hunting [Child 68]
DESCRIPTION: (Young Hunting) goes riding, and meets his love. She bids him come in; he says he cannot, for he must meet another love. She kills him. She is then told (by a bird?) that "he had no love but thee."  But all she cares about is hiding the body
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal murder death burial bird
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So,SW) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES: (33 citations)
Child 68, "Young Hunting" (11 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #34}
Bronson 68, "Young Hunting" (43 versions, though a few are fragments which may belong with some other song)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 122-128, "Young Hunting" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #36}
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 87-88, "Young Hunting" (1 tune, with no text at all but reported to be this) {Bronson's #7}
Belden, pp. 34-37, "Young Hunting" (1 text)
Randolph 14, "Lord Henry and Lady Margaret" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 28-31, "Lord Henry and Lady Margaret" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 14A) {Bronson's #18}
Davis-Ballads 17, "Young Hunting" (5 texts plus a fragment; all the texts seem somewhat mixed, and "E" clearly has verses from "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight"; 4 tunes entitled "Sir Henry and Lady Margaret," "Young Hunting," "Lord Henry"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #20, #22, #16, #28}
Davis-More 17, pp. 111-122, "Young Hunting" (6 texts, 5 tunes)
BrownII 18, "Young Hunting" (1 text)
Chappell-FSRA 8, "Young Hunting" (2 texts, one short; 1 tune) {Bronson's #42)
Hudson 9, pp. 77-78, "Young  Hunting" (1 text plus a fragment, from the same informant)
Cambiaire, pp. 28-29, "Loving Henry" (1 text)
SharpAp 18 "Young Hunting" (12 texts plus 2 fragments, 14 tunes){Bronson's #35, #32, #33, #22, #40, #2, #12, #11, #25, #27, #13, #37, #31, #30}
Ritchie-Southern, po. 88-89, "Young Hunting" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 134-136, collectively titled "Young Hunting," individually "Loving Henery," "Come In, Loving Henery," "Loving Henry" (2 texts plus a fragment; the "A" text has a moralizing ending in which the girl dies; tune on p. 398) {Bronson's #10}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 36-39, "Young Hunting" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Leach, pp. 229-234, "Young Hunting" (2 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 76-78, "Lord Barnie" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 30, "Young Hunting" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 190, "Young Hunting" (1 text)
FSCatskills 65, "The Lord of Scotland" (1 text, 1 tune. Cazden et al are not sure this song should be identified with "Young Hunting," since the "bird scene" is more extended than in other versions of that ballad. However, all the classic elements of "Young Hunting" are present)
Warner 109, "A Song of a Lost Hunter (or, My Love Heneree)" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 44, "Young Hunting" (1 text)
Niles 27, "Young Hunting" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 209-212+350-351, "Young Hunting" (1 text)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 13, "Love Henry (Young Hunting)" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #31}
Sandburg, pp. 64-65, "Little Scotch-ee" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #38}
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 22 "Henry Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 54, "Young Hunting" (1 text)
JHCox 9, "Young Hunting" (2 texts)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 97-99, "Love Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 68, FALSLADY* YNGHUNT * YNGHUNT2* YNGHUNT3* YNGHUNT5
Roud #47
RECORDINGS:
Jimmie Tarlton (Darby & Tarlton), "Lowe Bonnie" (Columbia 15763-D, 1930; on TimesAint04, ConstSor1) {Bronson's #43}
Logan English, "Love Henry" (on LEnglish1 -- several verses filled in from Cecil Sharp's Kentucky version)
Dick Justice, "Henry Lee" (Brunswick 367, 1929; on AAFM1)
Ella Parker, "Lord Barnett" (on FineTimes)
Kyle Wooten, "Loving Henry" (OKeh 45539, 1931; rec. 1930)
Jess Young's Tennessee Band, "Loving Henry" (Columbia 15431-D, 1929)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The False Young Man (The False True Lover)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Loving Henry
Lady Margot and Love Henry
Earl Richard
Lord Land
Lord Bonnie
Low Bonnie
Young Redin
NOTES: Bronson notes that the musical tradition of this ballad "is perplexed and hard to make out," the tunes having diverse metres and forms. Bronson divides them into six major groups (the largest of which has two subgroups), but notes connections to many other melodies. We make no attempt to list them all; you'll have to see Bronson. - RBW
File: C068
===
NAME: Young Indian Lass: see The Indian Lass (File: CrNS051)
===
NAME: Young Jamie Foyers: see Jamie Foyers (File: McCST084)
===
NAME: Young Jimmy Foulger: see Jamie Foyers (File: McCST084)
===
NAME: Young John: see The False Lover Won Back [Child 218] (File: C218)
===
NAME: Young John Riley: see John (George) Riley (II) [Laws N37] (File: LN37)
===
NAME: Young Johnnie: see Johnny Doyle [Laws M2] (File: LM02)
===
NAME: Young Johnny (I): see Branded Lambs [Laws O9] (File: LO09)
===
NAME: Young Johnny (II): see Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)
===
NAME: Young Johnny of Hazelgreen: see John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)
===
NAME: Young Johnstone [Child 88]
DESCRIPTION: Johnstone kills his love's brother, then seeks shelter with (successively his mother, his sister, and) his love.  She hides him from his pursuers, whom she feeds while he rests. They leave and she goes to him. He kills her, probably in confusion. He dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1769 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: murder love brother reunion family hiding
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Child 88, "Young Johnstone" (6 texts)
Bronson 88, "Young Johnstone" (4 versions+2 in addenda)
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 293, "Young Johnstone" (1 text, from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition)
Mackenzie 10, "Johnson and the Colonel" (1 text, 1 tune); "Johnson and Coldwell" (1 text) {Bronson's #4}
Leach, pp. 283-284, "Young Johnstone" (1 text)
PBB 60 "Young Johnstone" (1 text)
DT 88, JOHNSTON*
Roud #56
NOTES: Also collected and sung by Ellen Mitchell, "Johnston and the Young Colonel" (on Kevin and Ellen Mitchell, "Have a Drop Mair," Musical Tradition Records MTCD315-6 CD (2001)) - BS
File: C088
===
NAME: Young Kate of Kilcummer
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves Kate of Kilcummer. He is sure he'd find none other like her. "As the rose to the bee, As the sunshine to summer, So welcome to me Is young Kate of Kilcummer."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: love lyric nonballad
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 195-196, "Young Kate of Kilcummer" (1 text)

NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "Young Kate of Kilcummer is copied from a tale entitled 'The Rapparee,' printed in Bolster's 'Quarterly Magazine, No. IX.,' a Cork periodical publication, August 1828, where this ballad is said to be 'a favourite Irish song, which we have endeavoured to translate, preserving as much as possible the simplicity of the original." The Editor [Croker], however, does not recognize anything to induce him to credit this statement. He believes it to be an original composition." - BS
File: CrPS195
===
NAME: Young Kitty Lee (Letty Lee)
DESCRIPTION: A man sees "Young Kate." He is "shivering and shaking" and tells Kitty her kiss will cure him. She is eventually won over by his glib tongue. She says a husband may beat her, destroy all his earnings, or leave her but she agrees to marry anyway.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage dialog disease
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Peacock, pp. 605-606, "Young Kitty Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 28, "Letty Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea605 (Partial)
Roud #2282
File: Pea605
===
NAME: Young Ladies: see Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)
===
NAME: Young Ladies in Town
DESCRIPTION: "Young ladies in town, and those that live 'round, Wear none but your own country linen." Homemade clothes may not be as grand, but it avoids sending money to Britain. The ladies are advised that the young men will love them all the same
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1769 (in the "Boston Newsletter")
KEYWORDS: clothes patriotic commerce
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1767 - Passage of the Townshend Acts. Britain attempts to raise money from the colonies by imposing taxes on various products (lead, paint, glass, tea). The Americans responded by boycotting British goods (the taxes, except for that on tea, were removed in 1770).
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Scott-BoA, pp. 57-58, "Young Ladies in Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, YNGLADIE*
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Homespun Dress" (theme)
NOTES: After the end of the Seven Years' War, the British government had been determined to make the American colonies pay for the troops stationed there. The first attempt had been Grenville's Stamp Act -- which was so hated and so unjust that it had to be repealed almost instantly.
But England still needed the money. George III had tried to form a more reasonable government by bringing in William Pitt the Elder (1708-1778). But Pitt almost immediately was incapacitated, leaving the government in the hands of the inexperienced Duke of Grafton (1735-1811; he became Prime Minister in 1766) and Charles Townshend (1725-1767), Chancellor of the Exchequer and the government's primary representative in the House of Commons.
Assessments of Townshend vary; Don Cook, in _The Long Fuse_, for instance, calls him a "loose cannon" and accuses him of setting his own interests ahead of the state's (p. 115) an says he "figured out nearly every way he could incite troubles with the Americans." On the flip side, he made major improvements in the administration of Ireland; a balanced assessment would say that he did both harm and good.
But, with respect to colonial relations, the Townshend Acts were a disaster. They were not as onerous as the Stamp Act, but they were definitely burdensome. Had the Stamp Act not come first, the colonists might have grumbled but complained. But the Stamp Act had precipitated opposition, and the Townshend Acts caused more grumbling -- the more so since, as with the Stamp Act, the colonies had not been consulted.
Townshend did not live to see the effects of his unfortunate measure, dying almost at once. The duties would be repealed in 1770. - RBW
File: SBoA057
===
NAME: Young Laird o' Logie, The: see The Laird o' Logie [Child 182] (File: C182)
===
NAME: Young Laird of Craigstoun, The: see A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing) [Laws O35] (File: LO35)
===
NAME: Young Les Darcy
DESCRIPTION: The singer notes that everyone wants to roam. One who falls victim to this is boxer Les Darcy, who wants "to fight at the Golden Gate." (He goes to the U.S. and died), leaving his family to mourn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: fight Australia death
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: May 24, 1917 - Death of Les Darcy in Memphis, Tennessee
FOUND_IN: Australia
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 75-76, "Young Les Darcy" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Les Darcy" (plot, subject)
NOTES: Les Darcy was an Australian boxer of whom great things were expected. He did not live long, and so his major bouts were few, but the Australians made him one of their great heroes. When he died in 1917, the Americans gave the cause of death as pneumonia; Australians claim he was poisoned.
Two songs about Darcy are found in the tradition; this one, more literary, has eight lines per stanza and begins "We all get a craving to roam, Far from home, o'er the foam...." The other, based on "Way Down in Tennessee," begins, "In Maitland cemet'ry (or "Way down in Tennessee") lies poor Les Darcy...." - RBW
File: MA075
===
NAME: Young Lovers, The: see The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)
===
NAME: Young M'Tyre
DESCRIPTION: Nancy loves M'Tyre, her father's servant. Her father plans to transport M'Tyre. She gives him money and he escapes. She tells her father she will only marry M'Tyre. Father says she can call M'Tyre back. They marry and M'Tyre is made a lord.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage parting reunion father servant
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 71, "Young M'Tyre" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2299
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Matt Hyland" (plot)
NOTES: This is so close in plot to "Matt Hyland" (itself a piece of mysterious origin) that I wonder if they mightn't be derived at several removes from the same lost original. - RBW
File: KaNew071
===
NAME: Young MacDonald
DESCRIPTION: "He is young and fair and handsome, he's my fancy late and early..." Chorus in Gaelic. Love song to the young MacDonald who was brought up in Glengarry, fought battles, and is now off to Colorado.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (Fowke/MacMillan)
KEYWORDS: love battle travel
FOUND_IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/MacMillan 54, "Young MacDonald" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4536
NOTES: [The version in Fowke/MacMillan is from] Mrs. A. Fraser of Lancaster, Ontario, who said she learned it from her brother-in-law, Mr. John A. MacDonald. MacDonald is one of the commonest names in Ontario's Glengarry county.
The [version in Fowke/MacMillan] has a mix of English and Gaelic lyrics, though the Gaelic has become too garbled to be correctly translated. - SL
File: FowM054
===
NAME: Young Maid's Love, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves a rich merchant's daughter, but her father arranges for him to be inducted into the navy. His ship wins a great victory at sea, and the prize money makes him rich. He returns home and is allowed to marry the girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation sailor navy reunion money marriage
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
SHenry H58, p. 446, "Eliza/When I Landed in Glasgow" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 45, "The Young Maid's Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3019
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(160), "The Young Maids Love," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: Sam Henry theorizes that this song dates to the period of the Spanish Armada, because in his text the ship fights "twenty-two sail of Spaniards." The internal evidence opposes this; in the same text, the singer meets the girl outside Glasgow -- but at the time of the Armada, Scotland and England were still separate countries. - RBW
File: HHH058
===
NAME: Young Man Badly Walked, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer comes to Belfast and meets a girl. They stop for drinks. She takes him "home." He pays the landlady, planning to marry next day. He wakes alone, with no watch, chain, money, coat, or boots. A man throws him out. "Simple country lads," beware.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: love sex violence beauty drink theft whore
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Leyden 30, "The Young Man Badly Walked" (1 text)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Gold Watch [Laws K41]" (plot) and references there
cf. "The Reason Why" (plot)
NOTES: Leyden: "A song set in High Street and York Street [Belfast] in the late 1870s." - BS
File: Leyd030
===
NAME: Young Man Who Travelled Up and Down, The
DESCRIPTION: "Once there was a young man who travelled up and down... And they told me there that the wars were o'er." Various workers enter, are described, and declare what they will or won't do "till the wars are o'er."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1915 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: drink worker war
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
JHCox 172, "The Young Man Who Travelled Up and Down" (1 text)
Roud #139
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "When Jones's Ale Was New"
NOTES: Cox speculates that this is an "imitation" of "Jones's Ale," in that both involve various people wandering in. As the chorus, form, setting, and characters are all different, however, I've agreed with Cox in listing this as a separate song. Roud lumps them. - RBW
File: JHCox172
===
NAME: Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn, The [Laws H13]
DESCRIPTION: A lazy young farmer will not hoe his corn, with the result that the corn is choked by weeds and destroyed by frost. When he goes courting, his suit is rejected because he wouldn't hoe his corn
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: farming courting rejection work
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES: (21 citations)
Laws H13, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn"
Belden, p. 440, "The Young Man who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Randolph 441, "The Lazy Young Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 106, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
BrownIII 216, "The Man Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 74, "The Young Man Who Couldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Hudson 73, pp. 200-201, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Brewster 68, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 164-165, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 182, "Harm Link" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 46-47, "The Young Man Who Couldn't Hoe Corn (The Lazy Man)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 66, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 38 "A Lazy Farmer Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 874, "Young Man Who Wouldn't How Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 46, pp. 110-111, "The Man That Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
JHCox 173, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 229-230, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 10, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 42, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 120, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
DT 636, HOECORN
Roud #438
RECORDINGS:
Buster Carter & Preston Young, "A Lazy Farmer Boy" (Columbia 15702-D, 1931; on AAFM1,  BefBlues3)
Edna & Jean Ritchie, "The Young Man That Wouldn't Raise Corn" (on Ritchie03)
Pete Seeger, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (on GrowOn3) (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
Vern Smelser, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (on FineTimes)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
The Lazy Man
File: LH13
===
NAME: Young Man's Dream, The
DESCRIPTION:  Singer dreams of Granu who says "Relate most true what you did view when you fought for liberty." She shows him "the heroes that have bled for the sake of liberty." St Patrick addresses the crowd: "Your Cross maintain ... It will lead you to paradise"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 13(10)); first half 19C (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland dream nonballad patriotic religious
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Zimmermann 28, "The Young Man's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 13(10), "Young Man's Dream" ("It happened one night as I lay on my bed"), J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1858-1861; also Harding B 11(3610), 2806 c.17(378)[some words illegible], "Young Man's Dream"
NOTES: From National Library of Scotland commentary on broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(013), "Shiel's Rights of Man": "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." - BS
File: Zimm028
===
NAME: Young Man's Love, A: see Kissing Song (I) (File: R374)
===
NAME: Young Mannon: see Bold Manan the Pirate [Laws D15] (File: LD15)
===
NAME: Young Mary from Kilmore
DESCRIPTION: John's father promises him houses and land, and approves of his proposal to Mary. She refuses him: her parents are opposed, or she would rather ramble. He hears that three men from Rosslea would "banish" him from Rosslea. He says "she has deceived me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1973 (Morton-Maguire)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection home
FOUND_IN: Ireland
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Morton-Maguire 18, pp. 42,109,164, "Young Mary from Kilmore" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #2918
NOTES: Morton-Maguire: The singer's name may be John O'Brien or John Smith. The three "heroes" that might banish him -- apparently on Mary's behalf -- are Gunn, McIlroy and Maguire.- BS
File: MoMa018
===
NAME: Young Mary of Accland: see Mary Acklin (The Squire's Young Daughter) [Laws M16] (File: LM16)
===
NAME: Young McCance: see David's Flowery Vale (File: HHH212)
===
NAME: Young McFee: see McAfee's Confession [Laws F13] (File: LF13)
===
NAME: Young Melvyn
DESCRIPTION: Melvyn shoots Mary. He ties her to a stone and sinks her in the river. Nevertheless he is convicted and hanged. Girls "be careful in your friendship, and chose a proper mate." Young men, "think on Young Melvyn ... locked in his lonesome cell"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: murder prison punishment lover
FOUND_IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Peacock, pp. 643-644, "Young Melvyn" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea643 (Partial)
Roud #9798
File: Pea643
===
NAME: Young Men and Maids: see The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)
===
NAME: Young Men, Come Marry Me: see The Old Maid's Song (II) (File: FJ162)
===
NAME: Young Men, The: see To Men (File: GrD3649)
===
NAME: Young Millman: see The Millman and Tuplin Song (File: IvDC046)
===
NAME: Young Molly Ban: see Molly Bawn (Shooting of His Dear) [Laws O36] (File: LO36)
===
NAME: Young Monroe: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Young Monroe at Gerry's Rock: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Young Munroe: see The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
===
NAME: Young Peggy [Child 298]
DESCRIPTION: Young Peggy and Jamie have been seen together. When her parents call him rogue and loon, she vows to rest in his arms forever. The lovers agree to run off in the middle of the night. Her father awakes in the night and pursues, but they are already married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: courting father mother marriage elopement love
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Child 298, "Young Peggy" (1 text)
Bronson 298, "Young Peggy" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 683-684, "Young Peggy" (1 text)
DT 298, YNGPEGGY
Roud #3875
File: C298
===
NAME: Young People, Take Warning
DESCRIPTION: "Young People all, attention give And hear what I shall say, I wish your soul with Christ to live In everlasting day." The singer warns against the pleasures of the flesh and tells of the dangers of Hell. He reminds them that death is coming
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1920
KEYWORDS: religious warning
FOUND_IN: US(So)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Randolph 653, "Young People, Take Warning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7574
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blind Man's Regret" (lyrics)
NOTES: Although this shares stanzas with "The Blind Man's Regret," they don't really seem to be the same song. The latter describes how the blind man went blind; this song seems a pure warning. It seems more likely that the verses floated. At the very least, it's uncertain enough that we split. - RBW
File: R653
===
NAME: Young Prince of Spain, The: see The Prince of Morocco (The Sailor Boy II) (File: LN18)
===
NAME: Young Rambleaway: see Rambleaway (File: ShH31)
===
NAME: Young Riley (I): see O'Reilly from the County Leitrim (File: HHH580)
===
NAME: Young Riley (II): see Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
===
NAME: Young Roger Esquire: see The Gray Mare [Laws P8] (File: LP08)
===
NAME: Young Rogers, The Miller: see The Gray Mare [Laws P8] (File: LP08)
===
NAME: Young Ronald [Child 304]
DESCRIPTION: Young Ronald loves the king's daughter. She says she can only obey her father's will. The king offers his daughter and great wealth to anyone who can slay a six-headed giant. Ronald slays the giant "wi ae sweep o his hand" and wins the princess
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: royalty monster love courting death marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Child 304, "Young Ronald" (1 text)
Roud #3914
NOTES: Child's comments on this ballad amount to little more than an extended snort of disgust. He certainly has his point, but there may be folk elements in the tale; at least, it reminds me (rather loosely) of the Welsh tale of Culhwch and Olwen. - RBW
File: C304
===
NAME: Young Sailor Bold (I), The (The Rich Merchant's Daughter) [Laws M19]
DESCRIPTION: The merchant threatens his daughter's lover with death. She dresses as a sailor to warn him of the danger, and promises to go away with him. Her father meets her and kills her by mistake. He discovers the mistake and kills himself; the lover dies of grief
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: love death exile suicide disguise murder cross-dressing
FOUND_IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES: (7 citations)
Laws M19, "The Young Sailor Bold I (The Rich Merchant's Daughter)"
FSCatskills 59, "The Rich Merchant" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 35, "The Rich Merchant's Daugher" (1 text)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 194-195, "Rich Merchant and his Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 218-220, "Willie" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 3 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 72, "The Rich Merchant's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 432, RCHMRCH*
Roud #548
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Reuben Wright and Phoebe Brown" (plot)
File: LM19
===
NAME: Young Sailor Lad, The: see Rue and the Thyme, The (The Rose and the Thyme) (File: Ord187)
===
NAME: Young Sally Monro: see Sally Monroe [Laws K11] (File: LK11)
===
NAME: Young Sally Monroe: see Sally Monroe [Laws K11] (File: LK11)
===
NAME: Young Sally Munroe: see Sally Monroe [Laws K11] (File: LK11)
===
NAME: Young Sam Bass: see Sam Bass [Laws E4] (File: LE04)
===
NAME: Young Serving Man, The: see The Iron Door [Laws M15] (File: LM15)
===
NAME: Young Shepherd (I), The
DESCRIPTION: A shepherd courts "a rich merchant's daughter." Her father shoots the shepherd. She finds him dying. She puts on his hat and plaid and keeps his sheep; "her father shall die For the loss of his daughter and the murder besides"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1954 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: love murder cross-dressing dying sheep father shepherd
FOUND_IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (4 citations)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 108, "The Young Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 104-105,255, "The Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #103, p. 1, "The Squire's Daughter" (1 text) 
GreigDuncan2 223, "The Unfortunate Shepherdess" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #1151
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:046, "The Unfortunate Shepherdess," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
In the County of Exeter
NOTES: Greig: "This pastoral ditty seems to hail originally from England, and has likely found its way north per some broadside." - BS
File: CrMa108
===
NAME: Young Shepherd (II), The: see Sheepcrook and Black Dog (File: HHH030a)
===
NAME: Young Ship's Carpenter, The: see The Daemon Lover (The House Carpenter) [Child 243] (File: C243)
===
NAME: Young Spanish Lass, The: see The Little Mohee [Laws H8] (File: LH08)
===
NAME: Young Susan (I)
DESCRIPTION: Susan joins the Royal Navy to follow Willie "where he was called And face his mortal enemies on board of a man o' war." She is slightly wounded by cannon fire. He goes to help and she reveals herself. They are married when they reach England.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: war love marriage cross-dressing sea ship injury sailor
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Greig #23, pp. 1-2, #25, p. 2, "Young Susan" (1 text plus a fragment)
GreigDuncan1 179, "Young Susan" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #1533
NOTES: This seems to me to be the same as Kidson, _Traditional Tunes_, "On Board of a Man-of-War," pp. 102-103, but not at all the same as SHenry H556, p. 326, "On Board of a Man-of-War." - BS
File: GrD1179
===
NAME: Young Susan (II): see On Board of a Man-of-War (Young Susan) (File: HHH556)
===
NAME: Young Turtle Dove, The: see The Daemon Lover (The House Carpenter) [Child 243] (File: C243)
===
NAME: Young Virgin, A
DESCRIPTION: "I am a young virgin just come on board...." The prosperous, available girl is courted by various suitors. Merchant, doctor, apothecary, etc. offer their skills to gain her hand; she rejects each. She gives her love to a sailor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1817 (Journal from the Herald)
KEYWORDS: love courting sailor worker humorous
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 100-102, "A Young Virgin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2034
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "My Thing Is My Own" (theme)
cf. "I'll Not Marry at All" (theme)
NOTES: This really, really reminds me of "My Thing Is My Own." I don't think there is kinship, but I suspect a common inspiration. - RBW
File: SWMS100
===
NAME: Young Waters [Child 94]
DESCRIPTION: Because the queen has admitted that Young Waters has the fairest face of all the lords and lairds and knights she's seen, the king has him beheaded.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: beauty death execution
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Child 94, "Young Waters" (2 texts)
Bronson 94, "Young Waters" (1 version)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 228-231, "Young Waters" (1 text)
OBB 82, "Young Waters" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 156-158+334, "Young Waters" (1 text)
ST C094 (Full)
Roud #2860
NOTES: Various suggestions have been offered for the identity of Young Waters. Percy suggested none other than the Bonny Earl of Murray, while Buchan offered one David Graham of Fintray (executed 1592). These and all other suggestions must be labelled simply, "Possible, but not really likely." 
Although Bronson reports a tune, he notes, "It cannot be proved that this ballad was ever traditionally sung in Scots or English." The source of the tune is dubious, and Bronson has some cutting remarks about the stanzas of the English-language texts (though there is little doubt that the story exists in traditional forms in other languages). - RBW
File: C094
===
NAME: Young William's Denial: see The Banks of the Inverness (File: HHH205)
===
NAME: Young William's Return: see The Banks of the Inverness (File: HHH205)
===
NAME: Young Willie's Return, or The Token: see The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor) [Laws N35] (File: LN35)
===
NAME: Youpe! Youpe! Sur la Riviere!
DESCRIPTION: French: "Youpe! Youpe! sur la riviere, Vous ne m'entendez guere." The singer and Francois call upon Gauthier; they visit his girlfriend Delima. She rejects him as untrue; "You tell your little Jeremie the same things." The friends leave uproariously 
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: courting rejection foreignlanguage
FOUND_IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 62-64, "Youpe! Youpe! Sur la Riviere!" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Fowke writes, "Of all the paddling songs, [this] is the most thoroughly Canadian. Its hero is not a prince... but a habitant lad who goes to call on this girl and is rebuffed for being too fickle. It was especially popular among French-Canadian lumberjacks who adapted to their own use an earlier song called 'Le p'tit bois d'l'ail.'" - RBW
File: FJ062
===
NAME: Your Long Journey
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells loved one that they must now part; the singer is torn with grief, but they will eventually "walk hand in hand/As one in heaven in the family of God." Cho: "Oh my darling, my darling/My heart breaks as you take your long journey"
AUTHOR: Doc & Rosa Lee Watson
EARLIEST_DATE: 1962 (recorded by authors)
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer tells loved one that although God has given them years of happiness together, they must now part; as the angels come, the singer is torn with grief, anticipating the coming years without him/her, but they will eventually "walk hand in hand/As one in heaven in the family of God". Chorus: "Oh my darling, my darling/My heart breaks as you take your long journey"
KEYWORDS: grief loneliness farewell parting death dying nonballad religious family husband wife
FOUND_IN: US
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
Doc & Rosa Lee Watson, "Your Long Journey" (on Watson01)
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Long Journey
NOTES: Although this song is not traditional, and not -- quite -- a ballad, I include it here because of its enduring popularity in the folk revival, which may indicate that it is entering a new oral tradition. - PJS
File: RcDWLoJo
===
NAME: Youth and Folly: see Peggy Gordon (File: Gil127)
===
NAME: Youth's Companions: see Young Companions [Laws E15] (File: LE15)
===
NAME: Yowe Lamb, The (Ca' the Yowes; Lovely Molly)
DESCRIPTION: Molly agrees to marry Willie if her father consents. Willie asks the father for a "yowe lamb" to start a flock. Her father consents and tells Willie to "choose a yowe lamb." Willie chooses Molly. Her father is upset by the trick, but allows the match
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1899 (Ford); the Burns version is #264 in the _Scots Musical Museum_
KEYWORDS: love marriage father trick
FOUND_IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES: (5 citations)
Kennedy 124, "Ca the Yowes to the Knowes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 187-188, "Lovely Molly" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H175, p. 470, "The Yowe Lamb" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 46, "Ca' the Ewes Unto the Knowes" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CALEWE3*
Roud #857
ALTERNATE_TITLES:
Lovely Mollie
NOTES: This is apparently the original of the Burns song "Ca' the Ewes to the Knowes," but he changed it so substantially that they must be considered separate songs, and the reader must be careful to distinguish. - RBW
And despite the title, Kennedy's version really is "The Yowe Lamb." - PJS
File: K124
===
NAME: Yowie Wi' the Crookit Horn: see Ewie Wi' the Crookit Horn (File: K271)
===
NAME: Yr Hen wr Mwyn: see My Good Old Man (File: R426)
===
NAME: Ythanside
DESCRIPTION: "As I cam in by Ythanside, Where swiftly flows the rolling tide, A fair young maid passed by my side." They go to her home, and talk till very late. Man and girl kiss; he promises to return, at which time she will give him her hand. They marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Ord, pp. 32-34, "Ythanside" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BONYTHAN*
Roud #3783
File: Ord032
===
NAME: Yuba Dam
DESCRIPTION: Conductor asks the singer where he wants to go; he replies "Yuba Dam." Conductor beats him up. His wife scolds him, asks, "Where'd you get that load?" "Yuba Dam!" After more such troubles, he opines that "the town of Yuba Dam has no right on the map"
AUTHOR: William D. Hall (according to Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 611)
EARLIEST_DATE: 1899 (recording, S. H. Dudley); Spaeth lists it as a major composition of 1898
LONG_DESCRIPTION: Singer is asked by train conductor where he wants to go, and replies "Yuba Dam." Conductor is upset, and beats him up. When he gets home, his wife scolds him, asks, "Where'd you get that load?" "Yuba Dam!" She slugs him; he flees. He returns the next day, not realizing he has a long blonde hair on his coat; she finds it and he leaves home. She sues for divorce; judge asks him, "What brought this all about?" "Yuba Dam!" he replies, and is jailed for contempt. He opines that "the town of Yuba Dam has no right on the map"
KEYWORDS: jealousy infidelity marriage accusation questions humorous wife judge wordplay
FOUND_IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES: (0 citations)
RECORDINGS:
S. H. Dudley, "Yuba Dam" (Berliner 0466-J, rec. 1899)
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. I Want to Go to Morrow (subject, such as it is, and general atmosphere)
NOTES: I assign the location thanks to Bob Bovee, whose father [uncle, according to the liner notes to Bob's album "The Roundup"] learned the song in Nebraska in the 1920s. After assiduous searching, I had been unable to locate a Yuba Dam, but a more recent Google search suggests that the congressional representative for the South Yuba River area is proposing that one be built. - PJS
Bob recorded this long enough ago that I have it on LP, but after many years of attending Bovee/Heil concerts, I can't recall ever hearing him sing it. (I won't swear to that.) Maybe Yuba Dam is still causing trouble. - RBW
File: RcYubaDa
===
NAME: Zaccheus Climbed the Sycamore Tree
DESCRIPTION: "Zaccheus climbed the sycamo' tree, Few days, few days! Zaccheus climbed the sycamo' tree, Few days, get along home. Oh, he's way up yondeh...." "Zaccheus climbed his lord fo' to see."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 200, "Zaccheus Climbed the Sycamo' Tree" (1 text); cf. p. 286, "(Zaccheus)" (1 short text)
Roud #8871
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Few Days" (lyrics)
NOTES: Zaccheus (more properly transliterated Zakchaios; in most modern translations, Zacchaeus) is mentioned in Luke 19:1-10; he was a short tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Jesus went on to have dinner with him and declare him saved due  to his charity -- a particularly noteworthy statement, given how reviled tax collectors were at the time.
This is doubtless inspired at least in part by "Few Days," but it has been adapted enough to list as a separate song. - RBW
File: ScNF200A
===
NAME: Zack, the Mormon Engineer
DESCRIPTION: Zack, the Mormon engineer, has a wife in every town along the D&RG, and so refuses to change lines.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1952
KEYWORDS: marriage railroading humorous train
FOUND_IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES: (2 citations)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 444, "Zack, the Mormon Engineer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ZACKMORM*
Roud #4761
RECORDINGS:
L. M. Hilton, "Zack, The Mormon Engineer" (on Hilton01)
Art Thieme, "Zack, The Mormon Engineer" (on Thieme03)
NOTES: Said to be based, loosely, on the life of one Zack Black who worked on the Denver and Rio Grande railroad. The tune is loosely based on "Oh, Susanna." - RBW
File: BRaF444
===
NAME: Zared, The: see The Dreadnought [Laws D13] (File: LD13)
===
NAME: Zeb Tourney's Girl [Laws E18]
DESCRIPTION: Dan Kelly thinks often of Zeb Tourney's daughter, even though his family is feuding with hers. Kelly keeps a promise made to his father by killing all the male Tourneys, but then brings home Zeb's daughter, whom he loves
AUTHOR: Carson J. Robison?
EARLIEST_DATE: 1926 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: feud love murder
FOUND_IN: US(Ap,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (6 citations)
Laws E18, "Zeb Tourney's Girl"
Hudson 108, pp. 247-248, "Zeb Tunney's Girl" (1 text)
Warner 112, "Don Kelly's Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, pp. 251-252, "(Zeb Turney's Girl)" (1 text)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 735, "Zeb Turney's [Turner's] Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 681, ZEBTURNY
ST LE18 (Full)
Roud #2249
RECORDINGS:
James Burke, "Zeb Turney's Gal" (Superior 2590, 1931)
Vernon Dalhart, "Zeb Turney's Gal" Domino 3643, 1925; Banner 1671, 1926; Conqueror 7074, 1928) (Broadway 8050, 1925) (Columbia 15049-D [as Al Craver], c. 1926; rec. 1925)  (Edison 51656 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], 1925) (OKeh 40506, 1926; rec. 1925) (Victor 19867, 1925) (Vocalion 5087/Vocalion 15280, 1926) (Challenge 157/Challenge 316, 1927; rec. 1926)
Bradley Kincaid, "Zeb Turney's Gal" (Bluebird 8410, 1940)
Luther Ossenbrink, "Zeb Turney's Gal" (Supertone 9570, c. 1929; Supertone 2590, c. 1931; both as Arkansas Woodchopper; Champion 16053 [as West Virginia Railsplitter], 1929)
NOTES: Warner notes that a song of this name was copyrighted in 1925 by Marjorie Lamkin and Maggie Andrews, of which the latter at least is a pseudonym of Carson J. Robison (it was his mother's maiden name). And Laws points out that it sounds "suspiciously unlike a mountaineer's conception of a feud." We note also that no one seems able to list the event upon which it is based.
But wait, there's more. Vernon Dalhart recorded this in 1926, and at that time, the name "Dalhart" was worth hundreds of thousands of sales. And at least one of the traditional versions -- Hudson's -- is functionally identical to the Dalhart recording, with the only differences minor verbal variants easily explained as errors of hearing or memory. The other versions are also very similar to each other, implying a recent common source.
The almost inevitable conclusion is that this is a song "gone folk": Written by Robison, recorded by Dalhart -- and then picked up by folklorists who didn't bother checking its pedigree. - RBW
File: LE18
===
NAME: Zeb Tunney's Girl: see Zeb Tourney's Girl [Laws E18] (File: LE18)
===
NAME: Zeb Turney's Girl: see Zeb Tourney's Girl [Laws E18] (File: LE18)
===
NAME: Zebra Dun, The [Laws B16]
DESCRIPTION: A new man joins the cowboys, and proves expert on many things. The cowboys think he must be a greenhorn, and allow him to take on the wild Zebra Dun. To their surprise, he controls the horse and receives a job. Not all educated people are greenhorns...
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: cowboy
FOUND_IN: US(MA,So,SW)
REFERENCES: (11 citations)
Laws B16, "The Zebra Dun"
Larkin, pp. 49-52, "Zebra Dun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 208, "Zebra Dun" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 427, "Zebra Dun" (1 text)
Thorp/Fife XII, pp.135-147  (27-29), "Educated Feller" (4 texts, 1 tune -- one of which, "Bow-Legged Ike," may be independent or an ancestor)
Fife-Cowboy/West 71, "The Educated Feller (Zebra Dun)" (2 text, 1 tune plus a tune reference)
Ohrlin-HBT 22, "Zebra Dun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 12, pp. 77-85, "Old Zebra Dun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 107, "The Zebra Dun" (1 text)
DT 383, ZEBRADUN*
ADDITIONAL: Hal Cannon, editor, _Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering_, Giles M. Smith, 1985, pp. 8-10, "The Zebra Dun" (1 text)
Roud #3237
RECORDINGS:
Jules [Verne] Allen, "Zebra Dun" (Victor V-40022, c. 1928; Montgomery Ward M-4464, 1934; on AuthCowboys)
Tex Fletcher, "The Zebra Dun" (Decca 5302, 1936)
Harry Jackson, "Zebra Dun" (on HJackson1)
Glenn Ohrlin, "Zebra Dun" (on Ohrlin01)
J. M. Waddell, "The Zebra Dun" (AFS, 1940s; on LC28)
NOTES: Larkin states, without evidence though it's a reasonable conjecture, that the horse in this piece was a dun with the Z bar brand, with the "Z bar dun" wearing down to the "Zebra dun." Her other conjecture, that the singer may have been an Englishman who learned to ride while hunting fox, seems much less likely.
Logsdon (who mentions Larkin's suggestion) notes that this is because, while "dun" is a recognized description of a horse's hide, "zebra" isn't. But he observes that a "zebra dun" would be a dun with stripes.
One of Logsdon's texts, interestingly, was sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"/"John Brown's Body," though there is no chorus and some of his lines must have taken some quick tongue-work to sing to the Battle Hymn. - RBW
File: LB16
===
NAME: Zek'l Weep
DESCRIPTION: "Zek'l weep, Zek'l moan, Flesh come a-creepin' off o' Zek'l bones... I know you goin' to miss me when I'm gone." "Star in the east, star in the west, Wish that star was on my breast" "Hush little baby don't you cry, Know that your mother was born to die"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
BrownIII 657, "'Zekiel'll Weep and 'Zekiel'll Moan" (1 fragment)
Sandburg, pp. 449-450, "Zek'l Weep" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 209-210, (no title) (1 text)
ST San449 (Full)
Roud #12174
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "All My Trials" (floating lyrics) and references there
NOTES: Sandburg's first verse here may be a backward telling of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezek. 37:1-14. Or, again, it may not.
Scarborough's text never mentions Ezekiel, but the rest seems to belong here. I think. - RBW
File: San449
===
NAME: 'Zekiel'll Weep and 'Zekiel'll Moan: see Zek'l Weep (File: San449)
===
NAME: Zekiel'll Weep and (E)zekiel'll Moan: see Zek'l Weep (File: San449)
===
NAME: Zion's Sons and Daughters
DESCRIPTION: "See the fountain opened wide That from sinning frees us, Flowing from the wounded side Of our Immanuel Jesus." Those who thirst are called; Jesus gives freely to the dying; the woman at the well is given a warming drink; the thief forgiven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND_IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
Fuson, pp. 214-215, "Zion's Sons and Daughters" (1 text)
ST Fus214 (Partial)
Roud #16373
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "Boundless Mercy (Drooping Souls, No Longer Grieve)"
NOTES: I strongly suspect that this is a version of "Boundless Mercy (Drooping Souls, No Longer Grieve)," but the key lines are missing, and Fuson doesn't give tunes, so I have to classify it separately.
The story of the woman of Samaria and the well, in which Jesus promises "living water," is in John 4, though there are hints of the theme elsewhere.
The "thief... [who] fled to glory" is, I think, an allusion to Luke 23:39-43. - RBW
File: Fus214
===
NAME: Zip Coon: see Old Zip Coon (I) (File: RJ19258)
===
NAME: Zoological Gardens, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, thunder and lightning it's no lark When Dublin city is in the dark. If you've any money go up to the Park and view the Zoological gardens." The singer describes the odd behavior of the animals, often with a sexual subtext
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: 1982 (_Soodlum's Irish Ballad Book_)
KEYWORDS: wordplay animal travel sex
FOUND_IN: 
REFERENCES: (1 citation)
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 66-67, "Zoological Gardens" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: According to _Soodlum's Irish Ballad Book_, the Dublin Zoological Gardens are in Phoenix Park, and the song dates back to the nineteenth century. I rather doubt this; the reference in the first verse to Dublin being in the dark, which occurs in both the Soodlum's and Harte texts, sounds like it refers to a World War I blackout.
Robert Gogan,  _130 Great Irish Ballads_ (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 84, has a version almost identical to Soodlum's but with a few minor variations. He explains the word "mot," which is frequent in his version, as being Dublin slang for "girlfriend." He also notes that the zoo dates back to 1830.
Is the song traditional? I know of no field collections -- but the Soodlum's and Harte texts differ significantly, and Harte says there are other variants he didn't record. So it probably does have some traditional life, though perhaps only on college campuses or such. - RBW
File: Hart066
===
1!! THIS ITEM INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK !!!
===