Come All Good People

See The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)

Come All My Old Comrades

See A Health to the Company (Come All My Old Comrades) (File: CrSe222)

Come All Ye Blubber Hunters

See Eelie Bob (File: GrD1013)

Come All Ye British Tars

See Admiral Byng (File: GrD1140)

Come All Ye False Lovers

DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye false lovers That love all alike; Give love-ly attention, And my counsel take." The singer will wait for Johnny to return, however long it takes. He eventually arrives, and they are married.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: love separation return
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Combs/Wilgus 135, pp. 147-148, "Come All Ye False Lovers" (1 text)
Roud #4297
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
NOTES: This piece is clearly composite; there are many floating lyrics, and it shifts from first to third person in the middle. It appears to be a pastiche of Riley ballads (though the theme of disguise has been lost), with the moral ("Beware of false lovers; (don't ever give up on your true love") at the beginning.
Since it cannot be identified with any particular Riley ballad, I have perforce given it its own classification. - RBW
File: CW147

Come All Ye Jolly Ice-Hunters

DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye jolly ice-hunters and listen to my song; I hope I won't offend you; I don't mean to keep you long." The sealer Daniel O'Connell leaves Tilton Harbour March 14, 1833. Captain William Burke gets the badly damaged ship through a storm
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: hunting sea ship storm
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 122, "Come All ye Jolly Ice-Hunters" (1 text)
Ryan/Small, p. 17, "Come All Ye Jolly Ice-Hunters" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST GrMa122 (Partial)
Roud #6345
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wreck of the Steamship Ethie" (theme)
NOTES: Greenleaf/Mansfield notes, per G.S. Doyle that "This song was written in 1833. It is about the oldest song of a sealing nature now in existence." - BS
Roud lumps this with "The Wreck of the Steamship Ethie." The two of course share plot components as well as some stylistic elements, but this one is apparently about a much older incident. Still, I have been cautious; I don't think we can trust Doyle's 1833 date for the song; it appears to be derived from a date found in Doyle's first stanza. - RBW
File: GrMa122

Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you (lonesome/jolly) cowboys... Now I'm going to leave you, To never return again." He recalls the sad parting from his mother, and the girl who promised to marry him. After all his rambling, he is leaving the boys forever (dying? going home?)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Randolph; recordings, Frank Jenkins, Buell Kazee)
KEYWORDS: cowboy parting separation farewell
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 180, "Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Ohrlin-HBT 58, "Come All Ye Western Cowboys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 59, "Roving Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune, Kazee's text, which is short)
Roud #5482 and 11077
RECORDINGS:
Frank Jenkins, "Roving Cowboy" (c. 1927; on BefBlues2)
Buell Kazee, "The Roving Cowboy"(Brunswick 156, 1927; Brunswick 436, 1930; Supertone S-2043, 1930; on KMM)
Clay Walters, "Come All You Roving Cowboys" (AFS, c. 1937; on KMM)
Jack Webb, "The Roving Cowboy" (Victor V-40285, 1930)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Jolly Cowboy
NOTES: This is a definite problem piece. Roud splits it in two: #5482, which we might call "Come All You Lonesome Cowboys," (represented e.g. by the Randolph texts) and #11077, "Come All You Roving Cowboys" (represented by the Fife/Kazee text).
The problem is the Clay Walters version, which is a mish-mash of everything including perhaps some "Texas Rangers" material. Paul Stamler couldn't decide what to do with it; neither could I. So I'm lumping two songs until we get some better samples. - RBW
File: R189

Come All Ye Maidens in Town and City

DESCRIPTION: The singer grieves "all for the sake of a lovely sailor" [who,apparently, is dead]
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: grief love death nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1246, "Come All Ye Maidens in Town and City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6784
File: GrD61246

Come All Ye Maids and Pretty Fair Maidens

See Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)

Come All Ye Melancholy Folks

See Old Time Cowboy (Melancholy Cowboy) (File: TF19)

Come All Ye Southern Soldiers

See Texas Rangers, The [Laws A8] (File: LA08)

Come All Ye Tramps and Hawkers

See Tramps and Hawkers (File: K358)

Come All Ye Unmarried Men

See William and Nancy (II) (Courting Too Slow) [Laws P5] (File: LP05)

Come All Ye Western Cowboys

See Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys (File: R189)

Come All Ye Young Lovers So Pretty

DESCRIPTION: "My heart is as light as a feather, It's never been troubled with care"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1832, "Come All Ye Young Lovers So Pretty" (1 text)
Roud #13599
NOTES: GreigDuncan8: .".. November 1908. Learned ... sixty to seventy years ago." - BS
I have a feeling this might be a version of "Over the Mountain (I) (Allanah Is Waiting for Me)." But I have no evidence except the feeling. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1832

Come All Ye Young Men That Want a Wife

DESCRIPTION: Advice for "all ye young men that want a wife. Choose "a proper wench and handsome," not a red-head, "fingers long and her middle small," "a nice little girl And one of a good behaviour." If she and her friends consent "ye are sure to marry"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: marriage nonballad beauty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 918 "Come All Ye Young Men That Want a Wife," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Come All Ye Young Men That Want a Wife" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6236
File: GrD4918

Come All You Bold Canadians

See Brave General Brock [Laws A22] (File: LA22)

Come All You Fair and Handsome Girls

See Come All You Fair and Tender Girls (File: WB2080)

Come All You Fair and Tender Girls

DESCRIPTION: Willie courts the narrator, asks her to go with him. She consents, but when they are far from home, he sends her back, saying it's his nature to ramble
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (collected by Olive Dame Campbell, in SharpAp)
KEYWORDS: courting elopement abandonment
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SharpAp 103, "Come All You Young and Handsome Girls" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 321-326, "Come All You Fair and Handsome Girls" (5 texts, with local titles "Come All You Fair and Handsome Girls," (no title), "Fair and Handsome Girls," "Fair and Handsome Girls," (no title); the "E" text appears likely to be some other song, of the vast "Rye Whiskey/Wagoner's Lad" type; 1 tune on p. 442)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 80, "Come All You Young and Handsome Girls" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 49, "Sweet Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST WB2080 (Partial)
Roud #3606
RECORDINGS:
Banjo Bill Cornett, "Sweet Willie" (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Green Maggard, "Come All You Fair and Handsome Girls" (AFS, 1934; on KMM)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fair Flower of Northumberland" [Child 9] (plot)
cf. "Fair and Tender Ladies" (lyrics)
NOTES: Is it possible this is a ballad from which "Fair and Tender Ladies" has descended, with the narrative removed? It has warning verses at the beginning, although not those normally associated with "Fair and Tender Ladies." -PJS
File: WB2080

Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies

See Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)

Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies (I)

See Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)

Come All You Friends and Neighbors

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you friends and neighbours, For you know that you are born to die, Come view my situation As helpless here I lie." The singer, in a "weakened condition," asks "never let me seek in vain." He hopes to be where "consumption And fever is no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death religious disease
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 561, "Come All You Friends and Neighbors" (1 short text)
Roud #11884
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lonesome Dove (I - The Minister's Lamentation)" (theme)
File: Br3561

Come All You Jack-Pine Savages

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes a visit to "Dr. Jones" (probably not a real doctor). He has a toothache; "Dr. Jones" gives him six prescriptions, he eats sixteen potatoes and a couple of loaves of bread, and he's cured. He tells listeners to take ills to "Dr. Jones."
AUTHOR: Probably Dent Bailey
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: disease medicine healing doctor
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 20, "Come All You Jack-Pine Savages" (1 text)
Roud #4064
NOTES: As "Come All You Jack Pine Savages," this song is item dC43 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Be020

Come All You JackPine Savages

See Come All You Jack Pine Savages (File: Be020)

Come All You Jolly Ploughboys

DESCRIPTION: The singer praises the plowman's work he does. Masons, shoemakers, blacksmiths and millers are useful; the miller's needs "the sacks o' corn the plooboy does supply." If not for the soldier and plowman "what would our poor nation do"?
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming worker nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 450, "Come, All Ye Jolly Plooboys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5958
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "We Poor Labouring Men" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Laddie That Handles the Ploo" (theme)
cf. "The Praise of Ploughmen" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Plooman
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "'Learnt about thirty years [ago] from a Lumphanan shepherd. Noted 26th August 1908.'" - BS
This song and "We Poor Labouring Men" appear to be sisters; I've no idea which came first. This one was collected earlier, but is less well attested. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3450

Come All You Jolly Ploughboys (Here's April, Here's May; The Two Brothers)

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you jolly ploughboys, Come help me to sing." "There once was two brothers... One was a shepherd,,, The other a planter of corn." "Here's April, here's May... It's a pleasure to see the corn grow." The singer praises ploughboys and their life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Butterworth/Dawney)
KEYWORDS: farming work nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 33, "Ploughboy's Glory" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #202
NOTES: The notes in Butterworth/Dawney link this with "The Painful Plow." But the only links I can see is that both are about plowing and have some Biblical references. In this case, the reference to "Two brothers... one was a shepherd, a tender of sheep, And the other was a planter of corn" is obviously to Cain and Abel, from chapter 4 of Genesis. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BuDa033

Come All You Maidens

See Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)

Come All You Poor Men of the North

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you poor men of the north... There is easier ways of gaining wealth... Go and dig the gold that lies in California." The singer describes California's wondrous climate and asks why poor can't have gold as well as rich
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: travel nonballad gold
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, pp. 348-349, "Come All You Poor Men of the North" (1 text)
Roud #7772
NOTES: Belden's informant claimed that California miners sang this piece. I find this close to unbelievable. (Of course, that might explain why no one else has recorded the piece in tradition: It bears no relationship to reality.) I'm almost tempted to suggest that it was written by a land speculator eager to latch onto stupid people's property by inducing them to head west. - RBW
File: Beld348

Come All You Roman Catholics

DESCRIPTION: Father McFadden is in Derry jail. Sub-inspector Martin had arrested him after Sunday Mass. "David ... by the Lord's command" killed Martin by sling shot "The people laughed and cheered" to see Martin taken away. "The Devil met him at the gates"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: violence murder prison clergy police Devil
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 13-14, "Come All You Roman Catholics" (1 text)
McBride 28, "Father McFadden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9459
NOTES: McBride: "[Father McFadden] formed local branches of the Land League in West Donegal."
See the reference to the 1888 imprisonment of Father McFadden of Donegal in Derry Prison "for an agrarian speech" (source: Chapters of Dublin History site, Letters and Leaders of my Day Chapter XXII "Parnellism and Crime" (1887-8), by T.M. Healy). The description there has no "David" and sling shot. Instead, thinking that Martin had struck McFadden with his drawn sword, the congregants rooted up the pailing from McFadden's garden and "battered in Martin's skull." Some of the attackers were arrested with McFadden. The story of the convictions, plea bargaining and sentencing is told there from the defense attorney's viewpoint. - BS
File: TSF013

Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.)

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you (Virginia) girls and listen to my noise; Don't you court no West Virginia boys; If you do, your fortune will be Johnny cake and venison and sassafras tea." Concerning the dangers of courting and marrying boys from (somewhere)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1841 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: courting hardtimes warning humorous
FOUND IN: US(Ap,Ro,So)
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Belden, pp. 426-428, "Texan Boys" (1 text plus a fragment probably not part of this song)
Randolph 342, "The Arkansas Boys" (3 texts, 2 tunes); also (perhaps with some mixture) 466, "The Old Leather Bonnet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 277-278, "The Arkansas Boys" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 342A)
BrownIII 328, "The Carolina Crew" (1 fragment, thought by the editors to be this song); 336, "If You Want to Go A-Courtin'" (1 text, clearly mixed; the first three stanzas are this song, the next four something completely unrelated about a fight and a very bad meal)
Sandburg, pp. 128-129, "Hello, Girls"; "Kansas Boys" (2 texts, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 95, "The Hunter's Song" (1 fragment)
Lomax-FSUSA 11, "When You Go A-Courtin'"; 12, "The Texian Boys" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Fife-Cowboy/West 9, "Johnny Cake" (4 texts, 1 tune, though the "B" text is clearly "Little Fight in Mexico" and the "C" text is also quite distinct)
LPound-ABS, 81, pp. 175-176, "Cheyenne Boys" (1 text)
JHCox 58, "The Tucky Ho Crew" (1 text -- a very mixed version which is only partly this song, but the rest doesn't look like anything I know. It may be a conflation with an otherwise lost ballad)
SharpAp 75, "If You Want to Go A-courting" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 173, "Kansas Boys" (1 text)
DT, WHNCORT1* WHNCORT2* WHNCORT3* WHNCORT4* WHNCORT5*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 207, "The Old Leather Bonnet" (1 text, fairly full but missing the opening verse)
Roud #4275
RECORDINGS:
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, "West Virginia Gals" (Brunswick 318, 1929; rec. 1928)
Cousin Emmy, "Cousin Emmy's Blues" (also issued as "Come All You Virginia Gals") (Decca 24213, 1947)
Riley Puckett, "The Arkansas Sheik" (Columbia 15686-D, 1931; rec. 1928)
New Lost City Ramblers, "The Arkansas Sheik" (on NLCR14)
Pete Seeger, "Texian Boys" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a)
SAME TUNE:
Ballad of Harriet Tubman (by Woody Guthrie) (Greenway-AFP, pp. 90-92)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
California Boys
East Virginia Girls
Missouri Boys
Hello Girls
Mississippi Gals
The Mormon Boys
Free Nigger (title used in the 1841 sheet music)
De Free Nigger
NOTES: Randolph's "Old Leather Bonnet" text at first appears independent of the other versions of this song. But if one simply assumes that it has lost the first verse, the rest fits well.
The Fifes offer deep psychological explanations for some parts of this piece. I incline to believe it means what it says. - RBW
File: R342

Come All You Warriors

DESCRIPTION: Lay down your arms! Father Murphy will "cut down cruel Saxon persecution" He excels Caesar, Alexander and Arthur. His victories are listed until Enniscorthy. If the French had come we would have won. But we still have our pikes and guns.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1798 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: battle rebellion Ireland clergy patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 26, 1798 - Beginning of the Wexford rebellion
May 27, 1798 - The Wexford rebels under Father John Murphy defeat the North Cork militia
June 5, 1798 - The Wexford rebels attack the small garrison (about 1400 men, many militia) at New Ross, but are repelled
June 21, 1798 - The rebel stronghold a Vinegar Hill is taken, and the Wexford rebellion effectively ended
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 10, "Come All You Warriors" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Father Murphy (I)" (subject of Father Murphy) and references there
NOTES: The claim that the Irish would have won is sadly typical of the 1798. But the real problem is that the Irish rebels of the time did *not* have many guns; they often fought nearly unarmed. For examples of this, see the notes to "Father Murphy."
File: Zimm010

Come All You Worthy Christian Men

DESCRIPTION: The singer warns Christians to behave properly, remembering Job and Lazarus. First verse: "Come all you worthy Christian men That dwell upon this land, Don't spend your time in rioting, Remember you're but man...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: warning religious Bible
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Sharp-100E 91, "Come All You Worthy Christian Men" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBC 60, "Job" (1 text, 4 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 47, "Come All You Worthy Christian Men" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #815
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rounding the Horn" (tune)
NOTES: The story of Lazarus is a parable of Jesus, recounted in Luke 16:19-31 (the Lazarus of John 11, 12 is unrelated). Thus there never was an actual Lazarus who lay at a rich man's door; he was simply an example.
The case of Job is, to say the least, more complicated. The Bible does indeed report that he was "the richest [man] in the east" (Job 1:3), that "he was brought to poverty" (Job 1:13-19), and that he "soon got rich again" (Job 42:10f.). But it can hardly be said that Job bore all this uncomplainingly; most of Job chapters 3-30 are devoted to his complaints! - RBW
File: ShH91

Come All You Young Men

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you young men and listen unto me, Never hang your shirt on a green briar tree, The leaves they will wither and the branches decay, And the graybacks will hatch out and pack your shirt away." A series of humorous warnings
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous parody clothes bug
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 418, "Come All You Young Men" (1 text plus 1 fragment, 2 tunes)
Roud #7684
NOTES: This gives all the evidence of being a parody of one of the "rejected lover" type songs -- but there are other elements mixed in, so it's hard to say if there was only *one* source. - RBW
File: R418

Come All You Young of Wary Age

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you young of wary (every) age, Give hearing to my song." A young man sets out to visit a friend, but falls from his horse and dies. He was alone, so no other details are known. His family and neighbours grieve; his mother says "his work is done"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: horse death family funeral grief
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 705, "Come All You Young of Wary Age" (1 text)
BrownII 285, "Man Killed by Falling From a Horse" (1 text)
Roud #7373 and 6640
NOTES: There was a note attached to Brown's transcript of this song saying that it happened in Richmond county, but given the song's appearance in Randolph (and it is certainly the same song) implies that this is just folklore. Particularly since Randolph's informant also claimed the event was local. - RBW
File: R705

Come All Young People (The Dying Lovers)

DESCRIPTION: Listeners are called to hear the story of two lovers. He comes to her door, but her parents turn him away. She mourns, and no doctor can cure her. At last the parents let him come, but she dies for love and is buried. He then dies also
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love separation death mourning doctor warning
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 73, "Come All Young People" (1 text)
Roud #563
NOTES: The theme of this song, obviously, is commonplace, but the editors of the Brown collection cannot trace it to any particular song (they suspect broadside origin), and I am similarly unable to find a relative. (Roud lumps it with Laws P12, but Laws does *not* equate them.)
The first stanza, for what it's worth, runs
Come all young people far and near,
A lamentation you shall hear
Of a young man and his true love
Whom he adored and sworn to love.
The song ends with the usual warning to parents against separating lovers. - RBW
File: BrII073

Come Along, Moses

DESCRIPTION: "Come along, (Moses/Aaron/judy), Don't get lost (x3) Come along, Moses, don't get lost. We are the (people/children) of God." "We have a just God to please our cause." "He sits in heaven and answers prayer." "Stretch out your rod and come across."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 104, "Come Along, Moses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12060
NOTES: When Moses met God at the burning bush, Moses's staff became an object of power (Exodus 4;2-3) -- e.g. he turned it into a snake before the Egyptians, though in that instance, it was Aaron, not Moses, who threw it down (Exodus 7:8-11). The confusion over who had the Super De Luxe Staff continues throughout the Pentateuch, but it is certainly Moses's staff which was used to part the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG104

Come Along, My Own True Love

See The False Young Man (The Rose in the Garden, As I Walked Out) (File: FJ166)

Come and Go with Me to That Land

DESCRIPTION: "Come and go with me to that land (x3)... where I'm bound." "There ain't no moanin' in that land." "There ain't no bowin' in that land." "There ain't no kneelin' in that land." "There ain't no Jim Crow in that land."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 371, "Come And Go With Me To That Land" (1 text)
DT, COMEGO
File: FSWB371

Come and Kiss Me, Robin

DESCRIPTION: "Come and kiss me, Robin, Come and kiss me now, Oh he came and kissed me, And he came and kissed me With my hands milking the cow!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 785, "Come and Kiss Me, Robin" (1 fragment)
Roud #5521
NOTES: Randolph speculates that this may be related to Sandburg's item "The Pretty Girl Milkin' the Cow." They're both fragments, so it's possible -- but I don't see any clear links.
Similarly, Roud links this with the fragment "John, Come Kiss Me Now" in Chappell/Wooldridge I (pp. 268-269) and now in the index under that title. Possible, but I need a lot more evidence. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R785

Come Ashore Jackie Tar

DESCRIPTION: "Come ashore, Jackie Tar, an' yer trousers on." "Kiss a bonnie lass." "Hae a biscuit" "hae a dram." "Captain Charles" or "boats o' Boddam come ashore." "Hear cannons roar on the coasts of Labrador" or "the Bay of Baltimore."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: nonballad sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #73, p. 2, "Jacky Tar" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 60, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Come Ashore Jackie Tar" (3 texts)
Roud #5812
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jacky Tar With His Trousers On" (some verses)
NOTES: The GreigGreigDuncan1 verses are pretty much disconnected from each other and probably float, though I haven't seen that.
Greig: .".. pretty much a vocalise, like the extemporised verses so often used for a dance when, in default of an instrument, the tune had to be sung." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1060

Come Away from that Old Man

DESCRIPTION: "Come away from that old man! He will kill you if he can. Come away, o-oh!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death age
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 208, "Come Away from that Old Man" (1 fragment)
NOTES: This was given to Brown as a hog-call, but I have this feeling in my gut that this is a fragment of "Matty Groves" -- that these are the words Musgrave/Matty hears when Lord Arnold's horn sounds. But with only three lines, this can't be proved. - RBW
File: Br3208

Come Back to Erin

DESCRIPTION: The singer's sweetheart has left Killarney for England. He seems surprised that "my heart sank when clouds came between us... Oh, may the angels, oh, waking and sleeping Watch o'er my bird in the land far away." Does she think of me?
AUTHOR: Charlotte Alington Barnard ("Claribel") (1830-1869)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(965))
KEYWORDS: courting emigration separation nonballad Ireland
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Dean, pp. 79-80, "Come Back to Erin" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 103, "Come Back to Erin" (1 text)
Roud #13846
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(965), "Come Back to Erin", J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Firth c.12(253), 2806 c.8(238), Harding B 15(49a), Johnson Ballads 1898, 2806 b.11(224), Firth c.12(253), "Come Back to Erin"; 2806 c.8(237), "Come Back to Erin, Mavourneen, Mavourneen"
NOTES: According to Sigmund Spaeth, A History of Popular Music in America, p. 143, Claribel "managed to turn out both words andmusic of a great many ballads that found immediate favor on both sides of the Atlantic. Her first song to make it mark here was called Janet's Choice, appearing in London in 1860, although its American publication was delayed until 1871.... [She] made her most lasting impression with Come Back to Erin (1868), which is still heard with honest preasure and often regarded as an Irish folk-song. Mrs. Barnard was a woman of some musical education, but depended chiefly on her intuitive expression of the sentimentality of her day."
I do not know how to reconcile Spaeth's statement that the song was published in 1868 with the broadside which seems to come from at least two years earlier. Perhaps the broadside was pirated from one of Claribel's performances? - RBW
File: OCon103

Come Back to Mother Again

DESCRIPTION: Father and son argue. Son crosses the sea. Father sends a letter saying that mother is sad and asks that he return. He reads the letter every night. He eventually returns to England and is reconciled with his family.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: home reunion separation England father mother youth
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 1075, "Come Back to Mother Again" (1 text)
Roud #6762
File: Grd1075

Come Back, Paddy Reilly

See Ballyjamesduff (File: RcBalJDu)

Come By Here

DESCRIPTION: 'Someone's sick; Lord, come by here (x3), Oh, Lord, won't you come by here." "Someone's dying; Lord, come by here." "Someone's in trouble...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious disease death
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 621, "O Lord, Won't You Come by Here?" (1 text)
Roud #11924
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Kum By Yah" (form)
File: Br3621

Come Chise me Oot

DESCRIPTION: "Come chise me oot, come chise me in, Come chise me for a rabbit skin; Come chise me east, come chise me west, And give me the very one that I love best"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #159, p. 2, ("Come chise me oot, come chise me in") (1 short text)
GreigDuncan8 1574, "Come Chise me Oot" (1 short text)
Roud #13505
NOTES: The current description is all of the Greig text. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81574

Come Down to Tennessee

DESCRIPTION: "Come down to Tennessee (Ride er ole grey horse). Yaller gal's de gal for me (Ride er ole grey horse). Kiss her under de mulberry tree (Ride er ole grey horse). Oh my, nigger, don't you see, Better come to Tennessee?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: courting horse
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 183, (no title) (1 fragment)
File: ScaNF183

Come Down with the Killock

DESCRIPTION: "Come down with the killock And out with the line; Of fish about here, boys, There is a good sign." The ship sails; it's "not like the fools Who are hunting for fat." The singer decides fishing is better than sealing: "Off to the ice Go fools in a rush."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Murphy, The Seal Fishery)
KEYWORDS: ship hunting fishing nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 26, "Come Down with the Killock" (1 text)
File: RySm026B

Come Down, You Bunch of Roses, Come Down

See Blood Red Roses (File: Doe022)

Come Go With Me

DESCRIPTION: "Old Satan is a busy old man, He roll stones in my way; Mass' Jesus is my bosom friend, He roll 'em out of my way, O come-e go with me (x3), A-walking in the heaven I roam." "I did not come here myself, my Lord, It was my Lord who brought me here...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, pp. 57-58, "Come Go With Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12017
File: AWG057B

Come Hame to Yer Lingles

DESCRIPTION: Wife tells her drunk husband to come home from his Monday morning drinking among his cronies. She and the children are in tatters. He tells her to leave him and his friends in peace. She will follow him from inn to inn. He concedes; he must quit.
AUTHOR: Robert Tannahill (1774-1810) and Alexander Rodger (1784-1846) (source: Ramsay and Whitelaw)
EARLIEST DATE: 1838 (Alexander Rodger, _Poems and Songs_)
KEYWORDS: poverty drink dialog husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan3 588, "Come Hame to Yer Lingles" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Rodger, Poems and Songs (Glasgow, 1838), pp. 103-104, "Come Hame to Your Lingels"
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 335, "Come Hame to Yer Lingles"
Phillip A Ramsay, The Poetical Works of Robert Tannahill (London, c.1838), pp. 89-90, "Come Hame To Your Lingels"
Roud #5892
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jock Robb" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
cf. "O, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" (tune, per Whitelaw)
cf. "Farewell to Whisky (Johnny My Man)" (theme)
NOTES: Whitelaw: "The first verse of this song was a fragment by Tannahill; the rest has been happily added by Alex. Rodger" - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3588

Come Home, Father

See Father, Dear Father, Come Home with Me Now (File: R308)

Come List to a Ranger (The Disheartened Ranger)

DESCRIPTION: "Come list to a ranger, you kind-hearted stranger... Who fought the Comanches away from your ranches And followed them far o'er the Western frontier." He complains of the hard conditions he suffered, and warns the listener to keep watch for Comanches
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Lomax, Cowboy Songs)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) fight hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 181, "Come List to a Ranger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 7, pp. 55-57, "Texas Ranger's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, COMELIST*
Roud #5481
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Disheartened RangerThe
NOTES: The Texas Rangers were initially founded during the period of the Texas Rebellion, as the defense force of the new county. And Texas, from the moment it declared independence to the time it joined the United States, had budget problems. So it would be little surprise to find a particular soldier ill-paid.
Several of the versions, such as Logsdon's, seem to go back to this period; the Ranger declares that he is quitting and going back to the "States." Other versions just sound like standard soldier complaints. It's not really clear which is original. - RBW
File: R181

Come Listen to Me, and Pray Give Attention

DESCRIPTION: The singer crossed the moor on the way home from the fair and saw an old woman sitting alone and milking her cow. She sang "the Marquis o' Doune" or some other song he doesn't remember.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad animal music
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1798, "Come Listen to Me, and Pray Give Attention" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12999
File: GrD81798

Come listen, all ye ploughman lads

See The Fyvie Ploughmen (File: GrD3420)

Come On Up to Bright Glory

DESCRIPTION: "You don't hear me prayin' here, you can't find me nowhere/Come on up to bright glory, I'll be waitin' up there" Other verses zip in "when I preach," "when I shout," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson)
KEYWORDS:
FOUND IN: US(SE)
Roud #10977
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "Come On Up to Bright Glory" (on NFMAla4)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus" (tune, structure)
NOTES: This is, of course, the song from which the freedom song "If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus" was adapted; interestingly enough, the latter seems to have originated in Alabama, where this song was collected. - PJS
File: RcCOUtBG

Come on, Boys, and Let's Go to Hunting

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Come on, boys, let's go to huntin', Dog in the Woods, and he done treed sump'n."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: hunting dog
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 743, "Come on, Boys, and Let's Go to Hunting" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: BSoF743

Come On, My Pink, an' Tell Me What You Think

See Late Last Night When Willie Came Home (Way Downtown) (File: CSW166)

Come Over and See Me Sometime

DESCRIPTION: Floating-verse song, known mostly by the chorus: "Won't you come over and see me sometime (x2). Eat your breakfast 'fore you start, take your dinner in your hand, and leave before it's suppertime."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 48, (no title) (1 fragment)
Roud #4947
File: ScaSC048

Come Raise Me in Your Arms, Dear Brother

DESCRIPTION: The singer has been mortally wounded in battle by his brother. The singer (apparently a Unionist) asks how his brother could oppose his father (also a Unionist). He asks his brother to bring the news to mother -- but not reveal who did the killing
AUTHOR: E. Bowers and P. B. Isaacs
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1928 (recording, James Ragan & Oliver Beck)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle death brother farewell
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 235, "Come Raise Me in Your Arms, Dear Brother" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 208-210, "Come Raise Me in Your Arms, Dear Brother" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 235)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 214-215, "Write a Letter to Mother" (1 text)
Rorrer, p. 91, "Write a Letter to My Mother" (1 text)
Roud #7708
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Write a Letter to My Mother" (Columbia 15711-D, 1930)
James Ragan & Oliver Beck, "Write a Letter to My Mother" (Challenge 390, c. 1928)
File: R235

Come Sweet Jane

See Sweet Jane [Laws B22] (File: LB22)

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (I)

DESCRIPTION: "Come thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy praise. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise." "Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above." etc.
AUTHOR: Words: Robert Robinson (1735-1790)
EARLIEST DATE: 1835 (Sacred Harp)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp, 66-67, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15066
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "We Will Walk Through the Streets of the City"
cf. "This Old World" (tunes)
NOTES: This text by Robinson (1735-1790) is among the most popular of all shape note lyrics; in the Sacred Harp, for instance, we find it used with "Olney," "Family Circle," "Restoration," and "Warrenton" -- plus, with the first line "Come THY fount of every blessing," the tune "Rest for the Weary."
In the Missouri Harmony, it has the tunes "Olney," "New Monmouth," and "Hallelujah."
The standard tune seems to be "Olney;" in Jackson's White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands, it occurs only with "Olney" (#40), as one of two possible texts for that tune. Nonetheless, the text travels a lot, and has acquired various tunes and choruses; see the cross-references.
If I understand Johnson correctly, he believes the original tune to have been "Nettleton," which he credits to John Wyeth (1770-1858), though "Nettleton" of course is also associated with the name of Asahel Nettleton.
The scriptural references are interesting. "Flaming tongues" is almost certainly related to the Pentecost incident of speaking in tongues (Acts 2:3).
The second verse says, "Here I'll raise my Ebenezer." There are three mentions of Ebenezer in 1 Samuel. In 4:1, the Israelites gather at Ebenezer to fight the Philistines -- and, as the following verses tell, are roundly defeated. The Ark of the Covenant is captured, an the Philistines take it from Ebenezer to Ashdod (5:1). Later, after an Israelite victory over the Philistines, Samuel sets up a stone near Ebenezer, which the Bible renders "stone of help" (7:12; P. Kyle McCarter, in the Anchor Bible volume 1 Samuel, p. 146, notes that the root, and hence the meaning, is not entirely clear at this time,but "stone of the helper" and "stone of the warrior," both possible, also would be good cultic terms for someone with Samuel's militant theology). Both sites could have suited Robinson's purpose; the battle in 1 Samuel 3 was a last stand by the Israelites, which fits someone "making [his] Ebenezer," and of course the symbolism of 7:12 is obvious.
It is not obvious that the two are the same place. It is, of course, possible that 4:1 and 5:1 call the spot "Ebenezer" after the name Samuel later gave it -- in fact, since Ebenezer sounds rather deserted, it would seem likely. Except that the Philistines generally beat up on the Israelites until the time of Saul. Samuel seems to have been something of a Skanderbeg: He could protect the land the Israelites held, and maintain a scratchy independence, but he could not regain territory. Odds are that the two Ebenezers are distinct. - RBW
File: NEctfoeb

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (II)

See We Will Walk Through the Streets of the City (File: Br3562)

Come to Shuck Dat Corn Tonight

DESCRIPTION: "Come to shuck dat corn tonight, Come to shuck with all your might, Come for to shuck all in sight, Come to shuck dat corn tonight." "Come to shuck dat golden grain, Where dere's enough dere ain't no pain...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 198, "Come to Shuck Dat Corn Tonight" (1 short text)
File: Br3198

Come to the Bower

DESCRIPTION: Come to the land of the Irish heroes: O'Neill, O'Donnell, Lord Lucan, O'Connell, Brian and St Patrick. Visit Dublin and the battlefields. "Will you come and awake our lost land from its slumber and her fetters we will break ... come to the bower"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 5, 1646 - Battle of Benburb. Owen Roe O'Neill defeats Robert Munroe
June 5, 1798 - Battle of New Ross - Wexford rebels attack the small garrison (about 1400 men, many militia) at New Ross, but are repelled
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn 96, "Come to the Bower" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, COMEBOWR
Roud #3045
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Daniel O'Connell (I)" (subject: Daniel O'Connell) and references there
NOTES: Among the historical characters mentioned in this song:
O'Donnell - Probably "Red Hugh" O'Donnell, leader of the 1594 war against the English; for his career see, e.g., "O'Donnell Aboo (The Clanconnell War Song)."
O'Neill - There were many O'Neills of significance for Irish history; the likeliest, given the context, is Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, ally of Red Hugh O'Donnell (again, see the notes to "O'Donnell Aboo (The Clanconnell War Song)").
O'Connell - Obviously Daniel O'Connell, the campaigner for Irish rights; there are at least two songs bearing his name, and many more which allude to him, e.g. "By Memory Inspired" and "A Nation Once Again."
Brian - Brian Boru, winner of the Battle of Clontarf; see "Remember the Glories of Brian the Brave."
Owen Roe - Owen Roe O'Neill (c. 1582-1649), nephew of Red Hugh O'Neill; he served for a time in the Netherlands, then fought against the English in Ireland in the 1640s, though he did not cooperate very well with other Nationalist leaders.
Munroe - Robert Munroe, a Scottish general who was defeated by Owen Roe O'Neill at Benburb. - RBW
File: OLoc096

Come to the Fair

DESCRIPTION: "The sun is a-shining to welcome the day" of the fair. The happy time is described. Listeners are encouraged: "Hey, ho, come to the fair."
AUTHOR: Words: Helen Taylor / Music: Easthope Martin
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuld-WFM, p. 178, "Come to the Fair"
NOTES: Fuld notes that this is "[f]requently mistaken for a folksong"; it is on this basis that I include the piece. - RBW
File: Fuld178

Come to the Hiring

See The Hiring of the Servants (File: RcHirOTS)

Come Under My Plaidie

DESCRIPTION: Old Donald invites Marion in from the snow to sit with him. She says she is going to meet young Johnnie. Donald says Johnnie has nothing, but he can give her fine things. She goes with Donald. Johnnie overhears and heads home through the snow.
AUTHOR: Hector Macneill (1746-1818) (according to Whitelaw (see Note))
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Johnson,_Scots Musical Museum_, according to Whitelaw)
LONG DESCRIPTION: 62-year-old Donald the butcher invites Marion in from the cold blast and snow to sit with him under his plaidie where "there's room in't, dear lassie! believe me for twa." She says she is going to meet 30-year-old Johnniewho's young, bonny, and a fine dancer. Donald says Johnnie has nothing but he himself can give her fine clothes, house and flunkies. She follows her mother's advice and goes with Donald. Johnnie overhears the wedding date being set and heads home broken-hearted though the snow.
KEYWORDS: age courting rejection money storm
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 32, "Come Under My Plaidie"
Roud #8694
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(55b), "Come Under My Plaidie" ("Come under my plaidie, the night's gaun to fa'"), The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1851; also Harding B 16(55c), Harding B 11(631), Firth b.26(196), Firth b.27(69), "Come Under My Plaidie"; Harding B 11(663), Harding B 26(102), "Come Under My Plaidy"
Murray, Mu23-y4:018, "Come Under My Plaidie" ("Come under my plaidie, the nights gaun to fa'"), unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(34b), "Come Under My Plaidie" ("Come under my plaidie, the nicht's gaun to fa'"), unknown, c.1890
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sequel to Come Under My Plaidie" (theme)
cf. "Johnny Macgill" (tune, according to Bodleian broadsides Harding B 17(55b) and Harding B 11(663))
NOTES: Broadsides Murray Mu23-y4:018 and Bodleian Firth b.27(69) are duplicates.
Whitelaw: "Written by Hector Macneil to the [tune] Johnnie M'Gill, and published in the sixth volume of Johnson's Museum." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BdCoUnMP

Come Under My Plaidie (II)

See Sequel to Come Under My Plaidie (File: GrD71304)

Come Write Me Down (The Wedding Song)

DESCRIPTION: Man offers gold and pearls; woman refuses, saying she'll never be at any young man's call. He tells her t he'll find another. He picks up his hat to leave, but she changes her mind. They are married the next day; "she'll prove his comfort day and night"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1891 (Baring-Gould MS, as "The Scornful Dame"); c.1840 (broadside, 2806 c.16(240)
LONG DESCRIPTION: "Come write me down the powers above/That first created a man to love." Man offers gold and pearls; woman refuses, saying she'll never be at any young man's call. He tells her to "go your way, you scornful dame"; he'll find another. He picks up his hat to leave, but, as could be predicted, she changes her mind. They are married the next day; "she'll prove his comfort day and night"
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage wedding dialog lover
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Greig #159, p. 1, "My Joy and Comfort" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 980, "Look Ye Down, Ye Powers Above" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Kennedy 126, "Come Write Me Down the Powers Above" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 571-572, "Oh Write Me Down, Ye Powers Above" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, COMWRIT1
Roud #381
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.16(240), "The True Lovers" ("Look ye down, the powers of love"), W. and T. Fordyce (Newcastle), c.1840
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Corydon and Phoebe" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Oh Write Me Down, Ye Powers Above
The Scornful DameThe Ways of a Maid
NOTES: Like "Corydon and Phyllis," whose plot is virtually identical, this no doubt began life as a minstrel piece or "rural romance" broadside. But it's entered tradition, with over half-a-dozen collections cited by Kennedy. The song has long been associated with the Copper family of Rottingdean, Sussex, having been collected from them as early as 1899, but it is also found in Dorset, Hampshire, Devon -- and Newfoundland.
It is distinguished from "Corydon and Phyllis" by the characteristic phrases quoted in the [long description]. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: K126

Come Write Me Down The Powers Above

See Come Write Me Down (The Wedding Song) (File: K126)

Come Ye Inksmen

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

Come Ye That Fear the Lord

DESCRIPTION: "Come ye that fear the Lord (x2), I have something for to say about the narrow way, For Christ the other day saved my soul (x2)." The singer recalls how Jesus came to free him, how others call him "undone," but how he looks forward to salvation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, pp. 201-202, "Come Ye That Fear the Lord" (1 text)
ST Fus201 (Partial)
Roud #16371
File: Fus201

Come, All Ye Good People, I Pray You Attend

DESCRIPTION: "Now to all ye young women, I do you advise": we are "as full of flattery as a cloud's full of rain ... much like a garden with weeds overgrown" and men grow tired of us as time passes. .".. be modest and wise" and if he leaves you've done your best.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1860 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 917, "Come, All Ye Good People, I Pray You Attend" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6235
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 quoting Duncan: "It is from a manuscript book, and is entitled 'A Song', and is dated May 5th, 1860." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD917

Come, All Ye Roving Rangers

See Texas Rangers, The [Laws A8] (File: LA08)

Come, Butter, Come

DESCRIPTION: "Come, butter, come! De King and de Queen Is er-standin' at de gate, Er-waitin' for some butter An' a cake. Oh, come, butter, come!" A different version: "Come, butter come (x2), Peter stands at the gate, Waiting for a butter cake, Come, butter, come"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1656 (Ady's A Candle in the Dark, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: worksong nonballad food royalty
FOUND IN: US Britain(England)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 215, (no title) (1 short text); p. 287, (no title) (1 short text, from Brand's Antiquities)
Opie-Oxford2 85, "Come, butter, come" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #491, p. 213, "(Come, butter, come)"
ADDITIONAL: Roy Palmer, _The Folklore of Warwickshire_, Rowman and Littlefield, 1976, p. 87, (no title) (a 1-verse fragment that might be this or just possibly "Churn, Churn, Make Some Butter")
Roud #18167
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Churn, Churn, Make Some Butter" (theme)
NOTES: The reference to Peter at the gate is sometimes interpreted as referring to Peter trying to get into heaven. But the logical assumption is surely that it is a reference to Acts chapter 12. Peter had been imprisoned by Herod Agrippa I, and was freed by an angel. He went to the home of Mary mother of John Mark, and knocked at the gate (12:13). The maid Rhoda was so shocked that she was very slow to answer. - RBW
Opie-Oxford2: "Although this centuries-old charm was still in superstitious use at the time, it was set to music in 1798 as a 'Bagatelle for Juvenile Amusement.'" - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: ScNF215B

Come, Dear, Don't Fear

See The Dolly Varden Hats (File: GrD3652)

Come, Emily

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

Come, Gang Awa' With Me

DESCRIPTION: "Oh come, my love, the moon shines bright Across the rippling sea... Come gang awa' with me. 'Tis many a night since last we met... Then say ere yonder stars shall set You'll gang awa' with me. "...I pledge myself to thee... Forever thine I'll be"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting travel
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 783, "Come, Gang Awa' With Me" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7415
File: R783

Come, Landlord, Fill a Flowing Bowl

See Landlord, Fill the Flowing Bowl (File: FSWB229A)

Come, Life, Shaker Life

DESCRIPTION: "Come, life, Shaker life, come, life eternal, Shake, shake out of me all that is carnal. I'll take nimble steps, I'll be a David, I'll show Michael twice how he behaved."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-FSNA 37, "Come, Life, Shaker Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6669
NOTES: Although every text of this song I have seen refers to "Michael," the correct name is "Michal." Michal was the younger daughter of Saul, who loved and was married to David (1 Samuel 18:20f.) and saved him from her father (1 Sam. 19:11f.).
Later, however, when David had become king, David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. During its progress, "David danced before YHWH with all his might" (2 Sam. 6:14). And "Michal daughter of Saul looked out... and saw King David leaping and dancing... and she despised him in her heart" (2 Sam. 6:16).
David and Michal apparently were never reconciled; when she scolded him, David's response was that the girls would like what he was doing (! - 2 Sam. 6:22). "And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child until the day of her death" (2 Sam. 6:23). - RBW
File: LoF037

Come, Love, Come, the Boat Lies Low

DESCRIPTION: "Come, love, come, and go with me, I'll take you down about Tennessee. Open up the window, oh love do, Listen to the music I'm playing for you, Come, love, come, the boat lies low,...." The girl is urged to float "on the Old Ben Joe"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: love courting home river floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MWheeler, pp. 90-91, "Come, Love, Come, the Boat Lies Low" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10033
RECORDINGS:
Eleazar Tillet, "Come Love Come" (on USWarnerColl01) [a true mess; the first verse is "Nancy Till", the chorus is "Come, Love, Come, the Boat Lies Low," and it uses part of "De Boatman Dance" as a bridge.)
NOTES: Another collection -- at least in Wheeler's version -- of mostly floating material. But I suspect the chorus ("Come, love, come, the boat lies low, Lies high and dry on the Ohio...") is characteristic of something rather longer. - RBW
File: MWhee090

Come, My Little Roving Sailor

See Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) (File: E098)

Come, My Love

See Shule Agra (Shool Aroo[n], Buttermilk Hill, Johnny's Gone for a Soldier) (File: R107)

Come, Polly, Pretty Polly

See Pretty Polly (II) [cf. Laws P36] (File: LP36B)

Come, Pretty Polly

See Pretty Polly (II) [cf. Laws P36] (File: LP36B)

Come, Rain, Come

DESCRIPTION: The singer hopes, "Come, rain, come, rain, come... To keep back the Yankees Until our ranks are filled up by recruits." The hungry singer complains, "I'm alone in my shanty, And rations they are scanty." He hopes for more and better food
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1943 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food Civilwar
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 385, "Come, Rain, Come" (1 text)
Roud #11753
NOTES: Mud is, of course, the soldier's constant foe, but worse for the side on the offensive; hence the Confederates would appreciate bad weather more than the Unionists. There is no hint that this is a reference to the Army of the Potomac's "Mud March" of December 1862, but it would fit -- the weather stopped General Ambrose Burnside's advance cold.
Neither side had very good rations; the transportation systems of the time just weren't up to it. But at least the Union troops usually had enough to eat. Not so the Confederates, who were constantly hungry, especially as the war dragged on (which resulted in the loss of much farming land, the ruin of still more land, and the breakdown of the southern railroads). The hunt for food described here is quite true-to-life. - RBW
File: Br3385

Come, Ye Sinners

DESCRIPTION: "Come ye sinners poor and needy, Weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love and pow'r. He is able, he is willing, He is able, doubt no more."
AUTHOR: Joseph Hart?
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Randolph; dated to 1759 in the Sacred Harp)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 623, "Come, Ye Sinners" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7555
NOTES: Randolph states that this is sung to the tune of "Go Tell Aunt Rhody." There is a similarity, but it is not the same tune (for one thing, this has two parts).
In the Sacred Harp, this appears with the tune "Beach Spring," which isn't even close to "Aunt Rhody." - RBW
File: R623

Comely Young Dame, The

See My Bonny Brown Jane (File: HHH613)

Comet

DESCRIPTION: "Comet! It makes your teeth turn green. Comet! It tastes like gasoline. Comet (it/will) make you vomit, So get some Comet and vomit today."
AUTHOR: Music: "Colonel Bogey March" by Kenneth J. Alford, 1916
EARLIEST DATE: 1986
KEYWORDS: nonballad parody humorous
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 38, "Comet" (1 text, tune referenced)
NOTES: I make the assumption that, if I learned a kids's song from a source other than my parents or school, it qualifies as a folk song. This seems to fit that bill. - RBW
File: PFCF038a

Comfort and Tidings of Joy

See Somerset Carol (File: FSWB377B)

Comical Ditty, A (Arizona Boys and Girls)

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you good people, I pray you draw near... A comical ditty you shortly shall hear." The song notes how the boys dress up to court the ladies, and the girls dress up to court the men, but neither can get married of their own power
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: courting poverty clothes family
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Belden, p. 430, "Comical Ditty" (1 text)
Randolph 461, "The Boys Around Here" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 57, "A Comical Ditty" (1 text)
Logsdon 20, pp. 133-135, "They're Down and They're Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, COMDITTY
Roud #4868
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Putting on Airs" (theme)
NOTES: Despite the title, this song does not strike me as in any way comic -- bitterly pathetic is more like it. Such slight humor as it has derives from its snarling sarcasm, but even this is too strong to be really effective.
I did not initially link the Randolph song with Cox's; they are shown with distinctly different metrical patterns, and Randolph's text isn't quite as sarcastic. But upon seeing more versions, it appears that they are just extremes of a constellation of forms. - RBW
File: JHCox057

Comin' frae Rora

DESCRIPTION: "Comin' frae Rora toon, There I met a bonnie lass And there I set her doon"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: sex
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 972, "Comin' frae Rora" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6742
NOTES: The current description is based on the GreigDuncan5 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD5972

Comin' Thro' the Craigs o' Culter

DESCRIPTION: "Comin' thro, gaun thro', Comin thro' the Craigs o' Culter, Duncan met a bonny lass, And row'd his Hielan' plaid aboot her'
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: sex
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1315, "Comin' Thro' the Craigs o' Culter" (1 fragment)
Roud #7207
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Haud Awa Frae Me, Donald" (tune, per GreigDuncan7)
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan7 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71315

Comin' Thro' the Hay

DESCRIPTION: Did you see "yellow coatie" coming through the hay, "drabbled" [smeared] all over?
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: sex nonballad clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1416, "Comin' Thro' the Hay" (1 text)
Roud #7263
NOTES: The happy ending to "Lassie wi' the Yellow Coatie," perhaps? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71416

Coming Around the Horn

DESCRIPTION: "Now, miners, if you listen, I'll tell you quite a tale." The singer goes around Cape Horn to California, and describes the seasickness, bad food, long calms, and other poor conditions. Arriving in California, he finds his money was left in the States
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 ("Put's Original California Songster")
KEYWORDS: ship travel hardtimes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 429-420, "Coming Around the Horn" (1 text)
Roud #15539
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dearest May" (tune)
File: LxA429

Coming Down the Flat

DESCRIPTION: "If a body meet a body coming down the flat, Should a body 'Joe' a body, for having on a hat? Some wear caps, some wise-awakes, but I prefer a hat, Yet everybody cries out 'Joe!' coming down the flat." About the types of hats Australians wear
AUTHOR: Charles Thatcher?
EARLIEST DATE: 1984
KEYWORDS: clothes parody Australia
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 96-97, "Coming Down the Flat" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Coming Through the Rye" (tune & meter)
File: FaE096

Coming Home from the Wake

See Nelly the Milkmaid (File: RL169)

Coming Round the Mountain (I)

See She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain (File: San372)

Coming Round the Mountain (II -- Charming Betsey)

DESCRIPTION: "She'll be coming round the mountain, charming Betsey; She'll be coming round the mountain, Cora Lee; If I never see you any more, Pray God remember me." The song usually compares the homes, vehicles, etc. of the rich and poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: separation money nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 436, "Charming Betsey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 335-336, "Charming Betsey" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 436)
BrownIII 256, "All Around the Mountain, Charming Betsy" (2 short texts); also 17, "I Wouldn't Marry" (7 text (some short) plus 6 excerpts, 1 fragment, and mention of 5 more, of which "the "A" text appears to mix this with "I Won't Marry an Old Maid" and "Raccoon")
DT, COMRNDMT*
Roud #7052
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Charming Betsy" (OKeh 40363, 1925)
Cleve Chaffin & the McClung Brothers, "Rock House Gamblers" (c. 1930; on RoughWays1)
Georgia Organ Grinders, "Charming Betsy" (Columbia 15415-D, 1929)
Davis & Nelson, "Charming Betsy" (QRS 9011, c. 1929)
Land Norris, "Charming Betsy" (OKeh 45033, c. 1926; rec. 1925)
Virgil Perkins & Jack Sims, "Goin' Around the Mountain" (on AmSkBa)
Henry Thomas, "Charming Betsy" (Vocalion 1468, 1930 [rec. 1929]; on Cornshuckers2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "She Gets There Just the Same (Jim Crow Car)" (floating verses)
File: R436

Coming Through the Rye

DESCRIPTION: "Gin a body meet a body comin' through the rye, Gin a body kiss a body, need a body cry?" The singer remarks that no one knows her swain, but notes that all the lads smile at her in the rye. She observes that she has a love whom she keeps secret
AUTHOR: unknown (adapted by Robert Burns)
EARLIEST DATE: 1796 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: love courting bawdy nonballad farming
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1860, "Comin' Through the Rye" (1 fragment)
Silber-FSWB, p. 140, "Comin' Through the Rye" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 178-179, "Comin' Thro' the Rye"
DT, COMTHRYE*
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #560, pp. 664-665, "Comin thro; the rye" (1 text, 1 tunes, from 1796)
Roud #5512
RECORDINGS:
Edith Helena, "Comin' Thro' the Rye" (Gramophone & Typewriter Co. 3348, n.d. but pre-1907)
Nevada Vanderveer, "Comin' Through the Rye" (Bell 1117/Bell S-77, c. 1923)
Ruth Vincent, "Comin' Thro' the Rye" (Columbia 30024, c. 1906)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Miller's Wedding" (tune, per Burns)
SAME TUNE:
Coming Through the Rye (Cold Cuts) (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 11; DT, COMTHRY2)
NOTES: Fuld observes that the earliest copies of this song (including the text known to Burns) were bawdy, and the Digital Tradition text is one of these.
The Burns version from the Scots Musical Museum opens with an eight-line stanza that is rarely if ever heard, followed by the familiar "Gin a body meet a body" stanzas.
There is a version of this in the Wilder family tradition (By the Shores of Silver Lake, chapter 15), but it looks imperfectly Scottish, as if learned from print. - RBW
The Digital Tradition version is Burns's. The GreigDuncan8 fragment is that version's chorus. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FSWB140B

Commend Me to the Plooman

See The Ploughman (I) (File: Ord217)

Common Bill

DESCRIPTION: The singer says Bill "isn't charming," and is "altogether green." He courts her relentlessly, to her scorn. At last he says that he will kill himself if she does not wed him. Citing the Bible's injunction against killing, she consents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1893 (Broadwood & Maitland)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England,(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (14 citations):
GreigDuncan4 891, "I Will Tell You of a Fellow" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph 119, "Common Bill" (2 texts)
Eddy 57, "Common Bill" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 178, "Common Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 187-188, "Common Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 195, "Common Bill" (1 text plus 1 excerpt and mention of 3 more)
Hudson 57, pp. 173-174, "Common Bill" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 308-310, "Common Bill" (2 texts, 1 tune on pp. 437-438)
Sandburg, pp. 62-63, "Common Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 325-326, "Hardly Think I Will" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 76, "Silly Bill" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 104, pp. 214-215, "I Will Tell You of a Fellow" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 172, "Common Bill" (1 text)
DT, CMMNBILL*
Roud #442
RECORDINGS:
I. G. Greer w. Mrs. I. G. Greer, "Common Bill" (AFS; on LC14)
Hill Billies, "Silly Bill" (OKeh 40294, 1925)
McGee Brothers, "Charming Bill" (Vocalion 5166, 1927)
McGee Brothers & Todd, "Common Bill" (on CrowTold02)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Common Bill" (on NLCR10)
Ernest Thompson & Connie Sides, "Silly Bill" (Columbia 15002-D, rec. 1924)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Barney O'Hea" (theme)
File: R119

Common Sailors

DESCRIPTION: "Don't you call us common men, We're as good as anybody that's on shore." We bring "silks and satins" for girls, cigars for "young gents," and no one appreciates us.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: commerce pride sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 24, "Common Sailors" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LeBe024

Companions, Draw Nigh

See Dying From Home and Lost (Companions, Draw Nigh) (File: R609)

Company Cook, The

DESCRIPTION: "The company cook had a greasy look, A nasty galoot was he, His only shirt was stiff with dirt...." The cook is "an autocrat," but "the stuff we got to put in the pot Was too often fit for swill." One day he dies and is buried; they expect he is in hell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: cook death army
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 551-552, "The Company Cook" (1 text)
Roud #15544
NOTES: Makes me think of "The Bastard King of England," but the dependence seems to be merely a matter of vague allusions. - RBW
File: LxA551

Compass and Square, The

DESCRIPTION: Scottish Freemasons meet "the blessings of freedom and plenty to share, and walk by the rules of the compass and square." Kings and prophets have been Freemasons. "The Great Architect ... Instructed our sires in the great building scheme"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious ritual
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #155, p. 1, "The Compass and Square" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 469, "The Compass and Square" (1 text)
Roud #5966
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jocky the Ploughboy" (tune, per Greig)
File: GrD3469

Complainte de Springhill, La (The Lament of Springhill)

DESCRIPTION: French. February 21, 1891: In Nova Scotia you will never forget the underground devastation in the Springhill mine. We are told that one hundred and thirty appeared before God.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage grief death mining disaster
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 21, 1891 - Springhill Disaster
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 183, "La Complainte de Springhill" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SPRINGH3*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Springhill Mine Disaster (1891)" (subject)
NOTES: February 21, 1891: Springhill Coal Mine explosion kills 125 men. (Source: our roots/nos racines (Canada's local histories online) Story of the Springhill Colliery Explosion : comprising a full and authentic account of the great coal mining explosion at Springhill Mines, Nova Scotia, February 21st, 1891, including a history of Springhill and its collieries by R.A.H. Morrow.) - BS
This was not the last disaster in the Springhill coal mines; Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl documented the 1958 tragedy in "Springhill Mine Disaster." - RBW
File: CrMa183

Complications of Life, The

DESCRIPTION: "This life here is a mixture of its troubles and its joys, All the way to ripe old age from tiny girls and boys; With many complications...." The singer tells of courting girls, of music, of toys, farm animals, a bad marriage, life's other trials
AUTHOR: probably assembled by John Daniel Vass
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (collected by Shellans from John Daniel Vass)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes animal dog chickens mother humorous wife marriage separation army farming
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shellans, pp. 45-46, "The Complications of Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7328
File: Shel045

Concerning Charlie Horse

DESCRIPTION: Nine men go to pull Charlie horse's drowned body from Angle Pond where he had fallen through the ice. The men braved hunger to do the job "with two stout dories and a couple of ropes" and "gave him a decent send-off." The crew are all named.
AUTHOR: Omar Blondahl
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (NFOBlondahl03)
KEYWORDS: burial drowning moniker horse
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Blondahl, pp. 18-19, "Concerning Charlie Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Concerning Charlie Horse" (on NFOBlondahl03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Return of Charlie Horse" (subject)
NOTES: From Omar Blondahl's Contribution to the Newfoundland Folksong Canon by Neil Rosenberg in Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1991):
"Another single paired 'Concerning Charlie Horse' and 'The Return of Charlie Horse,' two songs about a party involving the retrieval and burial of Charlie, the horse who fell through the ice of Angle Pond in Mahers near St. John's in the spring of 1956. 'Concerning Charlie Horse,' which Blondahl co-authored along with a local man, who along with Blondahl was one of ten named in the song, was a hit in St. John's and is a good example of a moniker song which achieved popularity in part because listeners could identify the names and nicknames of the men in it." - BS
File: Blon018

Concerning One Summer in Bonay I Spent

DESCRIPTION: The singer -- and others from all over Newfoundland -- congregated in "Bonay" one summer for wood "rhind" and fishing. The singer pokes fun at the girls that went along and at the men dressing up to meet them.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: courting work fishing
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Doyle2, p. 33, "Concerning One Summer in Bonay I Spent" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 21, "Concerning One Summer in Bonay I Spent" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 29, "Concerning One Summer in Bonay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7292
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Concerning One Summer in Bonay" (on NFOBlondahl03)
NOTES: Doyle mentions that the song was written by a "simple fisherman" and that "Bonay" is in the Strait of Belle Isle which separates Newfoundland from Labrador. - SH
File: Doy33

Condemned Men for the Phoenix Park Murders, The

DESCRIPTION: "On the evidence of a notorious wretch Far worse than they have been, Those men they are condemned to die" "Counsels for the Crown ... have well succeeded in their plan ... For basely British gold" Carey is cursed as "the cause of all this woe"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: execution murder trial Ireland political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Chronology of the Phoenix Park murders (source: primarily Zimmermann, pp. 62, 63, 281-286.)
May 6, 1882 - Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish and the Under Secretary Thomas Henry Burke are murdered by a group calling themselves "The Invincible Society."
January 1883 - twenty seven men are arrested.
James Carey, one of the leaders in the murders, turns Queen's evidence.
Six men are condemned to death, four are executed (Joseph Brady is hanged May 14, 1883; Daniel Curley is hanged on May 18, 1883), others are "sentenced to penal servitude," and Carey is freed and goes to South Africa.
July 29, 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell kills Carey on board the "Melrose Castle" sailing from Cape Town to Durban.
Dec 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell is convicted of the murder of James Carey and executed in London (per Leach-Labrador)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann, pp. 28,63, "Lines Written on the Condemned Men for the Phoenix Park Murders" (2 fragments)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(364), "Lines Written on the Condemned Men for the Phoenix Park Murders" ("Miserable indeed must those poor men be"),unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders) and references there
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 62: "The Phoenix Park murders and their judicial sequels struck the popular imagination and were a gold-mine for ballad-writers: some thirty songs were issued on this subject, which was the last great cause to be so extensively commented upon in broadside ballads."
Zimmermann pp. 28 and 63 are fragments; broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(364) is the basis for the description. - BS
File: BrdCMPPM

Condescending Lass, The

See I Am a Pretty Wench (File: BGMG082)

Coney Isle

DESCRIPTION: Verses that ought to be floating if they aren't already: "Some folks say that a preacher won't steal/I caught three in my corn field"; "Make that feather bed... Old man Brown gonna stay all night." Chorus: "I'm on my way, I'm going back to Coney Isle."
AUTHOR: Frank Hutchison
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Frank Hutchison)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 181, "Coney Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Lester Pete Bivins, "I'm Goin' Back to Coney Isle" (Bluebird B-6950, 1937)
Roscoe Holcomb, "Coney Isle" (on Holcomb1, MMOKCD)
Frank Hutchison, "Coney Isle" (OKeh 45083, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosie, Darling Rosie" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Take a Drink On Me" (words)
cf. "Uncle Eph's Got the Coon" (words)
cf. "Some Folks Say that a Preacher Won't Steal" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Alabam
NOTES: The "Coney Isle" referred to was Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio, not the better-known Coney Island in New York. - PJS
File: CSW181

Confederate "Yankee Doodle"

DESCRIPTION: "Yankee Doodle had a mind to whip the southern traitors Because they didn't choose to live on codfish and potatoes... And so to keep his courage up he took a drink of brandy." The song notes that even the brandy didn't help at Bull Run
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle parody derivative
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 21, 1861 - First battle of Bull Run fought between the Union army of McDowell and the Confederates under Johnston and Beauregard
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 249, "Confederate 'Yankee Doodle'" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 521-525, "Yankee Doodle" (4 texts, 1 tune, of which the third is this version)
Hudson 122, pp. 262-263, "Yankee Doodle" (1 text)
DT, YNKDOOD2*
Roud #7715
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Yankee Doodle" (tune) and references there
File: R249

Connaught Man, the

DESCRIPTION: The singer rambles from Connaught to the big cities of Ulster. He has various confrontations with city slickers, assumes a pub will give him credit, and winds up in a fight. He lands in prison. Once released, he vows to roam no more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: rambling prison home fight drink money
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H219, pp. 177-178, "The Connaught Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13538
File: HHH219

Connaught Man's Trip to Belfast, The

See The Poor Chronic Man (File: FSC118)

Connecticut Peddler, The

DESCRIPTION: "I'm a peddler, I'm a peddler, I'm a peddler from Connecticut... And don't you want to buy?" He offers "many goods you never saw before," such as pins, "tracts upon popular sins," and many sorts of seeds.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: commerce money travel nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 317-320, "The Connecticut Peddler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15533
File: LxA317

Connla

DESCRIPTION: In Irish Gaelic; dialog; woman asks, "Who's that down there tapping the window?", "...kindling the fire?", "...drawing the blanket off me?", "...breaking down fences?". In every case the reply is "'It's I, myself', says Connla"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (recording, Mary Joyce)
KEYWORDS: sex dialog foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, CUNNLDR
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 24, #4 (1975), p, 21, "Cunnla" (2 texts, 1 Gaelic, 1 Engish, 1 tune, as sung by Joe Heaney)
RECORDINGS:
Mary Joyce, "Connla" (on Lomax42, LomaxCD1742)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Cunnla
NOTES: I haven't used the keyword "bawdy", despite the subject matter, because it isn't. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: DTcunnld

Connlach Ghlas an Fhomhair (Green Harvest Stubble, The)

DESCRIPTION: Gaelic. Singer wishes he and his sweetheart were wed and on a ship sailing west. Everyone has other plans for her but he would oppose even the King of Spain. He sent her a letter to complain. "She promptly replied that her heart's love was truly mine"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage love nonballad emigration royalty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 166-167, "Connlach Ghlas an Fhomhair" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, pp. 113-114, "Coinligh Ghlas' An Fhomhair" ("Green Harvest Stubble") [Gaelic and English]
NOTES: Tunney-StoneFiddle includes both the Gaelic and Paddy Tunney's English translation. However, I used Bell/O Conchubhair for the description because I thought I understood it better.
The text of the last verse, in both Gaelic and English, differ between Tunney-StoneFiddle and Bell/O Conchubhair. Tunney has the singer hear from gossips that she will wed soon; his advice is to delay "till Easter day When we'll be safe beyond their sight and wicked spite far, far away." - BS
The reference to the King of Spain is interesting. The Kings of Spain were the "Most Catholic Monarchs," and hence potentially the most likely to be helpful to the Catholics of Ireland, so opposing them would be particularly galling to a fervent Catholic -- but by the time emigration to America was common, Spain had fallen into extreme weakness and was no useful ally to anyone. Maybe the reference is just a leftover memory of the days of the Armada and the English/Spanish wars. - RBW
File: TSF166

Conroy's Camp

DESCRIPTION: (The company sets out for camp and) arrives at Waltham, where they stop to drink. The singer describes the several men in the crew.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: travel drink logger moniker
FOUND IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-Lumbering #46, "Conroy's Camp" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #4558
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year" (tune, lyrics, theme)
NOTES: Like so many lumbering songs, this is a "moniker song" devoted mostly to listing the men in the crew-- though, in this case, it catalogs their behavior on their way to camp rather than their behavior *in* camp. - RBW
File: FowL46

Consider All Ye Fair Maids

See Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)

Constant Farmer's Son, The [Laws M33]

DESCRIPTION: Her parents consent to let their daughter marry a farmer, but her brothers will not agree. The brothers take the farmer out and murder him, claiming he has fled with another girl. The daughter finds the body, has her brothers executed, and dies of grief
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3995))
KEYWORDS: murder family
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws M33, "The Constant Farmer's Son"
GreigDuncan2 221, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (2 fragments, 2 tunes)
FSCatskills 47, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H806, pp. 434-435, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 17, pp. 40-41,108,163, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 32, pp. 76-78, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 141-142, "Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 118, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 25, "Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 26, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (1 text)
DT 309, CONSTFRM (JEALBRO5 incorrectly listed as Laws M32)
Roud #675
RECORDINGS:
Josie Connors, "Constant Farmer's Son" (on IRTravellers01)
Tom Lenihan, "Constant Farmer's Son" (on IRClare01)
John Maguire, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (on IRJMaguire01)
James McDermott, "The Constant Farmer's Son" (on IRHardySons)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3995), "The Merchant's Daughter and Constant Farmer's Son," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Johnson Ballads 1223, Harding B 16(148a), Firth c.18(183), Johnson Ballads 1947, Harding B 11(2402), "The Merchant's Daughter and Constant Farmer's Son"; Johnson Ballads 2675, "Merchant's Daughter" or "Constant Farmer's Son" ("It's of a merchant's daughter in London town did dwell"); 2806 b.9(265), "The Constant Farmer's Son"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town)" [Laws M32]
NOTES: At the end of Tom Lenihan's version on IRCLare01, the brothers' bodies are given to doctors "for to practice by" "but Mary's thoughts both night and day On her dead love did run; In the madhouse cell poor Mary dwells For her constant farmer's son." See the notes to "A Maid in Bedlam" for other women driven to the asylum. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LM33

Constant Lover, The

DESCRIPTION: "Although my parents me disdain, For loving of my own dear honey," the singer vows to be faithful. He lists all the things he would disdain were he allowed to woo the girl. He concludes that not even the honeycomb is as sweet as she
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 86, "The Constant Lover" (1 text)
Roud #5564
NOTES: This song, literary in a rather obnoxious way, mentions both King Caesar's rents (though the Roman Empire did not use landrents as such) and Hero and Leander. The latter story tells of the young man Leander who swam every night to meet his love Hero, but who one night became lost and drowned; when she found his body, she drowned herself. The story comes from an ancient Greek poem, but was more popular in recent times; Marlowe, Byron, and Chapman were among the many who wrote on the theme. - RBW
File: Ord086

Constant Lovers (II), The

See Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover) (File: Ord089)

Constant Lovers, The [Laws O41]

DESCRIPTION: The sailor promises to marry the girl after he makes one more trip. His mother threatens to disinherit him for this, but he points out that she had been a serving girl herself until his father had raised her. He promises to be faithful to the girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(166))
KEYWORDS: sailor travel mother promise
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws O41, "The Constant Lovers"
GreigDuncan6 1093, "Oh, Wait, My Mother, Ere I Tell You This" (1 fragment)
SHenry H634, p. 472, "One Penny Portion" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 4, "One Penny Portion" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 95, "A Sailor Courted" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 49, "A Sailor Courted" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 44-45, "A Sailor Courted a Farmer's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 595, SAILCOUR
Roud #993
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(166), "The Constant Lovers" ("A sailor courted a farmer's daughter"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(3519), Firth c.13(259), 2806 c.17(79), 2806 c.17(78), Harding B 11(146), Harding B 11(147), Johnson Ballads 2079, Harding B 20(235), Firth c.26(62), Firth c.12(195), Firth c.12(290), Harding B 11(678), Harding B 11(677), "The Constant Lovers"; Harding B 11(2670) [15 8-line verses], "A New Song"; Harding B 16(108d), "Hard-Hearted Mother"; Harding B 4(87)[part 1: 9 8-line verses; part 2: 10 8-line verses; 7 8-line verses], Harding B 4(88), "The Goodhurst Garland. In Three Parts"; Harding B 25(1682), "The Sailor and the Farmer's Daughter"
NLScotland, APS.4.95.15(3), "The Sailor and Farmer's Daughter," unknown, c.1830
File: LO41

Constant Sorrow

See Man of Constant Sorrow (File: CSW113)

Constitution and the Guerriere (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Britannia's gallant streamers Float proudly o'er the tide; And fairly wave Columbia's stripes...." Dacres and his hip meet Hull's, and signals for battle. But "Vain were the cheers of Britons," The Americans, tried on the "Moorish shore," is victorious
AUTHOR: Words: L. M. Sargent
EARLIEST DATE: 1812 (Boston Gazette, according to Gray)
KEYWORDS: sea war battle ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 19, 1812 - the 44-gun Constitution defeats and captures the 38-gun Guerriere
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, pp. 144-145, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, from the Boston Gazette)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Constitution and the Guerriere" [Laws A6] (subject)
cf. "Ye Mariners of England" (tune)
NOTES: Although quite possibly older than the traditional "Constitution and Guerriere" (Gray notes at least five publications in newspapers in September 1812, and two songsters in 1814-1815), there do not appear to be any traditional publications of this song -- probably because it's so wordy.
The song mentions three names: Dacres and Hull are the captains of the Guerriere and the Constitution, respectively. "Morris," not otherwise identified, is probably Charles Morris. of whom J. Franklin Jameson, Dictionary of United States History 1492-1895, Puritan Press, 1894, says:
Morris, Charles (1784-1856), Commodore, served in the war with Tripoli from 1801 to 1805. He was lieutenant of the "Constitution" in the engagement with the "Guerriere." He was chief of the Ordnance Bureau from 1851 to 1856.
It has several times been stated that the traditional Laws ballad about the Constitution and Guerriere goes back to an 1812 broadside. I suspect, however, that that may be a reference to this piece. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Gray144

Constitution and the Guerriere, The [Laws A6]

DESCRIPTION: Captain Dacres of the Guerriere expects to defeat the Americans as easily as Britain has defeated the French. Captain [Isaac] Hull's Constitution, however, easily defeats the British ship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Grigg's Southern and Western Songster, according to Laws)
KEYWORDS: sea war battle ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 19, 1812 - the 44-gun Constitution defeats and captures the 38-gun Guerriere
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Laws A6, "The Constitution and the Guerriere"
Colcord, pp. 130-132, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 184-186, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 43, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 291, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 108-110, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 507-509, "Constitution and Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 21, "Yankee Doodle Dandy-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 544-546, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 161-164, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 60, "The Constitution and the Guerriere (Hull's Victory)" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 159-161, "The Constitution and the Guerriere" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 286, "The Constitution and Guerriere" (1 text)
DT 362, CONSTGUR*
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 309. "The Constitution and Guerriere" (1 text)
Roud #626
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Proud Dacus and Captain Hull (Captain Hull and proud Dacus)" [fragment] (AFS 4202 A4, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as102370, "Constitution and Guerriere," L. Deming (Boston), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Constitution and the Guerriere (II)" (subject)
cf. "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20]
cf. "Iron Merrimac" (subject)
cf. "Yankee Tars" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Captain Hill
Lo a Frigate
NOTES: Despite the alternate title "Yankee Doodle Dandy-O," this is obviously not to be confused with "Yankee Doodle." The tune is, in fact, related to "The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie-O (Pretty Peggy)"; some copies call it "The Landlady of France."
The United States declared war on Britain in 1812 due to British behavior at sea (impressing seamen off American ships -- for which see e.g. "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20] -- and stopping American ships bound for the continent, among other things). Under ordinary circumstances, the Americans could not hope to beat Britain -- but, just as in the Revolutionary War, Britain had other things on its mind. In this case, Napoleon. Most of the British navy had to stay near France to combat the possibility of invasion. As a result, the Americans decided to send out their tiny navy -- only five frigates, though they were high-quality ships, and some smaller vessels -- to protect their merchant ships against such British ships as were operating out of Halifax and Newfoundland. In the end, most of the American fleet would end up bottled up in port.
Before that could happen, though, the Constitution went out commerce-raiding (July 12, 1812). It very nearly ended up being a short trip. Despite their preoccupation with France, the British had one significant task force in the Americas, built about the ship of the line H.M.S. Africa (Bormenam, p. 81; Hickey, pp. 93-94). That fleet came upon Constitution, but the wind died before they could engage, and the Constitution managed to get away by kedging her anchor plus putting as many men as possible in longboats to row her away. Constitution made it to Boston, then set out again (Borneman, p. 84). She then met the Guerriere, one of the ships from the Africa fleet now operating on her own.
The Guerriere freely went into battle with the Constitution, apparently in the belief that the Americans didn't know how to handle ships. This was a bad move. Although the Constitution had only slightly more guns, it was a much better-built ship, and its weight of broadside was significantly larger; few frigates had long guns (that is, guns capable of firing a ball over long distances) heavier than an 18-pounder, but the Constitution had many 24-pounders -- a weight typical of ships of the line (Pratt,pp. 8, 36). Paine, p. 120, says, the Constitution initially had fully 30 of these ship-killers and 20 32-pounders carronades -- short-range guns designed to kill people more than ships No wonder some charged that the ship was really a ship of the line!). According to Mahon, p. 57, the Constitution had a broadside of 684 pounds, the British of 556 -- and the American ship had 456 crew to 272 on the British frigate. The British sailors probably were more experienced -- but they simply weren't very numerous.
The American ship-handling was in fact imperfect (Borneman, p. 86), which meant that the two ships actually came in contact for a time, but the Guerriere was quickly dismasted; eventually she surrendered and proved so badly damaged that she had to be burned.
The Constitution would win additional battles in the War of 1812, but this was the only victory for skipper Isaac Hull (1773-1843), who afterward requested and was given a shore command (Mahon, p. 59).
The ""Captain Hull" of the Warde Ford version is of course the aforementioned Isaac Hull (1773-1843), who commanded the Constitution during the battle. "Dacus" is James R. Dacres (1788-1853), the commander of the Guerriere. Lest he be thought incompetent, it should be noted that he obtained command at a very young age, and would later in the war capture the Leo. He was really more of a "test case" for the British belief that their seamanship (so demonstrated at Trafalgar) made them inherently better than the Americans. Though he would later blame his defeat on the fact that his vessel was an inferior ship captured from the French (Borneman, p. 88).
The "super frigates" did cause a significant reaction on the British side; in addition to the Constitution, the ship United States had easily dealt with the Macedonian (Hickey, pp. 94-96). The British questioned whether the American ships could really be called frigates rather than ships of the line (Hickey, p. 98), and caused the British to design heavy frigates of their own and to order their frigates to avoid American frigates if possible (Hickey, pp. 99). They also gave their light frigates orders to stay out of one-on-one engagements (Mahon, p. 59).
It's fortunate for the Americans that their ships were successful, because they weren't cheap. According to Heidler/Heidler, p. 196, the Constitution's "final price of $302,718.84 represented a 260 percent cost overrun from original appropriations."
The victory was very important in American politics. To that point, the Americans had done very badly in the war, being utterly defeated on the Canadian front (see, e.g., "Brave General Brock" [Laws A22] and "The Battle of Queenston Heights"). The Constitution's victory, while of no real significance, is credited with helping President James Madison to re-election in November 1812. It was a very close thing; had Pennsylvania gone for De Witt Clinton, Madison would have been turned out of office, and there was genuine concern that he *would* lose there (Hickey, p. 105)
It has several times been stated that this song goes back to an 1812 broadside. I suspect, however, that that may be a reference to this piece, and at one time I listed 1812 as the earliest date for this song. But the only prints of that period which I have located are in fact copies of "The Constitution and Guerriere (II)." I have therefore changed the date to the earliest instance which I am sure is this ballad.. - RBW
Bibliography

Borneman; Walter R. Borneman, 1812: The War That Forged a Nation, Harper Collins, 2006
Heidler/Heidler: David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, editors, Encyclopedia of the War of 1812, 1997 (I use the 2004 Naval Institute Press edition)
Hickey: Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, University of Illinois Press, 1989, 1995
Mahon: John K. Mahon, The War of 1812, 1972 (I used the undated Da Capo paperback edition)
Paine: Lincoln P. Paine, Ships of the World, Houghton Mifflin, 1997
Pratt: Fletcher Pratt, A Compact History of the United States Navy, third edition revised by Hartley E. Howe, Hawthorn Books, 1967

Last updated in version 2.5
File: LA06

Contented Countryman, The

DESCRIPTION: "Who would like a jovial count-e-rie life? Happy am I with my home and wife." The singer describes how his life "just suits me": They call him poor, but he has the larks and the clear sky and a loving wife. He would not "change for a crown-ed king."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.26(85))
KEYWORDS: home work farming nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 245, "The Contented Countryman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1847
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy Knights, "Out With My Gun in the Morning" (on Voice18)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.26(85), "Out With My Gun in the Morning" ("I live a jovial country life"), T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also 2806 c.16(112), "Out With My Gun in the Morning"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Brisk and Bonny Lass (The Brisk and Bonny Lad)" (theme)
cf. "Country Life" (theme)
NOTES: Kennedy lists several other collections of what he says are this song -- but given the generic nature of this song and Kennedy's willingness to lump, I can't bring myself to trust him without seeing them. - RbW
File: K245

Contented Wife and Answer, The

See The Happy Marriage (File: HHH753)

Conversation with Death (Oh Death)

DESCRIPTION: Death approaches the young person who is "unprepared for eternity." (S)he tries to buy Death off. It doesn't work. Death describes how it takes everyone and snuffs out their lives. The soon-to-be-dead person bids farewell
AUTHOR: almost certainly Lloyd Chandler
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: death bargaining dialog Hell
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 663, "Conversation with Death" (1 text)
DT, OHDEATH*
Roud #4933
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "Death Have Mercy" (on NFMAla4)
Dock Boggs, "Oh Death" (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Al Craver [pseudonym for Vernon Dalhart], "Conversation with Death" (Columbia 15585-D, 1930; rec. 1928)
Rev. Anderson Johnson, "Death in the Morning" (Glory 4015, rec. 1953; on Babylon)
Charlie Monroe's Boys, "Oh Death" (Bluebird B-8092, 1939)
Charley] Patton & [Bertha] Lee, "Oh Death" (Vocalion 02904, 1935; rec. 1934)
Dock Reed & Vera Hall Ward, "Death is Awful" (on NFMAla5) (on ReedWard01)
Berzilla Wallin, "Conversation with Death" (on OldLove)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(885), "Dialogue between death and a sinner" ("Death. Now sinner come by heaven's decree ...") Ryle & Co (Seven Dials), n.d.; also "Dialogue between Death & a sinner," John Harkness (Preston), n.d.; Johnson Ballads 412, "Dialogue between Death and a sinner," W. S. Fortey (Monmouth), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Death and the Lady" (theme)
cf. "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" (tune of one version)
cf. "Oh Death (III)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Death Is Awful
NOTES: It is possible that this is a Holy Roller version of "Death and the Lady," but there are enough differences that I decided I had to separate them. There may be a "missing link" out there somwhere, though. - RBW
I think Boggs' version may well be the missing link you seek. A very similar version was recorded by the blues singer Charley Patton. Or it could be Vernon Dalhart's recording, but certainly the Boggs and Patton versions are fairly close to "Death and the Lady." - PJS
John Garst has this to add:
Carl Lindahl seems to have wrapped up Lloyd Chandler's authorship of "Conversation with Death." See http://tinyurl.com/tbdx-LChandler and works cited there.
Chandler's piece has become mixed with "Oh, Death" ("Death Have Mercy," etc.) which seems to be, in some versions, entirely different from "Conversation."
It seems clear to me that "Oh, Death" derives from the,,, broadside [Bodleian, Harding B 11(885)].
Both "Conversation" and "Oh, Death" differ considerably from "Death and the Lady." - JG
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R663

Convict Maid, The

DESCRIPTION: "You lads and lasses all attend to me While I relate my tale of misery; By hopeless love I was once betrayed, And now I am, alas, a convict maid." Her lover had her rob her master's store; now she is sentenced for seven years. She regrets her error
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: robbery transportation love punishment
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 58-60, "The Convict Maid" (1 text)
Fahey-Eureka, p. 26, "The Convict Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, p. 19, "The Convict Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CONVCTMD*
Roud #5479
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Croppy Boy (I)" [Laws J14] (tune)
File: FaE026

Convict of Clonmel, The

DESCRIPTION: A convict, sentenced to be hanged, thinks of his past, playing at hurley and dancing. "No boy of the village Was ever yet milder." Now his horse is loose, his hurley at home, his ball is played with and the girls are dancing. He will be forgotten.
AUTHOR: English words by J.J. Callanan
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Duffy)
KEYWORDS: crime execution prison sports dancing nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, pp. 342-343, "The Convict of Clonmell"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 193-194, "The Convict of Clonmel" (1 text)
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 41-42, "The Convict of Clonmel" (1 text)
Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 117-118, "TheConvict of Clonmell"
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 188-189, 496-497, "Convict of Clonmell"
Roud #6993
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Gaol of Clonmel" (on IRRCinnamond01) (fragment; only the first verse)
Liam Clancy, "The Convict of Clonmel" (on IRLClancy01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Thady Quill" (subject of hurling) and references there
NOTES: Clonmel is in County Tipperary, Ireland.
Hayes, after saying simply that he does not know the hero of the song, has a long note explaining the popularity of hurling and defending the game from English detractors.
Hayes's note on this is an exact quote from Duffy, who may in turn be quoting Callanan.
Duffy makes Callanan the translator from the Irish. - BS
According to Granger's Index to Poetry (which cites this five times), the poem was not written by Callanan, but rather translated from an (unknown but modern) Irish source; this of course agrees with Duffy.
Hurling was said to be nearly extinct before being revived in 1870. Since it was played in only a few places before that, a good history of the sport might help us make a good guess as to the person referred to here. (Unless of course it's some petty criminal, but it doesn't sound that way.) The leaders of the 1848 rebellion were all spared the gallows, so it must refer to something earlier. Emmet's rebellion, maybe?
There is a certain amount of confusion about this author. Most sources list his name as James Joseph Callanan, but he is also sometimes listed under the name "Jeremiah" (and, yes, it is known that it is the same guy). Most sources agree that he was born in 1795, but his death date seemingly varies; Hoagland and MacDonagh/Robinson give 1829. He wrote some poetry of his own, but is probably best known for his translations from Gaelic. Works of his found in this index include "The Convict of Clonmel," "The Outlaw of Loch Lene," "Sweet Avondu," "The Virgin Mary's Bank," "Gougane Barra," and a translation of "Drimindown." - RBW
File: RcConvCl

Convict of Clonmell, The

See The Convict of Clonmel (File: RcConvCl)

Convict Song

See Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line (File: ADR98)

Convict's Return, The

DESCRIPTION: "It's just ten long years ago they dragged me from my wife...." Convicted of murder, the prisoner plans an escape, only to find his family and his strength gone. He is reprieved when his innocence is established; he happily goes home
AUTHOR: Leonard Nelson
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (recording, Jack Mahoney)
KEYWORDS: trial punishment reprieve freedom
FOUND IN: Australia US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 68-69, "The Convict's Return" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Jack Mahoney, "The Convict's Return" (Columbia 15712-D, 1932; rec. 1931)
File: MA068

Coo Coo Bird, The

See The Cuckoo (File: R049)

Coo-Coo (Peacock Song)

DESCRIPTION: "Coo-coo, coo-oo-oo, Coo-coo, coo-oo-oo. Coo-coo, coo-ah-li-ah."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, p. 237, "Coo-Coo (Peacock Song)" (1 short text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Said to be the acceptance song sung by the peacock after it was elected to be queen of the birds. (One might point out, however, that peacocks are male...). - RBW
File: San237

Cook and the Ladle, The

DESCRIPTION: "As I was a-walking up the stair Who did I meet but the cook and the ladle? ... Tadle eedle ah lil dum dadie Tadle eedle ah lil dum dee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: cook
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1781, "The Cook and the Ladle" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #12990
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
I have a strange feeling that this is about George I and his mistress Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, known as "The Maypole" because she was so tall and skinny. "The Ladle" would also have been a good description. But this is most idle of speculations. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81781

Cook I Went a-Courtin', A

See The Greasy Cook (Butter and Cheese and All, The Cook's Choice) (File: CoSB236)

Cook's Choice, The

See The Greasy Cook (Butter and Cheese and All, The Cook's Choice) (File: CoSB236)

Cooks of Torbay, The

DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye young fellows wherever ye be I'll sing ye a verse on the cooks of Torbay." The sealing ship Ellen goes up the Gulf. The captain gives the cook grief for only cooking two meals for the day. The insulted cook has his son make the meal
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: hunting sea ship humorous cook
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 148, "The Cooks of Torbay" (1 text)
Ryan/Small, p. 113, "The Cooks of Torbay" (1 text)
ST GrMa148 (Partial)
Roud #7575
NOTES: Torbay is about seven miles north of St John's. - BS
File: GrMa148

Coolgardie Miner, The

See English Miner, The (The Coolgardie Miner, Castles in the Air) (File: MA115)

Coolie's Run-I-O

See Canaday-I-O/Michigan-I-O/Colley's Run I-O [Laws C17] (File: LC17)

Coon Can

See The Coon-Can Game [Laws I4] (File: LI04)

Coon-Can Game, The [Laws I4]

DESCRIPTION: The singer is so disturbed by his woman's unfaithfulness that he cannot even play cards. He takes a train, sees the woman, and shoots her. He is arrested, convicted, and left to lament his fate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: murder train trial prison crime robbery prisoner
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws I4, "The Coon-Can Game"
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 87-89, "The Coon-Can Game" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 301-311, "Coon Can (Poor Boy)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 61-66, "Poor Boy" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "C" text is a different "Poor Boy" song)
Darling-NAS, pp. 237-238, "Poor Boy in Jail" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 70, "Poor Boy" (1 text, which appears to be mostly this song but with an ending partly derived from "The Maid Freed from the Gallows")
DT 688, POORBOY
Roud #3263
RECORDINGS:
Dock Boggs, "Poor Boy in Jail" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boston Burglar" [Laws L16] (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This song should not be confused with the blues "Poor Boy, or Poor Boy Long Ways from Home"; the two songs are unrelated. Also, although [the version in the Folksinger's Wordbook] has picked up a pair of verses from "The Maid Freed from the Gallows", it's otherwise a completely separate song, and one unique in my experience. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LI04

Cooper Milton

DESCRIPTION: "It was on one Thursday morning, a while before noon, When John came in from work and said, 'You've met your doom.'" John kills his wife Flossie and her lover Cooper Milton. John is sentenced to 99 years in Nashville
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder infidelity husband wife children
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, p. 44, "(Cooper Milton)" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] (lyrics)
NOTES: This seems almost an anthology of killing songs, e.g. it refers to "Jesse James" in the line "Flossie leaves eight children to mourn for her life." But Burt seems to think it's historical, though she cites no background facts. - RBW
File: Burt044

Cooper of Fife, The

See The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin [Child 277] (File: C277)

Coortin' in the Kitchen

See Courting in the Kitchen [Laws Q16] (File: LQ16)

Coortin' in the Stable

See Courtin' in the Stable (The Workin' Steer) (File: Ord227)

Coortin' to Begin, The

DESCRIPTION: One night, the singer met a girl "I wished she were my bride." She goes to bed with him in an inn. He describes her beauty. The next day he leaves "some way to win his bread." Lasses, court "some sturdy boy ... that'll learn you The courtin to begin"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: sex beauty separation
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 817, "The Coortin' to Begin" (5 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #6212
NOTES: The outcome (marriage?) is not clear (or am I just being obtuse). Bell Robertson, Greig's source, says that when she was a girl the Ross girls "could sing it all," though others knew only the verse to avoid old men in spite of love or money, and choose some beardless boy "that'll learn you The courtin to begin." Perhaps the outcome is irrelevant. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Gr4817

Copshawholm Fair

DESCRIPTION: In April people come from mountain and glen to Copshawholm Fair. There are pedlars, jugglers, and exotic foods. Hiring negotiations are described. When hiring is over there's fiddling and dancing, drinking and fighting.
AUTHOR: David Anderson
EARLIEST DATE: 1868 (Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 5" - 25.8.02)
KEYWORDS: fight work dancing drink food music nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
Roud #9139
RECORDINGS:
Bob Forrester, "Copshawholm Fair" (on Voice05)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hiring Fairs of Ulster" (subject)
cf. "The Feeing Time (I)" (subject) and references there
cf. "The Wild Hills o' Wannie" (tune, according to Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 5" - 25.8.02)
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice05: "'Copshawholm Fair' ... was last held in 1912." - BS
File: RcCpswFr

Corbitt's Barkentine

DESCRIPTION: On Aug. 30, 1883, the Corbitt begins her voyage. One of the crew moans about being assigned to such a vessel. The captain makes sure she sails with all possible speed. Passing many ships, she reaches the Indies, Boston, and Nova Scotia
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937
KEYWORDS: ship travel
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
c. 1875-1890 - Career of the fast triangle-trader "George E. Corbitt"
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doerflinger, pp. 189-191, "Corbitt's Barkentine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4086
NOTES: This song is item dD43 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Doe189

Cordwood Cutter, The

See The Backwoodsman (The Green Mountain Boys) [Laws C19] (File: LC19)

Corinna, Corinna

DESCRIPTION: "Corinna, Corinna, where you been so long? (x2) Ain't had no lovin' since you've been gone." "Corinna, Corinna, where'd you stay last night? Your shoes ain't buttoned...." "I love Corinna, tell the world I do, And I hope someday babe, you'll love me too."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Blind Lemon Jefferson)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity loneliness
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 312, "Corinna" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 76, "Corinna, Corinna" (1 text)
Roud #10030
RECORDINGS:
Alabama Washboard Stompers, "Corrine, Corrina" (Vocalion 1630, 1931)
Arthur (Brother-in-Law) Armstrong, "Corinna" (AAFS 3987 B1)
Ashley and Abernathy, "Corrina, Corrina" (Banner 32427/Oriole 8129/Romeo 5129/Perfect 12800, 1931; on GoingDown)
[Clarence] Ashley & [Gwen] Foster "Corrine, Corrina" (Perfect 12800, 1932)
Tom Bell, "Corinna" (AAFS 4068 B2)
Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies, "Where You Been So Long, Corrine?" (Bluebird B-5808, 1935)
Cliff Bruner's Texas Wanderers, "Corrine Corrina" (Decca 5350, 1937)
Matt Caldwell, "Corinna" (AAFS 1421 B2)
Cab Calloway, "Corrine, Corrina" (Perfect 15551, 1932)
Bo Carter [pseud. for Bo Chatmon] [& Charlie McCoy], "Corinne, Corrina" (Brunswick 7080, 1929; Vocalion 02701, 1934)
Clint Howard et al, "Corrina, Corrina" (on Ashley03)
Frankie "Half Pint" Jaxon, "Corinne Blues" (Vocalion 1424, 1929)
Blind Lemon Jefferson, "Corrina Blues" (Paramount 12367, 1926; on Jefferson01, JeffersonCD01) [as is typical of blues, this is not "pure" Corinna, but the last verse clearly comes from this song]
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Corinna" (AAFS 1797 A2)
Jonesie & James Mack & Nick Robinson, "Corinna" (AAFS 1047 A3)
Wingy Manone & his orchestra, "Corinne Corrina (Where You Been So Long)" (Bluebird B-10289, 1939/Mongomery Ward M-8355, 1940)
Bob Nichols & Hugh Cross, "Corinne, Corrina" (Columbia 15480-D, 1929)
Leo Soileau and his Aces "Corrine, Corrina" (Decca 5101, 1935)
Lottie Stankey & Frank Starnes, "Corinna" (AAFS 3317 A1)
Tampa Red, "Corrine Blues" (RCA Victor 20-2432, 1947 -- presumably a reissue)
Taylor & Anderson, "Corrine, Corrine" (Supertone 9646, 1930)
Sonny Terry [pseud., Saunders Terrell], "Women's Blues (Corrina)" (on Terry01)
Saul Tippins, "Corinna" (AAFS 705 B)
Joe Turner, "Corrine Corrina" (Atlantic 1088, 1956)
Turner Brothers, "Connene, Corrina" [sic?] (Radio Artists 203, n.d.)
Mr. & Mrs. Crockett Ward, Fields & Frances Ward, "Corinna" (AAFS 4083 A3)
NOTES: Lomax reports that this "also occurs as Alberta or Roberta." If so, they are not the songs usually found under these names [i.e. "Alberta, Let Your Hair Hang Low"]. - PJS, RBW
It should be noted that many do think them related, and Roud appears to lump them. But the form is simply too different in my book. - RBW
File: LoF312

Cork Leg, The

DESCRIPTION: "A tale I will tell, without any flam -- In Holland dwelt Mynheer von Clam." Clam, wealthy and self-indulgent, kicks a begger and breaks his leg. A surgeon amputates. Clam has a replacement made -- which has a mind of its own and will not stop running
AUTHOR: Henry Glassford Bell
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3925))
KEYWORDS: humorous wordplay injury doctor technology
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 332-334, "The Cork Leg" (1 text)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 47-48, "The Cork Leg" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 144-145, "The Cork Leg" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CORKLEG*
Roud #4376
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3925), "The Cork Leg" ("A tale I tell now without any flam"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838 ; also Harding B 25(419), Firth c.26(295) [final lines illegible], Harding B 11(4289), Harding B 11(2604), Harding B 11(2605), "The Cork Leg"
Murray, Mu23-y4:039, "The Cork Leg," unknown, 19C
File: FVS332

Cork Men and New York Men, The

DESCRIPTION: "Of the gallant Cork men Mixed with New York men. I'm sure their equal can never be found." They "boldly enter" (Ireland?) with arms, and John Bull pursues them, but are not caught. Their deeds are to be celebrated
AUTHOR: T. D. Sullivan (1827-1914)
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland ship
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
PGalvin, pp. 89-90, "The Cork Men and New York Men"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The British Man-of-War" (subject of certain texts)
NOTES: It would appear (though the evidence is murky) that this refers to one of the less-disastrous exploits of the Fenians (who are most noted for their failed attempts to free Ireland by absurd methods such as invading Canada).
In 1867, at the time of the Fenian Rising in Ireland (for the context of which see, among other things, "James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy" and "The Smashing of the Van (I)"), a call went out for ships to run guns from the United States to the rebels.
Eventually the ship the Jacknell Packet, a brig of 200 tons, was acquired for the purpose (see Robert Kee, The Bold Fenian Men, being Volume II of The Green Flag, p. 43). The Fenians managed to come up with about 5000 firearms, three cannon, and 38 officers with commissions from the "Irish Republic."
On April 21, 1867, the ship's name was changed to Erin's Hope. She eventually reached Sligo Bay -- where the Fenian officer Richard O'Sullivan Burke (for whom see "Burke's Dream" [Laws J16]) told them there was no one to accept the weapons.
The ship then blundered around Ireland looking for someone who wanted the guns. It never found such a place. A few of the men eventually went ashore, where many of them were arrested. The ship itself made it home -- but it accomplished nothing at all.
Sullivan is the author of a number of Irish patriotic poems, of which "God Save Ireland" is probably the best-known. - RBW
File: PGa089

Cork National Hunt, The

See Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!) (File: DTReynrd)

Cork's Good Humoured Faces

DESCRIPTION: "For good-humoured faces, Cork once beat all places" but politics has soured them. With Olden's shaving soap "lathering chops, ill-blood stops" Peter of Russia smoothed his subjects' manners by having them shave. Even the devil was improved by a shave.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: commerce humorous nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 165-167, "Cork's Good Humoured Faces" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ballinafad" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "A specimen of the ingenious manner in which a witty manufacturer in Cork of an excellent shaving soap, and other articles, that really require no puffing, contrives to attract attention to his inventions." - BS
There were three Tsars Peter of Russia: Peter I "the Great" (16772-1725; co-tsar from 1682; sole tsar from 1696); his grandson Peter II (1715-1730; tsar from 1727); and another grandson or Peter I, Peter III (1728-1762; tsar briefly in 1762 before being eposed and murdered by his wife Catherine II "the Great"). Given the poor records of Peter II and Peter III, we must assume Peter I is meant -- the more so since he was a westernizer. - RBW
File: CrPS165

Cork's Own Town (I)

DESCRIPTION: "They may rail at the city where first I was born, But it's there they've the whisky, and butter and pork.." Cork's localities and specialies are described: Fishamble's food, Blackpool's leather, groves of Blarney's groves, Glanmire's shops ....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1825 (_Cork Southern Reporter_, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: commerce drink food nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 158-164, "Cork's Own Town" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "They May Rail at This Life" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
cf. "Cork's Own Town (II)" (subject and some line fragments)
NOTES: There's no question that "Cork's Own Town (I)" and "Cork's Own Town (II)" are related. They share a few slightly different lines. For example:
"Cork's Own Town (I)," "Och! Fishamble's the Eden for you, love, and me!" is the last line of the first verse and "Cork is the Eden...." for the other verses; "Cork's Own Town (II)," "Aarrh! Cork is the Eden for you love, and me!" is the last line of each verse.
"Cork's Own Town (I)," "If you want to behold the sublime and the beauteous, Put your toes in your brogues and see sweet Blarney Lane"; "Cork's Own Town (II)," "If you want to behold the sublime and the foolish Fix your toes in your brogues an[sic] walk down the Parade"
Nevertheless, while both catalog the Cork neighborhoods and attributes, they say different things about different neighborhhods. While neither is very serious "Cork's Own Town (II)" verges on parody.
Croker-PopularSongs: "The Editor has no doubt that the authorship may be correctly assigned to the writer of 'O! Blarney Castle, my Darling', and the subsequent song entitled 'Darling Neddeen.'" But, at "O! Blarney Castle, my Darling" he "has no doubt" that its author also wrote "Saint Patrick's Arrival." See that song if you are interested in Croker's speculations there." - BS
File: CrPS158

Cork's Own Town (II)

DESCRIPTION: Cork excels London, Paris, Milan, and Constantinople. Cork's localities and specialies are described: Victoria Park's trees, Fishamble-lane's food, Paradise for "the saint and the sinner," .... We have "the Polis to keep us from drinkin' and fightin'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 19C (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.8(8))
KEYWORDS: commerce drink food derivative nonballad
FOUND IN:
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(8), "A new and favourite song on 'Cork's own town'" ("They may talk about London, Paris and Milau[sic] ..."), Haly (Cork), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cork's Own Town (I)" (subject and some line fragments)
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian 2806 c.8(8) is the basis for the description.
One line should be useful in dating the text: "May the names of our Council and Mayor shine resplendent, In the Portable Gas of the new company." "Portable Gas" companies condensed oil gas into liquid; for example, London Portable Gas Company was chartered in 1827 (source: Privy Council Office site) - BS
File: BdCoOwT2

Corn Pone

DESCRIPTION: "Corn pone, fat meat, All I ever gets to eat. Better, better than I ever gets at home." The prisoner describes clothes, ben, shackles -- all described as better than what he has at home. He tells his girl, "Chain gang good enough for me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: chaingang prison work poverty hardtimes nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greenway-AFP, pp. 111-112, "Corn Pone" (1 text)
File: Grnw111

Corn Rigs (II)

See There Was a Piper Had a Cow (File: OO2416)

Corn Rigs (Rigs o' Barley)

DESCRIPTION: "It fell upon a Lammas night, When corn rigs are bonie, Beneath the moon's unclouded light I held awa to Annie." The singer declares he will never forget that night, and describes how the two embraced
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: before 1784 (cf. Kinsley, Burns, Complete Poems & Songs)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, CORNRIGS*
Roud #1024
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.1270(001), "Amang the Rigs o' Barley," unknown, c. 1845
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Barley Raking (Barley Rigs A-Raking)"
File: DTcornri

Corn Shucking Song

DESCRIPTION: "Cowboy on middle the island, ho, meleety, ho! (x2)" "Missus eat the green persimmon." "Mouth all drawed up in a pucker." "Stayed so till she went to supper."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Putnam's Monthly)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad food slave
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Darling-NAS, p. 325, "Corn Shucking Song" (1 text)
File: DarNS325

Corn-Shucking Song

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, de fus news ye know de day'll be a-breakin', Heydo! Ho O! Up 'n down de banjo, And de fire be a-burnin' an de ash cake a-bakin'." The hen (?) will crow, the boss will call everyone to work; the negro is advised to get to work
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: work food
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 202, "Corn-Shucking Song" (1 text)
File: Br3202

Cornbread When I'm Hungry

See (references under) Moonshiner (File: San142)

Corncraik Amang the Whinny Knowes, The

See The Echo Mocks the Corncrake (File: HHH018b)

Cornfield Holler

DESCRIPTION: "Sometimes I think my woman, she too sweet to die. Den sometimes I think she ought to be buried alive."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, p. 191, "Cornfield Holler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15579
File: LxA191

Cornish May Carol

See Padstow May Day Song (File: K086)

Corporal Casey

DESCRIPTION: The singer was happy but uneasy at home until enlisted by Corporal Casey. He treated the singer roughly but was soon killed in battle. "Thinks I, you are quiet, and I shall be aisy, So eight years I fought without Corporal Casey."
AUTHOR: George Colman?
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(422))
KEYWORDS: army battle recruiting death humorous
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, p. 21, "Corporal Casey" (1 text)
DT, (IRISHWSH*)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(422), "Corporal Casey", Wm. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 11(3683), Harding B 15(62b), Harding B 15(63a), "Corporal Casey"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Washerwoman" (tune)
File: OCon021

Corporal Schnapps

See Poor Schnapps (File: R218)

Corpus Christi Carol, The

DESCRIPTION: We find ourselves looking into a bower in a high hall. In the bower lies a sorely wounded knight surrounded by odd symbols -- dogs licking the blood, a stone on which "Corpus Christi" is written, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1537 (Hill MS., Balliol Coll. Oxf. 354, folio 165b)
KEYWORDS: injury religious carol knight
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Leach, pp. 691-692, "Over Yonder's a Park (Corpus Christi)" (2 texts)
OBB 100, "The Falcon" (1 text)
OBC 61, "Down in Yon Forest" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 38, "Corpus Christi" (1 text)
Stevick-100MEL 99, "(Lully, Lullay, Lully, Lullay)" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 42-43, "All Bells in Paradise (Corpus Chisti)" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 382, "Down In Yon Forest" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Brown/Robbins, _Index of Middle English Verse_, #1132
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #480, "Lully, Lulley" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Bob Stewart, _Where Is Saint George? Pagan Imagery in English Folksong_, revised edition, Blandford, 1988, pp. 122-123, "Down In Yon Forest" (2 texts, although the formatting implies that it is only one)
ST L691 (Full)
Roud #1523
NOTES: "Corpus Christi" is Latin for "(the) body of Christ."
The feast of Corpus Christi (not necessarily connected with this ballad) occurs on Thursday of the week after Whitsuntide. According to Davies, p. 197, it is "The observance on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday of a commemoration of and thanksgiving for the eucharist. It was established by Rome in the thirteenth century, following the advocacy of Juliana of Liege, and became universal in the West in the fourteenth century, the service of the day being compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas who also wrote some of the hymns associated with the feast."
Davies adds, "The name of the feast, Corpus Christi, is perhaps too an unconscious reflection of the era in which it originated, for in the elevations of the eucharist and in the extra-liturgical cultus of the sacrament, it was always the bread (the body) that received much the greater emphasis, probably for the entirely practical reason that this is what could actually be held up for people to gaze upon [although I have also heard it explained on the basis of the cost of wine].... Its title in the modern Roman rite, Corpus et Sanguis, the body and blood, can probably be seen as a corrective to this."
Happe, p. 19, offers this history: "[Corpus Christi] was established at the Council of Vienne in 1311, and by 1318 it was widespread in Europe and Great Britain.... It occurred on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, and quickly attracted the attention of craft guilds, as well as stimulating the establishment of guilds of Corpus Christi. It is notable that the Feast had no specific reference to the calendar of the church, unlike other Feasts which which by tradition had their own liturgical offices with quotations from scripture, appropriate music, and dramatic episodes."
Happe adds, "The fact that the Feast occurred in June meant that the day was long and it no doubt gave opportunity for elaboration of the public ceremonies, and there seems to have been something very deliberate about the establishment of the Feast which may have led to the concentration of dramatic episodes on that day."
Benet, p. 244, offers a slightly different dating, referring to the creation rather than the church-wide adoption of the holiday: "It was instituted by Urban IV in 1264, and was the regular time for the performance of religious dramas by the trade guilds. In England many of the Corpus Christi plays of York, Coventry, and Chester are still extant."
This raises at least the possibility that the song derives from one of these pageants -- although it is hard to guess which one.
Most of the symbols in this song seem to come from pagan (or, at best, late Christian) myths, but in John 19:34 we read that, when Jesus's side was pierced, "immediately [there came out] water and blood." (Compare also 1 John 5:6-8.)
Many other speculations about this song have been proposed. One source (cited anonymously on p. 425 of Trapp), apparently following Greene, argues that it has to do with Henry VIII abandoning Catherine of Aragon for Anne Boleyn. This seems more than somewhat farfetched, given that the last dated entry in the Hill Manuscript are from 1536 and the songs thought to be much older.
Another theory connects the song with the grail legend. This makes somewhat more sense; the wounded knight is then the Fisher King, whose wounds would not heal until a hunter for the grail came. That, perhaps, ties into Celtic legend.
This would also explain the "purple and pall" reference in the song. Purple is of course the royal color; pall is a cover for objects in a church -- but specifically of the velvet or damask which covers the coffin of a dead man (Davies, p. 423).
Yet another theory connects it with the "body and blood" of Christ in the Eucharist.
Some of the later versions of this speak of a thorn at the foot of the bed, although the earliest text omits this. It has been suggested that this is the Glastonbury Thorn, which has the peculiar property of blooming around Christmas; legend has it that it was decended from a sprout of Joseph of Arimathea's staff. However, Lacy, p. 243, says that the first mention of the Glastonbury Thorn is from 1716. Thus it is likely that the omission of the thorn from the early texts is because the thorn was not then known.
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. This song is on folio 165. - RBW
Bibliography

Benet: William Rose Benet, editor, The Reader's Encyclopdedia, first edition, 1948 (I use the four-volume Crowell edition but usually check it against the single volume fourth edition edited by Bruce Murphy and published 1996 by Harper-Collins, but this entry was deleted)
Davies: J. G. Davies, The New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship (originally published in Britain as A New Dictionary of Liturgy & Worship), Westminster, 1986
Happe: Peter Happe, editor, English Mystery Plays, 1975 (I use the 1985 Penguin Classics edition)
Lacy: Norris J. Lacy, Editor, The Arthurian Encyclopedia, 1986 (I use the 1987 Peter Bedrick paperback edition)
Trapp: J. B. Trapp, Medieval English Literature (a portion of the Oxford Anthology of English Literature), Oxford, 1973

Last updated in version 2.5
File: L691

Corunna's Lone Shore (Wandering Nellie)

DESCRIPTION: "Do you weed for the woes of poor wandering Nellie? I love you for that, but I love now no more. All I had long ago lies entomb'd with my Billy, Whose grave rises green on Corunna's lone shore." She describes his battle death, wishing to see his ghost
AUTHOR: Andrew Sharpe
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love death soldier battle burial ghost separation mourning
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 16, 1809 - Battle of Corunna. Marshal Soult of France, who has pursued Sir John Moore's British force some 400 km. through the winter, at last attack the British force. The outnumbered English repel the French and are able to evacuate their army, but Moore and many others are slain
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 81-83, "Corunna's Lone Shore" (1 text)
Roud #13114
File: FVS081

Corydon and Phoebe

DESCRIPTION: Corydon (Colin) asks Phoebe (Phyllis) why she flees. She is afraid for her reputation. He says they're not alone; she says she will die a virgin. He replies that he'd come to ask for her hand in marriage, but will seek another. She accepts his hand
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1755? ("The New Ballads Sung by Mr Lowe and Miss Stevenson at Vauxhall London 1755")
LONG DESCRIPTION: Corydon (Colin) asks Phoebe (Phyllis) why she makes haste ahead of his pursuit. She replies that she's scarcely sixteen and afraid for her reputation. He points out that they're not alone, so her reputation's safe; she replies that flattery or no, she will die a virgin. He replies that he'd come to ask for her hand in marriage, but since she has slighted him, he's giving up and will seek another. She bids him stay, accepts his hand, and promises "the girl you thought cruel will always prove kind"
KEYWORDS: age hardheartedness courting love marriage virginity dialog lover
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kennedy 125, "Colin and Phoebe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 510-511, "Bold Escallion and Phoebe" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, C&PHOEBE
Roud #512
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "Colin and Phoebe" (on HCox01)
Pop Maynard, "Colin and Phoebe" (on Voice06)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(77), "Colin and Phoebe" ("Well met, dearest Phoebe, O why in such haste"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 16(56a), Firth c.18(208), Firth c.18(209), Harding B 11(1182), Firth b.26(168), 2806 c.17(74), Harding B 15(48b), Firth b.25(75), Harding B 11(1376), Harding B 11(640), Harding B 11(639), Johnson Ballads 15, "Colin and Phoebe"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pastoral Elegy" (theme)
cf. "Come Write Me Down (The Wedding Song)" (plot)
NOTES: She offers the "I will never marry" ploy; he counters with the "I'll marry someone else" gambit. Check and mate.
No question that this is a piece with its origin in minstrelsy and "rural romance" broadsides. But Kennedy cites over half-a-dozen collections from folk tradition, including the indexed version by Harry Cox, and I say that more than qualifies it as a folk song. - PJS
It should be noted that the mere presence of characters with these approximate names does not make a poem this song. Nicolas Breton, for instance, published "Phillida and Coridon" in 1591 in The Honourable Entertainment given to the Queen's Majesty in Progress at Elvetham); it's the same plot, but told in the third person: "In the merry month of May, In a morn by break of day, Forth I walked by the wood side Whenas May was in his pride. There I spied all alone Phillida and Coridon."
Similarly, John Chalkhill published a "Coridon's Song" ("Oh, the sweet contentment The countryman doth find. High trolollie Lolly loe, That quiet contemplation Possesseth all my mind: Then care away, And wend along with me") around 1600.
Again, Dyer published "Corydon to his Phyllis" ("Alas, my heart! mine eye hath wronged thee, Presumptuous eye, to gaze on Phyllis' face... Poor Corydon, the nymph, whose eye doth move thee , Doth love to draw, but is not drawn to love thee") in The Phoenix Nest (1593).
In England's Helicon (1600) we have "Phyllida's Love-Call to Her Corydon, and His Replying" (A dialog: Phyllida" Corydon, arise, my Corydon! Titan shineth clear." Corydon: "Who is it that calleth Corydon? Who is it that I hear?"); this piece has no author, but has a contemporary musical setting. - RBW
File: K125

Cosher Bailey's Engine

DESCRIPTION: "Cosher Bailey had an engine, It was always wanting and mending." Tall tales of Bailey, the engine (bought second-hand, and capable of "four miles an hour"), his sister, brother, daughter, education, and death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: Late 1940s (recording, Ewan MacColl)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Railroader Cosher Bailey's locomotive is described, along with his sister, brother, daughter, and escapades. At least half of the verses are double entendre, in a cleaned-up sort of way -- e.g. "Cosher Bailey had a daughter/Who did things she shouldn't oughta/She was quite beyond the pale/But over that we'll draw a veil." He dies (maybe) and is refused entrance into Hell
KEYWORDS: train humorous family funeral death sex railroading bawdy Devil
FOUND IN: Britain(Wales)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
MacColl-Shuttle, pp. 17-18, "Cosher Bailey's engine" (1 text (edited), 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 31, "Cosher Bailey's Engine" (1 text)
DT, COSHERB*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mochyn Du (The Black Pig)" (tune)
cf. "Was You Ever See?" (tune, structure)
NOTES: I suspect there are verses out there considerably more bawdy than these. - PJS
As well as some of the "blatantly obviously cleaned up" variety -- witness this from the Digital Tradition:
Cosher Bailey's brother Matthew
Had a job at cleaning statues
But when he was cleaning Venus
He slipped and broke his elbow.
In fact, the notes in MacColl-Shuttle, derived from A. L. Lloyd, admit that there are many ribald verses.
According to those notes, Bailey was an ironmaster who in 1846 built the Taff Vale railroad. Legend has it that he drove the first train on the line and got stuck in a tunnel -- obviously something that invited some really dirty verses. Bailey is said to have died in 1872, by which time railroads had obviously been entirely vindicated. - RBW
File: FSWB031A

Cospatrick

See Gil Brenton [Child 5] (File: C005)

Cottage With the Horseshoe o'er the Door

DESCRIPTION: The singer will soon return to his old home, "the cottage with the horse-shoe o'er the door." His father is dead and buried and his mother weeps there alone, but he thinks of the happy days of his youth.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: emigration return death Ireland nonballad father mother
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 18, "Cottage With the Horseshoe o'er the Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3075
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Horseshoe over the Door
File: McB1018

Cotton Field Song

See Mister Rabbit (File: LxU006)

Cotton Mill Blues (I)

See Hard Times in the Mill (File: SBoA274)

Cotton Mill Colic

DESCRIPTION: "I'm a-gonna starve, ev'rybody will, You can't make a livin' in a cotton mill." The singer talks of the poor wages and hard conditions. He tells how people offer merchandise on easy terms, then repossess it when he can't pay. He works without ever resting
AUTHOR: David McCann
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recorded by David McCann)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes poverty warning humorous
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 148, "Cotton Mill Colic" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 731, "Cotton Mill Colic" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CTNCOLIC*
Roud #6688
RECORDINGS:
David McCarn, "Cotton Mill Colic" (Victor V-40274, 1930)
Pete Seeger, "Cotton Mill Colic" (on PeteSeeger13, AmHist1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dollar Down and a Dollar a Week" (theme)
NOTES: A reading of the bitter lyrics of this song may make you wonder why I have tagged it "humorous." But Doug deNatale and Glenn Hinson, in their article, "The Southern Textile Song Tradition Reconsidered," published in Archie Green, editor, Songs about Work: Essays in Occupational Culture for Richard A. Reuss, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1993, p. 83, assure us that the song was satiric, and was funny to the cotton workers who were author David McCann's co-workers. The title came about because, in the worker's jargon, "to colic" was to complain about something.
Interestingly, there was apparently an attempt to suppress this song during the 1930-1931 Danville strike, according to deNatale and Hinson, p. 89. The recording had just come out. A store owner in the area stocked it, and apparently it sold briskly. Then the mill owners started talking to store owners and media, and it apparently became much harder to find and hear. DeNatale and Hinson, p. 90, also note that McCann, although not fired from his mill job, would later be barred from the building after he gave up the job.
Years later, a social history project tried to test the extent to which mill workers actually knew these mill songs. They found that only two were really part of the tradition: "Cotton Mill Colic" and "Weave Room Blues" (deNatale and Hinson, p. 95). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LoF148

Cotton Mill Song, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer takes his love for a walk. "She said she loved me dearly and to me she would prove true." "Well now we are to marry for she has named the day ... we'll bring the children up like us to work in the Cotton Mill" if her parents will have him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 11, "The Cotton Mill Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16945
NOTES: Leyden: "The mill referred to in this song is probably the Springfield Cotton Mill built by Stevenson and Company in 1805, one of the earliest large-scale mills in Ulster and the last cotton spinning mill in Ireland when it closed in 1919." - BS
File: Leyd011

Cotton Needs Pickin'

DESCRIPTION: "Cotton needs pickin' so bad (x3), I'm gonna pick all over this world." The field worker describes how he contracted with the boss to raise the cotton, but now the boss is finding excuses not to pay him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918
KEYWORDS: work slave poverty money trick
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-FSNA 281, "Cotton Needs Pickin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16391
NOTES: Since the first verse of this song refers to slaves being freed, it would appear to date to the period immediately after the Civil War. The Union forces had freed the slaves -- but the freedmen had no job they could do except work the fields. The landowners built up an elaborate system (Black Codes, Jim Crow laws) for keeping the Blacks working -- perhaps even at a lower cost, since they no longer had to pay for food and lodging. - RBW
File: LoF281

Cotton the Kid

DESCRIPTION: Cotton seems "a nice kid... Until he became a rolling stone at the age of seventeen." After a brief career as a thief, the sheriff "come got him and threw him in jail." Cotton escapes and vanishes; the singer advises against trying to catch him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: outlaw thief prison escape
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 171, "Cotton the Kid" (1 text)
Roud #4097
NOTES: This song is item dE37 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: R171

Cotton Wool Pie

DESCRIPTION: "It's about a pie social. It should take the cake." Jim sells the pies but Tom could find none for him. He assumed the last was for him from his beau but found it filled with wool. "No pie to devour, no sweetheart had he."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: courting trick food party humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 206-207, "Cotton Wool Pie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2722
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Cotton Wool Pie" (on NFOBlondahl04)
NOTES: Blondahl04: "It should be explained in the following song that two girls loved the same man. Now, when a pie social was planned one of the girls baked a pie and filled it with cotton wool. She intended to shift the pies and so break up the rival affair." It appears she was successful.
Blondahl04 has no liner notes confirming that this song was collected in Newfoundland. Barring another report for Newfoundland I do not assume it has been found there. There is no entry for "Cotton Wool Pie" in Newfoundland Songs and Ballads in Print 1842-1974 A Title and First-Line Index by Paul Mercer. - BS
File: RcCoWoPi

Cotton-Eyed Joe

DESCRIPTION: "If it hadn't been for Cotton-eyed Joe, I'd have been married a long time ago." "Where did you come from, where did you go...." Stanzas describe country life, fiddle playing, and attempts to outshine Cotton-eyed Joe
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Dyke's Magic City Trio)
KEYWORDS: fiddle music nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
BrownIII 104, "Page's Train Run So Fast" (1 text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 69-70, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 262-263, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 35, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (1 text)
DT, COTTNEYE*
Roud #942
RECORDINGS:
Arthur "Brother-in-Law" Armstrong, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (AFS 3979 B2, 1940)
Granville Bowlen, "Cotton Eyed Joe" [instrumental] (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Cotton Eyed Joe" (OKeh 45122, 1927)
Carter Brothers and Son, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (Vocalion 5349, 1929; on GoingDown)
Dyke's Magic City Trio, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (Brunswick 120, 1927)
Spud Gravely & Glen Smith, "Cotton Eye Joe" (on HalfCen1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Cotton-Eye Joe" (on NLCR10)
Elmo Newcomer, "Cotton Eyed Joe" (CroMart 101, n.d. but prob. late 1940s - early 1950s)
Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (Victor 21469, 1928)
Bookmiller Shannon, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (on LomaxCD1707)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (Columbia 15283-D, 1928)
Art Thieme, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (on Thieme03)
Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (Columbia 37212, c. 1947)
NOTES: Primarily a fiddle tune, with the sort of chaotic words one would expect of such a piece. I assume "Cotton-Eyed Joe" stands for something, but I've never heard an explanation. - RBW
It's been suggested that Cotton-Eyed Joe was a local character who was blind due to cataracts or another eye disease such as trachoma. - PJS
File: LxA262

Cotton's Patch (I)

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, quite early in March, I remember the date, I left for the ice the seals to locate." Finally the pilots find "the main patch" of seals. They return and bargain with Mr. Bowring. At last the merchants strike a deal
AUTHOR: presumably Johnny Burke
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Burke's Ballads)
KEYWORDS: hunting technology commerce pilot
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 120, "Cotton's Patch (I)" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cotton's Patch (II)" (subject)
NOTES: This is based on an incident of 1922, when Australian Sydney Cotton and Newfoundlander Sydney Bennett made a deal seek the "Main Patch" (main herd) of seals by air.
For the aftermath of the hunt, see "Cotton's Patch (II)" - RBW
File: RySm120

Cotton's Patch (II)

DESCRIPTION: "We got up steam the ninth of March" to seek Cotton's patch. "Oh, didn't we ramble, scramble, But the devil a sign of Cotton's patch we found." After many ships seek in vain, the singer says the only patch they saw "was the patch on Tapper's trousers"
AUTHOR: presumably Johnny Burke
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Burke's Ballads)
KEYWORDS: hunting technology commerce pilot ship humorous
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 121, "Cotton's Patch (II)" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cotton's Patch (I)" (subject)
cf. "Didn't He Ramble" (lyrics, form, probably tune)
NOTES: This is based on an incident of 1922, when Australian Sydney Cotton and Newfoundlander Sydney Bennett made a deal seek the "Main Patch" (main herd) of seals by air.
For the pilots' own search for the Patch, see "Cotton's Patch (I)" - RBW
File: RySm121

Cou' the Nettle Early

See Cowe, Cowe (File: GrD81656)

Couldn't Raise No Sugar Corn

See Whoa Back, Buck (File: LxU067)

Coulter's Candy

DESCRIPTION: "Ally, bally, ally bally bee, Sittin' on yer mammy's knee, Greetin' for anither bawbee, Tae buy mair Coulter's candy." The parents feed the slender boy on candy, say he will grow up to go to sea, or will later buy candy for them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: mother father food
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 154, "Colter's Candy" (1 short text)
DT, COULTR COULTR2
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 32, #4 (1987), pp, 84, "Coulter's Candy" (1 text, 1 tune, supplied by Sam Hinton and with some unusual verses)
NOTES: Murray Shoolbraid's notes in the Digital Tradition cite Buchan to the effect that "Coulter" was in fact a Scottish candy-seller named Robert Coltart who was active around 1900. This is the most substantial description I've seen of who Coulter/Colter was -- but I've heard performers cite other sources. So I suppose it's not quite proved. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: MSNR154

Councillor's Daughter, The

See The Lawyer Outwitted [Laws N26] (File: LN26)

Countersigns, The

DESCRIPTION: Forecastle song. Verses quote John Paul Jones, Admiral Farragut, and Captain Lawrence (of the Chesapeake), citing their actions and bravery. Each verse concludes with "And that was the Navy of long, long ago." Sung to the tune of "Spanish Ladies."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (The Book of Navy Songs)
KEYWORDS: foc's'le navy sailor
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Colcord, p. 135, "The Countersigns" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Col135 (Partial)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Spanish Ladies" (tune) and references there
NOTES: For John Paul Jones (1747-1792) and the declaration "I have not yet begun to fight," see the notes to "Paul Jones's Victory" [Laws A4]. For James Lawrence (1781-1813) and his folly in command of the Chesapeake, see "The Chesapeake and the Shannon (I)" [Laws J20]. There is some irony in the fact that this song mentions him being carried belowdecks (to the surgeon) when wounded -- but ignores the fact that this caused the midshipman who did it to be court-martialed and discharged.
David Glasgow Farragut (1801-1870) began the Civil War as a navy captain awaiting orders, living in Virginia and married to a Virginia wife (McPherson, pp. 281-282), but ended up (perhaps by luck as much as anything else) in charge of the fleet destined to attack New Orleans. Being, fortunately, a pretty good sailor, he captured the city -- the first really big Union success of the war (for which see, e.g., "The New Ballad of Lord Lovell (Mansfield Lovell)." His next few operations, against Vicksburg, were less successful (Vickburg was effectively impossible to attack by river), but he still was given command of the next major naval assault on a Gulf Coast city, the 1864 attack on Mobile Bay.
Despite being a lesser city than New Orleans, Mobile was a much tougher nut to crack; the defences of New Orleans had been badly and hastily built. Farragut had wanted to go after Mobile at once, but the Navy department disagreed. They felt Farragut would need ironclads, and all of those were tied up at Charleston and other places (Johnson/McLaughlin, p. 127).
By the time the Navy department changed its mind, their initial assessment had been made correct. Initially nearly defenseless, by August 5, 1864, when Farragut attacked, Mobile Bay was properly fortified, with only one sea channel, forts on each side, and a small fleet including the ironclad Tennessee waiting -- and the harbor entrance sown with mines. (In those days, when the self-propelled torpedo had not been invented, such mines were called "torpedoes"). Farragut's fleet tried to enter the bay -- and watched a monitor hit a mine and sink almost instantly. (The things were hardly seaworthy, after all.)
Most of the fleet stopped -- right under the guns of the harbor forts. Farragut, lashed to the mast, knew what he had to do: He had to get through the channel, even if the mines took more ships. So he ordered "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead." (McPherson, p. 761. The Union fleet made it into the harbor, and after a hard battle captured the city.
We note that hardly anyone seems to mention the signal "For God's sake" that Farragut wanted to send after one of his own ships did its best to ram and sink him (Johnson/McLaughlin, p. 134.)
At first, the North didn't think much of the victory; Farragut had lost over 300 men and a monitor (Catton, p. 371). But in fact it was a severe blow, since the Confederacy lost its last major Gulf Coast port; all that was left were a few heavily-blockaded East Coast ports and some minor harbors in Texas, too far from the rail net to do much good. The North eventually woke up; Farragut became first Vice Admiral and then Admiral -- the first such in American history (just as U. S. Grant was the first full General). And Farragut's words passed into folklore. - RBW
Bibliography

Catton: Bruce Catton, Never Call Retreat (being the third volume of The Centennial History of the Civil War), Doubleday, 1965 (I use the 1976 Pocket Books edition)
Johnson/McLaughlin: Curt Johnson & Mark McLaughlin, Civil War Battles, Crown Books, 1977
McPherson: James M. McPherson, The Battle Cry of Freedom (The Oxford History of the United States: The Civil War Era), Oxford, 1988

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Col135

Counties of Arkansas, The

DESCRIPTION: "There's Benton, Carroll, Marion, Boone in a line...." The song describes the various counties of Arkansas, with chorus exhorting the students to make Arkansas "The banner state for enterprise, good schools, and moral law" and praising Ouachita county
AUTHOR: Annie Coble Wilson?
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: nonballad derivative
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 876, "The Counties of Arkansas" (1 text)
Roud #7541
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (tune & meter) and references there
NOTES: Reported to have been written by Annie Coble Wilson for use by her school in Camden (in Ouachita County). It will come as no surprise that it seems not to have been used outside the state. - RBW
File: R876

Counting Song, The

See One Man Shall Mow My Meadow (File: ShH100)

Country Blues

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses; singer is in jail, possibly dying, lamenting his fate and hard living.
AUTHOR: Unknown, possibly Homer Crawford; add'l verses by Dock Boggs
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Dock Boggs)
KEYWORDS: captivity crime prison death floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 90, "Country Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #428
RECORDINGS:
Dock Boggs, "Country Blues" (Brunswick 131A, 1927; on AAFM3, RoughWays1) (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Country Blues" (on NLCR05) (on NLCR16)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Darling Corey" (words, tune)
cf. "Moonshiner" (words)
cf. "Sweet Heaven" (words)
cf. "Sweet Heaven (II)" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Give Me Corn Bread When I'm Hungry
Hustling Gamblers
NOTES: This is ALMOST a nonballad, but not quite; there is a hint of narrative. And while most of the verses show up elsewhere, this song as a gestalt comes squarely from its performer, Dock Boggs. -PJS
Some people consider this a version of "Darling Corey," the tune is very close and they share a lot of lyrics. But I tentatively agree with Paul: There are several unrelated verses on the front, and *they* make this a separate song.
Roud lumps the piece with "I Wonder Where's the Gambler" [Laws H22]. It may perhaps have been inspired by fragments of that song. - RBW
File: ADR90

Country Carrier, The

See My Rattlin' Oul' Grey Mare (File: HHH664)

Country Courtship, The

DESCRIPTION: Dialog: "When shall we get married"? "As soon as time comes." "What shall I wear to the wedding?" "Thee wold print frock an' thee yepron." "How shall we go to the wedding?" "Thee's got two fine legs to walk wi' I." And so on for many verses
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage wedding bargaining
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,North))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 127, "The Country Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 43, "When shall we be married" (2 texts)
Roud #313
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Buffalo Boy" (plot, structure, lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
When Shall We Get Married?
My Old Sweet Nichol
NOTES: As far as I'm concerned, Kennedy's right -- "Buffalo Boy" is a version of this song, despite the different endings. (Doubly so, given the title of the Stonemans' recording, "The Mountaineer's Courtship.") However, as each is known independently, I'm inclined to split them anyway. Better check out both.
Meanwhile, Kennedy includes several citations that I would *not* class as versions of this song, and they've made me cautious; for "Earliest Date" I've taken the first one that seemed verifiably the same song. - PJS
File: K127

Country Garden, The

See The Vicar of Bray (File: ChWII122)

Country Girl, The (The Fair Maid of the West)

DESCRIPTION: The "country girl" goes to the fair, and asks the merchant for a bonnet. Having no other money, she pays with her maidenhead. She goes home and tells her mother, who tells her to get it back. The merchant lays her down again and gives it back
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1976 (collected by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: sex humorous bawdy mother trick virginity clothes
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Logsdon 42, pp. 219-221, "The Country Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10099
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Widow of Westmoreland's Daughter" (theme of regaining maidenhead)
cf. "The Tailor" (theme of regaining maidenhead)
NOTES: Logsdon thinks this a version of "The Fair Maid of the West Who Sold Her Maidenhead for a High-Crowned Hat." Obviously it has the same introduction. Yet the plot is the same as "The Widow of Westmoreland's Daughter." Personally, I suspect these are the same song (or, rather, that this and "The Fair Maid" are both worn-down forms of the "Widow"); the theme of having sex once to lose a maidenhead, and then having it again (perhaps with positions reversed) to regain seems unlikely to have been independently invented. But I'm splitting them tentatively until more versions turn up. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Logs042

Country Ham and Red Gravy

See I Know a Boarding-House (File: R479)

Country I Was Born In, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer has left Donegal and is bound for America "where I'm told a man he's paid there for his labour." In Ireland he has seen people starving or "hurled by the landlord from their door." No matter where he goes he will always think of home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Morton-Maguire)
KEYWORDS: emigration work hardtimes America nonballad political landlord
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Maguire 53, pp. 149-150,176, "The Country I Was Born In" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2936
File: MoMa053

Country Life

DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the joy of living and working in the country, reporting "I like to rise when the sun she rises, Early in the morning... And hurrah for the life of the country boy." He describes the work done on the farm in each season
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976
KEYWORDS: home farming nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, COUNTRYL*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Brisk and Bonny Lass (The Brisk and Bonny Lad)" (theme)
cf. "The Contented Countryman" (theme)
cf. "I Like to Be There" (form, lyrics)
File: DTcountry

Country Rockin', The

DESCRIPTION: "The best o' human life ... we only find when assembled at a country rockin' .... at sangs we'll hae a hearty yokin' and we'll chat the lays o' Robbie Burns." On the way home "we steal a wee bit kiss Her hert tae move and tell oor love"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: courting music party nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 635, "The Country Rockin'" (1 text)
Roud #6068
File: GrD3635

County Jail (I), The

DESCRIPTION: "As I was standing on a corner, Not doing any harm, Along came a policeman And took me by the arm." The singer ends in prison. He watches the bedbugs and cockroaches play ball. The food is terrible: "The coffee tastes like tobacco juice"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: prison police food hardtimes floatingverses bug
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Gardner/Chickering 147, "The County Jail" (1 text)
Lehr/Best 106, "They Locked Me Up in Bonavist' Jail" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST GC147 (Partial)
Roud #3673
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. most other prison songs, especially "Song of an Old Time Jailbird" (theme of hard times in prison and the dangers posed by bugs)
NOTES: Nearly every part of this has parallels elsewhere, but the combination, particularly the bedbug/cockroach contest, seems to be unique. - RBW
Lehr/Best's tune is close to the usual one and the cockroaches and bedbugs playing ball are replaced by "a hundred and fifty bedbugs playing a game of ball." It has "coffee like tobacco juice and bread so hard as steel." Close enough for me. - BS
File: GC147

County Jail (II)

DESCRIPTION: "I used to live a glorious life [until]... they piped into a railroad mail And carried me off to County Jail." The singer recounts the rules, initiation, awful food, beds; Jonah was better off in the whale; "glorious times in County Jail"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1860 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(213))
KEYWORDS: violence food prisoner ordeal
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Mackenzie 148, "Kirtle Gaol" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 121-122, "County Jail" (1 text)
Roud #964
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(213), "County Gaol" ("Good people all give ear I pray"), A. Ryle and Co. (London) , 1845-1859; also Harding B 11(730), Harding B 11(729), "County Gaol"; Harding B 20(32), "County Jail"; Firth c.17(76), "Duke St. Gaol"; Firth c.26(19), Firth c.17(73), "Wakefield Gaol"; 2806 c.16(234), Harding B 13(292), "Preston Gaol"; Harding B 11(2000), "Kirkdale Goal [sic]"; 2806 c.16(63), "Kirkdale Gaol"; Harding B 11(233), "Bellevue Goal [sic]"; 2806 c.8(201), "The Humours of the County Jail "
LOCSinging, sb10045a, "County Jail," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also sb40474a, "X"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cryderville Jail" (theme)
NOTES: Mackenzie says his title of "Kirtle Gaol" "is a contraction, or corruption, of 'Kirkdale.'"
Mackenzie lists a number of broadside versions including O'Conor pp. 121-122. He lists American copies of "County Jail" which are not indexed yet. The versions of this that I've seen do not have the bedbug vs cockroach sporting event but do insist that Jonah was better off inside the whale and Lazarus in his shroud was better dressed.
The Bodleian broadsides agree in the details except for the location of the jail.
Broadside LOCSinging sb10045a: H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: Mack148

County Jail (III)

See Lonesome Road (File: San322)

County of Limerick Buck-Hunt, The

DESCRIPTION: Twenty huntsmen and their hounds hunt a buck. He is killed in the hills after a four hour chase. "Nothing was wanting That poor hungry huntsman could wish ... For every man was a dish." There was drinking and dancing; many of the ladies are named.
AUTHOR: Pierce Creagh (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: hunting dancing drink party moniker animal dog horse
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 238-242, "The County of Limerick Buck-Hunt" (1 text)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs seems to date the event and the writing of the song in the first half of the eighteenth century. - BS
File: CrPS238

County of the Innocent, The

See The Drowning of Young Robinson (File: HHH585)

County of Tyrone, The

DESCRIPTION: Desiring freedom from his parents, the singer sets out for (Newry/Dover). He meets a girl and, after assuring her of his character, convinces her to elope to Tyrone. They are pursued, but escape by ship. His parents welcome him home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: work home family love travel elopement
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 218-220, "The County of Tyrone" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H153a/b, p. 480-481, "The County Tyrone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1991
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The County Tyrone" (on IRRCinnamond03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(305a), "Sweet Jane of Tyrone" ("My father oft told me he would not controul me"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 11(3947), Harding B 11(932), 2806 b.11(57), "Sweet Jane of Tyrone"; Firth b.25(475), Harding B 11(2563), Harding B 11(2563), 2806 c.15(252), Harding B 28(34), 2806 b.11(144), "County of Tyrone"; Harding B 28(34), "County Tyrone"
File: SWMS218

County Tyrone, The

See The County of Tyrone (File: SWMS218)

Courrier, Courrier, Qu'y a-t-il de Nouveau? (Courier, Courier, Say What News Hast There?)

DESCRIPTION: French. King of England asks courier why he is troubled. The courier tells of General Braddock's defeat. The king asks if he has lost his best men, and if the bombs and grenades were no help. All the mortars and cannon helped not a whit. The king laments.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1865 (published by Hubert Larue in "Le Foyer canadien")
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage grief questions army battle war soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1754-1763 - French and Indian War ("Great War for Empire"; fought in Europe 1756-1763 as the Seven Years' War)
July 9, 1755 - Defeat and Death of Edward Braddock in the Battle of the Wilderness
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BerryVin, p. 82, "Courrier, Courrier, qu'y a-t-il de nouveau? (Courier, Courier, say what news hast there?)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Braddock's Defeat" (subject)
NOTES: The notes in BerryVin say that the ballad, written shortly after the battle, was buried in the Hotel-Dieu in Quebec until it was published in 1865 by Hubert Larue. They note that the Vincennes version shares with the 1865 publication a shortened sixth verse.
See also Notes under "Braddock's Defeat". - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BerV082

Court House

See Behind These Stone Walls (File: R165)

Court of Cahirass, The

DESCRIPTION: Katey, a nobleman's daughter in the Court of Cahirass, is sought by many Dublin lords. She is beautiful and charitable to the sick and needy but has only frowns and coldness for the singer, who loves her. "How fatal the day when we first met each other"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: love rejection beauty nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 173-175, "The Court of Cahirass" (1 text)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "The chaplain [of the chapel belonging to the Carbery family] falling desperately in love with the daughter of Lord Carbery, and being disappointed, hanged himself in the chapel, which soon afterwards went to decay. This unfortunate lover had composed [this song] which is still recollected by the country people. Unluckily for the romance of this storey the name Katey occurs ... and five manuscript copies of the song, procured through various channels, though differing materially in many lines, all retain that name. It is therefore impossible to reconcile this with the facts, that the only daughter of the first Lord Carbery was named Anne; the only daughter of the second lord, Frances Anne; and the only daughter of the third, Juliana." - BS
File: CrPS173

Court of Conscience in Cork, The

DESCRIPTION: The Cork court is above a meat-market. Some find happiness below "to purchase a beefsteak," others above in justice. "Thus, 'twixt the market-scales and those of law, A strong similitude exists"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: commerce nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 167-168, "The Court of Conscience in Cork" (1 text)
File: CrPS167

Court of King Caractacus, The

See references under The Wild Man of Borneo (File: K311)

Courte Paille, La

DESCRIPTION: Canadian French: A sailing crew has been seven years at sea, and is starving. They draw straws to decide which one of them they will kill and eat. The Captain is chosen, but asks a cabin boy to take his place. At the last moment, the boy spies land
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937
KEYWORDS: cannibalism sea sailor disaster reprieve foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 41-43, "La courte paille" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ship in Distress" (plot) and references there
File: FMB041

Courtin' in the Stable (The Workin' Steer)

DESCRIPTION: Jock sets out to meet Kate by the gate of the farm where she works. She being late, and he being drunk, he mistakes a steer for his girl and sets out to kiss her. He thinks she has turned to a steer, but she arrives to correct him; eventually they wed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: courting drink animal marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #162, p. 1, "The Courtin' in the Stable" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 288, "Coortin' in the Stable" (7 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord, pp. 227-228, "Courtin' in the Stable" (1 text)
Roud #3793
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Doran's Ass" [Laws Q19] (plot)
cf. "Jock Gheddes and the Soo" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Nicht Was Fine
File: Ord227

Courtin' Owre Slow

DESCRIPTION: The singer loves a girl in Buchan and she accepts his ring. While he is in Edinburgh on business a rich suitor wins her hand. The singer returns and asks her why she abandoned him. Her reason is that he never kissed her. He won't make that mistake again.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage ring infidelity money
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #37, p. 1, "The Buchan Laddie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 896, "Courtin' Owre Slow" (8 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #5369
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "William and Nancy (II) (Courting Too Slow)" [Laws P5] (theme: lover lost by courting too slowly)
cf. "On Top of Old Smokey" (theme: lover lost by courting too slowly)
File: GrD4896

Courting Among the Kye

See Carries and Kye (Courting Among the Kye) (File: Ord037)

Courting Cage, The

See The Courting Case (File: R361)

Courting Case, The

DESCRIPTION: Man comes courting a woman. She reminds him that she told him never to return. He offers her his "very fine house," his "very fine farm," his "very fine horse," etc.; (she rejects them all because he is a gambler/drunkard/whatever).
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: gambling courting dialog money rejection
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 104, "The Gambling Suitor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 361, "The Courting Cage" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 3, "The Courting Cage" (2 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 120, "The Drunkard's Courtship" (1 text)
Hudson 52, pp. 167-169, "O Madam, I Have a Fine Little Horse" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 304-307, "Kind Sir" (2 texts, one, "The Courting Cage," coming from Randolph; 2 tunes on pp.436-437)
SharpAp 177, "The Courting Case" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 173, "The Wooing" (2 texts, the "A" text being this and "B" being probably "Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)")
Chase, pp. 146-147, "The Gambling Suitor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 76-77, "The Girl Who Never Would Wed" (1 text, in which the girl never gives in, but the verses place it here)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 118-119, "The Drunkard's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, COURTCAS COURTNG*
Roud #361
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "The Drunkard's Courtship" (on Barker01)
Loman D. Cansler, "The Lovers' Quarrel" (on Cansler1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Keys of Canterbury" (theme)
cf. "Sweet Nelly My Heart's Delight" (plot)
cf. "Geordie's Courtship (I Wad Rather a Garret)" (plot)
cf. "Bachelor's Hall (III)" (theme)
File: R361

Courting Coat, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer takes his girl to bed while still in his (pit boots/navvy boots/courting coat). She fears pregnancy ("the baby will come with his pit boots on"); he laughs it off -- but runs away, still wearing the boots. Women are warned to beware
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan4)
LONG DESCRIPTION: The singer (shaves and) dresses up, (by the light of the moon) arrives at his girl's window, and takes her to bed while still in his (pit boots/navvy boots/courting coat). She fears pregnancy ("the baby will come with his pit boots on"); he laughs it off -- but runs away, still wearing the boots. Women are warned to "beware of them colliers who are easy and free"
KEYWORDS: courting sex warning pregnancy mining worker clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North,South),Scotland(Aber,Hebr,High)) Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan4 787, "The Courtin' Coat" (2 texts plus a single verse on p. 541)
MacSeegTrav 34, "The Courting Coat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 171, "The Bold English Navvy" (1 text, 1 tune plus a fragment in the appendix)
DT, NAVVYBTS* NAVVYBOT*
Roud #516
RECORDINGS:
Liam Clancy, "Navvy Boots On" (on IRLClancy01)
Mary Delaney, "Navvy Shoes" (on IRTravellers01)
A. L. Lloyd, "With Me Pit Boots On" (on Lloyd1) (on IronMuse1)
Jimmy McBeath, "The Bold English Navvy" (on Voice10)
James McDermott, "With the Old Navvy Boots On" (on IRHardySons)
Lal Smith, "The Bold English Navvy" (on FSB2 [misprinted as "The Bold English Navy"], FSB2CD)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rambleaway" (lyrics)
cf. "Oh, No, Not I" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Kettle Smock
The Moon Shining Brightly
Navvy Boots
NOTES: Between plot and lyrics (the girl's greeting and warning; also the way the young man dresses up), this makes me think it might be a sailor's/miner's adaption of "Rambleaway." - RBW
It may well be related, but inasmuch as there are few lyrics in common, and "Pit Boots" and its relatives are always sung from the man's point of view whereas "Rambleaway" is usually from the woman's, I think they qualify as separate songs.
I don't see any connection with "Rambleaway" other than the fellow's character. I don't see any words that "Rambleaway" has in common with any versions of "The Courting Coat" I've seen. - PJS
In McDermott's version on IRHardySons the singer is, at the end, brought to court and forced to pay five bob a week support. - BS
File: RcWMPBO

Courting in the Kitchen [Laws Q16]

DESCRIPTION: The singer warns listeners against love, "The devil's own invention." He courts a serving girl in her master's kitchen. When her master returns unexpectedly, she claims that the singer was forcing himself upon her. He winds up in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.18(275))
KEYWORDS: courting rape betrayal punishment prison
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws Q16, "Courting in the Kitchen"
Mackenzie 147, "Courting in the Kitchen" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 32, "Coortin' in the Kitchen" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 527, COORTINK*
Roud #1007
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Courting in the Kitchen" (on IRClancyMakem01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(275), "Courting in the Kitchen," W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also 2806 c.14(39), "Courting in the Kitchen"
SAME TUNE:
Obstruction (Healy-OISBv2, pp. 154-156)
File: LQ16

Courting is a Pleasure

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

Courting Jessie

See Jessie, the Belle at the Bar (File: R051)

Courting of Aramalee, The

See Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)

Courting Song

See Aunt Sal's Song (The Man Who Didn't Know How to Court) (File: LoF101)

Courting Song, The

See The Quaker's Courtship (File: R362)

Courting the Widow's Daughter (Hard Times) [Laws H25]

DESCRIPTION: The young swain creeps into his sweetheart's house, but the young couple cannot keep quiet. The girl's mother, a widow, creeps down -- and tries to get the young man for herself! He insults her, and she drives him off with a broom
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: courting fight mother
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws H25, "Courting the Widow's Daughter (Hard Times)"
Belden, pp. 248-249, "Courting the Widow's Daughter " (1 text)
Randolph 387, "The Widow's Old Broom" (2 texts, 1 tune)
JHCox 183, "Hard Times" (1 text, the first six verses being "Courting the Widow's Daughter" and the last seven being a reduced version, minus the chorus, of "The Rigs of the Times")
DT 720, WIDAUGH
Roud #659
RECORDINGS:
Charles Ingenthron, "The Widow's Old Broom" (AFS; on LC12)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Seventeen Come Sunday" [Laws O17] (plot)
cf. "Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht" (plot)
File: LH25

Courting Too Slow (I)

See William and Nancy (II) (Courting Too Slow) [Laws P5] (File: LP05)

Courtown Fishermen, The

DESCRIPTION: On June 9 a crowd collects at Courtown Harbour: "I fear the Glenrose she is lost" with six on board, capsized on the fishing ground by a sudden squall. "How could you pass them by ... For pity they besought of you to snatch them from the waves."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck fishing
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, pp. 107-108, "The Courtown Fishermen" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Pomona (I)" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Glenrose
NOTES: Ranson: Tune is "The Pomona" on p. 62.
Ranson has [an] alternative verse that explains the condemnation
"To see those men condemned to death, it was a dismal sight,
While one poor man upon an oar for his life did boldly fight.
And you, hard-hearted Arklowmen, why did you pass them by?
Aloud to you for help they called; you heard their drowning cry"
Arklow is on the south east coast of County Wicklow; Courtown is on the north east coast of County Wexford. "Courtown is a small harbour situated on the south east coast of Ireland approx. 15 nautical miles south of Arklow" according to the Courtown Sailing Club Online site. - BS
File: Ran107

Courtship of Billy Grimes, The

See Billy Grimes the Rover (File: MN2033)

Cousin Emmy's Blues

See Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.) (File: R342)

Cousin Harry (Cousin Nellie)

DESCRIPTION: Cousin Harry and Cousin Nellie sit under a tree. Nellie whispers, "Cousin Harry, what is love?" He answers it is "a passion, a passion to be felt." He demonstrates. As he "reached home with a shove," she declares, "This must be love."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (collected by Larson)
KEYWORDS: sex bawdy incest
FOUND IN: US(Ro,SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Logsdon 44, pp. 224-225, "Cousin Harry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4722
File: Logs044

Cove that Sings, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer, hearing of "the luck of a 'cove wot writes," believes his own luck better as "a cove wot sings" the comic line. When performing he gets free drink. He gets free food from admirers, free rooms from landladies, and free port from landlords
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1852 (broadside "The Cove Wot Sings," Poet's Box (Glasgow), according to GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink food music wine nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 563, "The Cove that Sings" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6034
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.21(6), "The Luck of a Cove Wot Sings" ("No doubt a song you've heard"), unknown, no date
NOTES: "cove" n -s [Romany kova thing, person] slang Brit: MAN, CHAP, FELLOW, BLOKE" (source: Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged (1976))
Apparently broadside Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 143, "I'm One of the Chaps Wot Sings" ("No doubt a song you've heard"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844 is this song but I could not download and verify it. - BS
This really sounds like a music hall song to me. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3563

Covent Garden (II)

See The Apprentice Boy [Laws M12] (File: LM12)

Covent's Garden

See Cupid's Garden (I) (Covent Garden I; Lovely Nancy III) (File: SWMS090)

Coventry Carol, The

DESCRIPTION: A lullaby and a lament: the singer asks how to preserve her baby, for "Herod the king, in his raging, charged he hath this day His men of might in his own sight All children young to slay."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1591 (colophon of original lost manuscript)
KEYWORDS: death children Bible carol royalty religious
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
OBC 22, "Coventry Carol" (1 text, 2 tunes)
DT, COVCAROL
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #49, "Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child" (1 text)
ST OBC022 (Full)
RECORDINGS:
John Jacob Niles, "Lulle Lullay (The Coventry Carol)" (Victor Red Seal 2017, 1940)
NOTES: Not, properly speaking, a folk song, unless its modern popularity makes it so.
The Coventry Carol was originally found in the Coventry Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, a mystery (miracle) play of the fourteenth or fifteenth century (Happe, p. 343, suggests first quarter of the fifteenth century; the Oxford Book of Carols says fifteenth century).
At the time the miracle plays were written, translation of the Bible into English was discouraged by the Catholic Church (the English version of Wycliffe was available for much of this period, but was officially heretical; Christie-Murray, p. 115. In any case, it was a very literal translation of the Latin, making it difficult to understand even when it accurately represented the Hebrew and Greek). The miracle plays, crude and biblically inaccurate (many of the cycles included the fall of Satan, the Harrowing of Hell, and other non-Biblical details) were therefore one of the chief sources of Biblical knowledge for many common people.
Many towns had cycles of miracle plays (as many as 48, in the case of York; Happe, p. 10), although not all would be performed in a particular year). The individual plays generally of a few hundred lines, usually performed on or around the festival of Corpus Christi. The craft guilds of each city would each take and perform a play.
On the evidence, most major towns had a unique cycle of miracle plays. The majority of these, however, are lost; we have only a handful (e.g. from York, Chester, and "N Town"; Happe, pp. 10-14) remaining. The Coventry cycle did not survive; we have only two plays (that of the Shearmen and Tailors and that of the Weavers), from a manuscript dated 1591 -- and even this was burned in 1879, leaving us dependent on bad transcriptions from 1817 and 1825 (Happe, p. 343).
In a further irony, even though the Coventry Carol is the only part of the Mysteries to be known to the general public (unless they encountered the Second Shepherd's Play of the Wakefield cycle in a literature class), the Coventry Pageant itself is rarely published. Happe, e.g., prints the 900 lines of the Shearmen and Tailors play on pp. 344-380, but does not print the Coventry Weavers Play. The two plays, interestingly, are much longer than the usual Mystery Play; one suspects the Coventry Cycle had fewer plays than most others.
Characters in the play of the Shearmen and Tailors are Isaye (Isaiah), the prologue (Matthew's whole infancy tale of Jesus is built around Old Testament quotations, mostly from Isaiah); Gaberell (Gabriel, an import from Luke's infancy narrative, who announces the coming of Jesus); Mare (Mary); Josoff (Joseph); an Angell (Angel, to tell Joseph that Mary did not commit adultery); three Pastors (Shepherds, to whom the birth of Jesus is announced; they make anachronistic references to the Trinity);two Profeta (Prophets; non-Biblical); the Nonceose (the messenger, speaking at times in pseudo-French), Erode (Herod). three Rex (kings -- the three Magi=Astrologers, sometimes called the "three kings" -- although the Bible neither says they were kings nor says there were three of them); (another?) Angellus (yes, it's spelled differently); 2 Myles (soldiers under Herod's orders, who are told to kill the children of Bethlehem); three Women (of Bethlehem, mothers of children to be killed).
There are two other short songs in the play, with the others being sung by the shepherds.
How much of this is historical is a matter of conjecture. It probably isn't much. Beare, p. 74, tells us that the Emperor Nero was visited by a group of eastern "magians" in 66 C.E., and suggests that this might have put the idea in the mind of the author of Matthew (which gospel was probably written about 80 C.E.).
The Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod the Great slaughtered all the children of Bethlehem in hopes of killing the Christ child, is described in Matthew 2:16. The other gospels do not hint at it. Beare, p. 75, goes so far as to suggest that it is based in the legend of Osiris, Set, and Horus. (But would a monotheistic Jew like Matthew go near such a tale? I doubt it. It is more likely that it is based on Pharaoh's murder of the children of Israel in Exodus 1-2)
We have no record of Herod committing this particular atrocity -- and Josephus probably would have told us if he had. It may be based on other instances of Herod's behavior, however; Josephus tells us that Herod ordered the killing of vast numbers of people at his death, so that the entire nation would have to mourn him (Josephus, Antiquities XVII.174-179; Josephus/Marcus/Wikgren, pp. 450-453), though his relatives prevented his wishes from being carried out (Josephus, Antiquities XVII.193-194; Josephus/Marcus/Wikgren, pp. 460-461). Whether true or not, it is a matter of historical fact that he killed his three oldest sons -- the eldest of them just days before his own death (Josephus, Antiquities XVII.186-187; Josephus/Marcus/Wikgren, pp. 456-459). Macrobius later told a grim jest attributed to none other than the Emperor Augustus -- that, since Herod was Jewish, it was safer to be Herod's pig (Greek "hyn") than his son ("hyion").
The subject was fairly popular in sermons and stories, for obvious reasons; we see such sob stories to this day. It seems to have been used for political messages, as well -- e.g. Bradbury, p. 189, shows a king looking on as children are slaughtered, which is clearly a reminiscence of the Massacre. The drawing was made around 1140 C.E., according to Bradbury, during the reign of England's King Stephen -- and Bradbury thinks it a comment on the civil war of Stephen's reign, not just a scriptural allusion.
The "lully lullay" lullaby (note the similarity betweey "lullay" and "lullabye," though ironically the dictionaries do not see a connection) is quite common starting in the fourteenth century. I know of at least four poems beginning with this phrase:
British Museum Harleian MS. 913, from the early fourteenth century, has a piece beginning
Lollai, lollai, litil child, whi whepistou [weepest thou] so sore?
(Davies, #35, pp. 106-107, mostly a warning of the sorrows to come in the world, concluding with a mention of Adam and Eve's sin)
Chambers, pp. 79-80, implies that this is the earliest surviving lullaby in the English language -- although, since it is sung by Mary to the baby Jesus, it isn't exactly an ordinary lullaby.
In the 1372 Commonplace Book of John (or Johan de) Grimestone (National Library of Scotland MS. Advocates 18.7.21) we find three pieces, one beginning
Lullay, lullay, litel child, why wepest thu so sore?
(Luria/Hoffman #201, pp. 194-195, not the same as the above despite the similar first line, which ends with a mention of Jesus and salvation)
and the other
Lullay, lullay, litel cjild, child reste thee a throwe.
(Luria/Hoffman #202, pp. 195-196; Burrow/Turville-Petre, pp. 246-247)
Lullay, lullay, la lullay, My dere moder, lullay
(Davies, #38, pp. 112-114)
In each case, the "lully, lullay, little child" phrase serves as a partial refrain.
Grimestone was himself a Franciscan monk from Norfolk (Bennett/Gray, p. 367), and recorded these poems for religious not secular reasons (Bennett/Gray, p. 367, report that he had a collecton of almost 250 assorted lyrics which he apparently used when preaching; Burrow/Turville-Petre, p. 245, observe that they are arranged topically, under headings such as abstinence. They report that 239 of the items are in English, with others in Latin). But it is hard to imagine anyone composing lullabyes to the baby Jesus if there were no secular lullabyes.
The exceptionally feeble state of the tradition of this piece, incidentally, results in some variants, as does the problem of early spelling. There is no doubt, for instance, that the first line is to be pronounced "Oh sisters too," but we cannot be sure if this is to be interpreted as "Oh sisters, too," or as "Oh sisters two." We do note that there are three women of Bethlehem present when the song is sung.
The third verse gives an even greater problem. Is the third word of the third line "mourn" or "morn"? If the former, then the line should be read "and ever mourn and say" (perhaps to be emended to "mourn and pray"); if the latter, then "and ever morn and day." The former question certainly cannot be resolved; the latter can only be resolved if,by extremely unlikely chance, another manuscript turns up.
Kerr, p.132, claims that this song was heard by the English kings Richard III and Henry VII. They do not cite any authority for this claim. - RBW
Bibliography

Beare: Francis Wright Beare, The Gospel According to Matthew (British title The Gospel According to St. Matthew), Harper & Row, 1981
Bennett/Gray: J. A. W. Bennett, Middle Englich Literature, edited and completed by Douglas Gray and being a volume of the Oxford History of English Literature, 1986 (I use the 1990 Clarendon paperback)
Bradbury: Jim Bradbury, Stephen and Matilda: The Civil War of 1139-1153, 1996 (I use the 1998 Sutton paperback)
Burrow/Turville-Petre: J. A. Burrow and Thorlac Turville-Petre, A Book of Middle English, second edition, 1996 (I use the 1999 Blackwell paperback edition)
Chambers: E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947
Christie-Murray: David Christie-Murray, A History of Heresy, Oxford, 1976
Davies: R. T. Davies, editor, Medieval English Lyrics: A Critical Anthology, 1963
Happe: Peter Happe, editor, English Mystery Plays, 1975 (I use the 1985 Penguin Classics edition)
Josephus/Marcus/Wikgren: Ralph Marcus and Allen Wikgren, translators, Josephus: Jewish Antiquities: Books XV-XVII, the eighth volume in the 10 volume Loeb translation of Josephus (and #410 in the Loeb Classical Library), Harvard University Press, 1963
Kerr: Nigel and Mary Kerr, A Guide to Medieval Sites in Britain, Diamond Books, 1988
Luria/Hoffman: Maxwell S. Luria & Richard Hoffman, Middle English Lyrics, a Norton Critical Edition, Norton, 1974

Last updated in version 2.5
File: OBC022

Covered Cavalier, The

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

Covering Blue, The

See The Keach i the Creel [Child 281] (File: C281)

Covington

See The Boston Burglar [LawsL16] (File: LL16)

Cow Ate the Piper, The

DESCRIPTION: In the troubles of '98, piper Denny Byrne cannot find work. Needing shoes, he tries to take boots from an executed soldier -- but pulls down legs as well. He sleeps that night in a cowshed; in the morning the farmer assumes the cow has eaten the piper
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: humorous Ireland rebellion animal poverty murder escape clothes corpse
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1798 - Irish rebellion causes Britain to place Ireland under martial law
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
SHenry H29, pp. 53-54, "Denny Byrne, the Piper" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 29, "The Cow That Ate the Piper" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 37, "The Cow Ate the Piper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 60, "The Cow that Ate the Piper" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 91, "The Cow Ate the Piper" (1 text)
DT, COWPIPER*
Roud #8147
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2916), "The Cow Eat the Piper", unknown, n.d.
NOTES: The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Terry Timmins, "The Cow Ate the Piper" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes).
The story is also reported as a folktale in Gaelic, collected in 1940, among forty versions; translated by Sean O'Sullivan, Folktales of Ireland (London, 1966), #51, "The Cow That Ate the Piper." The Hessian soldier of the song is just "a dead man on the road" in the folktale. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: PBB091

Cow Camp on the Range

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the prairie dogs are screaming, And the birst are on the wing, See the heel fly chase the heifer, boys! 'Tis the first class sign of spring." The singer appreciates the food and the end of winter, and says there is no home like the range camp
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: cowboy home work cook
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 217-218, "Cow Camp on the Range" (1 text)
Roud #8043
NOTES: This doesn't look at all traditional to me; it appears to be one of those poems Lomax lifted from somewhere for Cowboy Songs. But I can't prove it. - RBW
File: Saffe217

Cow That Ate the Piper, The

See The Cow Ate the Piper (File: PBB091)

Cow that Drank the Poteen, The

DESCRIPTION: Paddy Shinahan makes poteen. His cow drinks some, becomes drunk, and fights Paddy. She wakes with a broken horn and advises "all good cows" to shun drink. When her milk was brown, Una, the milkmaid, thinks it was the cow's blood. Paddy does not betray her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (recording, Paddy Tunney)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous animal food
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #5170
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "The Cow that Drank the Poteen" (on Voice13)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Tom Kelly's Cow" (theme: cow hides drinking problem)
File: RcTCtDtP

Cowaye

DESCRIPTION: "Cowaye cowaye Cut a roadie throw aye A peck for a firlot [35 pounds] A firlot for a bowaye [bowl]"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 432, "Cowaye" (1 fragment)
Roud #5948
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "The heading is 'Cry of one herd to another.' 'Cowaye' = come along."
The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3432

Cowboy (I), The

DESCRIPTION: "A man there lives on the Western plain With a ton of fight and an ounce of brains." The song tells of the wild exploits of the cowboy: "He feels unwell unless in strife" "He snuffs out candles with pistol balls" "He fills with terror all he meets"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1884 (The Kansas Cowboy newspaper)
KEYWORDS: cowboy violence
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 28, "Idyl of the Plains" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 65, "The Cowboy #2" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, THECOWBY*
Roud #11078
File: FCW028

Cowboy (II), The

See The Cowboy's Soliloquy (File: FCW123)

Cowboy (III), The

See When the Work's All Done This Fall (File: LB03)

Cowboy Again for a Day

DESCRIPTION: The singer urges time (or film) to "turn backward." He wishes to replace airplanes and automobiles with "my sombrero and flaps." He recalls the old days. His wish is that someone "Make me a cowboy again for a day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 ("Cowboy Lore")
KEYWORDS: cowboy technology
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 116, "Cowboy Again for a Day" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "B" text, "Moving Picture Cowboy," is heavily adapted and should probably count as a separate piece, but surely never existed in oral tradition)
Ohrlin-HBT 56, "Make Me a Cowboy Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5092
RECORDINGS:
Peg Moreland, "Make Me a Cowboy Again" (Victor V-40272, 1930; on MakeMe)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rock Me to Sleep Again, Mother" (tune)
cf. "Backward, Turn Backward" (tune, lyrics)
File: FCW116

Cowboy Boasters

See The Fightin' Booze Fighter AND A Texas Idol AND Wild Buckaroo AND The Texas Cowboy (III) AND An Afternoon Like This (File: FCW035A)

Cowboy Boasting Chants

DESCRIPTION: Cowboy boasts of his exploits, talking about/to the horses he rides. Samples: "Born on the Colorado, Sired by an alligator, I'm a bold, bad man from Cripple Creek, Colorado." To the horse: "Git higher, git higher, The higher you git's too low for me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse bragging nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 381-383, "Cowboy to Pitching Bronco;" "Other Cowboy Boasting Chants" (3 texts, 1 tune, but described as "declaimed, not sung")
Roud #15536
NOTES: These pieces are not really songs, and can be assembled out of floating materials. As a result, I lump them here. - RBW
File: LxA381

Cowboy in Church

DESCRIPTION: The cowboy wanders into church in his work clothes, noting "on the plains we scarcely know a Sunday from a Monday." The crowd is upset, though the preacher too is dressed in "the trappings of his trade." He reflects on how people look down on cowboys
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: clergy clothes cowboy
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 7, "Cowboy in Church" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8020
RECORDINGS:
Glenn Ohrlin, "The Cowboy in Church" (on Ohrlin01)
Carl T. Sprague, "The Cowboy at Church" (Bluebird B-6258, 1936)
File: Ohr007

Cowboy Jack [Laws B24]

DESCRIPTION: Having quarreled with his sweetheart, Jack joins a band of cowboys. He decides to return home and ask forgiveness after singing about a faithful girl. He arrives too late; his sweetheart has died with his name on her lips
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sires, "Songs of the Open Range")
KEYWORDS: separation death cowboy
FOUND IN: US(SW_
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws B24, "Cowboy Jack"
Logsdon 5, pp. 48-52, "Cowboy Jack" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 5, "Cowboy Jack" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 788, COWBYJCK*
Roud #3244
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink], "Cowboy Jack" (Conqueror 7882, 1931; Melotone [Can.] 91539, 1933)
Callahan Brothers, "Cowboy Jack" (Perfect 6-09-53/Melotone 6-09-53, 1936)
Carter Family, "Cowboy Jack" (Montgomery Ward M-4545, c. 1935/Bluebird B-8167, 1939)
Girls of the Golden West, "Cowboy Jack" (Bluebird B-5719, 1934)
Harry Jackson, "Cowboy Jack" (on HJackson1)
Peg Moreland, "Cowboy Jack" (Victor 23593, 1929) (Bluebird B-4956, c. 1933)
Roy Shaffer, "Cowboy Jack" (Bluebird B-8303, 1939)
Marc Williams, "Cowboy Jack" (Brunswick 430, 1930; rec. 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blackbirds and Thrushes (I)" (plot)
File: LB24

Cowboy of Loreto, The

See The Streets of Laredo [Laws B1] (File: LB01)

Cowboy Song (I)

DESCRIPTION: "Though your backs they are weak An' your legs they ain't strong, Don't be skairt, little dogies, We'll get there 'fore long." The singer encourages the cattle; even though right now the trail is dry and ugly, there are better places ahead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work travel animal
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 205, "Cowboy Song" (1 text)
Roud #5483
File: R205

Cowboy Song (II), The

See The Cowboy's Dream (File: R185)

Cowboy to Pitching Bronco

See Cowboy Boasting Chants (File: LxA381)

Cowboy Trail, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer, a cowboy, comes to an Indian village; they welcome him. He meets a girl; they ride the trail together, courting as they go. A war party overtakes them, taking the girl and leaving him wounded. She returns; he asks her to bury him by the trail
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1931 (recording, Buell Kazee)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, a cowboy, takes lonely trail to an Indian village, where they welcome him. He meets a girl; she waits for him out on the trail and they ride off together, courting as they go. As they approach a ranch, a war party overtakes them, taking the girl and leaving him wounded. She returns; he tells her he is dying, and asks her to bury him by the trail so that she may mourn for him
KEYWORDS: courting love fight war travel burial death dying mourning lover cowboy Indians(Am.)
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
RECORDINGS:
Buell Kazee, "The Cowboy Trail" (Brunswick 481, c. 1931; rec. 1929; on WhenIWas2, KMM)
File: RcTCowTr

Cowboy's Challenge

DESCRIPTION: "Down, down, hold me down, It takes more than one man to hold me down." Repeat with two men, three men, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: cowboy nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 399, "Cowboy's Challenge" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7817
File: Beld399

Cowboy's Christmas Ball, The

See The Cowboys' Christmas Ball (File: TF16)

Cowboy's Dream, The

DESCRIPTION: "One night as I lay on the prairie... I wondered if ever a cowboy Could drift to that sweet by and by.... Roll on, roll on, roll on, little dogies, roll on, roll on...." A cowboy's reflections on the afterlife, with the images cast in herding terms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1893 ("Cow-Boy Life in Texas")
KEYWORDS: cowboy religious dream
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So,SW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Randolph 185, "One Night As I Lay on the Prairie" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BrownIII 516, "The Great Round-Up" (1 text)
Hudson 95, p. 227, "Cowboy Meditations" (1 text)
Larkin, pp. 105-108, "The Cowboy's Heaven" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife VI, pp. 66-86 (19), "Grand Round-Up" (9 texts, 3 tunes)
Fife-Cowboy/West 122, "The Grand Roundup" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 61, "The Cowboy's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 410-411, "The Cowboy's Dream" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 75, pp. 166-167, "Cowboy Song" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 3309-331, "Roll On, Little Dogies" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 112, "The Cowboy's Dream" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 182-183, "The Cowboy's Dream" (1 text)
DT, COWDREAM*
Roud #4453
RECORDINGS:
Jules [Verne] Allen, "The Cowboy's Dream" (Victor V-40178, 1929; on AuthCowboys)
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink] "The Cowboy's Dream" (Champion 15897 [may also have been issued as by West Virginia Rail Splitter]/Supertone 9571, 1929) (Columbia 15463-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Harry Jackson, "Roll On, Little Dogies" (on HJackson1)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Cowboy's Dream" (Decca 5048, 1934)
Vernon Dalhart, "The Cowboy's Dream" (Romeo 431. 1927)
McGinty's Oklahoma Cowboy Band, "Cowboy's Dream" (OKeh 45057, 1926)
Goebel Reeves, "The Cowboy's Dream" (Melotone 12214/Conqueror 7742, 1931)
George Riley (The Yodeling Rustler), "The Cowboy's Dream" (Romeo 5037, n.d. but probably c. 1930; Conqueror 7742, 1931)
Carl T. Sprague, "The Cowboy's Dream" (Victor 20122, 1926; Montgomery Ward M-4343, 1933)
Westerners [pseud. for Massey Family], "The Cowboy's Dream" (Perfect 13008, 1934)
Marc Williams, "The Cowboy's Dream" (Brunswick 244, 1928; Supertone S-2054, 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" (tune) and references there
cf. "Sweet By and By"
NOTES: An extended discussion of the authorship of this piece is found in Thorp/Fife. What it seems to boil down to is that several people played a role, and none can claim the whole thing.
It was apparently built around "(In the) Sweet By and By," but I've always heard it sung to "My Bonnie." - RBW
File: R185

Cowboy's Heaven, The

See The Cowboy's Dream (File: R185)

Cowboy's Home Sweet Home, The

See The Wandering Cowboy [Laws B7] (File: LB07)

Cowboy's Lament, The

See The Streets of Laredo [Laws B1] (File: LB01)

Cowboy's Life

See The Horse Wrangler (The Tenderfoot) [Laws B27] (File: LB27)

Cowboy's Life, A

DESCRIPTION: "A cowboy's life is a weary, dreary life, Some say it's free from care." The singer complains of long hours, rising too early in the day, howling wild animals, bad weather, and wealthy bosses
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: cowboy work hardtimes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Larkin, pp. 53-57, "The Dreary Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 187, "A Cowboy's Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife XVII, pp. 228-239 (38-39), "The Pecos Stream" (6 texts, 2 tunes, though not all appear to be part of this piece)
Fife-Cowboy/West 86, "The Cowboy's Life" (3 texts, 1 tune, although only the "A" text is demonstrably this piece)
Roud #838
RECORDINGS:
Sloan Matthews, "The Cowboy's Life is a Very Dreary Life" (AFS, 1940s; on LC28)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shantyman's Life (I)" (tune & meter; lyrics)
NOTES: Roud seems to lump all cowboy songs which contain the words "A cowboy's life is a (weary/dreary), dreary life" here. I'm not really convinced -- some of these songs share hardly any othe rlyrics. But, with none of them telling distinct stories, there isn't much basis for distinguishing. - RBW
File: LoF187

Cowboy's Life, The

DESCRIPTION: "The bawl of a steer To a cowboy's ear Is music of sweetest strain; And the yelping notes Of the gray coyotes To him are a glad refrain." The cowboy recalls home and girl, and concludes, "Saddle up, boys, For the work is play."
AUTHOR: James Barton Adams?
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work home nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 219-220, "The Cowboy's Life" (1 text)
Roud #8062
NOTES: Given the metre, the form, the contents, and the Lomaxness of this item, I'd bet a lot that it isn't traditional; John Lomax doubtless threw it into Cowboy Songs just to add bulk to the volume. But we can't prove it, so here it is. - RBW
File: Saffe219

Cowboy's Meditation

DESCRIPTION: "At midnight when cattle are sleeping," the cowboys looks at the stars and wonders. Are they inhabited worlds with cowboys and cattle ranges? Do cowboys there wonder about our sun? Will he meet mother in heaven? When dawn breaks, he gets back to work
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (recording, Carl T. Sprague)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work family death
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 121, "Cowboy's Meditation" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4453
RECORDINGS:
Kenneth Houchins, "Cowboy's Meditation" (Champion 45028, 1935)
Carl T. Sprague, "The Cowboy's Meditation" (Victor V-40197, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4467, 1934; Montgomery Ward M-4783, c. 1935)
NOTES: Yes, this is Cowboy Science Fiction.
Roud lumps this with "The Cowboy's Dream." There are similarities in theme, but this seems much more creative. - RBW
File: FCW121

Cowboy's Prayer (I), A

DESCRIPTION: "Oh Lord, I've never lived where churches grow"; the speaker prefers the wilderness as God created it. He is thankful that he is "no slave of whistle, clock, or bell." He apologises for his failings, and asks for guidance in the future
AUTHOR: Words: Charles Badger Clark
EARLIEST DATE: 1920
KEYWORDS: cowboy religious nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 128, "A Cowboy's Prayer" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 154, "A Cowboy's Prayer" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Hal Cannon, editor, _Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering_, Giles M. Smith, 1985, pp. 69-70, "A Cowboy's Prayer" (1 text)
Roud #11201
NOTES: There is no evidence that this song has ever circulated in tradition; the Fifes included it in their book for its content, not its pedigree. - RBW
File: FCW128

Cowboy's Prayer (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Guard me, Lord, while I'm a-riding 'cross the dusty range out there From the dangers that are hiding on the trail so bleak and bare." The cowboy asks for guidance and protection, and concludes "At last to heaven lead me, up in the home corral."
AUTHOR: Earl Alonzo Brinistool
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 ("Trail Dust of a Maverick")
KEYWORDS: religious cowboy recitation
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ohrlin-HBT 77, "The Cowboy's Prayer" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 81, "A Range Rider's Appeal" (1 text)
File: Ohr077

Cowboy's Ride, The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, for a ride o'er the prairies free, On a fiery untamed steed...." The singer describes guiding the horse on its travels, concluding "You can have your ride in the crowded town! Give me the prairies free... Oh, that's the ride for me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse travel
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 109, "The Cowboy's Ride" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11087
File: FCW109

Cowboy's Soliloquy, The

DESCRIPTION: "All day (long) on the prairies I ride, Not even a dog to run by my side." The solitary cowboy describes his life on the prairie -- where, e.g., "My books are the brooks, my sermons the stones" (the latter teaching him "not to despise" small things).
AUTHOR: Allen McCandless?
EARLIEST DATE: 1885 (Kansas "Cowboy")
KEYWORDS: cowboy work loneliness
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Larkin, pp. 131-134, "The Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 123, "The Cowboy's Soliloquy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 64, "The Cowboy #1" (1 text, 1 tune)
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 176-177, "The Cowboy" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Hal Cannon, editor, _Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering_, Giles M. Smith, 1985, p. 1, "The Cowboy's Soliloquy" (1 text)
Roud #11099
RECORDINGS:
Glenn Ohrlin, "The Cowboy" (on Ohrlin01, BackSaddle)
Carl T. Sprague, "The Cowboy" (Victor 21402, 1928; Montgomery Ward M-4783, c. 1935; on WhenIWas2)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Biblical Cowboy
NOTES: Seemann and Ohrlin both credit authorship to Allen McCandless. Seemann also lists first printing as being in the Trinidad, Colorado Daily Advertiser, 1885. [Cannon also attributes this to McCandless, and lists the 1885 printing, but says that it probably circulated before that, which makes you wonder about McCandless's authorship - RBW]
Carl T. Sprague's recording [credits] the words to John Lomax's "Cowboy Ballads" book. From oral tradition to print to aural tradition. - PJS
File: FCW123

Cowboys' Christmas Ball, The

DESCRIPTION: "Way out in western Texas where the Clear Forks waters flow... It was there that I attended the Cowboys' Christmas Ball." The location is described, as are all the people who show up. The singer expects to recall the excitement forever
AUTHOR: Larry Chittenden
EARLIEST DATE: 1893 (Chittenden's "Ranch Verses")
KEYWORDS: cowboy party dancing
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Thorp/Fife XVI, pp. 219-224 (33-36), "The Cowboys Christmas Ball" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 60, "The Cowboy's Christmas Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 56-58, "The Cowboy's Christmas Ball" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Hal Cannon, editor, _Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering_, Giles M. Smith, 1985, pp. 17-19, "The Cowboy's Christmas Ball" (1 text)
Roud #4634
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cowboys' New Years Dance"
NOTES: Although often quoted, the difficult form of this piece (six twelve-line stanzas!) seems to have kept it from securing a firm place in oral tradition; Thorp/Fife list seventeen printings but only one field recording, and Ohrlin admits that his version is shorter than the original. Cannon has a versin chopped down to five stanzas, which he calls "folk song length." - RBW
File: TF16

Cowboys' Gettin'-Up Holler

See Wake Up, Jacob (File: LoF184)

Cowboys' New Years Dance, The

DESCRIPTION: "We were sitting round the ranch house some twenty hands or more, Most of us Americans but a few from Arkansas...." "Twas with them I attended the Cowboys' New Years Ball." The extravagant dance is described in extravagant terms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: cowboy party parody
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thorp/Fife XXII, pp. 251-253 (44-48), "The Cowboys New Years Dance" (1 text)
Roud #12501
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cowboys' Christmas Ball"
NOTES: Thorp in his 1908 edition credits this to an unknown "Mark Chisholm." On the other hand, Thorp appears to have marked the song as one of his own in a copy given to a friend. Since the song does not seem to have appeared elsewhere, either in oral tradition or in print, it probably doesn't matter much. - RBW
File: TF22

Cowcadden's Heroes

DESCRIPTION: The key members of Orange Lodge One-Six-Two are named. Then the singer puts himself at the Boyne. "When we ... had safely crossed I fell into a dream" of Joshua leading "us" across Jordan and around Jericho until "it came tumbling"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: dream Ireland Bible moniker political religious
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 24, "Cowcadden's Heroes" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: For the Battle of the Boyne, regarded as a liberating event by Irish Protestants, see the notes to "The Battle of the Boyne (I)." Joshua's exploits are only marginally parallel to the events of 1688-1690: The crossing of the Jordan was unopposed, and the river bed was dry (see chapters 3-4 of the book of Joshua). And the Boyne was a straight battle, unlike the siege of Jericho, which was -- a siege (see Joshua chapters 5-6). It can't even be compared with the siege of (London)derry, because Jericho was captured by assault, while Derry withstood its siege. - RBW
File: OrLa024

Cowdenknowes, The

See The Broom of Cowdenknows [Child 217] (File: C217)

Cowe the Nettle Early

See Cowe, Cowe (File: GrD81656)

Cowe, Cowe

DESCRIPTION: If you like "lang kail" [see notes] cull the nettle early. Cull it low and soon, in June, before it blooms. Cull it by the wall, where the sun doesn't fall, at dawn. Cull it with an old toothless sickle and old leather-palmed gloves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1870 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1656, "Cowe, Cowe" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 34, "Cou' the Nettle Early"
Robert Ford, Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories (Paisley, 1904 (2nd edition, "Digitized by Google")), pp. 138-139, "Cowe the Nettle Early"
Roud #13047
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jenny Nettles" (tune, per GreigDuncan8)
NOTES: Chambers notes, "Broth is sometimes made from nettles by the Scottish poor." Since his note follows the line "Gin ye be for lang kail" -- that is cabbage boiled, strained, chopped and seasoned with butter -- I assume that that dish and the nettle broth go together. Ford says "Cowe the Nettle Early" is "another delectable song for children -- also of a subtly didactic character."
"An old Scotch rhyme says the Nettle must be pulled in June:
Ere it's in the blume
Pull it by the auld wa's,
Pull whar the sun n'er fa's,
Stoo it when the day daw's,
Pu' the nettle early."
(source: Mary Pamela Milne-Home, Stray Leaves from a Border Garden, (London, 1901 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 184). This rhyme is entirely distinct from "Cowe the Nettle Early." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81656

Cowman's Lament, The

See Going to Leave Old Texas (Old Texas, Texas Song, The Cowman's Lament) (File: FCW066E)

Cowman's Prayer, The

See The Cattleman's Prayer (File: FCW126)

Crab-Fish, The

See The Sea Crab (File: EM001)

Crabtree Still

DESCRIPTION: "I went up the hill, I found a still, So gather round, boys, we will all keep mum. It's bad, it's sad, it's a shame." "Ed" is killed in a shootout (?), and those with the moonshine are chased by the sheriff. They end up in court before a dishonest judge
AUTHOR: Clabe Kazee?
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: drink police judge trial punishment
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 118-120, "Crabtree Still" (1 text)
File: ThBa118

Crack Schooner Moonlight, The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, we towed out the Moonlight, dropped the tug in the gale With the old Law before us and the Porter on our tail." "Hurrah for a race down the Lakes!" The sailor describes the wind and how they "leave the Law, the Damforth, and others by the score."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (collected by Walton from a group of Illinois sailors)
KEYWORDS: ship racing
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 231-234, "The Crack Schooner Moonlight" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Ivan Watson, "The Crack Schooner Moonlight" (fragment, 1938; on WaltonSailors, which curiously omits a line from the chorus shown in the Walton/Grimm/Murdock text)
NOTES: Although this song praises the Moonlight's performance, the statement that she was a "crack schooner" requires a lot of footnotes. Walton/Grimm/Murdock describes her as having a clipper hull but a schooner rig -- a strange compromise, since clippers were designed mostly for speed (at the cost of cargo capacity), and schooners, though highly maneuverable, we not as fast as square-rigged ships. Keller, p. 77, reports that "She was a three-master, her rigging consisting of fore and aft sails on the mainsail and mainmast, and a squaresail on the foremast. But unlike the traditional barkentine rig, she carried a large, billowing triangular topsail above the squaresail, known as a raffee." The effect of this, clearly visible in the painting of the ship on p. 78 of Keller, is that most of her sail is on the foremast.
This apparently was a common compromise on the Great Lakes, where (due to the many shoals) manueverability was important. Keller, p. 79, says that "Only a few short years after she was built, the MOONLIGHT was generally acknowledged to be one of the finest -- and fastest -- cargo vessels on the Great Lakes."
Her reputation did little to keep her in business. After just 14 years, in 1888, Moonlight was sold, cut down, and made into a sailing barge. Nor did it have much luck in this configuration. Thompson, p. 90, shows a photo of the Moonlight after it ran aground near Marquette in 1895 after her tow the Charles J. Kershaw suffered a boiler problem. (a closeup of the photo is on p. 80 of Keller, who however dates the accident to 1896.)
According to Wolff, p. 74, the Moonlight and the Henry A. Kent (which had also run aground in the Kershaw incident) were not re-floated until the next year, and that at "enormous expense." The Kershaw itself was a total loss, and one of the tugs called in to rescue the barges sank on its way home.
At that time, Moonlight still had three masts. But apparently after that she was further cut down. Keller has a photograph on p. 81; the once-proud schooner ended up losing her mainmast, and while the foremast and mizzen are still there, they have no yards; I see no way to hang a sail. The once-beautiful ship has become extremely ugly and utilitarian.
According to Wolff, p. 100, the Moonlight's last voyage was in September 1903. Carrying a load of 1400 tons of iron ore, she began to take on water and quickly sank. The crew, fortunately, was rescued by her tow the Volunteer (Keller, p. 82); the Moonlight may have had a lot of accidents, but she seems to have had a good safety record.
According to Keller, p. 83, the Moonlight at the time of her loss "was valued at $12,000, less than half of what she was worth in her glory days."
This song, however, describes an earlier event in the boat's existence. Keller, p. 80, gives no date, but apparently the Moonlight and the Porter left Buffalo at about the same time, and both were heading for Milwaukee. They agreed to have a race. It was a very close contest as they passed the Straights of Mackinac. Then a storm blew up. Captain Sullivan of the Moonlight took shelter in Port Washington; the Porter pressed on. The Porter won the race -- sort of. Moonlight reached Milwaukee under her own power. The Porter had lost all her masts and rigging, and reached Milwaukee only because tugs had found her after the storm and hauled her into port (Keller, p. 81). According to Keller, the captains decided to call it a draw and headed to a bar together.
It would seem reasonable to assume that this song was written in the years between the race and the time the Moonlight was cut down. - RBW
Bibliography

Keller: James M. Keller, The "Unholy Apostles: Shipwreck Tales of the Apostle Islands, 1984 (I use the 1989 Bookcrafters edition, which -- given the information on the spine and title page -- I suspect to be a private printing)
Thompson: Mark L. Thompson, Graveyards of the Lakes, Wayne State University Press, 2000
Wolff: Julius F. Wolff Jr., Lake Superior Shipwrecks,Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., Duluth, 1990

Last updated in version 2.5
File: WGM231

Cradle Lullaby

DESCRIPTION: "Baloo, loo baby, now baloo, my dear, now baloo, loo lammie, your mammie is here." The singer consoles her baby through all the wind and storm, while lamenting that its father is out on the sea. She hopes the child's "wauk'nin' be blyther than mine."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: lullaby father sailor separation
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 167, "Cradle Lullaby" (1 text)
Roud #5562
File: Ord167

Cradle Song

See Uncle Joe Cut Off His Toe (Rock the Cradle Joe) (File: Br3097)

Cradle's Ta'en the Stan' Again, The

DESCRIPTION: The cradle has stopped rocking and "'twould need a man wi' tartan hose" to make it rock again.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: sex childbirth nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1452, "The Cradle's Ta'en the Stan' Again" (1 text)
Roud #7279
File: GrD71452

Crafty Farmer, The [Child 283; Laws L1]

DESCRIPTION: A farmer carrying money from/for a transaction is met by a robber. The robber demands his money; the farmer throws it on the grass. While the robber gathers it, the farmer makes off with the robber's horse and all the wealth in his saddlebags
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1769
KEYWORDS: robbery trick money outlaw escape
FOUND IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber,Hebr)) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,NW,SE)
REFERENCES (25 citations):
Child 283, "The Crafty Farmer" (1 text)
Bronson 283, The Crafty Farmer" (43 versions)
Laws L1, "The Yorkshire Bite" (Laws gives three broadside texts on pp. 73-77 of ABFBB)
Greig #35, pp. 1-2, "The Yorkshire Farmer" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 266, "The Yorkshire Farmer" (9 texts, 7 tunes) {A=Bronson's #25, C=#28 [misattributed in Bronson], D=#27, E=#34, F=#23}
GreigDuncan2 267, "The Farmer and the Robber" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {A=Bronson's #1, B=#3}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 406-413, "The Yorkshire Bite" (3 texts, 1 tune); also pp. 477-478, "The Crafty Farmer" (notes plus many stanzas from Child) {Bronson's #31}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 234-235, "The Yorkshire Bite" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #20}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 51-53, "The Yorkshire Boy" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #32}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 139-175, "The Yorshire Bite" (9 texts plus 6 fragments, 9 tunes) {B=Bronson's #32, D=#29, K=#20}
BrownII 46, "The Crafty Farmer" [incorrectly listed as Child #278] (1 text plus an excerpt)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 237-239, "Well Sold the Cow" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #26}
Creighton-NovaScotia 14, "Well Sold the Cow" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #19}
Greenleaf/Mansfield 20, "The Little Yorkshire Boy" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #21}
Leach-Labrador 60, "The Yorkshire Bite" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Peacock, pp. 33-38, "The Yorkshire Boy" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
Logan, pp. 127-133, "The Crafty Farmer" and "The Yorkshire Bite" (2 texts)
Leach, pp. 662-665, "The Crafty Farmer" (2 texts)
FSCatskills 117, "The Old Spotted Cow" (2 texts, 3 tunes) {Tune "B" is Bronson's #29}
Gardner/Chickering 157, "John Sold the Cow Well" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Sandburg, pp. 118-119, "Down, Down Derry Down" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #37}
Combs/Wilgus 89, pp. 130-132, "The Crafty Farmer" (1 text)
SHenry H51, pp. 129-130, "The Crafty Ploughboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 31, "The Crafty Farmer" (1 text)
DT 283, CRAFTBY CRFTFARM*
Roud #2640
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "The Oxford Merchant (Hampshire Bite)" (AFS 4197 A, 1938; on LC58, in AMMEM/Cowell) {Bronson's #18}
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 19(79), "The Robber Outdone" ("Come listen a while and a story I will tell"), W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also Firth c.17(20), "The Robber Outdone"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Highwayman Outwitted" [Laws L2]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jack the Plowboy
Jack the Cow Boy
Well Sold the Cow
Selling the Cow
The Boy and the Cow
The Highway Robber
The Scotch Herdie
NOTES: Laws, obviously, considers "The Yorkshire Bite" to be distinct from "The Crafty Farmer." He may be right, but Coffin does not find any essential differences, and Bronson seems to regard them as subgroups. Even the three texts Laws gives for comparison have strong similarities in detail; it looks to me as if they are simply (bad) rewrites of the same original.
Given the degree of variation in the particular verses, it is hard to tell which texts go with which song. Since the versions are so close; I decided not to distinguish them.
It's just possible that this has a real-life origin, though I doubt it: David Brandon, in Stand and Deliver! A History of Highway Robbery, pp. 29-31, reports that one Isaac Atkinson held up a young woman, who -- apparently thinking he wanted something harder to recover than her money -- threw a bag of coins in the ditch. Atkinson, instead of either pursuing his seduction or doing anything to control the girl, simply jumped off his horse to pick up the coins.
The girl then flew away on her horse, and by chance his horse followed. She was able to report where she had left him, and he was taken and hanged.
Brandon, however, cites no sources; I almost wonder if his tale doesn't combine this one with something like "Lovely Joan." Or, even more likely, with "The Highwayman Outwitted." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C283

Crafty Ploughboy, The

See The Crafty Farmer [Child 283; Laws L1] (File: C283)

Crafty Wee Bony

DESCRIPTION: Bony escapes, Louis flees Paris and Sandy and Donald lead highlanders and Scots Greys to meet Bony at Waterloo. "A favourite eagle was ta'en by a Grey." The French run. Bonaparte is sent to St Helena. "We'll chant ower this story to auld Scotia's glory"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1817 (T Johnston chapbook, according to GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: battle France humorous Napoleon exile
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #94, p. 2, "Sandy and Donald" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 151, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Crafty Wee Bony" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2642
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(33), "Adventures of Sandy and Donald On the Plains of Waterloo" ("When crafty wee Buona' broke out of his prison"), The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1870
Murray, Mu23-y1:063, "The Adventures Of Sandy And Donald On The Plains Of Waterloo," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lass o' Glenshee" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Waterloo
NOTES: In the aftermath of Napoleon's first abdication in 1814, Louis XVIII (1755-1824) hurried to France to claim the throne of his elder brother Louis XVI. (What happened to Louis XVII? He was the son of Louis XVI, and spent his entire reign in exile, dying while still a boy in 1795.) Hence the reference to Louis fleeing (though not very fast, since he was immensely fat and needed a cane to walk due to gout).
The reference to the Highlanders and Scots Greys at Waterloo is accurate; David Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, (Macmillan, 1966), notes that the Scots Greys and 92nd Highlanders were in Wellington's army. They were among the forces who opposed the first French attack, launched by d'Erlon's corps. (The 92nd Highlanders, if I understand Chandler right, were in the front line; the Scots Greys came to reinforce them when the front line wavered.)
According to Chandler, Sergeant Charles Ewart of the Scots Greys captured the eagle of the French 45th Regiment. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1151

Craiganee

DESCRIPTION: The singer calls on the muses to help him express his farewell. He must leave home, parting from friends and Craiganee and a girl he will not name. He describes how she watches him from the shore, and hopes they will meet again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (JIFSS)
KEYWORDS: emigration parting separation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H749, pp. 189-190, "The Flower of Craiganee" (1 text, 1 tune); H730, p. 190, "The Hills of Tandragee" (1 text, 1 tune, said by some to be derived from "The Hills of Glenswilly," but agreeing in plot and in over half its lines with the Henry text of "Craiganee," though the tunes are somewhat different)
Roud #2743
NOTES: The relationship between "Craiganee," "The Hills of Glenwilly/Glensuili," and "The Hills of Tandagree" appears to be very complicated; we will try to make it clearer in future versions of the Index. - RBW
File: HHH749

Craigbilly Fair

See Widdicombe Fair (II) (File: K289)

Craigie Hill

DESCRIPTION: Singer overhears two lovers. She asks that he take her with him from Ireland. He is leaving to buy a plantation in America where she will join him. She says, before he dies, he would wish one sight of the Bann River. He bids farewell to Craigie Hill.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1945 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: love emigration parting America Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 80, "Craigie Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CRAIGHIL
Roud #5165
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "Craigy Hills" (on IRPTunney01); "Craigie Hill" (on Voice04)
File: RcCraHil

Cranberry Bogs, The (Cranberry Song)

DESCRIPTION: "Have you ever been down to the cranberry bogs? Some of the houses are hewn out of logs...." Asked to sing, the singer tells stories of the cranberry harvest. The fruit are gathered after most other crops are in, so all sorts of people happily take part
AUTHOR: Barney Reynolds?
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (recording, Frances Perry)
KEYWORDS: farming work nonballad moniker
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, CRANBRRY* CRANBRR2*
Roud #5412
RECORDINGS:
Frances Perry, "Cranberry Song" (AAFS, 1946; on LC55)
NOTES: The only published version of this piece appears to be that recorded by Frances Perry for AAFS. But Perry herself (who thought the song to have been composed around 1900) admitted that "At each marsh every year, new verses are composed about the workers present at that season." (Hence my use of the "moniker" keyword).
Curiously, John Berquist claims to have a Minnesota version, which conforms closely to the outline of the Perry version but has dozens of minor verbal differences, so there has been some folk processing (but starting from the basic Reynold/Perry text). The most substantial change alters the location: "Mather" in Perry becomes "Mercer" in Berquist.
This is a noteworthy change, because there doesn't seem to be a town called Mather. Mercer, however, is in northern Wisconsin, near the border with upper Michigan and about 20 miles south and slightly east of Ironwood. It's a wet region, there is, in fact, a Cranberry Lake not too far south of there.
The Digital Tradition claims that Dillon Buston wrote a tune for this in 1987, taking the text from Peters. However, Perry had a tune back in 1946, and Berquist recorded it in 1981 -- and it's a fine tune that doesn't need any newfangled replacements. - RBW
File: RcTcrBo

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Come All Good People

Come All My Old Comrades

Come All Ye Blubber Hunters

Come All Ye British Tars

Come All Ye Fair

Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies

Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (II)

Come All Ye False Lovers

Come All Ye Jolly Ice-Hunters

Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys

Come All Ye Maidens in Town and City

Come All Ye Maids and Pretty Fair Maidens

Come All Ye Melancholy Folks

Come All Ye Southern Soldiers

Come All Ye Tramps and Hawkers

Come All Ye Unmarried Men

Come All Ye Western Cowboys

Come All Ye Young Lovers So Pretty

Come All Ye Young Men That Want a Wife

Come All You Bold Canadians

Come All You Fair and Handsome Girls

Come All You Fair and Tender Girls

Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies

Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies (I)

Come All You Friends and Neighbors

Come All You Jack-Pine Savages

Come All You JackPine Savages

Come All You Jolly Ploughboys

Come All You Jolly Ploughboys (Here's April, Here's May; The Two Brothers)

Come All You Maidens

Come All You Poor Men of the North

Come All You Roman Catholics

Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.)

Come All You Warriors

Come All You Worthy Christian Men

Come All You Young Men

Come All You Young of Wary Age

Come All Young People (The Dying Lovers)

Come Along, Moses

Come Along, My Own True Love

Come and Go with Me to That Land

Come and Kiss Me, Robin

Come Ashore Jackie Tar

Come Away from that Old Man

Come Back to Erin

Come Back to Mother Again

Come Back, Paddy Reilly

Come By Here

Come Chise me Oot

Come Down to Tennessee

Come Down with the Killock

Come Down, You Bunch of Roses, Come Down

Come Go With Me

Come Hame to Yer Lingles

Come Home, Father

Come List to a Ranger (The Disheartened Ranger)

Come Listen to Me, and Pray Give Attention

Come listen, all ye ploughman lads

Come On Up to Bright Glory

Come on, Boys, and Let's Go to Hunting

Come On, My Pink, an' Tell Me What You Think

Come Over and See Me Sometime

Come Raise Me in Your Arms, Dear Brother

Come Sweet Jane

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (I)

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (II)

Come to Shuck Dat Corn Tonight

Come to the Bower

Come to the Fair

Come to the Hiring

Come Under My Plaidie

Come Under My Plaidie (II)

Come Write Me Down (The Wedding Song)

Come Write Me Down The Powers Above

Come Ye Inksmen

Come Ye That Fear the Lord

Come, All Ye Good People, I Pray You Attend

Come, All Ye Roving Rangers

Come, Butter, Come

Come, Dear, Don't Fear