Battle of the Boyne (II), The


DESCRIPTION: "July the first, in Oldbridge town ...." "In vain they marched to slaughter;For oh! 'tis lost what William won That day at the Boyne Water" "Fear has lost what valour won" May "days return when men shall prize The deeds of the Boyne Water"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1895 (Graham)
KEYWORDS: battle Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Graham, p. 9, "The Battle of the Boyne" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Girl I Left Behind Me (II - lyric)" (tune)
cf. "The Boyne Water (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The beginning of the first verse is the beginning of "Boyne Water (I)". Home Rule for Ireland had been defeated in 1885 and 1893; is this about fear of its approach? (See, for example, "A Loyal Song Against Home Rule.") - BS
Alternately, perhaps, it's a reference to the elimination of the Protestant Ascendency, under which Catholics were required to pay tithes to support the Protestant clergy (for which see, e.g., "The Downfall of Heresy").. The answer probably depends on the date of the song. The Church was disestablished in 1869. The Home Rule issue came up soon after; it never passed in the nineteenth century, because any time the Liberals came close to putting it through, the Conservatives would win an election and suppress the matter. But that made it a constant irritant to the people of Ulster. - RBW
File: Grah009

Battle of the Diamond, The


DESCRIPTION: "We men of the North" defeated a brand-wielding "lawless band" in a deadly battle on Diamond Hill. For the singer, that battle is the model for future encounters. "We have bided our time -- it is well nigh come! It will find us stern and steady"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: battle death Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sep 21, 1795 - The Battle of the Diamond [at Diamond Crossroads] between the Roman Catholic Defenders and the Protestants of the area (source: _The Orange Institution - The Early Years_ at Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland site.)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 11, "The Battle of the Diamond" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Not a Drum Was Heard" (tune, according to OrangeLark)
cf. "The Battle of the Navvies" (tune)
NOTES: OrangeLark: "The song itself is an account of a battle which was to have a profound effect on Irish history. It was between the Roman Catholic "Defenders" and the Protestant "Peep o' Day Boys." The Defenders who had some thirty men killed were frustrated in their intention to expel the Protestants from Co. Armagh. The Protestants defeated their enemies without loss of life. The victors, with joined hands pledged themselves to defend the Crown, the Country and the Reformed Religion. Shortly afterwards they founded the Loyal Orange Institution of Ireland."
For some background on Defenders and Peep o' Day Boys, see the notes to "Bold McDermott Roe" and "The Noble Ribbon Boys." For more on the Loyal Orange Institution see the notes to "Dialogue Between Orange and Croppy." - BS
"The new outbreak of feuding in the North reached its cllimax in September 1795 at the so-called Battle of the Diamond, a piece of ground near the town of Armagh. A large party of Defenders attacked party of Peep o' Day Boys there and got the worst of it, leaving twenty or thirty corpses on the field. The incident, which by itself constituted nothing new, is a historical landmark since it led the Peep o' Day boys to reorganize under a name which was to play an increasingly significant role in the future of Ireland: the Orange Society -- the colour orange having long been a popular symbol with which to celebrate the victory of William of Orange over James II a century before." (Kee, p. 71)
Supporting the view that the battle was "nothing new" is Smyth, pp. 110-111: "In December 1794, for example, Defenders and Peep O'Day Boys, 'young boys and idle journeymen weavers', clashed at a fair. After the twelfth of July celebrations the following year a group of Catholic were attacked near Portadown. The tenions which such incidents revealed culminated in the set-piece battle at the Diamond.... Although heavily reinforced by contingents from the neighbouring areas of Down, Derry, and, particularly, Tyrone, the Defenders were badly beaten, suffering between seventeen and forty-eight casualties. This rout was then followed by the mass expulsion of catholics. At least one church was burned down and catholic homes and property -- looms, webs, and yarn -- were destroyed.... Estimates of the number of refugee ran from 3,500 to 10,000.... The Defenders at the battle of Randalstown in 1798 carried a banner inscribed 'REMEMBER ARMAGH'."
Foster,p. 272, describes the aftermath: "Defenderism was in one sense a 'defence' against [Protestant aggresion]. By the mid-1790s, local causes celebres like the battle of the Diamond near Loughgall, County Armagh, on 21 September 1795, which inaugurated the Orange Order, had taken a definitively sectarian tinge. Protestants wanted to ban Catholics from the local linen industry; Protestants were colonizing traditionally Catholic areas in the Ulster borderlands; and, most importantly, local Protestant gentry from the mid-1790s abandoned what one of them called 'the farce of impartiality between the parties' and openly supported the Orangemen. In these conditions, Defenderism rapidly became an 'anti-Protestant, anti-state ideology', it was also anti-English and capable of spectacular violence."
Fry/Fry, p. 194, note that in the aftermath "The Orangemen attacked Ulster Catholics with merciless brutality. They assaulted them, turned them out of their homes, or 'papered' them pinning notices on their doors telling them to go 'To hell -- or Connacht' [a reminiscence of Cromwell's ethnic cleansing of a century and a half earlier].... Poor catholic weavers had their looms broken, and labourers' houses were burned down; sometimes as many as a dozen houses would be burned in a night. At the end of 1795 the governor of Armagh wrote: 'No night passes that houses are not destroyed, and scarce a week that some dreaadful murders are not committed. Nothing can exceed the animosity between Protestant and Catholic at this moment in this country.'"
This was to have significant consequences during the 1798 rebellion, when religious differences badly hampered the Ulster rising; see e.g. the notes to "General Monroe." - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: OrLa011

Battle of the Kegs, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of the battle between the British fleet and a flotilla of American barrels. As the barrels float downstream, the British fear they contain bombs or commandos, and blast the kegs to smithereens -- then boast of their victory
AUTHOR: Francis Hopkinson
EARLIEST DATE: 1778
KEYWORDS: technology war rebellion battle humorous
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 5, 1778 - "The Battle of the Kegs"
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 77-80, "The Battle of the Kegs" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BATTKEGS*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Yankee Doodle" (tune) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
British Valor Displayed
NOTES: After the British took over Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War, the Colonials tried various expedients to harass their shipping. One of these was the use of what we would now call floating mines -- kegs filled with gunpowder and intended to explode among the British ships.
The most intense combat of this sort took place in the winter of 1778. When the British saw a large number of kegs floating downriver, they naturally did all they could to explode them in advance (and, in fact, they were highly successful). The residents of Philadelphia, however, derived great amusement from watching the British attack a bunch of barrels. Hence this song.
I know of no real evidence that the piece is traditional. But it became well-known. J. Franklin Jameson, Dictionary of United States History 1492-1895, Puritan Press, 1894, p. 54, mentions it (one of only a handful of songs it mentions), referring to it as "a celebrated humorous poem of the Revolutionary War, written by Francis Hopkinson."
Checking Granger's Index to Poetry, I find seven other Hopkinson pieces listed, although the only one I've ever seen is "Enraptured I Gaze." But this one was well-enough known that (Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American People, Oxford, 1965, p. 250) lists it as one of his typical songs of the Revolutionary period.
Jameson, p. 313, gives this biography of Hopkinson:
Hopkinson, Francis (1737-1791) was admitted to the bar in 1761. He was a New York Councilman from 1774 to 1776. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1777, serving on the committee to draft articles of confederation and advocating and signing the Declaration of Independence. He was appointed head of the Navy Department in 1775. He aided the cause of liberty by some witty satires and popular poems and songs. He was Judge of Admiralty for Pennsylvania from 1779 to 1789, and a U. S. District Judge from 1790 to 1791. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: SBoA077

Battle of the Navvies, The


DESCRIPTION: "We burnt the Bully Beggarman." Led by Mick Kenna "the Navvies left their work" firing pistols and throwing rocks through the windows of a school. When they saw us they fled. Challenged, we beat them again. Now we help "to crush those fearful Riots"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.34(12))
KEYWORDS: violence Ireland political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 8-23, 1864 - Sectarian Belfast riots about Dublin Daniel O'Connell statue (source: Leyden)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 41, "The Battle of the Navvies" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.34(12), "Battle of the Navvies" ("We burnt the Bully Beggarman, for him our scorn expressed"), The Poet's box (Glasgow), Sep 3, 1864
ALTERNATE TITLES:
cf. "Battle of the Diamond" (tune)
cf. "The Orange Riots in Belfast" (subject)
NOTES: Leyden: "The protagonists in these disturbances were the Protestants of Sandy Row and the Catholics of the nearby Pound area (now the Divis Flats area)." [And still, a century later and more, a border between Catholic and Protestant areas, and a trouble spot - RBW] The Catholic navvies were "engaged in the excavation of the New Docks." "Never before had there been rioting on such a scale with widespread shooting, intimidation and looting of gunsmiths, resulting in death, injury and destruction."
The conflict began when the foundation stone for a statue of Daniel O'Connell, "the Bully Beggarman," was laid in Dublin. That evening Sandy Row Protestants burned an effigy of O'Connell in Belfast. The next day a crowd of more than 400, mostly navvies, rushed Brown Square School while it was full of children. The Protestants in the fights were workers from foundries and shipyard. Mick Kenna was editor of the nationalist Ulster Observer. (source: Leyden) For notes on Daniel O'Connell see "Erin's Green Shore [Laws Q27]."
See the notes to "The Boys of Sandy Row" for comments on sectarian riots earlier and later in the same Belfast area. - BS
File: Leyd041

Battle of the Nile, The [Laws J18]


DESCRIPTION: Nelson's fleet attacks the French near the Egyptian shore. Although the singer's ship Majestic suffers severely, the British are completely victorious, with 13 ships destroyed or taken and the rest fled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: war Napoleon
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 1, 1798 - Nelson's British fleet mauls the French forces at the Battle of the Nile
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Laws J18, "The Battle of the Nile"
DT 550, BATTNILE
Roud #1892
NOTES: Napoleon's first truly independent expedition was his attack on Egypt. He took an army and fleet to attack the British protectorate there. However, Lord Horatio Nelson's squadron of 14 ships of the line trapped the French fleet (13 ships of the line plus four frigates) and destroyed or captured 12 of them. Napoleon was cut off; he himself fled to France, but nearly all the rest of the expeditionary force was captured. - RBW
File: LJ18

Battle of the Windmill, The


DESCRIPTION: "On Tuesday morning we marched out In command of Colonel Fraser... To let them know, that day, below, We're the Prescott Volunteers." The soldiers come to the Windmill Plains and, boldly led, drive off the invaders
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942
KEYWORDS: battle soldier Canada rebellion
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 11, 1838 - Roughly 170 men of "The Hunters," a group devoted to republican government in Canada, invade Canada near Prescott under Colonel Von Schultz
Nov 13, 1838 - Loyalist forces (Glengarry militia under Capt. George Macdonall, Dundas militia under Colonel John Crysler, and Grenville militia Colonel Richard Duncan Fraser) gather and attack the invaders
Nov 16, 1873 - The loyalists receive artillery reinforcements, while the invaders are out of ammunition and have not received expected reinforcements. The invaders are forced to surrender. Von Schultz and ten others will be hanged, and others transported
FOUND IN: Canada
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 78-81, "The Battle of the Windmill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 3, "The Battle of the Windmill" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BATWNDML*
Roud #4523
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "An Anti-Rebel Song" (theme)
cf. "The Girl I Left Behind Me (lyric)" (tune & meter) and references there
NOTES: For the history of the Canadian rebellion, which led to the events in this song, see the notes on "An Anti-Rebel Song" and "Farewell to Mackenzie."
The Canadian rebellion/invasion resembled most of the border raids of this period: So badly planned that it would have been funny if lives had not been lost.
1837 was a troubled time in Canada; a series of bad harvests had produced hardship and discontent (Brown, p. 211). William Lyon Mackenzie, long a foe of the government, took advantage to raise a rebellion. In December 1837, they tried to march on Toronto -- but they were completely disorganized; a few volleys by the local militia put them to flight (Bourrie, p. 57). Mackenzie fled to the United States; two of his followers were hanged (Brown, p. 213). Brebner/Masters, p. 240, observes that "The protest [Mackenzie and followers] personified so feebly and pathetically was widespread and deep, but too immature to find voice in either a solid party program or in truly substantial revolt." McNaught, p. 89, points out that the very fact that Mackenzie made it to the U. S. with all the power of the local government against him shows how much sympathy he had among ordinary Canadians.
A small-scale reign of terror followed as Colonel Allan MacNab worked to burn out the protests by employing Indians to kill alleged rebels.
A motley band of Americans, lured as always by the prospect of taking Canada from the British, decided to support the rebels. But their leaders, General Sutherland and Colonel von Rensellaer, were both "frauds," according to Bourrie, pp. 57-58. They shoved Mackenzie out to Navy Island in the Niagara River, made him a provisional president, promised land in Canada to his supporters -- and waited. The British managed to burn Mackenzie's support ship, the Caroline, and send it over Niagara Falls (Bourrie, pp. 59-61). That was pretty much the end of the Niagara rebellion. The action then shifted to the far end of Lake Ontario.
In November 1838, a more serious menace arose, in the form of the Hunters' Lodges, groups of unofficial soldiers trying to gain a foothold in Canada. They weren't really supporting Mackenzie (he in fact said that they never consulted him; Bourrie, p. 62) -- but he gave them an excuse.
Exactly how many men invaded Canada in 1838 is uncertain; Brebner/Masters, p. 241, claims there were about a thousand, but Bourrie, p. 63, offers a figure of 300, of whom a hundred (including their commander John Ward Birge) turned back when one of their ships ran aground. On the whole, it seems most likely that 150-200 men came ashore in Canada and occupied a windmill in Prescott. They were now under the command of Nils von Schultz -- yet another of the fake military men who seemed to swirl around these efforts (Bourrie, p. 64).
The British brought up over a thousand troops, many of them militia but all of them more regular than the Americans. Their first attack failed, but they pulled back their lines and let the Americans stew (Bourrie, pp. 65-66). Four days later, on November 16, the British went in again. They had been reinforced up to 2000 men, and they had supplies, which the Americans did not. (It will tell you something bout how messed-up the Americans were that their commander was styled a "colonel" though he had fewer than 200 men; the British, who outnumbered them ten to one, were commanded by Lt. Colonel Dundas).
Von Schultz was realistic enough to offer surrender if the British would treat his troops as prisoners of war. Dundas, properly I think, refused (Bourrie, p. 67); the invaders were not troops of the U. S. government but a private army. The British brought up artillery and bombarded the Windmill; the invaders eventually surrendered even without the promise of POW starus.
Give Von Schultz this much credit: Tried for treason and sentenced to hang, he left four hundred pounds in his will to the widows and orphans of the Windmill battle. Ten others were also hanged, perhaps thirty of the Hunters escaped, those under 21 were sent back to the U. S., and the rest -- 82 in all -- transported to Van Diemen's Land. (Bourrie, p. 70).
Mackenzie survived, but had to remain in exile until 1849. (As Stokesbury comments acidly, pp. 227-228, both Mackenzie and Papineau, who led a rebellion in Quebec, "fled to the United States, which was thought by responsible British officials at the time to be more or less appropriate punishment.") During his exile, his property was plundered, so that he went from well-to-do to a near-pauper when he died in 1861 (Bourrie, pp. 71-72). He was nonetheless fondly remembered by anti-aristocratic forces in Canada.
This sort of filibustering was largely halted in 1842 as the Webster/Ashburton treaty resolved many border issues (Brebner/Masters, p. 241). The Fenians would later try to invade Canada -- but that was an independent excursion, not something with broad American support.
For another song about Canadian/American border troubles in this period, see "The Aroostook War." - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: FMB078

Battle of Trenton, The


DESCRIPTION: "On Christmas day in seventy-six Our gallant troops with bayonets fixed For Trenton marched away." The Americans cross the Delaware River and attack and scatter the Hessian garrison. The soldiers toast the memory of that day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: war rebellion battle river patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec. 25, 1776 - The colonial army under Washington crosses the Delaware River and successfully attacks a force of Hessian mercenaries in their winter quarters at Trenton
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 72-74, "The Battle of Trenton" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: SBoA072

Battle of Vicksburg, The


DESCRIPTION: "On Vicksburg's globes and bloody grounds A wounded soldier lay, His thoughts was on his happy home Some thousand miles away." The dying man recalls mother and sweetheart and prepares for the end
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: death battle separation Civilwar
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 6-7, 1862 - Battle of Shiloh. The army of U.S. Grant is forced back but, reinforced by Buell, beats off the army of A.S. Johnston. Johnston is killed. Both sides suffer heavy casualties (Shiloh was the first battle to show how bloody the Civil War would be)
Nov 1862 - Union general Ulysses S. Grant begins his Vicksburg campaign. His first four attempts to reach the city fail
Apr 16, 1863 - Porter's gunboats run past Vicksburg, opening the way for Grant's final successful campaign
May 12-17, 1863 - Grant fights a series of minor battles which bring him to the defences of Vicksburg
May 22, 1863 - Grant's attempt to take Vicksburg by storm is a bloody failure. The Union army settles down to a siege
July 4, 1863 - Lt. General Pemberton surrenders Vicksburg
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 225, "The Battle of Vicksburg" (1 text, 1 tune, plus a fragmentary text of the original song, "On Buena Vista's Battlefield")
Hudson 120, p. 261, "The Vicksburg Soldier" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 93, "Shallows Field" (1 text, clearly this song although the battle site is "Shallows Field"="Shiloh's Field"; this may come from confusion with "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh")
ST R225 (Partial)
Roud #4500
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "On Buena Vista's Battlefield" (tune & meter, theme)
cf. "Victorious March" (subject)
cf. "Late Battle in the West" (subject)
cf. "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" [Laws A15] (lyrics)
NOTES: This song is a clear rewrite of the Mexican War song "On Buena Vista's Battlefield." The choice of Vicksburg is perhaps curious; although the Vicksburg campaign led to even more deaths by disease than usual, battle casualties were relatively light compared to the great battles in Virginia and Tennessee. On the other hand, the "Buena Vista" song seems to have spawned other Civil War pieces, e.g. about Shiloh (see Fuson's "Shallows Field," which I lump here but which Roud splits off; it's his #4284)
And it should be admitted that Vicksburg was important -- arguably the single most important Union victory of the war. In the early spring of 1863, the Union war effort seemed stalled. In Virginia the Army of the Potomac had had a two to one advantage in manpower at Chancellorsville, but still managed to lose. William S. Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland, operating in central Tennessee, had been inert since the bloody draw of Stones River/Murfreesboro (for which see "The Battle of Stone River."
That left only the western army of Ulysses S. Grant. And even he seemed to be stuck. A major part of the Federal war plan was to capture the Mississippi and split the Confederacy in two. A large part of this had been done; New Orleans had fallen early in 1862 (for this see "The New Ballad of Lord Lovell (Mansfield Lovell)"). Memphis had been lost almost without a struggle; the navy moved in and the Confederates moved out (McPherson, p. 418). The only thing still linking the Confederate east with Arkansas, Texas, and the trans-Mississippi portion of Louisiana was Vickburg.
The city was still young; Newet Vicks, the founder, had first seen Walnut Heights above the river in 1814, the site of a ruined military encampment called Fort Nogales (Carter, p. 12). Settlers began to move there around 1819.
Although a relatively minor town, Vicksburg was an incredibly strong military position. The bluffs guarded the city on the north and west, with the river an additional barrier on those sides. (although Vicksburg stands along the Mississippi, the river near the city ran almost west to east; the river made a great bow there, like a reverse letter C, with Vicksburg on the lower right part of the curve; for details, see the map on the frontispiece of Carter. This curve also meant that boats trying to make it past Vicksburg could not build up much head of steam -- a real advantage to defenders trying to prevent ships from running past the town.). Plus there were great marshes to the north which made it impossible to bring supplies down the east bank of the Mississippi.
Flag Officer Farragut, who had taken New Orleans and gone on to capture Natchez and Baton Rouge, eventually took his fleet to Vicksburg. He called on the city to surrender, received a contemtuous reply (McPherson, pp. 421-422) -- and tried to attack it with gunfire, as he had attacked New Orleans. But Vickburg, high on its bluff and guarded by 10,000 Confederates, was too tough for him. He didn't have enough soldiers to attack, and while he could damage the city, he couldn't seriously soften it up. Eventually, after his ships had suffered enough damage, he had to give up.
What it meant was that there was only one really practical way to get at Vicksburg: An army had to come at it by land from the east or southeast (RandallDonald, p. 409) -- and that meant that somehow the Union army had to get itself to the south or east of the city. And *that* meant being cut off from their supply lines from Memphis.
If the Union had moved fast enough, it might not have mattered; they could have come from the south. But in the aftermath of Farragut's repulse before Vicksburg, the Confederates had retaken Port Hudson south of Vicksburg. It was too weak a position to hold if Vicksburg fell -- but, as long as Vicksburg stood, Port Hudson guarded its vulnerable side.
Farragut in 1862 made the first of many attempts to lever the Confederates out: He started a canal to route the Mississippi away from the town. If he had managed to create a usable waterway, then then Union navy could have gotten around Vicksburg and supplied an army to the south of the town. The idea failed; before the canal could be more than begun, summer drought lowered the level of the Mississippi. Farragut's ships were ocean vessels, and in danger of being stranded, and his men were sick from the heat and the bugs. He gave up and headed back to New Orleans.
The problem stymied Ulysses S. Grant, the commander of the forces along the Mississippi, for more than half a year. An attempt to build a supply line from the north failed when Confederate cavalry destroyed his depot at Holly Springs (Grant, pp. 432-433; Catton; p. 33). Two attempts to work an army through the rivers and marshes northeast of the town nearly ended in disaster. Another attempt to dig a canal to bypass the town failed (Catton, pp. 80-85). By the spring of 1863, Grant seemed stymied. As Anders says on p. 362, "By early April it took the fingers of both hands to count the number of times General Grant had tried to get at the rebel fortress, only to fail."
But Grant would not have been Grant had he been willing to give up -- years later, describing this period of frustrations, he wrote, "The elections of 1862 had gone against the party which was for the prosecution of the war.... It was my jugment at the time that to make a backward move as long as that from Vicksburg to Memphis, would be interpreted, by many of those yet full of hope for the preservation of the Union, as a defeat.... There was nothing left to be done but to go forward to a decisive victory" (Grant, p. 443).
Finally Grant ran his river fleet past Vicksburg, marched his army south of the town on the western bank of the Mississippi, and crossed to attack Vicksburg from the south and east.
It was a bold move. Flag Officer Porter, commanding his fleet, had warned him that the ships could not go back (Anders, p. 363). There was no retreat.
That wasn't the only risk. He had to go through Confederate country to reach the back of Vicksburg. It meant that, for several days, he had no supply line, but he was able to carry what his scavengers could not find. He said of the effort, "Early on the morning of the 30th of April [1863,] McClernand's corps and one division of McPherson's corps were speedily landed. When this was effected I felt a degree of relief scarcely ever equalled since. Vicksburg was not yet taken it is true, nor were its defenders demoralized by any of our previous moves. I was now in the enemy's country, with a vast river and the stronghold of Vicksburg between me and my base of supplies. But I was on dry ground on the same side of the river as the enemy" (Grant, p. 480).
As RandallDonald comments on p. 409, it was "an enterprise which only a daring and resourceful general could have conceived and carried to a successful conclusion."
A truly tough general might yet have made Grant pay. The Confederate general Pemberton, who had done little to prevent Grant's crossing, was not such a general -- and Grant had in any case done a find job of confusing him with a cavalry raid on his railroad links led by Col. Benjamin Grierson and a demonstration near Vicksburg by Sherman's corps (Anders, pp. 364-367) before the latter joined Grant south of Vicksburg.
Grant, having made his landing south of Vicksburg, won several battles against small local forces, then captured Jackson, the main rail center and capitol of Mississippi, then (with Sherman having joined him) on May 16 and 17 faced Pemberton's main army at Champion's Hill and Big Black River (RandallDonald, p. 411). Champion's Hill was not an overwhelming victory for Grant; he never managed to get half his army into action, and that let Pemberton escape (Woodworth, p. 387).
But Pemberton, having escaped one trap, put himself in another. He should have retreated north or east, keeping himself in contact with the rest of the Confederacy -- the theater commander, Joseph E. Johnston, had in fact ordered him to retreat in that direction if he were defeated; Johnston correctly saw that if Pemberton went into Vicksburg, both the town and the army would be lost; if he abandoned Vicksburg, at least the army would be saved. But Jefferson Davis had told Pemberton to hold Vicksburg at all costs (Catton, p. 191), and back to Vicksburg Pemberton went (Catton, p. 193). Many Confederates were so angry that they accused Pemberton of selling Vicksburg (Catton, p. 193).
Grant encircled the town, meaning that he once again had communications with the North, and began to starve it out Pemberton. The defences on the land side of Vicksburg, although not comparable to those on the river side, were strong; had the defenders had more supplies, they might have held out indefinitely, but by July 1863, they were starving. Johnston had ordered Pemberton to try to break out (Catton, p. 194), but Pemberton didn't even try. In response to a letter on July 1, his subordinates indicated no hope (Grant, p. 556).
Grant was by then preparing an assault, which he thought would succeed (though I am much less sure -- GrantÕs single biggest defect as a commander was that he seemed to have very little sense of how strong a defensive position was. In the course of the war, he repeatedly sent troops on head-first assaults on trench lines, resulting in a one-sided slaughter of his own troops). Grant said of what happened at thistime, "Pemberton commenced his correspondence on the third [of July] with a two-fold purpose: to prevent an assault, which he knew would be successful, and second, to prevent the capture taking place on the great national holiday [i.e. the Fourth of July]... Holding out for better terms as he did he defeated his aim in the latter particular" (Grant, p. 564). Pemberton surrendered on July 4, 1863 -- which was also the day after the end of the Battle of Gettysburg. Those two days were probably the best for the Union until Sherman captured Atlanta in 1864.
Grant had captured the third-largest army in the Confederacy. He had also eliminated the strongest fortress guarding the Mississippi. Within days, there would be no Confederate forces left along the river; the Confederacy would be split in two -- meaning that men and supplies from Texas and Arkansas and western Louisiana could no longer reach the armies further east. It was not immediately decisive, but it was a deadly blow -- far more deadly than Gettysburg, which was strategically very nearly a draw(Lee was forced out of Pennsylvania but still had his army intact).
It's one of those little ironies that Gettysburg, the most written-about battle of the Civil War, has almost no place in traditional song, and Vicksburg, the most decisive battle, has only a slightly stronger place in the folk repertoire. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: R225

Battle of Waterloo (I), The


See The Plains of Waterloo (V) (File: LJ03A)

Battle of Waterloo (II), The


See The Plains of Waterloo (V) (File: LJ03)

Battle of Waterloo (III), The


See The Plains of Waterloo (III) [Laws J4] (File: LJ04)

Battle of Waterloo (IV), The


See Scots Soldiers True (File: GrD1154)

Battle on Vinegar Hill, The


DESCRIPTION: The English army of 20000 defeat 10000 Wexford pikemen in a fierce battle. The pikemen were brave and valiant; the English were stubborn and warlike. The singer comments on the pity that freeborn Englishmen "should strike fair freedom down"
AUTHOR: Rev. P. F. Kavanagh (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS: army battle rebellion death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jun 21, 1798 - Battle of Vinegar Hill (source: Moylan)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 89, "The Battle on Vinegar Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Moylan dates "The Battle on Vinegar Hill" to about 1880. - BS
The battle of Vinegar Hill was the final end of the Wexford rebellion. The rebels, having failed at New Ross and Arklow, made a last stand on the hill. Ill-equipped and, in many cases, sick, they faced a British army some 10,000 strong under General Lake, and were slaughtered (see Thomas Pakenham, The Year of Liberty, pp. 256-258). For more details on the battle, see, e.g., the notes to "Father Murphy (I)." - RBW
According to Kathleen Hoagland, 1000 Years of Irish Poetry, p. 784,
Moylan's dating is problematic. I assume this is the Patrick Kavanagh (1904/05-1967) who was best known for his poem "The Great Hunger." Thus he can hardlyl have written the poem in the nineteenth century! - RBW
File: Moyl089

Battle That Was Fought in the North, The


DESCRIPTION: Orangemen come to Tyrone to celebrate July 12, "but our loyal-hearted Catholics soon made them run away." "We'll still be faithful to George the Fourth, and loyal to his crown, But not afraid, nor yet dismay'd, to keep those Brunswickers down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: violence death Ireland political
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 35, "The Battle That Was Fought in the North" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Owen Rooney's Lamentation" (subject: "party fights")
cf. "The Lamentation of James O'Sullivan" (subject: "party fights")
cf. "The Noble Blue Ribbon Boys" (subject: Ulster quarrels)
NOTES: July 12 is the Gregorian Calendar (adopted in England in 1752) date for celebrating the victory of William II of Orange in the Battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690.
Zimmermann: "This ballad ... [was] perhaps also inspired by the 'party fights' in July 1829. Upwards of twenty men were said to have been killed in County Tyrone.... There was more fighting near Stewartstown in July 1831."
Zimmermann 35: "'Brunswicker' was then more or less synonymous with 'Orangeman' or simply 'Protestant'." - BS
This song is presumably dated by its internal references. If the reference is to the Party Fights, then it must be after July 1829, but since the King is George IV, who died in 1830, it must be before that.
On the other hand, the most noteworthy of the party fights came later, at Dolly's Brae (July 12, 1849; for this battle, see "Dolly's Brae (I)" and "Dolly's Brae (II)"), at which several dozen Catholics were killed. This led England to pass the Party Processions Act in 1850. On still another hand, there was also the earlier clash at Garvegh (1813; see "March of the Men of Garvagh"). The king at this time was George III, but he was in his final madness and the future George IV was regent.
So while the 1830 date is likely, there are plenty of other possible dates if one allows for the possibility of anachronism. - RBW
File: Zimm035

Battle with the Ladle, The


See A Rich Old Miser [Laws Q7] (File: LQ07)

Battlecry of Freedom, The


See The Battle Cry of Freedom (File: MA034)

Battleship Maine (I), The


See On the Shores of Havana (File: FSC021)

Battleship Maine (II), The


See My Sweetheart Went Down with the Maine (File: R689)

Battleship of Maine


DESCRIPTION: Humorous song about a country boy caught up in the Spanish-American war, for which he has little sympathy. He describes bad conditions in the army, notes that the "Rough Riders" wear $5.50 shoes, while the poor farmers wear dollar-a-pair shoes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: army war humorous soldier cowardice
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1895 - Cubans rebel against Spain
Feb 15, 1898 - Explosion of the battleship "Maine" in Havana harbour
April 25, 1898 - Congress declares war on Spain
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
BrownII 239, "That Bloody War" (4 texts, of which the first two are this piece; the final two fragments appear to be "That Crazy War")
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 100-101, "Battleship of Maine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 288, "Battleship of Maine" (1 text)
DT, BTTLMAIN*
Roud #779
RECORDINGS:
Mary C. Mann, "The Battleship of Maine" (AFS A-526, A-527, 1926)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Battleship of Maine" (on NLCR01, NLCRCD1) (NLCR12) (NLCR16)
Red Patterson's Piedmont Log Rollers, "Battleship of Maine" (Victor 20936, 1927)
Wilmer Watts and the Lonely Eagles, "Fightin' in the War with Spain" (Paramount 3254, 1931; on StuffDreams1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mister McKinley (White House Blues)" (tune)
cf. "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (tune, floating lyrics)
cf. "Joking Henry" (tune)
cf. "That Crazy War" (lyrics)
cf. "My Sweetheart Went Down with the Maine" (theme) and references there
NOTES: For further information about the Maine and the Spanish-American War, see the notes on "My Sweetheart Went Down with the Maine." - RBW
File: CSW100

Bawbee Allen


See Bonny Barbara Allan [Child 84] (File: C084)

Bawbie Livingstone


See Bonnie Baby Livingston [Child 122] (File: C222)

Bawdy Alphabet, The


DESCRIPTION: A variation of the standard Alphabet songs (Logger's, Sailor's, etc.) with A to Z references to matters sexual or private parts
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy wordplay
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman II, pp. 616-621, "The Alphabet Song" (5 texts)
Roud #159
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Logger's Alphabet" (subject) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Whore's Alphabet
The Tramp's Alphabet
NOTES: Legman in Randolph-Legman II offers extensive notes to this widely known song, and particularly to the obscene and/or bawdy versions. - EC
File: RL616

Bay Billy


DESCRIPTION: As the 22nd Maine struggles against Early at Fredericksburg, orders come that a battery must be taken. The regiment repeatedly tries and fails. The colonel is shot down. In the next attack, his riderless horse leads the charge and the battery is captured
AUTHOR: Words: Frank H. Gassaway
EARLIEST DATE: 1886 (Potter, _My Recitations_, according to Gray)
KEYWORDS: horse Civilwar death battle
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, pp. 166-170, "Bay Billy" (1 text)
NOTES: Frank Gassaway seems to have specialized in Civil War bathos; his other relatively well-known poem was "The Pride of Battery B."Gray maintains that this was a popular poem. Possibly true in the nineteenth century. Thankfully, that has ceased to be the case; Granger's Index to Poetry lists not one Gassaway poem.
This piece is particularly irritating because it's completely false. Checking the Fredericksburg Order of Battle in Francis Winthrop Palfrey's The Antietam and Fredericksburg 1882 (I use the 2002 Castle Books reprint), pp. 198-210, the 22nd Maine wasn't at Fredericksburg. Nor, as it turned out, was it at Chancellorsville (during which battle there was again fighting around Fredericksburg, involving the Confederate general Jubal A. Early). In fact, the 22nd Maine never served in the east at all! Internet searches reveal it to have been a nine month regiment which performed its active service in Louisiana -- and, in its entire existence, suffered only nine men killed in battle.
I do not know if Gassaway knew this, and decided to use an obscure regiment for his nonsense, or if he didn't know this and was smoking something particularly strong the day he excreted this, but I can only hope that it will be mercifully forgotten. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Gray166

Bay of Biscay


DESCRIPTION: A ship is wrecked at night in a storm in the Bay of Biscay. At daybreak "a sail in sight appears" and the crew is rescued.
AUTHOR: Andrew Cherry (1762-1812) (source: Bodleian notes to broadside Harding B 25(903); also John Bartlett,_Familiar Quotations_, 15th ed (1980))
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(73))
KEYWORDS: rescue sea ship storm wreck
FOUND IN:
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(73), "The Bay of Biscay, O" ("Loud roard the dreadful thunder"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(3128), Harding B 25(903), "In the Bay of Biscay O"; Firth b.25(71), Harding B 11(196), Harding B 15(17a), Harding B 11(192), Harding B 11(193), Harding B 25(148), "[The] Bay of Biscay O[!]"; Firth b.25(82), Firth c.12(305), Harding B 11(194), Harding B 11(195), 2806 b.10(79), 2806 c.17(22), Firth c.21(118), Firth b.27(72), "[The] Bay of Biscay"
LOCSinging, as108370, "Bay of Biscay," L. Deming (Boston), n.d.
NOTES: The tune was at least well enough known to be used for a parody (Bodleian, Harding B 16(198c), "Paddy's Wake" ("Loud howl'd each Irish mourner")) and, years later, another wreck broadside (Bodleian, Harding B 14(335), "Wreck of the ship Reform, commanded by commodore Russell" ("Loud roared the dreadful thunder")). - BS
Not to be confused with "Bay of Biscay, Oh (Ye Gentlemen of England II) (The Stormy Winds Did Blow)" [Laws K3], which also involves a rescued crew but in different circumstances, nor with the song about a sailor's life, "The Bonny Bay of Biscay-O."
Andrew Cherry's other noteworthy piece iss "The Green Little Shamrock of Ireland.' - RBW
File: BdBaOBis

Bay of Biscay O, The


See Willy O! (File: CrMa113)

Bay of Biscay, Oh (Ye Gentlemen of England II) (The Stormy Winds Did Blow) [Laws K3]


DESCRIPTION: The singer's ship and the Rameley set out from Spithead. The two ships are separated by a storm in the Bay of Biscay. The Rameley, arriving at Gibraltar, reports the other ship lost, but at last it comes in, having lost mast, captain, and ten crewmembers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: sea ship storm
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws K3, "Bay of Biscay, Oh (Ye Gentlemen of England II) (The Stormy Winds Did Blow)"
GreigDuncan1 35, "The Bay of Biscay" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 52, "Bay of Biscay Oh" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 399, BAYBISC*
Roud #524
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ye Gentlemen of England (I)" [Laws K2]
cf. "The Plains of Waterloo" (tune, according to GreigDuncan1)
NOTES: Not to be confused with the lover's-ghost-returned song "Bay of Biscay." - (PJS)
Creighton-NovaScotia: Also not to be confused with "[The] Bay of Biscay [O]" ["Loud roared the dreadful thunder"] by Andrew Cherry about a disabled ship rescued.
For what may be the first of this family of ballads see broadside Bodleian, Douce Ballads 2(167b), "Neptune's Raging Fury" or "The Gallant Seaman's Sufferings" ("You gentlemen of England, that live at home at ease"), C. Brown (London), 1695-1707, by Martin Parker. The first verse is
You Gentlemen of England that live at home at ease,
Full little do you think upon the danger of the Seas;
Give ear unto the Marriners[sic] and they will plainly show,
The cares and the fears when the stormy winds do blow.
The subject is the general plight of seamen, as compared to that of landsmen. No specific incident is mentioned. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LK03

Bayou Sara, The


DESCRIPTION: The Bayou Sara (Bicera) is a fine boat, but catches fire and burns down, taking many people with her. The song may mention all the crew she lost, or the singer's own escape and watching for angels to come for him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: ship river fire death disaster
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Belden, pp. 423-424, "The Burning of the Bayou Sara" (1 text)
MWheeler, pp. 40-41, "B'y' Sara Burned Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BAYOUSAR* BAYOUSA2
ST DTBayous (Full)
Roud #10010 and 4139
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "Bayou Sara" (on Thieme05)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Burning of the Bayou Sara
The Bicera
NOTES: As "The Burning of the Bayou Sara," this song is item dG39 in Laws's Appendix II.
Belden, who collected the version known to Laws, reported that a ship called the Bayou Sara burned at the dock on December 5, 1885. Mary Wheeler, however, reports that the name of the ship was the "City of Bayou Sara," built in 1884; she burned at New Madrid. All passengers were reportedly saved, though a few crew members died.
The versions of this song are extremely diverse in form (apart from the confusion that caused the ship to be called "The Bicera" by Belden's informant), and it's possible that there are two ballads involved. Laws, for instance, failed to identify Wheeler's text with Belden's, and Roud gives the pieces two numbers. But since the texts are all unique, I place them all here without rendering a final judgment on the matter; this may be just a piece that went through a lot of blues metamorphosis. - RBW
File: DTBayous

Be at Home Soon Tonight, My Dear Boy


See Be Home Early Tonight, My Dear Boy (File: R851)

Be Home Early Tonight, My Dear Boy


DESCRIPTION: The singer's has worked hard all his life, and occasionally goes to town for fun. But his mother regularly tells him, "Be home early tonight." Once, when she is sick, he goes out partying and returns to find her dead. He warns against ignoring mother
AUTHOR: John Gibbons ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Wehman Brothers' Good Old Time Songs #3); reportedly first published 1882
KEYWORDS: work mother death warning
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 851, "Be Home Early Tonight, My Dear Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 534-536, "Be Home Early Tonight, My Dear Boy" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 851)
BrownIII 27, "Be Home Early" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 174-175, "Be Home Early Tonight, My Dear Boy" (1 text)
Roud #7451
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "Be at Home Soon Tonight, My Dear Boy" (OKeh 40505, 1925; on KHarrell01)
File: R851

Be Kin' to Yer Nainsel, John


DESCRIPTION: His dying wife says to John: there are three spoons, three cows, three carts,.... Give one of each to the lassie, one to the laddie, and one to yourself. His wife dies. John "I maun hae anither, I've plenty for to keep her, An be kind tae my nainsel"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1927 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: bequest death humorous nonballad parody husband wife derivative
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig 114, p. 2, "Be Kin' to Yer Nainsel, John"; Greig 116, pp. 2-3, "Be Kin' to Yer Nainsel, John"; Greig 119, p. 3, "Be Kin' to Yer Nainsel, John" (4 texts)
GreigDuncan3 706, "Be Kin' to Yer Nainsel, John" (10 texts, 5 tunes)
Roud #2480
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Land o' the Leal" (basis for parody [see notes])
NOTES: Greig 114: "The song appears to be a parody on 'The Land o' the Leal' [Text]. In this way she goes over the beasts and articles in the house, always telling him to give away the best and keep the worst, but still every now and again bidding him be kind to himself, for she is wearin' awa'."
Greig 116: "[The Rev. Mr Duncan] says:- 'At least one of my versions goes back a hundred years or more. In this case, the suggestion of parody is the first and most obvious, but there are difficulties.' Yes, there are difficulties. Miss Robertson's - 'Fy, gar heat a sup drink, John,' is older than Lady Nairne's day." [1910]
Greig 119: "[Miss Robertson] says that she never heard her mother say where she got her version of the song, but she feels sure that her aunt had got hers from her mother who would have been a girl about 1780. Miss Robertson refers to the controversy that once arose (and has been repeated since) as to the authorship of 'The Land of the Leal,' some people claiming it for Burns, and she recalls that one correspondent referred to the earlier song about the unmanly John."
GreigDuncan3 quoting Duncan: "Now Lady Nairne's 'The Land o' the Leal' goes back to 1798, and contains these coincidences with this:- (1) the use of the expression 'the land o' the leal' for heaven; (2) the combination of this with the words 'I am wearin awa,' (3) the address to the husband as 'John' and (4) the use of all these in an address from a dying wife to her husband." Duncan goes on to ask whether Lady Nairne borrowed from the popular song, or vice versa. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3796

Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends


DESCRIPTION: "Be kind to your web-footed friends, For a duck may be somebody's mother...." Listeners are urged to be kind to swamp animals and perhaps other ecologically unfortunate creatures
AUTHOR: Music ("The Stars and Stripes Forever") by John Philip Sousa
EARLIEST DATE: 1975
KEYWORDS: humorous parody animal nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 52, "Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends" (1 text, tune referenced)
cf. Fuld-WFM, p. 535, "The Stars and Stripes Forever"
DT, WEBFOOT
Roud #10248
NOTES: Of *course* it's a folk song. Think about where *you* learned it. - RBW
File: DTwebfoo

Be Very Still


DESCRIPTION: "Be very stll, my children dear." A mouse is near and we don't want her. In the pantry she drinks the cream, bites the cheese and "nibbles nearly all the cakes." The singer gets the cat. It will chase the mouse "and soon we'll all have jolly fun"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1671, "Be Very Still" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13007
File: Grd81671

Beach of Strablane, The


See Braes of Strathblane (File: McCST053)

Beam of Oak


DESCRIPTION: A farmer's daughter loves a servant man. Her father has him sent to sea. He is killed in battle. His ghost visits the father. The daughter hears about it. She hangs herself. Father finds her hanging. Her note blames the father, who goes mad
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: battle navy death suicide father lover ghost
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leach-Labrador 15, "Beam of Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab015 (Partial)
Roud #60
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] (theme)
NOTES: This is not "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] in spite of the suicide by hanging, the father finding the body and the suicide note. Consider the differences: the lover is faithful, the father causes the separation, the lover is killed and his ghost returns, and the suicide note blames the father. - BS
Roud lumps it with "Love Has Brought Me to Despair" [Laws P25], but this is a much more detailed song than that. At most, it might be the inspiration, but even that seems forced. The feeling seems very different -- more like "The Suffolk Miracle" than "The Butcher Boy." - RBW
File: LLab015

Beans, Bacon, and Gravy


DESCRIPTION: The singer, born in 1894, has "seen many a panic," but the worst distress is in (1931). He is on a work crew, being fed a daily ration of "beans, bacon, and gravy," which "almost drive me crazy." He describes the hard times and hopes for better
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: hardtimes food work
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Arnett, pp. 170-171, "Beans, Bacon, and Gravy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 64-65, "Beans, Bacon, and Gravy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 380-381, "Beans, Bacon, and Gravy" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 289, "Beans, Bacon And Gravy" (1 text)
DT, BBGRAVY*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Beans, Bacon and Gravy" (on PeteSeeger04) (on PeteSeeger13)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Joe the Wrangler" [Laws B5] (tune) and references there
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] (tune)
File: Arn170

Bear Chase, The


DESCRIPTION: Hunters and dogs go out to hunt the (bear/deer). Most of the song is about the activities of the dogs. Chorus: "Way, away, We're bound for the mountain (x3), Over the hills, The fields and the fountains, Away to the chase, Away!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: dog hunting animal
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BrownIII 219, "The Wild Ashe Deer" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 81, "The Deer Chase" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 741, "Cumberland Mountain Bear Chase" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6675
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Bear Chase" (on PeteSeeger09, Pete SeegerCD02)
NOTES: The text in Brown is noticeably literary, and the notes mention a printed song, "The Wild Ashe Deer," from 1854. Whether the traditional song derives from the printed version, or the printed version was taken from tradition and "improved," is by no means clear. - RBW
File: LoF081

Bear in the Hill, The


DESCRIPTION: "There's a bear in yon hill, and he is a brave fellow." The bear goes out to seek a wife. He meets and courts a possum. She will marry him if her uncle (the raccoon) agrees. The agreement is made and the couple married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: animal talltale courting marriage love request
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 162-163, "The Bear in the Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15552
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Frog Went A-Courting" (plot)
NOTES: Looks to me like a deliberate rewrite of "Frog Went A-Courting." In support of this, we note that it is very rare in oral tradition. Maybe somebody's kid wanted a song about a bear getting married instead of a frog? - RBW
File: LxA162

Bear River Murder, The


DESCRIPTION: "About a brutal murder I now say a word, I mean that Bear River murder No doubt of it you've heard." Detective Power discusses the murder and why he thinks Wheeler is the murderer and how it happened. Wheeler confesses and is to be hung September 8.
AUTHOR: S. Smith
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: execution murder punishment police
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1895 - Anne Kempton murdered by Peter Wheeler at Bear River, Digby County (source: Mackenzie; Creighton says 1896)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Mackenzie 152, "The Bear River Murder" (1 text)
Roud #3286
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Peter Wheeler" (subject: the same murder)
NOTES: Creighton has extensive notes about this event, which seem largely folklore though she talked with people who knew Annie Kempton. The dates are uncertain; Mackenzie dates the murder to 1895, and Creighton says that Smith wrote his song in that year -- but notes in the same sentence that people in Bear River dated the murder to January 27, 1896. They dated Wheeler's execution to September 1896.
Creighton also reports that Wheeler was not from Digby County; locals thought him Portugese, though one wonders how a non-Englishman would acquire the name "Wheeler." - RBW
File: Mac152

Bear Song, The


DESCRIPTION: A bear is discovered and chased by men two days through the snow. Part of the story is told by the bear: "it's the shot makes me run" It dies. "It is rumored the bear's made a will" witnessed by Nicholas, leaving his fur for "caps for the boys"
AUTHOR: Lawrence Doyle
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: hunting humorous animal lastwill death clothes
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 106-107, "The Bear Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12456
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee has more details about the chase and shooting. - BS
File: Dib106

Bear the News, Mary


DESCRIPTION: "Bear the news, Mary (x3), I'm on my way to glory." "If you git there before I do, I'm a-hunting a home to go to, Just tell them all I'm a-coming too, I'm a-hunting a home to go to."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: religious floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 563-564, "Bear the News, Mary" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15556
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wade in the Water" (floating lyrics) and references there
File: LxA563

Bear Went Over the Mountain, The


DESCRIPTION: "The bear went over the mountain (x3) To see what he could see." "He saw another mountain (x3), And what do you think he did?" "He climbed the other mountain...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad humorous
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Linscott, pp. 164-165, "A Bear Went Over the Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 43, "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" (1 text, tune referenced)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 231-233, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow -- (Malbrouk -- We Won't Go Home till Morning! -- The Bear Went over the Mountain)"
DT, BEARMTN*
Roud #3727
NOTES: This is another of those songs you never find in folk song books. But I'm pretty sure I learned it orally; I think it belongs here. - RBW
File: DTbearmt

Beardiville Planting


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a pretty girl who lives near Beardiville. He asks her to come with him to County Derry. She asks him to stay a while so she can be sure he is serious. Her father consents, and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage home beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H718, pp. 460-461, "Beardiville Planting" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9462
File: HHH718

Beau Galant, Le (The Handsome Gentleman)


DESCRIPTION: French. A girl's lover sails to the Indies and returns to find her in a convent. He cries at the door. If I stay, she says, it is your fault. He offers her a gold ring as a remembrance. When he puts the ring on her finger, he falls dead. She mourns.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting ring reunion burial death mourning lover
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 662-663, "Le Beau Galant" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Belle Est Morte Entre les Bras de Son Amant, La (The Beautiful Woman Died in her Lover's Arms)" (theme)
File: Pea662

Beau Grenadier, Le (The Handsome Grenadier)


DESCRIPTION: French. A girl has won a sailor's/grenadier's heart. He takes her to his room and gives her a gold ring. Her other lover listens at the door. The jilted lover considers killing the girl but kills her new lover instead.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage infidelity love ring hiding gold bawdy lover mistress sailor soldier murder
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, p. 539, "La Jolie Fille et Ses Deux Amants" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: In Peacock's version the ballad stops short of having anyone murdered. Genevilliers is about five miles northeast of Paris - BS
File: Pea539

Beau Militaire, Le (The Handsome Soldier)


DESCRIPTION: French. A young prisoner is conscripted. Without leave, he goes to see Nanette in her castle, where he is captured. He is sent as a deserter to the deepest darkest dungeon in Paris.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage army lover soldier prisoner punishment desertion
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 168-169, "Le Beau Militaire" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea168

Beau Monsieur Tire Ses Gants Blancs, Le (The Handsome Gentleman Throws His White Gloves)


DESCRIPTION: French. A gentleman takes off his white gloves and gives a woman all the money she wants. He says, time for love. She follows him backwards saying "Good evening. I am going down river." I will go with my money to a convent and live happily.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sex beauty rake whore clothes
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 170-171, "Le Beau Monsieur Tire Ses Gants Blancs" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: There's obviously an idiom here I don't understand: "mettre des gants blancs" meaning "to put on white gloves" and what looks like its obverse. Losing gloves was used euphemisticly in the 17th century for losing virginity, but that's a real stretch here (cf. Dictionnaire des expressions et locutions by Rey et Chantreau, 1993). White gloves signifies elegance and maybe taking them off is appropriate here (cf. La Grand Robert de la Langue Francais (Montreal, 1985), v.$, p. 816). - BS
File: Pea170

Beautiful


DESCRIPTION: "Ain't it fierce to be so beautiful, beautiful." The beautiful girl has "no peace of mind"; everyone is kind, but waits outside her door, offering flowers, etc. The brainy girl replies with similar words, save that she receives good grades and handshakes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: beauty nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 344-345, "Beautiful" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15535
File: LxA344

Beautiful Bill


DESCRIPTION: "Beautiful Bill was a 'dorable beau, Beautiful Bill did worry me so, Sweetest of Wills, my beautiful Bill, My beautiful, beautiful, (beautiful) Bill." Bill courts the lady (but already has a wife and child?)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty family
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 372, "Beautiful Bill" (2 short texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 302-303, "Baeutiful Bill" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 372A)
Roud #5061
File: R372

Beautiful Brown Eyes


DESCRIPTION: Man (?) praises "beautiful brown eyes"; he'll never see blue eyes again. Woman says she loves Willie; they were to be married tomorrow, but liquor kept them apart. Man falls on the floor, vows not to drink any more. Woman, married, wishes she were single
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love marriage drink
FOUND IN: US(So) Can(West)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
[Randolph 319, "Beautiful, Beautiful Brown Eyes" -- deleted in the second printing]
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 270-271, "Beautiful, Beautiful Brown Eyes" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's )
Silber-FSWB, p. 230, "Beautiful Brown Eyes" (1 text)
DT, BRWNEYES*
RECORDINGS:
Bill Cox, "Brown Eyes" (Melotone M-13058, 1934)
Stanley G. Triggs, "Brown Eyes" (on Triggs1)
NOTES: This song is a mish-mosh; it sounds like four verses (from separate songs) were scotch-taped together. The voice seems to switch from male to female; the marital status switches from betrothed to seven-years-married. A mess. - PJS
Wonder if that has anything to do with its success in bluegrass? :-) - RBW
File: FSWB230

Beautiful Churchill


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes his home in Donegal. A factory, "where pretty girls do sew," stands in the middle of town. Around it there are plantations and a lake with a beautiful island. Other find towns are nearby. He hopes to live there with his love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad love
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H627, p. 161, "Beautiful Churchill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13459
File: HHH627

Beautiful City


See Twelve Gates to the City (File: PSAFB081)

Beautiful Dreamer


DESCRIPTION: "Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me, Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee." The singer tells how the "sounds of the rude world" have faded in the night, and hopes for an end to sorrow
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST DATE: 1864
KEYWORDS: dream love nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 261, "Beautiful Dreamer" (1 text)
Saunders/Root-Foster 2, pp. 237-244+437, "Beautiful Dreamer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 135, "Beautiful Dreamer"
DT, BEAUTDR*
ST FSWB261 (Full)
NOTES: The 1864 sheet music to this piece lists it as Foster's last song, composed shortly before his death (and Spaeth says the song "undoubtedly" belongs to the last two weeks of his life), but Fuld notes a curious reference to a Foster song "Beautiful Dreamer" in 1863, and the copyright claim on the 1864 sheet music appears to have been altered (though the LC records report the song as entered in March 1864).
Note that while the cover of the sheet music gives the date as 1864, the copyright on page 2 still appears to read 1862.
Even so, it appears that "Beautiful Dreamer" was Foster's last noteworthy song -- certainly the last published, and probably the last written; while there is no real evidence that it went into tradition, it at least has endured in popular circles, unlike anything else he wrote after 1860 at the latest.
As an aside, "She was all the World to Me" was also marketed as Foster's last song, as was "Our Darling Kate."
Thus the possibility must be admitted that the song is in fact older, and had been sitting in someone's files for some time, only to be pulled out to capitalize on Foster's death. It's quite likely that the song was typeset in 1862 but not issued at the time. This was by no means uncommon -- the Saunders/Root bibliography lists 16 songs credited to Foster but first printed in 1864 and after (though many of these are in fact the works of others).
Two of these posthumous claims are rather humorous; "Give this to Mother" is listed as "Stephen C. Foster's last musical Idea" (!), while "Little Mac! Little Mac! You're the Very Man" refers to events which took place months after Foster's death (Spaeth suggests Foster's daughter Marion actually wrote the piece). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FSWB261

Beautiful Hands of the Priest, The


DESCRIPTION: "We need them [the priest's hands] in life's early morning, We need them again at its close." Singer mentions the clasp of friendship, and priest's hands at the altar, absolution, marriage, and "when death-dews on our eyes are falling."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1974 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious clergy
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 31, "The Beautiful Hands of the Priest" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5218
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "The Beautiful Hands of the Priest" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "A Father Crowley of Dunsallagh gave Tom the words of this poem on a type-written sheet about 1963 and asked him could he put a tune to it?" - BS
Hm. The cynic in me can't help but wonder, Just what had that priest been doing with his altar boys that he needed such propaganda? It is Catholic doctrine that the sacraments come through the church -- but it is also very basic Catholic doctine that the sacraments are made efficacious by God, *not* the particular priest involved, who may in fact not be in a state of grace. The power is all in the church collectively, not the priest; it is the sacrament, not the one who administers it, which acts.
This is not a recent doctrine; the church had to face the issue very early on, in the face of the Donatist heresy and related doctrines such as Novationism, which held the contrary opinion that the state of the minister did matter. The Novationists arose after the Decian persecution of 250 (O'Grady, p. 79); many had fallen away from the faith during the troubles, but wanted readmission to the church after Gallienus's edict of toleration in 260. Pope Cornelius was willing to forgive, but Novatian felt that there was no possibility of forgiving the apostate; he split from the church and was declared Bishop of Rome, with his sect lasting for a few centuries (Christie-Murray, p. 96).
The Donatists were a slightly later but rather stronger version of the same thing. In most regards they were orthodox; as Chadwick says on pp. 219-220, "The Donatists and the Catholics affirmed the same creeds and read the same Latin Bible. Donatist churches could only be distinguished from Catholic ones by the Donatist custom of whitewashing the walls." Their differences were concerned solely with admission to the Church.
The Donatists arose in the aftermath of Diocletian's persecution (from 303). The persecution did not end until 312. And, in 311, a new bishop of Carthage had been needed. Caecilian was consecrated bishop by Felix of Aptunga, who was considered to have gone along with the persecution, so many in the diocese refused to accept Caecilian's ordination. (According to Nigg, p. 110, Caecilian was also "opportunistic" and "imperious," which can't have helped his cause.) A rival sect arose, with Majorinus their first bishop (Nigg, p. 111). He soon died, to be replaced by Donatus (from 316), who gave the group its name -- and probably most of its energy.
According to Qualben, p. 123, "The [Donatist] party held that the traditors, or those who had surrendered copies of Scripture in the recent persecution, had committed a mortal sin." Nigg, p. 112, says that they were willing to allow certain stumbles by their lay members -- but the rules for the clergy were absolute. And, according to p. 113, they allied with a group called the Circumcellions (whose doctrines are not clear, but they sound like thugs) to enforce their rules.
According to Christie-Murray, pp. 96-97, "Augustine wrote copiously against the Donatists, helping to establish the principle, which has remained that of the western Church, that the sacraments are not dependent for their validity upon the moral character if the men by whose hands they are administered but are valid in themselves, deriving their efficacy from God."
Similarly Qualben, pp. 123-124: "the character of a minister does not affect his official acts. All the acts of the church are valid acts, though the officials may be unworthy men."
Chadwick, p. 221: "According to the Donatist (and Cyprianic) view, the validity of the sacrament depends on the proper standing of the minister; it is valid if received within the church, invalid outside it.... Catholics at the Council of Arles (314) had come to accept the doctrine which Pope Stephen upheld against Cyprian in 256, viz, that the sacraments belong not to the ministry but to Christ."
Nigg, p. 112, sums up the problem this way: How could a defiled priest offer true sacraments? The Donatist answer was that he could not, and demanded purity of the clergy. The Catholic church declared that the sacraments were made efficacious by God and the greater church, not the individual minister.
I'm doubtless raging on about the Donatists too much, but theirs was a stubborn and irritating doctrine. They eventually got on Augustine's nerves so much that he requested the Emperor to suppress the Donatists (Nigg, pp. 114-115). This didn't work too well, since the Donatists had arisen out of a martyr cult and if anything grew stronger when persecuted, but it drew forth from Augustine what Nigg, p. 116, calls his most extreme statement (and, remember, Augustine is the guy who said it was God's job to send unbaptized babies to Hell). Augustine's docrine was, "compel them to enter." In other words, be orthodox or die.
The persecution didn't work; the sect seems to have endured until at least the Vandal, and perhaps the Islamic, conquest of North Africa (Clifton, p. 37).
Novatianism and Donatism were the earliest major examples of this class of heresies, but not the last. Clifton, p. xv, notes that the Waldensians, who were strongest in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, also had a belief that the givers of the sacraments had to be unspotted -- and they were among the chief targets of the Inquisition! (Clifton, p. 133).
Thus this Father Crowley was a heretic going against a doctrine which predates even the great Nicene/Chalcedonian Creed, and which had been condemned repeatedly since! Admittedly a fine distinction for a layperson to make -- but one that every Catholic clergyman should know!
Nonetheless this is a very Irish sort of a piece., Coogan, p, 3, pretty well sums up the peculiar situation in that nation: "The parish priest was the Irish peasant's spokesman and bulwark against authority, an ever-present eternity. The consolation and support that the better priests gave their flocks was reciprocated by a respect for the clergy generally only equaled today by that accorded to an imam in a fundamentalist Arab village." - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: RcBeHaPr

Beautiful Light o'er the Sea


See Meet Me Tonight in the Moonlight (File: R746)

Beautiful Star (Star of the Evening)


DESCRIPTION: "Beautiful star in heav'n so bright, Softly falls thy silvr'y light, As thou movest from earth afar, Star of the evening, beautiful star. Beautiful star, Beautiful star, Star of the evening, beautiful star." The singer asks the star to watch over his love
AUTHOR: James M. Sayles
EARLIEST DATE: 1862 (mentioned in diary of Lewis Carroll)
KEYWORDS: nonballad love
FOUND IN: Britain
Roud #13751
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4352), "Beautiful Star," H. Such (London), 1849-1862; same (?) sheet as Harding B 11(4352); also Harding B 19(10), "Beautuful (sic.) star! in heaven so bright " [another trimmed version as 2806 b.9(272), another as 2806 c.15(96)]; Harding B 11(4067), "Beautiful Star," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; same (?) sheet as Harding B 11(4068); Firth b.26(74); Harding B 11(1669); 2806 c.13(81), "Beautiful Star," James Lindsay (Glasgow), after 1851
NOTES: This obviously isn't a folk song, but there are slight hints of it in oral tradition -- including the fact that the Liddell sisters sang it for Lewis Carroll. Which inspired its far more famous parody (which is the reason I list it here): Carroll used it as the basis for "Beautiful Soup" ("Soup of the evening, Beautiful Soup"), as sung by the Mock Turtle.
How much more famous? Granger's Index to Poetry has two references to "Beautiful Star." Both are books of parodies linking it to "Beautiful Soup" -- which has *five* entries in Granger's.
For further details, one may consult Martin Gardner's The Annotated Alice, p. 141. - RBW
File: nnBeaStar

Beautiful Susan [Laws M29]


DESCRIPTION: Susan's parents take advantage of her sweetheart William's absence to inform her that he is dead. They arrange a marriage to another man. William's letter announcing his return drives her to suicide. William sees her ghost and also kills himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death trick suicide ghost love
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws M29, "Beautiful Susan"
BrownII 69, "Beautiful Susan" (1 text)
DT 721, BEAUTSU
Roud #1022
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Damsel's Tragedy" (theme)
NOTES: Another song Laws lists as traditional, and British, even though only one version is known: The American one from the Brown collection. - RBW
File: LM29

Beautiful, Beautiful Brown Eyes


See Beautiful Brown Eyes (File: FSWB230)

Beautiful, Beautiful Ireland


DESCRIPTION: Singer must leave "Ireland the gem of the sea," which he wishes were free. No land can compare with it. "The ship is now anchored in the bay, But when I will return with my true-love It is then you may be sure I'll stay"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: emigration sea ship Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #5225
RECORDINGS:
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 20, "Beautiful, Beautiful Ireland" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: RcBeBeIr

Beauty of Buchan, The


DESCRIPTION: "Sheep is rejected And they from their pastures are banished away." The mountains once "wi flocks all clad over ... But now they are lonely for want o' flocks only." "Woe to our gentry, they're ruined a' our country"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad sheep
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #52, p. 2, "The Beauty of Buchan" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 434, "The Beauty of Buchan" (1 text)
Roud #5630
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Flowers of the Forest" (tune and rhyme scheme, per Greig)
NOTES: The second and fourth lines of each verse rhyme internally (for example, "Woe to our gentry, they're ruined a' our country,/ And brought our fine pastures so deep in decay/ Mong hedges and ditches they've spent a' our riches,/ And banished our beauty entirely away"), like "The Flowers of the Forest" for example, "We'll hae nae mair liltin', at the ewe milkin',/ Women and bairns are dowie and wae./ Sighin' and moanin' on ilka green loanin', The flowers of the forest are all wede away"). So Greig says "The Beauty of Buchan" has evidently been inspired by 'The Flowers of the Forest."
Greig: "This lament was communicated by Miss Bell Robertson, who says it was sung by her grandmother [GreigDuncan3, citing another Greig source, notes that Bell Robertson's grandmother died in 1837].... The song refers to the disappearance of sheep from Buchan -- presumably owing to the progress of cultivation."
GreigDuncan3, quoting Robertson, Song Notes,: ." .. it was after the hills were brought under cultivation and sheep put away to make room for cattle."
From The Illustrated Book of Scottish Songs from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century, (London, 1854 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 75: "[Jane Elliott's 'The Flowers of the Forest' -- referring to the young men of the districts of Selkirkshire and Peebleshire --] is founded by the authoress upon an older composition of the same name, deploring the loss of the Scotch at Flodden Field...." The loss theme -- as well as the verse structure -- is common to "The Beauty of Buchan" and "The Flowers of the Forest," supporting Greig's conclusion. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD3434

Beauty of Garmouth, The


DESCRIPTION: "Near the foot of the Blackhill there lives a fair dame, And fain would I court her, fair Annie by name." The singer praises her looks, her voice, her teeth. If he could, he would write her name in gold letters. But she fancies him not; he begs for pity
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love rejection
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 195, "The Beauty of Garmouth" (1 short text)
Roud #5535
File: Ord195

Beauty of the Braid, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer has wandered far, but his "intellect is consummated By the charming beauty lives in the Braid." He asks how she came there; she was rescuing a lost lamb. He asks her name; she answers in riddles and bids him seek more education
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty wordplay riddle
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H723, p. 240-241, "The Beauty of the Braid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9477
NOTES: Sam Henry believes this song to be many centuries old, as it mentions wolves, long extinct in Ireland. And yet, the lady wants the young man to know Latin, and encourages him to improve his education to solve her riddle. This implies a much more recent date, when learning was widespread.
I think we must regard this song as a mystery, probably of broadside origin. - RBW
File: HHH273

Beauty, Beauty Bride, The


See Charming Beauty Bright [Laws M3] (File: LM03)

Beaver Cap, The


DESCRIPTION: "I went to town the other day To buy myself a hat, sir, I picked upon this beaver cap, With bill so broad and flat, sir." The song may detail the exploits of the boy with the cap -- e.g. letting a hen roost in it, throwing the eggs at his mother, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: clothes commerce bird
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Belden, p. 435, "The Beaver Cap" (1 text)
Randolph 355, "The Beaver Cap" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 32, "Flat Bill Beaver Cap" (1 text)
Roud #6366
File: R355

Beaver Dam Road


DESCRIPTION: "I've worked like a dog and what have I got? No corn in the crib, no beans in the pot." Faced with such dire poverty, the singer sets up a still. He is caught and imprisoned. His wife hires a man and does well. The singer warns against making moonshine
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: drink prison hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Warner 119, "Beaver Dam Road" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BEAVRDAM
Roud #7477
RECORDINGS:
Frank Proffitt, "Beaver Dam Road" (on Proffitt03)
File: Wa119

Beaver Island Boys, The [Laws D17]


DESCRIPTION: Johnny Gallagher sets out across Lake Michigan despite a warning from his mother. On the way home, the boat is almost to Beaver Island when it sinks with all hands in a storm
AUTHOR: Daniel Malloy (1874)
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: ship death storm
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1873 - Death of Johnny Gallagher on Lake Michigan
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Laws D17, "The Beaver Island Boys"
DT 789, BEAVRISL
Roud #2238
File: LD17

Because He Was Only a Tramp


See The Tramp (II) (File: R843)

Becky at the Loom


DESCRIPTION: The singer remembers Georgia and the cotton farms. "I cannot help from thinking, no matter what my doom, Of the happy moments when I saw sweet Becky at the loom." He has left her far behind, but hopes above all else to return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: weaving separation love
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 677, "Becky at the Loom" (1 text)
Roud #7368
NOTES: Carla Sciaky has recorded this piece, but it should be noted that her tune is modern. - RBW
Pete Sutherland has composed a tune for this song; it's been recorded as "Sweet Becky at the Loom." - PJS
That's the one. - RBW
File: R677

Bed-Making, The


DESCRIPTION: The girl is sent into service "when I was young." Her master becomes enamored of her. The mistress catches him with her, and throws the girl out. At last she bears a son, and brings him back to the father, blaming it all on "the bed-making."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: servant sex pregnancy bastard begging hardtimes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ord, p. 199, "My Mither She Feed Me" (1 short text)
DT, BEDMAKIN
Roud #1631
ALTERNATE TITLES:
My Old Father Was a Good Old Man
My Mother Sent Me to Service
The Bedmaking
NOTES: Roud splits off Ord's text, "My Mither She Feed Me," as a separate item, #3796. But Ord's text, while only a fragment, contains all the characteristics, and many of the words, of this piece (or at least its first portion). I can't see splitting them unless a fuller version of Ord's song is forthcoming. - RBW
File: Ord199

Bed-Time Song (I), The


See Martin Said To His Man (File: WB022)

Bedford Van, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer, a tinker, meets Sally Anne and takes her into his Bedford Van. She proposes, they marry, and honeymoon in Glasgow. He is stopped for driving drunk. Sally "took sick" from overeating. When "a big dame" makes a pass at him Sally clouts her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: sex marriage drink humorous wife tinker technology
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 7, "The Bedford Van" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The singer, in the song, is from Springtown, a post World War 2 slum outside Derry City, closed in 1967 and demolished (source: McBride). When stopped in Dublin he is given a breathalyser test. The song ends with a warning not to be too quick to pick up a girl in your Bedford Van: you're likely to end by being married. - BS
File: McB1007

Bedlam


See A Maid in Bedlam (File: ShH41)

Bedlam Boys


See Tom a Bedlam (Bedlam Boys) (File: Log172)

Bedlam City


See A Maid in Bedlam (File: ShH41)

Bedmaking, The


See The Bed-Making (File: Ord199)

Bedroom Window


See The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: LM04)

Bedtime Prayer, The


See Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (I) (File: FO033)

Bee Baw Babbity


DESCRIPTION: "Bee baw babbity," choose "a lassie or a wee laddie," or bounce a ball. "Kneel down, kiss the ground, Kiss a bonny wee lassie." "I widna hae a lassie-o, I'd rather hae a wee laddie"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1590, "Bee Boh Babbity" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8722
NOTES: GreigDuncan8: "See [GreigDuncan8] 1717 'Bob at his Bowster' ['Babbity Bowster'] for the adult form."
Roud lumps this with "Babbity Bowster." A verse of "Babbity Bowster" -- "Kneel down, kiss the ground, Kiss a bonny wee lassie" -- sometimes survives unchanged in "Bee Baw Babbity." I have split them because "Bee Baw Babbity" has lost the distinguishing pattern of "Babbity Bowster": who gave/taught you something? My minnie.
Opie-Game has the nonsense first line, "Bee baw babbity," come from "Babity Bowster, brawly," which, in turn, comes from "Country Bumpkin brawly." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81590

Bee Boh Babbity


See Bee Baw Babbity (File: GrD81590)

Beefsteak When I'm Hongry


See Rye Whisky (File: R405)

Been All Around the Whole Round World


DESCRIPTION: "Been all around the whole round world, oh babe (x3), Tryin' to find a brown-skinned Creole girl..." The singer complains about the killing work on the Joe Fowler, boasts of his ability to work, and admits being on the run for murder
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: travel work river
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MWheeler, p. 103-104, "Been All Aroun' the Whole Roun' Worl'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10037
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Been All Around This World)."
For information on the steamer "Joe Fowler," see the notes to "I'm Going Down the River." - RBW
File: MWhee103

Been All Around This World


See Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Been All Around This World) (File: R146)

Been in the Pen So Long


DESCRIPTION: "Been in the pen so long, Oh honey, I'll be long gone, Been in the pen, Lord, I got to go again...." The singer tells of lonesomeness. He mentions that "some folks crave for Memphis, Tennessee, But New Orleans [or another city] is good enough for me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: prison home
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 220-221, "Been in the Pen So Long" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 65, "Been in the Pen So Long" (1 text)
File: San220

Been in the Storm So Long


DESCRIPTION: "I been in the storm so long...Oh Lord, give me more time to pray" "This is a needy time..." "I am a motherless child..." "Lord, I need you now..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1960 (recording, Paul Robeson); referred to in Marsh's Story of the Jubilee Singers (1901)
KEYWORDS: loneliness floatingverses nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
Roud #15325
RECORDINGS:
Mary Pickney w. Janie Hunter, "Been in the Storm So Long" (on BeenStorm1, BeenStormCD1)
File: RcBITSWL

Been on the Chain Gang


DESCRIPTION: "Judge he give me six months, 'cause I wouldn't go to work (x2), From sunrise to sunset, I haven't got no time to shirk." The singer complains about his girl and the treatment he gets; he has the "chaingang blues," and would run if her weren't shackled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (recorded from Jesse Hendricks by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, p. 86, "Been on the Chain Gang" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Jackson suspects that this began as a commercial song to which the singer (or someone) added verses. I suspect he is right at least in saying that it is composite; the language seems to change in mid-song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM086

Been on the Cholly So Long


See Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)

Been on the Choly So Long


See Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long) [Laws I16] (File: LI16)

Been to the Gypsy (St. Louis Blues)


DESCRIPTION: "Been to de Gypsy to get mah fortune tole, To de Gypsy done got my fortune tole, 'Cause I'se wile about mah Jelly Roll. Gypsy done tole me, "Don't you wear no black." Yas, she done tole me, "Don't you wear no black. Go to St. Louis, you can win him back."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: Gypsy prophecy separation abandonment clothes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 267, (no title) (1 short text)
DT, (STLOUBLU)
NOTES: This passage is used in W. C. Handy's St. Louis Blues. But Scarborough at least implies that this portion is older. As usual, she offers no real supporting evidence.
Note that neither song should be confused with Lead Belly's "St. Louis Blues." - RBW
File: ScaNF267

Before the Daylight in the Morning (Dirty Nell)


DESCRIPTION: The singer complains of his wife, who lives off his money and refuses to do any work. He gives graphic details of how dirty she is and how filthy she leaves their home. He prays "that God or the devil may whip her away Before the daylight in the morning."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: husband wife home hardtimes
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leach-Labrador 121, "Dirty Nell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5714
RECORDINGS:
Sara Cleveland, "Before the Daylight in the Morning" (on SCleveland01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Darby O'Leary" (tune)
File: RcBTDITM

Before This Time Another Year


See Oh, Lord, How Long (File: R615)

Beggar Man (I), The


See The Gaberlunzie Man [Child 279A] (File: C279A)

Beggar Man (II), The


See The Jolly Beggar [Child 279] (File: C279)

Beggar Wench, The


DESCRIPTION: A merchant's son meets a beggar girl; they go to bed and, being drunk, sleep soundly. She awakens first, takes his clothes and gear, and leaves. He awakes to find only the girl's clothes, which he puts on, swearing never to sleep with a beggar again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1847 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 6(48))
KEYWORDS: sex theft clothes cross-dressing trick drink begging youth
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan2 303, "The Merchant and the Beggar Wench" (7 texts, 4 tunes)
Kennedy 338, "The Beggar Wench" (1 text, 1 tune)
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" [Child 25], 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 this piece)
DT, MRCHNTSN* MRCHNTS2*
Roud #2153
RECORDINGS:
Davie Stewart, "The Merchant's Son [and the Beggar Wench]" (on FSB2, FSB2CD, Voice13)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 6(48), "The Merchant's Son, and the Beggar Wench of Hull ("You gallants all, I pray draw near"), J. Turner (Coventry), 1797-1846; also Douce Ballads 4(5), Douce Ballads 3(66b), "The Merchant's Son, and the Beggar-Wench of Hull"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shirt and the Apron" [Laws K42] (plot) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Merchant's Son
NOTES: The plot is, of course, virtually identical to "The Shirt and the Apron" -- but as the protagonist is a merchant rather than a sailor, and the lady is a beggar, they get split. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: K338

Beggar-Laddie, The [Child 280]


DESCRIPTION: A girl asks the shepherd what his trade is. He tells her, then declares that he loves her "as Jacob loved Rachel of old." She decides to go with him despite his poverty. He takes her home with him and reveals that he is actually well-to-do
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Christie); also in Motherwell's and Kinloch's papers (before 1850)
KEYWORDS: work home courting money disguise
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 280, "The Beggar-Laddie" (5 texts)
Bronson 280, "The Beggar-Laddie" (18 versions)
Greig #31, p. 1, "The Beggar Laddie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 277, "The Beggar's Dawtie" (20 texts, 13 tunes) {A=Bronson's #7, B=#10?, C=#4, D=#5? E=#13, F=#12, G=#8, H=#9, I=#5, J=#3, K=#11, L=#15}
Ord, pp. 382-383, "The Beggar's Dawtie" (1 text)
Roud #119
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gaberlunzie Man" [Child 279A]
cf. "The Jolly Beggar" [Child 279] and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Beggar's Bride
Twas in the Bonnie Month o' June
The Beggar Prince
NOTES: The reference to Jacob loving Rachel, or vice versa, is to Gen. 29:18 and following; it is probably offered as an example because Jacob served Laban (Rachel's brother) for seven years to win her hand (and actually wound up working for Laban for fourteen years, because he got Rachel's sister Leah also).
The reference to Judas loving gold is more of a stretch; we are told that Judas was given thirty pieces of *silver* (Matt. 26:15), and the less explicit accounts of Mark (14:11) and Luke (22:5) also mention only silver (usually rendered "money" in English translations). These references seem to be corruptions of the reading in Child's "A" text, which refers to the classical legend of Jason and the Golden Fleece. (Compare Ord's text, in which it is Jesse, not Judas, who loves "cups of gold.")
The repartee also has a strange parallel in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. The White Knight sings a song which includes these lines:
"Who are you, aged man," I said.
"And how is it you live?"
And his answer trickled through my head
Like water through a sieve.
He said, "I look for butterflies
That sleep among the wheat....
And that's the way I get my bread --
A trifle, if you please." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C280

Beggar, The


See Let the Back and Sides Go Bare (File: ShH78)

Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Green, The


See The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green [Laws N27] (File: LN27)

Beggar's Dawtie, The


See The Beggar-Laddie [Child 280] (File: C280)

Beggar's Song, The


See Let the Back and Sides Go Bare (File: ShH78)

Beggarman (I), The


DESCRIPTION: On Monday morning the beggarman takes his meal, flail and staff and leaves his wife and daughter in Ballinderry. He stops at a farmer's home not welcoming to strangers. The mistress of the house makes him welcome to table and bed as long as he'll stay.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond02)
KEYWORDS: adultery sex rambling begging
FOUND IN: Ireland
ST RcTBegm (Partial)
Roud #3080
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Beggarman's Ramble" (on IRRCinnamond02)
NOTES: In IRRCinnamond02, the beggarman, Tom Targer, is from Killyleagh town, County Down. The plot vaguely resembles "The Jolly Beggar" [Child 279] but it adds the beggar's wife and daughter at the beginning and drops the revelation of a disguise at the end.
The description is based on John Moulden's transcription from IRRCinnamond02 included in the Traditional Ballad Index Supplement. - BS
The whole thing reminds me a bit of the story of David and Nabal of Carmel (1 Samuel 25): David, fleeing from Saul (and separated from his wife Michal) seeks help (protection money, really) from Nabal. Nabal refuses. Nabal's wife Abigail gives it -- and later marries David. If you assume that this *is* a relative of The Jolly Beggar, it sort of makes sense. But I imagine it's just coincidence. - RBW
File: RcTBegm

Beggarman (II), The


See Willie and Mary (Mary and Willie; Little Mary; The Sailor's Bride) [Laws N28] (File: LN28)

Beggarman (III), The


See Hind Horn [Child 17] (File: C017)

Beggarman Cam' ower the Lea, A


See The Gaberlunzie Man [Child 279A] (File: C279A)

Beggarman's Song, The


See The Little Beggerman (Johnny Dhu) (File: K345)

Beggars and Ballad Singers


DESCRIPTION: The singer proclaims the advantages of begging and singing. He describes how he begs disguised as a "sailor from the wars," scarred and with a missing leg, or as a blind man with a dog, or a man with a hump on his back and mashed nose.
AUTHOR: Tom Dibdin? (source: see note quoting Ebsworth)
EARLIEST DATE: c.1807 (W.M.Martin, _The Songster Museum, according to Ebsworth)
KEYWORDS: disguises drink music begging nonballad royalty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan3 486, "A King Canna Swagger" (1 fragment)
ADDITIONAL: "The Beggars' Chorus" in Joseph Woodfall Ebsworth, editor, The Bagford Ballads: Illustrating the Last Years of the Stuarts (Hertford, 1878 ("Digitized by Google")), First Division, p. 214, "Vocal and Rhetorical Imitations of Beggars and Ballad-singers"
"In the March Sunshine," April 1859" in The Eclectic Review 1859 January to June (London, 1859 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 370, ("The king cannot swagger, or get drunk like a beggar") (fragment)
Roud #5977
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(223), "Beggars and Ballad Singers" ("There's a difference to be seen, 'twixt a beggar and a queen"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A-Begging I Will Go" (theme : "who would be a king, When beggars live so well?")
NOTES: The broadside has an explanation after each verse. For example, while the queen must concern herself with "her own dignity, likewise other people's dignity," he has no such concern. After a verse about Proteus, the shape changer, he says that beggars "change shapes as often as a player." After the last verse, about "Dolly and I" singing ballads - "while she bawls aloud And I take my fiddle in hand" -- he goes into his ballad singer patter.
Ebsworth: "In 1807, if not earlier, a merry singer (probably Tom Dibdin) ... indulged society with what he called 'Vocal and rhetorical imitations of Beggars and Ballad-singers." Ebsworth's text is from The Songster's Museum with an additional verse from The Lyre in 1824. Ebsworth's text omits the prose patter between verses included in broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(223). The GreigDuncan3 and Eclectic Review fragments have it that "a king cannot swagger"; the other texts say "a queen cannot swagger." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD3486

Beggars of Coudingham Fair


See Widdicombe Fair (II) (File: K289)

Beggin, The


See A-Begging I Will Go (File: K217)

Begging Song, The


See When I Set Out for Glory (File: Fus212)

Begone Dull Care


DESCRIPTION: "Begone dull care, I prithee be gone from me, Begone dull care, thou and I shall never agree; long time thou hast been tarrying here, and fain though wouldst me kill...." The singer warns of how excess care can age and weary its victims
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1900 (broadside NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(256))
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN:
Roud #13896
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(256), "Begone Dull Care," unknown, c. 1860
NOTES: The notes in at the National Library of Scotland site claim this dates back to the reign of James II and VII (1685-1688/1689), without offering secondary evidence. The notes also report that it might be derived from a French piece. Finally, they claim it is popular. Popular it does indeed seem to have been, with broadside printers. Field collections are, however, few. - RBW
File: BrBeDuCa

Begone, Bonnie Laddie


See The Days Are Awa That I Hae Seen (File: Ord179)

Behave Yoursel' Before Folk


DESCRIPTION: The girl says "Behave yoursel' before folk." She would not be kissed in public though "it wadna gie me meikle pain, Gin we were seen and heard by nane." "I tak' it sair amiss To be teazed before folk." If you insist "get a license frae the priest"
AUTHOR: Alexander Rodger (1784-1846)
EARLIEST DATE: 1838 (Alexander Rodger, _Poems and Songs_)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan3 672, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Behave Yersel'" (2 texts, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Rodger, Poems and Songs (Glasgow, 1838), pp. 65-68, "Behave Yersel' Before Folk"
Whistle-Binkie [, First Series] (Glasgow, 1846), pp. 40-42, "Behave Yersel'"
Roud #6094
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Good Morrow to Your Nightcap" (tune, per Rodger)
cf. ÒThe Mautman" (theme of avoiding public kissing)
NOTES: Apparently broadside Bodleian, 2806 c.11(179), "Behave Yoursel' Before Folk" ("Behave yoursel' before folk"), unknown, no date is this song but I could not download and verify it. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3672

Behind the Great Wall


See Behind These Stone Walls (File: R165)

Behind These Stone Walls


DESCRIPTION: The singer, although "brought up by good parents," tells of being orphaned at ten. He soon went rambling to seek work; jobs were few, and he took to robbery. He was taken and tried, and sentenced to a long prison term. He warns others against his mistake
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph, Warner)
KEYWORDS: orphan robbery trial prison warning
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 165, "Saint Louis, Bright City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 111, "Court House" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 53-55, "Behind the Great Wall" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R165 (Partial)
Roud #2808
NOTES: As "Saint Louis, Bright City," this song is item dE35 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: R165

Behind Yon Blue Mountain


See The Hills of Tyrone (File: HHH609)

Behy Eviction, The


DESCRIPTION: "The Cavan Urban Council sent the Sheriff for to take possession of the engine house that stands by Behey Lake." Joe, who "had always pumped a good supply," is evicted. The man driving the engine declares Cavan will have water only if Joe is brought back
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: discrimination political technology
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 90, "The Behy Eviction" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "A Cavan song taken from a ballad slip forty years ago recording an event probably still (1965) remembered in Behey, a townland near Killeshandra, Co. Cahan." My description omits the part played by the Orange vs Green conflict and eviction for the benefit of "grabbers." - BS
File: OLcM090

Beinn a' Cheathaich


DESCRIPTION: Scots Gaelic. (The singer, gathering sheep, looks out and sees) (McNeil's) galley head for Kismul. (Those aboard are listed). The ship (survives a rough passage to) arrive at the castle, where there is joy and feasting
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Kennedy-Fraser)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage ship food storm sheep
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 2, "Beinn a' Cheathaich (The Misty Mountain") (1 text+English translation, 1 tune)
Kennedy-Fraser I, pp. 80-83, "Kishmul's Galley (A' Bhirlinn Bharrach)" (1 text+English translation, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Flora MacNeil, "Beinn a' Cheathaich" (on FSB6)
NOTES: N. A. M. Rodger's The Safeguard of the Sea, p. 290, links this song to events of the reign of Elizabeth I: "Ruari Og MaNeill of Barra made a career of piracy... Throughout Elizabeth's reign the 'Galleys of Kisimul' (still celebrated in Gaelic folksong) raided the length of the Irish Sea as far south as the Bristol Channel."
I can see no hints of this in either the Kennedy or Kennedy-Frasier versions, though the two versions are very distinct. - RBW
File: K002

Belfast Beauty, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer met "the beauty of sweet Belfast Town' in Donegall Street. He describes her "angelic beauty" If he were rich "all earthly treasure I'd resign To wed with this damsel" He ends with a riddle that will spell her name.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: courting riddle beauty
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 27, "The Belfast Beauty" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Over Hills and Mountains" (theme: singer would give up the crown or great wealth he doesn't have for love)
NOTES: The riddle: "One half of a town in the province of Leinster The first twice in station with one fourth of a fowl And when it's completely placed in arrangement The next in rotation it must be a vowel The name of a berry that is much admired Neither add nor subtract but when it's penned down It will spell you the name of this charming fair dame That I title the beauty of sweet Belfast Town"
For a similar riddle on a name see "Drihaureen O Mo Chree (Little Brother of My Heart)
Among other classic Greek references here: "I thought she was Flora or lovely Aurora Or Helen the cause of the downfall of Troy" and "If Clio fair or Queen Dido was there Neither Juno nor Venus of fame and renown ...." See the notes to "Sheila Nee Iyer" for some traits of the "hedge school master" school of Irish ballad writing. "Sheila Nee Iyer" also has a typical "if I were king..." verse ("O had I the wealth of the Orient store, All the gems of Peru or the Mexican ore, Or the hand of a Midas to mould o'er and o'er ...."); "The Belfast Beauty" says "Had I wealth and grandeur like Great Alexander ... Or was I the monarch of a European nation There is none but my darling should possess the crown...." As seems often the case for this kind of song, the outcome is unresolved. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Leyd027

Belfast Cockabendy, The


DESCRIPTION: Cockabendy, a Belfast street fiddler, meets a girl. They drink, he plays, and the girl lifts his watch and chain. While he sleeps, drunk, she pledges his last coins for brandy. He asks her to advance the price of a pint. Instead, she hits him in the nose.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1817 (according to Leyden)
KEYWORDS: courting theft drink fiddle money injury
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 29, "The Belfast Cockabendy" (1 text)
NOTES: Leyden: "A colourful account of the amorous pursuits of one Cockabendy. There was in fact such a person with that nickname in Belfast: he was a fiddle player ...." - BS
File: Leyd029

Belfast Lass, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer comes to Belfast and falls in love with "the charming Belfast lass." He claims wealth and proposes. She preferrs "the heart that's true" to riches. Confounded, he leaves for America, returns, proposes again and "she gave consent at last"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage parting return reunion separation money America
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 25, "The Belfast Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Leyden: "A love song from a ballad sheet published by Swindell's in Manchester." The Bodleian collection has almost 200 broadsides - but not this one - printed by Swindells in Manchester between 1780 and 1853. - BS
File: Leyd025

Belfast Mountains (The Diamonds of Derry)


DESCRIPTION: (The singer hears a girl lamenting). She is "confined in the bands of love" by a "sailor lad that did inconstant prove." She begs for relief. (She meets her false love and begs him to change his mind.) (She curses him bitterly)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1810 (Catnach broadside, according to Leyden)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal curse
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H519, p. 389, "Belfast Mountains" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden 1, "The Belfast Mountains" c.1810 (1 text, 1 tune); 2, "The Belfast Mountains" c.1893 (1 text, 1 tune); 3, "The Belfast Mountains" c.1930 (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1062
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cavehill Diamond (I)" (subject of the Cavehill Diamond)
cf. "The Cavehill Diamond (II)" (subject of the Cavehill Diamond)
cf. "Belfast Town" (subject of the Cavehill Diamond)
NOTES: SHenry: "Other title: 'The Diamonds of Derry.' ... This is a version of a street ballad popular in 1800.... The Belfast Mountains (Cave Hill) were supposed to contain diamonds which shone at night. They were often referred to in the ballads of the period." The SHenry version has no reference to diamonds.
Leyden's c.1930 version is from SHenry H519. Leyden's earlier versions refer to the diamonds: "Had I but all the diamonds, That on the rocks do grow, I'd give them to my Irish laddie, If he to me his love would show." Leyden states that these lines contain "a clue to a mystery that continually aroused interest and fascination throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The mystery centered around the existence of a diamond known as 'the Cavehill Diamond'. Whether or not the diamond ever existed is still a contentious point and perhaps cynics were right to dismiss it as a chunk of limestone." Leyden goes on to report several accounts between 1895 and 1920. (See also "The Cavehill Diamond" (I) and (II)). - BS
File: HHH519

Belfast Riot, The


DESCRIPTION: Election day, going to vote, Malcolm McKay is murdered by "bloodthirsty Irishmen"; "the Irish ... Each one with his weapon [blessed by a priest] ... Our noble Scotch heroes made them all run away"; 27 Irishmen and no Scotchmen are killed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: violence murder revenge political religious
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 1, 1847 - Election day riot Belfast, PEI; Malcolm McRae killed (see notes)
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 74-76, "The Belfast Riot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12462
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Twelfth of July" (Canadian political situation)
NOTES: "...election day, March 1, 1847 ... pitted 200 mainly Irish supporters of the Reform candidates against 200 mainly Scottish adherents of the Conservative candidates.... Three were killed, one Scotsman and two Irishmen. That this incident occurred in a district incidentally called Belfast, that one side was predominately Irish and Catholic and the other predominantly Scottish and Presbyterian, and that a contemporary controversy over the use of the Bible in the public schools was a proximate issue -- these circumstances gave credence to the belief, especially among the Scots, that the Belfast riot was a critical battle in a holy war, or at least in a contest of national pride and honour." (source: A 'New Ireland Lost': The Irish Presence in Prince Edward Island by Brendan O'Grady on The Irish in Canada site.
"Malcolm McRae ... died March 01, 1847 in Belfast, PEI, Canada." (source: The [Prince Edward] Island Register site); the ballad makes the name "Malcolm McKay." - BS
File: Dib075

Belfast Sailor, The


DESCRIPTION: A Belfast lass asks her sailor lover to stay at home. The ship sails for Newfoundland "till taken slaves to end our days all in a Turkish galley." They are tortured. The sailor writes "the Turks they are so cruel ... so fare thee well, my jewel"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 22(147))
KEYWORDS: captivity love separation lover sailor ordeal slavery
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, p. 105, "The Belfast Sailor" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 22(147), "The Lass of Belfast", J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 25(1167), "Lovers All"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Turkish Lady" [Laws O26] (theme)
cf. "La Jeune Fille si Amoureuse (The Girl So In Love)" (theme)
NOTES: Laws re O26: "A merchant ship from Bristol is captured by a Turkish rover and all its men are made slaves." The ballads have no lines in common.
Broadsides Bodleian Harding B 22(147) and Bodleian Harding B 25(1167) mention in passing that her father is a rich merchant. - BS
File: Ran105

Belfast Shoemaker, The


See James Ervin [Laws J15] (File: LJ15)

Belfast Town


DESCRIPTION: Mary is keeping sheep when Prince Dermott rides out hunting. He sees her and falls in love. When he asks her hand, she says she is too poor. He persists, and asks her mother of her ancestry. The girl proves to be Dermott's lost cousin
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty family orphan marriage reunion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H45, pp. 477-478, "Belfast Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden 28, "Belfast Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3579
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cavehill Diamond (I) (subject of the Cavehill Diamond)
cf. "The Cavehill Diamond (II)" (subject of the Cavehill Diamond)
cf. "Belfast Mountains (The Diamonds of Derry)" (subject of the Cavehill Diamond)
NOTES: I find myself surprised that the Catholic Irish would make so little objection to first cousins marrying. - RBW
Leyden's text seems to be SHenry H45, with its apparent misplacement of verse 2, but the tune is different. - BS
File: HHH045

Belfast Tram, The


DESCRIPTION: "You wait and wait in vain standing shiv'ring in the rain If you want to be late again take a Belfast Tram." Suggest the tram to "a friend you'd rather miss." To get someplace on time "use your 'Shanks'" or take a taxi or sidecar.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: commerce humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 17, "The Belfast Tram" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Leyden: "The enthusiastic public response to the introduction of horse trams [in Belfast in 1872] soon gave way to constant complaints about their lack of punctuality.... [T]his song is in the music hall mould and was published in Ireland's Saturday Night." [according to the National Library of Ireland side,Ireland's Saturday Night began publication in 1894 and is still being published]. - BS
File: Leyd017

Believe I'll Call the Rider


DESCRIPTION: Axe song with frequent interjection "Wo Lord" or "Hollerin' Wo Lord." The singer calls out to many: "Believe I'll call the Rider." "Call him with my diamond." "Let me call themajor." "Believe I'll call Mama." ""Believe I'll call Bertha." Many lines float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966 (recorded from J. C. Spring by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 256-259, "Believe I'll Call the Rider" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: JDM256

Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms


DESCRIPTION: "Believe me if all those endearing young charms Which I gaze on so fondly today Were to change by tomorrow... Thou wouldst still be adores As this moment thou art." The singer says he loves her for herself; she didn't create her beauty anyway
AUTHOR: Words: Thomas Moore
EARLIEST DATE: 1808 (Moore, "A Selection of Irish Melodies"; tune printed in 1775)
KEYWORDS: beauty love nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
O'Conor, p. 120, "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 252, "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 138-139, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms -- (Fair Harvard)"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 378, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Henry Burr, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (Little Wonder 105, 1915; Little Wonder 836, 1918)
James McCool, "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (Victor 4594, 1906)
Unknown tenor, "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" (Emerson 758, 1916)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 3070 View 2 of 3[very difficult to read], "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms", T. Batchelar (London), 1817-1828; also Firth b.26(511), Firth c.18(31), "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms"
NOTES: If Granger's Index to Poetry is any guide, this is the most popular of all Moore's songs, appearing in no fewer than 18 of the anthologies it cites. And yet, I know of no traditional collections at all.
Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 31, writes that Moore wrote this to comfort a woman, perhaps his wife, who had been disfigured by smallpox. This sounds reasonable -- but Gogan's book contains an amazing number of tidbits like this, some clearly false, so I won't guarantee this one. - RBW
File: FSWB252A

Believe Me, Dearest Susan


DESCRIPTION: "When the wind swells the canvas and the anchor's a-trip and the ensign's hauled down from the peak of the ship - Believe me dearest Susan, I will come back again!" Verses have same pattern "When (insert sailing procedure) -- Believe me dearest Susan ..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: foc's'le sailor return tasks
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Colcord, pp. 163-164, "Believe Me, Dearest Susan" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Colc163 (Partial)
Roud #4689
File: Colc163

Bell Da Ring


DESCRIPTION: "I know member, know Lord, I know I yedde (heard the) bell da ring." "Want to go to meeting, bell da ring" (x2). Listeners are urged to go to church, and to listen for the bell; they are warned that heaven might be shut
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, pp. 34-35, "Bell Da Ring" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #11989
NOTES: This song sounds as if it is forecasting a last *bell*, rather than a last *trump*. (I won't swear to that.) If so, there is no scriptural basis for the idea; the New Testament never mentions the word "bell," and the handful of Old Testament references are not apocalyptic. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG034

Bell Hendry (I)


DESCRIPTION: All the men in Fraserburgh are daft about Bell Hendry. "She thinks the lads they shouldna woo But leave that to the maids alane." "So mony a lad got a rebuff." She picks one she's "twined him roon her thoom ... She'll wear the breeks"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #81, pp. 2-3, "Bell Hendry" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 728C, "Bell Hendry" (5 texts plus a fragment on p. 531, 2 tunes)
Roud #6167
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bell Hendry (II)" (subject)
cf. "Jean Chivas" (lyric)
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 and Roud lump both Bell Hendry songs. Except for their first two lines their texts, tune and tone are different and my inclination is to split them. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4728C

Bell Hendry (II)


DESCRIPTION: The singer, Bell Hendry, has cheated many young men of Fraserburgh. When she lived in her father's house she drank beer and lived "at a high rate." Now she's in the correction house. If she gets out she may be married yet "we the lad I daurna name"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: marriage prison drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 728D, "Bell Hendry" (1 text plus a fragment on p. 531, 1 tune)
Roud #6167
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Maybe I'll Be Married Yet" (tune according to GreigDuncan4, and one verse from Greig #18)
cf. "Bell Hendry (I)" (subject)
cf. "Jean Chivas" (lyrics)
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 quoting Duncan: "An objectionable song of Buchan origin and modern."
GreigDuncan4 and Roud lump both Bell Hendry songs. Except for their first two lines their texts, tune and tone are different and my inclination is to split them. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4728D

Bell-Bottom Trousers


See Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43)

Bellaghy Fair


See I Went to the Fair at Bonlaghy (File: E151)

Belle Brandon


DESCRIPTION: "'Neath a tree by the margin of the woodland... There I saw the little beauty, Belle Brandon, And we met 'neath the old arbor tree." The singer tells of carving their names in a tree. Now she is dead, and "sleeps 'neath the old arbor tree."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1859 (Beadle's Dime Song Books)
KEYWORDS: love courting death
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 805, "Belle Brandon" (1 text)
Fife-Cowboy/West 48, "Belle Brandon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7423
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as100900, "Belle Brandon", J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as100890, "Belle Brandon"
NLScotland, L.C.1269(154a), "Belle Brandon, The Beauty of the Valley," Poet's Box (Glasgow?), 1865
NOTES: Randolph, probably based on Spaeth's History of Popular Music in America, p. 130, reports the publication of a song called "Bell Brandon" in 1860 (by T. E. Garrett and Francis Woolcott), and a report that sheet music was printed in 1854. He apparently did not know if they were the same song, and I have no way of checking the matter. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as100900: 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: R805

Belle Cherche Son Amant, La (The Beautiful Woman Seeks Her Lover)


DESCRIPTION: French. A woman takes her baby and goes to find her lover. She asks the mother of angels for help. She is told her husband is nearby, drinking wine and playing cards. He wipes her tears away but says he will not stay. Then he changes his mind.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage love reunion separation beauty cards drink supernatural baby lover
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 172-173, "La Belle Cherche Son Amant" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea172

Belle Est Morte Entre les Bras de Son Amant, La (The Beautiful Woman Died in her Lover's Arms)


DESCRIPTION: French. A soldier gives a girl a gold ring to wait for him. Her father marries her to an old man. One night her young lover returns and knocks at her door though knowing she is married. She dies in his arms. Her father mourns.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage grief courting marriage ring death lover father soldier
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 664-665, "La Belle Est Morte Entre les Bras de Son Amant" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Le Beau Galant (The Handsome Gentleman)" (theme)
File: Pea664

Belle Gunness


DESCRIPTION: "Belle Gunness was a lady fair In Indiana State, She weighed about 300 pounds, And that is quite some weight." "Her favorite occupation Was a-butchering of men." "Now some say Belle killed only ten, And some say 42." At last she vanishes with the cash
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder husband wife abandonment
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 28, 1908 - Burning of the home and children of Belle Gunness
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 74-76, "Belle Gunness" (1 text plus a fragment; also a bit of a poem on the same topic)
NOTES: This is one of those stories that apparently had quite a local vogue, but little long-term notoriety; I checked four biographical dictionaries of various ages without finding a mention of Belle Gunness. So all my information comes from Burt.
It appears that her story really begins with the fire at her home. Four bodies were found in the house: Gunness's three children and a woman. Whether the woman was Belle was never finally established. After that, the grounds were searched, and a number of male bodies were discovered -- apparently husbands and male friends Belle had murdered.
Folklore has it that Belle murdered the men for their money and then made off with the booty. There is apparently no evidence either way. - RBW
File: Burt074

Belle Layotte


DESCRIPTION: Creole French. "Mo deja roule tout la cote Pancour ouar pareil belle Layotte." "Mo roule tout la cote, Mo toule tout la colonie." "Jean Babet, mon ami, Si cous couri par en haut." "Domestique la mison Ye toute fache avec mouin."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 109, "Belle Layotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: AWG109

Belle Nanon (Beautiful Nanon)


DESCRIPTION: French. Nanon tells her lover that they cannot make love in the garden now. He must win over her father. He cannot. She says that they can kiss, and that love is certain, but that they cannot think of other things because her father stands in the way.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting love sex bawdy dialog father lover mistress
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 501-502, "Belle Nanon" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea501

Belle of Long Lake, The


See Blue Mountain Lake (The Belle of Long Lake) [Laws C20] (File: LC20)

Belle Recompense, Une (A Beautiful Reward)


DESCRIPTION: French. The singer's unfaithful captain says he will marry her but then leaves. She follows him, dresses as a volunteer dragoon and rides a horse like a general. She kills him. The king gives her a gold pin and watch as a reward.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting warning army fight war cross-dressing death dialog lover soldier
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, p. 326, "Une Belle Recompense" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "William Taylor" [Laws N11] (plot)
NOTES: For notes on legitimate historical examples of women serving in the military in disguise, see the notes to "The Soldier Maid." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Pea326

Belle Regrette Son Amour Tendre, La (The Beautiful Woman Sorrows for Her Tender Love)


DESCRIPTION: French. The singer left his mistress to work along the river. There he met another lover. When she cried he comforted her and said he would return after this trip. When it came to saying goodbye she cried.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage grief seduction lover mistress
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 430-431, "La Belle Regrette Son Amour Tendre" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea430

Belle-a-Lee


DESCRIPTION: A steamboat chant with the refrain "Oh, Belle! Oh, Belle!": "Belle-a-Lee's got no time, Oh, Belle! oh Belle! Robert E. Lee's got railroad time...." "Wish I was in Mobile Bay... Rollin' Cotton by the day...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924
KEYWORDS: river nonballad work floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 592, [no title] (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Stow'n' Sugar in de Hull Below" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Hieland Laddie" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This uses lyrics from "Hieland Laddie," which is far better known, but the form appears different enough that I tentatively separate them. - RBW
File: BMRF592A

Belles of Renous, The


DESCRIPTION: "Stay home with your mother, don't cause her to fret, And do not mix up with the downriver set." The girls of Renous look down at "a man dressed in homespun" and prefer "a dude from the city." The girls of Dungaren are the best at a ball.
AUTHOR: Joe Smith (1872-1912)
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Ives-NewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: dancing party humorous nonballad clothes
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 164-167, "The Belles of Renous" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1964
File: IvNB164

Bells are Ringing, The (Eight O'Clock Bells)


DESCRIPTION: "(Eight) o'clock bells are ringing, Mother let me out; My sweetheart is waiting For to take me out." "He's going to give me apples, He's going to give me pears, He's going to give me sixpence, And kisses on the stairs."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: courting food mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1623, "Six O'Clock Bells Ringing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 86, "(Eight o'clock bells are ringing)" (1 text)
Roud #12986?
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Boyfriend Gave Me An Apple" (lyrics)
File: MSNR086

Bells of Shandon


DESCRIPTION: "With deep affection and recollection I often think of those Shandon bells." Those bells are compared to those at the Vatican, Notre Dame, and Moscow, and the bells "in St Sophio the Turkman gets"
AUTHOR: Rev Francis Sylvester Mahony (1804-1866)
EARLIEST DATE: 1834 (_Fraser's Magazine_, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: lyric nonballad religious music
FOUND IN: Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
OCanainn, pp. 106-107, "The Bells of Shandon" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 24,60, "Bells of Shandon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 222-226, "The Bells of Shandon" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 65-66, "The Bells of Shandon" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, pp. 50-51, "The Bells of Shandon"
Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 242-243, "The Bells of Shandon"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 437-438, "The Shandon Bells" (1 text)
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 431-432, "The Bells of Shandon"
Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, p. 42, "The Bells of Shandon" (1 text)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #224, "The Bells of Shandon" (1 text)
ST OCon024 (Partial)
Roud #9562
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(235), "The Bells of Shandon", W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also Harding B 11(234), 2806 b.11(162), "The Bells of Shandon"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Last Rose of Summer" (tune in Blackpool, OCanainn)
cf. "Slain le Maigh (Fairwell to the Maigue)" (tune, OCanainn)
NOTES: [See] The Ballad Poetry of Ireland by Charles Gavan Duffy (Dublin, 1845), pp. 242-243, "The Bells of Shandon." - BS
This is among the most popular of Irish poems; Granger's Index to Poetry lists fully a dozen anthologies containing the piece.
Francis Sylvester Mahony was a Jesuit priest born in Cork; he published much of his poetry under the name "Father Prout." He later left the church to work as a journalist and satirist.
Other works from his pen in this index include "The Town of Passage (IiI)." - RBW
File: OCon024

Beloved Land, The


DESCRIPTION: A young man on deck says "Farewell my beloved land; I'll see thee no more." He thinks of his youth and fighting "the tyrant" but now he is "prescribed as an exile"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: grief exile farewell sea ship lament patriotic
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 352-353, "The Beloved Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea352 (Partial)
Roud #6456
File: Pea352

Belt wi' Colours Three, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer overhears a woman lamenting her love, warning others not to love "until she know that she loved be." She lists the "gifts" she has gotten: a cap of lead, a mantle of sorrow, "a belt wi' colors three": shame, sorrow, and misery, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love clothes betrayal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 194, "The Belt wi' Colours Three" (1 text)
Roud #5534
File: Ord194

Ben Backstay


DESCRIPTION: "Ben Backstay was our boatswain, A very merry boy." The captain serves out double grog. Ben gets drunk and falls overboard. They throw ropes to him, but he can't return because a "shark had bit his head off." Ben's ghost warns against mixing liquor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: sailor death humorous ghost drink
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 98-101, "Ben Backstay" (1 text)
ST ShSea098 (Partial)
File: ShSea098

Ben Bolt


DESCRIPTION: "Oh! don't you remember sweet Alice, Ben Bolt, Sweet Alice, with hair so brown She wept with delight when you gave her a smile, And trembled with dear at your frown." But Alice now lies in the churchyard, and the mill where they courted is dried up
AUTHOR: Words: Thomas Dunn English
EARLIEST DATE: 1843 (The New Mirror)
KEYWORDS: love courting death separation burial
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Dean, pp. 31-32, "Ben Bolt" (1 text)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 30-34, "Ben Bolt" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 252, "Ben Bolt" (1 text)
DT, BENBOLT
ST RJ19030 (Full)
Roud #2653
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sam Holt" (tune & meter)
SAME TUNE:
Answer to Ben Bolt (broadside LOCSheet, sm1854 741250, "Answer to Ben Bolt," W. C. Peters and Sons (Cincinnati), 1854 (tune)
NOTES: Originally published as a poem in The New Mirror of September 2, 1843. Various tunes were offered; that by Nelson F. Kneass (made in 1848) proved the most enduring. It is possible that it was an adaptation of another tune.
T. D. English did not receive royalties for the popular editions of the song, and Spaeth (A History of Popular Miusic in America, p. 123) reports that he "came to resent [the song's] enormous popularity as compared with what he considered his more important efforts." Where have we heard *that* before? - RBW
File: RJ19030

Ben Breezer


See Dixie Brown [Laws D7] (File: LD07)

Ben Dewberry's Final Run


DESCRIPTION: Ben Dewberry tells his fireman never to fear, and that there are two more roads he wants to ride, and otherwise forecasts disaster. After passing over a trestle and switch, without warning the train derails and Dewberry is killed
AUTHOR: Rev. Andrew Jenkins
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (copyright)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Ben Dewberry tells his fireman never to fear, and that there are two more roads he wants to ride, and to "put your head out the window, watch the drivers roll." It begins to rain; he predicts that they "may make Atlanta but we'll all be dead." After passing over a trestle and switch, without warning the train derails and Dewberry is killed
KEYWORDS: train death railroading work crash disaster wreck floatingverses worker
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug. 23, 1908: According to Norm Cohen [internet communication; the information is not in _Long Steel Rail_], Engineer Benjamin Franklin Dewberry killed when the Southern Railway's #38 crashes after young boys place a bolt on the tracks because they "wanted to see what a wreck would look like"
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 158-162, "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #14015
RECORDINGS:
Frankie Marvin, "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" (Brunswick 153, 1928; Supertone 2055 [as The Texas Ranger], 1930) (Edison 52436, 1928; Edison 20002, 1929) (Banner 7179/Challenge 691/Conqueror 7164 [also issued as by Frank Nelson]/Domino 0253/Jewel 5351/Oriole 1297/Regal 8605 [all as Frankie Wallace], 1928)
Jimmie Rodgers, "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" (Victor 21245, 1928; Bluebird B-5482/Montgomery Ward M-4224, 1934)
Irene Sargent, "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" (AFS 13125 B17, n.d.)
Hank Snow, "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" (RCA Victor 20-4096, 1951; in album P-310; RCA Victor 47-4096, n.d.; in album WP-310)
Joe Steen, "Ben Dewberry's Final Run" (Champion 16258, 1931)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1], especially the subgroup "Kassie Jones" [Furry Lewis recording] (lyrics, structure)
cf. "Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long)" [Laws I16] (lyrics, structure)
NOTES: While clearly a composed song, Norm Cohen notes its strong affinity with older forms such as Furry Lewis's "Kassie Jones" blues-ballad and the "Joseph Mica/Milwaukee Blues/Jay Gould's Daughter" family of songs. Indeed, three of the five verses are shared with those songs. - PJS
Said verses being instruction to the fireman not to fear; the two more roads Dewberry would like to ride; the suggestion, "put your head out the windows, see the drivers roll"; and the prediction "we may make Atlanta but we'll all be dead." - RBW
File: RcBDFR

Ben Fisher


DESCRIPTION: "Ben Fisher had finished his day's hard work, And he sat at his cottage door; And his good wife Kate sat by his side, And the moonlight danced on the floor." They look back on their twelve years of marriage; they are not rich but are as happy as anyone
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Gardner/Chickering); reportedly published in 1859 in the first Beadle's Dime Song Book
KEYWORDS: marriage children farming
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gardner/Chickering 118, "Ben Fisher" (1 text)
ST GC118 (Partial)
Roud #3699
NOTES: Standard nineteenth-century treacle, with a bit of a temperance message ("Ben Fisher had never a pipe of clay, Nor never a dram drank he, So he loved at home with his wife to stay"). - RBW
File: GC118

Ben Hall


DESCRIPTION: The singer condemns the murder of Ben Hall. Hall is made an "outcast from society" when his wife sells his land. He refuses to shed blood, but is finally ambushed and, abandoned by his comrades, is shot repeatedly
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: death murder outlaw abuse betrayal infidelity wife police Australia
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 5, 1865 - Ben Hall is ambushed and killed by police near Forbes, Australia
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 164-165, "Ben Hall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 62-63, "The Death of Ben Hall" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BENHALL*
Roud #3352
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Ben Hall" (on JGreenway01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ballad of Ben Hall" (plot)
cf. "Streets of Forbes" (plot)
cf. "The Death of Ben Hall" (plot)
cf. "My Name is Ben Hall" (subject)
NOTES: Ben Hall is widely regarded as "the noblest of the bushrangers"; Nunn, p. 21, includes him among the "'Gentleman' Bushrangers," and on page 113 reports that he was "the least violent and most tragic of the bushrangers." The story is that he was hounded from his home by the police, and only then turned to crime. Even as a bushranger, he attacked only the rich and never shed blood. Boxall, p. 223, even tells a story of him arranging for the return of a victim's gun.
The truth is not quite so pretty. Hall was the child of convicts, born probably in 1837 (so Nunn, and Boxall, p. 251, says he was about 28 at the time of his death). His father is described as having a clean record. Nunn, p.113, reports that Ben himself "worked as a stockman in the Lachlan district as a youth and then took up a selection and, in 1856, married Bridget Walsh. They had one son, Harry."
Hall showed no signs of banditry until his wife ran off with another man. Nunn, p. 115, says that the police came after him on a minor charge and, while he was being held, he found that his wife had run off with an ex-policeman. His property was burned and his stock strayed.
From there his life took a turn for the worse; he sold off his land and eventually joined Frank Gardiner's outlaw band (see "Frank Gardiner," as well as the notes to "The Ballad of Ben Hall" for some other members of the gang); he was said to be part of the gang that committed the famous Eugowra Rocks robbery in 1862. Boxall, p. 217, reports that Gardiner may have been largely retired from the gang by the time Hall rose to prominence, but Hall and Johnny Gilbert (a Canadian who migrated to Australia in 1852 to seek gold, according to Nunn, p. 117) kept it active.
In the aftermath of the Eudowra affair, Hall was charged with armed robbery but was acquitted for lack of evidence. The police continued to harry him, though. His leading exploit in this period was taking a high official hostage and releasing him in return for a 500 pound ransom (Nunn, p. 117).
Hall supposedly concluded that the life he was leading was too violent, and decided to leave Australia (Nunn, p. 119; Learmonth, p. 247, says that "Hall killed no one but was not able to prevent his gang from doing so"). Eventually Hall was ambushed and killed; at least fifteen and perhaps as many as thirty bullets were found in his body, which made him a hero to the locals who hated the police.
Dunn and Gilbert, like Hall, were associated with Frank Gardiner's outlaw band. John Gilbert brought the full force of the law down on the gang when he shot a policeman, and he died along with Johnny Dunn in 1866. Johnny O'Meally, also mentioned in the song, was a member of the gang killed in 1863. Gardiner was eventually taken, but was paroled after seven years and allowed to emigrate to the U.S., where he opened a saloon and, it is said, was shot in a poker fight in 1903.
"Sir Fred" is Sir Frederick Pottinger, a "monumentally inept" officer of the crown who bungled the whole case -- and eventually managed to accidentally kill himself! According to Boxall, p. 223, he once ran across the bushrangers he was supposed to be pursuing but failed to do anything about them. "Sir Frederick was called to Sydney to attend an inquiry, and resigned his position in the force. About a month later he died from the effects of a wound from a pistol, accidentally fired by himself."
To tell this song from the other Ben Hall songs, consider this first stanza:
Come all you young Australians, and everyone besides,
I'll sing to you a ditty that will fill you with surprise,
Concerning of a 'ranger bold, whose name it was Ben Hall,
But cruelly murdered was this day, which proved his downfall.
This is not the text found in Manifold (which begins "Come all you young Australians, and hear what did befall Concerning of a decent man whose name was bold Ben Hall"), but the tune (which wobbles oddly between Mixolydian and Dorian) puts Manifold's transcription with John Greenway's version. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: MA164

Benbraddon Brae


DESCRIPTION: The singer, going through Benbraddon hill, hears the sheepbells and the foxhunt. Stopping, he sees the boys and girls courting. He praises the beauty of the place, and recalls the parties among the fields and flowers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H572, pp. 159-160, "Benbraddon Brae" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9215
File: HHH572

Beneath the Weeping Willow Tree


See Bury Me Beneath the Willow (File: R747)

Benjamin Bowmaneer


DESCRIPTION: Enraptured with martial spirit as England goes to war, a tailor makes a horse from his shear board, bridle bits from his scissors, and a spear from his needle (with which he spears a flea) and a bell from his thimble (to ring the flea's funeral knell).
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959
KEYWORDS: war humorous nonsense bug
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1437-1453 - The Hundred Years' War
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 20-21, "Benjamin Bowmaneer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BENBOWMR*
Roud #1514
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Tailor and the Louse"
NOTES: We don't have "tailor" as a keyword, otherwise I'd have included it. Also, while everyone seems to think this song is either the usual humorous put-down of tailors or a hidden satire, the resemblance to the magical elements in such songs as "Scarborough Fair" makes me wonder whether we should also keyword it as "magic." I continue to get the feeling there's more to this song than meets the eye. -PJS
I have to agree, though I have no better explanation of what's going on than Paul does. The put-down of tailors is likely enough; the practitioners of the trade were considered singularly ineffective. We can see an instance of this, e.g., in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2, Act III, scene 2, where Falstaff is interviewing potential soldiers. In lines 145-170, Falstaff interviews a tailor. His name? Francis Feeble. A double joke, obviously: "France is feeble," and the tailor is feeble too. And Falstaff justifies taking the fellow on the grounds that he might be useful during a retreat!
There is one interesting parallel here, though, to the Grimm fairy tale "The Brave Little Tailor" (note the occupation! It is their #20, "Das tapfere Schneiderlien," printed in 1812 and said to go back to Martinus Montanus, c. 1557) In English, it is well-known through its inclusion in Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book, although he does not list his source. The tailor kills seven flies that are eating his jam, decides that makes him a hero, and sets out on a variety of adventures, in which he intimidates giants and men with his wits rather than his might.
This obviously is a variation on the same theme. And yet, from the references and general feeling, I think this song has something -- though I've no idea what -- to do with the convoluted politics of the Hundred Years' War, fought between England and France.
The war began when Edward III (1327-1377, and under English law the King of France) attacked the French -- if not to gain the throne, then at least to get clear title to the English lands in Aquitaine. The reign of Henry V (1413-1422) saw the English make a serious attempt to take over France, but everything fell apart in the reign of Henry VI (1422-1461), and all British possessions in France were lost. For more about the war (probably more than you want to know), see the notes to "King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France" [Child 164].
During the whole time, though, there was constant diplomacy and maneuvering, much of which looked very silly from the outside.
By the way, it was the longbow which allowed the English -- often outnumbered three to one or more -- to keep the war going as long as it did. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: VWL020

Benjamin Deane [Laws F32]


DESCRIPTION: Benjamin Deane, the singer, is successful in business but wants more. He turns to criminal activities on the side. When his wife leaves him, he shoots her in a jealous rage. Now he is in prison, warning others against his sort of behavior
AUTHOR: probably Joe Scott
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: murder jealousy prison
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1898 - Benjamin F. Deane (born in New Brunswick in 1854) murders his wife in Berlin Falls, New Hampshire. Tried and convicted, he spent less than ten years in prison
FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws F32, "Benjamin Deane"
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 189-191, "Benjamin Dean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 89-91,241-242, "Benjamin Deane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 5, "Benjamin Deane" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 686, BENJDEAN
Roud #2271
NOTES: Sandy Ives says "there need be no question that Joe Scott [Joseph W. Scott] wrote BENJAMIN DEANE" (internet correspondence, based on Ives's article in JAF 72, 1959). But Laws, though he quotes this information, does so in such a way as to imply he still has doubts. - RBW
File: LF32

Benjy Havens


See Benny Havens (File: R232)

Benny Havens


DESCRIPTION: The exploits of Benny (Benjie) Havens at West Point. After some time as a cadet and soldier, he turns to selling whiskey to his comrades. Chorus: "Oh! Benny Havens's, oh! Oh! Benny Havens's, oh! We'll sing our reminiscences of Benny Havens's, oh!"
AUTHOR: "Lt. O'Brien of the 8th Infantry"
EARLIEST DATE: 1838
KEYWORDS: soldier drink
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 232, "Benjy Havens" (1 text, 1 tune, both fragmentary)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 540-543, "Benny Havens, Oh!" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 344-345, "Benny Havens, Oh!" (1 text)
DT, BENHAVEN*
Roud #7707
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune)
NOTES: Benny Havens reportedly served in the American military in the War of 1812, then opened a small store near the "cadet hospital." By 1832, he was selling liquor, and was forced off the military reservation as a result. He proceeded to re-open just off the grounds, and established quite a clientele among the officers-to-be. - RBW
File: R232

Bent County Bachelor, The


See Starving to Death on a Government Claim (The Lane County Bachelor) (File: R186)

Bent Sae Brown, The [Child 71]


DESCRIPTION: Willie makes a boat of his coat and a sail of his shirt to visit Annie overnight. When he leaves she warns that her three brothers lurk in the brown grass. They waylay him. He kills them. Her mother appeals to the king, who rules in favor of the lovers.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1828 (Buchan, _Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland_, according to Greig)
KEYWORDS: trick love fight death family royalty brother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 71, "The Bent Sae Brown" (1 text)
Bronson 71, brief comments only
Greig #117, p. 1, "The Bents and Broom" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 219, "The Bents and Broom" (1 text)
Roud #3322
File: C071

Benton


DESCRIPTION: The singer fees [hires for the season] to Benton. "Benton's study ever was His servants for to grind." He puts up with Benton's tricks but wouldn't work the harvest with a rusty scythe. That settled, he wouldn't leave until he was fully paid.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work money trick
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #145, pp. 1-2, "Benton" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 364, "Benton" (1 text)
Roud #5906
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Benton Crew" (subject)
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "The four brothers Benton ... farmed at Harthill in Whitehouse ... from 1874 to 1890." - BS
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Harthill (364) is at coordinate (h1-2,v6) on that map [near Alford, roughly 22 miles W of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3364

Benton County, Arkansas


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes a life of surprises and mishaps since leaving (Benton County) at (18). The tavern offers a fine meal but a flea-infested bed. The listener is given advice on how to milk an old ewe. Etc. Uses the "Derry Down" tune
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: travel humorous bug food
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 345, "Benton County, Arkansas" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 282-283, "Benton County, Arkansas" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 34A)
Roud #7624
NOTES: The various versions of this piece in Randolph are extensive, but hardly add up to a coherent story; "C" in particular looks like it might float. Cohen speculates that the first verse of the "A" text is a graft onto the song. I hope someone can find a fuller version. - RBW
File: R345

Benton Crew, The


DESCRIPTION: The Bentons from Heartshill go to feeing [hiring] "wi' a weel-trimmed hat and a braw topcoat. [Brother] John [for example]: "may the deevil get him ... he's ane o' the Benton crew"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming moniker nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 363, "The Benton Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5907
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Benton" (subject)
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "The four brothers Benton ... farmed at Harthill in Whitehouse ... from 1874 to 1890." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3363

Bergere Fait du Fromage (The Shepherdess Makes Cheese)


DESCRIPTION: French. The shepherdess makes cheese from the milk of her white sheep. In anger she kills her kitten. She confesses to her father and, for penance she will embrace men: not priests, but especially men of war with beards.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (BerryVin)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sex nonsense animal shepherd
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 241-242, "Bergere Fait du Fromage" (1 text, 1 tune)
BerryVin, p. 46, "Il etait une bergere (The Shepherdess)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
NOTES: In Peacock's version, there is no explanation for why the girl killed the kitten; perhaps it ate the cheese? - (BS, RBW)
In BerryVin, the shepherdess tells the kitten to dip its paw (English) or leg (French) into the milk, to sample it. Instead, it dips its chin. Why this should so enrage the shepherdess isn't clear, particularly since it's the paw that walks in the litter-box. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Pea241

Bernard Riley


DESCRIPTION: "My name is Owen Riley, I have a son that sets me crazy; He come home every night singing blackguard songs." The boy goes out and fights, or comes home drunk and hits his sister, or pawns his father's pants. The father has no solution
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: father children drink
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, pp. 63-64, "Bernard Riley" (1 text)
Roud #5500
NOTES: This, being a standard complaint about the wildness of youth (though in this case it sounds pretty justified) sounds to me as if it might be a popular song from the early twentieth century, but I haven't found any references to it in any source, printed or online. - RBW
File: Dean063

Berryfields of Blair


DESCRIPTION: Singer describes migrant workers' descent on Blair in berry-picking time; there are city folks, miners, fisherfolk, and Travellers. Some are successful, some not; some work as a family, some alone. The singer praises all
AUTHOR: Belle Stewart
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (recorded from Belle Stewart)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer describes migrant workers' descent on Blair in berry-picking time; there are city folks, miners, fisherfolk, and Travellers from all parts of Scotland. Some are successful, some not; some work as a family, some alone; "some men share and share alike wi' wives that's no their ain." The singer praises them all and blesses the hand that led him to the berryfields of Blair
KEYWORDS: travel farming harvest work nonballad worker Gypsy migrant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 339, "The Berryfields of Blair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2154
RECORDINGS:
Belle Stewart, "The Berry Fields O' Blair" (on Voice20) (on SCStewartsBlair01)
BROADSIDES:
cf. "Nicky Tams" (tune)
NOTES: Kennedy does not mention Belle Stewart's claim to have written this song -- but, in this instance, I see no reason to question it; this gives every evidence of being the work of a modern who is nonetheless steeped in traditional music -- and the dialect exactly fits Stewart's own. - RBW
Hall, notes to Voice20, re "The Berry Fields O' Blair": written in 1930. - BS
File: K339

Bervie's Bowers


DESCRIPTION: "Bervie's bowers are bonnie." The singer loves "the flower o' Bervie's toon." Her father locks the door at night and keeps the keys but she lets her lover in. She has a baby. "Lang lang tarries the yellow-haired lad that gaed oot by the break o' day"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Christie)
KEYWORDS: sex seduction pregnancy abandonement nightvisit
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #134, pp. 1-2, "Bervie's Bowers" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 789, "Bervie's Bowers" (7 texts, 8 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1881 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh, 2007)), Vol II, p. 86, ("Oh, Bervie's bow'rs are bonny") [one verse]
Roud #6157
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bervie Braes Are Bonnie, and the Waters Roon Aboot
The Bonnie Banks of Tay
File: GrD4789

Berwick Freeman, The


DESCRIPTION: "An old freeman of sixty odd years" mourns the fading glory of "Berwick that old Border town." Don't speak of England and Scotland as nations; talk instead of "Great Britain and Ireland and Berwick on Tweed." Drink to her trade and wish God speed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: pride commerce Scotland lyric
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 503, "The Berwick Freeman" (1 text)
Roud #5988
NOTES: I can't help but wonder about the composer of this. Berwick, in the years when England and Scotland were separate nations, was the chief fortress on the border, and changed hands frequently (John Cannon, editor, The Oxford Companion to British History, Oxford, 1997, p. 100, says it went back and forth fully 13 times before Richard of Gloucester -- the future Richard III -- finally captured it for England). Those frequent attacks meant that it was mostly a fort, not a town, but after the Union of the Crowns, it became a main border-crossing point; the first of its extant bridges was built in the sixteenth century and a second in the mid-nineteenth (presumably about the time the freeman was young). On the whole, the decline of competition between England and Scotland, which the singer praises, has reduced the town's importance. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3503

Beside the Kennebec


DESCRIPTION: "They marched with Arnold at their head, Our soldiers brave and true." They travel the Kennebec as the autumn leaves turn. Hunger strikes the troops, and one unnamed soldier dies of it. The family still remembers him and preserves his relics
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Gray), from a scrapbook, probably c. 1861, in the Harris Collection at Brown University
KEYWORDS: soldier death food
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, pp. 140-141, "Beside the Kennebec" (1 text)
NOTES: At the end of 1775, the American Revolution was in trouble. The colonial forces were still ill-armed and largely undisiplined, and few officers had the skills to change that. Their logistics were terrible. The British could march their forces wherever they wanted -- and, with more soldiers on the way, they would be able to directly occupy more and more territory.
There was no war department at this time; strategy was set partly by the Continental Congress, partly by the states, and partly by George Washington. The Congress apparently wanted a campaign against Canada (Middlekauff, p. 304). Washington considered a diversion a useful idea. Particularly since the British Governor, Guy Carleton, had been called upon to send some of his forces to support the British garrison of Boston (Cook, p. 243). Quebec, the key access point to Canada, was the objective.
The 1759 siege of Quebec (for which see "Brave Wolfe" [Laws A1]) should have told the Americans they were biting off a rather big mouthful. Somehow, they failed to realize this. Two columns were put in motion. (There are useful maps in Lancaster, p. 117, and Middlekauff, p. 306).
One campaign was from the west, via the Champlain. The area around Lake George and Ticonderoga had been captured early in the war (Ferguson, p. 182), and this was to provide the base for the western force. General Philip Schulyer had originally intended to command this expedition, but his health failed, and General Richard Montgomery, a veteran of the Seven Years' War (Weintraub, p. 339) led the force north (Lancaster, p. 108).
It was slow going -- due mostly to the Colonial lack of engineers and supply officers. The army set out on August 28, 1775, but made little progress. A tiny post at the north end of Lake Champlain, Fort St. John, held up Montgomery's advance for two months before surrendering (Lancaster, p. 108). It wasn't until November 5 that Montgomery headed for Montreal. some twenty miles away. The city fell on November 13, but Guy Carleton, the British commander in Canada, escaped (Lancaster, p. 109).
Meanwhile, a second expedition was setting out for Quebec via Maine. This force, commanded by (and apparenly suggested by) Benedict Arnold (Duncan, p. 215), sailed from Newburyport on the Massachussetts/New Hampshire border and landed at the mouth of the Kennebec river in what is now Maine (Lancaster, p. 109).
Arnold's route was known: Up the Kennebec in bateaux, through a series of portages, then down the Chaudiere River to the St. Lawrence near Quebec (Lancaster, p. 109). Unfortunately, no one in authority knew how long this route was! Arnold apparently thought he had a distance of 180 miles to travel, which he expected to cover in twenty days. In fact he had twice that far to go, and it took 45 days (Middlekauff, p. 304).
Having set out in mid-September, it was not until October 11 that they reached the "Great Carrying Place," the key portage where they left the Kennebec (Middlekauff, p. 304). The bateaux were already leaking (they had been made of green wood, by craftsmen who did not know how to build them, and had often crashed or overturned because the soldiers did not know how to sail them; Lancaster, p, 111), and many of the provisions had been spoiled by water.
Men began to turn back -- they were called cowards, but had they not left, the whole expedition might have starved (Lancaster, p. 111). As it was, men were reduced to eating dogs, hides, candles. They finally reached the St. Lawrence on November 8 (Lancaster, p. 112) or 9 (Middlekauff, p. 305).
But Arnold had fewer than 700 men left (only about 650 according to Lancaster, p. 112; Middlekauff, p. 305, says 675; Morison, p. 220, and Duncan, p. 215, say 600. Ferguson, p. 182, says that he had lost more than half his force, which would mean he had fewer than 500 men, but this is probably an exaggeration). He could not attack Quebec with such a force; indeed, it took him until November 13 just to get across the St. Lawrence (Middlekauff, p. 305). Montgomery finally arrived on December 2 (Lancaster, p. 112). The combined forces had only about a thousand men, many of them sick and ill-equipped. But they could not set a siege; many of the men's enlistments expired at the end of December(Weintraub, p. 44). It was an assault or nothing.
Montgomery and Arnold knew they could not attack over the Plains of Abraham, the route used by Wolfe 17 years before. The walls of the town were too strong (thirty feet high, with a variety of bastions, according to Middlekauff, p. 307), and the defenders too many (probably close to 1800 of them -- indeed, Cook, p. 243, says 3000).. The Americans decided to assault the lower town, at the bottom of the rock of Quebec, from both north and south, meet in the middle, and try to fight their way up the narrow path to the upper city (Lancaster, p. 112). It was a plan of desperation.
And it failed. The British knew they would come soon, and had been sleeping in their clothes by the defences (Middlekauff, p. 307). The assault went in on the night of December 30/31, with Montgomery attacking along the river and Arnold taking his troops along the north edge of the Rock.
Generals in this period were expected to *lead* their troops, not sit in the rear -- and in any case Montgomery, although titled a general, led a command about fit for a major. He apparently was killed at first contact (by a bullet in the head, according to Middlekauff, p. 308; by the first round of canister fired by the British artillery, according to Lancaster, p. 113), and his men fled. Half the assault had failed without even really getting started.
Arnold was also wounded early in the fighting (Middlekauff, p. 307), and his force retreated, taking Arnold with them but leaving many prisoners behind (Lancaster, p. 113).
The attack on Canada was over. Arnold held a position about a mile from the town through the winter (Middlekauff, p. 308), and the British -- knowing he could do nothing -- did not bother to attack him. Come spring, he turned over his command and went back to Montreal (Middlekauff, p. 308). The troops stayed a little longer, but accomplished nothing.
Guy Carleton was able to mount a counterattackin 1776 that recaptured Montreal (Cook, p. 244) and took him most of the way up the Champlain. Arnold, who had built a small fleet of gunboats, fought him there, and suffered a tactical defeat -- but it was October, and Carleton wasn't going to make the same mistake as the Americans and try to fight in winter. He retreated from the Champlain (Lancaster, p. 114; Cook, p. 244).
The next year, John Burgoyne came the same way -- to end up at a place called Saratoga. For more on the 1777 campaign, see the notes to "The Fate of John Burgoyne." For more on Benedict Arnold, see "Major Andre's Capture" [Laws A2].
This song, obviously, is the story of a young man who started out with Arnold, but was one of the many who did not even reach the St. Lawrence. We often hear of the privations of Valley Forge, the result of miserable Colonial logistics. The hero of this song died even earlier, but of the same cause. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Gray140

Besom Maker, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer, a besom maker, out gathering broom, meets "a rakish squire," "Jack Sprat, the miller," and "a buxom farmer" and has [coded] sex with each. She has a baby and gives up besom making for nursing.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(244))
KEYWORDS: sex farming childbirth bawdy miller
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
Roud #910
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(244), "The Besom Maker" ("I am a besom maker, listen to my tale"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 11(245), Harding B 11(3283), Firth b.34(19), "The Besom Maker"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Buy Broom Besoms (I Maun Hae a Wife)" (chorus)
cf. "Fine Broom Besoms (When I Was wi' Barney)" (chorus)
NOTES: The "code": "I wrote to him [the squire] the tune, I eased him of his gink"; "His [the miller] mill I rattled round, I ground the grits so clean, I eas'd him of his gink"; he [the farmer] plough'd his furrows deep, and laid his corn so low, He left it there to keep her, like green broom to grow." Then, "when the corn grew up to its native toil, A pretty sweet young baby soon on me did smile." - BS
File: BdBesMa

Bess of Ballymoney


DESCRIPTION: The singer calls on the muses to inspire him in praise of "the star of Ballymoney." He sees her, falls in love, and asks her to marry. She is young and not ready to leave home. He takes her to a tavern. She agrees to leave home and friends and marry him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty drink marriage
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H133, p. 461, "Bess of Ballymoney" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: In what is clearly a typographical accident, the note in Henry/Huntington/Herrmann list this as a version of Child #143. It's not; it's just another of those Irish songs about love at first sight -- in this case, perhaps aided by alcohol. - RBW
File: HHH133

Bess the Gawkie


DESCRIPTION: Jean tells Bess that her boyfriend Jamie had been kissing Maggie and, between kisses, told Maggie "that Bess was but a gawkie [fool]." Bess tells Jamie she won't be just another of his many girls and leaves him "to rue That ever Maggie's face he knew"
AUTHOR: James Muirhead (1740-1808) (source: Rogers)
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity rejection rake shepherd
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1840, "Bess the Gawkie" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: David Herd, editor, Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc. (Edinburgh, 1870 (reprint of 1776)), Vol II, pp. 154-156, "The Gawkie"
Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol I, pp. 35-37, "Bess, the Gawkie"
Charles Rogers, editor, [The Project Gutenberg EBook (2006) of] The Modern Scottish Minstrel; or, The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century Vol II (Edinburgh, 1856), p. 82, "Bess, the Gawkie"
Roud #13211
NOTES: Roud assigns #13211 to GreigDuncan8 but #8416 to other "[Bess the] Gawkie" entries. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81840

Bessie Beauty


See Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)

Bessie of Ballington Brae [Laws P28]


DESCRIPTION: Bessie appears to her former lover as he lies sleeping, saying that she is dead and he has led her astray. He goes to her home and learns that she is indeed dead. He admits to the betrayal, says he intended to marry her, and stabs himself to death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1859 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.11(245)); before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(677) if the broadside is this ballad; see notes)
KEYWORDS: ghost seduction death suicide betrayal
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws P28, "Bessie of Ballington Brae"
SHenry H73, pp. 412-413, "Ballindown Braes" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 3, "Ballintown Brae" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 31, "Jessie of Ballington Brae" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 44-45, "Ballentown Brae" (1 text)
Mackenzie 31, "Bessie of Ballington Brae" (1 text)
DT 596, BESSBAL
Roud #566
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(245), "Answer to Betsy of Ballantown Bray," J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1855-1858; also 2806 c.15(155), 2806 b.9(233), "Answer to Ballindown Brae"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ballan Doune Braes" (prequel)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bessie of Ballydubray
NOTES: Mackenzie's notes to "Bessie of Ballington Brae" include the first verse from a broadside that is "quite certainly" connected to his ballad. Laws, having as an example, a broadside entitled "Answer to Betsy of Ballantown Bray" concludes that P28 is the sequel to Mackenzie's broadside. That prequel is indexed here as "Ballan Doune Braes." The Bodleian broadsides noted here, which are examples of Laws P28, are likewise entitled "Answer to ...." - BS
File: LP28

Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (I) [Child 201]


DESCRIPTION: "O Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, They war twa bonnie lasses; They biggit a bower on yon burn brae, And theekit it o'er wi' rashes." Despite these precautions, they die of the plague. They had hoped to be buried in Methven kirk yard, but this was not allowed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1688 (reference according to Opie-Oxford2); 1824 (Sharpe); 1842 (Halliwell: nursery rhyme) [see notes]
KEYWORDS: disease death burial
FOUND IN: US(NE,SE) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Child 201, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: Sharpe's four verses)
Bronson 201, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (7 versions)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #293, pp. 169-170, "(Bessy Bell and Mary Gray)" (1 text: nursery rhyme)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 278-279, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 fragment plus a printed version that may have been the source: nursery rhyme, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
JHCox 22, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text, of only two verses: the first goes here but the second appears to be floating material[see notes])
Davis-Ballads 38B, 38C, 38D, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (3 text fragments: all first verse only); 38A, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: nursery rhyme)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 190-191, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (1 fragment: close to first verse and half the second of Sharpe's version)
Opie-Oxford2 39, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (3 texts: nursery rhyme, Sharpe, two line "squib" [see notes])
Friedman, p. 302, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: same text as Sharpe)
OBB 176, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: same text as Sharpe)
Gummere, pp. 163+336, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text: same text as Sharpe)
GreigDuncan6 1256Aa, "Bessie Bell I Lued Yestreen" (close to Sharpe's first verse); 1257, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" (close to Sharpe's first two verses)
DT BESSBELL (same text as Sharpe)
DT BESSBEL2 (nursery rhyme)
ADDITIONAL: Thomas Lyle, Ancient Ballads and Songs (London, 1827 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 160-161, "Bessy Bell an' Mary Gray" (1 text: four verses similar to Sharpe's)
T.F. Henderson, editor, Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (New York, 1902 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol I, p. 26 fn, "Bessie Bell and Mary Gray" [added 1830: close to Sharpe's first and third verse].
James Orchard Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (London, 1842 ("Digitized by Google")), #56 pp. 36-37, ("Bessy Bell and Mary Gray") (1 text: nursery rhyme)
Walter de la Mare, Come Hither, revised edition, 1928; notes to #62 (no title) (1 text: same text as Sharpe)
Roud #237
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (II)" (subject)
NOTES: This ballad is sometimes associated with a plague which struck Perth, Scotland in 1645. Few versions of this ballad, which is usually found only in fragmentary form, explain why the two women were denied burial in the town churchyard; homosexuality has been offered as a possible explanation. - PJS, RBW
Iona and Peter Opie write, "The local tradition (first written down c. 1773) about these two girls is that Mary Gray was the daughter of the Laird of Lednock and Bessy Bell of the Laird of Kinvaid, a place near by. They were both very handsome and an intimate friendship subsisted between them. While Bessy was on a visit to Mary the plague broke out at Perth (seven miles distant), and in order to escape it they built themselves a bower.... Here they lived for some time; but... they caught the infection from a young man who was in love with both of them and used to bring them provisions. They died in the bower, and since, according to the rule in case of plague, they could not be buried in a churchyard ... they were interred in the Dranoch-haugh."
The earliest "complete" 16-line text I have seen is Sharpe, Child's source (Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, A Ballad Book (Edinburgh, 1891, reprint of 1824 edition), Vol I, #20 p. 50, "The Twa Lasses").
Lyle: "The above fragment is here collated from the singing of two aged persons, one of them a native of Perthshire. It is to be regretted, that none of the intermediate stanzas of this fine old Ballad are upon record; neither Bannatyne nor Maitland, have the Ballad entered into their MSS ...."
Cox has the usual first verse and the following second verse: "They would n't have their shoes of red, Nor would they have them yellow; But they would have a bonny green, To walk the streets of Yarrow." That seems to have floated here but I can't see where it has floated from. It reminds Cox of the Child 200 (e.g., 200K.vs7) verse "They took off my high-heeled shoes, That were made of Spanish leather, And I have put on coarse Lowland brogues, To trip it oer the heather."
Aside from the reference to shoes I don't see the similiarity. I do see a parallel with verses that have two negative lines followed by a positive line and a conclusion (for example, Child 64A.vs19, "Some put on the gat green robes, And some put on the brown; But Janet put on the scarlet robes, To shine foremost throw the town" ). The verse fits the story in that green is usually associated with death (and/or witchcraft) in the ballads (see Lowry Charles Wimberly, Folklore in the Englsih & Scottish Ballads (Dover, New York, 1965 reprint of 1928 edition), especially pp. 176, 178, 240, 241).
Opie-Oxford2 has two lines of "a squib on the birth of the Old Pretender (1688), beginning: Bessy Bell and Mary Grey, Those famous bonny lasses," that establishes a latest date for the creation of the ballad.
Besides the ballad form there is a nursery rhyme on the subject that has been collected in North America and Scotland: "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, They were two bonnie lasses, They built their house upon the lea, And covered it with rashes. Bessy kept the garden gate And Mary kept the pantry; Bessy always had to wait While Mary she had plenty"
There is another song beginning with the same first verse as Child 201, indexed here as "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (II)," written by Ramsay around 1720. Scott would have that be Ramsay's attempt to fill in the romantic part of the story. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C201

Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (II)


DESCRIPTION: The singer loved Bessy yesterday but couldn't get her; now Mary's sly glance has his fancy. Bessy's beauty enthralls him as does Mary's wit and grace. The law allows him to have only one so he'll draw lots "and be with ane contented"
AUTHOR: Allan Ramsay (1686-1758)
EARLIEST DATE: 1720 (Ramsay, according to Opie-Oxford2, p. 38); 1724 (Ramsay, _The Tea-Table Miscellany_)
KEYWORDS: courting beauty dancing derivative nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1256Ab, 1256B, "Bessie Bell I Lued Yestreen" (2 fragments plus a single verse on p. 588, 1 tune)
DT BESSBEL3
ADDITIONAL: Allan Ramsay, The Tea-Table Miscellany (London, 1724 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 104-105, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" ("O Bessy Bell and Mary Gray") (1 text)
Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol I, pp. 235-236, "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" (1 text)

Roud #237
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 45(14), "The Scottish lasses Bessy Bell and Mary Gray" ("O Bessy Bell and Mary Gray"), J. Smyth (Belfast), 1813-1850
NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(114), "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray," unknown, after 1720
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Green Grow the Rashes, O" (tune, per GreigDuncan6)
cf. "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (I)" [Child 201] (source) and references there
NOTES: The NLScotland broadside consists solely of an ode to the two pretty young women, and is likely a rewrite; it is credited in the notes on the site (though not on the broadside itself that I can see) to Allan Ramsay (1686-1758). - RBW
Ramsay's version is considered by Child a separate song of Ramsay's own. Chambers writes, "Ramsay has here converted into a very pretty and sprightly song, what was originally a very rude but pathetic little ballad." On the other hand, Scott writes, "There is to a Scottish ear so much tenderness and simplicity in these verses [see the entry for Child 201], as must induce us to regret that the rest should have been superseded by a pedantic modern song, turning upon the most unpoetic part of the legend, the hesitation, namely, of the lover, which of the ladies to prefer."
Among the Scottish collections not listed above, Whitelaw The Book of Scottish Song , Herd Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, St Cecilia or The British Songster, Pinkerton Select Scotish Ballads, Phillips A Collection of Old Ballads and Gilchrist A Collection of Ancient and Modern Scottish Ballads, Tales and Songs print Ramsay's text as representative of "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray." On the other hand, of the Scottish anthologies of songs and ballads I use most frequently, only Aytoun The Ballads of Scotland prints Child's text.- BS
For more on the complex history of these pieces (which seems to have three recensions: the original "Bessy Bell," a nursery rhyme version, and Ramsey's rewrite), see the notes to "Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (I)" [Child 201]. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C201Rams

Best Little Doorboy, The


DESCRIPTION: "The workmen in the Rhondda are wonderful boys, They go to their work without any noise." The singer mentions the people found in the mines: Daniel the sawyer, "always so cross," "Old William, the Lampman," girls with holes in their stockings, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (MacColl-Shuttle)
KEYWORDS: mining moniker
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MacColl-Shuttle, p. 25, "The Best Little Doorboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MacCS025

Best Old Feller in the World, The


See My Good Old Man (File: R426)

Besuthian


DESCRIPTION: "The aul' year's deen an' the new's begun, Besoothan, besoothan, An' noo the beggars they have come" The beggars ask "charity to the peer" and, "In meal an' money gin ye be scant, We'll kiss yer lasses or we want"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: request money food begging nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 642, "Besuthian" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6075
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ye Gae But to Your Beef-Stan'" (subject)
cf. "Queen Mary's Men (New Year's Eve Carol)" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Thiggin' Song
Thiggers' Song
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 quoting an 1889 letter to the editor in the Banffshire Journal: "I have collected the following verses [GreigDuncan3 642D], which were sung fifty years ago by the young men of our Strath when going the round of our district collecting meal and money for the poor and distressed about the New Year...."
GreigDuncan3 quoting a letter in the Aberdeen Free Press in 1906: "'Besuthian' in the refrain of this old song appears to me as a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon word 'Theowian' -- to serve; and the verb 'Be' as a prefix -- Be-theowian - meaning, be serving."
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Bairnsdale (642) is at coordinate (h4,v8) on that map [roughly 23 miles NNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
Some internet sources seem to connect this with "Queen Mary's Men (New Year's Eve Carol)." This seems a slight stretch, though they may well have served the same purpose.
I flatly don't buy the "Theowian" derivation. That Old English word didn't make it into Middle English, and is highly unlikely to have been known in Scotland. I might buy a derivation from Middle English "thew," "custom" -- "be sooth (true) to custom." But even that strikes me as an improbably long survival for a word of unknown meaning. I frankly suspect it is a proper noun, but I don't know what.
For some reason that I absolutely cannot explain, the word that comes to mind is "Valerian" -- though whether this is the Roman Emperor, or the plant, or a product of my diseased imagination I do not know. I mention it only in case it inspires someone else who has a better idea than I do.
"Thigging" is begging. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3642

Betrayed Maiden, The


See Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)

Betsey Brown


DESCRIPTION: "There's a pretty little girl, she lives downtown, Her daddy is a butcher and his name is Brown." Having met pretty Betsey Brown in the street, the singer courts her, meets her parents, and plans to wed her (and enjoy her family's money....)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Walter Morris)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty family money
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 384, "Betsey Brown" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 180-181, "Betty Brown" (1 text)
Roud #7618
RECORDINGS:
Walter Morris, "Betsey Brown" (Columbia 15079-D, 1926)
NOTES: Vernon Dalhart recorded a piece, "Pretty Little Dear," which conflates this with "I Had But Fifty Cents" and other material. But the Randolph text, at least, seems independent of the Dalhart version. - RBW
File: R384

Betsy


See Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)

Betsy B


See Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)

Betsy Baker


DESCRIPTION: The singer "never knew what it was to sigh / till I saw Betsy Baker." He tries to court her, but she consistently rejects him. He becomes sick with love, barely recovers, tries again to win her, and is once again rejected
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1829 (Scottish chapbook in the Harvard library)
KEYWORDS: love rejection
FOUND IN: US(So) Canada(Mar) Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 117, "Betsy Baker" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 146, "Betsy Baker" (1 text)
JHJohnson, pp. 62-63, "Betsy Baker" (1 text, seemingly the same song but with a happy ending)
ST R117 (Full)
Roud #1288
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(257), "Betsy Baker," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 17(24a), "Betsy Baker"; Firth b.25(508), Harding B 11(258), Harding B 25(176), Firth b.34(266), "Betsey Baker"
LOCSinging, as100980, "Betsey Baker," unknown, n.d.
SAME TUNE:
The First World's Fair, or The National Exhibition (per broadside Murray, Mu23-y2:005, "The First World's Fair, or The National Exhibition" ("How wonderful it doth appear To people of each station"), unknown, 19C)
Push About the Jorum (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 17(24a))
File: R117

Betsy Bell


DESCRIPTION: "Oh my name is Betsy Bell, in the Overgate I dwell, Nae doubt you're wondring fit I'm daein' here, Well, I'm lookin' for a man... and anything in breek will dae wi' me." Betsy describes lads she has pursued without success; she'll keep trying despite age
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1971 (Stewart Family)
KEYWORDS: oldmaid courting rejection humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, BETSYBEL
Roud #5211
RECORDINGS:
Belle Stewart, "Betsy Bell" (on Voice10)
Belle, Sheila, and Cathie Stewart, "Betsy Bell" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Maid's Song (I)" and references there
NOTES: It appears that this is primarily a possession of the Stewarts of Blair. Whether it was composed by someone in their family is not clear. - RBW
File: DTbetsyb

Betsy Brennan's Blue Hen


DESCRIPTION: The singer bought "my beautiful little blue hen" from the widow McKenny for a penny. It was swiped by "some dirty crawler." The song is a set of curses on "the villain" who stole the hen: "And may he have bunions As big as small onions"
AUTHOR: Johnny Burke
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: theft humorous chickens curse
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
Roud #7289
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "My Little Blue Hen" (on NFOBlondahl02, NFOBlondahl05)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nell Flaherty's Drake" (theme, many lines of text, and references there)
NOTES: NFOBlondahl02, NFOBlondahl05: This is a version of "Betsy Brennan's Blue Hen" attributed to Johnny Burke in Old-Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland 4th ed (1966) p. 76, 5th ed (1978) p. 58 pub by Gerald S Doyle Ltd. [It's also in the 1927 edition - RBW]
Also see "Blue Hen" on the MacEdward Leach and Songs of Atlantic Canada site, copyright owner Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive. That site refers to Roud #9053, "The Bonny Brown Hen," which shares the theme but is not the same song.
Not related to Bodleian, Harding B 11(402), "The Bonny Brown Hen," Walker (Durham), n.d.
This may have been written by Johnny Burke, but, if so, he must have been singing "Nell Flaherty's Drake" while he was writing "Betsy Brennan's Blue Hen." - BS
File: RcBBBHen

Betsy Brown


DESCRIPTION: The singer picks up Betsy Brown in his cart. "Courting," he can't control the cart and gets into trouble with the police for breaking things. He sells the cart to pay the fine. Later he is hauled into court by Betsy for child support. They marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.28(14a))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage bastard crash
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1451, "Betsy Brown" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7150
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(14a), "Betsy Brown" or "Riding in a Cart" ("As I walked out one rainy day"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Firth b.34(39), "Betsy Brown" or "Riding in a Cart"; Harding B 11(259),"Betsy Brown"
NOTES: GreigDuncan7 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian Firth b.28(14a) is the basis for the description. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71451

Betsy from Pike


See Sweet Betsy from Pike [Laws B9] (File: LB09)

Betsy Gray


DESCRIPTION: Betsy Gray goes to Ballynahinch battlefield. She finds her wounded fiance Willie and brother George. A Yeoman sword cuts off her hand as she pleas for her brother's life. Another Yeoman shoots her. The bodies are found and they are buried in one grave.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Hayward-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle burial death brother sister reunion
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jun 13, 1798 - Battle of Ballynahinch (source: Moylan)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 93-95, "Betsy Gray" (1 text)
Moylan 82, "Betsy Gray" (1 text)
NOTES: Hayward-Ulster has Betsy fighting beside Wullie Boal and her brother George. "When adverse fate with victory crowned the loyal host upon that day, Poor George and Wullie joined the flight, and with them lovely Betsy Gray." Their fight, wounding, and death follows. - BS
For the Battle of Ballynahinch, see especially the notes to "General Monroe." The battle was the last stand, or nearly, of the Ulster portion of the 1798 rebellion. The rebels had hardly fought; their lack of discipline caused them to collapse when pressed by the loyalist forces of General Nugent.
It appears this song is essentially accurate; Pakenham, (who generally downplays the worst behavior by British troops), reports on p. 231 that "[no] one knew how many rebels had been killed, but it was assumed about four hundred. The bodies lay unburied in the deserted streets of Ballynahinch, like those at New Ross the week before, food for the local pigs. Other victims of the battle were taken away by night and buried by their relatives. Among them was a young girl called Betsy Gray, who was later to be famous for her part that day. She had fought beside her brother and lover, and they had stayed by her in the retreat, although they could have outridden their pursuers; all three were shot down by the yeomanry."
Stewart, p. 227, reports that "A young woman called Elizabeth Gray, with her brother George and her fiance, Willie Boal, were aboyut to cross the country road when they were apparently seen by a vedette posted at the nearby crossroads. The scene of the encounter was a marshy hollow at Ballycreen, about two miles from Ballynahinch. Betsy Gray (to give her the name by which she is best remembered) had gone ahead of the men and was taken first. When George Gray and Boal went to her aid they were instantly shot down. Then a cavalryman called Jack Gill struck off the girl's gloved hand with his sabre, and Thomas Nelson 'of the parish of Annahilt, aided by James Little of the same place' shot her through the head.... Young Matthew Armstrong found the mutilated bodies, and with the help of two neighbours carried them to a hollow on his property, and buried them there in a single grave, 'leaving those faithful Hearts of Down sleeping the sleep that knows no waking.'"
Much folklore arose as a result, including some versions in which Betsy became the beautiful commander of a force of rebels. Her story eventually inspired Wesley Greenhill Lyttle to write the popular (but not especially accurate) novel Betsy Gray, or The Hearts of Down (1886).
Her story did not end in 1798: "Ballycreen, Country Down... was the burial place of Betsy Gray, a young County Down woman who went out with the rebels at the Battle of Balynahinch... and who was cut down with her brother and her lover. Afterwards she became an Ulster folk heroine and the subject of a popular book.
"Inm 1898 a celebration was planned for her grave; but on the eve of the gathering a group of local loyalists smashed her gravestone to pieces. When the Home Rulersof Belfast arrived for the ceremony, the reins of their horses were cut and their carriages were overturned. As one local put it, 'they meant no disrespect to Betsy's memory,' but 'the local protestants were inflamed because it was being organized by Roman Catholics and Home Rulers. They did not like these people claiming Betsy'" (Bartlett/Dawson/Keough, p. 172).- RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Moyl082

Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20]


DESCRIPTION: The son of the landowner is in love with Betsy, a servant. His mother, who opposes the match, has the girl transported to Virginia. The boy dies for love; (Betsy is drowned at sea)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(23a))
KEYWORDS: love separation exile death
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(South)) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Laws M20, "Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid)"
Greig #80, pp. 2-3, "Bonnie Betsy" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1094, "Bonny Betsy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph 48, "Betsey Is a Beauty Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 95, "Betsy" (1 text)
SharpAp 74, "Betsy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 36, "Johnny and Betsy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 666-667, "Betsy, Betsy from London Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 31, "Bessie Beauty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 55, "Betsy the Waiting Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 7, "Betsy Beauty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 9-11, "Betsey (Betsy, the Waiting Maid)" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 57, "Betsy B" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 70, "The Lancaster Maid" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 26, pp. 66-68, "Johnny and Betsy" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 201-203, "Fair Betsy" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN46, "Alas! my dearest dear is gone"; ZN2523, "There was a maiden fair and clear/"
DT 434, JONBETSY BETSY FAIRBTSY*
Roud #156
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "Betsy, the Servant Maid" (on HCox01) [mistitled 'A Week of Matrimony' on album jacket and label]
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(23a), "The Betrayed Maiden," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Betsey Evans
File: LM20

Betsy of Dramoor


DESCRIPTION: "As I walked out one evening, I roamed for recreation" and provided us with classical allusions. He sees a girl fairer than Diana or Helen of Troy. He begs her come away. She says she must wait until her declining parents die, but after that they marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty father mother age
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gardner/Chickering 79, "Betsy of Dramoor" (1 text)
ST GC079 (Partial)
Roud #3667
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:091, "Betsy of Drumore," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Castleroe Mill" (theme)
cf. "We'd Better Bide a Wee" (theme)
NOTES: With references to Aurora, Flora, Phoebus, Boreas, Aeolus, Diana, Dido, Susannah, and Helen of Troy, the literary component in this song will be evident. Other than that, it sounds like a very Irish sort of piece (compare the cross-references). I suspect a literary rewrite of one or another aged-parents song. - RBW.
File: GC079

Betsy of Dromore


See Betsy of Dramoor (File: GC079)

Betsy of Dundee


DESCRIPTION: The singer returns from the wars. He "from nymph to nymph resorted" but falls in love with Betsey. Her father discovers them and threatens him with transportation. When Betsey threatens to leave with the singer her father agrees to their marriage.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(178))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage father
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 8, "Betsy of Dundee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2791
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(178), "Betsy of Dundee ("You sailors of this nation, pray you give attention"), T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Johnson Ballads 161, Harding B 20(234), Harding B 11(3309), Harding B 17(24b), Firth c.26(45) [partly legible], Firth c.12(133), "Betsy of Dundee"; 2806 c.14(23), "Betsey of Dundee"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(120), "Betsey of Dundee," unknown, c.1840
NOTES: Broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(120) commentary: "Whilst 'Betsey of Dundee' follows a common theme found in many early ballads, mainly that of love involving a returning or departing sailor, the end is something of a surprise. In most other cases, the young couple either elope and tragically die en route or the young suitor meets a grisly end at the hands of his sweetheart's father. Here, however, Betsey and the sailor appear to live happily ever after."
The broadside version -- specifically NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(120) -- is the basis for the description. Both the beginning and end are missing from Creighton-SNewBrunswick 8, leaving Creighton to conclude with reason, but incorrectly, "she probably went away with him, and was deserted." - BS
Creighton thought Angelo Dornan's version composite; she was probably right, but the broadsides show that the combination preceded Dornan. Looking at this, I can't help but think that it's a conflation of two pieces, one being perhaps "The Banks of Dundee (Undaunted Mary)" [Laws M25], the other something like "The Plains of Baltimore." There may be a bit of "Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid)" [Laws M20] in there, too.- RBW
File: CrSNB029

Betsy the Waiting Maid


See Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)

Betsy Watson


See The Effects of Love (File: GrD61160)

Betsy, Betsy from London Fair


See Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)

Better Bide a Wee


See We'd Better Bide a Wee (File: HHH598)

Better Get Your Ticket


DESCRIPTION: "Better git yo' ticket (x2), Train's a-comin', Lord-ee-ee, Lord-ee-ee! Um-um-um-um-um-um-um-um-um." "Hold your bonnet, Hold your shawl, Don't let go that waterfall, Shout, Sister Betty, Shout!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: train religious
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 239, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: I suspect this is a variant on one of the "Gospel Train" songs, but the form is different enough and Scarborough's text so short that it's not possible to tell which one. So it gets a separate entry. - RBW
File: ScNF239B

Betty and Dupree


See Dupree [Laws I11] (File: LI11)

Betty Anne


See Shady Grove (File: SKE57)

Betty Brown (I)


DESCRIPTION: "Now, since he's gone, just let him go; I don't mean to cry. I'll let him know I can live without him if I try." She accuses him of slander. She despises "hateful Betty Brown," whom he is visiting. But at last she admits being wrong and wishes him back
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: love courting betrayal rejection
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 148, "Betty Brown" (1 text)
ST Fus148 (Partial)
Roud #3689
NOTES: This starts out sounding much like "Farewell He" or something similar, but eventually converts to a lost love song. I wonder if it might not be composite. Compare "Harry Lumsdale's Courtship," which also features a girl resenting Betty Brown, who has stolen her man. - RBW
File: Fus148

Betty Brown (II)


See Betsey Brown (File: R384)

Betty Fair Miss


See Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token) [Laws N42] (File: LN42)

Betty Mull's Squeel


DESCRIPTION: "She tauk's aboot Judas and said he was coorse, Bit a braw stock was Aul' Abraham; She thocht his graifstane was aye to be seen On a knap [knoll] up abeen Kaper-naum"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad religious
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig 29, p. 2, "Betty Mull's Squeel" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 684, "Betty Mull's Squeel" (1 text)
Roud #6105
NOTES: The current description is all of the Greig/GreigDuncan3 fragment.
Abraham is buried in the cave of Machpelah [Genesis 25.10] at Hebron, not Capernaum at the Sea of Galilee. - BS
[With however a footnote: The cave at Machpelah is not mentioned outside of Genesis (the bones of Joseph were carried out of Egypt, with the presumption that they were to be buried at Machpelah -- but Joshua 24:32 says they were buried at Shechem. One might speculate that Machpelah was still in Canaanite hands at the time of the burial). However, a tradition preserved its location; indeed, we have various accounts of Christians and Moslems visiting the shrine, and indeed built shrines about it. We know that Crusaders visited it in the early twelfth century -- and where Crusaders found relics, they stole them. Often they carried them in battle, and there were battles by the Sea of Galilee. So it is possible that, in fact, some of Abraham's bones do rest near Capernaum. A Scottish folksinger wouldn't know this, of course. More likely someone who didn't hear the name clearly converting the unfamiliar "Machpelah" to "Capernaum" or "Caphernahum" by dropping the first syllable. - RBW]
Greig: "Betty's seminary ... her teaching seems to have been of the true dame-school order." - BS
"Dame schools" being a common phenomenon in nineteenth century Britain, in which a woman took in children allegedly to educate them but mostly to keep them out of their parents' hair. Dickens has a description of an extreme example of school and teacher in chapter seven of Great Expectations: "She was a ridiculous old woman of limited means and unlimited infirmity who used to go to sleep from six to seven every evening in the society of youth who paid twopence per week each for the improving opportunity of seeing her do it." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Grd3684

Between Stanehive and Laurencekirk


DESCRIPTION: "Between Stanehive and Laurencekirk Last term I did fee." The singer gets along well with the master, and better with the serving girl, whom he courts. The master catches them in the stable. He blames the daughter, who wanted his attentions herself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming courting servant children father
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #49, pp. 1-2, "Between Stanehive and Laurencekirk" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 376, "Between Stanehive and Laurencekirk" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 259-260, "Between Stanehive and Laurencekirk" (1 text)
Roud #5589
File: Ord259

Between the Forks and Carleton


DESCRIPTION: "Last Saturday night young William Tate Enrolled his scouts, he would not wait, But galloping up though he was late Between the Forks and Carleton." The soldiers report that "for the French we've made a shroud" and "Middeton had made them run"
AUTHOR: Billy Smith
EARLIEST DATE: 1958
KEYWORDS: battle Canada
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 12, 1885 - Battle of Batoche. Defeat of the Metis under Louis Riel
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 132-133, "Between the Forks and Carleton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4514
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Riel's Song" and references there (subject)
NOTES: Billy Smith (born c. 1870) was a youth living not far from Batoche at the time of the Metis uprising (for which see the notes to "Riel's Song"). The title of the song refers to the site of the Battle of Batoche, where General Middleton defeated the rebels when their ammunition ran out.
"The Forks" is not a river fork but a trail fork; one branch of the road led to Prince Albert (the closest major town to Batoche) and the other led to Fort Carleton.
The tune is said to be based on "Johnny Cope," though obviously somewhat worn down. - RBW
File: FMB132

Between the Meadow and the Moss


DESCRIPTION: Jinnie meets a tailor lad whose "needle's stoot an's thimble's clear." Her mother warns her against deceiving men but Jinnie will "hae anither heat" and reminds her mother that she kissed men on the muir when she was young.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: courting sex dialog mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1340, "Between the Meadow and the Moss" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #7222
File: GrD71340

Beulah Land


DESCRIPTION: "I've reached the land of corn and wine, And all its riches freely mine... Oh, Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land... My heav'n, my home forevermore." The singer rejoices at being at home with the Savior
AUTHOR: Edgar Page and John R. Sweeney
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 365, "Beulah Land" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 264, "Beulah Land Mazurka" (1 tune)
Roud #4899
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Saskatchewan" (tune)
cf. "Dakota Land" (tune)
NOTES: The name "Beulah," used in Isaiah 62:4, means "married"; it isn't really an appropriate name for a country, but this is not evident from the King James Version.
In its own right, this probably doesn't qualify as a folk song, but it has inspired two folk parodies (all lumped by Roud), so I include it for reference purposes. It should not be confused with "Dwelling in Beulah Land," sung by Helen Schneyer. - RBW
File: FSWB365A

Beverly Maid and the Tinker, The (The Tinker Behind the Door)


DESCRIPTION: A tinker comes to sell a servant girl a pen. The gentleman being out, the tinker "got this maid behind the door and gently laid her on the floor." She gives him 20 guineas and invites him back. Soon his gold is gone and he has to do as he'd done before.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(186))
KEYWORDS: sex bawdy servant tinker money
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 318-319, "The Tinker Behind the Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, TINKCRT*
Roud #585
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(186), "Beverley Maid and the Tinker," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Firth b.34(21), Harding B 11(1529), "[The] Beverley Maid, and the Tinker[!]"; Firth b.26(33), 2806 c.18(29), 2806 c.17(30), Firth b.34(24), Johnson Ballads 163, "The Beverly Maid and the Tinker"; Harding B 11(3317), "The Tinker and the Chambermaid"
Murray, Mu23-y1:090, "The Glasgow Maid and the Tinker," unknown, 19C
File: Pea318

Beware of Larry Gorman


DESCRIPTION: Larry Gorman tells of how people react to his coming: "And when they see me coming, Their eyes stick out like prongs, Sayin', 'Beware of Larry Gorman; He's the man that makes the songs." He describes teasing a housewife who fed him poorly
AUTHOR: Larry Gorman
EARLIEST DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: nonballad humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 258, "Beware of Larry Gorman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson, p. 34, (no title) (fragment of text)
Roud #9422
NOTES: Apparently inspired by a woman who, without knowing who he was, fed Gorman weak tea and stale bread. Thus did Gorman gain revenge. - RBW
File: Doe258

Beware, Oh Take Care


DESCRIPTION: The young girls are warned about sporting men, who look handsome and speak well -- but have a deck of cards and a bottle hidden. "Beware, young ladies, they're fooling you; Trust them not, they're fooling you; Beware, young ladies... Beware, oh take care"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1892 (Trifet's Budget of Music)
KEYWORDS: courting cards drink abandonment rake
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 381, "Beware, Oh Beware" (2 texts plus a quotation from Trifet, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 311-313, "Beware, Oh Beware" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 381B)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 70-71, "Beware, Oh Take Care" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 167, "Beware, Oh, Take Care" (1 text)
DT, BEWARYG*
Roud #7619
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "Beware, Oh Take Care" (on NLCR10); "Beware" (on NLCR12)
Blind Alfred Reed, "Beware" (Victor 23550, 1931; on TimesAint02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boys Won't Do to Trust" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bold and Free
NOTES: Credited in the Digital Tradition to Blind Alfred Blake (which Paul Stamler points out should be "Blind Alfred Reed"), but -- since the piece has been in circulation since at least the 1880s -- it would appear that Reed, at most, retouched it into the "popular" form.
Laura Ingalls Wilder quotes a scrap of the song in By the Shores of Silver Lake (chapter 6). If legitimate, that would push the date back even farther -- to 1879. - RBW
File: R381

Bewick and Graham [Child 211]


DESCRIPTION: Two prideful old men urge their sons, who are sworn blood-brothers, to a fight which results in their deaths.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: pride youth death family
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 211, "Bewick and Graham" (1 text)
Bronson 211, "Bewick and Graham" (1 version)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 100-102, "The Bewick and the Graeme" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Leach, pp. 560-566, "Bewick and Graham" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 176-184+343-344, "Bewick and Graham" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 121-128, "Bewick and Grahame" (1 text)
Roud #849
File: C211

Bewick and Grahame


See Bewick and Graham [Child 211] (File: C211)

Bewick and the Graeme, The


See Bewick and Graham [Child 211] (File: C211)

Bhean Iadach, A


See An Sgeir-Mhara (The Sea-Tangle, The Jealous Woman) (File: K003)

Bheir Me O


DESCRIPTION: Love lyric in Scots Gaelic: "Sad am I without thee." The singer calls (her?) lover "the music of my heart," hearing (his) voice in the calling of the seals, and finds herself turning back to his home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Kennedy-Fraser)
KEYWORDS: love foreignlanguage nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy-Fraser I, pp. 52-54, "An Eriskay Love Lilt (Gradh Geal mo cridh)" (1 text+English translations, 1 tune)
DT, BHEIRMEO*
NOTES: Gordon Bok seems to imply that this song is traditional in his family -- but his text is straight out of Kennedy-Fraser. Don't ask me to explain. - RBW
File: DTnheirm

Bible A-B-C, The


See The Bible Alphabet (The Bible A-B-C) (File: Wa183)

Bible Alphabet, The (The Bible A-B-C)


DESCRIPTION: Typical Alphabet song, with Biblical references: "A is for Adam who was the first man, B is for Bethlehem where Jesus was born," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: wordplay religious Bible nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Warner 183, "The Bible A-B-C" (1 text)
Roud #16404
NOTES: The various scripture references:
"Adam, who was the first man": Genesis 1:27, 2:7, etc.
"Bethlehem, where Jesus was born": Matt. 2:1, Luke 2:1-4
"Cain who slayed his brother": Gen. 4:1, 8
"Dan'l who was cast in the lion's den": Daniel 6
"Elijah, who was taken up to heaven": Elijah's story occupies 1 Kings 17-19, 21, 2 Kings 1-2. His ascension occurs in 2 Kings 2:11.
"the flood that drownded the world": Gen. 6-8
"Goliath who was slain by David": 1 Samuel 17 (but cf. 2 Samuel 21:19)
"Hannah who gave her son Samuel to the Lord": 1 Samuel 2
"Isaac the son of Abraham": Gen. 17:15f.,21:1f., etc.
"Jacob who interpreted the dream": Probably a mixed reference. Jacob had a dream at Bethel in Gen. 28:11-22, but it was his son Joseph who made a reputation for interpreting dreams (Gen. 40-41)
"Korah who was swallowed up by the earth": Gen. 16
"Lazarus who Christ raised from the dead": John 11
"Methuselah who was the oldest man": Gen. 5:21-27
"Nazareth the home of Jesus": Matt. 2:23, Mark 1:9, Luke 2:2, etc.
"Olive the mount where Jesus prayed": Mark 14:26f., etc.
"Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red Sea": Cf. Exodus 14. Note that the Bible account does not say that Pharaoh was killed, though his army was ruined. Egyptian history gives no hint of a drowned Pharaoh.
"Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon": 1 Kings 10, etc.
"Rome where Paul was put in prison": Paul went to Rome after his non-trial in Jerusalem (Acts 25:12), but the Bible does not say he was imprisoned there (though he was imprisoned in many other places); he preached there "without let or hindrance" (i.e. freely)
"Sodom the city destroyed by fire": Gen. 18-19
"Tyre where Paul preached all night": Paul's visit to Tyre is mentioned in 21:3-6. There is no evidence that Paul preached there for such a long time, however; the reference is probably to Troas, where (Acts 20:6-12), where Paul (to put it bluntly) droned on so long that he put a boy named Eutychus to sleep and caused him to fall out a window.
"Uzzah who steered the Ark" - 2 Samuel 6:2-11. We might note that Uzzah tried to keep the Ark from falling off its cart, and God killed him for it.
"the vine, represents Christ": allusion to John 15:1
"Watchman on the wall of Zion": Probably a generic allusion; there is no explicit reference to a watchman on Zion's walls. The image of the watchman is probably most typical of Isaiah (21:6, 52:8, 56:10; also, though from a different Hebrew root, 21:11, 12, 62:6)
"X is for the cross of Christ": Not a true scriptural reference. Ironically, the first letter of "Christos" in Greek is chi, which looks like an X.
"the yoke of Christ": cf. Matt. 11:28-30, etc.
"Zion the home of the blessed": Numerous references starting with 2 Sam. 5:7; this appears to me to be another generic reference. - RBW
File: Wa183

Bible Story, The


DESCRIPTION: Humorous exploits based loosely on Bible stories. The creation and Noah's flood are described. A man in heaven rejoices; even though he drowned, he's free of his wife. Some versions of the song contain references to Freemasonry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1769 (Journal from the _Nellie_)
KEYWORDS: Bible humorous
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 264-266, "The Bible Story" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1179
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Walkin' in the Parlor"
cf. "Free Mason Song" (themes, lyrics)
NOTES: In terms of concept, this is so similar to "Walkin' in the Parlor" that I seriously considered calling them one song. But this piece is in triple time, to the Derry Down tune; I decided that was enough reason to keep them distinct.
It's not impossible that one song inspired the other. It's also possible that Huntington's version (the first I've seen) is conflate; the first verse (about a Freemason) doesn't even appear to have the same form as the others, which look like "Walkin' in the Parlor." For comparison, here are the first and fourth verses of the Huntington version:
But as she bewailed in sorrowful ditty,
The good man beheld and on her took pity.
Freemasons are so tender so he to the dame
Bestowed an apron to cover her shame.
...
Sure never was beheld so dreadful a sight
To see this old world in very sad plight
See her in the water all animals swimming
Men monkeys priests lawyers cats lap-dogs and women.
Roud lumps this item with the larger family we index as "Free Mason Song." There has been interchange of material, but the distinct nature of the forms makes me think the Masonic references here are incidental imports. - RBW
File: SWMS264

Biblical Cowboy, The


See The Cowboy's Soliloquy (File: FCW123)

Bicycle Built for Two (Daisy Bell)


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes his love for Daisy Bell. His poverty being what it is, he cannot offer a fancy wedding or carriage, but proposes they ride a "bicycle built for two." In the original, she accepts
AUTHOR: Harry Dacre
EARLIEST DATE: 1892 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: love marriage technology
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Gilbert, p. 255, "(Daisy Bell)" (1 partial text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 247, "A Bicycle Built for Two (Daisy Bell)" (1 text)
Geller-Famous, pp. 100-102, "Daisy Bell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld, pp. 188-189+, "Daisy Bell -- (A Bicycle Built for Two)"
DT, DAISYBEL* (DAISYBL2* -- containing many sundry parodies)
NOTES: Harry Dacre (formerly "Harry Decker," and probably born under the name "Frank Dean") was an Englishman who made a visit to the Americas in the 1890s. Among other things, he brought along a bicycle, upon which he was forced to pay duty. A friend remarked that it was well it had not been a bicycle built for two. Somehow that inspired this insipid song.
I thought it went without saying that the verse "Richard, Richard, here is your answer true, You're half crazy if you think that will do... But I'll be switched If I'll be hitched On a bicycle built for two" is a parody. But I've heard people sing it as part of the actual song. Such are the ways of tradition. - RBW
File: Gil255

Bicycle, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer bought a beautiful bicycle "I ran right in to an old, old woman, I nearly mangled a kid." A crowd destroyed his bicycle. The destruction is described, step by step. "I'm damned if I'll ride again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1984 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: violence humorous nonballad technology injury
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 43, "The Bicycle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5233
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "The Bicycle" (on IRTLenihan01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gol-Darned Wheel" (theme)
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "March 2nd, 1984. 'I got it from my sister Mary that came home from America 45 years ago. She got it in America. That's where that came from, Tom. ... I never sung it no place because I didn't ever get much sense, you know, in the bloody thing." - BS
File: RcThBicy

Biddy Mulligan the Pride of the Coombe


See Mrs Mulligan, the Pride of the Coombe (File: OLoc230A)

Biddy Rooney


DESCRIPTION: "Biddy Rooney, you drive me looney ... where have you gone?" Anyone that finds her "may take her bag and baggage" It shouldn't be hard to find her: "As she goes walking ... she walks left handed with both feet"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: courting humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 127, "Biddy Rooney" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2705
File: CrMa127

Biddy You Are So Handsome


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets Biddy Small at a Donegal fair. The chorus says "if you'd only marry me sure I wouldn't care at all Should there never grow a potato in the town of Donegal." They marry happily, with a farm, animals and "lots of little children around"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage farming Ireland animal children
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 744, "Biddy You Are So Handsome" (1 text)
Roud #6174
File: GrD4744

Big Ball's in Boston


See Roll on the Ground (Big Ball's in Town) (File: CSW200)

Big Ball's in Town


See Roll on the Ground (Big Ball's in Town) (File: CSW200)

Big Black Bull, The


DESCRIPTION: The big black bull comes down the mountain, spies a heifer, jumps the fence, jumps the heifer, then returns to the mountain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: animal bawdy humorous
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cray, pp. 195-198, "The Big Black Bull" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #7612
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "The Little Black Bull" (on PeteSeeger09, PeteSeegerCD02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Gray Mare (I) (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull)"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Houston
Sam Houston
The Old Black Bull
NOTES: This is related to the sea chanty, "A Long Time Ago." - EC [Known in this index as "The Old Gray Mare (I) (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull)" etc. Paul Stamler considers "The Old Gray Mare" group to be the "cleaned up" version of the bawdy song, and also notes that in some of the bawdy versions the bull "missed his mark and (phhfft) in the meadow." - RBW]
File: EM195

Big Boat's Up the Rivuh


See Alabama Bound (Waterbound II) (File: BMRF598)

Big Combine, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer describes the crew of "harvest stiffs" on the big combine (harvester) in Oregon, including Oscar (Nelson), an IWW member; the horse-puncher ("the things he tells the horses...I can't tell you") and the singer himself, who is head puncher.
AUTHOR: Jock Coleman
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (composed); first printed 1923
KEYWORDS: bragging farming harvest labor-movement work moniker nonballad boss worker IWW migrant
FOUND IN: US(NW)
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "The Big Combine" (on Thieme03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1] (tune) and references there
NOTES: The Pacific Northwest was the center of the IWW (Wobbly) movement in the early 20th century; migrant farmworkers and lumberjacks were its principal supporters. - PJS
File: RcTBgCom

Big Five-Gallon Jar, The


DESCRIPTION: Jack Jennings, a boarding-master, and his wife Caroline are expert at finding sailors. Should the supply ever dry up, they haul out their "big five-gallon jars" of liquor and use that to round up sailors.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: drink sailor shanghaiing
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 111, "The Big Five-Gallon Jar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 16-17, "The Big Five Gallon Jar" (1 text)
Hugill, pp. 60-61, "Larry Marr," "The Five-Gallon Jar" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbrEd, pp. 56-57]
ST Doe111 (Partial)
Roud #9412
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sound the Jubilee
NOTES: According to Doerflinger, Jack Jennings was a real proprietor of a grog shop in Liverpool, Nova Scotia around 1890. - RBW
See a similar but [distinct] broadside, LOCSinging, sb20267b, "Larry Maher's Big Five-Gallon Jar," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864. Maher operates out of New York City "But when you wake next morning, you'll be far outside the bar, Removed away to Liverpool"; the tune is "Irish Jaunting Car"
Broadside LOCSinging sb20267b: 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: Doe111

Big Gun Shearer, The


DESCRIPTION: "The big gun toiled with his heart and soul Shearing sheep to make a roll, Out in the backblocks far away, Then off to Sydney for a holiday." Once there, he gets drunk and chases the girls -- and soon finds himself broke and having to scrape for a living
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1941 (Bill Bowyang's Bush Recitations, according to Paterson/Fahey/Seal)
KEYWORDS: sheep work drink poverty
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 140-141, "The Big-gun Shearer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 305-308, "The Big Gun Shearer" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jog Along Till Shearing" (plot)
File: FaE140

Big Jeest, The


See Little Brown Dog (File: VWL101)

Big Jim


DESCRIPTION: "Cold and chill is de winter wind, Big Jim's dead and gone." The singer regrets her man Jim, who is "good and kind to me," but is "a grinder." Jim is killed by another woman in a fight in a hop house; the singer hopes to join him soon
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: death murder drugs love separation
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 111-112, "Big Jim" (1 text)
Roud #15549
File: LxA111

Big Jimmie Drummond


See The Choring Song (File: McCST097)

Big Kilmarnock Bonnet


DESCRIPTION: Jock quits plowing, puts on his hat, and goes to Glasgow. As a joke, Sandy Lane tells him to look up Katie Bain. He meets a girl who takes him to Katie. The girls roll him and get him drunk. He gets 60 days in jail for jumping into the Clyde.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan2); 19C (broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(37b))
KEYWORDS: prison drink Scotland trick farming travel clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 296, "My Guid Kilmarnock Bonnet" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #5861
RECORDINGS:
Willy Kemp and Curly McKay, "Wi' Ma Big Kilmarnock Bonnet" (on Voice05)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(37b), "Big Kilmarnock Bonnet," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Fairmer Broon
NOTES: From the NLScotland commentary on broadside L.C.Fol.70(37b): "The 'Kilmarnock Bonnet' of the title is a famous piece of headgear, dating back at least to 1647, when the 'Kilmarnock Corporation of Bonnet Makers' was founded" - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: RcBiGkBo

Big Maquoketa, The


DESCRIPTION: "We was boomin' down the old Miss'ip', One splugeous summer day, When the old man yells, 'Now let 'er rip! I see the Maquotekay!" The sailors wonder what Captain Jones drank: "What? Water? Yes, water. Dry up... you liar... Cause his innards was a-fire."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Russell)
KEYWORDS: river sailor ship drink
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 839, "(The Big Maquoteka)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Edward Russell, _A-Rafting on the Mississip'_, 1928 (republished 2001 by the University of Minnesota Press), pp. 208-209, "The Big Maquoketa" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: BaF839

Big Rock Candy Mountain, The


DESCRIPTION: The hobo arrives and announces that he is heading for the Big Rock Candy Mountain. He describes its delights: Handouts growing on bushes, blind railroad bulls, jails made out of tin, barns full of hay, dogs with rubber teeth, "little streams of alcohol"
AUTHOR: Unknown; popularized by Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (version by Marshall Locke & Charles Tyner published)
KEYWORDS: hobo railroading dream food drink
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 79, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax- FSNA 221, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 884-886, "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 116-117, "Big Rock Candy Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 66, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 203-204, "(The Big Rock Candy Mountain") (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 61, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (1 text)
DT, BIGRKCND BIGROCK2 (BIGROCK3 -- bawdy parody)
Roud #6696
RECORDINGS:
Ben Butler, "Rock Candy Mountain" (Madison 1934, c. 1929)
Vernon Dalhart & Co., "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" (Edison 52472, 1929)
Jerry Ellis [pseud. for Jack Golding] "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (Champion 15646, 1928; Supertone 9342 [as Weary Willie], 1929)
Frankie Marvin, "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" (Columbia 1753-D, 1929)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" (Victor 21704, 1928; Montgomery Ward M-8121, 1939); "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" (AFS 10,506 A4, 1951, on LC61) (Decca 5689, 1939) (on McClintock01)
Goebel Reeves, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (Perfect 13099/Conqueror 8470, c. 1935) (MacGregor 851, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (on PeteSeeger17) (on PeteSeeger27)
Hobo Jack Turner [pseud. for Ernest Hare] "The Big Rock Candy Mountains" (Diva 2807-G/Velvet Tone 1807-V, 1929)
SAME TUNE:
Fisher Hendley, "Answer to the Big Rock Candy Mountains" (Vocalion 02543, c. 1929/Regal Zonophone [Australia] G22174, n.d.)
Charley Blake, "The Big Rock Candy Mountain, No. 2" (Supertone 9556, 1929)
Bill Cox, "In the Big Rock Candy Mountains - No. 2" (Supertone 9556, 1929) [Note: Also issued as by Charley Blake, same record number]
Stuart Hamblen, "The Big Rock Candy Mountains - No. 2" (Victor V-40319, 1930)
NOTES: A number of sources, including Sing Out!, Volume 30, Number 2 (1984) credit this to "Haywire Mac," but the earliest date shows that the song precedes him. He did doubtless make it much more popular. - RBW
File: LxU079

Big Sam


DESCRIPTION: Big Sam starts a job at the plant cutting seal fat. Tiring of that he starts skinning pelts. He has enough of that and works emptying a long boat until he's had enough of that. He decides at the end that "I'll work here no more, the work is too fast"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: commerce humorous worker
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leach-Labrador 72, "Big Sam" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab072 (Partial)
Roud #9982
File: LLab072

Big Ship Sailing, A


DESCRIPTION: "There's a big ship sailing on the illie-alley-oh...." "There's a big ship sailing, rocking on the sea...." "There's a big ship sailing, back again...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: nonballad ship
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 386, "A Big Ship Sailing" (1 text)
Roud #4827
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Alley-Alley-O
The Illie-Alley-O
File: FSWB386A

Bigerlow


See The Bigler's Crew [Laws D8] (File: LD08)

Bigler's Crew, The [Laws D8]


DESCRIPTION: The Bigler sets out for Buffalo from Milwaukee. A number of minor incidents are described, and the Bigler's lack of speed sarcastically remarked upon: "[We] MIGHT have passed the whole fleet there -- IF they'd hove to and wait"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: ship travel humorous
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Laws D8, "The Bigler's Crew"
Rickaby 47, "The Bigler's Crew" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 19-20, "The Bigler's Crew" (1 text)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 129-135, "The Timber Drogher Bigler" (1 text plus excerpts from several other versions, 1 tune); p. 135, "The Stone Scow" (1 text, which Walton considered a separate adaption of this song but which has the same chorus and is exactly the same sort of plot as "The Bigler," so there seems litle reason to split them)
Warner 19, "Jump Her, Juberju" (this version rather heavily folk processed); 20, "The Bigler" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 141, "The Cruise of the Bigler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 46, "The Bigler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 174-175, "Bigerlow" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 200-202, "The Cruise of the Bigler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 105-108, "The Bigler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 843-845, "The Bigler's Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 611, BIGLRCRW*
Roud #645
RECORDINGS:
Stanley Baby, "The Trip of the 'Bigler'" (on GreatLakes1)
Harry Barney, "The Timber Drogher Bigler" (1938; on WaltonSailors)
Sam Larner, "The Dogger Bank" (on SLarner02)
Asa M. Trueblood, "The TImber Drogher Bigler" (1938; on WaltonSailors)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Light on Cape May" (tune, lyrics)
cf. "The Crummy Cow" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Crummy Cow (File: HHH501)
The Light on Cape May (File: Doe130)
NOTES: According to Julius F. Wolff, Jr., Lake Superior Shipwrecks, Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., Duluth, 1990, p. 42, a ship named J. Bigler was lost near Marquette, Michigan in 1884, but he was unable to find many other details. Walton said that the John Bigler was built in Detroit in 1866 and was wrecked in 1884, confirming Wolff's account. I know of no proof that this was "the" Bigler, but it seems likely.
According to one of Walton's informants, the song's description of the Bigler's sailing qualities is fairly accurate. The ship was built to carry waneys (partly cut logs), and like most such ships (known as timber droghers), she was narrow, with high sides, to fit through the Welland Canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario. Most such ships were rather slow. The Bigler carried more sail than most, but also had an extremely square bow, making her hard to steer and meaning that the extra sail did little to improve her speed.
Walton considers this the most popular of all the Great Lakes songs, and prints "The Stone Scow" as a parody on this basic pattern. Looking at the versions, I suspect this has in fact happened many times -- sailors would take "The Bigler" and supply details of their own voyages. I am not aware of any of these variants which have "taken off," and for the moment am classifying "The Stone Scow" and other similar variants here. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LD08

Bile dem Cabbage Down


See Bile Them Cabbage Down (File: LoF269)

Bile Them Cabbage Down


DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Boil them cabbage down, Bake that hoecake brown, Only tune that I can play is Boil them cabbage down." Fiddle tune, with floating verses from anywhere, e.g. "Raccoon has a bushy tail, Possum's tail is bare" or "Raccoon up a 'simmon tree"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (recordings, Uncle Dave Macon, Fiddlin' John Carson)
KEYWORDS: fiddle dancing nonballad animal food floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 269, "Bile Them Cabbage Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 710, "Bile dem Cabbage Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 432, "Boil Them Cabbage Down" (1 fragment); also perhaps 155, "Jaybird Up a Simmon Tree" (1 text plus mention of 1 more; both are singles stanzas, "Jaybird up a 'simmon tree, sparrow(s) on the ground," which float; I list them here because this seems the most popular of the songs with the stanza, though they might instead be "Possum Up a Gum Stump" or something else)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 124-125, "Bile dem Cabbage Down" (1 text, with some unusual variants in the chorus); p. 168, "Boil Dem Cabbage Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 40, "Bile Them Cabbage Down" (1 text)
Roud #4211
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Boil Dem Cabbage Down" (OKeh 40306, 1925; rec. 1924)
Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, "Bile Dem Cabbage Down" (Crown 3101, 1931; on KMM) (Varsity 5046, n.d.)
Dixie Crackers, "Bile Them Cabbage Down" (Paramount 3151, 1929)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Boil Dem Cabbage Down" (OKeh 45112, 1927)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Bile Dem Cabbage Down" (Vocalion 14849, 1924; Vocalion 5042, c. 1926)
Clayton McMichen's Wildcats, "Bile Dem Cabbage Down" (Decca 5436, 1937)
Riley Puckett, "Bile Dem Cabbage Down" (Columbia 254-D, 1924; Harmony 5127-H, n.d.)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Bile Them Cabbage Down" (on Stonemans01), "Bile 'em Cabbage Down" (on Autoharp01)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Bile Them Cabbage Down" (Columbia 15249-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
Jack Youngblood, "Bile Dem Cabbage Down" (Columbia 21103, 1953)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Raccoon" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Possum Up a Gum Stump" (floating lyrics)
File: LoF269

Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?


DESCRIPTION: Bill (a B&O brakeman) and his woman have a fight; he storms out. She begs, "Won't you come home, Bill Bailey... I'll do the cooking, honey, I'll pay the rent; I know I've done you wrong." (At last Bill shows up in an automobile)
AUTHOR: Hughie Cannon
EARLIEST DATE: 1902 (sheet music, recording by Arthur Collins)
KEYWORDS: love separation reunion
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 253, "Bill Bailey" (1 text)
Geller-Famous, pp. 205-210, "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 145-146, "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?"
DT, BLLBAILY*
Roud #4325
RECORDINGS:
Perry Bechtel's Colonels, "Bill Bailey" (Brunswick 498, c. 1930)
Al Bernard, "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" (Brunswick 312, 1929; Panachord [UK] 25148, 1931; rec.1928)
Homer Brierhopper, "Bill Bailey" (Bluebird B-6903, 1937)
Big Bill Broonzy, "Bill Bailey" (on Broonzy01)
Arthur Collins, "Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home" (CYL: Edison 8112, 1902)
Warde Ford, "Bill Bailey" [fragment] (AFS 4215 B3, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
Jess Young's Tennessee Band [or Young Brothers' Tennessee Band], "Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home" (Columbia 15219-D, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hop-Joint" (some lyrics; character of Bill Bailey)
cf. "Oh, Baby, 'Low Me One More Chance" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey?
NOTES: Although obviously not a folk song in origin, this strikes me as a popular enough piece as to belong here. Fuld mentions several papers examining who "Bill Bailey" might have been. He seems to find none of them entirely convincing.
The story in Geller is that William Bailey was a "lazy shiftless Negro whose angry spouse, weary of supporting him, had finally turned him out." Cannon, apparently too sexist to fathom this, was convinced she would take him back, and made the wife the lazy one.
Spaeth's A History of Popular Music in America mentions another 1902 song, "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home" (by Frank Fogarty, Woodward, Mills), and still another, "Since Bill Bailey Came Back Home," by Billy Johnson and Seymour Furth. Unfortunately, he supplies no details. - RBW
File: FSWB253B

Bill Dunbar


DESCRIPTION: "Come all you sympathizers, I pray you lend an ear. It's of a drowning accident as you shall quicklie hear." Hotel manager Bill Dunbar, liked by all, attends a race. On his return, he and (Bob Cunningham) go through the ice and drown
AUTHOR: (Billy Lyle and) Dave Curtin ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Fowke); c. 1957 (recording, Emerson Woodcock)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Bill Dunbar, a kind hotel-keeper, and Bob Cunningham lose their way while returning from the races; they drive their team onto the ice, break through and are drowned; Bill throws his mitts onto the ice to show where they went in. Bill leaves a wife and child, and is sorely mourned; once a foreman for Mossom Boyd, he was known for bravery. Singer hopes to meet on a brighter shore "there to live in happiness and old acquaintance to renew"
KEYWORDS: racing death drowning grief travel mourning lament animal horse children family wife friend landlord
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1894 (other sources say c. 1885) - Drowning of Bill Dunbar and Bob Cottingham at Gannon's Narrows on Pigeon Lake in Ontario
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-Lumbering #40, "Bill Dunbar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3677
RECORDINGS:
Emerson Woodcock, "Bill Dunbar" (on Lumber01)
NOTES: One of Fowke's informants told her the song, widely known in the Peterborough area, was written in about 1900. Mossom Boyd, for whom Dunbar worked, came to Canada in 1834, died 1883; he was the first European to settle in the Sturgeon Lake region, and was successful in the lumber trade. - PJS
File: FowL40

Bill Grogan's Goat


DESCRIPTION: Bill Grogan has a goat; "He loved that goat just like a kid." One day the goat, "Ate three red shirts from off the line." Bill angrily ties the goat to the railroad track. The goat "coughed up those shirts (and) flagged down the train."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (sheet music, The Tale of a Shirt)
KEYWORDS: animal humorous train
FOUND IN: US(SE) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 288-295, "Papa's Billy Goat/Rosenthal's Goat" (3 texts plus some excerpts and a sheet music cover of "The Tale of a Shirt," 2 tunes)
BrownIII 514, "The Billy Goat" (1 short text)
Peacock, p. 65, "Joey Long's Goat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 140-141, "(The Goat)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 404, "Bill Groggin's Goat" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 54-55, "Papa's Billy Goat" (1 text, 1 tune, with additional elements added)
DT, GOATSHRT*
Roud #4574
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Papa's Billy Goat" (OKeh 4994, 1924; rec. 1923) (Okeh, unissued, 1927)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Papa's Billie Goat" (Vocalion 14848, 1924)
Riley Puckett, "Papa's Billy Goat" (Columbia, unissued, 1924)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Reuben and Rachel" (tune of some versions, including Fiddlin' John Carson's)
NOTES: Almost certainly based on a poem by Robert Service -- which may, however, have been based on a folk song or story. - PJS
Norm Cohen, however, makes no mention of this; he notes that the 1904 "Tale of a Shirt" (the earliest precisely dateable version) is very distinct from the common text, requiring recensional activity. The earliest traditional version seems to be Brown's, from 1913. Cohen also notes a link to a Will Hays song, "O'Grady's Goat," published by 1890.
It sounds to me as if the thing goes back into the mists of time, with periodic performers grabbing some traditional fragment and expanding it into a full-blown song.
Carson's version, incidentally, has a final verse in which the singer marries a widow and the widow's daughter marries the singer's father. It's not "I'm My Own Grandpa" -- but it's very possibly an inspiration for that song. - RBW
File: SRW141

Bill Groggin's Goat


See Bill Grogan's Goat (File: SRW141)

Bill Hopkin's Colt


DESCRIPTION: "'Twas over in Cambridge county In a barroom filled with smoke Where all the neighbors... Talk horse and crack a joke." Hopkins tells how his father planned to shoot an ugly colt, but Bill urged him to spare it -- and it has become a champion racer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Flanders/Brown)
KEYWORDS: horse racing father
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Flanders/Brown, pp. 39-42, "Bill Hopkin's Colt" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FlBr039 (Partial)
Roud #4156
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Creeping Jane" [Laws Q23] (theme)
NOTES: As "Bill Hopkins's Colt," this is item dH36 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: FlBr039

Bill Martin and Ella Speed


See Ella Speed (Bill Martin and Ella Speed) [Laws I6] (File: LI06)

Bill Mason


DESCRIPTION: The song opens with chat about Bill Mason, then notes that he was called to "bring (down) the night express." His new wife, seeing vandals destroying the tracks, she brings out a lantern and saves him and his train
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: probably 1873 (100 Choice Selections, Volume 6)
KEYWORDS: train rescue sabotage
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 282-287, "Bill Mason" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 84, "Bill Mason" (1 text)
Roud #12393
RECORDINGS:
Roy Harvey and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Bill Mason" (Paramount 3079, 1927)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Bill Mason" (Columbia 15407-D, 1929)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bill Mason's Bride
NOTES: This poem somehow came to be associated with Bret Harte, but is not in any of the works written in his lifetime; this seems to be a case of an incorrect attribution that somehow "stuck." - RBW
File: LSRai282

Bill Miller's Trip to the West


DESCRIPTION: "When I got there I looked around; No Christian man or church I found." Alleged to describe the adventures of Confederate captain Bill Miller of North Carolina, but the two lines quoted above are all the text known
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: clergy
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 268, "Bill Miller's Trip to the West" (1 fragment)
Roud #6625
NOTES: Many editors print occasional fragments of songs they can't identify, but as of this moment, I think this is the most anonymous fragment I've yet seen in a book of traditional song. - RBW
File: BrII268

Bill Morgan and His Gal


DESCRIPTION: Bill Morgan takes his girlfriend out to eat; she orders such a huge dinner that he remonstrates with her, saying, "My name is Morgan, but it ain't J. P." Other examples of her profligacy follow; at last Morgan gives up on her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (recording, Bob Roberts)
KEYWORDS: food humorous lover money
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, AINTJP*
RECORDINGS:
Buster Carter & Preston Young, "Bill Morgan and his Gal" (Columbia 15758-D, 1932; rec. 1931)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Bill Morgan and his Gal" (on NLCR05, NLCRCD1)
Bob Roberts, "My Name Is Morgan, But It Ain't J.P." (CYL: Edison 9227, 1906)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Had But Fifty Cents" (theme)
cf. "The Half Crown Song" (theme: the date that eats and drinks unbelievable quantities)
cf. "Pretty LIttle Dear" (theme: the date that eats and drinks unbelievable quantities)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
My Name is Morgan (But It Ain't J. P.)
NOTES: John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), mortgage banker, was probably the most powerful financier in American history; he controlled railroads, steel mills and the largest bank on Wall Street. The size of his enterprises is demonstrated by the fact that his bank actually financed the Federal Reserve Board in its early years.
Morgan also (at the request of Theodore Roosevelt) managed the stock market problem which led to the Panic of 1907. Using his own money and money he pried out of other bankers, he managed to stabilize the financial system, though the resulting recession hurt ordinary people badly. - PJS, RBW
This has the hallmarks of a vaudeville song. - PJS
And the New Lost City Ramblers version heightens this impression with an additional chorus. - RBW
We should note that this is NOT the same as the Mitchell Trio song "My Name Is Morgan," though that was doubtless suggested by this piece. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RcBMAHG

Bill Peters, the Stage Driver


DESCRIPTION: "Bill Peters was a hustler From Independence town...." "Bill driv the stage from Independence... Thar warn't no feller on the route that driv with half the skill." Bill drives faster, stops less, and kills more than anyone, but at last he stops a bullet
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: travel death talltale
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 194-195, "Bill Peters, the Stage Driver" (1 text)
Roud #8012
File: Saffe194

Bill Stafford


See The State of Arkansas (The Arkansas Traveler II) [Laws H1] (File: LH01)

Bill the Bullocky


DESCRIPTION: "As I came down through Conroy's Gap I heard a maiden cry, 'There goes old Bill the Bullocky, He's bound for Gundagai!'" Bill is said to be very honest, but has a difficult time doing his work
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: Australia dog work travel hardtimes
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Manifold-PASB, p. 139, "Bill the Bullocky" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10221
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nine Miles from Gundagai (The Dog Sat in the Tuckerbox)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The version in Manifold is only two verses long, and one of them is largely derived from "Nine Miles from Gundagai" (with which Roud lumps it). Even the lines not derived from that song generally have parallels elsewhere. I'm not sure this even counts as an independent song. But I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. - RBW
File: PASB139

Bill the Weaver


See Will the Weaver [Laws Q9] (File: LQ09)

Bill Vanero (Paul Venerez) [Laws B6]


DESCRIPTION: Bill/Paul hears that a band of Indians is coming, and rides to tell his love Bessie Lee and her fellow ranchers. Fatally wounded, he writes a warning in his own blood. The letter is carried by his horse, and the ranch is saved
AUTHOR: Eben E. Rexford (as "The Ride of Paul Venerez")
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 ("Youth's Companion")
KEYWORDS: death Indians(Am.) horse warning
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws B6, "Bill Vanero (Paul Venerez)"
Larkin, pp. 40-45, "Billy Venero" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 4, pp. 42-47, "Billie Vanero" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 199, "Bill Vanero" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 184-186, "Bill Vanero" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 199A)
Fife-Cowboy/West 46, "Billy Veniro" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 99, "Billy Venero" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 374, BVANERO* BVANERO2*
Roud #632
RECORDINGS:
Billie Maxwell, "Billy Venero" (Parts 1&2) (Victor V-40148, 1929; on WhenIWas2)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Billy Venero" (Victor 21487, 1928)
Glenn Ohrlin, "Billy Venero" (on Ohrlin01)
Luther Royce, "Billy Vanero" (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
Art Thieme, "Billy Venero" (on Thieme01)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Billy Vanero
NOTES: Logsdon notes a complicated story here. He states that Eben E. Rexford published "The Ride of Paul Venerez" in 1881. But it was in 1882 (July 17) that the White Mountain Apaches broke out of their reservation. Riders did bring warning of the outbreak, which allowed the settlers to protect the Burch Ranch near Payson, Arizona.
There is no documentation of a rider named Billy Vanero, so while the Rexford poem was probably adopted to the Arizona situation, the details are anything but clear. - RBW
File: LB06

Bill Wiseman


DESCRIPTION: "Oh Bill rode out one morning just at the break of day; He said he was sure of his bait-tub of squid up here in Hiscock Bay." The song ends "It's all about Bill Wiseman jiggin' his squid in Hiscock Bay."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: sailor sex bawdy humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Doyle3, pp. 14-15, "Bill Wiseman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 40-42, "Bill Wiseman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 12-13, "Kitchy-Coo" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Kitchey Coo" (on NFOBlondahl01)
Ken Peacock, "Bill Wiseman" (on NFKPeacock)
NOTES: What are Bill, George, Patience, Tom, Ethel, Lisa and Judge Pippy doing between the first and last verse? They may be jigging but I doubt it has anything to do with squid; guessing at keywords could be like taking Bessie Smith literally when she sings "He's a deep sea diver."
Omar Blondahl recorded a version as "Kitchey Coo" -- from the nonsense chorus? -- on Rodeo LP RLP7 [per Neil Rosenberg, "Omar Blondahl's Contribution to the Newfoundland Folksong Canon" in Canadian Journal for Traditional Music, 1991]
Peacock (NFKPeacock notes): "The man who sang it for me was somewhat embarassed by the presence of women, a valuable clue to the involved symbolism of both the verses and the chorus. To an outsider unfamiliar with local sexual symbols it appears obscure, though perhaps mildly suggestive. Similar songs occur in our own popular music too.... Millions know the words but only a few know what's going on. In Newfoundland, everyone knows what's going on." - BS
File: Doyl3014

Billie Johnson of Lundy's Lane


See General Scott and the Veteran (File: Wa013)

Billie Magee Magaw


See The Three Ravens [Child 26] (File: C026)

Billie Vanero


See Bill Vanero (Paul Venerez) [Laws B6] (File: LB06)

Billy and Diana


See Vilikens and His Dinah [LawsM31A/B] (File: LM31)

Billy Barlow (I)


DESCRIPTION: "Let's go a-huntin', said Risky Rob, Let's go a-huntin', said Robin to Bob, Let's go a-huntin', said Dan'l to Jo, Let's go a-huntin', said Billy Barlow." They hunt a (rat/possum), kill it, cook it, and divide it. All get sick except Billy, who feels fine.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: hunting humorous animal disease poison
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
BrownII 57, "'Let's Go A-Hunting,' Says Richard to Robert" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 165-166, "Let's Go a-Huntin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 159, "Let's Go A-Huntin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 204, "Billy Barlow" (1 text)
DT, BLLYBRLO
Roud #236
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Billy Barlow" (on PeteSeeger03, PeteSeegerCD03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cutty Wren" (form)
cf. "Cricketty Wee" (form)
NOTES: Thought by many to be an Americanized version of "The Cutty Wren." The similarity, both in form and in subject matter, is there -- but the two have gone in such separate directions that it seems better to keep them distinct; it is barely possible they are independent (and quite possible that "Billy Barlow" is a deliberate parody).
I can't help but add Paul Stamler's comment, though: "If this is independent from 'Cutty Wren,' I'll eat that possum." (Yes, but would you eat the rat?) - RBW
File: SBoA165

Billy Barlow (II)


DESCRIPTION: William Barlow "come[s] before you with one boot and one shoe." He arouses the wonder of the girls, is given free entrance to the races, and is more unusual than any animal in the circus. He hopes some young lady will accept him as a beau
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: talltale courting clothes
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, pp. 253-255, "Billy Barlow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7758
NOTES: Belden notes this as a comic song performed as far back as 1842, and popular enough to parody during the administration of Franklin Pierce (1853-1857). Belden also notes that Edgar Allen Poe refers to his ex-publisher as "Billy Barlow," implying that, by 1840, the name was already used for a buffoon.
Joy Hildebrand brings to my attention Sam Cowell (1820-1864), who performed as Billy Barlow. From the dates, it looks like Billy probably predates Cowell. But Hildebrand speculates that Cowell might have converted Billy into a character in the "Cutty Wren" type song "Billy Barlow (I)." So far, this is just speculation -- but it makes some sense.
Cowell was successful enough that a chapbook was printed, bearing the proud advertisement "SAM COWELL'S SONG-BOOK, Containing all his best Copyright Songs, for SIXPENCE." The songs listed on the cover include "The Ratcatcher's Daughter, Alonzo the Brave, Billy Barlow, Richard III, La Somnambula, Mazeppa, Aladdin, The Forty Thieves, The Merchand of Venice, Lord Lovel, Hamlet, and Othello. Evidently, when he wasn't playing Billy Barlow, he was parodying Shakespeare. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Beld253

Billy Barlow in Australia


DESCRIPTION: "When I was at home I was down on my luck And I earned a poor living by driving a truck." Billy inherits a thousand pounds, but a merchant sells him a station and he is cheated of the whole inheritance. He returns to Sydney to beg a job
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1843 (Maitland Mercury and Hunger River General Advertiser; see Patterson/Fahey/Seal)
KEYWORDS: money trick home unemployment
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Manifold-PASB, pp. 34-35, "Billy Barlow in Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 149-155, "Billy Barlow in Australia" (1 text plus an excerpt)
Roud #8397
NOTES: Obviously not to be confused with the American "Billy Barlow."
I'm far from sure it's a folk song, either. Banjo Paterson published it in "Old Bush Songs," but Paterson is no reliable source -- how many folk songs are there about truck drivers? The tune is also of suspect origin. - RBW
File: PASB034

Billy Boy


DESCRIPTION: Asked where he has been, Billy says he has been courting, and has found a girl, "but she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother." In response to other questions, he describes her many virtues, always returning to his refrain
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: courting age youth
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Britain(England(North,South)) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES (25 citations):
Bronson (12), 29 versions (though Bronson omits a higher fraction than usual of the versions known to him)
Belden, pp. 499-501, "Billy Boy" (2 texts)
Randolph 104, "Billy Boy" (1 text plus a fragment and 5 excerpts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 131-133, "Billy Boy" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 104A)
BrownIII 121, "Billy Boy" (2 texts plus an excerpt; the headnotes mention 47 texts in the Brown collection)
Hudson 133, pp. 278-280, "Billy Boy" (4 texts, condensed, plus mention of "at least" 8 more)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 296-298, "Billy Boy" (4 texts, mostly short; 1 tune on p.435) {Bronson's #27}
Eddy 38, "Billy Boy" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 246-248, "Billy Boy" (2 texts plus 2 fragments, 1 tune) {Bronson's #20}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 162-163, "Billy Boy" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronon's #29}
Linscott, pp. 166-167, "Billy Boy" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #19}
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 14, "Billie Boy" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #26}
Fuson, p. 105, "Billy Boy" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 45-46, "Billy Boy" (1 text)
SharpAp 89, "My Boy Billy" (3 texts, 3 tunes) {B=Bronson's #22, C=#8}
Sharp-100E 58, "My Boy Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 320-322, "Billy Boy" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #28}
Hugill, pp. 450-452, "Billy Boy" (3 texts, 2 tunes) [AbrEd, pp. 336-338]
LPound-ABS, 113, pp. 231-232, "Billy Boy" (1 text)
JHCox 168, "Billy Boy" (4 texts)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 267, "Billy Boy" (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 45, "Where have you been all the day, My boy Billy?" (2 texts)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 477, "Billy Boy" (source notes only)
DT (12), BILLYBOY BLLYBOY2* BLLYBOY3*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #40, "My Boy Tammy" (1 text)
Roud #326
RECORDINGS:
Ray Covert, "Billy Boy" (Herwin 75564, c. 1927)
Frank Crumit, "Billy Boy" (Victor 19945, 1926)
Donnie Stewart & Terry Perkins, "Billy Boy" (on JThomas01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1057), "The Lammy" ("Whar hae ye been a' day, my boy Tammy"), D. Bass (Newcastle), 1800-1810; also 2806 c.14(107), "The Lammie"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Randal" [Child 12]
NOTES: A number of scholars have linked this simple little song with the classic ballad "Lord Randall." Since they only have two things in common, however (the courting theme and certain metrical traits), in the Ballad Index at least we keep them separate.
De la Mare attributes the "My Boy Tammy" text to Hector MacNeill (1746-1818), a prolific author now almost forgotten. (Granger's Index to Poetry, for instance, cites only one of his poems: This one.) Given the dates of other versions, it seems unlikely that MacNeill originated "Billy Boy," but he may well have created a popular recension. - RBW
The Bodleian "Lammy"/"Lammie" texts match the first verse of Opie-Oxford2 45 second text.
The "Lammy"/"Lammie" texts are well enough known to have parodies. See, for example: NLScotland, L.C.1270(002), "Parody on the Lammy" ("O whar hae ye been a' day, creeshie souter Johnnie"), unknown, c.1845, an anti-alcohol song; Bodleian, Harding B 27(44), "Bottom's Song" ("Whar ha'e ye been a' day"), McNeil and Co. (Edinburgh?), no date, a song on 19th century politics. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R104

Billy Brink


See Bluey Brink (File: FaE148)

Billy Broke Locks (The Escape of Old John Webb)


DESCRIPTION: John Webb was imprisoned and well guarded, but "Billy broke locks and Billy broke bolts, And Billy broke all that he came nigh." Billy and John Webb escape on horseback, then relax by organizing a dance
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth)
KEYWORDS: prison escape dancing freedom
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 393-400, "John Webber" (1 text plus four versions from newspapers and such, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 4, "Billy Broke Locks" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNWEBB*
Roud #83
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Archie o Cawfield" [Child 188] (tune & meter, theme)
NOTES: An American rework of "Archie o' Cawfield," with which Roud lumps it; the revised version dates perhaps from the 1730s. It may have arisen out of an attempt at currency reform. In the early days of the English colonies, there was no universal system of coinage; Spanish money was common, but there was no fixed exchange rate.
Parliament decided to settle the matter by issuing a paper money, the "tenor." However, after a time the "Old Tenor" (referred to in the song) was replaced by the "New Tenor" -- resulting in civil disturbance. One of the chief culprits was one John Webb (Webber), a mint-master, who ended in prison but was rescued by friends. - RBW
File: LoF004

Billy Byrne of Ballymanus


DESCRIPTION: In (17)99, United commander Billy Byrne is caught in Dublin and brought to Wicklow jail. Informers Dixon, Doyle, Davis, and Doolin swear he fought at Mount Pleasant, Carrigrue and Arklow. He is hanged. The devil has a warm corner for the informers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1798 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: rebellion betrayal execution trial Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
September 26, 1799 - Billy Byrne executed in Wicklow Town. (source: Moylan)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
OLochlainn-More 15, "Billy Byrne of Ballymanus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 12, "Billy Byrne of Ballymanus" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Moylan 124, "Billy Byrne of Ballymanus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 68-71, "Billy Byrne of Ballymanus (1) (2)" (2 texts; 1 tune on pp. 21-22)
Roud #2376
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wicklow Mountains High" (subject)
NOTES: Knowing the subject of this song is a bit tricky; it appears that there were *two* Irish rebels from the 1798 rising named William Byrne, both of Wicklow, and both ending their lives on the scaffold. This Billy Bryrne is, in terms of the history of the rebellion, the lesser-known; if you read a history of the 1798 Rebellion, you're more likely to encounter the other:
William Byrne was the son of Garrett Byrne, a Catholic squire. He was a United Irish delegate from Wicklow, and a colonel in the United army around the time of New Ross.
He was taken to Dublin for trial in the summer of 1798.
According to Thomas Pakenham's The Year of Liberty, p. 287, the chief witness against him was Thomas Reynolds, a paid informant. Byrne was one of the few delegates whose guilt was so obvious that the government felt sure it could convict him.
Pakenham date his execution to the end of July 1798. It was one of a series of five, and it encouraged the 80 or so other United leaders in custody to agree to tell all in return for emigrating to the United States. (Their alternative, of course, was being tried and, probably, hanged.) Among those who took that deal was Thomas Addis Emmet, the brother of Robert. - RBW
Apparently broadside Bodleian, Harding B 40(12), "Billy Byrne of Ballymanus" ("Come all you loyal heroes, pay attention to my song"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?), 1850-1899 is this song but I could not download and verify it.
OLochlainn-More: "An authentic 1798 ballad still popular after more than 160 years." - BS
File: OLcM015

Billy Go Leary


See Yo Ho, Yo Ho (File: EM318)

Billy Goat, The


See Bill Grogan's Goat (File: SRW141)

Billy Grimes the Rover


DESCRIPTION: The girl comes to her mother and asks if she can marry Billy Grimes. Mother refuses her blessing; Billy is poor and dirty. The girl points out that Billy has just come into a large inheritance; the mother suddenly praises Billy and gives her blessing
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1852 (published by an N.C. Morse, who claimed authorship)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage mother poverty
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Belden, pp. 251-252, "Billy Grimes" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 33-34, "Billy Grimes" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 193, "Billy Grimes the Drover" (1 composite text derived from 8 unprinted versions)
Chappell-FSRA 76, "Billy Grimes" (1 text)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 58, "Billy Grimes, the Rover" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 96, pp. 205-206, "The Courtship of Billy Grimes" (1 text)
Manny/Wilson 59, "Billy Grimes the Drover" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
SharpAp 176, "Billy Grimes" (1 text, 1 tune)
DSB2, p. 46, "Billy Grimes the Rover" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 477, "Billy Grimes" (source notes only)
DT, BILGRIME*
ST MN2033 (Full)
Roud #468
RECORDINGS:
I. G. Greer, "Billy Grimes" (AFS; on LC14, TimesAint02)
Marie Hare, "Billy Grimes the Drover" (on MRMHare01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Billy Grimes the Rover" (on NLCR04, NLCR11)
Shelor Family, "Billy Grimes the Rover" (Victor 20865, 1927; on GoingDown)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1852 510300, "Billy Grimes" or "The Country Lassie and her Mother," Firth, Pond and Co. (New York), 1852; same broadside as sm1852 691750; sm1852 520830, "Billy Grimes the Drover"; sm1853 540400, "Billy Grimes" same broadside as sm1853 700610 (tune)
LOCSinging, as101050, "Billy Grimes the Rover," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as101060, sb10018b, "Billy Grimes the Rover"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Will Ray" (plot)
cf. "Peggy in the Morning" (plot)
NOTES: Belden asserts that Billy Grimes was properly a "drover," not a "rover" (even though his informant used the word "rover"), and it's possible that this was original -- but, as the list of titles shows -- Billy quickly became transformed.
The composite text in Brown ends with the drover rejecting the girl because she wants his money. Chappell also has this ending This is, however, the "minority version" even in Brown, and seems rare elsewhere; if it is original, it had generally been dropped. More likely it's a North Carolina variant. - RBW
The following broadsides are duplicates, or so close to being duplicates that I don't find a difference:
LOCSheet sm1852 510300 and sm1852 691750: these claim "words by Richard Coe, Esq Music by W.H. Oakley"
LOCSheet sm1853 540400 and sm1853 700610: these claim the song was "composed by [usually meaning "music by" ] Wm H Oakes"; the story ends with the mother explaining that she is in favor of Billy.
LOCSinging as101050, as101060 and sb10018b[same text, different printer]: no attribution; the story has Billy reject her at the end.
The remaining American Memory broadside, LOCSheet sm1852 520830 is "by N C Morse"; it ends when the daughter announces Billy's ten thousand pound capitalization and 600 pound annual income."
Broadside LOCSinging as101050: 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: MN2033

Billy Johnson's Ball


DESCRIPTION: On his first wedding anniversary Johnson throws a party to celebrate it (and the arrival of a baby six months earlier). Johnson dances with all the girls; Mrs. Johnson gets jealous; the singer can't tell how it ended; he woke next morning under the table
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (recorded fromPeter Reilly by Kennedy)
LONG DESCRIPTION: On his first wedding anniversary Billy Johnson throws a party to celebrate the occasion (and the arrival of a baby six months earlier). The baby is introduced, Mrs. Johnson faints, someone gives her a drop to drink, and the dancing begins. Families are introduced; the party moves to a pub; Johnson dances with all the girls, and Mrs. Johnson gets jealous; the singer can't tell you how it all ended, only that he woke the next morning underneath the table
KEYWORDS: jealousy pride marriage dancing drink party baby family wife humorous
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 266, "Billy Johnson's Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2139
NOTES: Kennedy, in his usual inexplicable way, compares this to Percy French's "Phil the Flut(h)er's Ball." The only connection I can see is that they're both about Irish parties. - RBW
File: K266

Billy Ma Hone


DESCRIPTION: "Love is sweet and love is pleasant, Long as you keep it in your view." A man asks Missis Mary why she can't favor him. Her love is on the ocean. He says her Billy Ma Hone is dead. She screams. He reveals himself and shows her the ring she gave him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise ring brokentoken
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 267-270, "Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor" (3 texts; this is the third; the first, "Young Willie's Return, or The Token," with tune on pp. 426-427, is "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35]; the second, "The Sailor," with tune on p. 427, is "John (George) Riley (II)" [Laws N37])
ST ScaSC270 (Partial)
Roud #265
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
NOTES: Roud files this with Laws N35 ("The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)"), mostly, I think, because that's where Scarborough files it. Laws, however, does not file it there -- nor anywhere else that I can see -- and the name and form are sufficiently unlike the other Riley ballads that I finally decided to treat it as a separate song.
It is, no doubt, based on one of the myriad other songs of this type, probably rewritten (perhaps to apply to some local person), but I haven't a clue which such song. - RBW
File: ScaSC270

Billy My Darling


DESCRIPTION: "Billy, my darling, Billy, my dear, When you think I don't love you it's a foolish idea -- Up in the tree-top high as the sky, I can see Billy, Billy pass by."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 288, "Billy My Darling" (1 fragment plus mention of 1 more)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Down in the Valley" (lyrics)
NOTES: Based just on the text in Brown, I would probably have classified this as a by-blow of "Down in the Valley." But a tune was recorded, apparently *not* "Down in the Valley." So it lists separately -- though I remain dubious. - RBW
File: Br3288

Billy O'Rourke


DESCRIPTION: Billy sets out for Dublin and takes ship. Though a great storm blows up, Billy pays no attention. After he lands, a robber tries to hold him up, but Billy's shillelagh is quicker. Billy tells of his other adventures
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1820 (OLochlainn-More); 1849 (Journal from the Euphrasia)
KEYWORDS: emigration Ireland robbery
FOUND IN: US(MW) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Eddy 145, "Billy O'Rourke" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 318-320, "Billy O'Rourke" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 51, "Billy O'Rourke" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 99, "Billy O'Rourke" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 262, "Billy O'Rourke" (4 texts, 1 tune)
ST E145 (Full)
Roud #2101
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as101080, "Billy O'Rourke," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as101080: 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
Last updated in version 2.4
File: E145

Billy Pitt and the Union


DESCRIPTION: Billy Pitt convinced the British that Union with Ireland would solve their problems. Ireland would gain no more from union than the Sabines gained through union with Rome. "They may take our all from us and leave us the rest." Hibernia must reject union.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1798 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: England Ireland nonballad political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1759-1806 - Life of William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister 1783-1801 and from 1804 until his death
1798 - United Irish rebellion causes England to decide on Union with Ireland
1800 - Act of Union passed by British and Irish parliaments, causing a parliamentary Union to take effect in 1801
FOUND IN:
CROSS-REFERENCES:
Bodleian, Harding B 14(314), "A new song Billy Pitt and the Union ("Come neighbours attend, while I tell you a story"), unknown, 1798
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 14(314) is dated "Dublin, December, 1798." Zimmermann p. 40 cites it as a broadside ballad circulated against William Pitt.
What is the original of the "poisoned pill"? The broadside warns "Arrah Paddy beware, there's snake in these offers, For Billy can gild, whilst he poisons the pill." In 1909, in Fallen Fairies; or The Wicked World W.S. Gilbert wrote "Oh, love's the source of every ill! Compounded with unholy skill, It proves, disguise it as you will, A gilded but a poisoned pill." - BS
Both Ireland and Scotland had people who, in their time, opposed Union with England. I've seen it argued that the Scots were wrong, because they needed English trade. (I'm not sure it's that simple, but the case can be made.)
Ireland, though, really did get a poisoned pill -- because they lost their own parliament (Grattan's, for which see "Ireland's Glory") but did not get Catholic Emancipation in return. Prime Minister Pitt wanted to grant voting rights to Catholics, but the English parliament simply would not go along. So while Ireland had seats in the British Commons, they weren't really popularly elected. Eventually, leaders like Parnell would learn how to use their position, and sometimes hold the balance of power between Conservatives and Liberals, but that was a long time coming. In the short run, Union simply cost Ireland self-government. - RBW
File: BrdBPatU

Billy Richardson's Last Ride


DESCRIPTION: "Through the West Virginia mountains came the early mornin' mail Old Number Three was westbound...." Engineer Bill Richardson is "old and gray," but still wants to make good time. He dies when his head strikes a mail train
AUTHOR: Words: Cleburne C. Meeks / Music: Carson J. Robison
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (letter from Meeks to Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 14, 1910 - Death of William S. Richardson (1848-1910) after he looks out of the FFV train and is hit in the head
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 232-233, "Billy Richardson's Last Ride" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10440
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart [as Al Craver], "Billy Richardson's Last Ride" (Columbia 15098-D, 1926)
George Goebel, "Billy Richardson's Last Ride" (Conqueror 8156)
NOTES: Although the accident described in the song happened, roughly as described, in 1910, Cohen reports that the song was written 16 years later. Poet Meeks heard Vernon Dalhart's recording of The Wreck of Old 97, decided to produce his own train wreck item, and sent it to Dalhart. Carson J. Robison added the tune, and Dalhart started on his usual cycle of recording for every label known to humanity.
The Meeks/Robison combination also gave us "The Wreck of the C & O Number Five." - RBW
File: LSRai232

Billy Riley


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Oh Billy Riley was a dancing master, O Billy Riley. Old Billy Riley, screw him up so cheer'ly, O Billy Riley O." Verses name members of RileyÕs family and/or their occupations. Refrain changes each time based on which Riley is named in the verse.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty
FOUND IN: West Indies Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Colcord, p. 74, "O Billy Riley!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 452-453, "Billy Riley" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbrEd, p. 338]
Sharp-EFC, LVIII, p. 63, "O Billy Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Hug452 (Full)
Roud #4701
NOTES: The liner notes to the Lloyd/MacColl recording "Blow, Boys, Blow" state "The sail would need to be light, or the occasion desperate, for men to haul at the halyards to tbe beat of such a fast song as this." But other sources don't seem to have noticed this. - RBW
File: Hug452

Billy Taylor


See William Taylor [Laws N11] (File: LN11)

Billy the Kid (I)


DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing you a true song of Billy the Kid, I'll sing of the desperate deeds that he did." Billy "went bad" in Silver City as "a very young lad." He soon has 21 notches on his pistol, but wants Sheriff Pat Garrett for 22. But Garrett shoots Billy first
AUTHOR: Andrew Jenkins
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recordings, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: outlaw youth death police
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1859 - Birth of William H. Bonney, the man most often labelled "Billy the Kid"
1881 - Death of William Bonney at the hands of Pat Garrett, who traced him to the home of a Mexican girlfriend
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 202, "Billy the Kid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 137-138, "Billy the Kid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 96, "Billy the Kid" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "C" text is "Billy the Kid (II)")
Burt, p. 193, "(Song of Billy the Kid)" (1 excerpt)
Silber-FSWB, p. 208, "Billy the Kid" (1 text)
DT, BILLYKID
Roud #5097
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "Billy the Kid" (Columbia 15135-D [as Al Craver], 1927) (Brunswick 100, 1927) (OKeh 45102, 1927) (one of these recordings is on RoughWays2, but we don't know which)
SAME TUNE:
So Long, It's Been Good to Know Yuh (File: Arn165)
NOTES: This song has been (falsely) credited to Woody Guthrie, who recorded it in the 1940s. - PJS
Might this be because the tune has come to be better known as (the verse of) "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You"?
This song, like so many "bad man" ballads, is a mix of the false and the true. Walker, p. 112, writes, "Why Billy the Kid is among that handful of Old West names... that are instantly recognized around the world is not clear. The Kid had no significant history. He never served in a war, never blazed a trail, never traveled beyond a few hundred miles of his boyhood home, had no special talents, and knew no one of importance.... He rose to a brief regional prominence in an obscure regional power struggle [starting in 1878] and by the summer of 1881 he was dead."
Yet Walker believes that at there are at least 900 books, major magazine articles, poems, and plays about him (based on a bibliography which listed over 400 as of around 1950, with the number only increasing since).
According to O'Neal, p. 4, only four deaths can be unequivocally blamed on Billy the Kid, even though he boasted of killing 21 "not counting Mexicans." O'Neal on p. 5 does credit Billy with five "possible killings or assists," and lists him as participating in 21 gunfights.
According to O'Neal's main entry on Billy (pp.198-203), the future Kid was born Henry McCarty, in Indiana or New York in 1859 (the Concise Dictionary of American Biography lists New York only, with no hesitation, and lists Billy's birth name as William Bonney, the name he used throughout his later career. But Walker agrees with O'Neal in calling him Henry McCarty, of Irish ancestry, possibly born in New York City. How this is reconciled with the statement that he never traveled far I am not sure).
The family moved to Kansas when Billy was very young, then to New Mexico after Billy's father died. His mother remarried in 1873, but died in 1874 (Walker, p. 113).
Soon after, Billy (then still just Henry McCarty, or "Kid Antrim" after the name of his stepfather) started in on a life of petty crime. The song is right in accusing him of "going bad" in Silver City, in New Mexico; soon after his mother died, he was engaged in petty theft. Imprisoned, he soon escaped (Walker, p. 113).
His career for the next two years was obscure, but he killed a man in Bonito, Arizona in 1877 (Walker, p. 114). Again imprisoned, he again escaped, and took the pseudonym "William Bonney."
He was actively involved in a range war the next year. In the process, Billy's boss John Henry Tunstall was killed. Billy declared that Tunstall was the only man he ever worked for who treated him fairly, and so insisted on revenge (Walker, p. 116). Several people died in the next few months, though Billy was not responsible for most of the deaths.
In 1878, newly-appointed territorial governor Lew Wallace offered an amnesty, but Billy was under an independent indictment, so though he offered testimony, he then took off and formed an outlaw gang (Walker, pp. 118-119).
Captured and imprisoned in 1880 by a posse led by Pat Garrett (Walker, p. 120), he killed two guards and escaped in early 1881 (Walker, pp. 121-122). On the night of July 14, 1881, he paid a brief visit to a Mexican girlfriend (Walker, p. 122), then visited another house where Garrett was waiting in hiding, and Garrett shot him to death (Walker, p. 123).
For some reason, most famous outlaws seem to have had second lives, with impostors claiming to be the dead outlaws who somehow escaped their fates. (See "Jesse James (III)" for examples of the phenomenon). Walker, pp. 125-136, examines some of the Billy impersonators. In one case, he actually seems somewhat sympathetic to the claim. - RBW
BibliographyFile: LoF202

Billy the Kid (II)


DESCRIPTION: "Billy was a bad man And carried a big gun. He was always after greasers And kept them on the run." Billy shot a white man "every morning." But one day he met a worse man, "And now he's dead and we Ain't none the sadder."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: outlaw death police
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 96, "Billy the Kid" (3 texts, 1 tune, but only the "C" text goes here)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 136-137, "Billy the Kid" (1 text)
Roud #5098
NOTES: From the Fife text it is not clear whether this song actually refers to Billy the Kid; since Billy was white, it would appear not. But they may have other versions which imply otherwise. - RBW
File: FCW096C

Billy Veniro


See Bill Vanero (Paul Venerez) [Laws B6] (File: LB06)

Billy Vite and Molly Green


DESCRIPTION: "Come all you blades both high and low And you shall hear of a dismal go." Billy Vite/White falls in love with Molly Green, but she denies him. The devil comes to him with arsenic; he poisons her; a sheep's head accuses him of murder and takes him to hell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8) (Digital Tradition claims a date of 1823)
KEYWORDS: murder poison death sheep ghost devil
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1787, "Billy Vites" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 109-110, "Billy White" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 198-199, "Billy Vite and Molly Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12992
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry Green (The Murdered Wife)" [Laws F14] (plot)
File: FlBr109

Billy Vites


See Billy Vite and Molly Green (File: FlBr109)

Billy White


See Billy Vite and Molly Green (File: FlBr109)

Billy's Downfall


DESCRIPTION: The singer swears by all things and people -- O'Connell, King Saul, Zozymus Moran, Dido, the Shannon, Brian Boru, dirty dealers -- that "I ne'er had a hand in King Billy's downfall." Billy will be rebuilt but had better not "dress as before" on July 12.
AUTHOR: probably by "Zozimus" (Michael Moran) (c.1794-1846) (Source: Zimmermann)
EARLIEST DATE: 1836 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 8, 1836 - "The equestrian statue of William III, which stood in the centre of College Green, Dublin [the site of the "unified" out of existance Irish Parliament ... [was] blown up early in the morning." (source: Zimmermann)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 48, "Billy's Downfall" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: July 12 is the Gregorian Calendar (adopted in England in 1752) date for celebrating the victory of William III of Orange in the Battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690.
Zimmermann: The statue "was annually coloured white and decorated with Orange lilies, a scarlet cloak and an orange sash, to commemorate the Protestant victory at the battle of the Boyne." - BS
File: Zimm048

Bingo


DESCRIPTION: "There was a farmer had a dog, And Bingo was his name, sir. B-I-N-G-O (x3), And Bingo was his name, sir." "That farmer's dog sat at our door, Begging for a bone, sir...." "The farmer's dog sat on the back fence...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: dog nonballad playparty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(NE,SE)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1618, "Bobbie Bingo" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 212, "Bingo" (1 text, tune referenced)
BrownIII 137, "Bingo" (1 text, which seems to be a device for learning the vowels)
Linscott, pp. 168-169, "Bingo" (1 text, 1 tune, with an unusual chorus of "B with an I, I with an N, N with a G, G with an O, B-i-n-g-o, Called his name 'Old Bingo.'")
Silber-FSWB, p. 390, "Bingo" (1 text)
DT, BINGGO*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #88, "Bingo" (1 text, similar in form to Linscott's but spelling out various names and ending with Bingo's owner offering a girl a wedding ring: "Bingo," "Stingo," "Ring-o")
Roud #589
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "Bingo Was His Name" (Conqueror 7892, 1931)
Pete Seeger, "Bingo Was His Name" (on PeteSeeger11)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Farmer's Dog
File: FSWB390D

Binnorie


See The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)

Binorie


See The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)

Bird in a Cage (II)


See Down in the Valley (File: R772)

Bird in a Gilded Cage, A


DESCRIPTION: A couple sees a rich young woman. When the girl envies the fine lady's wealth, her companion replies that "she married for wealth, not for love." He pities her; "she's only a bird in a gilded cage... Her beauty was sold for an old man's gold."
AUTHOR: Words: Arthur J. Lamb / Music: Harry von Tilzer
EARLIEST DATE: 1900 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: money marriage age
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 205-206, "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 317-318, "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 266, "A Bird In A Gilded Cage" (1 text)
DT, GILDCAGE
Roud #4863
RECORDINGS:
Leo Boswell & Elzie Floyd, "She's Only a Bird in a Guilded (sic.) Cage" (Columbia 15150-D, 1927)
Brown and Bunch [pseud. for Leonard Rutherford & John Foster], "She's Only A Bird In A Guilded (sic.) Cage" (Supertone 9375, 1929)
[Byron] Harlan & [?] Madeira, "Bird in a Gilded Cage" (CYL: Edison 7696, 1901)
Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers, "She Is Only A Bird In A Guilded (sic.) Cage" (Paramount 3079, c. 1928; Broadway 8133, n.d.; rec. 1927)
Marlow & Young, "She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage" (Champion 15691, 1929)
Frank & James McCravy, "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" (Brunswick 4335, 1929; Supertone S-2022, 1930; rec. 1928)
Joseph Natus, "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" (Zonophone J-9072,
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man" and references there
File: SRW205

Bird in the Bush, The


See Three Maidens to Milking Did Go (File: K191)

Bird in the Cage


See Down in the Valley (File: R772)

Bird in the Lily-Bush, The


See Three Maidens to Milking Did Go (File: K191)

Bird Rocks, The


DESCRIPTION: "Twas winter down the icy gulf, The Gulf St Lawrence wide." The Bird Rocks lighthouse keeper, his son, and helper are swept away. His wife keeps the light burning until spring. Like her we should "in sorrow's darkest night ... show the world our light"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: grief death drowning sea wife
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 144, "The Bird Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 903-904, "The Bird Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 69-70, "The Bird Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ryan/Small, pp. 110-111, "The Bird Rocks" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST GrMa144 (Partial)
Roud #6348
NOTES: Bird Rocks is an islet in the Gulf of St Lawrence, northeast of Magdalen Islands in East Quebec. - BS
File: GrMa144

Bird Song, The


See The Bird's Courting Song (The Hawk and the Crow; Leatherwing Bat) (File: K295)

Bird's Courting Song, The (The Hawk and the Crow; Leatherwing Bat)


DESCRIPTION: Various birds talk about their attempts at courting, and the effects of their successes and failures. Example: "Said the hawk to the crow one day, Why do you in mourning stay, I was once in love and I didn't prove fact, And ever since I wear the black."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1733 (broadside, Bodleian Harding Douce Ballads 2(243b)); other broadsides appear to date back to the seventeenth century "Woody Querristers" in the Roxburge collection
KEYWORDS: bird courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Randolph 275, "The Crow Song" (5 texts, 1 tune, but only the first three texts are this piece, with the "B" and "C" texts mixing with "The Crow Song (I)")
BrownIII 152, "Birds Courting" (3 texts plus an excerpt; the "D" text may be mixed); also 156, "Said the Blackbird to the Crow" (the "D" text mixes this with "The Crow Song (I)")
JHCoxIIB, #20, pp. 170-171, "Pourquoi" (1 text, tune, probably amplified as it carefully has birds of all colors including some rarely encountered in nature)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 193, (no title) (1 fragment, probably this)
SharpAp 215, "The Bird Song" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 295, "The Hawk and the Crow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 4, "Leatherwing Bat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 73, "The Bird Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 573-574, "Bird's Courting Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 90-91, "Bird Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 397, "Leatherwing Bat" (1 text)
BBI, ZN968, "Give ear you lads and lasses all" (?); ZN2037, "Oh says the Cuckoo, loud and stout"; ZN2038, "Oh says the Cuckoo loud and stout"
DT, LEATRBAT* LEATHBA2*
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, pp. 49-51, "The Hawk and the Crow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #747
RECORDINGS:
Virgil Sandage, "The Birds' Song" (on FineTimes)
Pete Seeger, "Leatherwing Bat" (on PeteSeeger09, PeteSeegerCD02) (on PeteSeeger32)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 2(243b), "The Woody Queresters" or "The Birds Harmony" ("Oh! says the cuckoo, loud and stout")[some words illegible], T. Norris (London), 1711-1732; also Douce Ballads 1(17b), "The Birds Lamentation"; Douce Ballads 3(110a), Douce Ballads 3(108a), "The Woody Choristers" or "The Birds Harmony" in two parts
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hind Horn" [Child 17] (tune)
cf. "The Crow Song" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Old Man at the Mill" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Bird-Catcher's Delight" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Douce Ballads 1(17b))
NOTES: Cox's "Pourquoi" title is, in effect, the French term for "Just So Story"; Cox applied it because the piece he collected (in Missouri, though from an informant born in Kentucky) had no title. - RBW
File: K295

Birdie Darling


DESCRIPTION: "Fly across the ocean, birdie, Fly across the deep blue sea, There you'll find an untrue lover...." The singer bids the bird to remind him of his promises to her and how he betrayed her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love separation betrayal bird
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 210, "Birdie Darling" (1 text)
Roud #7948
File: Beld210
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