Birds in the Spring, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer sits down to listen to the birds sing, and praises the pleasure of their notes. Chorus: "And when you grow old, you will have it to say/You'll never hear so sweet... as the birds in the spring" or "...as the nightingale sing"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (recorded from George Maynard)
KEYWORDS: lyric nonballad animal bird
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, BIRDSPRG
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 39, #4 (1995), p, 80, "By the Green Grove" (1 text, 1 tune, the Bob and Ron Copper version)
Roud #356
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "The Sweet Nightingale (The Birds in the Spring)" (on Maynard1)
NOTES: I've entitled this, "The Birds in the Spring" to avoid confusion with, "The Sweet Nightingale" or "One Morning In May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing)," both unrelated songs. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: RcTBiITS

Birken Tree, The


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, lass, gin ye would think it right, To gang wi' me this very night, We'll cuddle till the mornin' licht...." The girl would like to meet him at the birken tree, but her parents watch closely. But she manages to sneak away; all ends happily
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1838 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(4027))
KEYWORDS: love separation reunion mother nightvisit
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 88-90, "The Birken Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan4 802, "The Birken Tree" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, pp. 100-101, "Johnnie's Got His Jean, O" (1 text)
DT, BIRKNTRE*
Roud #5069
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4027), "The Birken Tree" ("Lass gin ye wad think it right"), W. Stephenson (Gateshead), 1821-1838
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(058), "The Birken Tree," unknown, c. 1860; also L.C.Fol.70(15a), c. 1875
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bonny Glasgow Green" (tune, per GreigDuncan4, and form)
File: FVS088

Birks of Aberfeldy


DESCRIPTION: The singer asks "Bonnie lassie, will ye go To the birks of Aberfeldy?" He describes the summer there, birds singing, cliffs "crown'd wi' flowres," and so on. He would wish for nothing more than to be "supremely blest wi' love and thee"
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: 1840 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1840 371890); reportedly written 1787
KEYWORDS: courting lyric bird flowers
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #170, pp. 280-281, "The birks of Aberfeldy -- Composed on the spot" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1787)
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 523, "The Birks of Aberfeldy"
Roud #5070
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(15), "The Birks of Aberfeldy" ("Bonnie lassie will ye go, will ye go, will ye go"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866
LOCSheet, sm1840 371890, "The Birks of Abberfeldy," George Willig (Philadelphia), 1840 (tune)
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(7b), "The Birks of Aberfeldy," unknown, c.1875
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Birks of Abergeldie" (tune, per Burns)
NOTES: Whitelaw: "This was composed by Burns to the old tune of 'The Birks of Abergeldy' in September, 1787, while standing under the falls of Aberfeldy, near Moness, in Perthshire."
Greig #56 p. 3 refers to "a fragment of the old song 'The Birks o' Abergeldie' which Burns adapted." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BrdBiAbe

Birks of Abergeldie


See The Birks of Abergeldy (File: GrD4801)

Birks of Abergeldy, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer asks his girl to go with him to the Birks of Abergeldy. She fears betrayal. He promises to marry if she becomes pregnant. She complains "Abergeldy is too near my friends ... their eyes are on me steady" but she would go with him to Edinburgh.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1692 (according to the commentary to broadside NLScotland Ry.III.a.10(057))
KEYWORDS: courting elopement promise dialog
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 801, "Birks o' Abergeldie" (1 text)
Roud #5070
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(057), "The Birks of Abergeldy," unknown, c.1701
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" (II) (verse structure)
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 is a fragment; broadside NLScotland Ry.III.a.10(057) is the basis for the description. - BS
Commentary to broadside NLScotland Ry.III.a.10(057): "The lyricist and composer of the piece have not been recorded, but the first recorded appearance of the melody was in 1692. It had been published south of the border by 1700. The lyrics were famously rewritten by Burns when he stayed at Aberfeldy in Perthshire. Those lyrics were originally entitled, 'The Birks o' Aberfeldy'."
Herd's version of "Birks of Abergeldie" has the man promise "a gown of silk, and coat of calimancoe" while she protests that "my minnie she'll be angry. Sair, sair wad she flyte." (David Herd, "Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc." (Edinburgh, 1870 (reprint of 1776)) V.II, pp. 221-222, "Birks of Abergeldie"). The form and sense of Herd's text matches the broadside but the lines are different. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4801

Birmingham Boys, The


See The Man of Burningham Town (File: VWL068)

Birmingham Jail (I)


See Down in the Valley (File: R772)

Birmingham Jail (II)


See Sweet Thing (I) (File: R443A)

Birmingham Man, The


See The Man of Burningham Town (File: VWL068)

Birth of Robin Hood, The


See Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter" [Child 102] (File: C102)

Biscuits Mis' Flanagan Made, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer is invited to a party at Flanagan's. He is invited to try the biscuits. They looked good, and were attractively presented, but the singer had never had "such nuggets of lead." To cut them, he advises the use of an axe and wedge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: food party humorous
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 480, "The Biscuits Mis' Flanagan Made" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5000
File: R480

Bitter Withy, The


DESCRIPTION: Jesus is sent out by Mary to play. He is snubbed by a group of rich boys. He builds "a bridge with the beams of the sun," and the boys who follow him across fall into the river and drown. Mary beats her child with a withy branch
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905
KEYWORDS: Jesus poverty punishment religious discrimination
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West))
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Leach, pp. 689-690, "The Bitter Withy" (1 text)
Leather, pp. 181-184, "The Bitter Withy; or The Sally Twigs" (2 texts, the first perhaps mixed with "The Holy Well," 4 tunes)
Friedman, p. 60, "The Bitter Withy" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 5, "The Bitter Withy" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 152, "The Bitter Withy" (1 text)
cf. Belden, p. 102, "Jesus and Joses" (a legend he connects with this piece)
DT 310, BITWITHY*
Roud #452
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Holy Well" (plot)
NOTES: It should perhaps be noted that this event has no place in the Bible, nor even in the (known) apocryphal gospels (though it reminds one of various events in the "Infancy Gospel of Thomas," which also contains some rather nasty miracles; Leather also mentions this obscure and vicious piece). The bridge of sunbeams is a commonplace in religious art.
Belden sees a connection between this song and the folk legend "Jesus and Joses," in which Joses (Jesus's brother; cf. Mark 6:3) tattles on Jesus and Jesus is beaten with willow twigs. There is a fundamental difference, however: In "The Bitter Withy," Jesus is genuinely guilty; in "Jesus and Joses," he is said to be innocent.
According to Leather, the local title "The Sally Twigs" came about because, in Hereford, a willow wand is called a "sally twig." The phrase is not used in either text she prints.- RBW
File: L689

Black and Amber Glory


DESCRIPTION: "Their sparkling style we've come to know, since far-off days of yore, When first they blazed the victory trail in Nineteen hundred and four." Names and attributes of past stars of Kilkenny hurling.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (_The Kilkenny People,_ according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: pride sports Ireland moniker nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More, pp. 261-262, "Black and Amber Glory" (1 text, tune referenced)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lily of the West" [OLochlainn 93] (tune)
cf. "Bold Thady Quill" (subject of hurling) and references there
NOTES: For information see the KilKennyCity site re Black and Amber Glory by Jamesie Murphy: "From that historic day at Deerpark in Carrick-on-Suir in 1904 when Kilkenny represented by Tullaroan and captained by Jer Doheny won their first title right up to the current success in 2002, every final is covered not alone in poetry and song, but also with photographs of the winning teams." - BS
For another hurling song, as well as some information on the sport, see "Bold Thady Quill." - RBW
File: OLcM262

Black Ball Line, The


DESCRIPTION: "I served my time on the Black Ball line, To me way-ay-ay, Rio... Hurrah for the Black Ball line." "The Black Ball ships are good and true" and fast. They will lead you to a "gold mine." The listener is advised to travel to Liverpool and see the Yankees
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor work
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Hugill, pp. 131-133, "Hooraw for the Blackball Line" (1 text plus several fragments, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 107-108]
Colcord, p. 53, "Black Ball Line, The" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 105-106, "Black Ball Line, The" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sharp-EFC, XXIII, p. 26, "Black Ball Line, The" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 489-490, "The Black Ball Line" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLAKBALL*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Blackball Line" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #2623
File: LxA489

Black Betty


DESCRIPTION: "Oh Lawd, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam (x2), Black Betty had a baby, bam-ba-lam (x2)." "Oh, Lawd, Black Betty... It de cap'n's baby." "Oh, Lawd, Black Betty... but she didn't feed the baby. "Oh Lawd, Black Betty... Black Betty, where'd you come from?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: prison prisoner punishment chaingang
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 60-61, "Black Betty" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLKBETTY*
Roud #11668
RECORDINGS:
Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Black Betty" (AFS 2643 B2, 1939)
NOTES: According to the Lomaxes, "[Black Betty] is the whip that was and is used in some Southern prisons." Jackson, Wake Up Dead Man, p. 194, notes this use in the Lomax songs but says that in Texas prisons, "Black Betty" does not mean a whip but rather the locked and barred wagon used to take prisoners to and from prisons. - RBW
File: LxA060

Black Bottom Blues


See Deep Elem Blues (File: DTdeepel)

Black Cat, The


DESCRIPTION: "I brought a black cat home one night, And I brought some steak home too...." While the singer is out, the cat eats the steak. Cat and human fight, with the human generally coming off worse. Similar escapades follow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: animal humorous fight
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 141-142, "The Black Cat" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MCB141

Black Chimney Sweeper, The


See The Old Maid's Song (File: R364)

Black Cook, The


DESCRIPTION: One of three sailors, a black cook, has an idea to "rise cash." They sell his body as a corpse to a doctor. When the doctor goes to dissect the corpse it stands. The doctor runs to his wife, who bars the door and asks him to "leave off dissecting"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1911 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.14(57))
KEYWORDS: trick corpse humorous cook doctor sailor Black(s) money
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan2 297, "The Black Cook" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 856-858, "The Black Devil" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLCKCOOK*
Roud #2310
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(57), "The Black Cook" or "The Doctor Outwitted," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 1851-1910; also Firth b.27(445), "The Doctor Outwitted"; Harding B 26(141), 2806 b.9(12)[many illegible words], "The Docter Outwited by the Black" (sic.)
NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(078), "The Black Cook, or The Doctor Outwitted," unknown, c. 1870
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Burke's Confession" (subject: sale of dead bodies for anatomical studies)
NOTES: The shortage of cadavers for dissection which gave rise to this song is by no means exaggerated. Anatomists need bodies; so do beginning medical students. And few people have been willing to donate their bodies to such causes. The well-to-do were buried, and that was that.
That left two sources of dead bodies: Executed criminals, and paupers. Sapolsky credits Henry VIII with passing a law giving dead bodies of criminals to the doctors. And Jameson, pp. 24-25, notes the various American "Anatomy laws": "Massachusetts in 1784 passed an act providing that the bodies of those killed in duels or executed for killing another should be given to the surgeons to be dissected.... Massachusetts in 1831 passed the first liberal law for the benefit of anatomy in any English-speaking country, giving to the surgeons the bodies of criminals and of State paupers who died without leaving relatives. But the New York law of 1789 had given judges the power to order the dissection of executed criminals as part of their sentence."
These measures were inadequate in two ways. First, they did not provide enough bodies (especially since, according to Palmer, p. 66, there were people who thought that the dead bodies of executed criminals had medicinal effects and tried to make off with them, or parts of them). Second, and worse, the cadavers so obtained were not typical.
The bodies of the Henry VIII's criminals were usually healthy, but they had suffered from execution -- and, before death, had suffered the brutal conditions of English prisons, and very likely from torture as well.
The corpses of the poor were intact, but these people had died of starvation, illness, and the general brutality of life. Their deaths were theoretically "natural," but they were usually hastened by their workhouse conditions.
The result was that doctors generally were not in position to examine the bodies of people who died of a healthy old age. Indeed, this remains a problem to this day, according to Sapolsky. It is a genuine problem both for doctors and for medical researchers -- he notes on p. 121 that two artificial diseases (one related to the adrenal glands and one related to the thymus) went into the diagnostic manuals as a result of always performing dissections on poor and sick people. Children with healthy thymus problems was actually treated with radiation, to shrink glands that appeared larger than was expected. In fact the radiation damaged the healthy glands resulting in poorer health for those so treated plus a vast spike in cases of thyroid cancer (Sapolsky, p. 122).
Sapolsky, pp. 117-119, tells of how the desperate need for corpses for dissection gave rise to the occupation of the body snatcher -- people who went out and unearthed (often literally) the bodies of recently-dead people for use by doctors. Under the circumstances, it is understandable that some doctors might be willing to work with the body snatchers. Ugly as their profession obviously was, it had the potential to bring good for many other people.
It appears that the sailors in this song are imitating the snatchers.
The law was less willing to look the other way. Jameson, p. 24, notes that "New York in 1789 passed a law punishing the disinterment of bodies for purposes of anatomy"; other jurisdictions came to have similar laws.
In Britain, two criminals, Burke and Hare, became famous for acquiring bodies for anatomists by any means necessary. Many broadsides were produced about their crimes and trial; for details, see "Burke's Confession." Although the number of corpses so used was probably relatively small, they gained enough attention that the body snatchers came to be known as "resurrectionists" (HistTodayCompanion, p. 647). As a result, Britain in 1832 passed the "Anatomy Act," This made the bodies of workhouse inmates and paupers available to the doctors (HistTodayCompanion, pp. 22-23). According to Palmer, p. 44, "diggum uppers" continued to work for a decade or so, but the problem began to resolve itself. According to HistTodayCompanion, p. 23, however, the Anatomy Act contributed to the fear of the workhouse which endured into the Twentieth Century, and which so infests many of the works of Dickens. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Pea858

Black Devil, The


See The Black Cook (File: Pea858)

Black Fly Song, The


DESCRIPTION: "'Twas early in the spring when I decide to go For to work up in the woods in North Ontario." The unemployed singer joins a survey crew under Black Toby. He suffers from the flies, and is helped only by the cook. He vows never to work up north again
AUTHOR: Wade Hemsworth
EARLIEST DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: work Canada bug cook unemployment
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 212-214, "The Black Fly Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Wade Hemsworth worked for Ontario Hydro in 1949, seeking a site for a dam on the Little Abitibi. This song was a direct result of his experiences. - RBW
File: FMB212

Black Friday


See The Mermaid [Child 289] (File: C289)

Black Gal (I)


DESCRIPTION: "That old black gall keeps on a-hollering, Bout a new pair of shoes, buddy, bout a new pair of shoes." The singer gives her money, she comes back drunk. He hits her. She leaves (crying murder?). He visits her and is turned away; he ends up in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (recorded from J. B. Smith and Louis Houston by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: abuse separation punishment clothes money
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 294, "Black Gal" (1 text, 1 tune, definitely composite and probably bowdlerized)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 297-299, "Black Gal" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6714
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Heavy-Hipped Woman (Black Gal II)" (lyrics)
cf. "On My Way to Mexico" (lyrics)
NOTES: Jackson notes links to several songs collected by the Lomaxes and others, probably including "Heavy-Hipped Woman (Black Gal II)." This song, however, has a distinct plot, which that one doesn't; I think they should be split -- though the possibility that this inspired that cannot be discounted. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM297

Black Gal (II)


See Heavy-Hipped Woman (Black Gal) (File: LoF294)

Black Gal, De


See Missus in the Big House (File: CNFM117)

Black Girl


See In the Pines (File: LoF290)

Black Horse, The


See The Airy Bachelor (The Black Horse) (File: HHH586)

Black Is the Color


DESCRIPTION: "(Black, black,) black is the color of my true love's hair...." The singer describes the beautiful girl he is in love with. (He regretfully concedes that they will never be married)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting hair beauty separation nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 16, "Black Is the Color" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax- FSNA 100, "Black Is the Color" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 88, "Black is the Color" (1 text, 1 tune, with several floating lines including some that appear to be from "Lady Mary Anne" or something related)
SharpAp 85, "Black is the Colour" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 41, "Black is the Color" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 267-268, "Black is the Color" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 145, "Black Is The Color" (1 text)
DT, BLACKCOL* BLACKCO2*
Roud #3103
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Black is the Color" (on PeteSeeger18)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair
NOTES: John Jacob Niles, who is largely responsible for popularizing this song, also claims to have written it. For a recently composed song, however, it exists in unusually diverse and widespread forms. Randolph notes connections with English pieces, and Lomax correctly observes that the tune resembles "Fair and Tender Ladies." - RBW
File: LxU016

Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair


See Black Is the Color (File: LxU016)

Black Jack Daisy


See The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)

Black Jack Davy


See The Gypsy Laddie [Child 200] (File: C200)

Black Men Are the Bravest


DESCRIPTION: The singer says "ye are black ... Bit I am white and bonny" and the colors complement each other. Black and white cocks crow but "the black cock crows the clearest" and "ladies say That black men are the bravest"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad Black(s)
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1855, "Black Men Are the Bravest" (1 text)
Roud #13591
NOTES: Is black the color of his hair or skin? This time I'm guessing skin, but compare "Although My Love Be Black." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81855

Black Mustache, The


DESCRIPTION: "It's O once I had a charming beau..." The singer describes his wealth and wooing. "And then there came a sour old maid, She's worth her weight in gold," whom the suitor prefers. She warns against "those stylish chaps that wear the black mustache"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925
KEYWORDS: courting hair money abandonment oldmaid
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 402, "The Little Black Mustache" (3 texts)
BrownII 202, "The Little Black Mustache" (1 text plus 1 excerpt and mention of 4 more)
Combs/Wilgus 154, pp. 180-181, "The Black Mustache" (1 text)
Roud #471
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Little Black Mustache" (Edison 52118, 1927)
Nations Brothers, "Little Black Mustache" (Vocalion 03152, 1936)
[Ernest Stoneman &] The Dixie Mountaineers, "The Black Mustache" (Edison, unissued, 1927)
Henry Whitter, "My Darling's Black Mustache" (OKeh 40395, 1925)
File: CW180A

Black Phyllis


DESCRIPTION: "And then came black Phyllis, his charger astride, And took away Annie, his unwilling bride..." The singer sits in the storm and wishes his love Annie would be returned to him. Someone eventually kills Phyllis, but Annie is dead by then
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: love death separation abduction disease
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
JHCox 43, "Black Phyllis" (1 text)
ST JHCox043 (Full)
Roud #3628
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nottamun Town (Nottingham Fair)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Cox's text is only a fragment, unfortunately, of what looks to have once been an excellent ballad, probably of British origin. Indeed, it almost looks like a narrative poem; the lyrical devices are complex.
I wonders, though, if "Phyllis" is not in fact "Syphilis." This would fit in with the mysterious feeling of the song -- and would also explain the connections with "Nottamun Town," which also seems to be the result of plague and hallucination.
Seeking for relatives has been an unrewarding process. The closest I've found is in Kinloch's Ballad Book (item #XXII, no title, a fragment of two stanzas) has a piece in the same meter, with equally mysterious lines ("First there cam whipmen, and that not a few, And there cam bonnetmen following the pleugh"), but I don't have any reason except the metre and mystery to link them. - RBW
File: JHCox043

Black Pipe, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer is a beggar, but "if I got the best of broth with helpings of cold tripe, I would rather have an extra reek of my black pipe." The singer describes how tobacco is better than fame or fortune or power, and hopes to be buried with his pipe
AUTHOR: English words by Andy Doey and George Graham
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: begging drugs
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H832a, p. 49, "The Black Pipe" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH832a

Black Ram, The


See The Sheep-Shearing (File: ShH95)

Black Sarpent, The


See Springfield Mountain [Laws G16] (File: LG16)

Black Sheep


See All the Pretty Little Horses (File: LxU002)

Black Sheep Lullaby


See All the Pretty Little Horses (File: LxU002)

Black Sheep, The


DESCRIPTION: A father has three sons, one honest, two vile. The bad sons convince the father to evict the youngest. Then -- urged on perhaps by their wives -- they evict their father from the house. The third son, the "Black Sheep," comes forth and rescues the father
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1897
KEYWORDS: father children rescue
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Fuson, pp. 79-80, "The Black Sheep" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 130-131, "The Black Sheep" (1 text)
FSCatskills 105, "The Black Sheep" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 173-174, "The Black Sheep" (1 text)
DT, BLCKSHEP*
Roud #4282
RECORDINGS:
[Tom] Darby & [Jimmie] Tarlton, "The Black Sheep" (Columbia 15674, 1931; rec. 1930)
[Blind James] Howard & [Charles] Peak, "Three Black Sheep" (Victor V-40189, 1930; rec. 1928; on KMM)
NOTES: Yes, this song DOES sound like "King Lear." Given that it is patently a stage song, I can't help but think that the author was influenced by that play. - RBW
File: FSC105

Black Stripper, The


DESCRIPTION: "I have but one cow and she has but one tit, But she's better to me than one that has six, One drop of her milk would make the house ring." All his barley goes to feed her. He'll take her to town "and if I meet the gauger, I will knock him down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (_Songs of Uladh,_ according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad wordplay
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 29, "The Black Stripper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9755
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ewie Wi' the Crookit Horn" (subject, theme)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "The 'Black Stripper' is a Poitin Still." The gauger, in that case, would be a revenue collector. - BS
File: OLcM029

Black Tail Range, The


DESCRIPTION: "I am a roving cowboy Off from the western plains." Vignettes about cowboy life: One cowboy is rejected by a girl because he is poor. Another recalls leaving his family. Others tell of the dangers of mining and suggests hunting instead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Larkin)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work hunting mining
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Larkin, pp. 141-143, "The Black Tail Range" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5762
NOTES: Larkin's informant Bob Norfleet claims that he and a group of cowboys made this up in 1893, with each cowboy contributing a verse on pain of having to do the day's cooking. Given the miscellaneous nature of the verses, this seems possible -- but it was a surprisingly poetic bunch of cowboys. - RBW
File: Lark141

Black Them Boots (Goin' Down to Cairo)


DESCRIPTION: "Black them boots an' make 'em shine, Goodbye, goodbye, Black them boots and make 'em shine, Goodbye lazy Jane." "Oh how I love her, ain't that a shame...." "See that snail a-pullin' that rail?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 550, "Black Them Boots" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7656
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodbye Liza Jane (I)"
NOTES: From its form this would appear to be akin to "Goodbye Liza Jane" (or one of the other Liza Jane songs), but the fragment in Randolph is just too fragmentary for certainty. - RBW
[This is a variant of] "Goin' Down to Cairo," a southern Illinois fiddle tune with these verses and the chorus "Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, goodbye/Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, Liza Jane." The reference is to Cairo, Illinois. - PJS
File: R550

Black Velvet Band (I), The


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets and courts a girl with fine hair tied up in a (black/blue) velvet band. As they are out (walking) one night, she steals a gentleman's (watch). The crime is discovered; she plants the evidence on the singer; he is convicted and punished
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907
KEYWORDS: crime courting robbery transportation punishment clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(MW,So) Australia Ireland Canada
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 672, "The Blue Velvet Band" (1 text)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 49-50, 145-146, 192-193, "The Black Velvet Band" (2+ texts, 3 tunes)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 48-49, "The Black Velvet Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 61-64, "The Black Velvet Band" (1 text plus an excerpt)
Kennedy 313, "The Black Velvet Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 10-11, "The Girl with the Black Velvet Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 148-150, "The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band" (1 text)
JHJohnson, pp. 38-41, "The Girl with the Blue Velvet Band" (1 text)
DT 313, BLACKVEL BLKVEL2 BLUEVEL (BLUEVELV2 -- definitely a parody, possibly traditional)
Roud #2146 and 3764
RECORDINGS:
Cliff Carlisle, "The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band" (Melotone 5-12-61, 1935)
Tex Fletcher & Joe Rogers, "The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band" (Decca 5403, 1937)
Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, "The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band" (Columbia 20648, 1949)
Hank Snow, "The Blue Velvet Band" (Bluebird [Canada] B-4635, c. 1939)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Black Velvet Band (II -- New Zealand)" (tune, meter, lyrics)
cf. "The Black Velvet Band (III)"
cf. "The Charming Young Widow I Met on the Train" (woman pickpocket theme)
cf. "Pretty Little Dear" (theme: man imprisoned, woman thief)
SAME TUNE:
Hank Snow, "Answer to 'The Blue Velvet Band'" (Bluebird [Canada] B-4688, c. 1939)
NOTES: Roud splits this into two songs, based perhaps on whether the band is black (#2146) or blue (#3764). It may well be that the "blue velvet band" versions are a rewrite. Certainly the version produced by Spaeth is the sort of thing you'd expect when someone "improves" a traditional piece: The stanza form is different, and it's full of cutesy forms.
But it's the same story, and the "blue" form is less popular, so I'm content to lump them while considering the blue velvet band secondary and the result of redaction.
It should be noted that the fullest versions of the "Blue" version, such as Spaeth's, are extremely full, with (in effect) two plots: First the wild meeting which results in the young man being convicted and punished, and then a final scene in which the young man misses the girl and goes to find her, only to find her dead. There is another "Blue" version (in the Index as "Blue Velvet Band (II)" ) in which the middle part, about the prison, has broken off. Genetically, it's still the same song, and perhaps should file here -- but the parts have separated so far that it seemed better to split them.
In any case, there are so many black and blue velvet bands floating around the tradition that you probably should check all songs which use these titles.
Inceidentally, it seems pretty certain that the song was well-known in the ninetheenth century; according to Spaeth's A History of Popular Music in America, p. 608, there was a popular piece of 1894 entitled "Her Eyes Don't Shine Like Diamonds" by Dave Marion. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R672

Black Velvet Band (II -- New Zealand)


DESCRIPTION: In a form clearly based on the transportation song "The Black Velvet Band," the singer -- who has chosen to emigrate to New Zealand -- bids farewell to his girl and sails away. He tells how he is saving up to be reunited with his girl in the velvet band.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (recording, Bruce Hall)
KEYWORDS: love separation clothes emigration New Zealand
FOUND IN: New Zealand
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, BLKVEL3*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Black Velvet Band (I)" (tune, meter, lyrics)
cf. "The Black Velvet Band (III)"
NOTES: I suspect this is not really traditional, but rather is an adaption of the standard Black Velvet Band to New Zealand conditions (i.e. no transportation). But I gather it was found in some manuscript somewhere, so it *may* have been passed from hand to hand at some time. - RBW
File: DTBlkve3

Black Velvet Band (III), The


DESCRIPTION: Singer loves a girl who wears a blue (black) velvet band. He leaves her to find work. She appears to him by firelight; he returns home, to discover or learn from his captain that she has died. She is buried wearing his ring and the velvet band
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (recording, Stanley G. Triggs)
KEYWORDS: loneliness love rambling separation beauty clothes burial death work supernatural lover worker ghost
FOUND IN: Can(West)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, BLUEVEL2, BLUVELV2
RECORDINGS:
Stanley G. Triggs, "The Blue Velvet Band" (on Triggs1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Black Velvet Band (I)"
cf. "The Black Velvet Band (II - New Zealand)"
NOTES: The relationship to the other "Black Velvet Band" songs is clear -- this one shares the chorus "Her cheeks were the full flush of nature/Her beauty it seemed to expand/Her hair hung down in long tresses/Tied back by the blue velvet band." But the theme of betrayal common in the other songs is wholly absent; in this case the lady is innocent, and dies. So I separate them. - PJS
File: RcBlVel3

Black Water Side, The [Laws O1]


DESCRIPTION: A boy and girl have long been courting. He offers to marry her; she objects that she is too poor. He says that, though he loves only her, this is her only chance; he has another girl in reserve. She gains her mother's permission and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: courting poverty love marriage
FOUND IN: US(NE) Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws O1, "The Black Water Side"
Flanders/Olney, pp. 39-41, "Black Water Side" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H811, pp. 461-462, "The Blackwaterside" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 503-504, "The Blackwater Side" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #312
NOTES: Not to be confused with Kennedy's song "Down by Blackwaterside" ("Abroad As I Was Walking"), which is a seduction ballad. The two appear to have cross-fertilized heavily, but the plots are distinct. - RBW
File: LO01

Black Woman


DESCRIPTION: "Come here Black woman...ah-hmm, sit on Black daddy's knee." Singer asks if her house is lonesome with her biscuit-roller gone. He's going to Texas "to hear the wild ox moan. He asks where she stayed last night and threatens to tell her daddy on her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (recording, Vera Hall)
KEYWORDS: separation loneliness courting love sex abandonment travel lyric nonballad animal lover
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 140-141, "(Black Woman)" (1 text); pp. 266-268, "Black Woman" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10987
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "Black Woman" (on NFMAla1, DownHome)
Vera Hall, "Black Woman" (on AFS 4067 B1, 1940)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Wild Ox Moan
NOTES: Vera Hall recorded this subsequently as "Wild Ox Moan," the name by which it became popular in the folk revival. - PJS
File: CNFM140

Black-Eyed Daisy, The


DESCRIPTION: "Send for the fiddle and send for the bow, Send for the black-eyed Daisy, Don't reach here by the middle of the week, It's almost drive me crazy...." "Who'se been here since I been gone? Send for the... Pretty little girl with a red dress on...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1921 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: music nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 310, "The Black-Eyed Daisy" (1 text)
File: Br3310

Black-Eyed Mary


See Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly) (File: R749)

Black-Eyed Susan


See Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn) (File: R568)

Black-Eyed Susan (Dark-Eyed Susan) [Laws O28]


DESCRIPTION: Susan boards a ship to seek William. He hears her voice and greets her on the deck, promising to be true wherever he goes. Susan bids a sad farewell as the ship prepares to leave
AUTHOR: words: John Gay / music: Richard Leveridge
EARLIEST DATE: 1730
KEYWORDS: ship separation love
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws O28, "Black-Eyed Susan (Dark-Eyed Susan)"
Creighton/Senior, pp. 131-132, "Black-Eyed Susan" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 90-91, "Black-Eyed Susan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 28, "Dark-eyed Susan" (1 text, 1 tune)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 402-403, "Black-Eyed Susan" (1 text)
DT 672, BLKEYSUS
Roud #560
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 1(7), "William and Susan," W. and C. Dicey (London), 1736-1763; also Harding B 1(12), Harding B 1(8), Firth c.12(3), Harding B 1(11), Harding B 1(6), Harding B 1(9), "William and Susan"; Harding B 11(304), Harding B 11(2498), Firth b.26(37), Harding B 11(307), "Black Eyed Susan"; 2806 c.16.(122), Harding B 11(306), "Black-Ey'd Susan"; Harding B 11(2206), Firth b.25(241), Harding B 11(527), Harding B 28(74), Harding B 28(74), 2806 b.10(120), Harding B 18(42), "Black-Eyed Susan"
NLScotland, L.C.1270(002), "Black-Eyed Susan," unknown, c.1840-1850
SAME TUNE:
Black-eyed Susan (broadside Bodleian Harding B 1(7))
Black-ey'd Susan (broadside Bodleian Harding B 1(6))
NOTES: Written by John Gay, and fairly common in printed sources (Laws lists several broadsides, and it is item CLXVI in Palgrave's Golden Treasury). The only collections in oral tradition listed by Laws, however, are Nova Scotia versions found in Creighton; I am surprised to see that Laws regards it as a genuine traditional song. - RBW
Lehr/Best has a note on the transmission of this ballad.
Best collected the song from her mother who had also passed it to a friend who "wrote it down in her song scribbler." In the book's intoduction Best notes that "we encountered women who had compiled their own songbooks, usually two or three scribblers bound together 'so as not to be always forgetting the words.' These books are treasured and carefully kept clear of the children." [Of] "Dark-eyed Susan," Best goes on to note "Great was my surprise to find out, much later, that John Gay of Beggar's Opera fame had composed it in 1760, and that our version matched his almost word for word."
Almost word for word, in fact. In comparing Lehr/Best 28 to Harding B 1(6) no line is dropped or added or substantially changed. "The" may be replaced by "with" and "black-ey'd Susan" becomes "dark-eyed Susan," for example, but the most substantial change is that "In every port a mistress finds" becomes "In every port a sweetheart find": likely intentional censorship. Transmission then seems likely to have been from broadside through two hundred years of "scribblers" - BS
File: LO28

Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn)


DESCRIPTION: Floating verses about courting and marriage: "All I want in this creation / Pretty little wife and a big plantation.... Two little boys to call me pappy, One named sup and the other named gravy. Hey, black-eyed Susie" (or "Green corn," or other chorus)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (recording, Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage children nonballad playparty
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 568, "Black-Eyed Susan" (1 short text plus a fragment, 1 tune); also perhaps 415, "Possum Sop and Polecat Jelly" (1 text, 1 tune -- a playparty that shares some lyrics and is too short to classify on its own)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 410-411, "Black-Eyed Susan" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 568A)
BrownIII 311, "Black-Eyes Susie" (2 fragments, presumably of this piece)
Cambiaire, p. 86, "Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susan" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 184, "Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susan" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 29, "Black-eyed Susie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 286-288, "Black-eyed Susie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 38, "Green Corn"; p. 39, "Black-Eyed Susie" (2 texts)
DT, BLKEYESZ
Roud #4954 and 3426
RECORDINGS:
Roscoe Holcomb, "Blackeyed Susie" (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, "Black Eyed Susie" (Brunswick 175/Vocalion 5179 [as the Hill Billies], 1927)
J. P Nestor, "Black-Eyed Susie" (Victor 21070, 1927; on TimesAint05)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Blackeyed Susie" (on NLCR07)
Land Norris, "Kitty Puss" (OKeh 40212, 1924)
Fiddlin' Doc Roberts, "Black-Eyed Susie" (Gennett 6257, 1927)
Pete Seeger, "Black-Eyed Suzie" (on LonesomeValley);"Green Corn" (on BroonzySeeger2)
Jilson Setters [pseud. for James W. "Blind Bill" Day], "Black Eyed Susie" (Victor V-40127, 1929)
Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett, "Black-Eyed Susie" (Columbia 119-D, 1924)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Black-Eyed Susie" (Columbia 15283-D, 1928)
Henry Whitter [Whitter's Virginia Breakdowners], "Black-Eyed Susie" (OKeh 40320, 1925)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Shady Grove" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Hot Corn, Cold Corn (I'll Meet You in the Evening)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Davy" (meter)
NOTES: It is possible that this song and "Hot Corn, Cold Corn (I'll Meet You in the Evening)" spring from the same sources, since they share lyrics and themes. However, they have evolved far enough apart that I feel I have to split them.
Roud seems to split the group even more, with "Black Eyed Susie" being his #3426 and "Green Corn" his #4954. The versions I've seen, though, are so mixed up that I decided to lump them because almost any split would be somewhat arbitrary. Nor are the titles any help; Cambiaire's "Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susie." for instance, never mentions Susie; the girl in the song is Sally. - RBW
File: R568

Black, Brown, and White


DESCRIPTION: About the troubles suffered by American blacks, who must take poor jobs (if any are available) for poor pay. "If you're white, you're all right; If you're brown, stick around, But if you're black, O brother, git back, git back, git back."
AUTHOR: Big Bill Broonzy
EARLIEST DATE: 1945
KEYWORDS: discrimination hardtimes work
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 350-351, "Discrimination Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA316 , "Black, Brown, and White" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 176, "Git Back Blues (Black, Brown, and White Blues)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GITBACK*
File: SBoA350

Blackberries, The


See Na Smeara (The Blackberries) (File: TST009)

Blackberry Grove


DESCRIPTION: The singer is eating blackberries when he spies a milkmaid. He asks to buy milk; she says the cow has kicked over the bucket. She hints that the loan of a shilling would be quickly repaid; he takes the hint, she takes the shillings, and he takes her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1892 (Baring-Gould and Sheppard)
KEYWORDS: courting sex commerce farming money food animal worker
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 122, "Blackberry Grove" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLKBERGR*
Roud #9176
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Harmless Young Jim" (innuendoes)
cf. "Buttercup Joe" (innuendoes)
cf. "The Spotted Cow" (theme)
cf. "Kitty of Coleraine" (theme)
cf. "Three Maidens to Milking Did Go" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
One Michaelmas Morn
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Pretty Betsy the Milkmaid (Blackberry Fold)," despite their sharing a milkmaid and blackberries. Incidentally, one of the reasons milkmaids were held in such romantic esteem was for their smooth, fair, and un-pockmarked skin, which came from their contact with cowpox and resultant immunity to smallpox. - PJS
Kennedy observes that the song dates itself to Michaelmas (September 29), a day on which hired workers finished their terms and were paid off. Thus the youth would have money to spend -- and the girl would have every reason to latch onto him *now* (even if it meant spilling the milk) before he left the vicinity.
I know of no version in which the two explicitly sleep together (and can't imagine Baring-Gould printing such!), but the implication is strong. - RBW
File: K122

Blackbird (I), The (Jacobite)


DESCRIPTION: A lady is mourning for her blackbird, who "once in fair England... did flourish." Now he has been driven far away "because he was the true son of the king." She resolves to seek him out, and wishes him well wherever he may be
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1651 (Broadside, reprinted by Ramsay, 1740)
KEYWORDS: lament separation Jacobites
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1625 - Accession of Charles I
1649 - Execution of Charles I. Charles (II) forced into hiding. Britain becomes a commonwealth
1660 - Restoration of monarchy. Accession of Charles II.
1685 - Death of Charles II. Accession of James II and VII (a Catholic)
1688-1689 - Glorious Revolution deposes King James II
1720-1788 - Life of Bonnie Prince Charlie
1745-1746 - Jacobite rebellion of 1745, which ended in the defeat and final exile of Bonnie Prince Charlie
FOUND IN: US(So) Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Hogg2 33, "The Blackbird" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 117, "The Blackbird" (1 fragment)
Randolph 116, "The Blackbird" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 115-117, "The Blackbird" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 116B)
OLochlainn-More 78, "The Blackbird" (1 text, 1 tune)
PGalvin, pp. 16-17, "The Royal Blackbird" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 36, "The Blackbird" (1 text)
Zimmermann 1, "The Blackbird" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 19-21, "The Royal Blackbird" (1 text)
DT, RYLBLKBD*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 139, "The Blackbird"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 246-248, "The Blackbird" (1 text)
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 143-144, 510, "The Blackbird"
ADDITIONAL: Thomas Kinsella, _The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1989), p. 255, "The Blackbird" (1 text)
Edward Bunting, The Ancient Music of Ireland (Mineola, 2000 (reprint of 1840 Dublin edition)), #98 and p. 92 [one verse], "The Blackbird"
Roud #2375
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "The Royal Blackbird" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(67), "The Blackbird" ("Upon a fair morning, for soft recreation"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 17(27a), Harding B 16(25a), Harding B 6(18), 2806 b.11(71), Harding B 11(297), Johnson Ballads 3041, Harding B 20(16), Firth c.26(219), "The Blackbird"; Harding B 19(107), Firth c.14(250), Harding B 11(1038), Harding B 11(3357), 2806 c.15(167) [almost entirely illegible], "The Royal Blackbird"
LOCSinging, sb10013b, "The Blackbird," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as112050, "Royal Blackbird"
Murray, Mu23-y4:016, "The Blackbird," John Ross (Newcastle), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(003), "The Blackbird," unknown, c. 1845
SAME TUNE:
The Lark Is Up (broadside Bodleian 2806 b.11(71))
NOTES: Sparling claims his six verse text is "an unmutilated version" accessible "for the first time in a hundred years.... In every other collection [including Duffy] it has appeared as three stanzas, made up of fragments." Zimmermann's text agrees essentially with Sparling's. - BS
The first broadside versions of this song date to 1650, obviously referring to Charles II, who was then in exile. It wasn't safe to refer to him by name, so the allegorical "blackbird" was used. It seems also to have been used of James II, and perhaps also to his son James III. However, the title came to be most strongly associated with Bonnie Prince Charlie.
After the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, the same situation arose as in 1650. It was generally not safe to speak of Charlie, so the Jacobites adopted various circumlocutions -- the "blackbird," the "moorhen," or simply "Somebody."
The Jacobite Rebellions had their roots in the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688/9. The British King James II (James VII of Scotland) was Catholic, and had just had a Catholic son. This was unacceptable, and James was overthrown on behalf of his Protestant daughter Mary II (died 1694) and her husband William III (died 1702). When Mary and her sister Anne died without issue (1714), the throne was awarded to the utterly disgusting George I of Hannover (died 1727). The result was the first Jacobite Rebellion in 1715, intended to bring James II's son James (III) back to the throne.
The rebellion sputtered, and another revolt in 1719 was stillborn.
In 1745, Prince Charles Edward (the son of James III) took up his father's cause. 24 years old, handsome, and with an aura of nobility, Charles thoroughly scared the Hannoverian dynasty, but was at last defeated and driven into exile. But his face and bearing burned their way into the hearts of the Scots for many years to come. - RBW
Also collected and sung by Kevin Mitchell, "The Royal Blackbird" (on Kevin and Ellen Mitchell, "Have a Drop Mair," Musical Tradition Records MTCD315-6 CD (2001)) - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: R116

Blackbird (III), The


See Logan's Lament (File: E112)

Blackbird (IV), The


See Granua's Lament for the Loss of her Blackbird Mitchel the Irish Patriot (File: Zimm060)

Blackbird and Thrush, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer hears two birds rejoicing because they are "single and free." The girl goes to meet Johnny, but "the dearer I loved him, the saucier he grew." At last he rejects her, and she says she can do better elsewhere
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection flowers gift
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H241, pp. 346-347, "The Blackbird and Thrush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 290-291, "So Abroad as I was Walking" (1 text, 1 tune, with no particular plot but with verses reminiscent of "Old Smokey" or this piece)
Roud #2380
RECORDINGS:
Turp Brown, "Abroad As I Was Walking" (on Voice01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "On Top of Old Smokey" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell He" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Ploughboy (I)" (theme)
NOTES: The full version of this song, from the Sam Henry collection, is little more than a pastiche of floating lyrics (see the cross-references). I've thrown in the Copper text (which Roud actually splits off as its own song) because it, like the Henry text, contains lyrics we ordinarily associate with "Old Smokey." Presumably both songs derive from the same source as gave us the American text.
The key lines are "A meeting's a pleasure, a parting's a grief, And an (unconstant young man) is worse than a thief." - RBW
File: HHH241

Blackbird in the Bush, The


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

Blackbird of Avondale, The (The Arrest of Parnell)


DESCRIPTION: A fair maid mourns "Oh, where is my Blackbird of sweet Avondale." The fowler caught him in Dublin and he is behind "the walls of Kilmainham." She says "God grant that my country will soon be a nation And bring back my Blackbird to sweet Avondale"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS:
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct12, 1881 - Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) is arrested in Dublin. He is released from Kilmainham Jail May 2, 1882 (source: Zimmermann)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 81, "The Blackbird of Avondale" or "The Arrest of Parnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5174
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(59), "The Blackbird of Avondale" or "The Arrest of Parnell" ("By the sweet bay of Dublin whilst carelessly strolling"), unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Michael Davitt" (subject and references there)
cf. "The Bold Tenant Farmer" (character of Parnell) and references there)
NOTES: Parnell, who was born in Avondale, County Wicklow, is arrested under the Coercion Act of 1881, which was intended to inhibit Land League activities. Parnell was the head of the Land League at the time. (source: "Charles Stuart Parnell (1846-1891)" at the Alumni Website of Magdalene College, Cambridge) - BS
[We should note that almost all sources spell Parnell's name "Charles Stewart Parnell."]
For the Land League, see the notes to "The Bold Tenant Farmer."
This, incidentally, was one of the Great Mistakes of Britain's dealings with Ireland. Prior to his arrest, Parnell was in the uncomfortable position of leading a divided organization: Many Land Leaguers were for fighting the British with all their might, others favored purely parliamentary means. Both were growing somewhat suspicious of Parnell (who seems to have favoured whatever was most effective at a particular time). But the radicals' activism caused Gladstone to pass a Coersion Act, and to round up Parnell and his associates. That united all Ireland behind him; by the time he was released, he was Ireland's dominant politician (see Robert Kee, The Bold Fenian Men, being volume II of The Green Flag, pp. 81-85).
I should say, *almost* all Ireland. The exception was the Ulster presbyterians. According to Kee, p. 103, the Kilmainham "treaty" which led to the release of Parnell, and the accompanying British concessions, alarmed the workers of northeast Ulster. The result was the revival of the Orange Society, and the rise of the Ulster Unionists, and eventually partition; see, e.g. the notes to "A Loyal Song Against Home Rule." - RBW
File: Zimm081

Blackbird of Mullaghmore, The


DESCRIPTION: For money the singer will "supply you with a good friend" and a glass. The "loyal blackbird" of Mullaghmore has been driven away to some fine still. "Her offspring are well proven in America, France and Spain" She will return "but not to the same place"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad emigration bird
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 123-124, "The Blackbird of Mullaghmore" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBoyle 4, "Blackbird of Mullaghmore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3474
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Loyal Blackbird
NOTES: Tunney-StoneFiddle: "If poteen was so potent surely it inspired the poets. Isn't 'The Loyal Blackbird' or 'The Blackbird of Mullaghmore' one of the many songs in praise of stills and poteen-making?"
OBoyle: .".. the Blackbird of the song is the hidden name for the hidden Still. Mullaghmore (The Big Height) is a townland on the slopes of the Mournes above Hilltown in County Down, where I first heard the song from Owen McAteer in July 1952." - BS
File: TSF124

Blackbirds and Thrushes (I)


DESCRIPTION: Young man meets young woman; she laments her Jimmy, who is off to the wars. She fears he will be killed, but when he returns, he finds her dead instead. He regrets having left.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: love separation death soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sharp-100E 36, "Blackbirds and Thrushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12657
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cowboy Jack" [Laws B24] (plot)
cf. "C'est la Belle Francoise (Beautiful Francesca)" (plot)
cf. "The Lass of Roch Royal" [Child 76] (theme)
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there (theme)
cf. "Ball of Yarn"
File: ShH36

Blackbirds and Thrushes (II)


See Hares on the Mountain (File: ShH63)

Blackboy's Waltzing Matilda, The


See Waltzing Matilda (File: PBB119)

Blackeyed Susie


See Black-Eyed Susie (Green Corn) (File: R568)

Blackfoot Rangers


DESCRIPTION: "Mount! mount! and away o'er the greenwood so wide, The sword is our sceptre, the fleet steed our pride...." The Blackfoot rangers will raid and bushwhack the Federals, who cannot hope to defeat them; God will support them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: outlaw horse Civilwar
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 354, "Blackfoot Rangers" (1 text)
Roud #7770
NOTES: Although the reader may be tempted to refer this to the Blackfoot Indians (who lived primarily in Montana and Alberta east of the Rockies), Belden refers this to the Blackfoot region in Missouri, and to the Civil War, and he is likely right.
Missouri was long a center of intense guerrilla activity, starting actually *before* the Civil War (as raiders crossed over into "Bleeding Kansas" to try to force that state to become slave or free). These particular raiders were probably Confederate (since they were anti-Federal), but it's barely possible that they were abolitionist and trying to overthrow the pro-slavery Lecompton government.
In any case, given the way these guerillas behaved, the only god who could approve of their behavior is one which fed on human sacrifice.
Belden does not mention an ancestor of this piece, but looking at it, I cannot help but feel that it is adapted from something else, though I'm not sure what. - RBW
File: Beld354

Blackleg Miners, The


DESCRIPTION: "It's in the even' after dark, When the black-leg miner creeps to work." "They take their picks and down they go To hew the coal that lies below." The singer warns against mining. Women avoid miners. Hearers are urged to join the union
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966 (English Dance & Song 28:1)
KEYWORDS: mining labor-movement hardtimes
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, BLAKLEG*
ADDITIONAL: Norman Buchan, "Folk and Protest," in Edward J. Cowan, editor, _The People's Past: Scottish Folk, Scottish History_ 1980 (I use the 1993 Polygon paperback edition), pp. 166-167, "(The Dirty Black Miners" (1 text)
Roud #3193
File: CBThBlMi

Blackman's Dream, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer dreams of a mystical trip. At different points on the desert trip he is given colored garments to wear. He encounters the burning bush, a toad, armed strangers, mountains, a pyramid and a fountain and cup for toasting all that don't bow to Baal.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: dream ritual religious
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 35, "The Blackman's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Knight Templar's Dream" (subject) and references there
cf. "The Grand Mystic Order" (subject) and references there
NOTES: OrangeLark: "The title is a sufficient description of the song's contents." [?!]
According to Zimmermann, p. 303, "Other [than Orange Lodge] Protestant organizations, such as the Grand Black Chapter or the Royal Arch Purple Chapter, developed parallel with Orangeism, and their rituals were also themes of allegorical songs which appeared, along with masonic texts, in Orange collections." His footnote to that statement lists among songs not inspired by Orange ritual, "The Black Man's Dream."
The Royal Black Institution was formed in Ireland in 1797; the Orange Order had been formed in 1795. To this day it has an annual July 13 demonstration at Scarva in Co. Down. (source: "Our Background" at The Royal Black Institution site) - BS
The Burning Bush is of course a reference to Exodus 3. Most of the other references are non-Biblical, except for the one to bowing to Baal. I suspect this is a reference to 1 Kings 19:18. Elijah had fled to Mount Horeb, saying that he is left alone as a worshipper of YHWH, but YHWH answers, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Ba'al." This must have seemed unusually suitable imagery to the Protestants of Ulster, who were so conscious of being a minority in a Catholic nation. - RBW
File: OrLa035

Blacksmith (I), The


DESCRIPTION: "A blacksmith courted me, Nine months or better. He fairly won my heart, Wrote me a letter.... And if I were with my love, I'd live forever." Sadly, her love has departed (for the wars? To be married?); she wishes she were with him wherever he goes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901
KEYWORDS: love separation courting lie betrayal lament lover
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) Canada
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Kennedy 146, "A Blacksmith Courted Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 22, "The Blacksmith" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 56, "The Blacksmith" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
DT, BLAKSMIT* BLAKSMT2* BLAKSMI2*
Roud #816
RECORDINGS:
Harry Brazil, "A Blacksmith Courted Me" (on Voice11)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(130), "The Blacksmith," H. Such (London), 1863-1885
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Brave Wolfe" [Laws A1] (tune & meter)
cf. "Our Captain Called" (tune & meter, lyrics)
cf. "Pining Daily and Daily" (theme)
cf. "Glasgow Ships" (one verse)
SAME TUNE:
Brave Wolfe [Laws A1] (File: LA01)
NOTES: Lines are similar to Opie-Oxford2 270, "Brave news is come to town" (earliest date in Opie-Oxford2 is 1842).
Firth c.18(130): "Strange news has come to me, strange news is carried, And now it's all the talk, my love he is married."
Opie-Oxford2 270: "Brave news is come to town, Brave news is carried; Brave news is come to town, Jemmy Dawson's married." - BS
(For the items listed above, see also Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #280, p. 165, "(Brave news is come to town)"; also Montgomerie-ScottishNR 96, "(Braw News is come to town)," in which the girl is Jean Tamson. The similarity is only in the lyrics, though, not in the plot.)
Kennedy lists in excess of a dozen collections of this song, almost all from the south of England. Normally I would interpret this to mean that it is recent but popular -- but of course it is old enough to have supplied the tune for "Brave Wolfe."
The Opies mention "Jemmy Dawson" as a man executed for supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie, but that of course doesn't prove that it's the same Jemmy Dawson. On the other hand, if Jemmy were being sung about circa 1745, the tune would still be remembered circa 1760, when "Brave Wolfe" was presumably written. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: K146

Blacksmith (II), The


See Whiskey Is My Name (Donald Blue) (File: HHH835)

Blacksmith (III), The


DESCRIPTION: "When I was a blacksmith An working in my shop I did kiss a bonnie lass Behind the working block." He describes her hair, eyes, teeth and skin. He compares birds to women. The last lines are enigmatic: "I winna lie in your bed Neither at stock nor wa"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting sex beauty nonballad bird
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 841, "The Blacksmith" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6249
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Behind the Stable Door
NOTES: The verses seem as though they must be floating but I can't place them. For example, the verse describing the woman's hair is "The colour o my bonnie lovey's hair Was o the bonnie brown An ye widna see the like o my bonnie love In a' the country roun"; one of the verses referring to birds is "The blackbird it's a bonnie bird The cuckoo also vain But by a the creatures o the earth The woman's the prettiest one." - BS
The last lines may be from "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship." Comparison of people to blackbirds and cuckoos are of course too numerous to mean much. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4841

Blacksmith Courted Me, A


See The Blacksmith (File: K146)

Blacksmith of Cloghroe, The


DESCRIPTION: "The rebels' hall of meeting was the forge of sweet Cloghroe" where they learned the soldier's drill. Sean Magee, the blacksmith there, is now buried in Kilmurry. "Ireland lost a gallant son in the blacksmith of Cloghroe"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: rebellion death Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OCanainn, pp. 66,122, "The Blacksmith of Cloghroe" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Skibbereen" (tune, per OCanainn)
NOTES: OCanainn calls this "another patriotic song of West Cork." I assume that it is -- like many of the other songs in the collection -- a song of the Irish Civil Wars of 1920-1922. - BS
The flip side is, blacksmiths had often been at the center of earlier rebellions, simply because they could make pikes. By 1920, even the Irish had realized that pikes were useless against modern weapons. But, of course, the flip side is that rebellions such as 1848 and 1867 had almost no casualties. So the Civil War does indeed seem the most likely occasion. - RBW
File: OCan066

Blacksmith's Song, The


See Twankydillo (The Blacksmith's Song) (File: K286)

Blackwater Side (I)


See Down By Blackwaterside (File: K151)

Blackwater Side (II), The


See The Bann Water Side (File: HHH685)

Blackwater Side (III)


See The Lovely Irish Maid (File: Pea551)

Blackwaterside, The


See The Black Water Side [Laws O1] (File: LO01)

Blaeberries, The


See The Blaeberry Courtship [Laws N19] (File: LN19)

Blaeberry Courtship, The [Laws N19]


DESCRIPTION: A Lowland girl is induced to follow a Highland lad home "to pick blueberries" (and get married). The girl is worn out by the time they reach his home -- only to discover that his poverty is a sham and he is a great lord whom she knew in childhood
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1835 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 1570)
KEYWORDS: courting poverty money harvest
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws N19, "The Blaeberry Courtship"
SHenry H193, pp. 487-488, "The Hielan's o' Scotland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #43, pp. 1-2, "The Blaeberry Courtship" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 852, "The Blaeberry Courtship" (16 texts plus a single verse on p. 561, 11 tunes)
Ord, pp. 190-191, "The Blaeberry Courtship" (1 text)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 62-63, "The Blaeberries" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 18, "The Blaeberry Courtship" (2 texts)
DT 450, BLAEBRRY BLAEBRR2
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Ballads (Glasgow, 1845), pp. 276-278, "The Blaeberries"
Robert Ford, editor, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland [second series] (Paisley, 1901 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 77-82, "The Blaeberry Courtship"
Roud #1888
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 1570, "The Blaeberries" or "Highland Laird's Courtship," G Walker (Durham), 1797-1834
NLScotland, RB.m.143(004), "The Blaeberry Courtship," Pos Box (sic.), i.e. Poet's Box (Glasgow), c. 1880
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lizie Lindsay" [Child 226] (plot)
cf. "Glasgow Peggy" [Child 228] (plot)
cf. "Erin-go-bragh" (tune, per GreigDuncan4)
NOTES: Laws calls this a "modernization of the story" told in "Lizie Lindsay" (Child #226). It is possible that this is technically true -- that is, that "The Blaeberry Courtship" was inspired by the Child Ballad. Certainly a number of scholars (far too many!) have lumped them together. But they are clearly and obviously separate songs, and should be treated as such. In terms of plot, "The Blaeberry Courtship" is nearly as close to "Glasgow Peggy" as to "Lizie Lindsay"; note that the suitor reveals his wealth only *after* the lady comes away with him. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LN19

Blanche Comme la Niege (White as Snow)


DESCRIPTION: French. A lady is taken home by a captain. They eat before making love, but she falls dead during the meal. She is buried in her father's garden. When her father comes, she calls him to open her tomb: She has pretended to be dead to save her honor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting sex virginity escape beauty trick burial father
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 174-178, "Blanche Comme la Niege" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best, "Blanche Comme la Neige" (on NFABest01)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
La Belle Qui Fait la Morte Pour Son Honneur Garder
NOTES: In Peacock's version there is only one lady rather than three. In some versions one lady, white as snow and beautiful as day, falls asleep on a bed of roses and three captains come courting. - BS
File: Pea174

Blancheflour and Jellyflorice [Child 300]


DESCRIPTION: Blancheflour, a pretty servant girl, finds a place sewing for a queen. The queen warns the girl away from her son Jellyflorice, but the two fall in love. The queen would kill the girl, but Jellyflorice rescues and marries her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: royalty courting servant punishment rescue marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Child 300, "Blancheflour and Jellyflorice" (1 text)
Roud #3904
NOTES: Depending on how you count, there seem to be between thirty and fifty Middle English metrical romances which have survived to the present day. Of these, three seem to get most of the critical attention: "King Horn," because it is the oldest; "Sir Orfeo," because because it is the best; and "Floris and Blancheflour," because it is the prettiest.
All three seem to have become ballads -- "King Horn" became "Hind Horn" [Child 17]; "Sir Orfeo" became "King Orfeo" [Child 19], and "Floris and Blancheflour" (also known as "Floriz and Blauncheflur," etc.) became "Blancheflour and Jellyflorice" [Child 300].
That romance is not really the source of the plot of this piece, but probably the ultimate inspiration. Dickins/Wilson, p. 43, report that there are two European versions of the story, one for aristocratic and one for popular audiences; both exist, e.g., in French.
The Middle English romance seems to be derived from the aristocratic version (Sands, p. 280).
The plot of the romance is roughly as follows: A band of pilgrims is attacked by Saracens. A young pregnant widow is taken prisoner when her father is killed. Taken to Spain, she bears a daughter Blancheflur. On that day, the Saracen queen has a son Floris. Brought up together, they fall in love. The parents oppose the match, and sell Blancheflur into slavery. Floris attempts suicide; his parents relent and equip him for a journey to find her. He discovers her in an eastern harem and manages to rescue her.
(The popular version makes the ending simpler; Floris simply performs some of the tasks of a knight errant.)
The plot is common; Boccaccio used it in Il Filocopo, and the idea at least is found in Chaucer's "Franklin's Tale" and is said to go all the way back to India.
The Middle English "Floris and Blauncheflur" romance, according to Dickins/Wilson, p. 43, has been "severely pruned... to such a degree that occasionally details vital to the plot have been omitted." This includes even the introductory material, about the capture of the Christian widow that motivates the plot -- though all the surviving Middle English versions seem to have lost material at the beginning, so that lack may be accidental.
"Floris and Blancheflour" seems to have been very popular by romance standards. Most Middle English romances survive in only one copy (although we have three of "Sir Orfeo" and three of "King Horn"). "Floris and Blancheflour" tops that; there are four manuscripts:
* B.M. Cotton Vitellius D III (late XIII century, according to Dickens/Wilson, p. 44 and Sands, p. 280; Sands notes that it suffered very badly in the Cotton Library fire -- unfortunate, since it seems particularly close to the French)
* Cambridge Gg.4.27.2 (early XIV century, according to Dickens/Wilson; late XIII according to Sands; Emerson, p. 263 puts it in the middle of XIII and considers this the best manuscript as far as extant),
* Edinburgh Auchinleck MS (probably written between 1325 and 1350)
* B. M. Egerton 2862 (early XV century; although the latest manuscript, it is the most complete, probably lacking only a few lines at the beginning; it contains 366 lines not found in any of the others, according to Dickins/Wilson, p. 44).
Dickins/Wilson, p. 44, make the odd claim that "All MSS. go back to a single lost original, but the wide discrepancies between them suggest that the intervening links were more probably oral than written."
Sands seems to offer a simpler explanation: The manuscripts have all been edited, with much material being omitted along the way. The result is erratic and the meter often defective, but Sands notes (p. 282) that it is a "well-structured story" and believes that this makes up for the "undistinguished verse."
The language is a mixture of southern and Midland (Emerson, p. 263).
The earlier history of this romance is curious and disputed. Sands, p. 280, dates the English version c. 1250, and suggests that the French original was current 75-100 year before that. Emerson, p. 263, says that the plot is "probably of Eastern origin, and brought to the West in the twelfth century, perhaps by crusaders. The English poem was freely translated and condensed from a French version."
Garnett and Gosse, p. 117, call this the "most beautiful" of the romances, and note that it is "represented in most mediaeval literatures. The theory of its Spanish origin is inadmissible, but in tolerance and spirit of humanity it does seem to bear traces of influence from some land where Christian and Moslem often lived in amity." (This would seem to support the notion that it was carried by Crusaders, since -- prior to the formation of the Ottoman Empire -- it was in the Islamic regions of Palestine and Egypt that such toleration was most common.)
Bennett/Gray, p. 136, says that "Floris and Blancheflour, translated and modified from a French original somewhere in the South East Midlands in the mid-thirteenth century -- and soon copied in the South West -- is as near as we can come in English to the daintiness and charm of the more famous Aucassin et Nicolette, and has something of the perennial appeal, though little of the artistry, of that early masterpiece." On p. 137, however, they declare that "It was doubtless the Eastern magic and marvels -- the gleaming carbuncle, Babylon of 140 gates and 700 towers, the brazen conduit, a stream that runs from Paradise over precious stones and tests chastity -- that gave the poem its chief appeal." On p. 138, we read, "If we miss the verve of Aucassin, there is something in this tale for most tastes of the time, and a foretaste of the Arabian Nights."
All four manuscripts of "Floris and Blancheflour" have been published, typically in obscure volumes. Sands, pp. 282-309, prints a 1083 line version, slightly modernized, based mostly on the Egerton manuscript. Dickins/Wilson, pp. 44-48, print what they consider to be lines 639-824 based on the Cambridge manuscript. Emerson, pp. 35-47,prints about 400 lines based on Cambridge, starting with line 433 of that manuscript.
As already mentioned, several other ballads also derive loosely or from Middle English romance, or from the legends that underlie it, examples being:
* "Hind Horn" [Child 17], from "King Horn" (3 MSS., including Cambridge Gg.4.27.2, which also contains "Floris and Blancheflour")
* "King Orfeo" [Child 19], from "Sir Orfeo" (3 MSS., including the Auchinlek MS, which also contains "Floris and Blancheflour")
* "The Marriage of Sir Gawain" [Child 31], from "The Weddynge of Sir Gawe and Dame Ragnell" (1 defective MS, Bodleian MS Rawlinson C 86) - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: C300

Blandon Blarney Stone, The


See The Blarney Stone (File: DTblrnst)

Blanket Curant, The


See The Sea Captain and the Squire [Laws Q12] (File: LQ12)

Blankets and Sheets


DESCRIPTION: "O ladies be wary for when that you marry There's twenty things more in a day you've to do, There's blankets and sheets and preens are awanting And oh to be married if this be the way"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: marriage nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 889, "Blankets and Sheets" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6233
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan4 text. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4889

Blantyre Explosion, The


See The High Blantyre Explosion [Laws Q35] (File: LQ35)

Blaris Moor


DESCRIPTION: It would be "treason" to accuse Colonel Barber of "murder." Those shot "were lads of good behaviour" but "O'Brien and Lynch" betrayed them for gold. Offered a pardon and gold themselves, those condemned as "united" chose death, and were shot.
AUTHOR: ascribed to James Garland (d. c.1842) (Source: Zimmermann)
EARLIEST DATE: 1797 ("as sung in Belfast in 1797," according to Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: army betrayal execution Ireland
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 16, 1797 - William and Owen McKenna, Peter McCarren and Daniel McGillain, soldiers in the Monaghan militia, executed after sentence by court martial. (source: United Irishmen handbill quoted by Zimmermann)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 6, "Blaris Moor" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #13386
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of Blaris Moor" (subject)
NOTES: Blaris is a civil parish in County Antrim and County Down.
IRCroppysComplaint notes re "The Blarismoor Tragedy": "In 1797 the Monaghan Militia were quartered in Belfast. In May of that year it was discovered that large numbers of them had been secretly recruited as United Irishmen."
Zimmermann quotes a 1798 United Irishmen handbill describing the execution and refusal by the men convicted as United Irishmen to inform in spite of offers of pardon and reward.
Zimmermann's two versions have many differences but share a rhyme scheme and so many lines that I would not separate them. One seems a badly remembered version of the other. - BS
File: Zimm006

Blarismoor Tragedy, The


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Lord, grant me direction To sing this foul transaction... Late done at Blarismoor." Three Irishmen are accused, and offered pardon and promotion if they list their accomplices. They refuse and are executed
AUTHOR: James Garland (d. c.1842) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1897 (P.W. Joyce finds it in _The Weekly Nation_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion trial crime execution
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 17, 1797 - The Blarismoor Tragedy
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
PGalvin, pp. 86-87, "The Blarismoor Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 47, "The Blarismoor Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLARISMOOR
Roud #13386
NOTES: Moylan has a long note, quoting Madden, describing the event.
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Jim McFarland, "The Blarismoor Tragedy" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes) - BS
File: PGa086

Blarney Stone, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a pretty girl on the road to Bandon, who tells him she's lonely and asks "where I'd find that little Blarney stone." He shows her, to their mutual delight. The chorus points out there's a Blarney Stone in every town in Ireland
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recorded by Shaun O'Nolan, according to Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a pretty girl on the road to Bandon, who tells him she's lonely and asks "where I'd find that little Blarney stone." He shows her, to their mutual delight -- "He rolled me in his arms where I never had been before/Sure he's kissed the blooming roses on my Bandon Blarney Stone." The chorus lists various places with Blarney Stones, ad notes that one is found in every town in Ireland
KEYWORDS: courting sex Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 41, "The Bandon Blarney Stone" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLARNSTN, BLRNSTON
Roud #4800
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry w. Michael Gorman, "The Blarney Stone" (on Pubs1); Margaret Barry, "The Blarney Stone" (on IRMBarry-Fairs) (on Voice01)
Tom Lenihan, "The Bandon Blarney Stone" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: The famous stone is located at Blarney, County Cork; according to legend, if one can stretch across a gap between two cliffs and kiss the stone, one will acquire the "gift of gab" -- that is, the "eloquence of flattery," to use Rinzler's term. The song points out that everyone in Ireland has acquired that gift, Blarney Stone or no, and the chorus tells why. - PJS
File: DTblrnst

Blaser Kallt, Kallt Vader Ifran Sjon, Det (The Cold Weather's Blowin' in From the Sea)


DESCRIPTION: Swedish shanty. Sailor goes to sea at the age of 14. Sometime later meets a girl in Kalmar Harbour, convinces her to come along and marry him. Chorus after each verse line: "Det blaser kallt vader ifran sjon (The cold weather's blowin' in from the sea)"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sternvall, _Sang under Segel_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty courting
FOUND IN: Sweden
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 543-545, "Det Blaser Kallt, Kallt Vader Ifran Sjon" (1 Swedish plus 1 English text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Sternvall has a note that this was already popular by the beginning of the 19th century. - SL
File: Hugi543

Blaw the Wind Southerly


See Blow the Wind Southerly (File: StoR018)

Blawin' Willie Buck's Horn


DESCRIPTION: Seemingly unconnected couplets. "I've a cherry, I've a chess, I've a bonny blue glass." A hare, or dog, or nothing, is in the corn, "Blawin' Willie Buck's horn." Willy Buck may have a cow, or cat, jumping like a Covenanter.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #20, p. 2, ("Keepit sheep, keepit swine"); Greig #22, p. 2, ("Owre Don, owre Dee"); Greig #159, p. 3, ("As I gaed owre yon heich heich hill") (3 texts)
GreigDuncan8 1640, "Blawin' Willie Buck's Horn" (5 texts)
ADDITIONAL: James Orchard Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (London, 1843 ("Digitized by Google")),#250 p. 144, ("Lazy dukes, that sit on their neuks")
Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 158-159, ("I've a cherry, I've a chess")
ST GrD81640 (Full)
Roud #13062
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Gibb Fyke
Willie Buck Had a Coo
NOTES: There is no verse structure: sections of lines are glued together for no reason that I can understand. Greig quotes a correspondent: "...they used these long nonsense rhymes when they were spinning to count how many threads for the hank..." In Doh Ray Me, When Ah Wis Wee (Edinburgh, 2007), Ewan McVicar begins Chapter 5 by noting that, "There are many short, rhythmic pieces for counting out or counting in or eliminating, for choosing sides in games of football or cops and robbers, or choosing who is 'het' (it) -- who is to be chaser in a game of tig." He includes this GreigDuncan8 piece and Chambers's as examples and explains some of the garbling [pp. 81-86]. The description is just a random sample. The Halliwell entry is included in the Supplemental Tradition File.
There are two connections among the GreigDuncan8 texts:
1640A, 1640B, 1640C and 1640D: Excepting C and D, they have a section in the middle, "His fader wis a cadger, Sat ahin the cutty creels, Took a haddock by the heels"; all have a line towards the end, "I've [something], Blawin' Willie Buck's horn," followed by something like "Willie Buck had a coo, They ca'd her Bella Bentie, She lap o'er the Brig o' Dee Like ony Covenanter" [Greig #20]. Greig writes, "I recall a rhyme learned in early years which, differing from the above in the early part, begins to get in line with it at 'My father was a cadger' and maintains a fairly close correspondence to the end."
1640A, 1640B and 1640E: Have a section along the lines of .".. Gibb Fyke Staw the rumple fae my tyke -- Ti my ram -- Kent ye blin' Tam?" [Greig #20].
Neither of these connections is in Chambers, or its source, Halliwell, except "Blow, Willie, Buckhorn"; other lines link it to all of the sets.
For some background on the Covenanters see the notes to "The Bonnie House o Airlie" [Child 199] and "Bothwell Bridge" [Child 206]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81640

Blazing Star of Drum (Drim, Drung), The


DESCRIPTION: The singer out late on a snowy night when he sees the girl. They meet again. He asks her dwelling. She says she is too young. He says he would treat her well if she would come away. He goes across the sea without her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (JIFSS)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty emigration rejection
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H197a, pp. 247-248, "The Blazing Star of Drim"; H197b, p. 248, "The Blazing Star of Drung" (2 texts, allegedly from the same source but with substantial differences, 1 tune)
Roud #2945
NOTES: Reading this reminds me very strongly of "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)," and to a lesser extent of other courting/lost love type songs. Yet they don't actually have lyrics in common. - RBW
File: HHH197a

Bleacher Lassie o' Kelvinhaugh


DESCRIPTION: "As I went out on a summer's evening," the singer meets a pretty girl in Kelvinhaugh. He asks what she is doing, then enquires if she will go with him. She refuses; she is waiting for her love, gone for seven years. He reveals himself as the missing lover
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: love reunion disguise
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ord, p. 77, "The Bleacher Lassie o' Kelvinhaugh" (1 text)
Greig #109, p. 1, "The Bleacher Lassie" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan5 1041, "The Bleacher Lassie" (13 texts plus two fragments on p. 628, 9 tunes)
Roud #3325
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(24b), "Bleaching Lassie of Kelvinhaugh," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890 [despite the title, the girl is called a "bleacher lassie"]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. esp. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
cf. "My Faithful Fair One" (tune, per Greig)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sweet Kelvinhaugh
The Bleacher Lassie o' Kelvinhaugh
File: Ord077

Bleacher Lassie, The


See Bleacher Lassie o' Kelvinhaugh (File: Ord077)

Bleaches So Green, The


See Braes of Strathblane (File: McCST053)

Bleaching Her Claes


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a shepherdess herding her flock and bleaching her clothes. He says he loves her. She continues bleaching her clothes because her mother has warned her to have no faith in young men. He kisses her. She says, "Laddie be true"
AUTHOR: George Murray (source: Whitelaw)
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Whitelaw)
KEYWORDS: courting warning farming mother clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan5 967, "The Bleachin' o' the Claes" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 594, "Bleaching Her Claes"
Roud #6766
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ballenden Braes" (tune, per Whitelaw)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Bickerin' Burnie
NOTES: Whitelaw notes at least one appearance earlier than his: "Once printed in Upper Canada." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD5967

Bless 'Em All


DESCRIPTION: Verses can be on any subject, though usually military and often obscene. Many units had their own versions. The conclusion, either "Bless 'em all" or "Fuck 'em all," is diagnostic
AUTHOR: F. Godfrey?
EARLIEST DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: soldier war technology bawdy flying
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(SW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cray, pp. 386-391, "Fuck 'Em All" (3 texts plus floating stanzas, 1 tune)
DT, BLSSALL1* BLSSALL2* BLSSALL3* BLSSALL4* BLSSALL5* BLSSALL6* BLSSALL7* BLSSALL8* BLSSALL9* BLSSAL10*
Roud #8402
NOTES: Ed Cray notes, "It was a poor unit during the Second World War that didn't have at least one version of this classic...." It probably originated in World War I, and has been credited to "F. Godbey." A copyright version appeared in 1940; this is probably the cleanest version that has ever existed.
It is not immediately evident which of the two basic titles ("Bless" or "Fuck") is more common. - RBW
File: EM386

Blessed Zulu War, The


DESCRIPTION: "I love to tell the story As I've often told before How we fought in glory At the blessed Zulu war." The singer tells how Jack Smith is wounded in a bloody battle, and sends messages to mother and sweetheart before dying
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: soldier death war farewell
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1879 - The Zulu War. British forces annex Zululand, but only after a great deal of bungled fighting
FOUND IN: Australia Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan1 67, "The Dying Sailor" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 155-158, "The Blessed Zulu War" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5362
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Soldier (Erin Far Away I)" [Laws J6] (plot) and references there
File: MCB155

Blessing on Brandy and Beer, A


DESCRIPTION: "When one's drunk, not a girl but looks pretty, The country's as gay as the city, And all that ones says is so witty. A blessing on brandy and beer!" The singer praises the effects of drink -- letting him defy his master, beat his wife, chase girls, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Arnett, p. 33, "A Blessing on Brandy and Beer" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Arn033

Blessings of Mary, The


See The Seven Joys of Mary (File: FO211)

Blest Be the Tie that Binds


DESCRIPTION: "Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love, The fellowship of kindred souls Is like to that above." Believers pray to God and "share each other's woes." They grieve to part "and hope to meet again"
AUTHOR: Words: John Fawcett (1740-1817) / Music: Hans Georg Naegeli (1773-1836), adapted by Lowell Mason
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp, 70-71, "Blest Be the Tie that Binds" (1 text, 1 tune)
SAME TUNE:
Blest Be the Tie that Binds (parody) (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 107; Roud #12809)
NOTES: According to Johnson, author John Fawcett was a Methodist-influenced Baptist. He came to be pastor of a congregation at Wainsgate, where he was successful enough that another congregation tried to steal him away with the offer of a better salary. When his own congregation could not match it, he prepared to move. Whereupon the Wainsgate church begged him to stay (and, presumably, anted up). Fawcett wrote this hymn because of the ties that bound him to his church. - RBW
File: BdBBtttB

Blickerty Brown the Sailor


See Bollochy Bill the Sailor (File: EM081)

Blin' Auld Man, The


See Four Nights Drunk [Child 274] (File: C274)

Blin' Man Stood on de Way an' Cried


See Blind Man (File: LoF245)

Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, The


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

Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green, The [Laws N27]


DESCRIPTION: Pretty Betsy, the blind beggar's daughter, seeks a husband. Many court her for her looks, but when she reveals that her father is a beggar, all but one change their minds. This one is surprised when her father proves able to give a large dowry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1624
KEYWORDS: begging courting marriage dowry
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(MA,MW,NE,SE) Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Laws N27, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green"
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 171-185, "The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Green" (1 text plus variant stanzas from the folio manuscript)
GreigDuncan5 1061, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Eddy 26, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall Green" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 107-109, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 32, "The Blind Beggar" (1 text)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 57, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green" (1 text, 4 tunes)
SharpAp 46, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 694-695, "The Blind Beggar of Bednall (Bethnal) Green" (1 text)
OBB 163, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Green" (1 text)
FSCatskills 32, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnell Green" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 16-17, "The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green" (1 tune, partial text)
McBride 11, "The Blind Beggar's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN1515, "It was a blind begger that long lost his sight"
DT, BLINDBEG* SIMONTFD
Roud #132
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Reilly, "The Blind Beggar" (on IRTravellers01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 3(62), "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green," W. and C. Dicey (London), 1736-1763; also Harding B 3(61), Harding B 3(63), Harding B 28(269), "The Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal-Green"; Harding B 11(322), Firth c.21(11), Harding B 11(1438), Johnson Ballads 1393, Firth c.21(13), Harding B 11(323), Harding B 11(321), Harding B 25(214)[parts illegible], "[The] Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green"; Harding B 25(212), "The Blind Beggar"; Douce Ballads 3(4b), "The Blind Beggar of Bednal Green"; Vet. A3 b.43(3)[parts faded to illegibility], Harding B 5(18), "The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green"; Firth c.21(12), "Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnall Green"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mary Ambree" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Mary Ambree (File: OBB165)
Of a stout Cripple that kept the high way/..Stout Cripple of Cornwall (BBI ZN2079)
The devil has left his puritanical dress/..Licentiousness of the Times (BBI ZN777)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bonnie Bessie
NOTES: This is "The Child Ballad that Wasn't." Printed in Child's preliminary edition, he later withdrew the piece on the grounds that it was not popular (even though it has been found regularly in tradition).
Most traditional versions are short, but the earliest text, from Percy, is extremely long (67 four-line stanzas!). In the second part of this version it appears that the blind beggar is none other than Simon de Montfort, who nearly overthrew England's King Henry III (reigned 1216-1272).
When King John died in 1216, his son Henry was only seven years old. Henry, naturally, never amounted to much. By 1254, Parliament was rebelling against him. In 1258 the nobles drafted the "Provisions of Oxford," which put the king under the control of a group of barons. Even stronger measures were passed in 1259, leaving Henry in a position he considered intolerable.
Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester and Henry's brother-in-law, was a leader of the rebels. Forced into exile in 1261, he returned to England in 1263 to start an organized rebellion. In 1264 his armies met those of the king. De Montfort won a smashing victory, despite inferior numbers, at the battle of Lewes. (The latter, incidentally, commemorated in The Song of Lewes, one of the "Harley Lyrics" found in British Museum Harley 2253; it's a bit surprising that Child did not include this in his canon, since it looks as popular as several of his other political pieces.)
Simon was now in control of England, and tried to strengthen his grip by a series of liberal reforms. But Henry's party had one great asset: the crown prince Edward (later
Edward I). Edward gathered another army, and defeated and killed Simon at Evesham in 1265.
The author of this ballad apparently believed that, instead of being killed, de Montfort went into hiding as a beggar (but also reports that Simon lost his eyes fighting in France).
The title "The Blind Beggar of Bednall Green" was used for a play by Henry Chettle and J. Day. This presumably was written by 1607, the best guess for the year Chettle died, according to p. 104 of Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, Editors, British Authors Before 1800: A Biographical Dictionary, H. W. Wilson, 1952 (I use the fourth printing of 1965). The play was apparently published in 1659, and a modern edition by W. Bang came out in 1902, according to Kunitz/Haycraft, p. 105. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LN27

Blind Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green, The


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

Blind Beggar's Daughter, The


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

Blind Child, The


DESCRIPTION: "They tell me, father, that tonight You'll wed another bride, That you will clasp her in your arms Where my dear mother died." The child asks about the new wife, and hopes she will be kind. The child dies, and goes to heaven where no one is blind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: death mother father wife disease death
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Belden, pp. 275-276, "The Blind Child" (1 text plus mention of 4 more)
Randolph 724, "The Blind Child" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 472-473, "The Blind Child" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 724A)
BrownII 149, "The Blind Girl" (1 text plus mention of 12 more)
JHCoxIIB, #29, pp. 198-200, "The Blind Child's Prayer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, p. 146, "The Blind Orphan" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 128-129, "The Blind Girl" (1 text)
DT, BLNDCHLD*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 203-204, "(The Blind Girl)" (1 text)
Roud #425
RECORDINGS:
Harvey Irwin, "The Blind Child" (OKeh 45014, 1925)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Blind Girl" (Champion 15968 [as Dan Hughey], 1930; Conqueror 7983, 1932)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "The Blind Child's Prayer" (Brunswick 167, 1927)
McMichen's String Band, "Blind Child's Prayer, pts. 1 & 2" (Columbia 15333-D, 1928)
Arnold Keith Storm, "The Blind Child" (on AKStorm01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Cannot Call Her Mother (The Marriage Rite is Over; The Stepmother)" (theme)
NOTES: Cohen remarks, "Frankly, I think the saccharine little miss is overdoing it." Amen. - RBW
File: R724

Blind Child's Prayer, The


See The Blind Child (File: R724)

Blind Fiddler, The


DESCRIPTION: "I lost my sight in the blacksmith's shop in the year of 'Fifty-six." The singer, with no other trade available, has had to become a wandering fiddler. Not even Doctor Lane of San Francisco could help him. He hopes his family is safe and well
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: homesickness poverty rambling separation fiddle injury family doctor hardtimes music
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Belden, p. 446, "The Blind Fiddler" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, p. 364, "The Blind Fiddler" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 55, "The Blind Fiddler" (1 text)
DT, BLINDFID*
Roud #7833
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "The Blind Fiddler" (on PeteSeeger13, AmHist1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blind Man's Song" (theme)
cf. "Jilson Setters's Blind Song" (theme)
cf. "The Blind Man's Regret" (theme)
NOTES: Until this century, there was nothing resembing a social safety net for the victims of industrial accidents -- in particular, no workers' compensation, and little chance of compensation by the employer.
Pete Seeger dates this song from 1850, with no supporting documentation; as the first line reads "I lost my eyes in the blacksmith shop in the year of '56", this date is doubtful. It has the feel of the mid-19th century about it, but I've dated it only back to the field recording for safety's sake. - PJS
Joe Hickerson, who probably would know, implies that this is the earliest recording known to him, though the fact that there is also a version in Belden implies that it is older. He speculates that it is derived from the earlier "The Rebel Soldier"(primarily on the basis of the final line; "I am a (blind fiddler/rebel soldier) and far from my home." - RBW
File: FSWB055

Blind Girl, The


See The Blind Child (File: R724)

Blind Man


DESCRIPTION: "Blind man stood in the way and cried (x2), Wo, Lord, show me the way...." "Preacherman stood on the way and cried...." "My mother stood on the way and cried...." "My deacon stood on the way and cried...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 245, "Blind Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 596, "Blin' Man Stood on de Way an' Cried" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12357
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blind Man Lay Beside the Way" (theme)
NOTES: There are several accounts in the gospels of curing the blind (e.g. Matt. 9:27f., 20:29f.; Mark 7:22f.; John 9:1). The account here is most reminiscent of that in Mark 10:46f.=Luke18:35 (Bartimaeus; in the parallel in Matthew there are *two* blind men). - RBW
File: LoF245

Blind Man Lay Beside the Way


DESCRIPTION: "Blind man lay beside the way, He could not see the light of day, The Lord passed by and heard him say: 'O Lord, won't you help-a me?'" "A man he died, was crucified, They hung a thief on either side, One lifted up his voice and cried, 'O Lord...'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious death
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, pp. 452-453, "Blind Man Lay Beside the Way" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST San452 (Full)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blind Man" (theme)
NOTES: The miracle most associated with Jesus was healing -- especially "casting out demons" (curing epilepsy and/or insanity) and giving sight to the blind.
There are several accounts in the gospels of curing the blind (e.g. Matt. 9:27f., 20:29f.; Mark 7:22f.; John 9:1). The account here is most reminiscent of that in Mark 10:46f.=Luke18:35 (Bartimaeus; in the parallel in Matthew there are *two* blind men).
Although Matt. 27:38, Mark 15:28, Luke 23:32, John 19:18 all mention the criminals crucified along with Jesus, only Luke 23:39 mentions one of them repenting. - RBW
File: San452

Blind Man's Regret, The


DESCRIPTION: "Young people attention give And hear what I do say...." "hen I was young and in my prime I used to go so gay, For I did not think right of time But idled time away." The singer laments wasting time and going blind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: injury hardtimes nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
JHCox 154, "The Blind Man's Regret" (1 text)
ST JHCox154 (Full)
Roud #6365
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Young People, Take Warning" (lyrics)
NOTES: I know of no other version of this song (though see the notes on "Young People, Take Warning"), and I don't find it surprising. There really isn't much plot; with the exception of a single stanza claiming that the singer went blind in the "year of eighty-four," there is no story. It's just a series of warnings and complaints, quite repetitious, mostly warning against wasting time.
Cox's informant claims that this is the story of a man who tried to avoid being involved in the Civil War, and so hid in a cave and damaged his sight. This is not impossible -- but the song does not give the theory any support (and note that the blindness did not strike until 1884). - RBW
File: JHCox154

Blind Man's Song


DESCRIPTION: "My friends, I cannot labor, I will try and get along... I will try to sell my song... May heaven above preserve you From ever being blind." The singer lists the things he cannot see, and says he wants to work but can't; he wishes he had sight again
AUTHOR: Matthew Stovall?
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: injury hardtimes music
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 179-180, "Blind Man's Song" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blind Fiddler" (theme) and references there
File: ThBa178

Blind Orphan, The


See The Blind Child (File: R724)

Blind Sailor, The


See By the Lightning We Lost our Sight [Laws K6] (File: LK06)

Blinded by Shit


DESCRIPTION: An old woman, who must relieve herself, empties her bowels out a window. A passing night watchman (or cowboy) looks up, and is blinded by shit.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy injury scatological
FOUND IN: Australia Britain(England) US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cray, pp. 125-128, "Blinded by Shit" (2 texts, 1 tune); see also under "Ditties," pp. 264-268, which contain other verses that fit "Sweet Betsy"
Roud #10306
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Vilikens and his Dinah (William and Dinah) [Laws M31A/B]" (tune & meter) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Blinded by Turds
NOTES: Probably of British music hall origins - EC
File: EM125

Blinded by Turds


See Blinded by Shit (File: EM125)

Blinkin' O't, The


DESCRIPTION: "O it wasna her daddy's lairdly kin, It wasna her siller -- the clinkin' o't... 'Twas er ain blue e'e, the blinkin' o't... My heart an' a' she's stown awa' Wi' the lythesome, blythesome blinkin' o't." The singer praises the girl but is rejected
AUTHOR: James Grieg ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love rejection beauty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 169-170, "The Blinkin' O't" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 879, "The Blinkin' O't" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6135
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 quoting Greig: "Melody and words by Rev. James Greig, Chapel of Garioch, July 30th 1853." Ford says only that the text was found on thea back of an old letter "in Mr [Rev. James] Greig's handwriting." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FVS169

Blithe Mormond Braes


DESCRIPTION: The singer and Nelly are in love. He is poor. Her parents are opposed but the singer says he "will tak' her frae them a' And love her till I dee" "If my health attend an hands keep hale We'll drive dull care awa"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1876 (Christie)
KEYWORDS: courting love nonballad father mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #2, p. 1, "Mormond Braes, No. 2" (2 fragments)
GreigDuncan4 712, "Blithe Mormond Braes" (2 texts plus two fragments on p. 526 [the same as those in Greig #2], 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1876 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh, 2007)), Vol I, p. 176, "Mormond Braes") (1 tune) [two verses]
Roud #6152
File: GrD4712

Blockader Mama


DESCRIPTION: The little girl begs mother not to visit the still; the sheriff is watching. Mother says she must; they need money and father never works. Mother goes to the still and is shot; the child laments when the body is returned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death children police drink
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 314, "Blockader Mama" (1 text)
Roud #6633
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dream of the Miner's Child" (theme)
NOTES: This song has, I gather, had some small success in commercial country circles. Whether this success predates the North Carolina collection I do not know. - RBW
File: BrII314

Blockader's Trail


DESCRIPTION: The singer is arrested for moonshining.The singer claims the charge is false. The still is disassembled. The law officers take their turns with the captured brew (?). The singer complains about the conditions in the prison
AUTHOR: Henry D. Holsclaw
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink prison
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 313, "Blockader's Trail" (1 text)
Roud #6647
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Moonshine Can" (subject)
cf. "Ewie Wi' the Crookit Horn" (subject)
NOTES: This is apparently based on a real incident, and the author thought enough of it to have it printed as a broadside -- but I'd have to declare it one of the most incoherent, invertebrate (47 verses!) things I've ever seen. On the other hand, the song seems to have worked as propaganda; Brown's informant thought Holsclaw was innocent. - RBW
File: BrII313

Blood Done Signed My Name, The


DESCRIPTION: A very simple hymn; consisting of little more than the title words.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1949
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 760, "The Blood Done Signed My Name" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11678
RECORDINGS:
Dock Reed & Vera Hall Ward, "The Blood Done Signed My Name" (on NFMAla5)
File: BSoF760

Blood on the Saddle


DESCRIPTION: "There was blood on the saddle And blood all around, And a great big puddle Of blood on the ground. The cowboy lay in it All covered with gore, And he won't go riding no broncos no more.... For his bronco fell on him and mashed in his head."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905
KEYWORDS: cowboy injury death horse
FOUND IN: Canada(West) US(MW)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Fowke/Johnston, p. 101, "Blood on the Saddle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 101, "Blood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 38, "Blood on the Saddle" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 331-332, "Blood on the Saddle" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 106, "Blood On The Saddle" (1 text)
DT, BLOODON
Roud #3685
RECORDINGS:
Harry Jackson, "Blood on the Saddle" (on HJackson1)
NOTES: The Fifes trace this piece back to something called "Halbert the Grim" (published by Motherwell in 1827). The melody is said to be the same, and both involve vast quantities of blood. There has been a lot of evolution along the way, though; I would not consider the two related if it weren't for the melody.
The version we usually hear focusses solely on the blood, but the Gardner/Chickering text gives a brief biography of the cowboy and talks of his sweetheart who has lost her love. - RBW
File: FJ101

Blood Red Roses


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic lines: "Come/go down, you blood red/bunch of roses, Come down... Oh you pinks and posies, come down...." The verses generally refer to life at sea, with perhaps floating verses on other themes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1893
KEYWORDS: shanty ship flowers
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 22-23, "Come Down, You Bunch of Roses, Come Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 365-367, "Bunch O' Roses," "Ho Molly!" (3 texts, 3 tunes - includes a fragment of text titled "Ho Molly! which seems to follow the same meter and rhyme) [AbrEd, pp. 275-277]
Scott-BoA, pp. 132-134, "Blood Red Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 27, "Blood Red Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 90, "Blood Red Roses" (1 text)
DT, BLOODRED*
Roud #931
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "Blood Red Roses" (on Lloyd3, Lloyd7)
Henry Lundy & David Pryor, "Come Down, You Roses" (AAFS 511 A1, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "O Mary, Come Down!" (lyrics)
NOTES: Doerflinger comments of this piece, "I doubt that the movie version, with a 'blood red roses' chorus, is authentic folklore." However, that's the version I've always heard (including even an alleged New Zealand version), so I've adopted that title. Doerflinger also thinks the "bunch of roses" refers to Napoleon. Obviously that is the case in other "roses" songs, but I can't see any connection here. - RBW
File: Doe022

Blood-Stained Diary, The


DESCRIPTION: "It's just a little blood-stained book, Which a bullet has town in two; It tells the fate of Nick and Nate...." The singer recounts the words of Nathan D. Champion's diary as he and his companion are attacked in the Johnson County War
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: death murder cowboy
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 175-177, "The Blood-Stained Diary" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Invasion Song" (subject)
NOTES: Burt links this with an event she calls the Johnson County War, a conflict in Wyoming between honest herders and cattle rustlers. There are, apparently, conflicting versions of what happened; see Burt for details. - RBW
File: Burt175

Blood-Stained Soil


See The Dying Soldier (III) (File: Doyl3065)

Bloody Breathitt Farmer


DESCRIPTION: "Come all you folks and gather To hear the awful tale Of the bloody Breathitt farmer Taken from the county jail." Chet Fugate had murdered Clay Watkins (Christmas 1925?). Fugate is taken from prison by force and murdered, his body found by Jim Butler
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: murder prison punishment revenge
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 17-18, (no title) (1 text)
File: ThBdM018

Bloody Garden, The


See The Bloody Gardener (File: Pea668)

Bloody Gardener, The


DESCRIPTION: A lord loves a shepherd's daughter. His mother pays the gardner to kill and bury the shepherdess. The mother confesses and reveals the body. The lord kills himself. The lovers are buried together and the gardener is hanged.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1764 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 1(100)); ; c.1705 (broadside, NLScotland S.302.b.2(063))
KEYWORDS: courting love virginity burial suicide murder bird father mother gardening money punishment execution
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 668-670, "The Bloody Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 25, "The Bloody Gardener" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1700
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 1(100), "The Bloody Gardener's Cruelty" or "The Shepherd's Daughter Betrayed," W. and C. Dicey (London), 1736-1763; also Harding B 1(101),"The Bloody Gardiner's Cruelty" or "The Shepherd's Daughter Betrayed"; Douce Ballads 3(2b), Harding B 1(103), "The Bloody Gardener's Cruelty" or "The Shepherd's Daughter Betray'd"; Harding B 1(102), Harding B 1(94), Firth c.18(7), "The Bloody Gardiner's Cruelty" or "The Shepherd's Daughter Betrayed"; 2806 c.17(39)[parts faded to illegibility], Harding B 5(113), Harding B 11(330), "[The] Bloody Gardener"; Harding B 1(104), "The Bloody Gardener's Cruelty"
NLScotland, S.302.b.2(063), "The Bloody Gardener's Cruelty; Or, The Shepherd's Daughter Betray'd," unknown, c. 1705 [poorly printed and nearly illegible]
File: Pea668

Bloody War (I)


See That Crazy War (File: CSW102)

Bloody War (II)


See Battleship of Maine (File: CSW100)

Bloody Waterloo


See Lonely Waterloo [Laws N31] (File: LN31)

Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle, The [Laws H29]


DESCRIPTION: The singer comes upon a beautiful girl hard at work. Poor as she is, she vows to keep hard at work until her lover returns to her. The singer reveals himself as her lover; the two are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: courting love disguise
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws H29, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 133, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 598-599, "The Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 144-145, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 46, "Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 73, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 113, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 653, BELLISLE*
Roud #2191
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
cf. "The Green Shores of Fogo" (tune)
NOTES: Moulden makes the argument that this is an Irish ballad rather than "Native American" as Laws would have it. See archives of the site for the Canadian Journal for Traditional Music, Canadian Journal for Traditional Music, vol 14, 1986, "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle: American Native or Irish Immigrant" by John Moulden. - BS
File: LH29

Blooming Caroline of Edinburgh Town


See Caroline of Edinborough Town [Laws P27] (File: LP27)

Blooming Mary Ann


DESCRIPTION: The singier is a sailor. He courts blooming Mary Ann. Her father offers "a little money and a house and farm of land" if he'd stay on shore forever. They marry and are happy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage beauty farming dancing father sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 505-507, "Blooming Mary Ann" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 34, "Lovely Mary Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Peac505 (Partial)
Roud #6466
File: Peac505

Blooming Star of Eglintown, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer prepares "to take farewell of famed Salthill"; he is crossing the sea to seek his fortune. He meets his darling. He fears she will prove untrue. She promises to be faithful. He sets sail; they watch each other as long as his ship stays in sight
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation emigration
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H170, p. 299, "The Blooming Star of Eglintown" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6895
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Flowery Vale (The Irish Girl's Lament)" [Laws O29] (plot) and references there
File: HHH170

Blossom Time


DESCRIPTION: About a heavenly wedding: "There's a wedding in an orchard, dear, I know it by the flowers, They're wreathed on ev'ry bough and branch, Or falling down in showers." "And though I saw... no groom nor gentle bride, I know that holy things were asked"
AUTHOR: Words: Mary E. Dodge / Music: "The Wearing of the Green"
EARLIEST DATE: 1884
KEYWORDS: wedding nonballad supernatural
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
FSCatskills 85, "Blossom Time" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FSC085

Blow Away the Morning Dew


See The Baffled Knight [Child 112] (File: C112)

Blow Below the Belt, The


DESCRIPTION: In 1966 "the Government Plan was sent around" for resettlement from the outports. "When fifty percent... did sign The other fifty had no choice." Many found no one to buy their home. Many could not find work. Eventually, Premier Smallwood is voted out
AUTHOR: Words: Anthony Ward, Tune: Dave Panting
EARLIEST DATE: 1983 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: homesickness home parting unemployment hardtimes political money
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1950s-1970s - Newfoundland Resettlement Program
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 8, "The Blow Below the Belt" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Lehr/Best: "The Resettlement Program was carried out in Newfoundland during Joseph Smallwood's government.... Its aim was to relocate... coastal communities to larger centers where they would find better job opportunities and public facilities such as hospitals and schools.... When the smoke had finally cleared over three hundred communities had been completely closed down and those that remained were tombstones marking the passing of a large and noble part of our history."
The title is a reference to boxing as part of an analogy to [that sport]: "But when elections rolled around, we showed Joey [Smallwood] how we felt, We dropped him in his corner and gave Frank Moores the [championship] belt!"
See "The Leaving of Merasheen" for another resettlement song - BS
Joey Smallwood began his career as a radio broadcaster, and used his position to push Newfoundland into Confederation with Canada; according to Craig Brown, e.d, The Illustrated History of Canada, p. 374, "Mainland prosperity, urged by Joey Smallwood... won out against the proud penury of independence."
But Smallwood, who went from broadcaster to Newfoundland premier and led the province for more than twenty years, by the late Fifties was turning to "increasingly illiberal one-man rule" (p. 491). The result of his policy was complaints like these. - RBW
File: LeBe008

Blow Bullies Blow


See Blow, Boys, Blow (I) (File: Doe025)

Blow High Blow Low


DESCRIPTION: "Blow high blow low let tempests tear The mainmast by the board My heart with thoughts of thee my dear And love well stored Shall brave all danger scorn all fear...." As the sailor works and rests aboard ship, he remembers his love
AUTHOR: Charles Dibdin
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (date of composition)
KEYWORDS: sailor separation lover
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 256-257, "Blow High Blow Low" (1 text)
ST SWMS256 (Full)
Roud #2069
NOTES: This is among the most popular of the works of Charles Dibdin (1745-1814), one of Britain's chief nautical songwriters.
Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, Editors, British Authors Before 1800: A Biographical Dictionary, H. W. Wilson, 1952 (I use the fourth printing of 1965), p. 153, note that Dibdin published an autobiography, The Professional Life of Mr. Dibdin, Written By Himself, Together with the Words of Six Hundred Songs. Of this 1803 book Kunitz/Haycraft say it "gives a good deal of interesting detail about the theatrical life of the day, although it is on the whole a dreary and egotistical account, notable for its inaccuracies." They also mention as a source W. Kitchener, A Breif Memoir of Charles Dibdin, With Some Letters and Documents Supplied by His Grand-Daughter. These do not appear to have made it to Google Books yet, although Google Books does have a two-volume chronological set of his works featuring a memoir by George Hogarth, who seems to have been published several other times as well.
It should perhaps not be regarded as surprising that Dibdin's autobiography is less than accurate, because he seems to have been a rather strange figure. His education, general and musical, seems to have been limited, according to Kunitz/Haycroft. He apparently began his professional musical career around the age of fourteen, when his brother Thomas, who had experience at sea, brought him to London.
Dibdin's first major work was a musical, "The Shepherd's Artifice," which he produced in 1762. He worked for some years with the well-known producer David Garrick, but they fell out and Dibdin began staging his own one man shows. Kunitz/Haycroft say he had "two wives and an extraordinary number of enemies." One wife, Harriet Pitt, was a dancer in Covent Garden; they had three children, two of whom became known as playwrights. But Dibdin's finances were as complicated as his private life; he was bad at managing money, and was usually in poverty.
He is credited with some 1400 songs, of which the nautical songs are widely regarded as the best, and 30 (generally musical) dramas, although the latter are not considered to be very good.
Other songs in the Index attributed to Dibdin include "Tom Bowling" (which Kunitz/Haycroft consider his best; it was written to commemorate his brother Thomas), the "High Barbaree" version of "The George Aloe and the Sweepstake" [Child 285; Laws K33], and probably "Sailor's Consolation." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: SWMS256

Blow the Candle Out [Laws P17]


DESCRIPTION: The singer comes to visit his love on a moonlit night. She lets him in. He points out that her parents are in bed in the next room; he suggests rolling into his arms and blowing out the candles. (Nine months later, when he is gone, she has a child)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1714 (Pills to Purge Melancholy) as "The London 'Prentice"
KEYWORDS: courting nightvisit pregnancy bawdy apprentice
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,NE,So) Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws P17, "Blow the Candle Out"
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 61-65, "Blow the Candle Out" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Combs/Wilgus 114, pp. 140-141, "The Jolly Boatsman" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 788, "Blow the Candle Out" (5 texts, 5 tunes plus a single verse on p. 541)
Kennedy 170, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 74, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 160, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p.247, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text)
Ord, p. 95, "Blow the Candle Out" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 156, "Blow The Candles Out" (1 text)
DT 499, CANDLOUT*
Roud #368
RECORDINGS:
Jumbo Brightwell, "Blow the Candle Out" (on Voice10)
Jimmy Gilhaney, "Blow the Candle Out" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
Martin Howley, "Blow the Candle Out" (on IRClare01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 168, "Blow the Candle Out," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(335), Harding B 20(139), Firth c.18(294), Firth b.25(299), Harding B 11(336), Harding B 16(26c), Johnson Ballads 1279, Firth b.34(33), Harding B 17(30b), "Blow the Candle Out"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dash Along" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Johnson Ballads 1279)
cf. "Come Into My Arms" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Harding B 17(30b))
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" (tune, per GreigDuncan4)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The London 'Prentice
File: LP17

Blow the Man Down


DESCRIPTION: A tale of a sailor's adventures. Perhaps he serves under a difficult captain; perhaps he meets a girl (and "[gives] her my flipper") who spends his money or sells him off to sea; perhaps his heroic exploits in port earn him a night (or more) in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Syracuse _Daily Courier_, July 25 edition, according to Jonathan Lighter)
KEYWORDS: bawdy shanty sailor travel shanghaiing
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE,So,SW) Canada(Mar) Bahamas
REFERENCES (24 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 17-22, "Blow the Man Down" (5 texts, 2 tunes. The first text is influenced by "Ratcliffe Highway"; the fourth is "The Three Ravens" (!); the last is largely "The Salt Horse Song")
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 57-60, "Blow the Man Down" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 53-59, "Blow the Man Down" (3 texts, 1 tune. First text is what Hugill would call the Blackballer version; second text is the Flying Fish
Sailor; third is along the lines of Ratcliffe Highway)
Harlow, pp. 92-95, "Blow the Man Down" (2 texts, 1 tune. Both texts are related to Ratcliffe Highway)
Hugill, p. 122, "Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well" (1 text, version C of "Homeward Bound") [AbrEd, p. 105]; p. 200, "Knock a Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune -- quoting Sharp-EFC) [AbrEd, p. 155]; pp. 203-214, "Blow the Man Down" (6 texts plus several fragments, 1 tune. The first text is a sanitized "Ratcliffe Highway" version; the fourth is the "Song of the Fishes," the fifth is a version of "Rolling in the Dew," and the seventh is "Quare Bungo Rye.") [AbrEd, pp. 158-167]
Sharp-EFC, XXXIX p. 44-45, "Knock a Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 77-82, "Blow th' Man Down" (2 texts, 1 tune; the second text may have a bit of "Cruising Round Yarmouth" in it)
Linscott, pp. 128-131, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 38-39, "The Black Ball Line" (1 text, 1 tune); pp. 39-40, "Blow the Man Down, I" (1 text); p. 40, "Blow the Man Down, II" (1 text plus an alternate chorus)
Smith/Hatt, p. 21, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text)
Mackenzie 107, "Blow the Man Down" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 459-460, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thomas-Makin', p. 31, (no title) (1 text, short, perhaps not this song but with the key line in modified form and too short to link to anything else)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 491-493, "Blow the Man Down" (1 full +2 partial texts, the second seemingly being actually "Brian O'Lynn (Tom Boleyn)", 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 52-53, "Radcliffe Highway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 404-405, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 310-311, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text)
Arnett, pp. 54-55, "Blow the Man Down!" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 39, "Blow The Man Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 90, "Blow the Man Down" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 146-147, "Blow the Man Down"
DT, BLOWDOWN* BLOWDWN2* BLOWDWN3* BLOWDWN4* BLOWDWN5 BLOWDWN6*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Blow the Man Down" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #2624
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Blow the Man Down" (General 5016A, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Noble B. Brown, "Blow the Man Down (I)" (AFS, 1946; on LC27)
Woody Guthrie, "Blow the Man Down" (Commodore 3006, n.d. -- but this may be the same recording as the General disc by the Almanac Singers)
G. Lotson, "Blow the Man Down" (AFS A-397, 1926)
Richard Maitland, "Blow the Man Down (II)" (AFS, 1939; on LC27)
Minster Singers, "Blow the Man Down" [medley w. "Rio Grande"] (Victor 61148, n.d., prob. c. 1903)
Pete Seeger, "Blow the Man Down" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a) (on PeteSeeger23)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ratcliffe Highway" (lyrics)
cf. "The Salt Horse Song" (lyrics)
cf. "The Three Ravens" [Child 26] (lyrics)
cf. "Ane Madam" (tune)
cf. "Et Nous Irons a Valapariso" (partial tune)
SAME TUNE:
Roll 'Im On Down (sung by David Pryor on AFS 507 B, 1935; on LC08)
Ane Madam (File: Hugi215)
NOTES: Hugill defines six versions of this: a) The Flash Packet (from Ratcliffe Highway); b) The Sailing of the Blackballer; c) The Flying Fish Sailor or Policeman - where a sailor is mistaken for a "Blackballer" or "packet rat" (whom the crews of clippers generally considered to be a lower form of marine life); d) The Fishes (i.e. "Song of the Fishes/Blow Ye Winds Westerly"); e) The Milkmaid (i.e. "Rolling in the Dew"); and f) Bungyereye (i.e. "Quare Bungo Rye"). - SL
The David Pryor recording ["Roll 'Im On Down"; see the "Same Tune" field] is actually a boat-launching song with different lyrics but the same tune and structure. - PJS
Some versions of this song mention that "Kicking Jack Williams commands the Black Ball." Williams was a historical figure, known for driving his crews hard; he commanded the American clipper Andrew Jackson (launched 1855 as the Belle Haxie and given a new name after changing owners). In 1859-1860, Williams caused the Jackson to make the fastest clipper trip ever, "pilot to pilot," from New York to San Francisco -- 89 days 4 hours. (The record for fastest trip, anchor to anchor, is held by the Flying Cloud, but circumstances were somewhat different in that case.)
The above information comes from Lincoln P. Paine's Ships of the World (entry on the Andrew Jackson, which cites this song). Shay, however, quotes Robert Greenhalgh Albion's Square Riggers on Schedule, which states that the only Captain Williams who served on the Black Ball Line was a different John Williams, commanding the Pacific. If so, it appears the two have been conflated. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe017

Blow the Wind Southerly


DESCRIPTION: "Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, Blow the wind southerly, South or southwest." The girl hopes that her love will return to her quickly
AUTHOR: unknown (some versions reworked by John Stubbs)
EARLIEST DATE: 190 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: love separation return
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 18-19, "Blaw the Wind Southerly" (1 fragment plus the Stubbs text, 1 tune)
ST StoR018 (Full)
Roud #2619
ALTERNATE TITLES:
cf. "Song of the Fishes (Blow Ye Winds Westerly)" (lyrics)
File: StoR018

Blow the Wind Westerly


See Song of the Fishes (Blow Ye Winds Westerly) (File: LxA496)

Blow the Winds I Oh


See Ten Thousand Miles Away (File: MA084)

Blow the Winds, I-Ho!


See The Baffled Knight [Child 112] (File: C112)

Blow Ye Winds


See Ten Thousand Miles Away (File: MA084)

Blow Ye Winds High-O (Blow the Winds I-Ho, etc.)


See The Baffled Knight [Child 112] (File: C112)

Blow Ye Winds in the Morning


DESCRIPTION: The call is going out for whalermen in New England. The song warns of the conditions the potential recruit will face: Boarding masters, hard times at sea, the dangers of taking the whale. Chorus: "Blow ye winds in the morning, Blow ye winds high-o...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1859 (Journal of the Elizabeth Swift)
KEYWORDS: whaler ship sea work
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 44, "Blow, Ye Winds in the Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 829-831, "Blow, Ye Winds" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 42-46, "Blow Ye Winds" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 126-128, "Blow, Ye Winds" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 191-192, "Blow, Ye Winds" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 130-131, 211-213 "Blow Ye Winds in the Morning" "It's Advertised in Boston" (2 texts, 2 tunes -- second version has a different chorus, "Cheer up lively lads, in spite of stormy weather. Cheer up...we'll all get drunk together")
Hugill, pp. 219-224, "Blow, Ye Winds" (3 texts plus several fragments, 3 tunes) [AbrEd, pp. 168-171]
Darling-NAS, pp. 318-319, "Blow Ye Winds" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 85, "Blow Ye Winds In The Morning" (1 text)
DT, BLOWYE*
Roud #2012
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Blow Ye Winds, Heigh Ho" (General 5015A, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Coast of Peru" [Laws D26] (floating verses)
cf. "Peter Gray" (chorus lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Blow, Boys, Blow
NOTES: Whalers were considered the lowest sort of sailors; most seamen had to be desperate to ship on a whaler. This song perhaps helps explain why. - RBW
File: LxU044

Blow Ye Winds, Ay Oh


See Ten Thousand Miles Away (File: MA084)

Blow Yo' Whistle, Freight Train


DESCRIPTION: "Blow yo' whistle, freight train, take me down the line...." "That old freight train movin' along to Nashville, Holds a charm that is a charm for me, Makes me think of good old boomer days gone by." The singer wants to ramble but cannot
AUTHOR: probably the Delmore Brothers
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (recording, Delmore Brothers)
KEYWORDS: train nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 519-520, "Blow Yo' Whistle, Freight Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
The Delmore Brothers, "Blow Yo' Whistle, Freight Train" (Bluebird 5925, 1935)
NOTES: This song feels like it "ought to" have another verse, probably in which the singer explains that he can't leave his family/home/something, which makes me wonder if there isn't something which predates the Delmore Brothers recording. But Cohen mentions no such thing, and I have never met such a song. - RBW
File: LSRai519

Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel (Paul and Silas)


DESCRIPTION: "Paul and Silas, bound in jail." "Blow your trumpet, Gabriel, Blow louder, louder,And I hope the trump might blow me home." "There is a tree in paradise."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious music floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 3, "Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel" (2 short texts, 2 tunes, both with the floating "Paul and Silas" verse; the first text also contains the floating "Tree in Paradise" verse)
Roud #11860
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "All My Trials" (lyrics)
NOTES: This seems to be one of those pieces where everything floats; it may well be that it is a fragment of somen other song, but it's hard to guess which.
It should probably be noted that, while the Apocalypse associates trumpets with the end of the world (e.g. Rev. 8:2, 6, 13), the name of Gabriel is not mentioned at all in that book (some claim that, since he is one who stands in the presence of God, he must be one of the seven angels of Rev. 8:2, but that's a forced interpretation). Gabriel is mentioned only in Daniel and Luke, and in both cases he is messenger, not destroyer (though in Daniel he is explaining the last days).
The apocryphal books make more of Gabriel; and in Enoch he is charged with destroying the wicked. But that still isn't the same as sounding the Last Trump. The belief that this is Gabriel's responsibility is pure folklore, though early and common folklore. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AGW003

Blow, Boys, Blow (I)


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Blow, boys, blow... Blow, my bully bows, blow!" Often liberally sprinkled with floating verses, the basic version seems to be about a shining Yankee clipper on her way to China. It describes several members of the crew
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1874
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor ship slavery Black(s) moniker
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Australia Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 25-29, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 60-62, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 composite text plus some loose verses, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 57-58, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 126-127 "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 59-60, "Blow, Bullies, Blow" (1 text plus a verse of another, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 2, "Blow, Boys. Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 558-560, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 91-92, "Blow Bullies Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 100, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text)
Colcord, pp. 50-51, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (1 text plus 3 fragments, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 66-67, "Blow Boys Blow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 224-231, "Blow, Boys, Blow'" (4 texts, 2 tunes; the 4th text is a Norwegian version taken from Sternvall's _Sang under Segal_) [AbrEd, pp. 172-175]
Sharp-EFC, L, p. 55, "Blow, Boys, Come Blow Together" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLOWBOYS* BLOWBOY2* CONGORIV*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Blow, Boys, Blow" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #703
RECORDINGS:
Noble B. Brown, "Blow, Boys, Blow" (AFS, 1946; on LC26)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Shallow Brown (II)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Glasgow Lasses
NOTES: Doerflinger reports that "[The] captain was sometimes said to be 'Bully Hayes ["Haines," in Bone's text], the Down East bucko,' who was lost in 1848 with the clipper ship Rainbow (not to be confused with the later South Seas blackbirder)." - RBW
Other versions of the song are about a slave-ship taking contraband slaves past the embargo (after slaving was outlawed). - PJS
An example of this is Shay's text, and Bone had heard such verses though they aren't part of his main version.
The importation of slaves into the United States was forbidden as early as 1808, with stronger enforcement passed in 1819. This wasn't entirely a moral act, however; legislators from northern slave states supported it because it let them breed slaves for the deep South. (Which is one reason why the Confederacy, after breaking off from the Union, maintained its own ban.)
The side effect of that was, of course, smuggling -- and a worsening of conditions aboard slavers. Native-born slaves had to be fed and housed as they grew up, making them expensive. Imported slaves were less useful, but the only expense was the importing. Even at prices far below American-born slaves, they brought high profits.
And, because even a sick slave brought some money, and there was no one regulating them, there was no incentive at all for the slaver to treat them decently. "Wastage," they called it, and treated it as part of the job. Somehow the words "wilful murder" never entered their vocabulary. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe025

Blow, Boys, Blow (II)


See Blow Ye Winds in the Morning (File: LxU044)

Blue


See Old Blue (File: R295)

Blue and the Gray, The


DESCRIPTION: "A mother's gift to her country's cause is a story yet untold, She had three sons...." All three boys died at war. Two died for the Confederacy in the Civil War; a third died for the Union in Santiago. The singer hopes mother and sons will meet in heaven.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922
KEYWORDS: war death Civilwar mother
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
LPound-ABS, 56, p. 129, "The Blue and the Gray" (1 text)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, p. 202, "The Blue and the Gray" (1 tune, partial text)
ST LPnd129 (Full)
Roud #4984
NOTES: There were soldiers who fought in both the Civil War and Spanish-American War; a leading example is Joseph Wheeler, a Confederate cavalry general who was also a Major General at San Juan Hill and the siege of Santiago. M. Calbraith Butler was another Confederate cavalry general who also served in the later war.And then there was Johnny Clem, who joined the Confederate forces at age nine, and retired from the U. S. army as a general in 1916.
Still, the odds of one mother having a child die at Chickamauga (1863), Appomatox (i.e. probably Saylor's Creek in 1865, though very few men actually died there), and Santiago (1898) must be considered slight; the final son would surely have been a fairly senior officer, unlikely to be hurt -- and what are the odds that the mother would still be alive in 1898 anyway?
The feeling, though, is probably appropriate for this era of horrid sentimentality.
There were, of course, many poems of this name in the period shortly after the Civil War. Few had any more literary merit than this piece. - RBW
File: LPnd129

Blue Bell Bull


DESCRIPTION: The cowboy boasts of his skill, only to draw "that Blue Bell bull." He admits "I'm lucky I ain't dead." He tries to ride the bull, but ends up spending "Eight long weeks in traction, I ain't never been the same." He warns other cowboys against bragging
AUTHOR: Johnny Baker
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: bragging cowboy injury injury
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 96, "Blue Bell Bull" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr096

Blue Bells of Scotland, The


DESCRIPTION: "Oh where, please tell me where is your highland laddie gone? (x2) He's gone with the streaming banners where noble deeds are done...." He dwells in Scotland at the sign of the blue bell; he wears a plumed bonnet; if he dies, the pipes shall mourn him
AUTHOR: Annie McVicar and Dorothy Jordan (?)
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1915 (recording, Inez Barbour)
KEYWORDS: soldier clothes separation home
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 280, "The Blue Bells Of Scotland" (1 text)
DT, BLUEBELL*
Roud #13849
RECORDINGS:
Inez Barbour, "Blue Bells of Scotland" (Phono-Cut 5198, c. 1915)
Ella Logan, "The Blue Bells of Scotland" (Brunswick 8196, 1938)
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:010, "The Blue Bells of Scotland," Sharp (London?), 19C; also Mu23-y4:029, "Blue Bells of Scotland," John Ross (Newcastle), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(083), "The Blue Bells of Scotland," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: The notes at the National Library of Scotland site attribute this to the Napoleonic Wars. There is no evidence for this in the versions I've seen (it mentions "King George," but there was a King George continually from 1714 to 1837). There is a song in the Scots Musical Museum which may be related, but that *predates* the Napoleonic Wars. - RBW
File: FSWB280A

Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk (Mickey's Warning)


DESCRIPTION: "O friends, I have a sad story." The singer "married a man for his money, But he's worse than the devil himsel'. For when Mickey comes home I get battered." She vows to "get blue bleezin' blind drunk Just to give Mickey a warning" and hopes he reforms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1985 (recording, Sheila Stewart)
KEYWORDS: drink money hardtimes abuse injury
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
Roud #6333
RECORDINGS:
Sheila Stewart, "Mickey's Warning" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
File: RcBlBlBl

Blue Eyes


See Broken Ties (I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes) (File: BrII156)

Blue Jacket and White Trousers


See The Maid in Sorrow (Short Jacket) [Laws N12] (File: LN12)

Blue Juniata, The


DESCRIPTION: "Wild roved an Indian girl, bright Alfarata, Where sweeps the water of the blue Juniata." She lives free in the forest, praising her gentle lover. But now "Fleeting years have borne away the voice of Alfarata; Still sweeps the river of blue Juniata."
AUTHOR: Marion Sullivan Dix
EARLIEST DATE: 1844 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) love river
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hudson 83, pp. 210-211, "The Blue Juniata" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 98-99, "The Blue Juniata" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4494
NOTES: Laws condemns this as a mere "ballad-like piece," but it strikes me as very effective, as well as unusually sympathetic to Native Americans (though the girl's name is assuredly fake). Quite surprising for a piece composed in 1844 (see Spaeth, A History of Popular Music in America, p. 101). - RBW
Laura Ingalls Wilder quotes an unusually large excerpt of this in Little House on the Prairie (chapter 18, "The Tall Indian"). However, this particular section of the "Little House" books is of very dubious historical value -- the Ingalls family, although they did spend time in Kansas, did it very early in their careers; they moved to Kansas when Laura was only a year and a half old (Zochert, p. 22).
The sources I've consulted don't even explain why Wilder wrote Little House on the Prairie -- in her original non-fictional memoir, Pioneer Girl, she said very little about her early years (Hill, p. 7). Miller, pp. 205-207, cites family references to Little House on the Prairie as the "Indian Juvenile' -- but that doesn't explain it. All Hill can suggest (p. 8) is that Wilder, after finishing Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy, was trying to give her fictional series a clear forward motion. But, of course, the family's peregrinations were not always westward: They went west from Wisconsin before Laura was old enough to remember, then headed back east. It would have been much more logical to proceed from Little House in the Big Woods, which could be based on her *second* stay in Wisconsin, to On the Banks of Plum Creek
The bottom line is that *nothing* in Little House on the Prairie can be treated as true autobiography, since it portrays Laura as a young but conscious girl, not a toddler. We're told that Laura heard about the time in Kansas from Ma and Pa and Mary Ingalls -- but, by the time Little House on the Prairie was written (finished early 1934, according to Miller, p. 205), all three of them were dead (Charles Ingalls in 1902, Caroline Quiner Ingalls in 1924, Mary Ingalls in 1928; Zochert, pp. 221-222).
For the later "Little House" books, Laura could consult her sister Carrie, and for the very late books, also her sister Grace and her husband Almanzo Wilder, but Little House on the Prairie is nothing but a memory of others' memories. And Laura had left South Dakota in the 1890s, so those memories of memories were mostly more than forty years old.
All that is to say that I really don't trust Little House on the Prairie as an indication of the popularity of this song in 1868-1869. The flip side is, it is quite clear that Laura Ingalls Wilder knew the song in the 1930s at least. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Hud083

Blue Mountain


DESCRIPTION: "My home it was in Texas, My past you must not know.... Blue Mountain, you're azure deep... Blue Mountain with a horsehead on your side, You've won my love to keep." Moments in the life of a cowboy: Drinking, wandering, wishing for mother
AUTHOR: F. W. Keller
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Collected by Fife/Fife)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work travel drink commerce moniker
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 88, "Blue Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BLUMTNAZ*
Roud #10861
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "Blue Mountain" (on Thieme01)
File: FCW088

Blue Mountain Lake (The Belle of Long Lake) [Laws C20]


DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the "racket" on Blue Mountain Lake when Jim Lou and "lazy Jimmie Mitchell" fought. The song concludes with a joke about Nellie the camp cook, "the belle of Long Lake"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: cook fight moniker
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws C20, "Blue Mountain Lake (The Belle of Long Lake)"
Warner 59, "The Ballad of Blue Mountain Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 49, "Blue Mountain Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 44, "The Rackets Around Blue Mountain Lake" (1 text)
DT 605, BLUEMTN*
Roud #2226
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Blue Mountain Lake" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Moosehead Lake" (floating verses)
NOTES: This song shares at least three verses with "Moosehead Lake," as well as the "Derry Down" tune, but the remaining text (and the feeling) are just enough different that I -- very tentatively -- keep the songs separate. - RBW
File: LC20

Blue Ridge Mountain Blues


DESCRIPTION: "When I was young and in my prime, I left my home in Caroline, Now all I do is sit and pine, For those folks I left behind. I've got the Blue Ridge Mountain blues." The singer longs for home, and dreams of the aged parents at home whom he will soon see
AUTHOR: credited to Bill Cox
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (recording, Riley Puckett)
KEYWORDS: separation home travel father mother nonballad homesickness home return reunion travel family dog
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 401, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (1 text)
Roud #11758
RECORDINGS:
Bill Cox, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Conqueror 8232, 1933; Banner 32941/Perfect 12969, 1934)
Vernon Dalhart, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Banner 1611, 1925) (Challenge 164/Challenge 314, 1927; rec. 1925) (Broadway 8061, n.d.)
Sid Harkreader, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Vocalion 15193, 1926)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle-Busters, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Brunswick 180, 1927)
Wade Mainer, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Blue Ridge 109)
Charlie Newman, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (OKeh 45184, 1928; rec. 1927)
Riley Puckett, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Columbia 254-D, 1924; Harmony 5127-H, n.d.) (Bluebird B-6196, 1935)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (Okeh 45009, 1925)
Doc Watson, "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (on RitchieWatsonCD1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" (quoted)
NOTES: The only authorship claim I've found for this lists it as copyright 1958 by Bill Clifton and Buddy Dee. Clifton, however, was born in 1931, and Riley Puckett recorded the song in 1924, so this claim is demonstrably false. Paul Stamler found the credit to Bill Cox, which is at least chronologically possible though he seems to have recorded it relatively late. - RBW
File: Br3401

Blue Tail Fly, The


See The Blue-Tail Fly [Laws I19] (File: LI19)

Blue Velvet Band (I), The


See The Black Velvet Band (I) (File: R672)

Blue Velvet Band (II)


DESCRIPTION: Singer leaves home and his sweetheart, the girl in the blue velvet band. Five years later he still dreams of her every night. He returns home and "the old colored people" tell him she has died and been buried wearing his ring and the blue velvet band.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: love ring separation death
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 148-150, "The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 51, "Blue Velvet Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3764
NOTES: Hank Snow recorded this as "The Blue Velvet Band" in Montreal in 1937 on RCA LMP/LSP 6014 (source: Country Music Sources by Guthrie T Meade Jr, p. 40). You can see the lyrics on the Hank Snow site. In Snow's lyrics he hears the news when he reaches "the old country depot" rather than from "the old colored people." The cut is available on a number of CDs now including "Hank Snow -- I'm Movin On" on Prism Entertainment 928.
It's not clear to me whether the singer dreams of Blue Velvet Band every night for five years or one night after five years. That is, it may be that her appearance in his dream is what makes him decide to go home. Hank Snow apparently thought it was her appearance in the dream that was critical. In the lyrics Snow wrote to "The New Blue Velvet Band" the singer accuses Blue Velvet Band of "loving some man" and leaves her on "a tanker for Holland"; he dreams of her and is called on deck by the captain who tells him "This message just flashed o'er the wireless And your darlin' is dying tonight"; he goes back and knows she has died when he hears "the bell in the old country steeple." Source: sing365.com site - BS
The fullest forms of "The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band" (as in Spaeth) are a combination of the "Black Velvet Band" plot (girl causes guy to end up in prison) and the above "Blue Velvet Band" plot (he misses the dead girl). This great invertebrate mass was too long to be recorded on a 78, and Creighton declares that they are not to be confused. I (tentatively) disagree. I suspect that this version of the song is a "Blue Velvet Band" variant chopped down by someone to fit in three minutes. For more details, see "The Black Velvet Band (I)." - RBW
File: LLab051

Blue Wave, The


DESCRIPTION: The Triton, fishing the Grand Banks, hears that the Cape Dolphin and Blue Wave are sinking in a storm. They join the search for Blue Wave but "no sign of their missing boat was anywhere to be found"
AUTHOR: Jack Lushman
EARLIEST DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 9, 1959 - Blue Wave and Cape Dauphin are lost but Cape Dauphin's crew are saved (per Lehr/Best, Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 9, "The Blue Wave" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LeBe09

Blue Yodel #4


See California Blues (Blue Yodel #4) (File: Br3505)

Blue-Coat Man, The


See (tentatively) The Roving Gambler [Laws H4] (File: LH04)

Blue-Eyed Boy, The


See My Blue-Eyed Boy (File: R759)

Blue-Eyed Ella


See The Jealous Lover (II) (File: E104)

Blue-Eyed Ellen


See The Jealous Lover (II) (File: E104)

Blue-Eyed Girl


See Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss (File: CSW066)

Blue-Eyed Lover


See Dear Companion (The Broken Heart; Go and Leave Me If You Wish To, Fond Affection) (File: R755)

Blue-Haired Boy (Little Willie II, Blue-Haired Jimmy)


DESCRIPTION: (Willie/Jimmy) has gone ("He never died so suddenly before"). After undergoing horrendous medical treatments..."he sneezed and smiled and died/He blew his nose and smiled and died again". Singer vows to plant a bunch of whiskers on his grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (unissued recording, Cumberland Mountain Fret Pickers)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Parody of sentimental death songs; (Willie/Jimmy) has gone ("He never died so suddenly before). After undergoing horrendous medical treatments, including bathing his head in boiling lead and filling his mouth with glue..."he sneezed and smiled and died/He blew his nose and smiled and died again". Singer vows to go to the barber shop, per the deceased last request and plant a bunch of whiskers on his grave
KEYWORDS: disease grief request death dying mourning humorous nonsense paradox parody family
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 134-135, "Little Willie II" (1 text, tune referenced)
Cumberland Mountain Fret Pickers, "Little Blue-Haird (sic) Boy" (unissued Brunswick/Vocalion mx TK-145, 1929)
Roud #1411
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "Blue-Haired Jimmy" (on Barker01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Willie (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: It sounds like this should be a parody of a particular song, rather than a pastiche of a genre, but so far I haven't found an original on which it's based. - PJS
Listed by the Pankakes as being sung to "Jesse James," although other versions appear to use different tunes. One suspects that their tune is a retrofit by their informant.
The Pankakes also have a song (on the same page) called Little Willie I. It is by no means clear that this is the same song, but I haven't seen it elsewhere; I suspect it is a parody of all the various songs about murderers and other vile folks named Willie. - RBW
File: RcBlHaJi

Blue-Haired Jimmy


See Blue-Haired Boy (Little Willie II, Blue-Haired Jimmy) (File: RcBlHaJi)

Blue-Tail Fly, The [Laws I19]


DESCRIPTION: A young slave is made into a household servant, with the particular task of keeping away the (stinging) blue-tail flies. One day the master goes out riding; a fly stings his pony; the master is thrown and dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1844
KEYWORDS: bug servant death
FOUND IN: US(SE,SW)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Laws I19, "The Blue-Tail Fly"
BrownIII 414, "Jim Crack Corn" (1 text plus 2 mixed fragments and 2 excerpts)
Friedman, p. 453, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 267, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 91-92, "Jim Crack Corn or the Blue Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 201-203, "De Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text plus some fragments, 1 tune); also p. 190, (no title) (1 fragment, with a verse of "The Jaybird" and the chorus of this piece); also p. 224, (no title) (1 short text, with the "Jim crack corn" chorus and the "My ole mistus promised me" verse)
Arnett, p. 66, "Jim Crack Corn (Blue-Tail Fly)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 709, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 12, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 30, "The Blue-Tail Fly" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 312, "Jim Crack Corn"
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 477, "The Blue-Tailed Fly" (source notes only)
DT 669, BLUETAIL
ST LI19 (Full)
Roud #4185
RECORDINGS:
Bob Atcher, "Blue Tail Fly" (Columbia 20538, 1949)
Doc Hopkins, "The Blue Tailed Fly" (Radio 1410A, n.d., prob. late 1940s - early 1950s)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Blue Tail Fly" (Majestic 6010, 1947)
Pete Seeger, "Jim Crack Corn" (on PeteSeeger03, PeteSeegerCD03); "The Blue Tail Fly" (on PeteSeeger17)
Riley Shepard, "The Blue Tail Fly" (King 523, 1946)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Shoo Fly" (chorus)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jimmie Crack Corn
NOTES: Sometimes credited to Dan Emmett (e.g. by Spaeth), and one of the earliest publications was in a series credited to him -- but the absence of his name on the earliest copies goes far toward discrediting his authorship. - RBW
The subtext for this song is that the slave in fact killed the master himself, blaming it on the blue-tail fly. This is hinted at, to varying degrees, in some versions of the song. -PJS
File: LI19

Blueberry Ball, The


DESCRIPTION: The Jubilee lands its freight at Daniel's Harbour and stays three days. The crew and sharemen dance all night, have a good "scuff" and leave to "prepare for a time in the bay"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: fight ship dancing drink humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 43-44, "The Blueberry Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9945
NOTES: Daniel's Harbour is on the northwest coast of Newfoundland, north of St Paul's [perhaps, since 1973, I should place it north of Gros Morne National Park] - BS
File: Pea043

Bluebird, The


DESCRIPTION: About Captain Moar's water-boat Bluebird. If you "come to Merrimashee, You will see the noble Bluebird, Through the waters she will fly, And the Captain says he'll run her Till the tank runs dry"
AUTHOR: Martin Sullivan of Kouchibougac (Manny/Wilson)
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship work nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Manny/Wilson 6, "The Bluebird" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi006 (Partial)
Roud #9204
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "The water-boats were schooners fitted with tanks. They supplied the ships in port with water." - BS
File: MaWi006

Blues Ain't Nothin', De


DESCRIPTION: "I'm gonna build myself a raft An' float dat ribber down, I'll build myself a shack In some ol' Texas town... 'Cause de blues ain't nothin... But a good man feelin' bad." The singer will go to the levee and rock until her sweetheart comes -- if he does
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: separation nonballad river
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, pp.234-235 , "De Blues Ain' Nothin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: San234

Bluestone Quarries, The


DESCRIPTION: "In eighteen hundred and forty one, They put their long red flannels on (x2), To work in the bluestone quarries." Stories of the Irish immigrants who became bluestone miners, and faced poverty, uncaring bosses, and cruel conditions
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: work mining boss poverty
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
FSCatskills 174, "The Bluestone Quarries" (1 text + appendix, 1 tune)
ST FSC174 (Partial)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy Works on the Railway" (tune & meter)
File: FSC174

Bluey Brink


DESCRIPTION: Bluey Brink, "a devil for work and a devil for drink," walks into Jimmy's bar and demands the closest available liquid -- the sulfuric acid used to clean the bar. Brink stomps out, and Jimmy fears for his life. But Brink returns next day asking for more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: Australia talltale humorous drink poison
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 148-149, "Bluey Brink" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 258-260, "Billy Brink" (1 text)
DT, BLUBRINK*
Roud #8838 and 3317
RECORDINGS:
John Greenway, "Bluey Brink" (on JGreenway01)
A. L. Lloyd, "Bluey Brink" (on Lloyd4, Lloyd8)
SAME TUNE:
The Wedding of Lochan McGraw (Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 181-182)
NOTES: Fahey suspects this of having been the work of A.L. Lloyd, who originally collected it. Australians like to boast of their drinking, however (though their per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages, other than beer, is actually rather low), so they have gladly adopted the song. Note that the name in Paterson/Fahey/Seal is "Billy Brink," implying some folk processing. Though the Paterson/Fahey/Seal version (collected from Simon McDonald by O'Connor and Officer) isn't as clever as Lloyd's version. Perhaps the likeliest explanation is that Lloyd tightened up a traditional song.
Meredith/Covell/Brown add that the tune for this is "The Wedding of Lochan McGraw." - RBW
File: FaE148

Blushing Bride


DESCRIPTION: Bride Mary Bell blushes as she walks down the aisle: "Every boy in every pew/Knows how she can bill and coo/No wonder she's a blushing bride." Even the preacher remembers her in her younger days; so does the best man.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Jim Miller & Charlie Farrell)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Mary Bell and Jackie Horner are to be married. The bride blushes as she walks down the aisle, and the singer says she has every reason to; "Every boy in every pew/Knows how she can bill and coo/No wonder she's a blushing bride." Even the preacher remembers her in her younger days; so does the best man. "Don't tell me she knows her stuff/She should; she's practiced long enough..."
KEYWORDS: courting marriage sex wedding humorous lover clergy
FOUND IN: US(MW)
RECORDINGS:
Edith Clifford, "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride" (Columbia 901-D, 1927)
Golden Melody Boys, "Blushing Bride" (c. 1928 [unissued]; on TimesAint04)
Jim Miller & Charlie Farrell, "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride" (Victor 20291, 1926)
[Moe] Thompson & [Carson] Robison "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride" (Gennett 6062, 1927)
NOTES: Nothing overt is mentioned, but I put "sex" as a keyword, and defy all challenges. - PJS
File: RcBluBri

Blythe and Bonny Scotland


See The Paisley Officer (India's Burning Sands) [Laws N2] (File: LN02)

Blythe Mormond Braes


DESCRIPTION: "O, wat ye wha's in yon wee hoose Beneath blythe Mormond Braes?" It is where pretty Nellie sits bleaching her clothes. He praises her beauty, and urges her to "blink owre the burn" with him. They love each other, and will wed, dowry or no
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting dowry
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, pp. 60-61, "Blythe Mormond Braes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4598
NOTES: Apart from the title, this has nothing in common with the better-known "Mormond Braes." - RBW
File: Ord060

Blythe Was She


DESCRIPTION: "Phemie was a bonier lass Than braes o' Yarrow ever saw." The singer describes her. "Phemie was the blythest lass That ever trod the dewy green." "Blythe [joyful], blythe and merry was she, Blythe was she but [outside] and ben [inside]"
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Whitelaw); reportedly composed 1787
KEYWORDS: beauty lyric
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #179, pp. 288-289, "Song -- Composed at Auchtertyre on Miss Euphemia Murray of Lentrose--" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1787)
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 191, "Blythe Was She"
Roud #6123
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blythe, Blythe and Merry Was She" (possible source, per GreigDuncan4)
cf. "Andro' and his Cutty Gun" (tune, according to Burns, and some lines)
cf. "Greense's Bonny Lass" (chorus lines)
NOTES: Notes to GreigDuncan4 785, quoting Duncan: "Probably the song is the predecessor of Burns's and suggested it." On the other hand, the first lines of "Andro' and his Cutty Gun," which Burns chose for his tune, are "Blyth, blyth, blythe was she, Blyth was she butt and ben" (Herd, Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc.). The same lines begin the chorus of "Greense's Bonny Lass." The same lines are mentioned in broadside, NLScotland L.C.1268, an 1822 "Letter from a Friend on a Journey to the North, to an Inhabitant of Auld Reekie [Edinburgh]; being a Curious and Entertaining Medly of Scotch Songs," which stitches the titles of well-known Scotch songs into a narrative.
Burns wrote his song in 1787, according to Whitelaw. Whitelaw quotes Burns: "The heroine was "Miss Euphemia Murray, commonly and deservedly called The Flower of Strathmore." - BS
Although the tune for this is usually known in tradition as "Andro and his Cutty Gun," Burns (according to Kinsley) listed it as "Andrew an' his cutty gun." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BrdBlWSh

Blythe, Blythe and Merry Was She


DESCRIPTION: "Blythe, blythe and merry was she Blythe was she butt and ben Blythe when she gaed to bed And blyther when she rose again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1828 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: sex nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Picture of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1828 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. I, p. 166, ("Blythe, blythe, and merry was she")
Roud #6123
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blythe Was She" (some lines) and references there
cf. "Greense's Bonny Lass" (half the chorus and the sense of the chorus)
NOTES: Chambers: "It is, moreover, handed down by tradition, that a daughter of one of the early chiefs of Scots -- a young lady of great beauty -- was the heroine of the first song to the tune of 'Andro and his Cuttie Gun;" which commenced with the fiollowing stanza: [text in DESCRIPTION]"
GreigDuncan4 quoting Duncan: "Probably the song is the predecessor of Burns's and suggested it."
It is tempting to lump this with "Greense's Bonny Lass"; it could easily have been the chorus to that song instead of .".. Blithe when I gaed in the gate, And blithe to bid me come again."
The chorus to Burns's "Blythe Was She": "Blythe, blythe and merry was she, Blythe was she butt and ben; Blythe by the banks of Earn, And blythe in Glenturit glen." (Source: Robert Burns, The Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (New Lanark,2005), pp. 216-217). Other songs to consider, in trying to place this song include:
The beginning of "Andro and his Cutty Gun": "Blyth, blyth, blyth was she, Blyth was she butt and ben; And we'el she loo'd a Hawick gill, And leugh to fee a tappit hen." (Source: David Herd, editor, Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc. (Edinburgh, 1870 (reprint of 1776)), Vol II, pp. 18-19).
Lines from "The Lass That Made the Bed to Me": "Blythe and merry may she be, The lass that made the bed to me." (Source: Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol I, pp. 243-244). Chambers says "There is an older and coarser song ...." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RCBBMWS

Blythesome Bridal, The


DESCRIPTION: A call to a wedding: "Fy let us a' tae the bridal, For there will be lilting there, For Jock's tae be married tae Maggie, The lass wi' the gowden hair." The elaborate feast is described in extravagant and nauseating fullness, as are the guests
AUTHOR: Francis Sempill ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: marriage humorous wedding food party
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan3 606, "Fy, Let's A to the Bridal" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 82, "The Blythesome Bridal" (1 text)
ST PBB082 (Full)
Roud #5889
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(218), "The Blithsome Bridal" ("Come, fy, let us a' to the wedding"), unknown, no date
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lanigan's Ball" (theme)
cf. "A Glorious Wedding" (theme)
cf. "The Wedding at Ballyporeen" (theme)
cf. "Sheelicks" (theme)
cf. "Pat's Wedding"
cf. "The Skipper's Wedding" (theme)
cf. "Irish Song (The Gay Wedding)" (theme)
SAME TUNE:
The Sports o' Glasgow Green (File: Ord397)
NOTES: By the seventeenth century, the "penny bridal" was common in Scotland: At a marriage, anyone could get into the feast by paying the penny fee. The results were often uproarious. - RBW
For another Penny Bridal song, see "The Road to Peterhead." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: PBB082

Bo Lamkin


See Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)

Bo-wow and Bo-wee


DESCRIPTION: A fragmentary ballad in which the old woman condemns the old man for "flashing," then has sex with him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman I, p. 135, "Bo-wow and Bo-wee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11501
File: RL135

Boar's Head Carol, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer brings in the boar's head, "bedecked with bays and rosemary," to help celebrate Christmas. Chorus: Caput apri defero, Redens laudes domino."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1790 (Ritson); earliest versions c. 1500 (Hill MS., Balliol Coll. Oxf. 354; Wales National Library Porkington 10)
KEYWORDS: carol Christmas food party nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
OBC 19, "The Boar's Head Carol" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Brown/Robbins, _Index of Middle English Verse_, #3313, 3314
Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #75, "The Boar's Head in Hand Bear I" (1 text)
NOTES: The Latin chorus translates as "[The] head of [the] boar I bring, giving praises to God."
This is said to be the "earliest English carol to appear in print"; Ian Bradley's Penguin Book of Carols reports it to have appeared in van Wynken's Christmase Carolls Newly Emprynted at London (1521). Since I have not seen the latter book, though, and no one else mentions that publication, I haven't listed that as an earliest date.
Folklore also has a rather fantastic account of the origin of the song: An Oxford student named Copcot was on his way to mass when attacked by a boar. He allegedly killed it by stuffing a volume of Aristotle down his throat (an act, it seems to me, more likely to kill a lazy student than a boar), then took the head to the cooks.
Hindley, p. 26, has an even more amazing idea: He suggests that the fame of the boar's head goes back to Anglo-Saxon times. The boar's head does seem to be an Anglo-Saxon symbol; "boar's head" helmets were found at Sutton Hoo and elsewhere (see figures 21, 23, and 24 on pp. 229-230 of Beowulf/Heaney/Donoghue). Beowulf itself does not refer to a boar's-head helmet by that term, but in lines 1030-1034 (pp. 106-109 in Beowulf/Chickering; in Beowulf/Heaney/Donoghue they are lines 1029-1033 on page 27) Hrothgar gives Beowulf what sounds like one of these helmets.
It's a cute idea, but the linkage is lacking. I know of no evidence of boar's head symbolism in the later Wessex tradition or in Norman or Plantagenet England. In any case, the earliest boar's head helmets almost certainly are pre-Christian, and this song has Latin elements, clearly dating it after the arrival of Christianity.
A facsimile of the Richard Hill manuscript is now available at the Balliol Library manuscripts resource at the Bodleian web site; go to http://tinyurl.com/tbdx-BalliolMSS and scroll down to MS. 354. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: OBC172A

Boar's Head in Hand Bear I, The


See The Boar's Head Carol (File: OBC172A)

Boarding-House, The


See Hungry Hash House (File: San207)

Boarding-School Maidens, The


DESCRIPTION: Johnny disports one after the other with "two boarding-school maidens, charming and bright."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman II, pp. 658-659, "The Boarding-School Maidens" (1 text)
File: RL658

Boardman River Song


DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of his work, skills and history on the Boardman River (and many others), saying he will never waste his money on drink, but will save it for his old age.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger drink
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 27, "Boardman River Song" (1 text)
Roud #8857
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Manistee River Song"
cf. "The Kipawa Stream"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jolly Pinewoods Boys
NOTES: According to Beck, the "Manistee River Song" is alleged to have been composed by Ole Nelson in 1880. However, he notes that this very similar song was being sung along the Boardman River in the 1880s. - PJS
And, similarly, note "The Kipawa Stream." Chances are that there is some ancestral pierce (we can hardly tell which) which various singers localized.
File: Be027

Boat, A Boat, Across the Ferry, A


DESCRIPTION: Round: "A boat, a boat across the ferry, For we are going to be merry, To laugh and quaff and drink old sherry."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: ship drink
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 225, "A Boat, A Boat, Across the Ferry" (1 text)
File: Br3225

Boat's Up the River


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

Boatman, The (Fhear a Bhata)


See Fhear a Bhata (Fhir a Bhata: I Climb the Mountains) (File: HHH834)

Boatman's Dance, The


See De Boatman Dance (File: BMRF566)

Boatsman and the Chest, The [Laws Q8]


DESCRIPTION: The boatsman's wife is being visited by the tailor when he comes home unexpectedly. The tailor hides in a chest. Knowing its contents, the husband deliberately takes the chest back to his ship. He tells the tailor he abducted him to keep him from his wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: infidelity punishment hiding abduction
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE) Canada(Newf) Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Laws Q8, "The Boatsman and the Chest"
GreigDuncan7 1432, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "The Devil in the Kist" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Eddy 46, "Jolly Boatman" (1 text)
JHCoxIIA, #23, pp. 91-93, "The Wealthy Merchant" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 138, "The Jolly Boatswain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 53, "The Boatswain and the Tailor" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 306-311, "The Old Bo's'n" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
SHenry H604, pp. 505-506, "The Tailor in the Tea [Sea] Chest" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 52, "The Boatswain and the Chest" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 52, "The Boatsman and the Chest" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gilbert, pp. 26-27, "The Sailor and the Tailor" (1 text)
JHJohnson, pp.71-73, "The Boatswain and the Tailor" (1 text)
DT 346, BOATTAIL TRPRTAIL*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 38, #3 (1993-1994), p, 70, "The Charleston Merchant" (1 text, 1 tune, apparently from Sam Hinton)
[no author listed], Scenes & Songs of the Ohio-Erie Canal, Ohio Historical Society, 1971, "The Clever Skipper" (1 text, 1 tune, from Pearl R. Nye)
Roud #570
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Will the Weaver" [Laws Q9] (plot)
cf. "The Major and the Weaver" [Laws Q10] (plot)
cf. "The Dog in the Closet (The Old Dyer)" [Laws Q11] (plot)
cf. "The Trooper and the Tailor" (plot)
cf. "The Little Cobbler" (plot)
cf. "The Greasy Cook (Butter and Cheese and All, The Cook's Choice)" (plot)
cf. "Murphy in the Cupboard" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Randy Tailor
The Tailor and the Kist
NOTES: In one version, the husband ships the chest (and the tailor) off to China. - PJS
This and similar songs are sometimes traced back to a story in Boccaccio (seventh day, second story: Gianella, Peronella, and her husband). But the story is really one of the basic themes of folktale, and doubtless predates Boccaccio as well as these songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LQ08

Boatswain and the Tailor, The


See The Boatsman and the Chest [Laws Q8] (File: LQ08)

Bob at His Bowster


See Babbity Bowster (File: MSNR089)

Bob Cranky's 'Size Sunday


DESCRIPTION: "Ho'way and aw'll sing thee a tune, mun, 'Bout huz seein' my lord at the toon, mun... Nyen them aw cut a dash like Bob Cranky." The singer sets out for a celebration in town, gets drunk and dirty, and tells of the exploits of Cranky
AUTHOR: Words: John Selkirk? / Music: Thomas Train
EARLIEST DATE: 1812 (Bell)
KEYWORDS: drink clothes humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 88-89, "Bob Cranky's Size Sunday" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR088 (Partial)
Roud #3146
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bob Cranky's Adieu" (character)
File: StoR088

Bob Cranky's Adieu


DESCRIPTION: "Farewell, farewell, ma comely pet! Aw's forced three weeks to leave thee; Aw's doon for parm'nent duty set." The singer must obey the sergeant during the long parting -- but if the girl wishes to see him, they can always meet in the "yell-house"
AUTHOR: Words: John Shield
EARLIEST DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay); Shield died 1848
KEYWORDS: soldier separation drink reunion humorous parody
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 91-93, "Bob Cranky's Adieu" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR091 (Partial)
Roud #3148
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bob Cranky's 'Size Sunday" (character)
NOTES: According to Stokoe, "This song is a parody on the popular song of the Peninsular War period, entitled 'The Soldier's Adieu.'" - RBW
File: StoR091

Bob Ingersoll and the Devil


DESCRIPTION: "Some dese days gwine hit 'im. Ingersoll sing anudder song When de debill git 'im. Debbil watch fo' sich as him." The singer describes with seeming relish how the Devil will gather Ingersoll and dance as the dead man suffers
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: devil Hell humorous
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 348, "Bob Ingersoll and the Devil" (1 text)
Roud #11736
File: Br3348

Bob Sims


See Logan County Jail (Dallas County Jail) [Laws E17] (File: LE17)

Bob Vail Was a Butcher Boy


DESCRIPTION: Bob Vail is a butcher who would "rather fight than eat." He is bald on top and uses marrow to grease his hair. He courts Codfish Lize. When he asks her to marry "Her teeth fell out and she lost her wig"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: courting humorous hair
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 67, "Bob Vail Was a Butcher Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB067 (Partial)
Roud #2760
File: CrSNB067

Bob-a Needle


DESCRIPTION: "Well oh bob-a needle bob-a needle, And oh bob-a needle." "Bob-a needle is a running, Bob-a needle ain't a-running." "And oh bob-a needle, bob-a needle... You got bob-a"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, children of Lilly's Chapel School)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, p. 159, "(Bob-a Needle)" (1 text)
Roud #11001
RECORDINGS:
Children of Lilly's Chapel School, "Bob a Needle (Bobbin Needle)" (on NFMAla6, RingGames1)
Pete Seeger, "Bob-a-Needle" (on PeteSeeger21)
NOTES: Courlander reports that a source suspects this title to be a mistake for "bobbing needle," but as he does not list either his own source or the source of the speculation, it is difficult to know what to make of this. - RBW
File: CNFM159A

Bobbed Hair, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer is horrified that "my Biddy darling ... had bobbed her hair." She says "'Tis all the fashion now.'" She says it was started by Black and Tans. He leaves her: "your neck is bare, like Paddy McGinty's drake." The asses, goats and swallows protest.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1974 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: hair humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 23, "The Bobbed Hair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3077
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls?" (theme)
NOTES: The reference to the Black and Tans is curious. The Black and Tans were, of course, the soldiers the English imported to Ireland as an auxiliary police force after the First World War (see, e.g., "The Bold Black and Tan"). I recall reading, somewhere, of an Irish girl having her head shaved for being too close to the English. I can't recall hearing of one cutting her hair to imitate them. - RBW
File: RcTBobHa

Bobbie Bingo


See Bingo (File: FSWB390D)

Bobby Campbell


DESCRIPTION: Bobby Campbell, though he weeps for the dead, hears the pipes "calling the clans to war," and remembers how his father told him not to dishonor the clan. He goes to war and is killed; his Mary grieves for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: soldier death
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 272, "Bobby Campbell" (1 text)
File: FSWB272B

Bobby Shafto's Gone To Sea


See Bobby Shaftoe (File: FSWB170A)

Bobby Shaftoe


DESCRIPTION: "Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea, Silver buckles on his knee, He'll come back and marry me, Bonnie Bobby Shaftoe." The singer praises Bobby's appearance. (In some versions she ends by noting that he is "getting a bairn")
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1805 (Songs for the Nursery, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: sailor love beauty pregnancy
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North)) US(SE)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
BrownIII 132, "Bobby Shaftoe" (1 text)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 12-13, "Bobby Shaftoe" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 198, "Bobby Shaftoe" (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 60, "Bobby Shafto's gone to sea" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #153, pp. 116-117, "(Bobby Shafto's gone to sea)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 75, "(Bobbie Shaftoe's gone to sea)" (1 short text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 170, "Bobby Shaftoe" (1 text)
DT, BOBSHAFT
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; notes to #352, ("Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea") (1 text)
Roud #1359
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bonny Bobby Shaftoe
Bobbie Shaftoe
NOTES: According to Stokoe, "Tradition connects this song with one of the Shaftoes of Bavinngton, who ran away to sea to escape the attentions of an enamoured lady of beauty and fortune.... The original air was entitled 'Brave Wully Forster,' and appears so in a manuscript music book in the Antiquarian Society's possession, dated 1694."
The Baring-Goulds, however, report that the "original Bobby Shafto is said to have lived at Hollybrook, County Wicklow, and died in 1737." (They may have derived this data from the Opies) But they add that a later verse, not found in "Songs for the Nursery," "was composed by the supporters of another Bobby Shafto -- Robert Shafto of Whitworth, a candidate for parliament in the election of 1761. He was said to be exceedingly handsome."
I wouldn't bet on any of those identifications. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FSWB170A

Bodies o' the Lyne o' Skene, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer says "better never hae I seen dwals into the Lyne o' Skene." He names places from which "I've drawn mony a shinnin' groat." "May health and peace their steps attend ... the open-handed, kindly-hearted bodies o' the Lyne o' Skene"
AUTHOR: W Chisholm (died c. 1863) (source: GreigDuncan3, quoting a broadside)
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: virtue nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 512, "The Bodies o' the Lyne o' Skene" (1 text)
Roud #5996
NOTES: GreigDuncan3, quoting Duncan: "'Chisolm was a wandering packman, or pedlar, carrying odds and ends.'"
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Lyne of Skene (512) is at coordinate (h1,v7-8) on that map [roughly 11 miles W of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3512

Bog Down in the Valley-O


See The Rattling Bog (File: ShH98)

Bogend Hairst, The


See Rhynie (File: RcRhynie)

Boggie, The


DESCRIPTION: "Bonnie lassie, come my road and gangna through the Boggie O." The singer says her Boggie road down the river is scraggy and wet. His road is "up the waterside." He would have her go with him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 877, "The Boggie" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #6134
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Owre Boggie
NOTES: The Bogie is a tributary of the Deveron River in Aberdeenshire. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4877

Boggy Creek or The Hills of Mexico [Laws B10b]


DESCRIPTION: A group of cowboys is hired for an expedition away from home. Mistreated by their boss, they eventually rebel (and kill him)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: cowboy revenge boss
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws B10b, "Boggy Creek or The Hills of Mexico"
Lomax-FSNA 196, "On the Trail to Mexico" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife XV, pp. 195-218 (31-33), "Buffalo Range" (6 texts, 2 tunes, though the "B" text is "Boggy Creek," C and D appear unrelated, and E is "Canada-I-O")
Fife-Cowboy/West 30, "The Hills of Mexico" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 109, "Trail To Mexico" (1 text)
DT 377, (ARIZONIO* -- clearly a member of this family of songs, and closer to this than Laws B10a or C17, although it perhaps should be classified as a separate piece)
Roud #634
RECORDINGS:
Roscoe Holcomb, "The Hills of Mexico" (on Holcomb-Ward1)
Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock, "The Trail to Mexico" (Victor V-40016, 1929; on MakeMe)
Carl T. Sprague, "Following the Cow Trail" (Victor 20067, 1926; Montgomery Ward M-4468, 1934; rec. 1925; on AuthCowboys)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Buffalo Skinners" [Laws B10a]
cf. "Shanty Teamster's Marseillaise" (plot)
cf. "Canaday-I-O, Michigan-I-O, Colley's Run I-O" [Laws C17]
File: LB10B

Boghead Crew, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer joins the Boghead harvest crew. The crew are described by name, task, and characteristics. The meals seem happy enough. "Noo, I mysel comes in the last My heart it is richt glaed To follow up the merry crew And wag the hinmost blades"
AUTHOR: James Trail (source: Greig #5, p.3)
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work moniker nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #3, pp. 1-2, "The Boghead Crew" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 409, "The Boghead Crew" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Roud #5406
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hairst o' Rettie" (subject: harvest crew moniker song) and references there
cf. "The Kiethen Hairst" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
cf. "The Ardlaw Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
cf. "The Northessie Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
NOTES: The song has the same happy tone about the harvest work as "The Kiethen Hairst" by the same author.
Greig/GreigDuncan3 409A dates the harvest: "Twas in the year 1870, On August the 16th day From the parish of Longside I northward took my way."
Greig #7, p. 3 reports that he has in hand another version that "contains the two or three verses which I omitted; but as Mr Trail himself quite approves of the omission we need not re-open the matter."
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Boghead (409) is at coordinate (h6-7,v9-0) on that map [roughly 38 miles N of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3406

Bogie


See Bonnie Bogie (File: GrD4868)

Bogie Banks


DESCRIPTION: Sandy meets a girl by Boggie Banks and would not give her up "for a' the lands o' Alexander." He takes her to a parson's house and they marry. He takes her to his home and his father says "she'll be my daughter dear" Now she has many farm animals.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: courting wedding father
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 948, "Bogie Banks" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6768
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I'll Let You Know the Reason" (theme: rejecting the riches of Alexander)
File: GrD5948

Bogie's Banks and Bogie's Braes


DESCRIPTION: "I hae a housie oh my ain ... On the bonnie banks oh the Bogie" The singer lives there with grannie at her wheel, a cow, hen and duck and "a laddie leel an true" He knows every step and stone "frae Craig tae Huntly" He will soon sleep in the churchyard.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: age home nonballad animal bird chickens family
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 547, "Bogie's Banks and Bogie's Braes" (1 text)
Roud #6023
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Corn Riggs" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
File: GrD3547

Bogie's Bonnie Belle


DESCRIPTION: Singer meets Bogie and goes to work for him; his daugher Isabel meets him by the river. She delivers a son, and Bogie sends for the singer, who promises to marry her. Bogie says the singer's not worthy of his daughter. Bogie's daughter marries a tinker
AUTHOR: Unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan7)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, going to Huntley, meets Bogie and arranges to drive horses for him; his daugher Isabel chooses him for her guide, down by the river. Later, she delivers a son, and Bogie sends for the singer, who promises to marry her. Bogie says the singer's not worthy of his daughter, so (the singer takes his son away while) Bogie's daughter marries a tinker; the singer takes his leave (and boasts of having taken her maidenhead) (or he wishes her well)
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness courting seduction sex bragging pregnancy baby father lover
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1396, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Bogie's Bonnie Bell" (13 texts, 11 tunes)
Kennedy 340, "Bogie's Bonnie Belle" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 81, "Bogie's Bonnie Belle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BOGIEBEL*
Roud #2155
RECORDINGS:
Davie Stewart, "Bogie's Bonny Belle" (on FSB1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Adieu to Bogie Side" (lyrics)
cf. "The Plains of Waterloo" (tune, per GreigDuncan7)
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" (tune, per GreigDuncan7)
NOTES: According to Kennedy, a "literary" version of the song by John Riddel [indexed as "Adieu to Bogie Side" - RBW] was printed in Ford's Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland, 1900. - PJS
This is an instance of a difficult conundrum, which initially led me to lump the songs. There is good evidence that this "literary" version is a traditional song (Ford and Ord have very different versions, and Grieg found quite a few versions). And Ord's longish version has clear links to Kennedy's song. Links, but not really the same plot (e.g. the pregnancy vanishes). Still, I suspect there are versions which mix. Best to check the references to both songs.
I find myself wondering if Riddell didn't know both songs, and create his version (with its references to the muses, etc.) from scraps of both. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: DTbogieb

Bogie's Braes


DESCRIPTION: "By Bogie's streams that rin sae deep, Fu' aft wi' glee I've herded sheep... Wi' my dear lad on Bogie's braes.... But waes my heart the days are gane... While my dear lad maun face his faes." She laments all that she will do alone in his absence
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love separation parody
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 114, "Bogie's Braes" (1 text)
Roud #5542
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Logan Water"
cf. "Logan Braes"
NOTES: Ord notes that this is "simply a parody on Logan Braes," and (given its rarity) it might almost be filed with that piece -- but "Logan Braes" isn't in the index yet. - RBW
File: Ord114

Bogieside (I)


See Ye're Noo on Bogieside (File: Ord281)

Bogieside (II)


See Adieu to Bogie Side (File: FCS265)

Bohunkus (Old Father Grimes, Old Grimes Is Dead)


DESCRIPTION: Old Grimes, "the good old man," was always dressed in a long black coat and was widely respected. He had two sons, (Tobias) and Bohunkus. "They has a suit of clothes... Tobias wore them through the week, Bohunkus on a Sunday."
AUTHOR: Words: Albert Gorton Greene?
EARLIEST DATE: 1822 (Providence Gazette)
KEYWORDS: father children death clothes humorous
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Belden, pp258-259, "Old Grimes is Dead" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 428, "Old Father Grimes" (1 short text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 321, "Josephus and Bohunkus" (2 texts plus a fragment)
Gardner/Chickering 194, "Old Grimes" (1 fragment)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 576-577, "Old Grimes" (1 text)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 83-84, "Bohunkus" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 150-151, "Old Grimes" (1 text)
JHCox 170, "Old Grimes" (1 text, with an "Old Grimes" first verse and the rest unrelated)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 156-157, (No title listed) (1 text, tune referenced)
ST R428 (Full)
Roud #764
RECORDINGS:
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Josephus and Bohunkus" (Victor, unissued, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Auld Lang Syne" (tune)
NOTES: This piece seems to fall into two parts, one describing Old Grimes, his clothes, and the respect with which he was treated (so, e.g., in Spaeth's Weep Some More and Botkin's New England Folklore).
The other describes the humorous exploits of (Tobias/Josephus) and Bohunkus (so in Speath, Read 'Em and Weep; also the "B" text and perhaps the "C" fragment in Brown), who shared almost everything, usually with one brother having rather the better of the distribution. In Randolph's version, for instance, Tobias gets the clothes for six days out of seven.
On the other hand, in Spaeth, when they went to the theatre, Bohunkus was in the gallery and Josephus in the pit; Bohunkus died of cholera but Josephus "by request"; Bohunkus went to heaven and Josephus to Hell (or, in one book, "Sing Sing"!)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House in the Big Woods, chapter 10) has a different sort of a plot, in which Grimes's wife is so stingy with cream that he blows away in the wind.
Based on the notes in Brown, it appears that Green wrote only the "Old Grimes" text, with the rest coming from elsewhere. But this does not solve the matter, for it appears that Greene was not responsible for the first verse of "Old Grimes"; when he confessed authorship in 1833, he denied writing the opening stanza.
Spaeth's "Old Grimes" text is so feeble that it's hard to believe such a thing could enter tradition. And, indeed, no traditional form similar to the printed versions from Spaeth and Botkin seems to have turned up; they all add some sort of comic ending (see Randolph, Cox, Wilder; Brown "A").
My feeble guess is that "Old Grimes" did not become traditional until it picked up some sort of humorous element, perhaps from "Bohunkus," and circulated only in that form. "Bohunkus" very possibly did not enter tradition at all on its own; although the Pankakes have a text which may have come from oral tradition, it is so short that it could be a fragment of a Grimes/Bohunkus conflation. But it's probably best if you examine the matter yourself.
This should not be confused with the piece called "Old Roger is Dead (Old Bumpy, Old Grimes, Pompey)" in this collection, which also goes under the title "Old Grimes." - RBW
Opie-Oxford2 6, "Old Abram Brown is dead and gone" is the usual first verse for this song: "Old Abram Brown is dead and gone, You'll never see him more; He used to wear a long brown coat That buttoned down before." - BS
File: R428

Boil dem Cabbage Down


See Bile Them Cabbage Down (File: LoF269)

Boil Them Cabbage Down


See Bile Them Cabbage Down (File: LoF269)

Boire un P'tit Coup C'Est Agreable (Sipping is Pleasant)


DESCRIPTION: French. Let's go to the woods together, marionette. We will gather apples and hazelnuts. Marie has a marionette; Marie has us both, we will sleep in the same little bed. Chorus: "Sipping is pleasant. Sipping is gentle. Swigging makes the spirit sick"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting sex drink bawdy nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 508-509, "Boire un P'tit Coup C'Est Agreable" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea508

Bolakin


See Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)

Bolamkin


See Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)

Bold Belfast Shoemaker, The


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

Bold Ben Hall


See The Death of Ben Hall (File: MA098)

Bold Benjamin, The


DESCRIPTION: Admiral Cole sails for Spain on the Benjamin with five hundred men, to gain silver and gold; he returns with sixty-one men. On their return to Blackwall, mothers and widows lament the lost sailors.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Firth)
KEYWORDS: navy war death mourning ship shanty sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 23, "The Bold Benjamin" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN464, "Captain Chilver's gone to Sea"
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 89, "The Benjamin's Lamentation for their Sad Loss at Sea by Storms and Tempests" (1 text)
Roud #2632
NOTES: This song is a remake of the black-letter ballad (c. 1679) "The Benjamin's Lamentation for their Sad Loss at Sea, etc." - (PJS)
File: VWL023

Bold Black and Tan, The


DESCRIPTION: "Says Lloyd George to MacPherson, I give you the sack To uphold law and order you haven't the knack." The English create the Black and Tan army, which commits atrocities, but the Irish vow they will defeat the English
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion violence Civilwar IRA
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1920-1921 - The Black and Tan War
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
PGalvin, pp. 63-64, "The Bold Black and Tan" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT,BLACKTAN*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boys from County Cork" (subject: Irish Civil War) and references there
cf. "The Boys of Kilmichael" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Burning of Rosslea" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "Charlie Hurley" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "Down in the Town of Old Bantry" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "Mac and Shanahan" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "General Michael Collins" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Piper of Crossbarry" (subject: Irish Civil War) and references there
cf. "The Rineen Ambush" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Quilty Burning" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Valley of Knockanure" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Valley of Knockanure (II)" (subject: Irish Civil War)
cf. "The Boys of Kilmichae" (subject Irish Civil War)
NOTES: By 1920, Irish terrorism had clearly reached the point where the normal authorities could not control it.
This was especially true since the regular members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) were losing their enthusiasm. By this time, though only a few dozen had been killed, their morale was falling; by late 1920, roughly 10% had resigned (Kee, p. 96), and the rest had perhaps lost their edge. The British saw a need for more replacements than could possibly be raised in Ireland itself (Kee, p. 97, says that they eventually recruited some 7000 new police), and started importing potential police from Britain itself. British Prime Minister David Lloyd George therefore recruited a special auxiliary force (known as the Black and Tans) to try to restore order.
The Black and Tans are often called the dregs of British society. This is at best an exaggeration. It is true that most were unemployed -- but this is hardly their fault; they were World War I veterans, often taken into the army as soon as they finished school, and then returned home to an England where all the jobs were filled.
As Younger puts it (p. 105), "They were not the dregs of English jails, as Irishmen have so often alleged, but bored, unsettled, often workless ex-soldiers, young men whose ordinary pity and honour had been dried up by their long and merciless ordeal in the trenches." One might add that, having been so long under discipline, it took only a few really bad apples to lead them to brutality.
Their black and tan uniform was largely an accident; as there were not enough Royal Irish Constabulary uniforms available, the Black and Tans received a mixture of oddments.
The Irish correctly accuse the Black and Tans of atrocities -- the British (exhausted by World War I) had little choice but to fight terror with terror. The Black and Tans were the worst mostly because they had no experience of the Irish except during the terrorism. With their comrades being attacked from hiding with terrorist weapons, they took revenge where they could -- even if it meant random revenge which hurt their cause more than it helped.
The British did not entirely ignore the Black and Tan problem; Kee reports (p. 117) that 218 of them were dismissed as unsuitable, and a few dozen were subjected to prosecution for their behavior. This did little to control the problem. Technically, the Black and Tans were keeping Ireland in British hands; Richard Mulcahy, the Irish Chief of Staff, who was one of those chiefly responsible for fighting them, observed that, for all the deaths, the Irish rebels had never managed to drive the English out of anything more significant than "a fairly good-sized police barracksÓ (see Kee, p. 145). But military control is not peace. (Just ask any citizen of Iraq.)
The results were intolerable. Both sides agreed to a truce in 1921, with elections to follow in Ulster and the rest of Ireland. As it proved, Sinn Fein won overwhelmingly in Ireland and Unionist (i.e. pro-British) parties almost as completely in Ulster. The path to Irish independence was at last clear -- as long as the country was willing to accept partition.
The MacPherson of the song is Sir Ian MacPherson, Lloyd George's Irish Minister, who believed in Home Rule and, although he fought to keep order, was not strict enough for the Prime Minister.
Macready is Major General Sir Nevil Macready, Commander in Chief of the British forces in Ireland. Dangerfield describes him as impartial in the Irish struggles; "he disliked both sides," i.e. nationalists and Ulstermen (p. 319; see also p. 110, where it is said he had "no sympathy for either Nationalists or Orangemen"). - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: PGa063

Bold Brannan on the Moor


See Brennan on the Moor [Laws L7] (File: LL07)

Bold Daniels (The Roving Lizzie) [Laws K34]


DESCRIPTION: Bold Daniels and the "Roving Lizzie" meet a pirate ship which calls for their surrender. Though outnumbered, Daniels and the "Lizzie" fight so effectively that they capture the pirate and take it to (Baltimore) as a prize
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: pirate battle ship
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws K34, "Bold Daniels (The Roving Lizzie)"
Rickaby 43, "Bold Daniel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 39-40, "Bold Daniel" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 57, "Bold Daniel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 149-151, "Bold Daniels" (1 text)
DT 567, BOLDDANL
Roud #1899
File: LK34

Bold Deserter, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer loves a girl. "She first advised me for to list and afterwards desert" He is hiding, thinking of those he left behind, terrorized even by "the bird that flutters on each tree." He will return. If they "pardon me, I would desert no more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(64))
KEYWORDS: courting soldier desertion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn 68, "The Bold Deserter" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BOLDDSRT*
Roud #1655
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(64), "Bold Deserter" ("My parents rear'd me tenderly, I being their only son)," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Firth c.14(126), Harding B 26(66), 2806 c.15(183), Harding B 19(42), "[The] Bold Deserter"; Firth c.14(128), "The Bold Deserter" or "Why Did I Desert?"
File: OLoc068

Bold Dickie and Bold Archie


See Archie o Cawfield [Child 188] (File: C188)

Bold Dighton [Laws A21]


DESCRIPTION: The French on Guadeloupe have imprisoned hundreds of seamen. Dighton offers 500 guineas to relieve their distress and is himself imprisoned. He manages to free all the prisoners and, fighting off a pursuing ship, escape to Antigua
AUTHOR: P. Russell?
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie); also in at least some versions of the Forget-Me-Not Songster
KEYWORDS: prisoner escape
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws A21, Bold Dighton"
Gardner/Chickering 94, "Bold Dighton" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 83, "Bold Dighton,Ó ÒThe Tiger and the Lion" (2 texts)
DT 696, BLDIGHTN
Roud #2209
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as101290, "Bold Dighton," L. Deming (Boston), 19C
NOTES: Mackenzie attributes this to P. Russell (of whom I know nothing) -- but this is based on an advertising blurb on a broadside copy, and we know what those are worth. - RBW
"Being the account of an action fought off Gaudaloupe (sic.), in 1805, where ninety-five Americans, and near three hundred Britons made their escape from the prison at that place." (Source: Note included in America Singing as101290 broadside) - BS
File: LA21

Bold Doherty


DESCRIPTION: Doherty loves drink and women. He fools his mother into giving him money. He passes two tinkers fighting over the effect of Doherty on his wife. Doherty goes home. His mother has locked him out. He doesn't mind "for I can get lodging with Nora McGlinn"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (recording, Mary Ann Carolan)
KEYWORDS: sex drink mother rake home
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #2992
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Carolan, "Bold Doherty" (on Voice13)
File: RcBolDoh

Bold Dragoon, The


See The Bold Soldier [Laws M27] (File: LM27)

Bold English Navvy, The


See The Courting Coat (File: RcWMPBO)

Bold Escallion and Phoebe


See Corydon and Phoebe (File: K125)

Bold Fenian Men (I), The


DESCRIPTION: "See who comes over the red-blossomed heather, Their green banners kissing the pure mountain air...." Fenians come from all over Ireland, boasting of their victories (!) over the English. Refrain "Out and make way for the bold Fenian men!"
AUTHOR: Michael Scanlon
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 ("first printed in Chicago", according to Zimmermann p. 48 fn. 65)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
PGalvin, pp. 51-52, "The Bold Fenian Men" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 323, "The Bold Fenian Men" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(168), "The Fenian Men", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
LOCSinging, sb10126b, "The Fenian Men", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also as201000, "The Fenian Men"
NOTES: The Fenians were an Irish Independence organization -- but they were also among the most absurdly inept plotters in history. The depth of their feelings are illustrated by the fact that they kept on after an endless litany of failures. (For examples, see "A Fenian Song," "The British Man-of-War," and "The Smashing of the Van (I)." Robert Kee, in The Bold Fenian Men, being Volume II of The Green Flag, p. 37, perhaps sums up their record best: "This iron, selfless dedication to a cause which, though often viewed with sympathy by the Irish people, was made consistently ludicrous by events, became an important feature of the Fenian movement.)
This song, however, appears to come from their heady early days, when they were still growing and had not started to mess up. For this early part of their history, see "James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy." - RBW
Broadsides LOCSinging sb10126b and Bodleian Harding B 18(168): H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site.
Broadsides LOCSinging sb10126b and Bodleian Harding B 18(168) are duplicates. - BS
File: PGa051

Bold Fisherman, The [Laws O24]


DESCRIPTION: The fisherman comes to court the lady. Having tied up his boat, he takes her hand and removes his coat. This reveals three golden chains. Seeing that he is rich, the lady asks forgiveness for calling him a fisherman. The two go home and are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3114))
KEYWORDS: fishing marriage courting money
FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws O24, "The Bold Fisherman"
Greig #179, p. 2, "The Rover of the Sea" (1 text)
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 5, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan4 834, "The Rover of the Sea" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 218-219, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 112-114, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 603-604, "The Young Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 692-693, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text)
PBB, "The Royal Fisherman" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 42, "The Bold Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 483, FISHBOLD*
Roud #291
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "The Bold Fisherman" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3114), "The Bold Fisherman," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Johnson Ballads 596; Harding B 11(840)=B 11(841), "The Bold Fisherman," H. Such (London), 1863-1885
NOTES: The notes in Butterworth/Dawney point out that several scholars see a link to the legend of the Fisher King. I frankly don't see it. The point of the legend of the Fisher King is not the fishing, nor the wealth, but the unhealed injury. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LO24

Bold Fusilier, The


DESCRIPTION: "A bold fusilier came marching down through Rochester, Off to the wars in the north country, And he sang as he marched the dear old streets of Rochester, 'Wha'll be a sodger for Marlbro' and me?'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941
KEYWORDS: soldier recruiting
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1650-1727 - Life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
1701-1714 - War of the Spanish Succession, pitting France and Spain against Britain, Austria, and many smaller nations. Marlborough made a reputation by winning the battles of Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), and Oudenarde (1708) (he fought a draw at Malplaquet in 1709)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, (COMBSOLD* COMBSOL2)
NOTES: The currency of this song in oral tradition is rather open to debate. This is not due to any defect in the song itself, but its precise parallels to "Waltzing Matilda," which has made the history of the song rather a fetish for Australians.
The facts:
1. There are no early collections of the song, and some have judged the language inappropriate for the early seventeenth century. There do not appear to be broadside prints. (The verses quoted in the Digital Tradition are modern reconstructions by Peter Coe of the extant fragments remembered by recent informants)
2. The song clearly *refers to* events of the time of the War of the Spanish Succession, when Marlborough was the English general in chief and when the recruiting sergeant still roamed the streets sweeping up recruits.
Does this date the song to the seventeenth century? The only other alternative I've seen is a suggestion that the song was written during the Boer War (1899-1902) as some sort of parody on the Churchills. I find this hard to believe.
The question will probably never be settled to everyone's satisfaction, barring discovery of an early broadside print or the like. - RBW
File: DTcombso

Bold Grenadier, The


See One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14] (File: LP14)

Bold Hawke


DESCRIPTION: Sir Edward Hawke takes Royal George out of Torbay December 18 and December 28 fights a French fleet of five ships. They sink Lily and burn Rising Sun and Glory.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: battle navy sea France
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 20, 1759 - "Sir Edward Hawke [defeats] the Brest fleet... at Quiberon Bay on the coast of France" (Lehr/Best)
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 10, "Bold Hawke" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Heart of Oak" (context of the Battle of Quiberon Bay)
NOTES: A 1760 Bodleian broadside, "Admiral Hawke's welcome to old England, on his compleating the ruin of the French navy," says about the battle that "Five Ships did, reluctant, the Combat sustain While eight, trembling, sneaked up the River Vilaine And the rest flew, like Feathers, all over the Main" -- shelfmark 5 Delta 278(16). Lehr/Best: "This battle was recorded in British history as one of the greatest naval victories of all time." Hawke had been driven to Torbay by a November gale, giving the French a chance to sail from Brest (Source: Royal Navy site re Royal Naval History "The Battle of Quiberon Bay 1759"). Torbay is in Devon, on the English Channel, though it may have tickled Newfoundlanders to transfer the base in their mind's eye to Torbay, seven miles north of St John's. - BS
Sir Edward Hawke (1710-1781) was, after Anson, the chief admiral of the late phase of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), and was to prove a brilliant innovator. Lacking political connections (he was the son of an unimportant barrister), he rose to the rank of captain on merit. Early in the war, he had disobeyed the orders of his commander, Admiral Mathews, at Toulon, capturing the only significant prize -- an affair resulting in a nasty set of charges and counter-charges (Herman, pp. 266-267). It nearly cost Hawke his job; he was slated to be "promoted" from active-duty Captain to half-pay (inactive) Rear Admiral. But George II himself objected, and Hawke was kept on (Herman, p. 271) -- and assigned to minor duties.
He then got lucky. He had been assigned to what amounted to a desk job, but briefly assumed command of the Western Squadron when Vice Admiral Warren came down with scurvy. And, during what was supposed to be a minor tour of duty, the French tried to break a convoy out of Brest. Hawke caught up with them and won a brilliant victory at the second battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747 (Herman, pp. 271-273). From then on, his career was secure.
He took good advantage, revising naval tactics (modifying the line-ahead method of attack and also creating a system of blockade based on a few ships close in to watch for breakouts while the main fleet stood out to sea to guard against other fleets arriving) -- and solving the scurvy problem by having supply ships regularly bring fresh food to his ships on patrol. Never again would ships on patrol duty be forced to return to port every few weeks, though scurvy would still bother sailors on long-distance voyages (Herman, p. 280).
The Seven Years' War had initially gone well for France, but by 1759, they were taking a beating in Canada, and decided to try for an assault on Britain (yes, this sounds very much like Napoleon and the Trafalgar campaign; see Borneman, pp. 238-239). This required the French to concentrate their fleet.
The key to this was getting the force in Brest down to Quiberon Bay. Admiral Hawke was blockading the port. Eventually, helped by weather that troubled the British fleet the French got out (Mahan, pp. 300-301) -- but Hawke caught up with them at Quiberon Bay, chased them when they sailed toward shore, and inflicted a signal defeat.
As Mahan says (p. 304), "All possibility of an invasion of England passed away with the destruction of the Brest fleet. The battle of Novermber 20, 1759 was the Trafalgar of this warÓ (compare Borneman, pp. 242-243, which in fact quotes Mahan on the point).
Hawke was truly inspiring during the battle; his ship was in the van, and did much of the damage to the French, and Hawke forced his ship to keep fighting when the pilot and others expressed concern about the rocky conditions (Stokesbury, p. 143).
The bravado worked; although seven ships escaped, others had to throw away their guns to flee up a river, and several were destroyed in the battle, and Admiral Conflans's flagship destroyed itself on the rocks (Stokesburg, p. 144).
Quiberon Bay itself is the bay off Lorient in Brittany, which after the unification of France gradually became one of France's chief havens.
This song appears rather confused; the dates match neither Quiberon Bay nor Cape Finisterre, and neither do the circumstances. (E.g. Quiberon Bay went as it did largely because it was fought in terrible storms.) The description in the song may be based on the fact that the French fleet lost five ships at Quiberon Bay, though the names are wrong. The song is correct in calling Hawke's flagship the Royal George.
Hawke's exploits seem to have inspired several songs and poems; in addition to this and the broadside mentioned by Ben, C. H. Firth, Publications of the Navy Records Society , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 197, has an item called "Admiral Hawke," and on p. 217 prints "Hawke's Engagement," with "Lord Anson and Hawke" found on page 225. The Roud index lists a number of broadsides of "Admiral Hawke" and so forth. But this appears to be the only traditional song about Hawke, and even it barely survives. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: LeBe010

Bold Irvine


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

Bold Jack Donahoe


DESCRIPTION: The singer sadly recalls the death of Donahoe. He and his companions are overtaken by three policemen. Walmsley refuses to fight, and Donahoe is left alone. He is shot and killed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck); c.1870 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Australia death cowardice fight outlaw
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 1, 1830 (the ballad says Aug 24) - Jack Donahue, formerly of Dublin (transported 1823), is killed by police near Sydney
FOUND IN: Australia US(MW) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 63-64, "Bold Jack Donahoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 89, "Bold Jack Donohue" (1 text)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 50-51, "Bold Jack Donahue" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 22-23, "Bold Jack Donahoe" (1 text)
Zimmermann 76, "Bold Jack O'Donoghue" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #611
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Donahue" [Laws L22]
cf. "Jim Jones at Botany Bay" (tune)
cf. "The Wreck of the Eliza" (tune)
cf. "The Aranmore Disaster" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Jim Jones at Botany Bay (File: PBB096)
The Wreck of the Eliza (File: Ran056)
The Aranmore Disaster (File: Ran125)
NOTES: This ballad often mixes with "Jack Donahue" (for obvious reasons), and they are lumped by Roud, but the two can be distinguished by the mention of Donahue's companions at the time of Donahoe's capture. Some scholars think this the older of the two.
For historical background on Donahue, see "Jack Donahue" [Laws L22]. - RBW
Zimmermann 76 makes a Fenian connection: "I turned out as a Fenian boy as I'd often done before"; "...that Fenian bold called Jack O'Donoghue."
Zimmermann: "The name of Captain Mackey ["There was MacNamara, Andrew Ward, and Captain Mackey too, They were the chiefs and associates of bold Jack Donoghue"] helps us to date this version. William Mackey commanded the Fenians at Ballyknockane, County Cork, in an attack upon the police barracks during the rising of 1867. He was sentenced to 12 years' penal servitude in March 1868." The connection with Jack O'Donoghue, killed in 1830, would -- if Zimmermann is right -- be fictitious. - BS
Zimmermann's version is attributed to "John McCarthy." But the list of co-conspirators is unusual at best. The version of this song I know best lists Donohue's companions as "Jacky Underwood, and Webber and Walmsley too."
According to Harry Nunn's Bushrangers: A Pictorial History, p. 16, the members of the Underwood Gang (active 1820-1832) were "William Underwood, John Donohue [not O'Donohue, note], George Kilroy, William Smith, John Walms[l]ey, John Webber and others." It notes that "Donohue and Webber shot by police 1830. Underwood shot 1832. Walmsley turned informer, Smith and Kilroy hanged 1832." Thus my guess would be that McCarthy took an existing song and converted it for Fenian purposes. - RBW
File: MA063

Bold Jack Donahoo


See Jack Donahue [Laws L22] (File: LL22)

Bold Jack Donahue (II)


See Jack Donahue [Laws L22] (File: LL22)

Bold Kidd, the Pirate


DESCRIPTION: The singer's ship is newly put to sea when she spots a pirate. The mate identifies the ship as Captain Kidd's. The captain turns about and flees. After a long chase, she escapes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: escape pirate sea
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1699 - Arrest of Captain William Kidd in Boston
May 23, 1701 - Execution of Captain Kidd
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Flanders/Olney, pp. 16-18, "Bold Kidd, the Pirate" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FO016 (Partial)
Roud #528
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Kidd" [Laws K35]
cf. "The Bold Princess Royal" [Laws K29] (plot)
NOTES: For background on Captain Kidd, see the notes to "Captain Kidd" [Laws K35]. It seems highly unlikely, however, that this song is contemporary with Kidd; it doesn't appear to fit Kidd's actual behavior. - RBW
File: FO016

Bold Larkin (Bull Yorkens)


DESCRIPTION: In 1855 the Elizabeth runs for land in a heavy sea. Andrew Shean/Sheehan, a sailor, falls into the sea. Captain Bull Yorkens reluctantly orders the rescue attempt abandoned. At St John's he consoles the parents and offers a prayer for Sheehan.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (Murphy)
KEYWORDS: death drowning mourning ship sea father mother sailor storm
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 907-908, "Bull Yorkens" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 11, "Bold Larkin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4420 and 9807
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "New York to Queenstown" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Loss of Andrew Sheehan
NOTES: According to Lehr, "'Bold Larkin,' also known as 'The Loss of Andrew Sheehan,' was composed by John Grace. Sheehan was a native of St John's. In a version of the song printed in Murphy's Songs Their Fathers Sung, the date of the event is '55 and not '65 as in our version. Larkin is also written Harkin in Murphy's book."
Cape Spear is less than four miles from St John's harbour. - BS
File: Pea907

Bold Lieutenant, The


See The Lady of Carlisle [Laws O25] (File: LO25)

Bold Lover Gay [Laws P23]


DESCRIPTION: The young man wins shy May's heart with promises of an easy life and fine clothes. He takes her to his home across the sea. His promises prove false; a year later she is homesick and pregnant, with no fine clothes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: seduction marriage poverty pregnancy
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws P23, "Bold Lover Gay"
Belden, pp. 208-209, "All on Account of a Bold Lover Gay" (1 text)
DT 505, LOVERGAY
Roud #996
File: LP23

Bold M'Dermott


See Bold McDermott Roe (File: OLoc028)

Bold Manan the Pirate [Laws D15]


DESCRIPTION: The pirate Bold (Manning/Manan) captures a merchant ship. To prevent the sailors from fighting over a young woman found on board, Manning kills her. But (the next day) Manning encounters a warship and the pirate ship is sunk
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: pirate murder sea
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws D15, "Bold Manan the Pirate"
Peacock, pp. 848-851, "William Craig and Bold Manone" (1 texts, 2 tunes)
Ranson, pp. 59-61, "Manning, The Pirate" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 45, "Young Mannon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 139-141, "Bold Manning" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 752, BLDMANAN
Roud #673
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Merchantman and the Pirate
File: LD15

Bold Manning


See Bold Manan the Pirate [Laws D15] (File: LD15)

Bold McCarthy (The City of Baltimore) [Laws K26]


DESCRIPTION: Bold McCarthy sails from Liverpool (as a stowaway) on the City of Baltimore. An argument with the mate turns into a fight, and the Irishman handily defeats the mate (and several others). The captain appoints McCarthy an officer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: sea fight rambling
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws K26, "Bold McCarthy (The City of Baltimore)"
Doerflinger, pp. 128-129, "The City of Baltimore (Bold McCarthy)" (1+ texts, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 174, "Bold McCarthy" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 860-861, "Bold McCarthy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 46, "The City of Baltimore" (1 fragment)
Creighton-NovaScotia 58, "City of Baltimore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ranson, pp. 54-55, "The City of Baltimore" (1 text, 1 tune)\
Ives-DullCare, pp. 187-189,242, "Bold McCarthy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 62, "The City of Baltimore (Bold McCarthy)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 408, CITYBALT* CITYBAL2
Roud #1800
NOTES: The Inman line of steamers, active starting in 1850, had a history of naming ships "The City of X," e.g. the City of Philadelphia, the City of Manchester (see John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic (1986, pp. 208-209). I have found no references to the City of Baltimore in my sources, but that may be just as well; Inman line ships seem to have become famous mostly for spectacular wrecks. The line was at its peak from about 1855-1880. - RBW
File: LK26

Bold McDermott Roe


DESCRIPTION: McDermott Roe heads the Roscommon Defenders but is taken, tried and convicted. He is taken to Dublin to hang in spite of his parents' wealth. "To back the poor against the rich with them did not agree, And so McDermott Roe must die in shame and misery"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(12)); c.1800? (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: battle rebellion trial execution Ireland patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
OLochlainn 28, "Bold McDermott Roe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 23, "Bold McDermott" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Moylan 43, "Bold McDermott Roe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 50-51, "(A New Song Called) Bold M'Dermott" (1 text)
ST OLoc028 (Partial)
Roud #3021
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(12), "Bold M'Dermott," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also Harding B 19(83), "Bold M'Dermott"
NOTES: In the late eighteenth century, as more legitimate Irish nationalists combined to form the United Irishmen, a more extreme branch went on to form the Defenders, devoted to defending Catholicism against the Protestants, notably in Ulster.
The Defenders, though they started mostly by demonstrating against the Protestant Peep o' Day Boys, eventually attacked a group of the latter -- who, though outnumbered, were victorious and eventually turned into the Orange Society.
The precipitating event was the so-called Battle of the Diamond, a riot "won" by the Protestants in September 1795 (see Robert Kee, The Most Distressful Country, being Volume I of The Green Flag, p. 71).
The Defenders, poor and Catholic, continued to grow after this, and the British, with their brilliant ability to always do the wrong thing in Ireland, cracked down ever harder. This song no doubt tells of one of the victims of that oppression -- though one suspects that McDermott Roe was probably guilty of more than just politics; the Defenders engaged in quite a bit of looting and burning.
For another song on the battles between these two groups, see "The Noble Ribbon Boys." For the Battle of the Diamond itself, see "The Battle of the Diamond." - RBW
File: OLoc028

Bold McIntyres, The


DESCRIPTION: "In County Kildare on Hibernia shore Lived a fam'ly of John McIntyres. There was Mike and Tim, the twins, as they stand upon their pins; We're the elegant bold McIntyres." The song continues through the rest of the family
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (recording, Arthur Moseley)
KEYWORDS: family nonballad moniker
FOUND IN: US(MW)
Roud #5413
RECORDINGS:
Arthur "Happy" Moseley, "The Bold McIntyres" (AFS, 1940; on LC55)
File: RecTboMc

Bold Nelson's Praise


DESCRIPTION: A song in praise of Lord Nelson and other English heroes. Details are sketchy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: war navy drink
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1758-1805 - Life of Horatio Nelson, Britain's greatest naval hero, killed at Trafalgar
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sharp-100E 88, "Bold Nelson's Praise" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1574
File: ShH88

Bold Northwestern Man, The [Laws D1]


DESCRIPTION: A band of Indians, come to sell furs, find weapons aboard the "Lady of Washington"; they try to capture the ship. Eventually they are defeated, losing some seventy of their number. The Europeans raid the Indian village to reclaim their property
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: fight Indians(Am.)
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1791 - Attack on the Lady Washington
FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Laws D1, "The Bold Northwestern Man"
DT 843, BOLDNW*
Roud #2227
File: LD01

Bold O'Donahue


DESCRIPTION: "Well, here I am from Paddy's land... I've broke the hearts of all the girls for miles round Keady town." The singer boasts of his ability to court, wishes his love were a rose so he could rain on her, and speaks of courting Queen Victoria's daughter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1975 (fragment in the Sam Henry collection from 1924)
KEYWORDS: courting flowers
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H10i, p. 3, "(Old Choir Rhymes -- Additional Verses, text #1)" (1 text)
DT, BOLDODON
NOTES: The Sam Henry text (reportedly sung to the tune "Irish") is only a fragment, a dialect version of
I wish my love was a red rose
Beside yon garden wall,
And I myself a drop of dew
Upon that rose to fall.
This (half)-stanza almost certainly floats, but the only song I've met it in is "Bold O'Donahue," so here it files. - RBW
File: HHH010i

Bold Peddler, The


See The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood [Child 132] (File: C132)

Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood, The [Child 132]


DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood and Little John meet a pedlar. Neither Robin nor John can out-wrestle the pedlar. They exchange names, and the pedlar (Gamble Gold, a murderer) proves to be Robin's cousin. They celebrate the reunion in a tavern
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1775
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight return robbery family outlaw
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,North),Scotland(Aber)) US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Child 132, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text)
Bronson 132, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (14 versions+ 2 in addenda)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 457-461, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 songster text plus extensive notes)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 217-218, "Bold Robing Hood" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #14}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 67-69, "Bold Robin Hood and the Pedlar" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 101-106, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (2 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #3, #14}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 67-69, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #7}
Creighton-NovaScotia 6, "Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text, called "Pedlar Bold" by the singer, 1 tune) {Bronson's #12}
Leach, pp. 383-385, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text)
Niles 46, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 88, "Robin Hood and the Pedlar" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5, emended}
DT 132, RHPEDLAR* RHDPDLR2
Roud #333
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(381), "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(380), Harding B 11(382), "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood"
Murray, Mu23-y4:007, "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" [Child 282] (plot)
cf. "Robin Hood Newly Revived" [Child 128] (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Bold Peddler
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
Child considered this a variation of "Robin Hood Newly Revived" [Child 128], but Bronson argues that this is not so. Stephen Knight, however, points to what he considered an intermediate version in Child's additions and corrections; he thinks this text an orally shorted version of "Robin Hood Newly Revived." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C132

Bold Peter Clarke


See Peter Clarke (File: MA100)

Bold Pirate, The [Laws K30]


DESCRIPTION: A British ship is overhauled by pirates. Though outnumbered, the sailors beat off the pirates. A broadside prevents the pirate's escape. The pirate ship is hauled back to England, and the sailors are made rich by the spoils
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (Creighton/Senior); 19C (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.12(64))
KEYWORDS: pirate ship money fight
FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws K30, "The Bold Pirate"
Creighton/Senior, pp. 229-230, "Pirate Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 150-151, "On the Twenty-First of May" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 128-130, "The Bold Pirate" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 411, BOLDPRT
Roud #984
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(64), "The Bold Pirate," J. Scott (Pittenweem), 19C
File: LK30

Bold Poachers, The


DESCRIPTION: Three brothers go poaching one night in January. The sound of their guns brings the gamekeepers. One shoots a gamekeeper, then another. The brothers are taken prisoner; two are sentenced to be transported, the third is hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.19(47))
KEYWORDS: violence crime execution poaching punishment transportation death murder
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
MacSeegTrav 98, "The First Day in October" (1text, 1 tune); this entry also contains 1 nearly-complete text for "The Bold Poachers" (collected by E. J. Moeran, not by them)
DT, POACHRS
Roud #1686
RECORDINGS:
Wiggie Smith, "The Oakham Poachers" (on Voice18)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.19(47), "Oakham Pachers [sic] ("Young men in every station"), E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1855-1861; also 2806 c.15(253), Harding B 20(199), "Oakam Poachers" or "The Lamentation of Young Perkins"; Firth c.19(63), Johnson Ballads 2038, "The Oakham Poachers"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Keepers and Poachers" (plot)
cf. "The Poacher's Fate" [Laws L14] (subject)
NOTES: MacColl & Seeger call "The First Day in October" a composite, and so it is, but the similarities to "The Bold Poachers," particularly the use of the name Parkins for the guilty young man, have persuaded me to place it here. - PJS
File: McCST098

Bold Princess Royal, The [Laws K29]


DESCRIPTION: The Princess Royal is overtaken by an unknown ship which tries to come alongside. The captain realizes that the other is a pirate, and safely outruns the other.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1870 (broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(145))
KEYWORDS: ship pirate escape
FOUND IN: US(NE,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Laws K29, "The Bold Princess Royal"
Doerflinger, pp. 142-143, "The Bold Princess Royal" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Colcord, pp. 148-149, "The Fair Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 421, "The Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 35, "The Bold Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 835-836, "The Bold Princess Royal" (1 texts, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 75, "Bold Princess Royal" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 53, "Bold Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 153, "The Bold Princess Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ranson, p. 91, "Kelly, the Pirate" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 126-128, "The Bold Prince of Royal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 150, "The Prince Boys" (1 text, 1 tune, incorrectly equated with Laws K39)
BrownII 119, "The Lorena Bold Crew" (1 fragment)
Chappell-FSRA 26, "Buxter's Bold Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 206-207, "The Bold 'Princess Royal'" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 47, "The Bold Princess Royal" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
DT 410, PRNCROYL*
Roud #528
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "The Bold 'Princess Royal'" (on Voice12)
Sam Larner, "The Bold Princess Royal" (on SLarner01, SLarner02, HiddenE)
Bob Roberts, "The Bold Princess Royal" (on LastDays)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(63), "The Bold Princess Royal," H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Firth b.25(136), 2806 b.11(9), Harding B 11(384)[some illegibility], "The Bold Princess Royal"; Firth c.12(65), "The Old Princess Royal, and the Pirate Ship"
Murray, Mu23-y4:019, "Bold Princess Royal," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(145), "Bold Princess Royal," unknown, c.1870
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Kidd, the Pirate" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Buxter's Bold Crew
Prince of Royal
She Came Bearing Down On Us
NOTES: Greenleaf/Mansfield names the ship Prince of Royal and refers to a variant that calls the ship Royal Apprentice.
In Ranson's version the usually anonymous pirate announces "This is Kelly, the Pirate"; that is the only mention of the name that gives the version its title.
Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 12" - 11.9.02: "Colcord dates this song to the beginning of the American War of Independence." - BS
There were a number of British ships named Princess Royal; including a battlecruiser that fought at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 (unlike several of her sister ships, she survived). But the most famous was probably the flagship of the fleet of Admiral John Byron (1723-1786). Byron served in the Caribbean in the late 1770s, with limited results. At the Battle of Grenada, his fleet was mauled by a superior French force, and he ended up fleeing the fight. This, I would guess, is the basis of Colcord's date (though she also mentions the usage of "glass" for an hour, a usage which died out about that time).
If Colcord's guess is accurate, is it possible that this was inspired as some sort of slur on Byron for fleeing the battle? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LK29

Bold Prisoner, The


See Archie o Cawfield [Child 188] (File: C188)

Bold Privateer, The [Laws O32]


DESCRIPTION: (Johnny) tells (Polly) that he must go to sea. She begs him to stay safe at home. (He points out that her friends dislike him and her brothers threaten him. He offers to exchange rings with her), and promises to return and marry her if his life is spared
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1891 (Kidson, _Traditional Tunes_)
KEYWORDS: sea farewell
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE) Britain(England(North)) Ireland Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws O32, "The Bold Privateer"
Randolph 233, "The Union Volunteer" (1 text, 1 tune, with a "Union Volunteer" substituted for the "Bold Privateer" but no other substantial changes)
Eddy 79, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text)
SharpAp 138, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H514, pp. 297-298, "The Bold Privateer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 486, BOLDPRIV BLDPRIV2*
Roud #1000
RECORDINGS:
Tom Brandon, "The Bold Privateer" (on Ontario1)
Robert Cinnamond, "The Wild Privateer" (on IRRCinnamond03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pleasant and Delightful" (meter)
cf. "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" (lyrics)
NOTES: Some versions of this are so mixed with "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy" that they might almost be one song. But there are sufficient distinct versions that I think they must be considered separate songs.
The Sam Henry text contains an interesting reference, "The French they are treacherous, right very well you know, Did they not kill their own poor king not so very long ago?" Presumably this refers to the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, though there are other possibilities, including Louis's son Louis XVII, who died in 1795, some say by poison.
Huntington placed his version of "Our Captain Calls All Hands (Fighting for Strangers)" here, and early editions of the Index did the same, but while there is some similarity in theme, they are certainly separate songs. - RBW
File: LO32

Bold Rake, The


DESCRIPTION: Johnny meets Sally at Culgreany chapel. He promises to marry her. They spend two nights and all her money together and he decides to leave. Johnny will confess to his clergy; if forgiven he will "go home to Longacre and live with my own lawful wife"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(60))
KEYWORDS: seduction infidelity promise separation rake wife
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn 37, "The Bold Rake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3036
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(60), "The Bold Rake" ("I am a bold rake and this nation I travel'd all round)" , P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867
LOCSinging, as101320, "The Bold Rake," P. Brereton (Dublin), 19C
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as101320 appears to be the same as Bodleian 2806 b.9(60) printed by P. Brereton (Dublin). - BS
File: OLoc037

Bold Ranger, The


DESCRIPTION: The huntsmen go out to seek the fox: "Come and hunt Bull (Ranger) (Reynard?) Among the hills and rocks." Along the way, they meet various people, who may tell them where the fox has gone
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: hunting animal
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 76, "Bold Ranger" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Eddy 84, "The Ranger" (2 texts, 1 tune)
JHCox 164, "The Ranger" (1 text)
BrownII 190, "Three Jolly Welshmen" (5 text, but only "A" and "B" are "Three Jolly Huntsmen"; "C," "D," and "E" appear to belong here)
Chappell-FSRA 101, "The Foxes" (1 text, 1 tune, a bare fragment with no mention of Reynard; it includes only the conversations with the people the hunters meet, and might possibly belong to other members of this song group)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 7+10, "Tom Redman" (1 text; tune on p. 385)
SharpAp 214, "The Three Huntsmen" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R076 (Partial)
Roud #796
RECORDINGS:
J. L. Peters, "How Happy is the Sportsman" (AFS, 1946; on LC55)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (form, theme, lyrics)
cf. "Three Jolly Huntsmen" (theme, some lyrics)
NOTES: This appears very much to be a worn-down version of "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)," possibly influenced by "Three Jolly Huntsmen." For further discussion, see the notes to "Bold Reynard."
It's worth noting that Roud subdivides this song differently, with "The Hare's Dream" being one group and "Bold Reynard" plus the "Bold Ranger" being the other. - RBW
File: R076

Bold Reynard ("A Good Many Gentlemen")


DESCRIPTION: "A good many gentlemen take great delight in hunting bold Reynard, the fox, for he... lives upon fat geese and ducks." The hunters give chase, and catch and kill the fox. They go home and rejoice at having taken the rogue
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(261))
KEYWORDS: animal hunting
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 243, "Bold Reynard" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REYNFOX
Roud #1868
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(261), "Sly Reynard the Fox" ("Some gentlemen take great delight"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (theme)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
cf. "Joe Bowman" (theme)
NOTES: Although this song has points of similarity to "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)," Kennedy and others clearly state that they are different -- and indeed, they have few details in common except that they describe a foxhunt. - RBW
File: K243

Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)


DESCRIPTION: "The first morning of March in the year '33" the King's County fox hunt finally takes Reynard. He asks for pen, ink and paper to write his will. He leaves his estate and money to the hunters and backs it up by giving them a check on the National Bank.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs); before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.34(114))
KEYWORDS: animal hunting political lastwill Ireland humorous
FOUND IN: US(So) Britain(England(West)) Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
O'Conor, p. 124, "The Fox Hunt" (1 text)
Croker-PopularSongs, p. 208, "Reynard the Fox" (1 fragment)
OCanainn, pp. 84-85, "The Cork National Hunt" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Leather, pp. 265-266, "The Fox-Hunting Chase" (1 text); also probably pp. 264-265, "The Herefordshire Fox-Chase" (1 text), though the latter appears reworked or mixed
DT, REYNRDFX RENOLDS
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 295-296, "Reynard the Fox" (1 text)
Roud #2349
RECORDINGS:
Eugene Jemison, "Come All You Merry Hunters" (on Jem01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.34(114), "The Fox Chase"("The sun had just peep'd his head o'er the hills"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(1255), Firth c.19(120)[some words not legible], "The Fox Chase"; Johnson Ballads 505, "Fox Chase" or "Tally Ho Hark Away" [all versions end with the fox being taken]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hare's Dream" (lyrics)
cf. "Bold Reynard ('A Good Many Gentlemen')" (theme)
cf. "The Bold Ranger" (form, theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
cf. "Joe Bowman" (theme)
cf. "The Call of Quantrell (form)
cf. "The Kielder Hunt" (subject, phrase)
cf. "Donagh Hill" (form, hunting theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Balriginor
Bull Raider
NOTES: This is a real mess -- so much so that every new text I've turned up has forced me to reclassify the old ones. There seem to be four related families of texts here. This is lyrically very close to the Irish song "The Hare's Dream," but after much hesitation I've split that off because it's found mostly if not entirely in Ireland (perhaps only in Ulster), and it's about a hare, not a fox.
That leaves three versions with English roots:
1. The political "Bold Reynard" versions.
2. The Fox Chase versions not ending in the death of the fox
3. The Fox Chase versions ending in the death of the fox
The first of these seems to exist in fragments, so although the political content seems clear, it's not obvious just which politicians are involved.
The second is the one I have heard recorded -- though it came from a bunch of folkies, so they may have preferred a non-hunting version. My original description of that form was: "The hunters set out in pursuit of Reynard the Fox. Crafty Reynard leads hunters and hounds on many a wild goose chase. At last the hunters give up, and Reynard returns to his snug den. (He sends the hunters a cheque to pay for their losses!)"
The third, which is the basis for the description, is what appears in Leather and O'Conor.
Possibly these types should be split, but it would be impossible to split fragments and one has to suspect that all the rewriting is deliberate.
In the United States (or possibly in England, if a fragment from Baring-Gould constitutes evidence), the song changed even more dramatically -- so much so that, after some hesitation and discussion, we reclassified it as a separate song, "The Bold Ranger."
The song is still about a hunt (sometimes for "Reynard," but now often for "Rainer" or "Ranger"), but the result is almost a moniker song, with verses perhaps influenced by "Three Jolly Huntsmen." No longer does the song start in the victim's lair; no longer is Reynard leading the huntsmen astray; rather, they meet various people who tell them how to find the fox. The choruses in this version are often extravagant, though the verse retains the "Tallyho" form.
Leather reports that her version was written by a Richard Matthews "in the reign of George III." Matthews may well have been responsible for a particular version, but without more evidence, I hesitate to attribute the whole song to him.
Although this song has points of similarity to "Bold Reynard ('A Good Many Gentlemen')," Kennedy and others clearly state that they are different -- and indeed, they have few details in common except that they describe a foxhunt. - RBW
Hoagland begins "The first day of spring in the year ninety-three" and adds a subtitle of "A Song Celebrating the Great Hunt of 1793." - BS
File: DTReynrd

Bold Richard, The


DESCRIPTION: The "Phoebus[?] frigate Young Richard" cruises the French main with the Shannon. They encounter two merchants and "the finest frigate that did sail out of Brest." They sink all three, rescue their crews and land in Kingston where they enjoy drinks.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (ENMacCollSeeger02)
KEYWORDS: battle sea ship drink France
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
Roud #1351
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Bold Richard" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
NOTES: From ENMacCollSeeger02 album cover notes: "E.J. Moeran recorded this song from James Sutton, 'Old Larpin', of Winerton, Norfolk, in 1915. In a note to the song printed in the Folksong Journal, Ann Gilchrist suggests that The Bold Richard is an English adaptation of an American sailor's song which describes the adventures of Paul Jones' ship, Old [sic] Richard." The song is nothing like either of Laws's Paul Jones ballads (Paul Jones, the Privateer [Laws A3] and Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4]) - BS
If we assume "Phoebus" is an error for "famous," then it is likely that Paul Jones's Bonhomme Richard is indeed meant. But she never sailed with the Shannon; the consorts of the former Duc de Durac were the Alliance, Pallas, and Vengeance -- none of them in any way famous.
And this still leaves us with the curiosity of the reference to Kingston. Is this Kingston in England? In that case, the singers can hardly be telling of John Paul Jones, who fought against England. Is the reference, then, to the Quasi-War with France fought in the years before 1800? But Jones died in 1792 -- and I can't find any battle involving other ships which fits. Alternately, is it Kingston, Jamaica? Jones sailed the Carribean several times early in his career -- but as a merchant saior, not a naval captain.
In the end, I think we simply must conclude that we don't know what this is about. Probably it's mixing two or more battles. - RBW
File: RcBolRic

Bold Robert Emmet


DESCRIPTION: "The struggle is over, the boys are defeated, Old Ireland's surrounded with sadness and gloom... And I, Robert Emmet, awaiting my doom." Emmet, "the Darling of Ireland," recounts the failure of his rebellion and awaits execution
AUTHOR: Sometimes ascribed to Tom Maguire (Source: Zimmermann, Hoagland)
EARLIEST DATE: c.1900 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1778 - Birth of Robert Emmet, younger brother of Thomas Addis Emmet (a leader of the United Irishmen)
1798 - Robert Emmet expelled from Trinity College; he eventually goes to France
1798 - the (failed) Irish Rebellion
1802 - Emmet returns to Ireland
1803 - Emmet attempts a new rebellion. The revolt is quickly crushed, and Emmet eventually hanged
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
PGalvin, p. 32, "Bold Robert Emmet" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 87, "Bold Robert Emmet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 155, "Bold Robert Emmet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 91, "The Last Moments of Robert Emmet" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROBTEMMT*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 626-627, "Bold Robert Emmet" (1 text)
Roud #3066
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Emmet's Death" (subject)
cf. "Emmet's Farewell to His Sweetheart" (subject)
cf. "My Emmet's No More" (subject)
cf. "The Three Flowers" (briefly mentions Emmet)
cf. "She is Far From the Land" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
cf. "Oh! Breathe Not His Name" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
cf. "When He Who Adores Thee" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
cf. "Nell Flaherty's Drake" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
cf. "The Man from God-Knows-Where, The" (thought by some to refer to Emmet)
NOTES: Zimmermann: "The ballad is sometimes sung to the American tune 'The Streets of Laredo'." See that song for more information on the history of that tune.
Zimmermann p. 40: ... Robert Emmet's rising, on 23rd July, 1802. After a skirmish in the streets of Dublin the revolt fizzled out. Emmet was executed on 23rd September. In spite of his failue, he became the favourite hero of the Irish patriots, "the darling of Erin" (song [Zimmermann] 91); but this glorification did not take place immediately. In 1803, nowhere in the country does there seem to have been much enthusiasm for the rising." - BS
Robert Emmet's fruitless revolt is usually treated as a sequel to the 1798 Rising. This is oversimplified. The British government reacted to 1798 by proclaiming the Union of Ireland and Britain.
Ironically, a series of Catholic Relief Acts in 1778 and 1782 had given Catholics more rights, and under the (informal but working) constitution of 1782, Britain no longer could compel Ireland into Union. But the English managed to pull it off anyway, by much the same means as they had earlier used to form the union with Scotland: Bribery, by-elections, and every other sort of political trick. Kee, p. 158, notes the "inadequacy of the word 'corruption'" to describe the level of under-the-counter payoffs.
To make it worse, the statute that finally passed altered Pitt's original Union proposal, eliminating the provisions for Catholic Emancipation. (This even though Viceroy Cornwallis, who had finally suppressed the rebellion, argued that they should be kept. But the only way to get the proposal through the parliaments -- especially the all-Protestant Irish parliament -- was to use the Union as a stick to beat the Catholics.)
Union was passed in 1800, and came into effect in 1801. The terms were actually quite favorable to Ireland in terms of seats in the British parliament; had there been an Irish party, it would almost always have held the parliamentary balance of power in Britain (as Charles Stuart Parnell would eventually show, almost a century later; see the notes to "We Won't Let Our Leader Run Down" and "The Blackbird of Avondale (The Arrest of Parnell)"). But the Irish, with no program of their own, could neither fit into the British political system nor form a strong party. And the Catholic/Protestant problem continued to plague them. As a result, Ireland found itself politically neutralized.
Emmet of course did not know this. He, like the vast majority of Irishmen, knew only that he didn't like the changes. But, once again, he had no answer to the problems of Union, and so was unable to produce either a working political party or a working rebellion -- only about thirty people were killed, mostly by ambush. These included the Lord Kilwarden, Chief Justice of Ireland (Golway, p. 92; Kee, p. 167, adds that Kilwarden was a "remarkably humane man," while Fry/Fry, p. 215 note that he was "not an unpopular man." Stewart, p. 46, does note that he presided over the trial of William Orr, for whom see "The Wake of William Orr").
Another element of Emmet's personal tragedy was that he very nearly left the country, which would have saved everyone a lot of trouble. But with his brother Thomas Addis Emmet (1764-1827), a leader of the United Irish rebellion, in exile and unable to return, Robert decided that he could not leave their aging parents alone and grieving (Kee, p. 162). Obviously, as it turned out, he did leave them alone, and grieving even more.
Emmet also started a sad tradition that persisted in Ireland for more than a century: The Rebellion By Gimmick. Emmet's forces had fold-up pikes (that could be hidden under a coat) and black powder rockets, and similar "secret weapons." What they didn't have was a real organization -- which, on the one hand, meant that the government didn't know of their existence, but on the other, meant that they had absolutely no way to accomplish anything. All he did was assemble a small mob and watch it be dispersed.
Emmet is remembered less because of his defiant acts (after all, there were many others equally rebellious and entirely obscure) but because of a brilliant farewell speech which eventually was widely quoted by nationalists: "Let no man write my epitaph.... When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then and not till then, let my epitaph be written" (Golway, p. 92; Fry/Fry, p. 215; Kee, p. 168, with the note that Emmet's words probably were not taken down with perfect accuracy. Not that it mattered; what counts is what people *thought* he said).
Townshend, pp. 8-9, suggests that the simplicity of Emmet's message contributed to his fame: "Theobald Wolfe Tone, a serious political thinker, was less widely accepted than the simple heroism of his youthful successor Robert Emmet. Tone, a child of the Enlightenment... aimed to reconstitute Irish identity through eroding the separate traditions of 'Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter [.'] The secularization this envisaged was less attractive than his simple slogan 'break the connection....' EmmetÕs failed rebellion of 1803 became an icon of romantic activism, its incompetence ignored while the brutality of the British reaction was played up. (Emmet never got his tiny force out of its assembly point, Thomas Street, toward his target, Dublin Castle; his hoped-for 2,000 insurgents had dwindled to 20 by the time they reached the end of the street.)"
It is perhaps not coincidental that Emmet became one of the chief inspirations for the future head of the 1916 Rebellion, Padraig Pearse (Townshend, p. 23); for Pearse's hazy notion of a mystic sacrifice redeeming Ireland, see the notes to "The Boys from County Cork."
It is ironic that Robert's brother Thomas, whose association with rebellion was much older and deeper, lived. Thomas Emmet was one of the United Irish leaders taken when the British raided their Dublin leadership in early 1798. (That may not have been smart on the British part; Emmet was a cautious man who was trying to cool things down. By taking him, the British left the leaderless United Irish chapters to rise in desperation.)
Thomas Emmet spent some time in prison, but was released in 1802, went briefly to France, then emigrated to the United States in 1804, where he found success in the legal profession.
According to Hoagland, Tom Maguire was born c. 1870 and went on to join the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood (the chief independence organization in the late nineteenth century -- a largely secret group), and later became part of the Irish parliament. But I've seen no absolute proof he wrote this song; much depends on when it actually first appeared. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: PGa032

Bold Robin Hood (I)


See Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)

Bold Robin Hood and the Pedlar


See The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood [Child 132] (File: C132)

Bold Robin Hood Rescuing the Three Squires


See Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)

Bold Robing Hood


See The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood [Child 132] (File: C132)

Bold Sodger Boy, The


DESCRIPTION: "O! There's not a trade that's going, Worth showing or knowing, Like that from glory growing For the bold sodger boy." The singer describes how the girls watch the marching soldiers, and urges the listeners to follow the soldier's trade
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: soldier recruiting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 321-322, "The Bold Sodger Boy" (1 text)
Roud #12829
File: FVS321

Bold Soldier, The [Laws M27]


DESCRIPTION: A father threatens to kill his daughter because she loves a soldier. He settles for sending (seven) men to kill her lover. The soldier fights the brigands off. The frightened father is then negotiated into making the soldier his heir
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1679 (Roxburghe)
KEYWORDS: father children love soldier fight
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (27 citations):
Laws M27, "The Bold Soldier"
Bronson 7a, "The Lady and the Dragoon" (24 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 377-382, "The Soldier's Wooing" (3 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #6}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 232-233, "The Poor Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #14}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 131-149, "The Bold Soldier" (7 texts plus a fragment, 5 tunes) {C= Bronson's #18, F=#14}
Belden, pp. 103-104, "The Soldier's Wooing" (1 text)
Randolph 70, "The Valiant Soldier" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 88-90, "The Valiant Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 70A)
Eddy 3, "Earl Brand" (3 texts, 1 tune, but all clearly this piece) {Bronson's #3}
FSCatskills 46, "The Bold Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 86, "The Soldier's Wooing" (4 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 50, "The Lady and the Dragon" (sic.) (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4}
Davis-Ballads [4], "[Earl Brand]" (1 text, filed as an appendix to that ballad)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 201-202, "The Lady and the Dragoon" (1 text, with local title "A Brave Soldier"; 1 tune on pp. 409-410) {Bronson's #16}
Brewster 5, "Erlinton" (1 text, called "The Soldier's Wooing" by the informant)
SharpAp 51, "The Lady and the Dragoon" (4 texts plus 4 fragments, 8 tunes) {Bronson's #19, #8, #21, #23, #20, #24, #22, #17}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 30, "The Lady and the Dragoon" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version) {Bronson's #23}
Warner 55, "Only a Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 248-249, "The Bold Dragoon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 12, "Song of a Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #15}
Leach-Labrador 32, "The Soldier and the Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 27, pp. 68-69, "The Soldier" (1 text)
JHCox 117, "The Soldier's Wooing" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 116-117, "The Valiant Soldier" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 169, "The Bold Soldier" (1 text)
DT, (DOUGTRD4*)
ADDITIONAL: Robert E. Gard and L. G. Sorden, _Wisconsin Lore: Antics and Anecdotes of Wisconsin People and Places_, Wisconsin House, 1962, pp. 108-109, "The Raftsman" (1 text, presumably from Wisconsin although no source is listed; in this the soldier becomes a raftsman but the plot is the same)
Roud #321
RECORDINGS:
Harry Brazil, "Bold Keeper" (on Voice18)
Pete Seeger, "The Valiant Soldier" (on PeteSeeger29)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2237), "The Bold Dragoon" ("My father is a lord, a lord of high renown"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Firth c.14(210, "The Bold Dragoon"; Harding B 22(320), "The Valiant Dragoon"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Earl Brand" [Child 7]
cf. "Erlinton" [Child 8]
NOTES: It will be observed that Bronson lists this as an appendix to Child 7, "Earl Brand," though he notes the obvious signs of broadside publication. Laws mentions that others have connected it to Child 7 (and Child 8, "Erlinton," which is where Barry et al file it), but does not seem himself to consider the two related. Neither does he mention Bronson's title, "The Lady and the Dragoon." Cazden connects it with Child 214 and/or 215. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LM27

Bold Tenant Farmer, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer, drinking in Ballinascorthy, overhears a landlord's son and a tenant farmer's wife. He threatens eviction. She says the National Land League protects the tenants and they are members. She praises Father O'Leary, John Dillon, and Davitt. He leaves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (recording, Mickey Cronin)
KEYWORDS: drink farming political labor-movement
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1879 - formation of the Irish Land League
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #5164
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Bold Tenant Farmer" (on IRClancyMakem02)
Mickey Cronin, "The Bold Tenant Farmer" [fragment] (on Lomax42, LomaxCD1742)
Joe Heaney, "The Wife of the Bold Tenant Farmer" (on Voice08)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Moneygran Pig Hunt" (subject)
cf. "The Blackbird of Avondale (The Arrest of Parnell)" (subject of Charles Stewart Parnell)
cf. "The Land League's Advice to the Tenant Farmers of Ireland" (character of Parnell, plus the Land League)
cf. "We Won't Let Our Leader Run Down" (subject of Charles Stewart Parnell)
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject of Charles Stewart Parnell)
cf. "Michael Davitt" (subject) and references there
cf. "The Devil and Bailiff McGlynn" (subject of problems during the Land War)
NOTES: Another eternal frustration from Lomax; he tells us that this is part of a "cocky and aggressive" Land League ballad, but gives not a clue of the subject matter.
Formed in 1879, the Irish tenant farmers' Land League fought evictions and spearheaded land reforms through Parliament. - PJS
IRClancyMakem02 has only four verses that mention the dispute and Land League but not the resolution. The Musica site has a thirteen verse version used as the basis for the description. - BS
The tenants' rights movements began in the 1840s (in Ulster of all places!), but did not become a major force until 1879. In that year, Michael Davitt (whose family had been thrust off its land when he was a child; see the notes to "Michael Davitt") came back to Ireland from America. He formed the Land League in his ancestral home in County Mayo. The new Gladstone government tried to make concessions in 1880, but was blocked by the House of Lords.
This was even though the landlords of Ireland were good for very little except brutality. They kept rents as high as possible, and discouraged land improvements. They were so widely despised that Belfast M.P. Joseph Biggar declared that he opposed shooting landlords on the grounds that the assailant often missed and might hit someone else (see Robert Kee, The Bold Fenian Men, being volume II of The Green Flag, p. 79).
The Land League reacted with strikes and demonstrations (the word "boycott" is believed to date from this event; Charles Boycott was a British officer charged with evicting tenants). Kee writes (p. 79) that by "1880 there were parts of Ireland where the queen's writ no longer ran." It *did* run on Boycott's land -- but it reportedly took 7000 British soldiers to guard the workers he had brought in from Ulster! (Kee, p. 81.)
Davitt (and Charles Stewart Parnell, another leader of the movement, who also was the de facto leader of the Irish representatives in the British parliament) opposed violence, but their followers were not so peaceful. The pressure was on the English parliament. Their first reaction was to tighten restrictions on the Irish, suppressing the Land League -- but the English people at last began to understand the plight of the Irish tenants.
Gladstone eventually (1881) came up with laws to protect the tenants (it was these which, in effect, finalized the split between Ulster and the rest of Ireland; Ulster was satisfied, Catholic Ireland was not). But Parnell refused his whole-hearted support. He certainly favored the law, but he wanted Home Rule and he didn't want to offend the more radical Irish. The British, in an act of incredible stupidity, arrested him briefly (see "The Blackbird of Avondale (The Arrest of Parnell)." This further radicalized the Irish; even as Parnell was released, they took to assassinating British officials.
In 1882, the outlawed Land League was replaced by the Irish National League -- a true political party rather than an activist group. This group won nearly every Irish seat in Parliament in the next election. This allowed Parnell to gain land concessions from the minority Conservative government, and also meant that Parnell was the controlling element in the next Parliament -- whichever party he supported would govern. The Land League had, in effect, triumphed.
Unfortunately, Parnell simply couldn't work out a Home Rule compromise. Conditions in Ireland improved, but not enough. Ireland continued on its destructive road to eventual independence. - RBW
File: RcTBTF

Bold Thady Quill


DESCRIPTION: Girls "anxious for courting" should see Thady Quill. He is a champion in field events, a partisan for Ireland, and a star at hurling. At the Cork match a rich and sickly lady remarked that she would be cured by "one squeeze outa bold Thady Quill"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem01)
KEYWORDS: sports Ireland humorous
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, THADQUIL*
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Bold Thady Quill" (on IRClancyMakem01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Victorious Goalers of Carrigaline and Kilmoney" (subject of hurling)
cf. "Black and Amber Glory" (subject of hurling)
cf. "The Convict of Clonmel" (subject of hurling)
cf. "The Carrigaline Goalers Defeated" (subject of hurling)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Bould Tadhy Quill
NOTES: The description is from the Digital Tradition text for "Bold Thady Quil"; although its credit is "Recorded by Clancys" its version has more verses than that in IRClancyMakem01.
IRClancyMakem01 cover notes refer to Thady Quill as "a champion hurler from county Cork, whom I understand is still alive" [1959]. - BS
Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 14, has a very different story (which he admits is "legend") of Thady: "It is reported that Thady Quill was no athlete at all, but a lazy farm worker employed by a farmer named Johnny Tom Gleeson in Ballinagree, a townland in Muskerry. The local story goes that Johnny Tom Gleeson penned these verses as a satire to Thady's laziness and inactivity."
Chris Brennan (message to the Ballad-L mailing list) has a version which also involves Gleeson, but in this case, Quill had cut a field for Gleeson, and Gleeson was slow to pay, and Quill induced Gleeson to write the song as a substitute for cash.
On the other hand, Soodlum's Irish Ballad Book reports that "Thady Quill is rumoured to have lived in the Mushra Mountains near Macroom, Co. Cork."
James N. Healy, Ballads from the Pubs of Ireland [Volume 1: Popular Songs & Ballads], 1965, 1985; Ossian edition published 1996, p. 5, also attributes it to the area between Macroom and Millstreet, but calls the author Johnny PAT Gleeson.
Hurling is an ancient Irish sport, somewhat similar to hockey (it involves sticks, two teams of 15, and a complicated set of rules for sticking or kicking or carrying the ball), seemingly mentioned in twelfth century records and possibly before that. According to the Oxford Companion to Irish History, the rules were formally codified in 1870 and the Irish Hurley Union formed in 1879.
It was already mentioned in song before that, to be sure; see "The Victorious Goalers of Carrigaline and Kilmoney."
There is an interesting political twist on this, because the sport is Irish: It is seen, in a small way, as a form of anti-Protestant demonstration.
The Irish nationalist Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-1891) doesn't appear to have anything significant to do with hurling, but the Hurley Union dissolved around the time of his death, with other leagues having gradually taken its place.- RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RcBoThQu

Bold Trellitee, The


See The Golden Vanity [Child 286] (File: C286)

Bold Trooper, The


See The Trooper and the Tailor (File: FSC139)
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