Don't You Hear Jerusalem Mourn?

DESCRIPTION: Describes the foibles of various denominations of preachers; a Baptist has a bottle in his pocket, etc. Chorus: "Don't you hear Jerusalem Mourn?...Thank God for the heaven bells a-ringin' and my soul starts singin'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Describes the foibles of various denominations of preachers; a Baptist has a bottle in his pocket, a Hardshell "never chews his own tobacco nor drinks his own booze," a Presbyterian is stiff-necked, a Holy Roller "gets them all a-rolling then he kicks the lights out." Chorus: "Don't you hear Jerusalem Mourn?...Thank God for the heaven bells a-ringin' and my soul starts singin'"
KEYWORDS: sex drink humorous nonballad clergy
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, JERUSLEM*
Roud #4945
RECORDINGS:
Warren Caplinger, "Jerusalem Mourn" (Vocalion 5240, 1928)
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Jerusalem Mourn" (Brunswick 2809, 1925)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Can't You Hear Jerusalem Moan" (Columbia 15104-D, 1926)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan?
NOTES: This seems to be a distant parody of a spiritual, "Jerusalem Mourning", recorded in 1910. I suspect a minstrel origin. - PJS
File: RcDYHJM

Don't You Hear My Hammer Ringing

DESCRIPTION: Chain-gang work song, with chorus line, "Oh don't you hear my hammer ringing?" The song complains about present work conditions, describes the career of Noah, and talks about his hammer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: work worksong chaingang Bible floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 99-101, (no title) (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Take This Hammer" (lyrics)
cf. "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (lyrics)
cf. "Oh, Lord, How Long" (lyrics)
cf. "Hammer Ring"
NOTES: Courlander gives this as a single song, but it appears to me to be a combination of other songs. Very likely the gang leader just assembled the text from other songs (with a little glue of his own); it probably does not exist in tradition as an entity. - RBW
File: CNFM099

Don't You Leave Me Here

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses: "Don't you leave me here...If you must go...leave me a dime for beer." "I've never had one woman... I've always had six, seven, eight or nine." "The rooster crowed... Saying, 'If you want to taste my fricassee you got to run me down."
AUTHOR: Possibly Jelly Roll Morton
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: loneliness sex bragging abandonment parting separation money drink floatingverses nonballad lover
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 239, (no title) (1 short text)
RECORDINGS:
Yas Yas Girl [pseud. for Merline Johnson], "Don't You Leave Me Here" (Conqueror 9079, 1938)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Alabama Bound (II)" (floating verses)
NOTES: Norm Cohen tells Paul Stamler that "Don't You Leave Me Here," a song sung by Jelly Roll Morton, not only shares lyrics with but is a version of "Alabama Bound (II)". We leave the question open. - (PJS, RBW)
Scarborough's text certainly has references to being Alabama Bound, but the form is rather different:
Don't you leave me here,
Don't you leave me here!
I'm Alabama bound,
I'm Alabama bound.
Don't you leave me here!
Ef you do de train don't run.
I got a mule to ride,
I got a mule to ride,
Don't you leave me here. - RBW
File: RcDYLMH

Don't You Remember

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

Don't You Weep After Me

DESCRIPTION: "When I'm dead and buried don't you weep after me (x3).... I don't want you to weep after me." Unrelated verses about death: "On the good ship of Zion"; "King Peter is my Captain"; "Bright angels are the sailors"; "When I do cross over"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: death nonballad Bible funeral
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 262, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment so short that it can only tentatively be classified with this piece; see also "Jacob's Ladder")
BrownIII 527, "Don't You Grieve After Me" (2 texts plus a fragment)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 9, (no title) (1 fragment)
Silber-FSWB, p. 350, "Don't You Weep After Me" (1 text)
ST R262 (Full)
Roud #2286
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Don't You Weep after Me" (on PeteSeeger26)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jacob's Ladder" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Don't You Grieve After Me (I)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Oh, They Put John on the Island" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
On My Journey
Don't You Grieve After Me
When I'm Dead and Buried
NOTES: Both the Randolph fragment and Brown's "A" text and "B" fragment are linked to "Jacob's Ladder." It is not clear whether this link is original or coincidental. - RBW
File: R262

Donagh Hill

DESCRIPTION: "On the eighth of November In the year of '68" there was a hare hunt on Donagh Hill "on Colonel Madden's estate." "Tally Ho, Hark away." The route is described, the dogs named. The hare tires. The hunters plan to let it go but Gaynor makes the kill.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1980 (IRHardySons)
KEYWORDS: death hunting animal dog moniker Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #17893
RECORDINGS:
Red Mick McDermott, "Donagh Hill" (on IRHardySons)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (form, hunting theme)
cf. "The Hare's Dream" (form, hunting theme)
NOTES: The Notes for "Killafole Boasters" discuss the practice of letting the hare, or fox, that has led a good chase, live to be hunted another day. - BS
File: RcDonHil

Donal' Don

DESCRIPTION: "Wha hasna heard o' Donal' Don, Wi' all his tanterwallops on; I trow, he was a lazy drone, And smuggled Hieland whisky, O." Donal, abandoned long ago by his love, lives a poor and isolated life, without a change of shirt, but all appreciate his whiskey
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: drink loneliness humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 180-181, "Donal' Don" (1 text)
Roud #13125
File: FVS180

Donald and Glencoe

See MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe) [Laws N39] (File: LN39)

Donald and His Mither

DESCRIPTION: Donald invites a lass to marry and "sit beside young Donald's mither." If she deny him he'd sulk and "cuddle wi' my mither." She agrees "and I'll lie between you and your mither." Donald kicks his mother out of bed "and has fairly noo forgot his mither"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan4); 19C (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(382))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage sex humorous mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 849, "Come Awa' Wi' Me, Lassie" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6250
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(382), "Donald and His Mither" ("Come, my lass, and be nae blate"), J. Scott (Pittenweem), 19C; also 2806 c.15(282), 2806 c.14(112), Harding B 25(537), "Donald and His Mither"
Murray, Mu23-y1:013, "Donald and His Mither," J. Bristow (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(088), "Donald and His Mither" ("Come my lass and be nae blate"), unknown, c.1875
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 is only the chorus; broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(088) is the basis for the description. For another example of a not-so-innocent ballad reduced to an innocent ditty see "Ye Ken Pretty Well What I Mean, O" as GreigDuncan1 50, "Green Leaves So Green." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4849

Donald Blue

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

Donald Campbell

DESCRIPTION: "Once I loved a fair young jockey; Donald Campbell was his name, Until it pleased God for to take him, Then a mourner I became." While racing the horse "Luna," Campbell is thrown and killed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: death racing horse
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, p. 93, "Donald Campbell" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wayfaring Stranger" (tune & meter)
cf. "Tom Corrigan (theme)
cf. "The Death of Alec Robertson" (theme)
cf. "Alec Robertson (I)" (theme)
cf. "Alec Robertson (II)" (theme)
File: MA093

Donald Monroe [Laws J12]

DESCRIPTION: Monroe leaves Ireland for America, leaving his boys in Scotland because he cannot pay their fare. Years later the boys join the British army and sail to America. There the boys are killed by rebels, one of them their father; there is a sorrowful parting
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1778 (chapbook)
KEYWORDS: emigration family soldier reunion death battle parting
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Laws J12, "Donald Monroe"
Logan pp. 413-415, "Munro's Tragedy" (1 text)
Rickaby 51, "Daniel Monroe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 157, "Donald Monroe" (1 fragment)
Peacock, pp. 812-816, "Donald Munro" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 37, "Daniel Monroe" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 61, "Donald Munro" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 131, "Donald Munro" (1 text)
DT 395, DANMONRO*
Roud #521
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(538), "Donald Munro's Tragedy," Stephenson (Gateshead), 1821-1850; also Harding B 11(2599), "Donald Monro"; 2806 c.14(71), "Donald Munro"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sons of Lord Bateman
You Sons of North Britain
File: LJ12

Donald Munro

See Donald Munroe [Laws J12] (File: LJ12)

Donald o' Dundee

DESCRIPTION: "Young Donald is the blythest lad That e'er made love to me; Whene'er he's by, my heart is glad; He seems so gay and free. Then on his pipes he plays so sweet...." She has been courted by Sandy, but loves only Donald, who has now offered to wed her
AUTHOR: David Vedder (1789-1854) (source: GreigDuncan5)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(184))
KEYWORDS: love courting ring marriage beauty music
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 306-307, "Donald o' Dundee" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan5 995, "Donald o' Dundee" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6716
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(184), "Donald of Dundee" ("Young Donald is the blithest lad"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Johnson Ballads 48, Johnson Ballads 49, Harding B 11(931), Johnson Ballads fol. 26[some words illegible], Harding B 25(539), "Donald of Dundee"; Firth c.26(33), Firth b.26(106), "Young Donald of Dundee"
NLScotland, RB.m.168(147), "Donald of Dundee" ("Young Donald is the blithest lad"), J. Pitts, London, 1820-1844; also L.C.Fol.70(31b), "Donald o' Dundee," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1870
NOTES: Broadsides NLScotland RB.m.168(147) and Bodleian Harding B 25(539) are duplicates. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FVS306

Donald of Glencoe

See MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe) [Laws N39] (File: LN39)

Donald Og

See Donall Og (Young Donald) (File: K031)

Donald's Adventure

DESCRIPTION: Donald, behind in his rent, organizes a cattle drive to an English fair where prices are good. He sells the cattle but is met on his way home by a robber who takes the money. By a trick Donald captures the robber, wins a reward, and pays off his lease.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan2)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Donald was a poor man, behind in his rent. He organized a drive, with his own and his neighbors' cattle, to an English fair where the price would be good. He armed himself with a sword, completed the drive, sold the cattle and started for home. On the way he met a robber who held Donald up at sword-point. Donald gave him the money but complained that he would not be able to explain the loss to his friends. The robber said he would give his usual proof by cutting off one of his victim's hands. Donald asked that his hand be cut off against a tree root rather than on the ground. Donald bared his wrist and as the robber struck moved his hand so that the sword stuck on the tree. Donald beat the disarmed robber, tied him up and took him to town. In town the robber was recognized "for lang his deeds o' horror Had kept the countryside in terror." Donald collected a twenty guinea reward while the robber "wis tried, condemned and hung." He paid off the laird and "wis soon a man o' means himsel'."
KEYWORDS: poverty violence travel execution robbery trial trick injury money commerce England Scotland animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 269, "Donald's Adventure" (1 text)
Roud #5832
ALTERNATE TITLES:
A Highland Tale
File: GrD2269

Donald's Return to Glencoe

See MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe) [Laws N39] (File: LN39)

Donald's Safe Come Back Again

DESCRIPTION: Donald returns to Meg from war with Abercrombie after losing a leg. He says "If her I can protect again, Claymore in hand I'll leave the north Though legless I come back again"
AUTHOR: Adam Cameron
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Christie)
KEYWORDS: love war return injury Scotland
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan1 94, "Donald's Safe Come Back Again" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1881 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh, 2007)), Vol II, pp. 258-259, "Back Again" (1 tune)
Roud #5791
NOTES: GreigDuncan1 quoting Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs: "'The Ballad, "Back again," is said to have been composed by a Lamp-maker in Aberdeen of the name of Watson, and was a great favourite in Scotland, after the death of General Sir Ralph Abercromby at Aboukir Bay.' He died on 28 March 1801."
Christie's four eight-line verses include, with minor changes, all the text of the GreigDuncan1 four four-line verses. - BS
So strong is the British historical bent toward the navy that, in checking four histories of the Napoleonic Wars and two encyclopedic histories, I found only one that mentions Abercrombie, though all of them mention the Naval victory at Aboukir Bay in 1798. (That, after all, involved Nelson.)
But it was the land expedition under Abercrombie which finally drove the French from Egypt. According to Michael Glover, The Napoleonic Wars: An Illustrated History 1792-1815Hippocreme, 1978. 1979, p. 82. Abercrombie's forces had been based in Gibraltar. He took roughly 15,000 men to Turkey so that the Ottomans could cooperate in the expedition. Abercrombie and his subordinate John Moore managed to cooperate well with the navy, and they succeeded in making a landing in Aboukir Bay on March 7, 1801. Abercrombie suffered his mortal wound two weeks later, on March 21, at the Battle of Alexandria. His successor General Hutchinson would take Cairo in June and receive the French surrender. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1094

Donald's Visit to Glasgow

DESCRIPTION: Donald and his wife go to Glasgow and see things they cannot understand: a poor man and horse unmoving in the street, a devil counting the hours, strange women's clothing, two men carrying a woman in a barrow...
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: travel humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 292, "Donald's Visit to Glasgow" (1 text)
Roud #5858
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy's Ramble to London" (theme: country folk in town)
cf. "Paddy's Voyage to Glasgow" (theme: country folk in town)
NOTES: GreigDuncan2, quoting MacGregor, "John Highlandman's Remarks on Glasgow" in The Collected Writings of Dougal Graham (1883), explains most of the sights that puzzle Donald and his wife. For example, the poor man on a horse is "the equestrian statue of King William III.... The classical style of dress, including primitive sandals ['The brogues be worn aff's feet and me see a his taes.'] ... gave rise to the idea ... that His Majesty was a 'poor man.'"; "the deil chap the hoors" refers to "a clock [on record] on which a figure of the 'Deil' was shown as 'chapping' the hours."; the strange women's clothing refer to the styles of the time and the men carrying a woman is "a long drawn out description of a sedan chair." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD2292

Donall Og (Young Donald)

DESCRIPTION: Gaelic or English: Singer tells her lover Donal to take her with him, that he'll be well taken care of. She reproaches him for breaking his promise; he says she has ignored him. She says that he is always in her mind, and has taken her past and her future
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Hoagland)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Gaelic or English: Singer tells her lover, Donall Og (young Donald) to take her with him on his travels, that he'll be well taken care of (and sleep with the Greek king's daughter). She reproaches him for breaking his promise; he replies that she has rejected and ignored him. She says that he is always in her mind, even in the church where she should be thinking of Christ's passion. She says he has taken her past and her future, and perhaps will even take away God himself
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness love request rejection farewell parting travel abandonment lover foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kennedy 31, "Donall Og [Young Donald]" (1 text in Irish Gaelic + translation, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 238-240, "Donall Oge: Grief of a Girl's Heart" (1 text, translated by Lady Gregory)
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 106-108, "Donal Oge: Grief of a Girl's Heart" (1 text, translated by Lady Gregory)
Roud #3379
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Donald Og
Donal Og
Donal Ogue
NOTES: A personal note: Kennedy calls this "one of the most intense love songs in the Irish language." Or in English; I can testify that if you are carrying a serious torch for someone, this song can bring you to tears every time. - PJS
It's pretty strong even if you *aren't* carrying a torch. The English version is reported by Norman Buchan (notes to the recording "The Fisher Family") to have been translated by Frank O'Connor. (The translation by Lady Gregory quoted by Hoagland and MacDonogh/Robinson is very different, and hardly even poetry; I doubt anyone will ever sing it.)
The text sung by Joyce Fisher omits the references to promise-breaking, making the song a lost love song rather than a betrayal song. The Fishers reportedly had it from Bob Clancey.
Seosamh O Duibhginn devoted a monograph to the variant texts of this song; according to Kennedy, it contains nearly every version ever collected. - RBW
File: K031

Donderbeck's Machine

See Dunderbeck (File: R488)

Doneraile Litany, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer's Dublin watch is pilfered in Doneraile. He wishes fire and brimstone, the fate of Pompey, the death of its industry, and many other disasters on the town. "May Charon's boat triumphant sail, Completely manned, from Doneraile"
AUTHOR: Patrick O'Kelly (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST DATE: 1808 (Patrick O'Kelly, _Poems on the Giant's Causeway and Killarney, with other Miscellanies_, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: curse theft humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 176-182, "The Doneraile Litany" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 354-357, "The Curse of Doneraile"
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "The popularity of this jingle in the south of Ireland is remarkable.... The Doneraile Litany consists of a series of anathemas upon that town, strung together, it appears, in consequence of the author having there lost his watch."
Hoagland: "Widely circulated through Ireland, this poem caused a great deal of amusement. To appease O'Kelly Lady Doneraile presented him with a 'watch and seal,' in place of the one he 'lost,' upon receipt of which he wrote 'Blessings on Doneraile.'" (See Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 357-359, "Blessings on Doneraile") - BS
Charon was of course the boatman who sailed the dead across the River Styx. Pompey is Gnaius Pompeius Magnus, known as Pompey the Great (106-48 B.C.E.), whose life was not exactly pure tragedy: Although he lost his farher in the time of Sulla's dictatorship, he managed to remain in that dictator's favor, picked up a good deal of land in the period after that, was given a series of extraordinary military commands (among other things conquering a big part of Spain, and of Asia Minor, plus Jerusalem; he also cleaned the pirates off the Mediterranean). Eventually he was appointed consul without colleague to deal with the threat posed by Julius Caesar. That's when things finally went bad for Pompey. Caesar, the conqueror of Gaul, forced Pompey and his Senatorial supporters out of Italy, then beat them at Pharsalus in Greece (48 B.C.E.; called "Pharsale" in the song). Pompey fled to Egypt and was killed by the government there, who wanted no quarrel with Caesar, now the clear ruler of Rome.
(Caesaar, to be sure, came to Egypt anyway, met the young queen Cleopatra VII, and fiddled around in the civil war going on at the time, but the murder of Pompey probably did save the country from being sacked.)
Egypt's plagues of course refers to the Exodus story of the Ten (or so) Plagues (Exodus 7-13).
For "Granuale" and her sons, see e.g. the notes to "Granuaile."
Pluto (Greek Hades) was king of the dead.
The destruction of Sodom is told in Genesis 18-19.
I have to say -- if this guy had spent half the energy working that he spent coming up with all these goofball curses (all of which rhyme with "Doneraile"), he could surely have easily made back what he lost. - RBW
File: CrPS176

Doney Gal

DESCRIPTION: "A cowboy's life is a weary thing, Rope and brand and ride and sing.... Rain or shine, sleet or snow, Me and my Doney gal are bound to go." The cowboy describes the hard work he and his horse do as they herd the cattle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse work
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Lomax-FSNA194, "Doney Gal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 85, "Doney Gal" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 106, "Doney Gal" (1 text)
DT, DONEYGAL*
Roud #3587
NOTES: "Doney" is a variant of "dona", from the Italian word "donna," meaning "woman." - PJS
File: LoF194

Donkey Riding

See Hieland Laddie (File: Doe050)

Donkey, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer's donkey is smart but, best of all, he is fast. The singer races him in the Derby. "The signal it was given me boys and off the horses flew." His donkey is "the last one out but the first one in"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (for USBallinsloeFair, according to site irishtune.info, Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Alan Ng's Tunography, ref. Ng #2616)
KEYWORDS: pride racing animal
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #1147
RECORDINGS:
Murty Rabbett and Dan Sullivan, "The Donkey" (on USBallinsloeFair)\
Harry Upton, "I Am a Donkey Driver" (on Voice14)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.26(204), "Jerusalem Cuckoo" ("I am a donkey driver, I'm the best that's in the line"), unknown, n.d.; also Firth c.26(296), "Jerusalem Cuckoo"
NOTES: Why do I get the feeling this isn't really about a donkey? - RBW
Rabbett's version on USBallinsloeFair, as well as Upton's on Voice14, and the Bodleian broadsides, name the donkey "Jerusalem Cuckoo." Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 14" - 8.9.02 notes that "Jerusalem" is cockney rhyming slang for "donkey": Jerusalem artichoke = moke = donkey. - BS
File: RcThDonk

Donnelly

DESCRIPTION: A tinker meets a woman: coming from the ball and he soldering against the wall; in the wood and his budget stood; in the bar to "have it again"; in the bed and says "We should be wed"; at the door and trips her on the floor. She should go with him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1975 (IRClare01)
KEYWORDS: drink bawdy tinker sex wordplay
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #863
RECORDINGS:
Mary Delaney, "Donnelly" (on IRTravellers01)
Martin Howley, "Donnelly" (on IRClare01)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Duchess and the Tinker
The Highland Tinker
Tim the Tinker
NOTES: Notes to IRClare01: "This has been around since at least 1675 when a fourteen-verse version was entered in the Stationers Register but since then it has been slimmed down somewhat, while still retaining its celebration of bawdry." - BS
This apparently is lumped by Roud with his #863, which includes several Tinker-who-can't-keep-his-mind (or other body parts)-on-the-job songs. But Ben Schwartz and I would separate this from both "The Tinker" and "The Jolly Tinker" by the nature of the wordplay and the fact that the tinker is interested quite specifically in one woman. - RBW
File: RcDonnel

Donnelly and Cooper

DESCRIPTION: Boxers Donnelly (Irish) and Cooper (English) meet. Odds are on Cooper. First Donnelly is knocked down, then Cooper, then Donnelly again; (referee) Kelly's pretty daughter exhorts Donnelly to get up and win. He does,and Miss Kelly congratulates him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1854 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(77b)); c.1845 (broadside, NLScotland L.C.1270(017))
KEYWORDS: pride fight sports
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1815 - Donnelly (1788-1820) and Cooper fight in Kildare
FOUND IN: Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Kennedy 317, "Donnelly and Cooper" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 27, "Donnelly and Cooper" (1 text)
OLochlainn 26, "Donnelly and Cooper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Ulster 44, "Donnelly and Cooper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 21-22, "Donnely and Cooper" (1 text)
Roud #2147
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(77b), "Donnelly and Cooper," The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1854; also 2806 c.15(226), 2806 c.8(245), Firth c.19(16), Harding B 11(934), Harding B 11(935), Harding B 19(45), Johnson Ballads 2271B[some illegible words], "Donnelly and Cooper"
LOCSinging, as200750, "Donnelly and Cooper That Fought on Kildare," Johnson (Philadelphia), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(017), "Donnelly and Cooper," James Kay (Glasgow), c.1845
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Donnelly & Oliver" (broadside Murray, Mu23-y3:015, "Donnelly & Oliver" ("You muses I beg you will lend me your aid, I'll sing of brave Donnelly a true Irish blade"), James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C; also Murray Mu23-y3:037, "Donnelly And Oliver," unknown, 19C) (subject)
cf. "Morrissey and the Black" (theme)
cf. "Morrissey and the Russian Sailor" (tune, theme)
cf. "Heenan and Sayers" (tune, theme)
SAME TUNE:
"I'm the Boy Can Do It" (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 17(77b))
NOTES: Michael Padden and Robert Sullivan's May the Road Rise to Meet You, p. 211, devotes much space to Dan Donnelly, "a carpenter by day and a pub brawler by night," who was very popular with his people: on "September 14, 1814, he drew forty thousand fans to a fight -- a seventeen-round win over an Englishman" (note that, under the boxing rules of the time, rounds were not timed but ended with one fighter or the other knocked to the ground. The fight ended when he stayed down for half a minute).
They add that Donnelly was "as prodigious a drinker as he was a fighter," which apparently contributed to his demise at age 32.
Morton-Ulster has a brief history of Dan Donnelly, "knighted by the Prince Regent" [i.e. by the future George IV, son of George III who became regent during the periods of George III's madness - RBW], brought down by "good living and bad company," dead in 1820 at 32 years of age; "thousands lined the street to Glasnevin cemetery." - BS
Daithi O hOgain, The Lore of Ireland, Boydell Press, 2006, pp. 182-183, notes that Donnelly became a figure of folklore, with reports of him settling a bar brawl with one punch to each of the brawlers. There was also an account of his mother winning a race against a horse before his birth; although probably based on the tale of Macha, the mother did little to downplay it.
Supposedly a Captain William Kelly discovered Donnelly, a carpenter, in 1814; his career lasted until 1819. His first major fight was against the champion of Dublin, and lasted 16 rounds. There was a parade in Dublin, led by Donnelly's mother, to celebrate the victory over George Cooper.
O hOgain admits that there is "scant evidence" that George IV actually knighted Donnelly. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: K317

Donnely and Cooper

See Donnelly and Cooper (File: K317)

Donnybrook Fair

See Widdicombe Fair (II) (File: K289)

Donside

DESCRIPTION: Jamie leaves Nellie to fight in Egypt and Spain with Wellington. He returns to find her gone. He searches and finds her about to be married. She chooses to marry Jamie. Her fiancee challenges Jamie to duel but yields when Jamie draws his broadsword.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1851 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(91))
KEYWORDS: courting war return reunion separation Scotland Spain soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #22, p. 1, "Donside" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 93, "Donside" (19 texts, 16 tunes)
Roud #5759
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(91), "The Don-side Lovers" ("I once had a true-love on Don-side did well [sic]"), C. Croshaw (York), 1814-1850
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Donside Lassie
The Donside Soldier
I Once Had a Sweetheart
File: GrD1093

Donside Wedding, The

DESCRIPTION: "'Twas on the fifth of June, my boys, The truth I will make known, There stood a merry Marriage Upon the banks of Don"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: wedding river
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 610, "The Donside Wedding" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6054
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 fragment. - BS
The form of this makes me think of "Warlike Seamen (The Irish Captain)," but without more text, we will probably never know. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3610

Donzella and the Ceylon, The

DESCRIPTION: The Donzella and the Ceylon set out from Lunenburg on February 1. After fourteen days, the Ceylon arrives in Puerto Rico, followed ten hours later by the Donzella. On the way back, the Ceylon runs into a storm and sinks
AUTHOR: Daniel Smith
EARLIEST DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: ship racing storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1890 - The Donzella and the Ceylon race from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to Ponce, Puerto Rico. Captain Charles Swain of the Ceylon outraced his brother, Captain Nathan Swain of the Donzella, by ten hours in a fourteen-day race. The Ceylon sank on the way home
1896 - The loss of the Donzella
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doerflinger, pp. 192-194, "The Donzella and the Ceylon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4087
NOTES: This song is item dD44 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Doe192

Doodle Dandy

DESCRIPTION: "Doodle, doodle, doodle dandy, Cornstalks, rum, and homemade brandy, Indian pudding and pumpkin pie, And that'll make the Yankees fly! Ev'ry Yankee shall have on his back A great big pumpkin in a sack, A little molasses and a piece of pork...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Warner); the first stanza can be documented from 1840 (see notes)
KEYWORDS: food soldier
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Warner 192, "Doodle Dandy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa192 (Full)
Roud #16407
NOTES: Said by Roy Walworth (the Warners' informant) to have been sung by Washington's troops as they marched for New York in 1783 after the British left the town following the American Revolution. - RBW
Although the song has only the most tenuous hold in tradition (the Warner version is the only traditional version is known; it can be heard on Frank Warner's "Songs and Ballads of America�s Wars"), Jonathan Lighter has shown that the first stanza at least was quite popular at one time. The following is a slightly condensed version of his notes to the Ballad-L list:
* Stanza one appears in the one-act farce, Yankee Notes for English Circulation, written by Edward Stirling for Thomas D. Rice's minstrel troupe in 1842:
Yankee doodle doodle dandy,
Corn stalks rum and Gin Sling brandy,
An Indine pudden and a green peach pie,
Golly, how we make de British fly.
[Quoted. in W. T. Lhamon, Jr., Jump Jim Crow (Harvard U.P.,�2003), p. 327.]
* From Burton's Gentleman's Magazine And American Monthly Review (Feb., 1840), p. 70:
"Doodle doodle doodle dandy,
Corn-stalk rum, right slick and handy,
Indgian pudding and green peach pie,
And it takes me to make the fried clams fly!�"
* Maine Farmer, July 13, 1848, p. 2:
"We couldn't help whistling a stave or two of the old song which the old Continentallers used to sing to the Britishers whenever they had given them a good thrashing, and which ran in this wise:
"Yankee doodle, doodle dandy,
Cornstalk molasses�and home-made brandy,
An Indian pudding and a punkin pie
Is the stuff to make the red-coats fly."
* Annals of Iowa (1943), p. 40:
Yankee doodle dandy
Cornstalk rum and cider brandy,
Stinking gin that's made of rye
So we'll make the Yankees fly.
* Mary Philotheta Root, ed., Patron Saints (New Haven: Conn. Daughters of the American Revolution, 1895), p. 475:
"One of his favorite war songs began thus:
"We'll take our knapsacks on our backs,
With a piece o' pork and pumpkin pie,
And gang down to New-York,
To make the red-coats fly!"
Lighter also notes that the second stanza of the Warner version is sung to "a worn down 2/4 version of 'The Campbells are Coming.'"
- JL (RBW)
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Wa192

Doom of Floyd Collins, The

See Floyd Collins [Laws G22] (File: LG22)

Doon by yon Clear Rinnin' Burnie

DESCRIPTION: The singer often meets Mary. Although "her proud parents began to upbraid her" she says she'll go with him in spite of their threats
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad father mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 1006, "Doon by yon Clear Rinnin' Burnie" (1 text)
Roud #6727
File: GrD1006

Doon the Moor

See Heather Down the Moor (Among the Heather; Down the Moor) (File: HHH177)

Doors of Ivory

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

Doos o' Dunbennan, The

DESCRIPTION: Doves of Dunbennan, crows of Cairnie, rooks of Rathven, .... The list continues but the alliteration is dropped: "The creeshy shankers [GreigDuncan8: stocking-knitters] o' Fyvie"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: nonballad bird worker
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1645, "The Doos o' Dunbennan" (1 text)
Roud #13056
NOTES: The places named are Aberdeenshire parishes (Cairnie, Forgue, Drumblade, Auchterless and Fyvie) or towns (Dunbennan, Rathven and Inverkeithny). - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81645

Doran's Ass [Laws Q19]

DESCRIPTION: Drunken Pat lies down to rest on his way to Biddy's. A jackass lies down next to him. In his stupor, Pat caresses the beast -- only to be awakened by a horrid braying. He flees to Biddy's, to be told that it was only Doran's Ass
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1859 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(946))
KEYWORDS: drink humorous animal
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Laws Q19, "Doran's Ass"
Peacock, pp. 50-52, "Doran's Ass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 75, "Doran's Ass" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 43, "Doran's Ass" (1 text)
OLochlainn 84, "Doran's Ass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 138, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 38-39, "Doran's Ass" (1 text)
DT 530, DORANASS
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 260-262, "Doran's Ass" (1 text)
Roud #1010
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "Paddy Doyle" (on Barker01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(946), "Doran's Ass" ("One Paddy Doyle lived near Killarney"), J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1855-1858; also 2806 c.15(157), 2806 c.15(235), 2806 c.15(237), Harding B 19(93), Firth c.26(40), Harding B 11(947), Harding B 11(3492), Firth b.27(457/458) View 3 of 4, 2806 c.15(236), Harding B 19(15), "Doran's Ass"; 2806 b.11(255), Harding B 11(151), "Doran's Ass" or "[The] Straw Hat"; Harding B 11(2961), 2806 b.11(251), "Pat Doran's Ass"
Murray, Mu23-y1:135, "Dorran's Ass," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(070), "Dorrn's Ass" (sic.) unknown, c.1860 [despite the title, the animal is called "Doran's Ass" in the text]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Courtin' in the Stable (The Workin' Steer)" (plot)
cf. "Jock Gheddes and the Soo" (plot)
File: LQ19

Dors Le Petit Bibi (Sleep Little Baby)

DESCRIPTION: French. "Dors dors le p'tit bibi." Sleep little baby. Mama's beautiful little baby. If tomorrow is nice we will go to grandfather's.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (NovaScotia1)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage lullaby nonballad baby
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
RECORDINGS:
Mrs Laure Irene McNeil, "Lullaby" (on NovaScotia1)
File: RcDlPBi

Dottered Auld Carle, The

See Old Man Came Over the Moor, An (Old Gum Boots and Leggings) (File: R066)

Double Tragedy, The

DESCRIPTION: "Bright lights were in the hall, Everyone seemed happy and gay" at a dance when a drunk and angry Tom Roach strides in. His friend McCord tries to calm him; Roach shoots him. Frank Adams tries to shoot him, but kills Mrs. Walton instead
AUTHOR: Otho Murphy
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder party dancing death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 24, 1891 - the Pioneer Day tragedy at Monticello, Utah
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 245-247, "(Double Tragedy)" (1 text)
File: Burt245

Double-Breasted Mansion on the Square, The

DESCRIPTION: "I once was young and gallant and drove a span of grays...." The young man was rich, with property and servants. But he "lost a lot at Keno" and now he has nothing left; he spends most of his life thinking about what he has lost
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1885 (Lane County Herald)
KEYWORDS: gambling poverty hardtimes cards
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 25, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (7 texts, 2 tunes, with the "H" text going here)
Roud #11209
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
File: FCW025H

Douglas Tragedy, The

See Earl Brand [Child 7] (File: C007)

Doun the Middle an' Up Again

DESCRIPTION: "Doun the middle and up again, A-teedle um, a-teedle um, Doun the back and back again, A-teedle um a tum" "Set to Belly Christie An' syne to Jinsie Martin"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1731, "Doun the Middle an' Up Again" (1 fragment)
Roud #13131
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment.
GreigDuncan8: .".. instructions for Country Reel, 'The auld road to Towie" - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Gr81731

Dove, The

See Lonesome Dove (I - The Minister's Lamentation) (File: R607)

Dowie Dens o Yarrow, The [Child 214]

DESCRIPTION: Many men feel that a woman (their sister?) should be separated from her lover/husband. They set out in a band to kill the lover. He manages to kill or wound most of them, but one of them kills him from behind. In many texts the lady dies of sorrow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1768 (Percy collection)
KEYWORDS: courting fight death family
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord,High)) US(MA,NE,SE) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (24 citations):
Child 214, "The Braes o Yarrow" (18 texts)
Bronson 214, "The Braes o Yarrow" (42 versions+2 in addenda)
Greig #57, pp. 1-2, "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 215, "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" (20 texts, 25 tunes) {A=Bronson's #16; to B compare #1; D=#25?; E=#23; F=#9; G=#10 or #31?; H=#4; I=#5; J=#13; K=#8; L=#11; M=#12; N=#7; O is probably #18; P=#3; Q=#6; S=#14; T=#20; U=#17; W=#15; X=#22}
Dixon XIII, pp. 68-70, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (1 text)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 291-293, "The Braes of Yarrow" (1 short text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "A" text is a composite lost love song with single stanzas from "The Braes o Yarrow," "The Curragh of Kildare," and others beyond identification; as a whole it cannot be considered a version of Child #214) {Bronson's #37}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 235-237, "The Dewy Dens of Darrow" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #42}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 255-259, "The Braes of Yarrow" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {A=Bronson's #42}
Leach, pp. 568-571, "The Braes o Yarrow" (1 text, with a Scandinavian text for comparison)
Friedman, p. 99, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (1 text which incorporates most verses of "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow")
OBB 150, "The Dowie Houms of Yarrow" (1 text)
FSCatskills 45, "The Dens of Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 24, "The Braes o Yarrow" (1 text, which Cox lists here though it is so worn down that it might as well be considered a lyric piece; the plot is entirely gone, compare the Hamilton text in Percy)
Ord, pp. 426-429, "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
MacSeegTrav 17, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 19, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 77, "The Dewy Dells of Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
TBB 10, "The Braes O' Yarrow" (1 text)
Niles 54, "The Braes o Yarrow" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Darling-NAS, pp. 54-55, "The Dewy Dens of Yarrow" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 115-116, "The Dowie Houms o Yarrow" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 179, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (1 text)
cf. Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 362-367, "The Braes of Yarrow" (1 text, said to be William Hamilton's adaption of this song)
DT 214, YARROW1*
Roud #13
RECORDINGS:
Liam Clancy, "Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (on IRLClancy01)
Ewan MacColl, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743) {Bronson's #33}
John MacDonald, "The Dewie Dens of Yarrow" (on Voice03)
Willie Scott, "The Dowie Dens O' Yarrow" (on Voice17)
Davie [Davy] Stewart, "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #24}
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(120), "The Dowie Dens of Yarrow," unknown, c. 1890 [scan largely illegible but probably this piece]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" [Child 215]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lady and the Shepherd
The Dreary Dream
In the Lonely Glens of Yarrow
NOTES: Several scholars, among them Norman Cazden, have claimed that this song is the same as Child 215, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow." Certainly there has been exchange of verses. However, I (following Leach), would maintain that there is a difference: "The Dowie Dens" is about opposition to a marriage; "Willie Drowned" is about the loss of a love.
A brief summary of the whole discussion is found in Coffin's notes in Flanders-Ancient3. It's not clear what he believes, except that the two songs are a mess and quite mixed. Which can hardly be denied.
Incidentally, there is at least one historical instance of a man fighting off six enemies but then being wounded from behind: William the Marshal, famous for his service with Kings Richard I and John, and infamous for the role he allegedly played in "Queen Eleanor's Confession" [Child 156], was part of a party that was attacked in 1168. His horse was killed under him before he had donned all his armor, but he killed the horses of six attackers before one came from behind and disabled him by spearing him in the thigh (see Frank McLynn, Richard & John: Kings at War, Da Capo, 2007, pp. 62-63). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C214

Dowie Houms o Yarrow, The

See The Dowie Dens o Yarrow [Child 214] (File: C214)

Dowie Houms of Yarrow, The

See The Dowie Dens o Yarrow [Child 214] (File: C214)

Down Among the Budded Roses

DESCRIPTION: Singer tells his sweetheart that she should not forget the promise she made to him among the roses. "Down among the budded roses/I am nothing but a stem." He asks her to be his in heaven, where their hearts will be united forever. Or something like that
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Charlie Poole)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer tells his sweetheart that, though they have parted, she should not forget the promise she made to him among the roses in the lane. "Down among the budded roses/I am nothing but a stem." He says they will never meet again on earth, but asks her to be his in heaven, where their hearts will be united forever. Or something like that
KEYWORDS: grief loneliness love promise farewell parting separation death nonballad lover
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Rorrer, p. 72, "Budded Rose" (1 text)
Roud #6577
RECORDINGS:
[Clarence] Ashley & [Gwen] Foster, "Faded Roses" (Vocalion 02666, 1934)
[Walter "Kid" Smith & the] Carolina Buddies, "Down among the Budding Roses" (Jewel 20004/Oriole 8004/Perfect 144/Romeo 5004. 1930)
Happy Valley Family, "Down Among the Budding Roses" (Perfect 6-08-53, 1936)
Roy Harvey & the North Carolina Ramblers, "Budded Roses" (Brunswick 268, 1928)
Daddy John Love, "Budded Roses" (Bluebird B-6675, 1936)
Asa Martin, "Budded Roses" (Perfect 13089, 1935)
Charlie Poole & the North Carolina Ramblers, "Budded Rose" (Columbia 15138-D, 1927)
Red Fox Chasers, "Budded Roses" (Supertone 9492, 1929)
Shelton Bros., "Budded Roses" (Decca 5180, 1936)
Kid Willliams & Bill Morgan, "Down Among the Budded Roses" (Homestead 16116, c. 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again" (a line or two)
cf. "Bye and Bye You Will Forget Me (I)" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Whitey & Hogan, "Answer to Budded Roses" (Decca 5817, 1940)
NOTES: This sounds like nothing so much as a stripped-down version of "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again", minus the soldier bit. But except for that line, the lyrics seem to be independent, so I split them. I index this one mostly to keep the two straight. It's unclear, incidentally, whether the singer is dying or lighting out for the territories. - PJS
File: RcDATBR

Down at the Station

DESCRIPTION: "Down at the station, early in the morning, See the little pufferbellies all in a row. See the stationmaster pull the little handle. Puff, puff, toot, toot, off we go!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976
KEYWORDS: train nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 198, "Down at the Station" (1 text)
Roud #10746
NOTES: Amazing what you learn to think of as a folk song once you start compiling a ballad index! This is one of perhaps only two songs from my mother's tradition (the other being "White Coral Bells"). I had not thought of it as a folk song (in fact, for decades I hadn't thought of it at all) till it showed up in Pankake. - RBW
File: PHCFS196

Down at the Wangan

DESCRIPTION: "Down at the Wangan across the street From Gifford's Corner the fact'ry boys meet, Waiting for Johnny come down and pay, Down comes old Matthew, 'No pay today.' Stick to the fact'ry boys ...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: factory work nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Manny/Wilson 11, "Down at the Wangan" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #9200
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "This is a fragment of a song made up in Newcastle in the 1880's or early 1890's. A wangan is a storage house ... where supplies are stored for the use of a lumber camp. By extension, used of any storage place. The song told of Matthew Russell, who ran a spool factory.... Workmen often had to wait a long time for their pay in the 1880's, though it wasn't so much of a hardship in those days, since business was done mostly on credit." - BS
File: MaWi011

Down By Blackwaterside

DESCRIPTION: Girl lies with a man, who dresses and prepares to leave her. She reproaches him, saying "That's not the promise you gave to me." She tells him she's the most loyal girl in the world, but now she'll marry him only "when fishes fly and the seas run dry"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Johnson)
KEYWORDS: sex promise abandonment
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(MA,SE) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1188, "Down by Yon Riverside" (2 fragments, 1 tune)
Kennedy 151, "Down By Blackwaterside" (1 text, 1 tune plus another text in the notes)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 108-109, "Blackwater Side" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 65, "Down by a Riverside" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 57, "As I Strolled Out One Evening" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 468, BLKWTRSD*
Roud #564
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs, "Blackwater Side" (on Briggs2, Briggs3)
Liam Clancy, "Blackwater Side" (on IRLClancy01)
Paddy Tunney, "Blackwaterside" (on Voice10)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(122), "Distress'd Maid" ("As I walk'd out one May morning"), W. Wright (Birmingham), 1831-1837; also Harding B 11(904), Harding B 28(123), "Distress'd Maid"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Camden Town" (plot)
cf. "The Lovely Irish Maid" (plot, lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Blackwaterside
Black Water Side
I Am Too Young
The Squire and the Fair Maid
The Distress'd Maid
NOTES: The voice keeps changing, from a bystander to the woman to (possibly) the man. This song should not be confused with "The Black Water Side" (Laws O1). - PJS
Roud in fact lumps this with Laws P18, "Pretty Little Miss." But that entry is one of his mass lumps, of many songs about untrue lovers. While there is much sharing between songs of this type, it seems better to split them.
Kennedy lumps this with "The Lovely Irish Maid," and I have to admit that there are strong points of contact, both lyric and in plot. This song, however, appears to take a slightly different direction, so I have, with much hesitation, split them. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: K151

Down by de Ribberside

See Down By the Riverside (Study War No More) (File: San480)

Down by Gruyer's Groves

See Greer's Grove (File: RcGrrGrv)

Down by Jim Long's Stage

DESCRIPTION: "As I roved out one day in June 'twas down by Jim Long's stage, I met my true love's father" who has other plans for Eliza; singer threatens to take her away "to be me darlin' wife." Father reveals singer has passed the test and can "wed her in the fall"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: love marriage dialog father
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Doyle3, p. 22, "Down by Jim Long's Stage" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 111, "Down By Jim Long's Stage" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7294
NOTES: A stage is "An elevated platform on the shore ... where fish are landed and processed for salting and drying ...." [per Dictionary of Newfoundland English, University of Toronto Press, 1999].
According to GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador site the author is "unknown, but probably Mark Walker. - BS
File: Doyl3022

Down by Sally's Garden

See You Rambling Boys of Pleasure (Down by Sally's Garden) (File: FowM059)

Down by the Brazos

See The Rivers of Texas (The Brazos River) (File: R201)

Down by the Brook

See The Swapping Boy (File: E093)

Down by the Fair River

See Gra Geal Mo Chroi (II -- Down By the Fair River) (File: CrMa069)

Down By the Glenside (The Bold Fenian Men)

DESCRIPTION: An old woman sings about the "bold Fenian men" she had seen "marching and drilling" 50 years earlier. They died in the glens and amid strangers. "Wise men have said that their cause was a failure, But they stood by old Ireland and never feared danger"
AUTHOR: Peadar Kearney (source: Hall, notes to Voice08)
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (recording, Margaret Barry)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion death nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Margaret Barry, "The Bold Fenian Men" (on Voice08)
DT, GLNSFEN*
Roud #9266
NOTES: The Fenians were an Irish Independence organization -- but they were also among the most absurdly inept plotters in history. The depth of their feelings are illustrated by the fact that they kept on after an endless litany of failures. (For examples, see "A Fenian Song," "The British Man-of-War," and "The Smashing of the Van (I).") - RBW
Hall, notes to Voice08, re "The Bold Fenian Men": "Peadar Kearney wrote [it] ... around the time of the 1916 Easter Rising."
Regarding "Some died by the glenside; some died amid strangers" this comment at Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03: "The Fenian Irish independence movement began in the 1860s with attempted risings in the USA, Canada and Ireland."
Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03: "In the song, the 'old woman' represents the Spirit of Ireland." In this connection see notes to "Eileen McMahon" and references there. - BS
This seems to be known in tradition mostly under the title "The Bold Fenian Men," but Kearney's original title apparently was "Down by the Glenside." Kearney was also the author of the Irish national anthem "The Soldier's Song"; for more on him, see the notes to "Whack Fol the Diddle (God Bless England)." - RBW
File: RcDbtGle

Down by the Green Bushes

See Green Bushes [Laws P2] (File: LP02)

Down by the Greenwood Side

See The Cruel Mother [Child 20] (File: C020)

Down by the Liffey Side

See Fish and Chips (Down by the Liffey Side) (File: OLcM249)

Down By the Magdalen Green

DESCRIPTION: A sailor, whose ship anchored at Dundee, convinces a girl to walk "along by the Magdalen/Maudlin/Mellon Green." He returns to sea and dreams of the girl weeping with his baby son. He warns sailors against seducing and abandoning girls.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: seduction abandonment childbirth dream sailor
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Ulster 16, "Down By the Mellon Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2893
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Harbour of Dundee
The Magdalen Green
NOTES: Morton-Ulster: "A couple of variants of this song have been collected in Scotland itself, notably from Jimmy McBeath, but it is by no means widely known. There is a Magdalen Green in Dundee (pronounced Madlin)." - BS
File: MorU016

Down By the Mellon Green

See Down By the Magdalen Green (File: MorU016)

Down By the Riverside (Study War No More)

DESCRIPTION: "I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside... And study war no more." The singer describes coming to heaven, and living in peace with Jesus.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920 (recording, Fisk University Jubilee Quartet)
KEYWORDS: war religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
BrownIII 624, "Old Satan's Mad" (5 text, of which the short "A" text is probably "Free at Last"; "B" is a variation on "Down By the Riverside (Study War No More)"; "C" has the "Old Satan's Mad" stanza but a "climbing Zion's walls" chorus; D" is an unidentifiable fragment perhaps related to "I Belong to that Band; and "E" is also a fragment, perhaps of "Free At Last")
Sandburg, pp. 480-481, "Ain' Go'n to Study War No Mo'" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 566, "Down by de Ribberside" (1 text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 50, "Study War No More" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 281, "Study War No More" (1 text)
DT, WARNOMOR
Roud #11886
RECORDINGS:
Dixie Jubilee Singers, "I Ain't Gonna Study War No More" (Banner 7237/Domino 4206/Challenge 937 [as Jewel Male Quartet], 1928)
Elkins Payne Jubilee Singers, "Down By the Riverside" (Paramount 12071, 1923)
Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, "I Ain't Goin' to Study War No More" (Columbia A3596, 1922; rec. 1920)
Jimmie Lunceford & his Orch. "I Ain't Gonna Study War No More" (Columbia 26938, n.d.; Columbia 35567, 1940)
[Lester] McFarland & [Robert] Gardner, "Down By the Riverside" (Brunswick 108/Vocalion 5127, 1927; rec. 1926?)
Golden Echo Quartet, "Study War No More" (Deluxe 1005, 1945)
Memphis Minnie [Lizzie Douglas], "Down by the Riverside" (Conqueror 9936, 1941)
Missouri Pacific Diamond Jubilee Quartette, "Study War No More" (OKeh 8472, 1927)
Morehouse Quartet, "Down by the Riverside" (OKeh 4887, 1923)
C. Mae Frierson Moore, "Going to Study War No More" (Paramount 12323, 1925)
Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, "Down by the Riverside" (Paramount 12445, 1927)
Oak Ridge Quartet, "Ain't Gwine to Study War No More" (Capitol 40057, 1947)
Pete Seeger, "Study War No More" (on PeteSeeger14) (on PeteSeeger15) (on PeteSeeger44) (on PeteSeeger48)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Study War No More" (on SeegerTerry)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, "Down By the Riverside" (Decca 48106, n.d. but probably 1950s)
SAME TUNE:
Three Little Maids, "Ain't Gonna Study War No Mo'" (Bluebird B-5860, 1935; rec. 1933)
NOTES: Holger Terp has written an article for the Danish Peace Academy, "Ain't gonna study war no more." He notes several sources who think the song goes back to the Civil War era -- but he observes that there is no evidence of the song in the nineteenth century. He finds a number of uses of the line "down by the river" or "down by the riverside" in that era, but they quite clearly are not this song although they may have inspired it.
It is his belief that the text of this song originated after 1917, using a tune published by John J. Nolan in 1902. Not having heard Nolan's piece "Down By The River Side," I cannot directly verify this, but it seems likely. It also seems likely that the first "Study War No More" text was compiled in 1918, although we cannot absolutely verify this. Holger thinks the text was first published in the 1918 Rodeheaver volume "Plantation Melodies"; again. I have not verified this.
Holger also believes that the song was inspired by the famous verse in Isaiah (2:4) and Micah (4:5), the former of which reads in the (American printings of) the King James Version,
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruninghooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
These verses have inspired many songs (too bad they haven't inspired more politicians!), although in this case I would consider the song an allusion, not an actual quote.
Incidentally, although the King James translation is so influential that many more accurate translations are afraid to change it, the New English Bible renders it differently at several points:
They will beat their swords into mattocks
and their spears into pruning-knives;
nation will not lift sword against nation
nor ever again be trained for war.
Similarly, the New Jerusalem Bible has "sickles" for KJV "pruninghooks." The "pruning-knives" rendering goes back to the brilliant George Adam Smith. James Moffatt's translation gives the last line as
no longer shall men learn to fight.
Smith omits "any more" from the last line on the basis of the LXX Greek. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: San480

Down by the Sally Gardens

DESCRIPTION: Singer meets his sweetheart by the Sally Gardens; she bid him to "take love easy," but he is foolish and does not. He is now filled with remorse
AUTHOR: Words: William Butler Yeats / Music: Traditional
EARLIEST DATE: 1889
KEYWORDS: grief courting youth lover
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 182, "Down By The Sally Gardens" (1 text)
DT, SALLYGRD*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 598, "Down by the Salley Gardens" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), p. 132, "Down by the Salley Gardens" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "You Rambling Boys of Pleasure (Down by Sally's Garden)"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Down By the Salley Gardens
NOTES: This is barely a ballad, but there is the skeleton of a narrative, and it seems to have entered the repertoire. - PJS
It seems to have had roots in tradition, though. See "Down In my Sally's Garden" and "You Rambling Boys of Pleasure." - RBW
File: FSWB182

Down by the Sea Shore

See I Never Will Marry [Laws K17] (File: LK17)

Down by the Seaside

DESCRIPTION: Singer meets young woman and asks her to walk with him. She declines; she's searching for her true love. Looking through an opera glass, she spies his ship; hearing that he has been shot, she despairs; if he died for honor, she will die for love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (recorded from George Maynard)
KEYWORDS: grief virtue love separation death ship lover sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
Roud #1712
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Down By the Seaside" (on Maynard1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" (part of plot, lyrics) and cross-references there
cf. "Susan Strayed on the Briny Beach [Laws K19]" (plot)
NOTES: This is a conundrum; it starts out as a classic John-Riley-lover-in-disguise ballad, but halfway through does not take the usual sharp turn of revealing the stranger to be the lover returned. Instead, it proceeds in a straight line to the young man's death and the woman's bereavement. - PJS
File: RcDBTSS

Down By the Tan-Yard Side

See The Tan-Yard Side [Laws M28] (File: LM28)

Down By the Tanyard Side

See The Tan-Yard Side [Laws M28] (File: LM28)

Down by the Weeping Willow Tree

DESCRIPTION: "Dig my grave and let me lie, love (x3), Down by the weeping willow tree." "Make it long and deep and wide, love." "Dig my grave with a golden spade, love." "Let me down with a golden chain, love." "Cover me over with the sod, love."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: burial death
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 268, "Down by the Weeping Willow Tree" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dig My Grave with a Silver Spade" (lyrics)
NOTES: The lyrics of this are largely identical with "Dig My Grave with a Silver Spade," and I thought seriously about lumping them. But I hesitantly separate them (pending discovery of additional versions) on the basis of the refrains and the much more spiritual feel of "Silver Spade." - RBW
File: Br3268

Down Came an Angel

See Christ Was Born in Bethlehem (File: MA189)

Down Erin's Lovely Lee

See Down Erin's Lovely Lee (File: RcErLoLe)

Down Fell the Old Nag

DESCRIPTION: "Down fell the old nag, dead between the shafts." The crew, rather than haul the cart home themselves, declare, "We'll harness up the old woman, and put her in the shafts, and make her pull the whole lot home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: husband wife horse death hardheartedness
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, p. 144, "Down Fell the Old Nag" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA144

Down in a Coal Mine

See Down in the Coal Mine (File: Wa026)

Down in a Licensed Saloon

DESCRIPTION: "Where is my wandering boy tonight? Down in a licensed saloon. Down in a room all cozy and bright, Filled with the glare of many a light, Ruined and wrecked by the drink appetite..." The mother recalls the boy's youthful charms and regrets his downfall
AUTHOR: W.A. Williams
EARLIEST DATE: 1892 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: drink mother children
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 335, "Down in a Licensed Saloon" (1 text)
Roud #7807
NOTES: Published under the caption "An answer to, 'Where is My Wandering Boy To-night?'" - RBW
File: R335

Down in Arkansas

See Down in the Arkansas (File: R349)

Down in My Sally's Garden

DESCRIPTION: The thrush sings sweetly in Sally's garden. The singer recalls meeting her in the garden, and the time they fondly shared. In the end, "My heart became love-weary When I at last must go." "I left my Sally weeping Down by an ivied dell."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
SHenry H828, p. 286-287, "Down in My Sally's Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 124-125, (no title) (1 text, with at least the first verse being related to this)
DT, SALGARD2*
Roud #3819
NOTES: This may have influenced the Yeats poem, "Down by the Sally Garden," though that poem may also have been inspired by "You Rambling Boys of Pleasure." Or both may have played a part. - RBW
File: HHH828

Down in the Arkansas

DESCRIPTION: Odd snippets with the refrain "Down in the Arkan (x2) Down in the Arkansas. The sweetest girl I ever saw Was down in the Arkansas." Example: "I had a cow that slobbered bad... Asked (the doctor) what to do for it. He said to teach that cow to spit."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1921 (recording, Myers & Hanford)
KEYWORDS: humorous animal courting
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 349, "Down in Arkansas" (2 texts)
Roud #7626
RECORDINGS:
Bill Cox, "Down in Arkansas" (Supertone 9714, 1930)
Golden Melody Boys, "Way Down in Arkansas" (Paramount 3087, 1928; Broadway 8134, n.d.)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Down in Arkansas" (Vocalion 15034, 1925)
[Pee Wee] Myers and [Ford] Hanford, "Down in Arkansaw" (Victor 18767, 1921)
Pickard Family, "Down in Arkansas" (Brunswick 348/Conqueror 7251, 1929; Banner S-6283/Challeng 993/QRS 9002, c. 1929; rec. 1928)
Riley Puckett, "Down in Arkansas" (Columbia 15139-D, 1927; rec. 1926)
Reaves White County Ramblers, "Down in Arkansas" (Vocalion 5224, 1928)
Almeda Riddle, "Down in Arkansas" (on LomaxCD1707)
Art Thieme, "Down in the Arkansas" (on Thieme04)
File: R349

Down in the Coal Mine

DESCRIPTION: The miner sings, "I am a jovial collier lad, as blythe as blythe can be / And let the times be good or bad, it's all the same to me...." He describes his dark and dirty life and his lack of culture, but points out how all are dependent on him.
AUTHOR: J. B. Geoghegan (or "Geehagen")
EARLIEST DATE: 1872
KEYWORDS: mining nonballad work
FOUND IN: US(MA) Britain
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Warner 26, "Down in the Coal Mine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 128-129, "Down in the Coalmine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 171-172, "Down in a Coal Mine" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DOWNCOAL
Roud #3502
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go)" (part of tune)
File: Wa026

Down in the Diving Bell (The Mermaid (II))

DESCRIPTION: Singer, a sailor, sees amazing sights while down in the diving bell (including the Atlantic Cable used as a clothesline). He courts and marries a mermaid and they live happily, if wetly, ever after
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (Broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(965))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage wedding sea humorous sailor mermaid/man
FOUND IN: US(MW)
Roud #5013
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "The Mermaid (Down in the Diving Bell)" (AFS 4199 A2, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(965), "Down in the Diving Bell," J. Harkness (Preston) , 1840-1866
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mermaid" (subject matter)
cf. "The Merman (Pretty Fair Maid with a Tail)" [Laws K24] (plot)
cf. "Married to a Mermaid" (theme of marrying a mermaid)
NOTES: I call this "Down in the Diving Bell" to differentiate it from "The Mermaid", and because it seems to have entered tradition under that title. The origin is almost certainly music-hall or vaudeville. - PJS
Bodleian Harding B 11(965) has no reference to the Atlantic cable (which would have set an early date of 1865; an article on the diving bell was printed in 1771 in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (source: The History of the Diving Bell by Arthur J Bachrach, Ph.D. on the Historical Diving Society site.)) - BS
File: RcDitDB

Down in the Lehigh Valley

See The Lehigh Valley (File: EM198)

Down in the lowlands a poor girl did wander

See The Fisherman's Girl (File: E066)

Down in the Meadow (Down in the Valley II)

DESCRIPTION: Singing game/skipping rhyme "Down in the (meadow/valley) where the green grass grows," a girl shines like a rose (or hangs out her clothes). She and a young man court (and marry)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1575, "Down in Yon Meadow" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 59, "Skipping (Down in the Valley)" (1 text)
Roud #12967
File: SNR059

Down in the Place Where I Come From

DESCRIPTION: "Down in de place where I come from, Dey feed dose coons on hard-parched cawn, Dey swell up an' dey get so far Day dey couldn't get deir heads in a Number Ten hat."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: animal food clothes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 284, (no title) (1 fragment)
NOTES: Anyone who has had to deal with an urban raccoon will know how true this is; trash is so abundant and convenient that the critters tend to take over yards and even houses. It's also reported that many of them are ending up with severe dental problems.... - RBW
File: ScNF284A

Down in the Town of Old Bantry (The Black and Tan Gun)

DESCRIPTION: An Irish soldier is dying in Bantry "shot by a Black-and-Tan gun" He asks his comrades to bury him "out on the mountain Where I can see where the battle was won" They bury him, return to Dublin "with our victories over and won."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (recording, Tommy McGrath)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion Civilwar IRA dying soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1920-1921 - The Black and Tan War
FOUND IN: Ireland
ST RcBlTaGu (Full)
Roud #12938
RECORDINGS:
Tommy McGrath, "Down in the Town of Old Bantry" (on Voice08)
NOTES: The "Black and Tans" were British reinforcements to regular British soldiers sent to Ireland in 1920. (source: Michael Collins: A Man Against an Empire copyright by and available on the History Net site) For more information see RBW note for "The Bold Black and Tan" - BS
Although details in the song are lacking, its setting in Bantry is quite reasonable; the south of Ireland was noteworthy for the fury of the contest with the English, with Cork being probably the single most active IRA center. Robert Kee, in Ourselves Alove, being volume III of The Green Flag, devotes pp. 102-103 to the atrocities committed by both side in Bantry.
The sad irony is that, once the Irish fought off the British, and achieved the Free State (see the notes to "The Irish Free State"), they proceeded to have a civil war (see "General Michael Collins"). That by implication dates this song to 1921 or 1922, before it became clear that the "victory" of the Black and Tan war just led to more violence. Of course, many Irish songwriters have tended to write about their successes and ignore the subsequent failures. - RBW
File: RcBlTaGu

Down in the Tules

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, down in the tules, a-wranglin' around, I'd give a month's pay just to be in town." A cowboy complains about his hard work. He goes into town and parties, concluding "Saturday night's over, it's back to the hills;" partied out, he wants to go home
AUTHOR: Jim McElroy
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: cowboy work home party
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 73, "Down in the Tules" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "Tules," Ohrlin explains, are the reed grasses that grow by bodies of water. This gives rise to the secondary meaning "boondocks, outskirts." - RBW
File: Ohr073

Down in the Valley

DESCRIPTION: "Down in the valley, valley so low, Hang your head over, hear the wind blow." The singer tells of his deep, unrequited love for (his/her) sweetheart. (He) bids farewell: "If you don't love me, love whom you please." (He says to write to Birmingham Jail.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation prison lyric
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Belden, p. 488, "Down in the Valley"; pp. 488-489, "Bird in a Cage" (2 texts)
Randolph 772, "Down in the Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 281, "Down in the Valley (Birmingham Jail)" (1 text plus a fragment); also probably 282, "I Sent My Love a Letter" (3 texts, of which "A" is likely to be this piece and "C" is a mess with some "Down in the Valley" verses and others about Lulu, though it's not clear which Lulu; "B" is "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)")
Fuson, p. 142, "Bird in the Cage" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 179, "Down in the Valley" (1 text)
Sandburg, p. 148, "Down in the Valley"; 213, "Bird in a Cage" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax-FSUSA 19, "Down in the Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 147-149, "Down in the Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 150, "Down in the Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 58, "Down in the Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 902-903, "Down in the Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 33, "Down In The Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 290, "Down in the Valley" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 150, "Down In The Valley" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 201-202, "Down in the Valley"
DT, DOWNVALY*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 212, (no title) (1 fragment)
Roud #943
RECORDINGS:
[Tom] Darby & [Jimmie] Tarlton, "Birmingham Jail" (Columbia 15212-D, 1927)
Ezra Hill & Henry Johnson, "Birmingham Jail" (Challenge 15750, 1929)
Frank Proffitt, "Down in the Valley" (on Proffitt03)
Riley Puckett, "Down in the Valley" (Regal Zonophone [Australia] G22464, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "Down in the Valley" (on LonesomeValley) (on PeteSeeger17)
Unidentified group of singers, "Down in the Valley" (on JThomas01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Charlotte the Harlot (III)" (tune)
cf. "Bull Connor's Jail" (tune)
cf. "The Stolen Bride" (tune)
cf. "Billy My Darling" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Hang Your Head Over (Suck Your Big Toe) (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 110)
Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton, "Birmingham Jail - No. 2" (Columbia 15375-D, 1929; rec. 1928); "New Birmingham Jail" (Columbia 15629-D, 1930 -- note that two different takes were issued under this record number)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Birmingham Jail
NOTES: "Birmingham Jail" (sometimes credited to E.V. Body) is considered by some a separate song, but it can hardly be distinguished from "Down in the Valley." The same can be said of Sandburg's and Belden's "Bird in a Cage" texts; it lacks the "Down in the Valley" stanza, but the other verses are common. - RBW
This song is often called "Birmingham Jail," particularly on early recordings; there is also, however, another song called "Birmingham Jail", which is part of the "Sweet Thing/Crawdad Hole" family, and no relation to this. - PJS
File: R772

Down in the Valley to Pray

DESCRIPTION: "As I went down in the valley to pray, Studying about the good old way (or: My soul got happy and I stayed all day)." "Oh, (sinners/mothers/fathers/brothers/sisters, etc.), let's go down, you better go down, Down in the valley to pray."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 553, "As I Went Down in the Valley to Pray" (3 short texts with significant variations)
DT, DOWNVALL
Roud #4928
RECORDINGS:
Delta Big Four, "Moaner Let's Go Down in the Valley" (Paramount 13009, 1930; on VocalQ2)
Price Family Sacred Singers, "I Went Down Into the Valley to Pray" (OKeh 40796, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Can't Cross Jordan"
cf. "The Good Old Way (II)" (lyrics)
NOTES: This song shares many lines with "The Good Old Way (II)," and given how short some of Brown's fragments are, they may file there. Indeed, some might argue for lumping them -- but the forms appear distinct to me. - RBW
File: Br3553

Down in the Willow Garden

See Rose Connoley [Laws F6] (File: LF06)

Down in Yon Forest

See The Corpus Christi Carol (File: L691)

Down in Yon Valley

See The Nobleman's Wedding (The Faultless Bride; The Love Token) [Laws P31] (File: LP31)

Down In Yonder Valley

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

Down On Me

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses: "Down on me, down on me..." "I wonder what Satan is growling about..." "Mind my mother how you walk on the cross..." "Satan's mad and I'm so glad..." Refrain: "...Seems like everybody in this whole wide world is down on me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (recording, Dock Reed)
KEYWORDS: floatingverses nonballad religious Devil
FOUND IN: US(SE)
Roud #12256
RECORDINGS:
Mary Pinckney, "Down on Me" (on BeenStorm1)
Dock Reed, "Down on Me" (AFS 4058 A1, 1940; on LC10)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "That's All Right" (floating verses)
File: RcDoOnMe

Down on Penney's Farm

See Down on Penny's Farm (File: LoF147)

Down on Penny's Farm

DESCRIPTION: "Hard times in the country, Down on Penny's farm." The renters are subjected to dreadful conditions: Bad land, houses with "no windows but the cracks in the wall," low income, high expenses -- and a threat of going on the chain gang for debt
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recording, Bently Boys)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes work farming poverty landlord nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 147, "Down on Penney's Farm" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 362, "Down on Penny's Farm" (1 text)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 66 "Down on Penny's Farm" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 216-217, "Down on Roberts' Farm" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 119, "Robert's Farm" (1 text)
Roud #6687
RECORDINGS:
Bently Boys, "Down on Penny's Farm" (Columbia 15565-D, 1930; rec. 1929; on AAFM1, HardTimes1)
Pete Seeger, "Penny's Farm" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
On Tanner's Farm
NOTES: Bascom Lamar Lunsford has the "Roberts' Farm" version from a Claude Reeves of North Carolina, who claimed to have written it around 1935. It would seem, however, that this was only a local adaption. - RBW
Bob Dylan wrote a parody/pastiche of this song entitled "New York Town". -PJS
And, of course, Gid Tanner produced a version about his own farm! - RBW
File: LoF147

Down on Roberts' Farm

See Down on Penny's Farm (File: LoF147)

Down on Tanner' Farm

See Down on Penny's Farm (File: LoF147)

Down on the Banks of the Ohio

See Banks of the Ohio [Laws F5]
(File: LF05)

Down on the Farm (I)

DESCRIPTION: Susie Slick and Tommy lay on the grass, where she wiggles her ---, as in all such teasing songs.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 216-221, "Down on the Farm" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Teasing Songs" (specifically "Suzanne Was a Lady," "The Ship's in the Harbor," "There Once Was a Farmer," "Two Irishmen, Two Irishmen")
cf. "Butcher Town"
File: RL216

Down on the Farm (II)

DESCRIPTION: "When a boy I used to dwell in a home I loved so well, Far away among the clover and the bees." The singer describes the happy life on the farm, the family among whom he worked -- and the changes since his "boyhood's happy days down on the farm."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: farming family father mother home death separation return
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 210, "Down on the Farm" (1 text plus mention of 3 more; also a text of "Down on the Farm (III)")
Roud #4375
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee" (theme)
File: Br3210

Down on the Farm (III)

DESCRIPTION: "Down on the farm 'bout half past four, I slip on my pants and sneak out the door" to start the long, hard rounds of farm life. He notes that, despite great labors, he has "less cash now than I had last spring." Farm life proves the existence of hell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: farming work hardtimes poverty
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 210, "Down on the Farm" (The "E" text is this, appended to "Down on the Farm (II)")
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Farmer Is the Man" (theme)
cf. "The Humble Farmer" (theme)
NOTES: The notes in Brown imply that this is a parody of "Down on the Farm (II)." It may perhaps be an answer to that song, but it does not appear to be direct parody; the lyrics are not related and the stanza form different. - RBW
File: Br3210A

Down on the Pichelo Farm

DESCRIPTION: "I got a gal named Dinah, The people cain't out-shine her, And I'll take a kiss if I find her
Down on the Pichelo farm." "Her father's name was Moses, Her shoes was out at the toeses... Down on the Pichelo farm." "An a rig jag jig jag jig jag (x3)..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty farming
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 572, "Down on the Pichelo Farm" (1 text)
Roud #7662
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)" (floating lyrics)
File: R572

Down on Your Knees

DESCRIPTION: Thomas Fitzgerald enters hell. He is accused: "While on earth your shortlived reign All your delights were torture's dreadful pain." Lucifer prepares him for sentence: "Down on your knees." He is sentenced to eternal pain
AUTHOR: Bernard Wright (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1981 (O hOgain's _Duanaire Thiobraid Arainn_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: punishment death Devil judge
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 98, "Down on Your Knees" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Moylan: Thomas Judkin Fitzgerald was High Sheriff for County Tipperary in 1798. "He would have people seized on the street, and, ignoring all and any protestations or proof of innocence, would have them savagely flogged.... Bernard Wright of Clonmel, commemorated his experiences in this acrostic piece of verse upon reading of Fitzgerald's death. Fitzgerald's words to Wright -- 'Down on your knees, rebellious scoundrel, and receive your sentence' -- are the reason for the title." - BS
Thomas Pakenham gives a generally pro-British history of 1798 in The Year of Liberty, but on p. 283, he gives this description of Fitzgerald, a later-day Judge Jeffries: "At his trial in 1799 [for his brutality] Fitzgerald was to claim that only by 'cutting off their heads' could some people be made to talk. There was laughter in the court. The terrible thing was that Fitzgerald was not joking. His judicial policy, as summed up by the judge in his own case, reads like a speech of the Red Queen's: sentence first, then execution, then trial." (Pakenham's refence is actually to the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, the chapter "Alice's Evidence": "Sentence first -- verdict afterward." Not that it matters who said it. What matters is who practiced it.) - RBW
File: Moyl098

Down the Line

See Plumb the Line (File: JDM218)

Down the Moor

See Heather Down the Moor (Among the Heather; Down the Moor) (File: HHH177)

Down the River

DESCRIPTION: Recognized by the chorus, "Down the river, down the river, Down the (river to the) Ohio." The full version tells of the river ("Oh the river is up and the channel is deep") and the crew of the boat working on it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Wolford)
KEYWORDS: river playparty work
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 592, "Down the River" (1 text)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 564, "Down the River" (2 texts, 1 tune)
MWheeler, p. 38, "Down the Rivuh, Down, Boys" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment which might or might not go with this song)
DT, DOWNRIVR* DOWNRIV2*
Roud #7677
NOTES: The playparty version of this piece simplifies the story immensely. Randolph, for instance, has a text which runs simply
Bridges all out and the water mighty deep,
Down the river we all got to go,
Bridges all out and the water mighty deep,
Down the river to the Ohio.
Down the river, down the river,
Down the river we all got to go
Down the river, down the river,
Down the river to the Ohio. - RBW
File: R592

Down the Road (I)

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, usually not terribly cohesive. Various choruses: "Down the road, down the road/I've got a sugar baby down the road"; "Bound to go, bound to go/Over the road I'm bound to go"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: love humorous nonballad nonsense floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE,Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 208-209, "Over the Road I'm Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, "Down the Road" (Mercury 6211, 1949)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Down the Road" (AAFS 1802 A1, 1935)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Over the Road I'm Bound to Go" (Brunswick 329, 1929)
Sonny Osborne, "Down the Road" (Kentucky 564, n.d.)
Marion Rees, "Down the Road" (AAFS 837 B3, 1936)
Doc Watson & Gaither Carlton, "Down the Road" (on Watson01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Letter from Down the Road"
cf. "On the Road Again"
cf. "Kassie Jones" (Furry Lewis's version)
cf. "Ida Red" (tune)
NOTES: Even for Uncle Dave, these words are incoherent. And -- hot dog! -- that's saying something. -PJS
File: CSW208

Down the Road (II)

DESCRIPTION: Singer races his pony Polly for 60 pounds and beats Jones's cob. Jones proposes a rematch and Polly wins again. Soon after this Polly dies and is buried after a sad funeral procession.
AUTHOR: Fred Gilbert (source: Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 7" - 1.3.03)
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (Recorded by Gus Elen, according to Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 7" - 1.3.03)
KEYWORDS: burial death funeral racing horse
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West))
Roud #15128
RECORDINGS:
Fred Jordan, "Down the Road" (on Voice07)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Creeping Jane" [Laws Q23] (theme)
File: RcDowRd2

Down Went McGinty

DESCRIPTION: McGinty bet that McCann could not carry him up a wall. McGinty was right, and "Down went McGinty to the bottom of the wall And though he won the five, He was more dead than alive." McGinty's adventures lead to more falls, prison, death, etc.
AUTHOR: Joseph Flynn
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Geller)
KEYWORDS: gambling humorous injury prison children party death ghost
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 134-136, "Down Went McGinty" (1 text, partial tune)
Geller-Famous, pp. 120-123, "Down Went McGnty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 235-237, "Down Went McGinty" (1 text)
DT, DWNMGNTY*
Roud #4870
File: SRW134

Down, Derry Down

See The Cricket and Crab-louse (Down Derry Down) (File: Logs056)

Down, Down Derry Down

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

Down, Down, Down

DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the conditions at the Oak Hill mine "that goes down, down, down." He was warned against the mine, but took a job anyway; now he complains of the wet, and the work, and the poor pay
AUTHOR: William Keating?
EARLIEST DATE: 1947
KEYWORDS: mining work hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 56, "Down, Down, Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 867-873, "Down, Down, Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DOWNDOWN*
Roud #4758
File: LxU056

Downey's Our Member

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Now Downey's our member you all understand, So beware of the boar, the bull and the ram." The government does nothing. The worthless and crooked politicians are named.
AUTHOR: Leonard Hulan
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: moniker political
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 779-780, "Downey's Our Member" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9812
NOTES: Peacock gives no date for this song except to say that "the events described in this political ballad have long since ceased to be controversial." The animal symbolism, if that what it is, escapes me; one verse is "The next thing we heard of out here on the coast Some kind of a bull with a ring through its nose, And then a boar pig and a certified ram, And a spring fitted harrow to tear up your land." - BS
File: Pea779

Downfall of Heresy, The

DESCRIPTION: Gladstone, supported by the Queen, has undone Cromwell's proclaimed Church. Salvation comes only through the true Church and not "where every man could preach" following Luther. "The Parson now must emigrate And leave his handsome dwelling place"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 19C (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(128))
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 26, 1869 - Irish Church Disestablishment Act
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann, p. 99, "A New Song on the Downfall of Heresy" (1 fragment)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(128), "A New Song on The Downfall of Heresy" ("Good people all attention pay"), P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Let Recreant Rulers Pause" (subject)
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 99: "We find many allusions to the 'Wheel of Fortune', an image of the precariousness of things in life..... It provided the Irish ballad-writers with a refrain suggesting the idea of revolutionary changes" and Zimmermann quotes part of a chorus slightly different from the one found here. The Bodleian version is
The lofty wheel is moving round
The side that's up is getting down
A rotten Creed can not be sound
When lost is the foundation
Zimmermann p. 99 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian 2806 b.9(128) is the basis for the description.
Gladstone drafted the Irish Church Disestablishment Act and Queen Victoria intervened in its behalf. The act "ends the legal link between Church and state in Ireland, abolishes the tithe and ecclesiastical courts.... It confiscates the Church's property...." (Source: "26 July 1869 Irish Church Disestablishment Act" on the Channel4.com site) - BS
By 1869, Catholics no longer suffered significant legal discrimination in Ireland (they could own property, join parliament, etc.) -- except in one regard. They still paid tithes to the Anglican church. Not directly -- the Tithe War had taken care of that (see, e.g., "The Battle of Carrickshock"). But landlords were still required to come up with the money. This particular rule was still around mostly because the tithes had supported many otherwise-useless clergy members. The Disestablishment Act did its best to phase them out.
This sounds minor today. It was not minor at the time. Even if you ignore the predictable sectarian complaints, the Protestant Ascendency was written into the Act of Union. British law has a great deal of respect for precedent; this was more like Americans amending the constitution than simply passing a law.
The irony, of course, is that the act, as it gave greater rights to the majority of the Irish, created grievances among the Protestants. Which would cause trouble later on, since the Protestants no more wanted to be ruled by Catholics than the Catholics wanted to be ruled by Protestants.
We should note incidentally that Queen Victoria was not particularly fond of disestablishing the Church -- though that may be because the proposal came from Gladstone, whom she disliked and strongly disagreed with.
She of course was not the only one. For an example of the Irish Protestant reaction, see "Let Recreant Rulers Pause."
The crack about "rotten Creeds" strikes me as ironic coming from Catholics. The two most important creeds of the Western church are the Nicene Creed (which was actually finalized at the Council of Chalcedon) and the Apostles' Creed (which is not apostolic). The Nicene Creed is of course the most important of all, since it defines the relationship between the persons of the Trinity, and is thus the key to excluding the myriad heresies of Arianism, Docetism,, and Monophysitism.
And the Catholics have altered the Creed. As originally adopted, it read that the Holy Spirit "proceeded" (in Latin, procedit) from the Father (Bettenson, pp. 25-26). Period. End of story.
In the Catholic church, the Latin word "filoque," "and the Son," has been added, so that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father AND THE SON (Clifton, p. 103). This "filoque clause" is generally said to have been inserted in the creed by a council at Toledo in 589 (Christie-Murray, p. 97).
Since no one really claims to know what it means for the Holy Spirit to "proceed" from the Father, or from the Father and the Son (none of this has any basis in the Bible, and the Council of Nicaea was trying to find a formula which would be somewhat vague and so avoid causing fights; Christie-Murray, p. 48), it is obviously possible to argue for either position. But the version without "filoque" was agreed by the entire church, Catholic and Orthodox both. It was the Catholics, and they alone, who changed it -- one of the myriad reasons why the Catholic and Orthodox churches cannot heal their schism, now almost a millenium old. And, of course, Catholic theology gives them the right to change the result of a church council at any time. But any external observer would have to say that it is the Catholics who had corrupted the Nicene Creed. - RBW
Bibliography

Bettenson: Henry Bettenson, editor, Documents of the Christian Church, 1943, 1963 (I use the 1967 Oxford paperback edition)
Christie-Murray: David Christie-Murray, A History of Heresy, Oxford, 1976
Clifton: Chas S. Clifton, Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics, 1992 (I use the 1998 Barnes & Noble edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: BrdDownH

Downfall of Piracy, The

See Teach the Rover (File: PBB078)

Downfall of Trade, The

DESCRIPTION: In 1793 "weaving went well." When war broke out, "our Trade it grew low." Weavers and spinners "their loyalty show" by joining the marines. "If weaving and spinning should totally stop" banks and trades will fail and "the whole Nation will instantly drop"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1980 (Elbourne); c.1805 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(2016))
KEYWORDS: marines war commerce weaving hardtimes nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Roger Elbourne, Music and Tradition in Early Industrial Lancashire 1780-1840 (Totowa, 1980), pp. 78, 139-140, "The Weavers' Garland" or "The Downfal of Trade"
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2016), "The Weavers' Garland" or "The Downfal of Trade" ("You weavers of England I pray now attend"), R. and W. Dean and Co. (Manchester), c.1805
NOTES: The broadside tells "tradesmen of Bolton you need not to fear, The strength of Tom Paine, nor great [French general] Dumourier." But Dumourier deserted the French Republican Army in April 1793 [see, for example, Thomas Clio Rickman, Life of Thomas Paine (1819) at Positive Atheism site], the opening year of the broadside. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Elb139

Downward Road, The

DESCRIPTION: "Well, brother, the downward road is crowded... with unbelieving souls." The song lists various endangered sinners and their fated condemnation. "When I was a sinner, I loved my distance well, But when I come to find myself I was hangin' over Hell."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: religious Hell warning nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-FSNA 256, "The Downward Road" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11945
File: LoF256

Dr. Till of Somerset

DESCRIPTION: "We took a trip to Somerset not very long ago.... Our health it was so poorly, We thought that we would try That doctor there at Somerset For he was all the cry." Doctor Till can cure cancer without a knife; his treatments are worth a "California mine."
AUTHOR: Words: D. Adams / Music: W. Broughton
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Wyman); reportedly written 1907
KEYWORDS: doctor disease
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Walker D. Wyman, _Wisconsin Folklore_, University of Wisconsin Extension (?), 1979, pp. 35-36, "Dr. Till" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: I know of no real evidence that this song was traditional, but it was written by folk for folk, and managed to be remembered after some seventy years, so I've included it.
John Till, according to Wyman, was born in Austria and came to Wisconsin as a lumberjack. He apparently had only two remedies, an ointment and a plaster, which he used for everything. He did not call himself a doctor, and did not charge directly for his remedies (though he accepted donations). But enough people swore by his cures that this song was written -- and enough people called him a quack that a newspaper wrote an expose and he ended up in prison, going back to Austria in 1922 (though he came back to the United States late in life, dying in Kiel, Wisconsin in 1922).
Frankly, his cures sound more frightening that death to me. But what do I know about truth -- I actually believe that facts actually mean something.
Somerset, Wisconsin is a small town not far from the Minnesota border. It's about 15 miles northeast of Stillwater, the town in which the anti-Till article was published in 1907. - RBW
File: WyWF046

Draftee's Blues

See I Got My Questionnairy (File: CNFM137)

Dragoon and the Lady, The

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

Dramdrinker, The

DESCRIPTION: "Good morning, Mr. Dramdrinker. How do you do? How have you been since I parted from you? How did you come by the bruise on your head...?" The singer had fanily, fortune, friends; all are now lost to drink
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: drink death family poverty abandonment
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, pp. 470-471, "The Dramdrinker" (1 text)
Roud #7831
File: Beld470

Drap o' Cappie O, The

DESCRIPTION: Tammie Lammie's wife likes ale. She asks him to share a dram. When she reproves him for his drink he packs her in a sack and dunks her by the turning mill wheel. She fears for her life. She lives happily afterwards but never asks for another drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1894 (Murison collection, according to Lyle, _Fairies and Folk_)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous husband wife drowning river abuse
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #177, p. 1, "The Drap o' Cappie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 582, "The Drap o' Cappie O" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #5893
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Tammie Lammie
File: GrD3582

Draw a Bucket of Water

DESCRIPTION: "Draw a (bucket/pail) of water For my lady's daughter; My father's a king and my mother's a queen, My two little sisters are dress'd in green... Pray thee, fine lady, come under my bush."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: playparty royalty
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1610, "Buckets of Water" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #652, p. 259, "(Draw a pail of water)"
Roud #11635
File: BGMG652

Dreadful Ghost, The

See The Sailor and the Ghost [Laws P34A/B] (File: LP34)

Dreadful Massacre of Sixmilebridge, The

DESCRIPTION: "Upon the 21st day of July, Those fine young youths were compell'd to die, In Sixmilebridge, in the County Clare, To see the elections was what brought them there." An Orange troop attacked the crowd with musket and bayonet.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1852 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: violence murder Ireland lament political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 21, 1852 - "Seven people were killed in an election riot at Sixmilebridge" (source: Zimmermann)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 62, "A Lament Written on the Dreadful Massacre of Sixmilebridge" (1 text)
NOTES: Zimmermann: "Several soldiers were found guilty of wilful murder." - BS
File: Zimm062

Dreadnaught, The

See The Dreadnought [Laws D13] (File: LD13)

Dreadnought, The [Laws D13]

DESCRIPTION: A song describing a run on the "Dreadnaught" from Liverpool to New York. Other than a concluding wish for captain and crew, most of the song is a catalog of places the ship visits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909
KEYWORDS: sea travel ship shanty sailor
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1853- Launch of the Dreadnought, the most famous of the transatlantic packets
1869 - Wreck of the Dreadnought
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Ont) Ireland
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Laws D13, "The Dreadnaught"
Rickaby 42, "The Clipper Ship Dreadnaught" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 58-59, "The Clipper Ship Dreadnaught" (1 text)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 97-98, "The Dreadnaught" (1 text, 1 tune, followed by several derived songs)
Doerflinger, pp. 126-128, "The Dreadnought" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 170-171, "The Dreadnaught" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 101-103, "Cruise of the Dreadnaught" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 122-123, "Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well" (1 text, version D of "Homeward Bound") [AbEd, p. 106]; pp. 464-469, "The Flash Frigate," "The Dreadnaught," "The Liverpool Packet" (5 texts, 4 tunes and several fragments) [AbEd, pp. 344-348]; p. 124, "Goodbye, Fare-Ye-Well" (the "d" text is "The Dreadnought" with a "Homeward Bound" chorus) [AbEd, p. 106]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 102-104, "The Dreadnought" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H194, pp. 99-100, "The Zared" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 227-229, "The Banks of Newfoundland" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 140-141, "Banks of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 19, "Liverpool Packet" (1 text)
DT 614, DREDNGHT*
Roud #924
RECORDINGS:
Stanley Baby, "The 'Dreadnaught'" (on GreatLakes1)
Bill Barber & Cadgwith fishermen, "The Liverpool Packet" (on LastDays)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Londonderry Love Song" (the ship Zared is mentioned in that song and some versions of this)
cf. "The Flash Frigate (La Pique)" (tune)
cf. "Yankee Tars" (tune)
cf. "The Schooner John Bentely" (form)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bound Away
NOTES: The Dreadnought, one of the best-known of the packets, was launched in 1853 and wrecked off Cape Horn in 1869. It should not be confused with the battleship (launched in 1905) which started the "Dreadnaught Revolution" and a pre-World-War-I arms race.
Huntington, in the notes to this song in SHenry, writes, "Perhaps Laws is correct in including 'The Dreadnaught' as American; however, it derives from a broadside ballad about a British naval vessel, 'La Pique.'"
That "The Dreadnought" and "The Flash Frigate (La Pique)" share a tune is undeniable, and La Pique was the earlier ship. I'm not sure that absolutely proves that "The Flash Frigate" is older, though.
There is some confusion about the spelling of the ship's name. Laws called it the Dreadnaught, and earlier editions of the Index followed him because, well, I didn't notice. Every reference I have checked, however, gives the title of the ship involved (as well as the later battleship) as Dreadnought (with an o rather than an a).
Incidentally, Dreadnought had about as interesting a career as a ship on the Liverpool/New York run could have. Howe/Matthews, vetween pp. 160 and 161, reproduces two paintings of the ship. It calls her a "medium clipper" (i.e. designed with capacity as well as speed in mind), built by the Massachusetts firm of Currier & Townsend (Howe/Matthews, p. 139). She originally sailed for the Red Cross line (Howe/Matthews, p. 140).
Her first captain was Samuel Samuels, who declared, "She was built for hard usage and to make a reputation for herself and me and I intended that she should do her duty, or that we both should sink" (Howe/Matthews, p. 140). Paine, p. 150, reports that his attitude caused her to be called "The Flying Dutchman" and "The Wild Boat of the Atlantic." Samuels stayed with her for nine years, despite the fact that she broke her rudder on two voyages and he himself suffered a compound leg fracture and was nearly swept away on one voyage.
She was a very profitable ship; Brinnin, p. 10, reports that she is said to have cleared $40,000. But, after a decade on the North Atlantic route, she was shifted to the San Francisco run; in 1869, she was wrecked off Tiera del Fuego (Paine, p. 40).
She was not especially fast; it generally took her nearly two weeks to cross the Atlantic eastbound, and three weeks to cross westbound, despite Captain Samuels and his tendency to keep a lot of sails up even in heavy weather. Nonetheless, Captain Samuels once challenged the famous Great Eastern to a race (Hoehling, pp. 41-42. The Great Eastern won the race -- but the Dreadnought had the last laugh; she made money, and carried plenty of passengers, whereas the Great Eastern was a white elephant that bankrupted various owners and only once managed to fill even 65% of her passenger space. - RBW
Bibliography

Brinnin: John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic (1986; I use the 2000 Barnes & Noble edition).
Hoehling: A. A. Hoehling, Shipts That Changed History, 1992 (I use the 2007 Barnes & Noble edition)
Howe/Matthews: Octavius T. Howe and Frederick G. Matthews, American Clipper Ships 1833-1858 (Volume I), 1926 (I use the 1986 Dover paperback reprint)
Paine: Lincoln P. Paine, Ships of the World, Houghton Mifflin, 1997

Last updated in version 2.5
File: LD13

Dream of Dolly's Brae, A

DESCRIPTION: The singer dreams of a July 12, 1849 ambush led by Priest Morgan against "all those heretics who dare to cross the Brae." Orangemen assemble, led by William Beers, and cheer the Queen and their leaders. On meeting gunfire, the Catholics retreat.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Hayward-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: violence Ireland political dream clergy
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 12, 1848 - Catholics occupy Dolly's Brae, County Down, and divert an Orangemen's march.
July 12, 1849 - Catholics occupy Dolly's Brae but the Orangemen would not be diverted. At least thirty Catholics are killed in the fight. No Orangemen are hit. (source: Zimmermann)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 124-126, "A Dream of Dolly's Brae" (1 text)
Roud #6545
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dolly's Brae (I)" (subject) and references there
NOTES: For background on Dolly's Brae, and other songs on party fights, see the notes to "Dolly's Brae (I)." - (RBW, BS)
File: HayU124

Dream of General T. F. Burke, A

See Burke's Dream [Laws J16] (File: LJ16)

Dream of the Miner's Child, The

DESCRIPTION: "A miner was leaving his home for his work When he heard his little child scream." She had dreamt of his death in the mines, and begs him not to go to work that day. But he must go to work. (In some versions the song ends with a mining disaster)
AUTHOR: Andrew Jenkins?
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Randolph); for "Don't Go Down in the Mine, Dad" the earliest date is 1910 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: father work mining children dream disaster death
FOUND IN: US(So) Australia
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Green-Miner, p. 113-115, "Dream of the Miner's Child" (2 texts, 1 tune, plus a text of "Don't Go Down in the Mine, Dad")
Randolph 859, "The Dream of the Miner's Child" (1 text)
Shellans, pp. 64-65, "The Miner Child's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 141-142, "The Dream of the Miner's Child" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 131-134, "The Miner" (1 text, collected as a conflation of "The Miner" and "The Dream of the Miner's Child")
DT, MINERCHD*
Roud #2334
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Dream of the Miner's Child" (OKeh 40498, 1925) (Columbia 15046-D [as Al Craver], 1925) (Victor 19821, 1925) (Cameo 812/Lincoln 2429, 1925; Romeo 332, 1927) (Pathe 32150/Pathe 032150/Perfect 12229, 1925) (Edison 51649 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], 1925) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5085 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], 1925) (Gennett 3197, 1926; Challenge 505, 1927; Herwin 75502, n.d.; rec. 1925) (Banner 1672/Domino 3642/Oriole 545/Paramount 33176/Regal 9978, 1926; rec. 1925) (Vocalion 5086/Vocalion 15217, 1926)
Morris Brothers, "The Dream of the Miner's Child" (Bluebird B-8841, 1941)
Arnold Keith Storm, "The Dream of the Miner's Child" (on AKStorm01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Les Reeder" (theme)
cf. "Blockader Mama" (theme)
NOTES: How solid is the 1922 date from Randolph? The Vernon Dalhart recording, which became near-canonical, credited Andrew Jenkins as author, and it certainly has his style. Could he have taken bits from, "Don't Go Down in the Mine, Dad" and perhaps elsewhere, then built a new song from them? - PJS
I would add that I have a copy of the original sheet music, published in 1926 by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co and copyrighted by P. C. Brockman (who also owned the copyright, e.g., of "The Death of Floyd Collins," which is surely by Jenkins). This sheet music creadits the song to Jenkins (interestingly, it does not list an arranger for the piano accompaniment).
So I grant that this is a very interesting question. Randolph's text is certainly much like the standard version. The book assuredly prints a date of 1922. What's more, Randolph had two other pieces from the same informant, and both were dated 1922 also. So I cannot resolve the question. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R859

Dream, The

See The Labour Boroo (File: MorU025)

Dreary Black Hills, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives in the Black Hills to find "loafers and bummers" filling the streets of Cheyenne -- but there is no gold to be found. He misses his home, and warns others against going there; all they are doing is making the railroad speculators rich
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: gold hardtimes railroading
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1875 - Announcement that gold has been found in the Black Hills
FOUND IN: US(MA,Ro,So)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Belden, pp. 249-350, "The Dreary Black Hills" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Sandburg, pp. 264-265, "The Dreary Black Hills" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 176, "The Dreary Black Hills" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 438-440, "The Dreary Black Hills" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 24, "The Dreary Black Hills" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 87, pp. 185-186, "The Dreary Black Hills" (1 text)
Larkin, pp. 95-97, "Dreary Black Hills" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 59, "The Dreary Black Hills" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 478, "The Dreary Black Hills" (source notes only)
DT, DREARBLK*
Roud #3604
RECORDINGS:
Harry Stephens, "The Dreary Black Hills" (AFS, 1940s; on LC28)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Old Blue" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Captain Old Blue (File: PrivCOBl)
File: San264

Dreary Dream, The

See The Dowie Dens o Yarrow [Child 214] (File: C214)

Dreary Gallows, The

See Gallows [Laws L11] (File: LL11)

Dreary Life, The

See A Cowboy's Life (File: LoF187)

Dreary Weather

See Dark and Dreary Weather (File: R750)

Dredge from Presque Isle, The

DESCRIPTION: "The night was fair, the sky was clear, No ripple on the sea, When King came into the shop...." The sailor is told that the [Alanson] Sumner will sail for Presque Isle. The singer describes the cook and the trip and says he won't sail that trip again
AUTHOR: supposedly Thomas Peckham
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (collected from Ben Peckham by Walton)
KEYWORDS: sailor ship travel cook
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 107-109, "The Dredge from Presque Isle" (1 text)
NOTES: Although no tune is indicated for this, it looks to me as if it was meant to be sung to "The Rose of Allandale." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: WGM107

Drei Reiter Am Thor

DESCRIPTION: "Es ritten drei Reitter zum Tore hinaus, Ade! Fein's liebchen schaute zum Fenster heras, Ade!" Tune in 6/8. Translates roughly as "three riders from Tore" and seems to be an all purpose love song.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Baltzer's _Knurrhahn_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage love horse
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Colcord, p. 96, "Drei Reiter Am Thor" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Saltpeter Shanty (Slav Ho)" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Es ritten drei Reiter zum Tor hinaus
NOTES: Colcord says this is a German folksong dating from the 16th century. It was included in "Songs of American Sailormen" as an example of how its tune ended up being used for an entirely different English shanty, "Slav Ho!" I found another source which listed the title as "Es ritten drei Reiter zum Tor hinaus" and gave a date of 1777. - SL
File: Colc096

Drifting and Drifting

DESCRIPTION: "Well I'm drifting and drifting just like a ship out to sea (x2), Well I ain't got nobody in this whole world who cares for me." "Nobody wants me, nobody seems to care." "Gonna pack my suitcase, gonna move on down the line."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: loneliness nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, p. 132, (no title) (1 text); p. 165, (no title) (partial text)
File: CNFM132

Drihaureen O Mo Chree (Little Brother of My Heart)

DESCRIPTION: The singer's brother "is gone to the wars now proud England united with France" and is killed on the battlefield. "The dark narrow grave is the only sad refuge for me Since I lost my heart's darling, my driharin o mo croi"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1856 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(985))
KEYWORDS: grief loneliness war death brother
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 28, "Drihaureen O Mo Chree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 148-149, "Mo Drathereen O Mo Chroi" (1 text)
Roud #2360
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best, "Driharin O Mo Croi" (on NFABest01)
Brigid Tunney, "Dritherearin-o-Mo-Chroidhe" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
Paddy Tunney, "Drahaareen-O Mochree" (on IRPTunney02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(985), "Drecharian O'Machree," Wm. Wright (Birmingham), 1842-1855; also Firth b.25(126), Harding B 11(1963), "Drecharian O'Machree"; 2806 b.11(269), "Dechrarian O'Machree"; 2806 b.11(190), Firth c.26(199), "Dreearian O'Macree[!]"; 2806 b.9(264), 2806 c.15(199), Harding B 19(106), "Drah Harion O Machree"; Harding B 26(150), Harding B 26(149), 2806 c.8(120), "Drahareen O Ma Chree"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jimmy Mo Veela Stor" (tune according to OLochlainn-More, p. 207)
NOTES: NFABest01: Best says "As far as I can make out Driharin O Mo Chroi means 'little brother of my heart' in the Irish language. Tom [Antle] pronounced it 'Dreery o Machree.'" The broadside version's differences from Best's version are best illustrated by a LONG DESCRIPTION of the broadside:
"I am a young fellow that always lov'd rural sport" in Erin's towns and cities "until I was deprived of my Dreearian O'Machree." My brother was pressed and taken or killed in battle. We used to ramble and work together. Our father and mother are dead. I wish to be sent where my brother is and "like a true loyal brother I'd fight for him manfully Or die in the arms of my sweet Dreearian O'Machree."
The broadside ends with a riddle:
The name of a nymph that Jupiter did admire
The head and tail of a fowl you must inquire
The name of a beast exchang'd in a letter or three
Will tell you the name of my Drecharin O'Machree.
John Moulden -- researcher at the "Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change" at National University of Ireland, Galway
whose subject is "the printed ballad in Ireland" -- offers the following comment on riddles like this:
A riddling verse, indicating the name of the praiseworthy (usually female) person at the end of a love song, is a standard device in Irish sheet ballads. There is a fair number of such -- all are characteristically difficult of interpretation. However -- Jupiter's favoured nymphs can be discovered and it seems likely that this will provide a first name. The name of an animal with some letters shifted around will presumably give the surname.
Dr. Simon Furey (PhD in Folk music research, but not Irish -- from Sheffield University) illustrates an approach to solving the riddle [with my liberties taken in piecing together a number of messages and a contribution by Dr. Furey's wife]:
How about "John" for the first name? Io for the nymph and hen (h+n) for the fowl.
The only thing [for John's surname] I can think of is "Cow":
In the old children's game of cows and bulls (guessing letters or numbers, a bull is a letter/number correctly guessed in the correct position and a cow is a letter/number correctly guessed but in the wrong position); a cow was marked with an o and a bull with an x. At least it was when I played it at school in the 1950s in England, if memory serves.
So we have cow as a beast with one letter or three, and "Cow" is one spelling of an old Kilkenny name. The "beast exchanged" is a reference to Jack and the Beanstalk, where the cow was exchanged for beans. Which of course gives another possible link because of John=Jack.
So perhaps our mystery person is John Cow, aka Sean Cough.
John Moulden and Dr Furey are quoted [or their ideas mangled] with permission.
This may bear on dating the song: while Tunney-SongsThunder in 1991 has "He went to the war where proud England united with France," on IRPTunney02 in 1963 he has "He went to the wars to fight against England for France"; Brigid Tunney's version on IRTunneyFamily01 omits the verse altogether.
Considering the "England united with France" line in Best's version and the possible late date of 1855 for the broadside it is at least possible that this refers to the Crimean War. [Effectively certain, I would say; it's too early for World War I, and the Crimean War is the only other significant occasion on which they were allied. Unless Best's version was a Canadian World War I adaption; after all, the Canadians were fighting in France with the French and British. The text from IRPTunney02 sounds more like one of the Wild Geese, though, with the occasion perhaps being the War of the Spanish Succession. - RBW]
The spelling I am following for the NAME is from OLochlainn-More 28. That version, it is worth noting, follows the broadside but without the riddle.
For another name riddle see "The Belfast Beauty."
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Dearthairin O Mo Chroi" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) -BS
File: RcDOMCLB

Drill Ye Heroes, Drill!

DESCRIPTION: Working on the northern railroad the, crew proceeds from Gambo in the east, westward to the Hall's Bay Line, to Codroy on the west coast of Newfoundland. The crew are named.
AUTHOR: John Devine
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: railroading work moniker
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 781-782, "Drill Ye Heroes, Drill!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4436
RECORDINGS:
Ken Peacock, "Drill Ye Heroes, Drill!" (on NFKPeacock)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" (theme, tune and references there)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Drill ye Tarriers
NOTES: The song follows the workers along about 400 miles of the 550 mile length of the defunct Newfoundland railroad. The passage today would be closely approximated by driving Trans-Canada 1.
Certainly derivative of "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" both as to theme and tune though only a few lines are carried over. Ironically, one of the common lines is the "you're docked for the time you were in the sky" though the point is lost since the preceding explosion has been dropped. Further, the senses of hard times and of a tall tale have also been lost. - BS
File: Pea781

Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill

DESCRIPTION: Describing, in extravagant terms, the hard life of the (Irish) railroad workers -- subjected to long hours, blast, short pay (and that docked for any or no reason). And always the order comes again, "Drill, ye tarriers, drill!"
AUTHOR: words: Thomas Casey/music: Charles Connolly
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (play, "A Brass Monkey")
KEYWORDS: work railroading hardtimes talltale
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 553-559, "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Geller-Famous, pp. 14-18, "Drill Ye Tarriers, Drill!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 217, "Drill, Ye Tarriers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 112-113, "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 442, "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 43-44, "The Tarriers' Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 329, "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 130, "Drill Ye Tarriers, Drill" (1 text)
DT, DRILLTAR*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 30, #3 (1984), pp, 50-51, "Drill Ye Tarriers, Drill" (1 text, 1 tune, a Canadian version reportedly collected by Tim Rogers though no informant is listed)
Roud #4401 and 4436
RECORDINGS:
George J. Gaskin, "Drill Ye Tarriers Drill" (Berliner 064-1/Berliner [Canada] 4, 1899)
Chubby Parker, "Drill Ye Tarriers Drill" (Conqueror 7893, 1931)
Dan W. Quinn, "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill" (Victor 3155, c. 1901)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Drill Ye Heroes, Drill!" (tune)
NOTES: This is believed to have originated with an Irish comedy team, (Thomas F.) Casey and (Charles) Connelly, in the 1880s. It has gone almost verbatim into oral tradition; variations in the text are very few.
Very nearly the only exception to this uniformity is the Chubby Parker recording, which is longer than the popular version, and a genuine song about railroad life rather than a humorous item. Cohen, based on this and a few hints in nineteenth century writings, wonders if there may not have been some ancestral text in existence before 1888. If so, that version has been almost completely displaced by the Casey version.
I seem to recall, in my youth, a bunch of us understanding "tarriers" as "terriers," with resulting very odd notions of what the song was about. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LoF217

Drimindown

DESCRIPTION: "Bad luck to ye Drimon and why did you die?" I'd sooner have lost my son and hut. When I found her "I rolled and I bawled and my neighbors I called." "I thought my poor Drimindoon never would fail."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (Creighton-Maritime)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Macaronic w. Gaelic. An old man loses a cow but can't tell how; he laments that as he went to mass, he saw his cow, drimindown, sunk into (water, mire). He cries and raises the neighbors; after the cow sinks, she rises again "like a bunch of black wild berries". Ch.: "Ego so ro Drimindown ho ro ha/So ro Drimindown nealy you gra...."
KEYWORDS: death lament nonballad animal grief corpse drowning farming foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 176, "Drimindown" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Dibblee/Dibblee, p. 78, "Drimindown" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 19, "Drimmin Dubh Dheelish" (1 text)
Roud #2712
RECORDINGS:
Ernest Sellick, "Drimindown" (on MRHCreighton)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Maid on the Shore, The (The Fair Maid by the Sea Shore; The Sea Captain)" [Laws K27] (tune)
cf. "If It Wasn't For Dicky" (lyrics)
cf. "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" (lyrics)
cf. "The Barrymore Tithe Victory" (subject: cows, tithes, and the name Drimon).
NOTES: The description is based on Creighton-Maritime with help from the notes for Creighton/MacLeod 88(3) in Gaelic Songs in Nova Scotia. Creighton/MacLeod has three versions in English (two with chorus in Irish Gaelic).
Is this an allegory or really about a country-man's lament for the death of his cow? There are Jacobite songs in which a cow is named Drimin and denotes Ireland allegorically. H Halliday Sparling, in Irish Minstrelsy (1888), gives three examples of this in other songs:
"O Say, My Brown Drimin" by James Joseph Callanan, p. 309 [Also in Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry, pp. 183-184 -RBW];
"Drimin Dubh"--from Druim-fionn dubh dilis "dear black white-backed (cow)" by Samuel Ferguson, p. 148.
"Drimin Donn Dilis" by John Walsh, p. 203.
ibiblio site The Fiddler's Companion: DEAR BLACK COW [1] (Druimin Dubh). AKA and see "The Black Cow." Irish, Air (3/4 time). G Dorian. Standard. AAB. The words lament the loss of a cow, comparing it to the celebrated mythological Irish cow which could never be fully milked. In Bunting's 1840 collection he gives a few verses of a political song in which "the black cow" serves as a "very whimsical metaphor, the cause of the exiled monarch." [I must admit, in reading Creighton's first version, I thought of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The more so as many residents of Nova Scotia fled there after the Jacobite rebellions. - RBW]
Other writers, notably George Petrie, Patrick Walsh, Margaret Hannegan, Seamus Clandillon and Redfern Mason, believe "Drimin/Druimin Dubh" (or "Dhriman Dhoun Deelish" "Drimin donn Dilis" etc.) also note the title's symbolizm (sic.) with Ireland. Cazden (et al, 1982) finds that, "with sufficiently imaginative adjustment," the melody resembles the "Drimindown" tune family, which includes O'Neill's "The Sorrowful Maiden" and Cazden's own Catskill Mountain (New York) collected ballad "The Maid on the Shore."
For an exhaustive discussion of text and tune history see "Drumion Dubh(Drimindown,Irish)" on Bruce Olsen's web site. The earliest complete text he finds "is from The Universal Songster, III, p. 45, London: Jones and Co., 1828."
For another copy of "O Say, My Brown Drimin" by James Joseph Callanan (Sparling p. 309) see Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 183-184, "O Say, My Brown Drimin". This is an example of Drimin as Ireland.
Zimmermann p. 56: "the strangest allegorical name for Ireland in Irish songs of the eighteenth century is 'Druimfhionn Donn Dilis': 'dear brown cow'. Petrie gave for this rather incongruous name the explanation which has been proposed for some of the women's names applied to Ireland, namely that it might have been suggested by the title or refrain of an older popular song which furnished the tune. In political broadside ballads of the Tithe War, the cow was still accepted as the symbol of Ireland. (See song 41["The Barrymore Tithe Victory"])."
Edward Bunting, The Ancient Music of Ireland (Mineola, 2000 (reprint of 1840 Dublin edition)), p. 93, has a translation of a Jacobite text of "Druimindubh" with "the 'black-backed cow' representing ... the cause of the exiled monarch....
Ah drimindhu' deelish, my darling black cow,
Say where are your folk, be they living or no?
They are down in the ground 'neath the sod lying low,
Expecting King James with the crown on his brow.
But if I could get sight of the crown on his brow,
By night and day travelling to London I'd go.... - BS
I believe this was the song, originally Irish, which Lead Belly adapted into "If It Wasn't For Dicky," which the Weavers in turn made into, "Kisses Sweeter than Wine." Really. - PJS
File: CrMa176

Drinane Dhun

See The Drinaun Dun (An Draighnean Donn, The Blackthorn Tree) (File: HHH206)

Drinaun Dun, The (An Draighnean Donn, The Blackthorn Tree)

DESCRIPTION: Irish Gaelic. The singer complains of being "captivated" by a young man, whose disappearance has caused her to wander. She shelters under the blackthorn. She tells of her love, wishes she had a boat to follow him, and warns girls to marry when they can
AUTHOR: D F McCarthy (per O'Conor)
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor); probably by 1855 (Petrie Collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SHenry H206, p. 289, "The Drinaun D[h]un" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 63, "Drinane Dhun" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More, pp. 263-264, "The Drynaun Dun" (1 text)
cf. Kennedy 32, "An Draighnean Donn" (1 Irish Gaelic text plus translation, 1 tune; it is not clear that the English version of Henry has any relation to Kennedy's Irish text)
Roud #2363
RECORDINGS:
Sean Dirrane, "An Droighnean Donn (The Blackthorn)" (on Aran1)
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Draigheanan donn" by Robert Dwyer Joyce, a love song about a man who dreams of being home again with "her sweet loving kisses, 'neath the Drinan Donn." (source: Irish Minstrelsy by H Halliday Sparling (1888), p. 301).
Charles Gavan Duffy, editor, The Ballad Poetry of Ireland (1845), pp. 143-144, "The Drinan Dhun" seems like a different translation of the same song. There are lines that are close but if translation were not a complicating factor I would consider these to be separate songs. - BS
File: HHH206

Drink Old England Dry

DESCRIPTION: Singer calls on his companions to drink, for the English are at war with the French (Germans, Russians). The singer vows to show the enemy "British play": "We'll fight until we die/Before that they shall come and drink old England dry."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1890 (Rev. J. Broadwood, "Sussex Songs")
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer calls on his companions to drink, for the English are at war with the French (Germans, Russians). The singer vows to show the enemy "British play"; "With our swords and with our cutlasses, We'll fight until we die/Before that they shall come and drink old England dry." A national hero (Lord Raglan, Lord Roberts, Churchill) swears he shall be true to his country and crown, and that cannons will rattle and bullets fly before they drink old England dry
KEYWORDS: promise fight violence war drink France Germany Russia nonballad patriotic ritual
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,Mid,North))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 270, "Drink Old England Dry" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DRNKENGL*
Roud #882
RECORDINGS:
Rowland Whitehead & chorus, "Drink Old England Dry" (on FSB8)
NOTES: Anne Gilchrist dates the original of this song to the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It was sung by a group known as The Boggens who would go around the village of Haxey (Lincolnshire) during the week preceding the day of the Hood Game, a combat ritual game. - PJS
The Napoleonic date is of course possible, but I personally think it's older. The British have, of course, fought the French for as long as both nations existed. But the reference in Kennedy's text to fighting the *Germans* "with our swords and our cutlasses" argues against such a date -- and postponing to the World Wars hardly helps.
Personally, I'd guess (very tentatively) that this dates to one of the "Succession Wars" of the eighteenth century. During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), for instance, Britain was allied with Austria against France (e.g. Battle of Dettingen, 1743), and sometimes Prussia (which started the war, then backed out, then went back in). It therefore fits the situation better than the Napoleonic era.
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713) doesn't fit quite as well, since the German states were mostly on the same side as England in opposing France -- but it has the advantage of bringing in a Churchill before Winston (and note that the Kennedy text does not refer to *Winston* Churchill, merely "Churchill"): The Duke of Marlborough's name was John Churchill.
This, of course, is not to deny that the song could be adapted to later wars, as in the version collected by Cecil Sharp, which was adapted to the Crimean War by the insertion of Lord Raglan (the British commander on the Black Sea front) into the song. - RBW
File: K270

Drink That Rot Gut

DESCRIPTION: "Drink that rot gut (x2), Drink that red eye, boys, It don't make a damn wherever we land, We hit her up for joy." A call for drink and a celebration of its effects. The cowboys have "lived in the saddle and ridden trail"; now they will enjoy themselves
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916
KEYWORDS: drink cowboy nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-ABFS, p. 169, "Drink That Rot Gut" (1 tune)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 196, "Drinking Song" (1 text)
Roud #8030
File: LxA169

Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes

DESCRIPTION: "Drink to me only with thine eyes And I will pledge with mine, Or leave a kiss within the cup And I'll not ask for wine." The singer prefers his lady's love to "Jove's nectar," and says that her breath makes even a dead wreathe grow
AUTHOR: Words: Ben Jonson
EARLIEST DATE: 1616 (as part of "To Celia," in "The Workes of Benjamin Jonson"); tune in print by 1780
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 260, "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 202-203, "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes"
DT, DRNKTOME*
RECORDINGS:
Massanutten Military Quartet, "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes" (Columbia 15751-D, 1932)
File: FSWB260A

Drinkin' That Wine

See Drinking of the Wine (File: Br3048)

Drinking Gourd, The

See Follow the Drinking Gourd (File: Arn062)

Drinking of the Wine

DESCRIPTION: "Drinking (of the) wine, wine, wine, Ought to been there for a thousand years, drinking wine." In its full form, apparently a spiritual on the Eucharist. A prison version ends with "If my (brother/sister/etc.) comes for me, Tell her I've gone to Galilee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad religious wine
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 48, "Drinking Wine" (1 fragment)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 246-248, "Drinkin' That Wine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7851
RECORDINGS:
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Drinking of the Wine" (on BLLunsford01)
NOTES: The editors of Brown, having only the chorus (and that without the reference to "holy wine" found in Lunsford's version) classified this as a drinking song. Lunsford's version makes it a spiritual of sorts. But it's the same chorus, from the same area; same song in my book. - RBW
The final verses in Jackson's prison version, about the singer going to Galilee, are probably aa allusion tp Matthew 28:7, "He [Jesus] has been raised from the dead, and indeed is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Br3048

Drinking Song (I)

See Drink That Rot Gut (File: LxA169)

Drinking Song (II)

See Lumberman's Drinking Song (File: Gray015)

Drinking Strong Whiskey

DESCRIPTION: Singer "being tipsy from drinking strong whiskey ... straight to the raygions of dead men did go." He finds the souls in Hell weary and wonders "if souls who go up to heaven" ever stray among mortals; those in Hell would surely not be permitted that.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (IRTunneyFamily01)
KEYWORDS: dream drink Hell
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 125, "Drinking Strong Whiskey" (1 text)
Roud #5293
RECORDINGS:
Brigid Tunney and Paddy Tunney, "Drinking Good Whiskey" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
File: TSF125

Drive Dull Care Away

DESCRIPTION: "Oh why should we at our lot complain or grieve at our distress? ... while we're here with our friends so dear we'll drive dull care away." Be satisfied with your state, "have a contented mind," and "make the best of life"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: nonballad friend
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ives-DullCare, pp. 81-82, 244, "Drive Dull Care Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DULLCARE*
Roud #13988
RECORDINGS:
Charles Gorman, "Drive Dull Care Away" (on MREIves01)
NOTES: Ives-DullCare reproduces a note seeming to push the earliest date at least to 1775. - BS
File: IvDC081

Drive It On

DESCRIPTION: A formula song in which the singer gives the lady inches one, two, three, etc., until she is content.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy shanty humorous sex
FOUND IN: Australia Britain(England) US(MW,So,SW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cray, pp. 323-325, "Drive It On" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 268-271, "Drive It On" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #10223
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" (tune) and references there
cf. "Yo Ho, Yo Ho"
cf. "Roll Me Over"
cf. "Put Your Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I Gave Her Kisses One
Drive It Home
I Gave Her Inches One
The Inches Song
NOTES: Descended from a pumping chanty, this formula song survives largely on college campuses. - EC
File: EM323

Drive the Cold Winter Away (In Praise of Christmas)

DESCRIPTION: "All hail to the days that merit more praise Than all of the rest of the year...." The singer bids rejoicing come in for the Chritmas season. Various Christmas activities are detailed, each intended to "drive the cold winter away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1719 (Pills to Purge Melancholy)
KEYWORDS: Christmas party nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Logan, pp. 293-297, "Drive the Cold Winter Away" (1 text)
OBC 5, "The Praise of Christmas" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN67, "All hayle to the dayes"
cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 173, (no title, but called "Drive the cold winter away" in the notes) (1 tune)
DT, DRIVCOLD ALLHAIL*
ST Log293 (Full)
SAME TUNE:
O fain would I marry/[Title missing] (BBI ZN2003)
I often have known/The father hath beguil'd the sonne (BBI ZN1311)
All you which lay clame/Hang Pinching (BBI ZN154)
Come, come my brave gold/Gathergood the Father and Scattergood the son [missing title from Stat. Reg. Entry, Apr. 9, 1638] (BBI ZN569)
Be merry, my hearts, and call for your quarts/A Health to all Good=Fellows (BBI ZN383)
To all my good Friends these presents I send/A New Song, called Jacke Dove's Resolution (BBI ZN2630)
NOTES: The Oxford Book of Carols credits the first two verses to D'Urfey. Though D'Urfey was the first to print these stanzas, the existence of the song in the Pepysian collection casts the usual doubts on these authorship claims. Playford also published the tune. - RBW
File: Log293

Drive, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes a log drive and jam, and praises the "river rats" and "jack" who break up logjams with their peaveys.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 33, "The Drive" (1 text)
Roud #8854
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Badger Drive" (theme)
File: Be033

Driven into Spaniard's Bay

DESCRIPTION: "'Twas on the very first day of March, To the ice, boys, we were bound." A storm blows up, bringing them very close to the ice while they are blinded by snow; they finally anchor in Spaniard's Bay and head out on Match 17
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Murphy, The Seal Fishery)
KEYWORDS: storm ship
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 26, "Driven into Spaniard's Bay" (1 text)
File: RySm026A

Driver Boy, The [Laws G12]

DESCRIPTION: A teenage boy is too sick to drive his mule in the mines. His drunken father, thinking him lazy, beats him repeatedly. The boy dies of pneumonia; the father repents too late
AUTHOR: John A. Murphy (1900)
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: father mining disease death
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Laws G12, "The Driver Boy"
DT 787, DRIVRBOY
Roud #3253
NOTES: The author of this song claims to have been an eyewitness and to have stepped in to keep the father from beating his son. It was, however, too late to save the boy from his pneumonia - RBW
File: LG12

Drivin' Steel

DESCRIPTION: "If I could drive steel like John Henry, I'd go home, baby, I'd go home." Of the troubles of a steel driver: "This old hammer killed John Henry/Bill Dooley, Can't kill me...." "I'm goin' home and tell Little Annie, No mo' trials, baby, no mo' trials."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: work railroading
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, p. 150, "Drivin' Steel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #790
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Swannanoah Tunnel" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "Take This Hammer" (theme, lyrics)
NOTES: I suspect this piece is a variant of "Swannanoah Tunnel," but the tunes are slightly different and I have yet to find common verses, except for the floater about the hammer that killed John Henry, so for the moment I am keeping them separate. - RBW
File: San150

Driving Away at the Smoothing Iron

DESCRIPTION: The speaker admires his darling as, on successive days of the week, she does various laundry-related tasks, all the while she is ironing, which action he apparently adores.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909
KEYWORDS: love clothes work nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) US(SW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Sharp-100E 82, "Driving Away at the Smoothing Iron" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 117, "Hanging Out the Linen Clothes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 205, "The Linen Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SMTHIRON*
Roud #869
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Smoothing Iron
File: ShH82

Driving Logs on the Cass [Laws C22]

DESCRIPTION: A crew of loggers led by Miller have hard times, caused especially by the incompetent cook, "Old Black Joe." Despite logjams, the drive is successful until the river's water falls too low. The loggers head home gratefully
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: logger cook river lumbering
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws C22, "Driving Logs on the Cass"
Beck 28, "Driving Logs on the Cass" (1 text)
DT 839, LOGCASS
Roud #1928
File: LC22

Driving Saw-Logs on the Plover

DESCRIPTION: A mother bids farewell to her shanty-boy son on the banks of the Plover. She blesses him, but warns him that "Driving saw-logs on the Plover, You'll never get your pay." Eventually Johnny returns, having been driven from the camp without his pay
AUTHOR: William N. Allen ("Shan T. Boy")
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby); reportedly composed 1873
KEYWORDS: work logger mother separation money
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Rickaby 20, "Driving Saw-Logs on the Plover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #60, "Driving Saw-Logs on the Plover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 396-397, "Driving Saw-Logs on the Plover" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SAWLOGPL*
Roud #2797
RECORDINGS:
Pierre La Dieu, "Driving Saw-Logs On The Plover" (Columbia 15278-D, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Falling of the Pine" (tune)
NOTES: Sung to a variant of the tune "Tramps and Hawkers/Paddy West."
This song is item dC29 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW- RBW
File: San396

Drooping Souls, No Longer Grieve

See Boundless Mercy (Drooping Souls, No Longer Grieve) (File: Br3528)

Droosy Chiel, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer has a sleeping problem. His wife -- "continually she's singing" -- tries vainly to wake him at "half past five" every morning. He wakes half an hour early but can never be ready before half past nine. Then he falls asleep standing at his work.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 659, "The Droosy Chiel" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6086
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rise, Jock Rise!
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "Sung by James Davidson, farmservant, Burnside, Carnousie, about 1870. Noted 1906." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3659

Drop 'Em Down

DESCRIPTION: "Oh Maybelle, drop 'em down" (x2). "I call you, drop 'em down" (x2). "With my diamond, drop...." "I got a lifetime to drop 'em." "I'm gettin' worried." "Where's the sergeant?" "Won't you help me?" An axe song which shares many words with hammer songs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (recorded from Matt Williams by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: work prison
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 248-253, "Drop 'Em Down" (3 texts, 2 tunes, very diverse; Jackson notes that the various informants' versions were each closer to their versions of "Hammer Ring" than to each other!)
File: JDM248

Drop 'Em Down Together

DESCRIPTION: An axe song: "Drop 'em down together (x3), Whoa Lord, Make 'em sound much better (x3) When you drop 'em down together." The singer calls to his girl(s), asks for water, and talks about the act of cutting the trees
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (recorded from J. B. Smith by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: nonballad separation work
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 254-255, "Drop 'Em Down Together" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Jackson notes that this is one of the few songs he collected from J. B. Smith that did not appear to have any of Smith's own work in it; most of the material is found in other songs. It is ironic to note that there seem to be no other versions known (though, as with many prison songs, it can be hard to tell). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM254

Drought, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the troubles of Australia during drought, and observes, "You curse this bloomin' country for she's only fit for black." The singer notes that, if you survive until it rains, then the flies and mosquitoes will torture you instead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: hardtimes Australia
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 158-159, "The Drought" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune)
File: MCB158

Drouthy Souters, The

DESCRIPTION: Two drunken shoemakers lived by the Clyde. "No man could them divide." "For wives and bairns they didna care." They only cared for drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad friend river
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 592, "The Drouthy Souters" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6044
NOTES: Greig #42: "In rustic song the Shoemaker becomes the Souter, and as such, is usually treated in humorous style." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD3592

Drover's Dream, The

DESCRIPTION: The drover is on watch when he dozes off. He sees "a very strange procession" -- a clothed kangaroo and a dingo, dancing birds, a bandicoot playing the flute. He is awakened by a crash as the boss asks, "Where the !!! are all the sheep?"
AUTHOR: unknown (sometimes credited to W. Tully)
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (collected by David Campbell and Douglas Stewart)
KEYWORDS: dream animal Australia boss sheep
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 202-203, "The Drover's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 160-161, "The Mustering Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 219-221, "The Drover's Dream" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 265-267, "The Drover's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5473
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "The Drover's Dream" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd4)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. Rock'd in the Cradle of the Deep" (this song quotes that)
File: MA202

Drover's Song, The

See Brisbane Ladies (File: FaE162)

Droving Song, The

DESCRIPTION: At the end of St Patrick's day a young man fails to return home from a day with his friends. A search gang finds him frozen to death in a crack in the ice. They take him home and bury him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: burial death
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leach-Labrador 70, "The Droving Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab070 (Partial)
Roud #9984
NOTES: Leach-Labrador believes the accident took place in the nineteenth century near Forteau, Labrador. - BS
File: LLab070

Drowned Lover, The

See Scarboro Sand (The Drowned Sailor) [Laws K18] (File: LK18)

Drowned Lovers, The

See The Mother's Malison, or, Clyde's Water [Child 216] (File: C216)

Drowning Lady, The (The Witch Song)

See Marrowbones [Laws Q2] AND Johnny Sands [Laws Q3] (File: LQ02)

Drowning of John Roberts, The [Laws C3]

DESCRIPTION: John Roberts tries to break up a logjam and is swept into the river. He comes to the surface three times, then disappears; his body is found three days later
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1852 - John Roberts drowns on the West Branch of the Union River
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Laws C3, "The Drowning of John Roberts"
DT 717, JONROBTS
Roud #2222
File: LC03

Drowning of Patrick Martin, The

DESCRIPTION: Apprentice blacksmith Patrick Martin, out swimming with a friend, drowns in Orwell Bay. His body is retrieved with difficulty and his family mourns.
AUTHOR: Brian Doherty
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: drowning memorial
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 69-70, "The Drowning of Patrick Martin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12464
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee: "Patrick Martin was drowned circa 1907 at the age of 24 years."
Orwell is on the south coast of Queens, Prince Edward Island. - BS
File: Dib069

Drowning of Young Robinson, The

DESCRIPTION: Robinson and (Wesley) go hunting by the Bann in winter. The ice is thin, and they fall through. Wesley can swim, and escapes; Robinson vanishes. Wesley summons help, but Robinson is drowned. Family and friends mourn
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1869 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 26(705))
KEYWORDS: death river drowning mourning
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SHenry H585, p. 147, "Sloan Wellesley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Ulster 9, "The Drowning of Young Robinson" (1 text, 1 tune)
OrangeLark 15, "The Drowning of Young Robinson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 104, "In the County of Innocent"; p. 105, "The Dog and the Gun" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #3600
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Sloan Wellesley" (on IRRCinnamond01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(705), "Young Robinson" ("In the parish of Seagoe, in the county Armagh"), J. Moore (Belfast) , 1852-1868; also 2806 b.10(103), "Young Robinson"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Dog and the Gun
NOTES: Morton regards this as an adaption of Laws Q33, "The Lake of Cool Finn (Willie Leonard)." There are similarities, especially in the scenes of mourning at the end, but calling the one an adaption of the other seems more than is called for. - RBW
In trying to date this ballad later than c.1830 -- suggested by one of his references -- Morton-Ulster notes that, in his text, the drowning follows "the steamboat passed down a few days ago, The ice it was broken these boys did not know." Morton points out that steam tugs were not used regularly on the river Bann in Seagor, County Armagh, until after 1880. That part of his argument for late dating does not apply to the broadside version in which "a small boat passed over a few days ago." (In one of the Creighton-Maritime texts no boats are mentioned; the other has "two boats had passed over.")
The Bodleian broadside and Morton-Ulster texts end with an Orange funeral ceremony ("Eight hundred Orangemen all stood in a ring, Where the Orange and Purple from their left breasts did hang...."). The Creighton texts have lost the Orange references altogether though the funerals are described with the colors worn ("green and purple" in one case and "red, white and green" in the other) and the music played ("God Save the King/Queen"). - BS
File: HHH585

Drowsy Sleeper, The [Laws M4]

DESCRIPTION: A young man comes to his love's window and bids her ask her parents' permission to marry him. They will refuse it; her father is prepared to kill him. Depending on the version, he leaves, or one or the other lover (or both) commits suicide or die of grief
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(183a))
KEYWORDS: courting father mother death suicide
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (31 citations):
Laws M4, "The Drowsy Sleeper"
Belden, pp. 118-123, "Bedroom Window (The Drowsy Sleeper)" (6 texts plus two fragments which might float, 1 tune)
Randolph 52, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 83-85, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 52D)
Eddy 31, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (3 texts plus a fragment, 4 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 22, "Who Is Tapping at My Bedroom Window?" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 3 more, 2 tunes; some of the unprinted texts may have "Silver Dagger" elements)
BrownII 71, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (2 texts plus 3 excerpts; the "B" text is a "Silver Dagger" mix; the "D" excerpt contains "Fair and Tender Ladies" verses)
Chappell-FSRA 45, "Wake Up" (2 texts)
Hudson 46, pp. 161-162, "Willie and Mary" (1 text); also 37, pp. 151-152, "Annie Girl" (1 text, which conflates 2 verses of "The Drowsy Sleeper" [Laws M4], 2 or 3 of "Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)" or "No, John, No: or similar, and 3 verses probably of "Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token)" [Laws N42])
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 139-142, collectively titled "Awak! Awake!" but with inidividual titles "Katy Dear, or Willie Darling," ""Mollie Dear, Go Ask Your Mother," "Drowsy Sleepers," Little Willie" (4 texts; 2 tunes on p. 399)
Doerflinger, p. 314, "Who's That at My Bedroom Window? (The Drowsy Sleeper)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brewster 28, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 3 more, 2 tunes)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 24, "Drowsy Sleeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 733-734, "Who Is At My Window Weeping?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 30, "Who Is At My Bedroom Window?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 727-730, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (2 texts)
FSCatskills 51, "Awake, Awake, Ye Drowsy Sleepers" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Warner 188, "Wake, O Wake, You Drowsy Sleeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 72-73, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 57, "Awake! Awake!" (10 texts, 10 tunes)
Sharp-100E 47, "Arise, Arise" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 46, "Arise! Arise!" (1 text, 1 tune, from different informants)
Sandburg, p. 144, "Kind Miss" (1 short text, 1 tune, primarily "Wheel of Fortune" but with one verse of "The Drowsy Sleeper")
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 200-201, "[Drowsy Sleeper]" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H722, pp. 343-344, "The Sweet Bann Water" (1 text, 1 tune, erroneously listed in the text as Laws M34)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 549-550, "The Shining Dagger" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 21, pp. 51-52, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (1 text; the second text is perhaps influenced by "The Silver Dagger")
JHCox 348, "The Drowsy Sleeper" (2 texts)
Darling-NAS, pp. 114-115, "Awake, Awake, My Old True Lover" (1 text); also pp. 115-116, "Oh, Molly Dear" (1 text, very mixed, with verses from this song, from "East Virginia, and some floaters); also pp. 116-117, "Who's That Knocking" (1 text, even more mixed and with a "Little Sparrow" verse)
Silber-FSWB, p. 193, "Don't Sing Love Songs" (1 text)
DT 327, SHIPORDR* SHIPORD2* SILVDAG3* SILVDAG4*
Roud #402
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "Awake, Awake" (on OldLove)
Lester A. Coffee, "Awake, Arise, You Drowsy Sleeper" (AFS, 1946; on LC55)
Kelly Harrell, "O! Molly Dear Go Ask Your Mother" (Victor 20280, 1926; on KHarrell01 -- with several verses from "East Virginia" inserted in the song)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Little Satchel" (on NLCR17, NLCRCD2)
Oaks Family, "Wake Up You Drowsy Sleeper" Victor 23795, 1933; on TimesAint01, KMM)
Ken Peacock, "Who Is At My Window Weeping?" (on NFKPeacock)
B. F. Shelton, "Oh Molly Dear" (Victor V-40107, 1929; on ConstSor1)
Wilmer Watts & the Lonely Eagles, "Sleepy Desert" (Paramount 3282, 1931; on TimesAint03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(183a), "The Maidens Complaint ," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Firth c.17(25), "Awake, Drowsy Sleeper"; Harding B 28(233), "The Drowsy Sleeper"; Harding B 25(452), "Cruel Father" or "The Maiden's Complaint"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Silver Dagger (I)" [Laws G21]
cf. "I Will Put My Ship In Order" (plot)
cf. "Greenback Dollar" (plot)
cf. "Go From My Window (I)"
cf. "One Night As I Lay on My Bed"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Silver Dagger
Awake, Awake
NOTES: I put [the Silber "Don't Sing Love Songs" text] under "Drowsy Sleeper" rather than "Silver Dagger" because, although a dagger is mentioned, no one uses it. - PJS
In the absence of any other basis, this is a good criterion. The two songs have cross-fertilized heavily; drawing the line can be extremely difficult, especially for fragmentary forms. - RBW
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 28(233): she refuses bread and water; "single I will go to my grave." Broadside Bodleian Firth c.17(25): she says she will go to Botany Bay to be with Jim and asks for her portion of 500 pounds; father gives in and says "you and your true love shall be married, And that will ease you of all your pain." - BS
File: LM04

Droylsden Wakes

DESCRIPTION: Man and woman alternately brag and insult each other over their prowess at spinning.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: bragging weaving ritual dialog
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 36, "Droylsden Wakes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3290
NOTES: "This Lancashire dialogue song was once associated with a folk ceremonial attached to the local 'wakes' or annual holiday." - A. L. Lloyd. The role of the woman was played by a man in woman's clothing; the two participants sat on a cart with a spinning-wheel spinning flax and collecting money from onlookers. - PJS
File: VWL036

Drum Major, The (The Female Drummer)

DESCRIPTION: A girl enlists "voluntarily in a regiment of foot" to follow her lover. A soldier sees her bathing; she is called before the officers. They call her lover and request that he pay the postage on a letter from his love. He pays the postage. They are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1895 (Baring-Gould and Sheppard, _Garland of Country Song_, according to Palmer)
KEYWORDS: love separation disguise soldier cross-dressing trick
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan1 184, "The Drum Major" (1 text)
SHenry H797, p. 327, "The Drum Major" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1678
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(78), "The Female Drum Major" ("Come all you true lovers and batchelor's sweet"), unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.17(131), 2806 c.17(130)[almost entirely illegible], "The Female Drum Major"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
cf. "The Soldier Maid" (subject)
NOTES: The story in the Bodleian broadsides is somewhat different from SHenry but there is enough similarity in lines to convince me that these are the same. Here is a description for the broadsides: A girl enlists "who carries the drum, In search of her true love to Flanders is gone." Besides being a drummer who "excelled them all," she distinguished herself in battle ("she fought with such courage, I mean by the sword, Until that her fame it came up to the board"). A soldier sees her bathing; she is called before the officers. They hear her story and the captain dresses her "in silks so fine, in woman's apparel." They call Jacklare, her lover. They kiss. The captain gives her "fifty pound, In reward for her service as we do hear. The King settled on her three hundred a year." They marry.
"Baring-Gould says that it dates back to the time of Marlborough" (source: Roy Palmer, ed., The Rambling Soldier (Gloucester, 1985) p. 283.) - BS
For notes on legitimate historical examples of women serving in the military in disguise, see the notes to "The Soldier Maid." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: HHH797

Drumallachie

DESCRIPTION: "'Twas on a chill November night... I overheard a fair maid... 'My love is far frae Sinnahard And fair Drumallachie." The singer asks her of her trouble, tries to convince her to marry him, then reveals he is her long-lost lover
AUTHOR: James Hepburn (source: GreigDuncan5)
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise reunion
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #22, pp. 1-2, "Drumallachie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 1043, "Drumallachie" (9 texts, 4 tunes)
Ord, p. 34-37, "Drummallochie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2481
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
cf. "Fair Gallowa'" (tune, per GreigDuncan5)
cf. "High Germany" (theme and likely source)
NOTES: Of the myriad Broken Token songs, this seems among the most literary, yet it seems fairly widespread in Scottish tradition. Most of the references are clearly Biblical:
"King David had a faithful friend": This is of course Saul's son Jonathan, and their love for each other is repeatedly mentioned in 1 Samuel (e.g. 18:1, 20:41).
"When Jacob saw his long-lost son": Refers to the reunion of Jacob and Joseph (Genesis 46:19f.)
Various versions also refer to a fair Queen of Scotland. In the case of Mary Stewart, this makes some sense, since she was known for her looks. One version, however, refers to Victoria. Whether this dates the song, or is just a funny error, I do not know. - RBW
GreigDuncan5 quoting Duncan: "Another statement of Robert Chree was that the song was understood to have been an older song adapted. The reference is probably to 'The Banks of Claudy' [GreigDuncan5 1036], from which the idea was very likely taken. There are also reminiscences in it of [GreigDuncan1 96] 'High Germany'." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Ord034

Drumboe Castle

DESCRIPTION: "Twas the Eve of St. Patrick's by the dawn of the day, The hills of Tirconnel looked sombre and grey When... Four Irish soldiers were led forth to die." They had come "to fight for the Gael," but were captured, imprisoned, and shot at Drumboe
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: Ireland prison execution
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
March 14, 1923 - Execution of Tim O'Sullivan, Charles Daly, John Larkin, and Dan Enright at Drumboe in Donegal
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
PGalvin, pp. 100-101, "Drumboe Castle" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 80, "The Woods of Drumbo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13466
NOTES: Galvin lists this as an Irish song of rebellion, but this is rather an exaggeration; the British had no part in it.
The four men were Irishmen condemned (without trial) by Irishmen. The worst of it is, they were innocent of the crime of which they stood accused (which had been ordered by Liam Lynch while they were imprisoned), but were killed because they were convenient. - RBW
File: PGa100

Drumdelgie

DESCRIPTION: Bothy work is described: rising early, working hard in bad weather (but with praiseworthy horses). At the end, the singer bids farewell to Drumdelgie: "Fare ye weel, Drumdelgie, I bid you all adieu, I leave ye as I got ye, A damned unceevil crew."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #4, p. 2, "Drumdelgie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 384, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Drumdelgie" (15 texts, 14 tunes)
DBuchan 66, "Drumdelgie" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
Ord, pp. 209-211, "Drumdelgie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2180
RECORDINGS:
Norman Kennedy, "Drumdelgie" (on ESFB2)
Davie Stewart, "Drumdelgie" (on FSB3)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gentleman Soldier" (tune)
cf. "Harrowing Time" (tune)
cf. "The Miller of Straloch" (tune, per Greig)
cf. "The Guise o' Tough" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Big Toon in Carnie
O Fare Ye Well, Drumdelgie
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Drumdelgie (384) is at coordinate (h4,v5) on that map [roughly 38 miles NW of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: DBuch66

Drumglassa Hill

DESCRIPTION: A confusing song, in which Johnston, and probably Mrs. Johnston, sail for America, and the singer (Johnston? someone else?) hopes to return to Ireland, and there live a life of hunting and enjoying the beautiful scenery
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: Ireland emigration hunting homesickness
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H703, pp. 210-211, "Drumglassa Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The best explanation I can think of for this song is that the singer is leaving his hound, Bellman, in the hands of another as he goes over the sea, and is describing how he hopes to return. But even that leaves some loose ends. - RBW
File: HHH703

Drummallochie

See Drumallachie (File: Ord034)

Drummer and His Wife

See Father Grumble [Laws Q1] (File: LQ01)

Drummer and the Cook, The

DESCRIPTION: A drummer is in love with a cook. He sneaks in to see her one night, she gives him a meal and he chokes on a bone. She tries to knock it out of him and wakes the house. The master comes down, chases them, the drummer falls into his drum, both get fired.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1856 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 1885)
KEYWORDS: cook shanty nightvisit humorous courting disability escape food soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan2 314, "The Drummer and the Cook" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Hugill, p. 460, "The Drummer and the Cook" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DRUMCOOK, DRUMCOO2*
Roud #3136
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 1885, "Walking Tub of Butter" ("There was a little drummer"), J. Cadman (Manchester), 1850-1855; also 2806 b.10(163), Harding B 16(299a), "The Walking Tub of Butter"; Harding B 15(132a), "Hump-back'd Drummer, and the Cross-eyed Cook"; Firth c.14(306), "The Little Drummer"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sailor's Consolation" (similar chorus)
cf. "The Way to Swig It" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Firth c.14(306))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Drummer
The Little Drummer
NOTES: [Regarding Hugill's 1926 date:] Hugill says this is from one of Richard Runciman Terry's books, unfortunately he didn't specify which one [It appears to be Shanty Book 2, and the informant, interestingly, was named James Runciman - RBW]. Terry supposed that this was a music hall song which was taken wholesale into the shanty repertoire. He says he learned it from Cap'n John Runciman, who in turn had it from the cook of the Blyth brig Northumberland. Harry Belafonte recorded this in the 1950s. - SL
If not a music hall song, it certainly came from the popular press, as the broadsides show. - RBW
The cook "had a squinting look" ["cross-eyed" in Bodleian Harding B 15(132a)] that plays little part in the story but leads to the best known line of the song: "She had one eye in the pot, and another up the chimney." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Hugi460

Drummer Boy of Shiloh, The [Laws A15]

DESCRIPTION: "On Shiloh's dark and bloody ground The dead and wounded lay. Amid them was a drummer boy Who beat the drum that day." One of the many Federal casualties at Shiloh was a young drummer boy. He is mourned and buried by older survivors.
AUTHOR: Will S. Hays
EARLIEST DATE: 1862 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar death youth
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 6-7, 1862 - Battle of Shiloh. The army of U.S. Grant is forced back but, reinforced by Buell, beats off the army of A.S. Johnston. Johnston is killed. Both sides suffer heavy casualties (Shiloh was the first battle to show how bloody the Civil War would be)
FOUND IN: US(Ro,SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws A15, "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh"
Randolph 239, "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" (1 text)
BrownII 230, "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" (1 text plus two excerpts, one of which approximates the whole song)
DT 364, DRUMRBOY*
Roud #773
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of Vicksburg" (lyrics)
NOTES: There being no canned music in Civil War times, the musicians had to stay fairly close to the front lines, and drummer boys were periodically killed. Chances are that several were killed at Shiloh. Steven E. Woodworth's Nothing But Victory: The Army of the Tennessee 1861-1865 (Vintage Civil War Library, 2005), p. 162, reports one instance: "Young drummer Jese Nelson was in the act of firing a rifle when he was shot through the head and killed." No doubt a similar report helped inspire this song. - RBW
File: LA15

Drummer Boy of Waterloo, The [Laws J1]

DESCRIPTION: Young (Edwin) is leaving home to serve as a drummer boy at Waterloo. Though his mother is terrified for him, the lad knows no fear. But at Waterloo he is fatally wounded; he sends a dying message to his mother and is buried by moonlight on the battlefield
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(995))
KEYWORDS: war death burial mother youth
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar) Britain Ireland
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Laws J1, "The Drummer Boy of Waterloo"
Eddy 58, "The Drummer Boy of Waterloo" (1 text plus 2 short fragments perhaps of this song, 3 tunes)
Randolph 82, "Young Edward" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 10, "The Drummer Boy of Waterloo" (2 texts, 1 tune)
JHCox 82, "The Drummer Boy of Waterloo" ( text)
SHenry H728, p. 88, "The Drummer Boy of Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 123, "The Drummer Boy of Waterloo" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 70, "Drummer Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 389, YOUNGED*
Roud #1804
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(995), "Drummer Boy of Waterloo," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.14(303), Firth c.14(304), Firth b.25(540), Firth b.25(431), Johnson Ballads 1170, "Drummer Boy of Waterloo"; Harding B 15(89b), "Drummerboy of Waterloo"
LOCSinging, sb10084a, "Drummer Boy of Waterloo," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also as103200, as103210, "Drummer Boy of Waterloo"
SAME TUNE:
Woodland Mary (per broadsides LOCSinging sb10084a, LOCSinging as103200, Bodleian Harding B 11(995))
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging sb10019b: 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.
File: LJ01

Drummer Maid, The

See The Soldier Maid (File: DTsoldma)

Drummer, The

See Kind Fortune (File: KaNew074)

Drummond's Land

See David's Flowery Vale (File: HHH212)

Drums Beat to Order, The

DESCRIPTION: "The drums beat to order and the Queen she wants men And I'll go to the war, should I never return." Farewell Rhynie [Aberdeenshire]. The singer will think of the girl he left behind. When the war is over he'll return to her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: love war separation return Scotland soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 100, "The Drums Beat to Order" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5788
NOTES: It is interesting to ask whether the Queen in this song is Anne, in which case the wars are probably in the Low Countries, or Victoria, in which case the Wars are probably in the Crimea or Asia. But Grieg's seems to be the only version, so evidence is lacking - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1100

Drunk Last Night

DESCRIPTION: "Drunk last night, drunk the night before, Gonna get drunk tonight like I've never been drunk before. For when I'm drunk I'm as happy as can be, For I am a member of the Souse family." The singer calls for beer and is glad that there are few to drink it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 235, "Drunk Last Night" (1 text)
Roud #10191
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Was Drunk Last Night" (initial line)
File: FSWB235

Drunk Mason, The

DESCRIPTION: A mason decides to see a drunk mason safely home at night. They see the light of a man stealing grain; the sober mason says it is Old Nick coming for the drunk who runs for safety to a tavern. He is refused, causes a commotion, and everyone else laughs.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous thief Devil food
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 574, "The Drunk Mason" (1 text)
Roud #6040
File: GrD3574

Drunkard (I), The

See Drunkard's Doom (I), The (File: R306)

Drunkard and His Daughter, or Please Mr. Barkeeper

DESCRIPTION: "Please, Mr. Barkeeper, has father been here?" The bartender tells the girl her father is in jail. At the jail,she begs for his release. They tell her to go home. She refuses. Because she is so cold, they release her father. He stops drinking
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Cambiaire)
KEYWORDS: prison father children drink promise
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cambiaire, pp. 123-124, "The Drunkard and His Daughter, or Please Mr. Barkeeper" (1 text)
NOTES: Cambiaire claims this is a true story about a mountaineer whose pretty 13-year-old daughter begged for his release. He also claims the song remained popular for fifty years in East Tennessee. I rather wonder if Cambiaire didn't write the poem himself, no doubt thinking of the pretty young girl all the while. - RBW.
File: Camb123

Drunkard Father, The

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

Drunkard Song

DESCRIPTION: "When I was young I had a fortune... And spent it al in gambling One night when I was drunk." The singer goes to India, and gets drunk. He marries and loses a wife and gets drunk. He becomes ill; the doctor blames it on drink. He warns against drink
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Henry, from Mabel Hall)
KEYWORDS: drink gambling wife warning doctor
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 114-115, "Drunkard Song" (1 text)
File: MHAp113

Drunkard's Child (I), The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, father, do not ask me why the tears roll down my cheek... It breaks my heart to think that I must be a drunkard's child." The child recalls how much better things were when mother was alive and father was sober. (S)he asks father to turn to God
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (recording, Henry Whitter)
KEYWORDS: drink orphan
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 331, "The Drunkard's Child" (1 text)
Roud #7803
RECORDINGS:
Frank J. Smith, "The Drunkard's Child" (Columbia 15137-D, 1927; rec. 1926)
Henry Whitter's Virginia Breakdowners, "The Drunkard's Child" (OKeh 40169, 1924)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Drunkard's Lone Child" (plot)
File: R331

Drunkard's Courtship, The

See The Courting Case (File: R361)

Drunkard's Doom (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a man at a bar. His son begs his to come home; his wife is ill and his children starving. The drunkard instead takes another drink. A year later, the singer learns the drunkard is dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: drink death funeral
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Belden, pp. 468-469, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text)
Randolph 306, "The Drunkard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 142, "Temperance Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 21, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text)
Warner 82, "Drunkard's Doom"; 83, "A Drunkard's Warning" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 104-105, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 174-175, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 131, "Temperance Song" (1 text)
JHCoxIIB, #31A-B, pp. 203-206, "Temperance Song," "The Drunkard" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Darling-NAS, pp. 357-358, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 265, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 478, "The Drunkard's Doom" (source notes only)
ST R306 (Partial)
Roud #3113
RECORDINGS:
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "I Saw a Man at the Close of Day" (Victor V-40324, 1929; on GraysonWhitter01)
Oliver Moore, "The Drunkard's Doom" (Challenge 422, 1928)
Doc Watson & Fred Price, "I Saw a Man at the Close of Day" (on WatsonAshley01)
NOTES: The Warner texts are rather complicated, not fitting exactly with any of the various drunkard songs, and not matching each other either. It may be that the second has become mixed. I file them here because they fit best and they probably aren't worth separate entries; there is too much cross-influence. - RBW
File: R306

Drunkard's Doom (II)

See The Drunkard's Dream (I) (File: R307)

Drunkard's Dream (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer meets (Dermot) and expresses surprise at how healthy and prosperous he looks. Dermot explains that he had had a dream which showed him the consequences of his actions. Awakening in relief, Dermot has reformed his ways
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1842 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.25(31))
KEYWORDS: dream drink love promise wife
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Belden, pp. 469-470, "The Drunkard's Dream" (1 text)
Randolph 307, "The Drunkard's Dream" (2 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 254-256, "The Drunkard's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 307A)
Eddy 101, "The Drunkard's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 129, "The Drunkard's Dream" (2 texts)
BrownIII 22, "The Drunkar's Dream (I)" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 2 more)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 366-372, "The Drunkard's Dream" (4 texts; 3 tunes on pp. 455-456)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 73, "The Drunkard's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, p. 193, "The Drunkard's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 67, "The Husband's Dream" (1 text)
DT, DRUNKDRM*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 210-211, "The Drunkard's Dream" (1 text)
Roud #722
RECORDINGS:
Morgan Denmon, "Drunkard's Dream" (OKeh 45327, 1929)
Betty Garland, "Drunkards Dream" (on BGarland01)
Frank McFarland, "Drunkard's Dream" (Brunswick 203, 1928; Supertone S-2027 [as Kentucky Mountain Boys], 1930; rec. 1927)
Charlie Oaks, "The Drunkard's Dream" (Vocalion 15195, 1926)
Riley Puckett, "The Drunkard's Dream" (Columbia 15035-D, 1925)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(31), "The Husband's Dream", Birt (London), 1833-1841; also Harding B 11(3168), Firth c.22(81), Harding B 18(264), Harding B 18(265), Johnson Ballads 552, Harding B 11(1609), Harding B 11(1608), "The Husband's Dream"
NOTES: This song seems to have followed different paths on different sides of the Atlantic: In the U. S., it is "The Drunkard's Dream"; in Europe, "The Husband's Dream." But both versions are about drunken Dermot and his dream; while odds are that one version or the other was reworked in broadsides, I say they're the same song. - RBW
Is this a sequel to "The Wife's Dream" or is that, if it exists, just a prequel to "The Husband's Dream?"
In "The Wife's Dream" Mary explains her happy disposition though married to a drunkard by a dream she had: having wished her husband dead, she dreamed that he were and was happy at waking to find him alive but unreformed. She hopes "by patience I can change, my husband's wandering life" and then she'd "bless the hour that dream was sent to his neglected wife."
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3669), "The Wife's Dream", Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also Firth b.27(135), Harding B 15(375a), Firth c.26(53), Harding B 11(4203), Harding B 11(4207), Harding B 11(4208), Harding B 11(4205), Harding B 18(745), Firth b.26(253), "The Wife's Dream"; Harding B 11(4206), "Wife's Dream!"
There is another "Answer to the 'Wife's Dream'": "The Drunkard Reformed" in which Dermot was about to murder Kathleen in a jealous drunken rage, but is saved in time by her prayer:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3249), "The Reformed Rake", E. Hodge's (London), 1846-1854; also Firth b.26(205), Harding B 11(996), Harding B 11(997), Harding B 17(79a), "The Drunkard Reformed" - BS
File: R307

Drunkard's Dream (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "The drunkard dreamed of his old retreat, Of his cozy spot in the taproom seat." As he carouses, "Like a crash there came to the drunkard's side His angel child who that night had died." The drunkard sets down the glass; the host asks why he hesitates.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink death father children
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 23, "The Drunkard's Dream (II)" (1 text)
Roud #7856
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Father, Dear Father, Come Home with Me Now" (theme) and references there
File: Br3023

Drunkard's Hell, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer, a drunkard, has a vision of the part of hell to which drinkers are sent. The vision is enough to scare him away from drink. He goes home to find his wife crying over their child's body. He says the child is in heaven, and that he will sober up
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: drink children death
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
BrownIII 20, "The Drunkard's Hell" (2 text plus an excerpt and a fragment)
Randolph 313, "The Drunkard's Hell" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 265-266, "The Drunkard's Hell" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 313A)
Fuson, p. 110, "The Drunkard's Hell" (1 text)
DT, DRNKHELL*
Roud #721
RECORDINGS:
Wade Mainer, "The Poor Drunkard's Dream" (Bluebird B-8273, 1940)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Dark and Stormy Night
File: R313

Drunkard's Hiccoughs (Drunken Hiccups)

DESCRIPTION: Fiddle tune, with words often assembled from other drinking songs. The singer describes his quest for a drink, a woman, a home, directions, or perhaps the ability to stand up straight. Typical chorus: "Hiccup! O Lordy, how queasy I feel (x2)"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (W. R. Thomas)
KEYWORDS: drink fiddle nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 404, "The Drunkard's Hiccoughs" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 343-344, "The Drunkard's Hiccoughs" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 404A)
Shellans, pp. 54-55, "Drunken Hiccoughs" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7682
File: R404

Drunkard's Hiccups

See Rye Whisky (File: R405)

Drunkard's Horse, The

DESCRIPTION: Conversation between a man and his horse. The man beats the horse; the horse tells the man to leave him alone, as the beast is just doing its job. (They continue on their round of taverns)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: animal horse drink
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
SharpAp 160, "The Horse's Complaint" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 318, "The Drunkard's Horse" (2 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 269-270, "The Drunkard's Horse" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 318A)
Roud #2799
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Barefooted in front and no shoes on behind" (AFS 4209 B3, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
NOTES: I can't help but think that this story was influenced by the Biblical account of Baalam's Ass (Numbers 22:22-35), which also has a beast of burden talking back to its owner after the owner beat the beast. - RBW
File: R318

Drunkard's Lone Child, The

DESCRIPTION: "Out in the gloomy night sadly I roam, No one to love me, no friends and no home, Nobody cares for me, no one would cry Even if poor little Bessie should die." Bessie is alone: "Father's a drunkard and mother is dead." She hopes father will sober up
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1921 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drink orphan children
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Randolph 309, "The Drunkard's Lone Child" (4 texts plus an excerpt, 3 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 257-259, "The Drunkard's Lone Child" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 309A)
BrownIII 25, "The Drunkard's Lone Child" (1 text plus a fragment and mention of 1 more)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 191-192, "The Drunkard's Lone Child" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 477, "Bessie, the Drunkard's Lone Child" (source notes only)
DT, DRNKCHLD* DRNKCHL2*
Roud #723
RECORDINGS:
Dock Boggs, "Drunkard's Lone Child" (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Walter Coon, "Father's a Drunkard and Mother is Dead" (Conqueror 7271, 1929)
Arthur Fields, "The Drunkard's Lone Child" (Grey Gull 4200, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Beggar Boy" (lyrics)
cf. "The Drunkard's Child (I)" (plot)
cf. "Father, Dear Father, Come Home with Me Now" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Cohen, in his edition of Randolph, has extensive notes on thie origin of this song; they boil down to, "Something is fishy here." - RBW
File: R309

Drunkard's Ragged Wean, The

DESCRIPTION: "A wee bit ragged laddie gaes wandering through the street, Wading mong the snow Wi' his wee bit hacket feet... he's the drunkard's ragged wee ane. The poor child is poor, ill-clothed, ill-fed, and unable to play with other children. The singer urges pity
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: drink children poverty hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
JHCoxIIB, #32, pp. 207-208, "The Drunkard's Ragged Wee Ane" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CoxIIB32 (Partial)
Roud #3112
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(212), "The Drunkard's Raggit Wean," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890; same broadside as LC.Fol.70(97a); also RB.n.168(150), "The Drunkard's Raggit Wean," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 1847-1907
NOTES: Although collected in California (apparently the only American collection), Cox's text is of Scottish origin (as the dialect shows). My guess, looking at it, was that it began life as a Scottish broadside, and the NLScotland texts seem to confirm this.
NLScotland also has a broadside sequel, NLScotland, LC.Fol.178.A.2(018), "The Reformed Drunkard, An Answer to the Raggit Wean," Robert McIntosh (Glasgow), 1849(?). - RBW
File: CoxIIB32

Drunkard's Ragged Wee Ane, The

See The Drunkard's Ragged Wean (File: CoxIIB32)

Drunkard's Song

DESCRIPTION: "I have traveled over these foreign countries, Into a broad and distant range, I give advice to you thoughtless husbands." A drunkard works, spends his wages on drink, beats his children; his wife and children flee into the cold and die
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: drink children river drowning suicide death
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', p. 123, "Drunkard's Song" (1 text)
NOTES: Thomas's notes seem to state that this song was by Jimmie Mutters, the singer. It however appears to be a more generic song. - RBW
File: ThBa123

Drunkard's Special

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

Drunkard's Story, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer started out a successful businessman, happily married. But then, despite his wife's pleadings, he took to drinking. In time this used up all his money, and his family wound up in the street. Now even saloon keepers scorn the man who cannot pay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink poverty
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randoph 324, "The Drunkard's Story" (1 text)
Roud #7798
File: R324

Drunkard's Warning, A

See The Drunkard's Doom (I) (File: R306)

Drunkard's Wife (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The drunkard's widow warns young girls against marrying a drunk. Her marriage has turned her old. She describes the symptoms of a drunk, and tells how her husband killed their children, then himself, and left a drunkard son
AUTHOR: Words: M. W. Knapp/Music: L. L. Pickett
EARLIEST DATE: 1894 (songbook known to Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink marriage husband wife children murder
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 332, "The Drunkard's Wife" (1 text)
Roud #7804
File: R332

Drunkard's Wife (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Don't go out tonight, my darling, Do not leave me here alone, Stay at home with me, my darling, For I'm lonely while you're gone." The wife's pleas fail; he sets out for the bar; later, "They have brought me back my darlin, Dead he lies upon the floor!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: drink husband wife death
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 137, "The Drunkard's Wife" (1 text)
ST Fus137 (Partial)
Roud #4286
File: Fus137

Drunken Captain (I), The

DESCRIPTION: "A fierce stporm raged and black winds blew, The captain said, 'I'll change the crew.'" The new "sailors" "had some booklore, But never had left their home shore." Veterans warn him to seek harbor. People jump overboard; the Captain says all are safe
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Cambiaire)
KEYWORDS: drink ship storm
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cambiaire, p. 106, "The Drunken Captain" (1 text)
Roud #12639
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Canso Straight" (subject)
NOTES: I thought very seriously about filing this with "Canso Straight," which is also about a drunken captain who tries to fight through a gale against the crew's advice. Cambiaire's text (which seems to be unique) can be sung to the "Canso Straight" tune. I would not be surprised if they were in fact the same. But this has details not typically found in "Canso Straight," and it lacks the crew's rebellion. So I, like Roud, very tentatively split the. - RBW
File: Camb106

Drunken Captain (II), The

See Canso Strait (File: Doe183)

Drunken Hiccoughs

See Drunkard's Hiccoughs (Drunken Hiccups) (File: R404)

Drunken Hiccups

See Rye Whisky (File: R405)

Drunken Maidens

DESCRIPTION: (Three/four drunken maidens) come to a tavern and go on a spree. After eating and drinking for hours, they run up a tally of (40 pounds). They are forced to give up clothes and riches (and maidenheads?)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Kinloch; Lloyd reports a version from the 1760s)
KEYWORDS: drink party poverty
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Logan, pp. 240-242, "The Four Drunken Maidens" (1 text)
Kinloch-BBook VIII, p. 30, (no title) (1 text, a 3-stanza fragment but almost certainly this piece)
DT, DRNKMAID* FRDNKMD*
ST Log240 (Full)
Roud #252
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "Four Drunken Maidens" (on Lloyd2)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Three Drunken Maidens
File: Log240

Drunken Sailor, The (Early in the Morning)

DESCRIPTION: Walkaway (stamp and go) shanty. The sailors ask, "What shall we do with the drunken sailor (x3), Early in the morning. Way, hey, and up she rises (x3), Early in the morning." Various suggestions are offered, few of them pleasant.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1841
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor drink punishment
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 48, "The Drunken Sailor, or Early in the Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 70-71, "The Drunken Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 61-62, "Early in the Morning" (1 text)
Smith/Hatt, p. 36, "What You Going To Do With a Drunken Sailor" (1 text)
Bone, pp. 40-41, "Early in th' Morning" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 78, "The Drunken Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 25-26, "The Drunken Sailor (Up She Rises)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 134-135, "Drunken Sailor" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 109-110]
Sharp-EFC, VII, p. 8, "Drunken Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 257, "Up She Rises" (1 text, 1 tune, actually a playparty which shares only the chorus and a variant of the tune with "Drunken Sailor")
GreigDuncan1 4, "The Drunken Sailor" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 92, "What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 205-206, "Drunken Sailor (Monkey's Wedding -- John Brown Had a Little Injun -- Ten Little Injuns)"
DT, DRNKSILR
Roud #322
RECORDINGS:
Cadgwith Fishermen, "What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?" (on LastDays)
Richard Maitland, "The Drunken Sailor" (AFS, 1936; on LC26)
Pete Seeger, "What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?" (on PeteSeeger31)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Maria"
cf. "Ten Little Indians (John Brown Had a Little Indian)" (tune, floating lyrics)
cf. "The Mustering Song" (tune & meter)
cf. "I Had a Wife" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
What Shall We Do for the Striking Seamen? (Greenway-AFP, pp. 233-234)
What Do You Do with a Dirty Family? (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 231)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hooray an' Up She Rises"
Up She Rises
NOTES: A modern verse: "Put him in charge of an Exxon tanker..." - PJS
Bone says of this that it "must be of failry recent date, for only in a comparatively large ship could there be room on deck for 'walking' a light sail aloft, the operation at which [this] was generally used. It was not a chanty often sung. I remember it chiefly as a showy accompaniment when all hands were employed on deck and there was an atmosphere of good humour with us." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe048

Drunken Tarlan' Crew, The

DESCRIPTION: "O the drunken Tarlan' crew First they drink and then they spew"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1889, "The Drunken Tarlan' Crew" (1 fragment)
Roud #13566
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment.
The GreigDuncan8 note confuses me enough that I'll repeat most of it in hope it may help someone track down a more complete text or date what we have: .".. [Black Jock, apparently a tailor rather than the 1715 Jacobite, John Forbes, Baillie for the Earl of Mar [see. p. 417]] landed at Tarland and in some way the inhabitants took offence and gathered with threats round the inn. Black Jock took the double barrels from his gun went out and faced them and sang 'The Drunken Tarlan' Crew' till they danced with rage but feared to touch him." Tarland is about 30 miles west of Aberdeen, Scotland. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81889

Dry Bones (I)

See I Saw the Light from Heaven (Dry Bones (I)) (File: RcISTLFH)

Drygate Brig, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer goes to an inn and passes snuff around; "ilk ane quite forget himsel'" He leaves high without his hat. Passing Drygate Brig his wig is lost in the wind and his snuff is spilt. Now he prefers drink which has the same high but crashes quickly
AUTHOR: Alexander Rodger (1784-1846)
EARLIEST DATE: 1838 (Alexander Rodger, _Poems and Songs_)
KEYWORDS: drink drugs humorous clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #162, p. 2, "The Drygate Brig" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 575, "The Drygate Brig" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Rodger, Poems and Songs (Glasgow, 1838), pp. 279-282, "The Drygate Brig"
Whistle-Binkie, (Glasgow, 1878), Vol II, pp. 246-248, "The Drygate Brig"
Roud #6039
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of Sheriffmuir" (tune, per Greig)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Mirren Gibb's
File: GrD3575

Drynaun Dun, The

See The Drinaun Dun (An Draighnean Donn, The Blackthorn Tree) (File: HHH206)

Dubbieneuk

DESCRIPTION: "In the cauld month o' December" there is a dance at Dubbienuck. The dancers included "gardners up frae Florth," "lads frae Catchiebrae" and "lassis frae Pitblae." Ploughman Jaumie Mackie "could scarcely dance a reel" with Betty Forbes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: dancing
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 622, "Dubbieneuk" (1 text)
Roud #6060
File: GrD3622

Dublin After the Union

DESCRIPTION: Pitt "the conjurer" is bringing the country to Dublin: turnips growing in the Royal Exchange, vermin in the Parliament House, .... "Give Pitt, and Dundas, and Jenky, a glass, Who'd ride on John Bull, and make Paddy an ass"
AUTHOR: Edward Lysaght (1763-1810) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1811 (according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: Ireland humorous nonballad political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1801 - Act of Union of Ireland and Great Britain
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Moylan 150, "Dublin After the Union" (1 text)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 182-184, "Dublin After the Union" (1 text)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs quoting from Sir John Carr's Stranger in Ireland: "It was a great favourite with the anti-Unionists, and I give it with more pleasure because its poetical predictions have not been verified...." - BS
The 1801 Act of Union abolished the Dublin parliament. Follow-up reforms that Pitt hoped for were not forthcoming. [The most notable of these non-reforms being the extension of the franchise to Catholics; not only did the Act of Union deprive Ireland of her parliament, but meant that her representatives in the British parliament would be Protestant. - RBW] The song sees Dublin -- its business as capital shut down -- literally going to seed.
Henry Dundas (1742-1811) - Friend and subordinate of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger (see "Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville" at the Wikipedia site). I don't know what part he played in Union.
Jenky is, apparently, Robert Banks Jenkinson (1770-1828) (see, for example, part 12 fn 19 of Byron's Poetical Works, Vol 1 by Byron at fullbooks.com site), foreign secretary (1801) and home secretary (1804-6, 1807-9) (source: Liverpool, Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2d earl of at encyclopedia.com site). I don't know what part he played in Union.
Pitt, Dundas and Jenky appear together in other songs (see for example: About the Hastings Diamond and Its Ballad at the JJKent site; "A Gentleman's Wig" in The Pearl No. 18, Dec 1880 at the immortalia.com site)
The ass as symbol of Ireland is illustrated by "The Ass's Complaint" and explained in the notes for "The Ass and the Orangeman's Daughter." - BS
We should note that the prediction here was far from true. Union didn't do much for Ireland economically, but that didn't harm Dublin much; as the major city and shipping point to Britain, it attracted most of the people who had nothing else to do with their lives.
It is true that the people of Dublin lived in utter poverty; Kee, p. 195, writes, "The poverty and squalor of much of Dublin in the early years of the twentieth century appalled all who encountered it. A government report issued in 1914 assessed that of a Dublin population of 304,000, some 194,000, or about sixty-three percent, could be recokined 'working classes'. The majority of these working classes lived in tenement houses, almost half of them with no more than one room to each family. Thirty-seven per cent of the entire working class of Dublin lived at a density of more than six persons per roon; fourteen per cent in houses declared 'unfit for human habitation.'"
Nonetheless it was the most productive place in Ireland. And it was the only part of the country where the population grew; :Lyons, p. 101, discussing migration, says that it was "movement toward Dublin or Belfast, for apart from those two giants only a few other places (notably Londonderry) showed any remarkable or sustained growth; most of the smaller towns actually declined in numbers.". This was most clear during the famine years, though it continued until (and even after) the First World War. The population chart in Edwards, p. 233, makes this clear. It shows the percentage change in the populations of Ireland's counties between the 1841 and 1851 census tallies. The declines are often dramatic. Roscommon lost 31% of its population; Mayo, Longford, and Monaghan, 29%. Most were over 20%; the lowest figures were for Antrim, Down, and Wexford, at 11%. Except for Dublin. Ireland as a whole lost 20% of its population in this period -- but the population of the county of Dublin *rose* 9%.
The result was that the urban population of Ireland rose from one-eighth of the total population in 1851 to one-third in 1911 (Lyons, p. 101). - RBW
Bibliography

Edwards: Ruth Dudley Edwards, An Atlas of Irish History, second edition, 1981 (I use the 1991 Routledge edition)
Kee: Robert Kee, The Bold Fenian Men, being volume II of The Green Flag (covering the period from around 1848 to the Easter Rising), Penguin, 1972
Lyons: F. S. L. Lyons, Ireland Since the Famine, 1963, 1971 (I use the 1985 Fontana Press paperback)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Moyl150

Dublin Bay (Roy Neal)

DESCRIPTION: "They sailed away on that gallant ship, Roy Neal and his fair young bride." Despite this happy situation, Roy spends most of his time kissing his wife's tears away. Finally the ship strikes a rock, and Roy and his wife are lost in Dublin Bay.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1860 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1015))
KEYWORDS: love death ship sea marriage
FOUND IN: US(MW.So) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Randolph 691, "Dublin Bay" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Dean, p. 128, "Dublin Bay" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 156, "Dublin Bay" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 95, "Roy Neil and His Fair Young Bride" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 478, "Dublin Bay" (source notes only)
DT, SWTDUBLN
Roud #785
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1015), "Dublin Bay," A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1845-1859; also Firth c.12(369), Harding B 11(1014), "Dublin Bay"; Harding B 11(3363), "Roy Neil" or "Dublin Bay"
LOCSinging, sb10097b, "Dublin Bay," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
SAME TUNE:
Bublin Bay (NLScotland, L.C.1269(173b), "Bublin Bay" ("They sailed away in a gallant barque"), unknown, 1857 -- listed as to the tune of "John Grumlie" but with so many lyrics from "Dublin Bay (Roy Neal)" that it coud almost be considered the same song still -- plus the long introduction asks for the pianist to play "Dublin Bay")
NOTES: A pop Irish songbook called The Library of Irish Music (no author listed; published by Amsco) lists this with words by Annie Barry Crawford and music by George Barker. Given the nature of the song, and the relatively fixed form of the lyrics, it seems likely that it is composed. But I need somewhat stronger evidence than that book to credit the song. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb10097b: 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: R691

Dublin City

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

Dublin Heiress, The

See The London Heiress (The Brisk and Lively Lad) (File: MoMa033)

Dublin Jack of All Trades

DESCRIPTION: Roving Jack arrives in Dublin and becomes a porter, pastry cook, baker, coffin maker, preacher .... listing the Dublin sites for each of his many occupations. He can't keep a job but places his "chief delight in courting pretty maids"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(255))
KEYWORDS: worker rake cook clergy
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn 40, "Dublin Jack of all Trades" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 58-59, "The Dublin Jack of All Trades" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3017
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(255), "Dublin Jack of All Trades"("I am a roving sporting black, they call me Jack of all trades"), J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin), 1850-1899; also 2806 c.15(234), 2806 c.15(36), 2806 c.7(15), "Dublin Jack of all Trades"
NOTES: OLochlainn begins "I am a roving sporting blade" which improves an internal rhyme with "trades" but loses a play on "black Jack" and "Jack of Spades" - BS
There is an old-time country item, "Jack of All Trades," recorded by the Prairie Ramblers and by "Weary Willie" (Frank Luther) and Carson J. Robison, as well as more recently by Bob Bovee and Gail Heil. That has been credited to "Howard Johnson," though I wouldn't be surprised if Robison is largely responsible. That follows the same "gimmick" of a guy who can't keep a job, though the part about chasing girls is absent. I suspect but can't prove influence. It's definitely not the same song, though. - RBW
File: OLoc040

Dublin Weaver, The

See Nancy Whisky (File: K279)

Duck from Drummuck, The

See The Wee Duck (The Duck from Drummuck) (File: HHH228a)

Duck-Foot Sue

DESCRIPTION: "I'm going to sing to you About a girl I love so true, She's chief engineer with the White Star Line, And her name is Duck-foot Sue." He details her odd looks ("teeth like bits of pipe"), her proposal "if you don't marry me I'll bust," and her appetite.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968 (but found in tradition c. 1935)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage humorous
FOUND IN: Australia US(MA)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Meredith/Anderson, p. 227, "Duck-Foot Sue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 129-130, "Duckfoot Sue" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9553
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sluefoot Sue
Slufoot Sue
NOTES: John Collins of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, sends me a version which he learned around 1935. Reportedly "a friend's father sang [this] to his dogs. It drove them batty and they 'san'" along with him."
There once was a girl I knew
Her name was Slufoot Sue
She was chief engineer at a shirttail factory
Down by the riverside zoo
Her face was all she had
She had a shape like a softshell crab
Every night she had a tussle
With a patent leather bustle
GEE but she was BAAAD
I begin to think there must be a music hall origin to the song, although I haven't yet found it. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MA227

Duckfoot Sue

See Duck-Foot Sue (File: MA227)

Duffy's Hotel

DESCRIPTION: The singer advises those who want enjoyment to visit the hotel in Boiestown. He describes the wild parties, the fights, the mad rush to collar a diseased chicken, and the peculiar visitors. He concludes by setting out for home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Doerflinger)
KEYWORDS: party fight
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 268-269, "Duffy's Hotel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 38, "Duffy's Hotel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 144-148, "Duffy's Hotel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 12, "Duffy's Hotel" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Doe268 (Partial)
Roud #1961
File: Doe268

Dugall Quin [Child 294]

DESCRIPTION: Dugall Quin comes to court Lissie. He asks her if she would love him if he were poor (she would). She asks if he would like her if she were rich (he would). Despite her parents' opposition (since they think him poor), she goes with him and is well-off.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1890 (Buchan, Child)
KEYWORDS: courting poverty money
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 294, "Dugall Quin" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1267, "Lizzie Menzies" (2 texts)
Roud #3928
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lizie Lindsay" [Child 226]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lizzie Lindsay
File: C294

Duggan's Dancing School

DESCRIPTION: Paddy Duggan, once a cattle slaughterer, opens a dancing school that exceeds the dancing halls of London and Paris. "When in this hall there is a ball they come from far and near.... in summertime it is a pretty sight" The singer wishes Duggan luck.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: dancing party nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 22, "Duggan's Dancing School" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: McB1022

Duke o' Gordon's Three Daughters, The

See The Duke of Gordon's Daughter [Child 237] (File: C237)

Duke of Argyle, The [Laws N1]

DESCRIPTION: A woman follows her lover Alexander to battle. He is slain on the banks of the Nile, but she continues to fight. Even though she remains in soldier's clothing, the Duke (of Argyle) comes to court her. She remains true to her slain Alexander
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1921 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: battle death love courting cross-dressing
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws N1, "The Duke of Argyle"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 39, "The Duke of Argyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 811, DUKARGYL
Roud #1915
File: LN01

Duke of Argyle's Courtship, The

DESCRIPTION: "Did you ever hear of a loyal Scot...." He courts a girl, begging her to marry. She refuses; she has no proof he can care for her. He persists; so does she. He reveals he is Duke of Argyle, and rejects her after she changes her mind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection nobility
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, pp. 197-198, "The Duke of Argyle's Courtship" (1 text)
Roud #3797
NOTES: Ord suggests "The hero of this ballad was probably John, Duke of Argyle and Greenwich, who commanded the Royal army at the Battle of Sheriffmuir." The reference is to John Campbell, Second Duke of Argyll (1678-1743), a proponent of the Act of Union in 1707, British commander in Spain from 1711, and an opponent of Jacobitism who, as Ord says, commanded the Royalist forces in Scotland. I see no real reason to consider him the hero of this song, though. - RBW
File: Ord197

Duke of Athole's Nurse, The [Child 212]

DESCRIPTION: The Duke's (?) new leman bids his nurse (and former leman) bring her love a message. The nurse gathers her (seven) brothers to kill him instead. He asks the tavern's landlady to hide him; she disguises him as a baking maid. The brothers fail to kill him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment brother disguise cross-dressing escape
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(North))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 212, "The Duke of Athole's Nurse" (6 texts)
Bronson 212, "The Duke of Athole's Nurse" (9 versions)
Greig #84, pp. 1-2, "The Duke of Athole's Nurse" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan1 160, "The Duke of Athole's Nurse" (10 texts, 6 tunes) {A=Bronson's #9, B=#4, C=#6, E=#7, F=#2}
Leach, pp. 566-568, "The Duke of Athole's Nurse" (1 text)
DT 212, DUKATHOL*
Roud #3393
NOTES: The opening of this song is a bit confused. Whose love is the new leman? The Duke's? The nurse's former love? Someone else's? It hardly affects the plot, but the pronouns are confusing. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C212

Duke of Bedford, The

See Six Dukes Went A-Fishing (File: FO078)

Duke of Buckingham, The

See The Duke of Buckingham's Hounds (File: Br3218)

Duke of Buckingham's Hounds, The

DESCRIPTION: The (Duke of Buckingham) goes out to hunt fox with his good hounds. The names of the hounds are given. The fox cleverly crosses the water. One old hound at last catches the fox. All rejoice at its fate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Chappell; there is an undated broadside in the Roxburghe collection)
KEYWORDS: hunting death nobility animal dog
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
BrownIII 218, "The Duke of Buckingham" (1 fragment)
Chappell-FSRA 102, "The Bardy Train" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 352-353, "A Fox Chase" (1 text)
BBI, ZN75, "The Fox-Chace... Duke of Buckingham's Hounds"
ST Br3218 (Partial)
Roud #584
NOTES: I have no idea why Chappell's texts are titled "The Bardy Train"; that phrase does not appear in either text. - RBW
File: Br3218

Duke of Gordon's Daughter, The [Child 237]

DESCRIPTION: Jean, the Duke's daughter, loves Captain Ogilvie. Gordon, to stop the match, convinces the King to demote Ogilvie. Jean marries Ogilvie. They go to Gordon in poverty; he is turned away. Ogilvie inherits Northumberland; he brings home his wife and children
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1794
KEYWORDS: nobility rejection love courting soldier elopement children
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 237, "The Duke of Gordon's Daughter" (1 text)
Bronson 237, "The Duke of Gordon's Daughter" (14 versions+1 in addenda)
GreigDuncan6 1099, "The Duke o' Gordon's Three Daughters" (10 texts, 9 tunes)
OBB 94, "The Duke of Gordon's Daughter" (1 text)
DBuchan 56, "The Duke of Gordon's Daughter" (1 text)
DT 237, DUKGORD*
Roud #342
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Tents o' Foundlan'
File: C237

Duke of Grafton, The

See Six Dukes Went A-Fishing (File: FO078)

Duke of York, The

See The Noble Duke of York (File: FSWB390B)

Duke William

DESCRIPTION: Duke William goes disguised to "know what usage have poor sailors." A press gang takes him at an inn. On board, he tears his trousers and asks for a tailor. Stripping for flogging his disguise is blown. He promises reforms and leaves gold for the crew.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(77c))
KEYWORDS: navy disguise humorous royalty sailor pressgang clothes gold
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 7, "Duke William" (1 fragment)
Roud #1544
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(77c), "Duke William's Frolic" ("Duke William and a nobleman, heroes of England's nation"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 28(82), Harding B 25(561), Harding B 16(78b), "Duke William's Frolic"; Harding B 11(3665), "Duke William"; Harding B 11(1024), "Duke William the Jolly Sailor"; Harding B 25(556), "The Duke of Cumberland's Frolick"
NOTES: The description follows broadsides Bodleian Harding B 11(3665) and Harding B 11(1024).
The subject is William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, 1721-1765, according to Bodleian notes to its broadsides.
Ashton, Modern Street Ballads (1888), p. 228: "This is supposed to refer to some frolic of William IV.'s when he was Duke of Clarence, and properly belongs to last century." - BS
I'm with Ashton on this one; the Bodleian suggestion is extremely unlikely. Not that this happened to either Duke William (I grant that Cumberland and Clarence are the only candidates, since we need a Duke William during the press gang era) -- press gangs sought sailors, not royalty in disguise. But William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the Butcher of Culloden, was about as unlikely a victim of a press gang as one can imagine. Immensely fat, he couldn't possibly do any useful work on shipboard. Nor is there anything "naval" in his record. Nor would he have hesitated to scream bloody murder were he taken. And, last but not least, he would not show any sense of comradery with sailors.
The future William IV (1765-1837; reigned 1830-1837), who was Duke of Clarence, is a much better candidate. The third son of George III, no one expected him to become King, so he was made a midshipman at the age of 13. His talents were limited, but at least he knew his way around a ship. And he had rough manners suitable to a sailor, and he didn't go *quite* as bad, physically, as Cumberland. He would go on to become an admiral (though without a command), and even admiral of the fleet in 1811.
There is even an instance of him being sent to sea against his will, although not actually pressed. Philip Ziegler, King William IV, 1971 (I use the 1989 Cassell Biographies edition), pp. 65-66, tells of him taking a mistress (not his first) named Sally Winne in 1788. His father George III, who disapproved strongly of his sons' license, ordered William sent to America. "The result was that the unfortunate Prince was shanghaied as he came in sight of the Lizard after a three-week cruise and brusquely ordered to set sail for the New World. With chagrin, he obeyed, complaining to his father, 'the men are in a peculiar hard situation'.... And so, sulkily, Prince William set forth on what was to be his final posting as an active sailor."
William, however, was not yet Duke of Clarence. When his father went mad, William was called home, and eventually, in 1789, given the dukedom (Ziegler, p. 70).
To give the Duke his due, William, shortly before becoming king, actually spent a brief period in true command of the fleet. It was rather a disaster -- he gave up the post after 15 months -- but he did get the navy to buy its first steam vessel, and he tried to reform the promotion system. Also, he tried to limit flogging -- an interesting point in light of this song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1007

Duke Willie

DESCRIPTION: "Mony a day hae I followed Duke Willie ... [and] followed the drum ... Frae Cullen o' Buchan to Cullen Aboyne." The singer wishes his Kattie were in his arms and thinks of his wine toasts to her and the fine gown, cloak, and cap he bought her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Hogg and Motherwell)
KEYWORDS: courting battle clothes drink Scotland soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1763, "Duke Willie" (2 fragments, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: James Hogg and William Motherwell, editors, The Works of Robert Burns (Glasgow, 1839 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. III, pp. 81-82, ("Mony a day hae I followed Duke Willie")
Roud #13011
NOTES: Hogg and Motherwell: "[This is] a Jacobite ditty, for which we are indebted to Mr Buchan"; "Duke Willie" is the "Duke of Cumberland."
For some background on the Duke of Cumberland see "The Muir of Culloden." I would trust Motherwell -- it's his note -- to know "a Jacobite ditty." I expect Cumberland to be a villain in any Jacobite song. I don't see the connection here.
Buchan and Aboyne are in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. - BS
My first thought was that the Duke was not Cumberland but the Jacobite Duke of Perth, one of Bonnie Prince Charlie's Lieutenant Generals. But his name was James Drummond. James III did hand out some other empty titles of nobility; perhaps it was one of those? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81763

Dulcina

DESCRIPTION: "As at noone Dulcina rested In a sweete and shady bower, Came a shepherd and requested In her lap to sleep an hour." The song obliquely describes what might have happened, but the singer admits ignorance of what actually happened
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1707 (Pills to Purge Melancholy; registered 1615)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Percy/Wheatley III, pp. 153-155, "Dulcina" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 160-161, "Dulcina" (1 tune, partial text)
BBI, ZN195, "As at noon Dulcina rested"
ST Perc3153 (Full)
Roud #9916
SAME TUNE:
In the month of February/The true Lovers Good-morrow... brace of Valentines (BBI ZN1481)
Thou who art so sweet a creature/A delicate new ditty... Posie of a Ring (BBI ZN2595)
What doth aile my loue, so sadly/A pleasant new Song, betwixt a Saylor and his Loue (BBI ZN2793)
From Oberon in Fairy Land/The mad-merry prankes of Robbin Good-fellow (BBI ZN933)
Of late it was my chance to walke/A penny-worth of Good Counsell (BBI ZN2114)
In the gallant month of June/The desperate Damsell's Tragedy (BBI ZN1478)
All you Young-men who would Marry/A Prouerb old, yet nere forgot, Tis good to strike while the Irons hott (BBI ZN160)
Jewry came to Jerusalem/Two pleasant Ditties, one of the Birth, the other of the Passion of Christ (BBI ZN1551)
The golden god Hyperion/An excellent new ditty.. Dulcina complaineth for the absence of.. Coridon (BBI ZN988)
NOTES: This is probably not an actual traditional song (though an attempt to attribute it to Raleigh failed). It is so often cited, however, that I thought it best to include it (there are eight or nine broadsides in the Broadside Ballad Index using this tune).
Izaak Walton's Compeat Angler also refers to this tune (Chapter II). He makes it sound like a folk song -- but he lists "Phyllida Flouts Me" and other arty songs in the same context. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Perc3153

Dumb Wife, The (Dumb, Dumb, Dumb) [Laws Q5]

DESCRIPTION: A husband's new wife is a perfect housekeeper but is mute. The man takes her to a doctor, who is able to cure her impediment -- only to have her talk all the time. The husband again appeals for help; the doctor says that nothing can silence her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1698 (Pills to Purge Melancholy)
KEYWORDS: doctor husband wife disability humorous
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,SE,So) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Laws Q5, "The Dumb Wife (Dumb, Dumb, Dumb)"
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 32-34, "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #13, pp. 1-2, "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan7 1289, "The Dumb, Dumb Maid" (6 texts, 4 tunes)
Randolph 394, "The Dumb Wife Cured" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 92, "The Scolding Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 135, "The Wife Who Was Dumb" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 199, "The Dumb Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 183, "The Dumb Wife" (2 texts)
BBI, ZN143, "All you that pass along"
DT 519, DUMBDUMB*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 262-263, "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" (1 text)
Roud #434
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 39(145), "The Dumb Maid" or "The Young Gallant Trappan'd" ("All you that press along"), W. Onley (London), 1689-1709; also Harding B 28(80), "The Dumb Wife's Tongue Let Loose"; Harding B 11(2258), Harding B 16(325a), "[The] Dumb Wife"; Harding B 18(146), "The Dumb Scold"
LOCSinging, as103240, "The Dumb Scold", J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also sb10090b, "The Dumb Scold"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie" (tune, per GreigDuncan7)
SAME TUNE:
Cruiskeen Lawn (tune [cited as "Cowskeen Lawn"] per broadsides Bodleian Harding B 18(146), LOCSinging as103240 and LOCSinging sb10090b)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Bonnie Blade
NOTES: Broadsides LOCSinging as103240, LOCSinging sb10090b and Bodleian Harding B 18(146) are triplicates.
Broadside LOCSinging as103240: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LQ05

Dumb, Dumb Maid, The

See The Dumb Wife (Dumb, Dumb, Dumb) [Laws Q5] (File: LQ05)

Dumbarton's Bell

See Dumbarton's Bonnie Dell (File: GrD71323)

Dumbarton's Bonnie Dell

DESCRIPTION: The singer says "a winsome lassock lives hard by Dumbarton's bonnie dell." He'll never be happy until Dumbarton's belle is his wife.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1844 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1844 400120)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1323, "Dumbarton's Bell" (1 fragment)
Roud #7145
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1844 400120, "Dumbarton's Bonnie Dell," George Willig (Philadelphia), 1844 (tune)
Murray, Mu23-y3:013, "Dumbarton's Bonnie Dell," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(001), "Dumbarton's Bonnie Dell" ("There's ne'er a nook in a' the land"), unknown, c.1845; also L.C.Fol.178.A.2(038), "Dumbarton's Bonnie Dell"
NOTES: Broadside LOCSheet sm1844 400120 claims authorship for Francis Weiland but it is never clear whether "author" may not just be arranger. GreigDuncan7 cites a Poet's Box 1857 broadside that claims authorship for Mr C M Westmacott. Since Poet's Box broadsides have no arrangement that claim may be the better one. A clue as to when it was written is the reference to "the land That William rules sae well."
Broadsides NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(038) and Murray Mu23-y3:013 are duplicates.
GreigDuncan7 is a fragment; broadside NLScotland L.C.1270(001) is the basis for the description. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71323

Dumbarton's Drums

DESCRIPTION: "Dumbarton's drums, they sound so bonny When they remind me of my Johnny." The singer tells of how Johnnie, "Dumbarton's caddie," courts her. She expects that someday he will be a captain and she his lady.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1797 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #161)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 281, "Dumbarton's Drums" (1 text)
DT, DUMBDRUM* DMBDRUM2*
ST FSWB281A (Full)
Roud #8669
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "O! Why Should Old Age So Much Wound Us?" (tune)
NOTES: First appearing seemingly in the Orpheus Caledoneus (for the text, see the Digital Tradition DMBDRUM2), this was originally a rather flowery piece. Somehow it entered the Beers family tradition, which endowed it with a magnificent tune (not the same as that in the Scots Musical Museum) and much simpler if not particularly inspired words. It is the Beers version which has become extremely popular in pop-folk circles.
According to John Baynes with John Laffin, Soldiers of Scotland, Brassey's, 1988 (I use the 1997 Barnes & Noble edition), p. 103, this piece is used as a pipe tune for parade by the Royal Scots Regiment as a parade piece (I assume they use the Orpheus Caledoneus tune), though this has never been officially approved by the British army. - RBW
File: FSWB281A

Dummer Sheener's Gang, The

DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing you a song of a sheener's gang, I've got 'em all taped up to a man, There's long and short and thin and fat, But every man knows just what he's at." Each man's work is listed, from Jimmy Bailey "who runs the concern" to the lowest corn-fetcher
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: drink work
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 274-275, "The Dummer Sheener's Gang" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #874
NOTES: Just in case it isn't obvious, this is a moonshining song. - RBW
File: CoSB274

Dummy Line (I), The

DESCRIPTION: Concerning possibly the worst, slowest train in history, which comes "Across the prairie on a streak of rust." Passengers who complain are instructed to get out and walk, but point out that they are not expected until the train arrives
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (_Sing Out!_, volume 26, #4, p. 34, a version from Joe Hickerson via Michael Cooney)
KEYWORDS: humorous railroading train
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 254-255, "The Rummy Dummy Line" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 485-490, "On the Dummy Line" (the main text and tune are "The Dummy Line (II)," but there are selections from and discussion of this song)
DT, DUMYLINE
Roud #15359
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "On the Dummy Line (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: There is a song called "Riding on the Dummy," by Sam Booth & Frederick Carnes, published in 1855. It's not this song. See Norm Cohen's Long Steel Rail for a full discussion. [There is also another "Dummy Line" song; see "On the Dummy Line (II)" for discussion. - RBW]
Uncle Dave Macon's "On the Dixie Bee Line," about a Ford car, is a parody of this song. - PJS
File: DTdumyli

Dummy Line (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Some folks say that the dummy won't run, Now, let me tell you what the dummy done, Left Saint Louis 'bout half past one, Rolled into Memphis at the seein' of the sun." Stories of riding on the Dummy Line, possibly without a fare
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: train travel
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 485-490, "On the Dummy Line" (1 text plus fragments of several other "Dummy Line" songs, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 244-245, "De Dummy Line" (1 short text, 1 tune); p. 239, "Railroad Song" (1 fragment)
BrownIII 435, "The Dummy Line" (2 short texts; "B" is a mixed text that seems to be mostly a "May Irwin's Frog Song (The Foolish Frog, Way Down Yonder)" type, with a "Some Folks Say a Nigger Won't Steal" verse)
Roud #11776
RECORDINGS:
Robert N. Page, "Ride and Shine on the Dummy Line" (Victor 21067, 1927)
Pickard Family, "On the Dummy Line" ((Perfect 12625/Banner 0744/Conqueror 7574/Oriole 1995/Challenge 882/Jewel 5995/Pathe 32546/Regal 10049/Cameo 0344/Domino 4585/Romeo 1357/Paramount 3218, 1930; Broadway 8150 [as Pleasant Family], n.d.)
NOTES: This is rather a conundrum, because the texts of "The Dummy Line (I)" and "The Dummy Line (II)" have similar choruses, and most are fragments, and they've mixed a lot, as well as gathering a lot of floating verses; see Cohen for a discussion. In general, though, "The Dummy Line (I) involves an extremely slow train, while this one involves a faster, but perhaps strangely-managed one.
It appears, in the original version, that the trip was from Saint Louis to Memphis -- a distance of nearly 300 miles, implying (depending on the time of the year and hence the time of sunset) a speed between 40 and 75 miles an hour, quite good for a train at the turn of the twentieth century.
Scarborough's "Railroad Song" text (p. 239) is even stranger, because it has the train go from Saint Louis to Tampa in an afternoon. That's a distance of 900 miles, meaning that the train had to move at a speed of at least 125 miles per hour even at the summer solstice!
It may be that the Scarborough text confused "Saint Louis" (Saint Louie?) in the song with Saint Lucie, Florida, on the Atlantic coast almost due east of Tampa. That's a distance of about 125 miles, give or take a few river detours, implying a speed of 25-30 miles per hour. Hardly high-speed -- but not really Dummy Line numbers, either. Alternately, Saint Louis might be a variation on "St. Pete/Petersburg." In which case the speed is ridiculously slow. - RBW
File: ScNS139A

Dunbar the Murderer

DESCRIPTION: "Awake, sad muse, awake and sing, And softly touch the mournful string...." "Oh brutal man... Two blooming children you have slain, A little paltry gold to gain." "The mother dear the lads did send To Dunbar's home some months to spend."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Supplement to the Ulster County Almanac)
KEYWORDS: murder children money
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 91-92, (no title) (1 excerpted text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Children in the Wood (The Babes in the Woods)" [Laws Q34] (plot)
NOTES: Burt notes an obvious similarity to "Babes in the Woods." Since her (printed) source evidently does not link the song to any actual historical event, it may well be a song composed in imitation of that piece. - RBW
File: Burt092

Duncan and Brady [Laws I9]

DESCRIPTION: Policeman Brady walks into Duncan's bar and attempts to arrest the latter. Duncan, unwilling to have his business ruined, shoots Brady. Neither Brady's family nor those around Duncan seem to care much; Brady's wife looks forward to getting his pension
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (recording, Wilmer Watts & the Lonely Eagles)
KEYWORDS: murder family
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws I9, "Brady (Duncan and Brady)"
BrownII 248, "Brady" (1 text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 85-87, "Duncan and Brady" (3 texts; the second is incomplete and may well be a version of "Joseph Mica (Mikel) (The Wreck of the Six-Wheel Driver) (Been on the Choly So Long)" [Laws I16] with some Brady lyrics mixed in; both the second an third start with lines from "Twinkle Twinke Little Star")
Sandburg, pp. 198-199, "Brady" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 596, "Duncan and Brady" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 660, DUNCBRAD
Roud #4177
RECORDINGS:
Arthur "Brother-in-Law" Armstrong, "Brady" (AFS 3978 B3, 1940)
Wilmer Watts & the Lonely Eagles, "Been on the Job Too Long" (Paramount 3210, 1930; on TimesAint01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1] (lyrics)
cf. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (lyrics)
NOTES: The notes in Brown describe a history of this ballad which bears little resemblance to the song itself: Brady is not a policeman but the criminal in the piece, shot by deputy Albert Bounds around 1900. It is noteworthy that Laws quotes none of this. - RBW
File: LI09

Duncan and Janet M'Cleary

See Duncan MacCleary (File: FVS302)

Duncan Campbell (Erin-Go-Bragh) [Laws Q20]

DESCRIPTION: Duncan Campbell, although he comes from Argyle in Scotland, is known as Erin-Go-Bragh. A policeman mistakes him for an Irishman and abuses him. Campbell returns the favor, then flees before anyone can stop him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1850 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3725))
KEYWORDS: abuse police
FOUND IN: US(Ap) Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws Q20, "Duncan Campbell (Erin-Go-Bragh)"
Greig #127, p. 1, "Erin-go-Bragh" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan2 236, "Erin-go-Bragh" (11 texts, 9 tunes)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 49-51, "Erin-Go-Bragh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 319, "Erin-go-Bragh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 17, "Erin Go Bragh" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 387, "Erin-Go-Bragh" (1 text)
Mackenzie 134, "Duncan Campbell" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 112, "Erin-Go-Bragh (Ireland Forever)" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 197, "Clay Morgan" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT 531, ERNGOBRA*
Roud #1627
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Erin-Go-Bragh" (on FSB7)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3725), "Duncan Campbell," M. Stephenson (Gateshead), 1838-1850; also Firth b.25(539), 2806 c.14(79), Firth b.26(199), Harding B 11(1026), 2806 b.10(198), Harding B 20(83), "Duncan Campbell"; Firth c.26(15), "Erin Go Bragh" ("My name's Duncan Cambell, from the shire of Argyle")
Murray, Murray, Mu23-y1:068, "Duncan Cambell," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C; also Mu23-y1:025, "Duncan Campbell," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(003), "My Name Is Duncan Campbell," unknown, c. 1845; also L.C.Fol.70(57b), "Duncan Campbell," unknown, c. 1890
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Villikens and his Dinah" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Blaeberry Courtship" (tune, according to Greig)
cf. "The Wild Irishman in London" (theme of Irishman being abused and fighting back)
NOTES: From the commentary to broadside NLScotland, L.C.1270(003): "This song was written in the nineteenth century, and the mention of the police puts it post-1829, when the 'Peelers' were first established." - BS
A clever but not quite certain bit of logic, since the song generally refers to "policemen," not "Peelers," and that word is older. (Also, the first Peelers served in Ireland in 1817; the concept of a unified police force then came to Britain in 1829). - RBW
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 17 differs from the common version in two ways. First, instead of being Duncan Campbell from Scotland, the hero is Paddy from Ireland (Athy), which changes it from a ballad of common cause between the Scotsman and Irishman. Second, the hero is taken by the crowd as a "bold rascal that has killed our police"; usually, he escapes. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LQ20

Duncan M'Callipin (The Tranent Wedding)

DESCRIPTION: "It was at a wedding near Tranent, When scores an' scores on fun were bent... 'Shame tak' the hindmost,' quo' Duncan M'Callipin." A typical story of a wild wedding, the associated broose race, and the behavior of the various guests
AUTHOR: Peter Forbes?
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: wedding humorous talltale
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 42-45, "Duncan M'Callipin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5982
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Duncan MacKallikin" (subject and form)
File: FVS042

Duncan MacCleary

DESCRIPTION: "Duncan MacCleary, an' Janet his wife, Duncan MacCleary, he played on the fife: Janet she danced until she cried wearie." They live a life of quiet happiness, though he is blind and hears little. When he dies, she soon follows after
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love death dancing home
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, p. 302, "Duncan and Janet M'Cleary" (1 text)
Roud #12586
File: FVS302

Duncan MacIntosh

DESCRIPTION: Duncan Macintosh was a Highlander who played bagpipes for the king at Aberdeen, danced the Highland fling, and sang "It's a braw bricht meenlicht nicht ...." His whiskers were like heather. He ate potatoes, scones and pottage and enjoyed "a drap"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: dancing drink food music Scotland nonballad royalty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 529, "Duncan MacIntosh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6008
File: GrD3529

Duncan MacKallikin

DESCRIPTION: "Twas for a peck o' meal ... Duncan bet on his grey mare To rin 'gainst nine or ten." One horse falls. The other horses are named as they challenge and fall back. "Duncan aye kept gallopin'" and wins the bet
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1856 (broadside, Murray Mu23-y2:010)
KEYWORDS: wager racing derivative horse gambling
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 495, "Duncan MacKallikin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5983
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(80b), "Duncan M'Callachan" ("It was for a peck o' meal or mair"), Sanderson (Edinburgh), 1830-1910
Murray, Mu23-y2:010, "Duncan M'Callochan," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 1856
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "There Cam a Young Man to My Daddie's Door" (tune, broadside Murray Mu23-y2:010)
cf. "Duncan M'Callipin" (subject and form)
NOTES: Ford, re "Duncan M'Callipin" refers to this song as "a perverted version of the song ... but its coarseness damages its chance of popularity. Forbees's song ["Duncan M'Callipin"] deservedly has held the field."
Reluctantly I am following Ford, Roud, and GreigDuncan3 in considering the songs "related" rather than the same. The structure, and many lines are shared. Since Ford dates a book of Forbes's poems to 1812 it seems likely that his version is the earlier. Since the songs cannot be independent I consider this version to be derivative. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3495

Duncan Macleerie

See Duncan MacCleary (File: FVS302)

Dundee, It's a Pretty Place

DESCRIPTION: "Dundee, it is a pretty place, Surrounded by a wall, Where brave Argyll did won the field With sword and cannon ball."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1634 (Hunt's Psalter)
KEYWORDS: battle
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H10c, p. 2, "Dundee" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Earl of Errol" [Child 231] (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This seems to be known only as a "choir rhyme" in the Sam Henry collection, from 1924, used to teach choirs a tune when, as Presbyterians, they were not supposed to sing the actual words. Normally, this would not be reason to consider the piece traditional.
This text, however, or at least the first three lines, are known from Hunt's 1634 psalter, and they are also similar to lyrics in "The Earl of Errol." That says to me that this stanza, in some form or other, kicked around in tradition.
I'm not sure which battle is described in this song. Logically, one would guess that it's Archibald, eighth Earl and first Marquis of Argyll (1598-1661) -- but his military feats as a Covenanter came *after* 1634.
Archibald's father Archibald, the seventh Earl (d. 1638) was also a soldier, though his success was mixed, but he did his campaigning in the Highlands.
The other Earls of Argyll, insofar as I can follow their careers, are no better candidates (e.g. the fifth Earl was Mary Stuart's field commander at Langside, but that was a lost battle nowhere near Dundee).
Two battles are listed as taking place in Dundee, but they are dated 1645 and 1651 -- again, after the date of the psalter describing Argyll fighting at Dundee. - RBW
File: HHH10c

Dunderbeck

DESCRIPTION: The German Dunderbeck invents a steam-powered machine to turn any sort of meat into sausages. Thus vanish all the rats and cats of the town. When Dunderbeck's machine breaks down, he tries to fix it; his wife accidentally starts it with him inside.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: technology disaster animal humorous food
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Randolph 488, "Donderbeck's Machine" (2 texts)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, p. 80, "Dunderbeck" (1 text, tune referenced)
Silber-FSWB, p. 239, "Dunderbeck" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 139-140, "The Sausage Meat Machine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 515-516, "Son of a Gun -- (Son of a Gambolier; Dunderbeck; and Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech)"
DT, DUNDER*
Roud #4461
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier" (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "O Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Rebeck
Johnny Rebec
Johnny Robeck
File: R488

Dungannon Convention, The

DESCRIPTION: "The church of Dungannon is full to the door" with Volunteer warriors. In spite of "English oppression" the volunteers stood ready to protect England from a foreign fleet. At Dungannon the delegates swore "We've suffered too long, we'll suffer no more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS:
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
September 8, 1783 - Irish Volunteer Society Convention in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone (Source: Moylan) (but see the NOTES)
FOUND IN: England Ireland patriotic political
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 5, "The Dungannon Convention" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Moylan p. 1: "On St Patrick's Day, 1778, the first company of Belfast Volunteers was formed in response to the danger of a possible war between Britain and France. The movement spread like wildfire and soon there were companies in all parts of Ireland. At their height they numbered 100,000 members. By the following year they had become politicized and swung their weight behind the so-called Patriot Party, those in favour of legislative independence from the British parliament and the removal of impediments to Irish commerce." - BS
According to Fry/Fry, p. 187, "In February 1782 [Henry] Grattan arranged a convention of some 250 delegates from the Volunteers, who met in the parish church of Dungannon." The result was, in effect, a declaration of parliamentary independence.
Kee, p. 32, relates that "In 1780 Grattan for the first time tried to get the Irish House of Commons to vote an Irish Declaration of Independence. He was then unsuccessful, owing to the Crown's effective control of the majority in Parliament, through the system of patronage. By the end of the following year, however, the Volunteers outside Parliament had become much stronger. They were now said to number eighty thousand men, and in 1782 a convention of democratically elected Volunteer delegates was held at Dungannon, a sort of parliament outside Parliament, backed by potential physical force for the first but by no means the last time in Irish history."
The pressure was enough that, later that year, the Irish parliament gave in and voted independence unanimously (Kee, p. 33). Under that pressure, the British granted the parliament most of what it asked -- repealing even the infamous Poyning's Law that said the British parliament could override the Irish. (For further details, see the notes to "Ireland's Glory.") There would be more Dungannon Conventions in 1783 and 1793, and eventually in 1905 Bulmer Bobson and Denis McCullough founded the nationalist "Dungannon clubs" (OxfordCompanion, p. 165), but the 1782 edition was the Really Big Deal. - RBW
Bibliography

Fry/Fry: Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, A History of Ireland, 1988 (I use the 1993 Barnes & Noble edition)
Kee: Robert Kee, The Most Distressful Country, being volume I of The Green Flag (covering the period prior to 1848), Penguin, 1972
OxfordCompanion: S. J. Connolly, editor, The Oxford Companion to Irish History, Oxford, 1998

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Moyl005

Dungarvon Whooper (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The cook in a Dungarvon River lumber camp dies. The crew suspect the skipper murdered him. That night "fearful whoops and yells the forest fill" and are heard around "the Whooper's grave" until "God's good man" prays that they stop.
AUTHOR: Michael Whelan
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: murder burial lumbering ghost ritual clergy
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Manny/Wilson 13, "The Dungarvon Whooper -- I" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi013 (Partial)
Roud #9198
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Where the Silvery Colorado Sweeps Along" (tune)
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "Rev Edward Murdoch, the Roman Catholic parish priest at Renous, felt seriously enough about the matter to come up to Dungarvon and read the church service of exorcism. It is said that after this the evil spirit which was responsible for the horrible sounds was heard no more. But people still say they sometimes hear the Whooper, and they fear to visit the grave by the Whooper Spring. The Dungarvon River is a branch of the Main Renous River, which it joins above Quarryville....
"The train on the Canada Eastern Railway, between Fredericton and Newcastle, named for the Whooper, made its last run in 1936." - BS
For a less mysterious explanation of the origin of the name "Whooper," see the notes to "The Dungarvon Whooper (II)." - RBW
File: MaWi013

Dungarvon Whooper (II), The

DESCRIPTION: The night a group of fishermen "reached Dungarvon ... the Dungarvon Whooper was the terror of the night." All the beasts fled and the fishermen "felt very sure We could beat any Whooper ... And when he saw that he was beat He was forced to run away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: fight fishing humorous ghost
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Manny/Wilson 14, "The Dungarvon Whooper (II)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi014 (Partial)
Roud #9199
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "Rev Edward Murdoch, the Roman Catholic parish priest at Renous, felt seriously enough about the matter to come up to Dungarvon and read the church service of exorcism. It is said that after this the evil spirit which was responsible for the horrible sounds was heard no more. But people still say they sometimes hear the Whooper, and they fear to visit the grave by the Whooper Spring. The Dungarvon River is a branch of the Main Renous River, which it joins above Quarryville....
"The train on the Canada Eastern Railway, between Fredericton and Newcastle, named for the Whooper, made its last run in 1936."
Manny/Wilson note on authorship: Someone "says this satiric song was made up by Everett Price, Billy's brother, but Billy [the singer] himself says it was written by his grandfather, Abraham Munn." - BS
Manny and Wilson offer two explanations for the origin of the name "Whooper." One, found in their notes to "The Dungarvon Whooper (I)," link it to a mysterious death and later exorcism in the area, described above and in the notes to the other "Whooper" song.
In their notes on this version, they mention the name being associated with the train on the occasion of a run with a lot of rowdy woodsmen aboard. - RBW
File: MaWi014

Dungiven Cricket Match

DESCRIPTION: The boys of Dungiven challenge the team from Derry to a cricket match. Both teams turn out, and bring crowds of supporters. The contest, naturally, is hard-fought, but Dungiven wins. The singer lists the team members
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: sports moniker
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H669, p. 179-180, "Dungiven Cricket Match" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13539
File: HHH669

Dungiveny Priory Church

DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders out, enjoying nature, when he comes to "the old church not far from Dungiven." He praises the artistic quality of the site, and bids nature to love him. He notes that life is fleeting, and bids farewell to the spot
AUTHOR: James Maxwell ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: rambling burial
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H187, pp. 162-163, "Dungiven Priory Church" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13463
NOTES: Dungiven Priory is one of the most famous religious sites in Ireland, and is famous as the graveyard of the O'Cahan family. For details, see the notes to "The Banks of the Roe." - RBW
File: HHH187

Dunlavin Green

DESCRIPTION: At the time of the 1798 Rebellion, Captain Saunders betrays some of his own men to execution at Dunlavin Green. Some of the martyrs are named and mourned, and Saunders is cursed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1798 (Zimmermann); 1820 (according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion execution lie army Ireland betrayal death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 24, 1798 - "Nineteen members of the Saundersgrove corps of yeomen, and nine of the Narraghmores, imprisoned in Dunlavin as United Irish sympathisers, were led out and summarily executed." (source: Moylan)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Hodgart, p. 202, "Dunlavin Green" (1 text)
PGalvin, pp. 94-95, "Dunlavin Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 53, "Dunlavin Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 9, "Dunlavin Green" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Moylan 55, "Dunlavin Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3010
NOTES: The 1798 rebellion collapsed even before it properly began, and many of the leaders were betrayed (the United Irish leaders were taken in March, and the rebellion did not take place for many months after that).
Captain Saunders led a Yeoman (Irish militia) company, and on May 22, shortly before the actual rebellion, he assembled his men and urged those who were rebels to come forward.
About twenty of the rebels, leaderless and hoping for mercy, revealed themselves. They were arrested and sent to Dunlavin.
Two days later, with rebels threatening the town, a total of 28 rebels (19 of them from Saunders's company) were summarily executed. (This seems to have been both in fear of and as an example to the rebels outside.) Such behavior was against British rules, and was condemned by many even on the English side, but as always, the atrocities were remembered longer than the regrets of the more civilized faction of the Loyalists. - RBW
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Dunlavin Green" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
File: Hodg202

Dunn, Gilbert, and Ben Hall

See The Ballad of Ben Hall (File: FaE088)

Dupree [Laws I11]

DESCRIPTION: Betty asks Dupree for a diamond ring; he promises her one. He sets out for the jewelry store and steals a ring, but shoots a policeman as he escapes. Unwilling to leave Betty and/or unable to flee, he is captured, convicted, and hanged
AUTHOR: possibly Rev. Andrew Jenkins
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Rev. Andrew Jenkins)
KEYWORDS: murder robbery execution
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 15, 1921 - Frank Dupree robs an Atlanta jewelry store
Sept. 1, 1922 - Dupree hanged
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws I11, "Dupree"
Friedman, p. 396, "Dupree" (2 texts, but only the second is I11; Laws considers the first to be E24)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 752, "Dupree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 239-240, "Dupree" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 73, "Betty And Dupree" (1 text, possibly modified by Brownie McGhee)
DT, BTTYDPRE
Roud #4179
RECORDINGS:
Blind Andy [pseud. for Rev. Andrew Jenkins] "Frank Dupree" (OKeh 40446, 1925)
Vernon Dalhart, "Frank Dupree" (Columbia 15042-D, 1925) (Edison 51693, 1926) (Vocalion 5091/Vocalion 15284, 1926)
Teddy Grace, "Betty and Dupree" (Decca 2602, 1939)
Art Thieme, "Betty & Dupree Blues" (on Thieme06)
Kingfish Bill Tomlin, "Dupree Blues" (Paramount 13057, 1931; rec. 1930)
Brownie McGhee, "Betty and Dupree" (on AschRec2)
Willie Walker, "Dupree Blues" (Columbia 14578-D, 1931; rec. 1930; on BefBlues1, RoughWays1)
Georgia White, "Dupree Blues" (Decca 7100, 1935)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Frank Dupree" [Laws E24] (plot)
SAME TUNE:
Georgia White, "New Dupree Blues" (Decca 7209, 1936)
File: LI11

Durant Jail, The

See The Cryderville Jail (File: LxU090)

Durham Field [Child 159]

DESCRIPTION: Edward III is at war in France, so the king of Scotland invades England. In battle, he fares badly and is taken prisoner to London. Edward has returned. The Scottish king admits an English yeoman is worth a Scottish knight.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1750 (Percy folio)
KEYWORDS: fight war prisoner
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1327-1377 - Reign of King Edward III of England
1346 - Battle of Durham. King David of Scotland defeated and taken prisoner by the English, even though their main army was fighting in France
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 159, "Durham Field" (1 text)
OBB 126, "Durham Field" (1 text)
Roud #3998
File: C159

Durham Jail

See The Cryderville Jail (File: LxU090)

Durham Strike (Durham Lockout)

DESCRIPTION: "In our Durham County I am sorry for to say, That hunger and starvation is increasing every day." The mine is shut down; "the masters have behaved unkind." The miners face great hardship but hope to prevail if others will support them.
AUTHOR: probably Tommy Armstrong (1848-1919)
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Lloyd, "Come All Ye Bold Miners")
KEYWORDS: mining strike hardtimes
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1892 - the Durham Strike
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
MacColl-Shuttle, p. 14, "The Durham Strike" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DURHLOCK*
NOTES: This song refers to the great Durham Coal Strike of 1892. The company wanted to impose a pay cut of 10%. The miners -- who, naturally, were already living on next to nothing -- went on strike. But coal is easy to come by; after two months, the miners were forced to return to work -- and to take an even larger pay cut.
Tommy Armstrong seems to have devoted his energy to mining and labour poetry; the three songs by him listed in Granger's Index to Poetry are "The Oakey Street Evictions," "The Row Between the Cages," and "The Trimdon Grange Explosion."
The Digital Tradition lists this to the tune of "Tramps and Hawkers/Paddy West," but the tune in MacColl/Shuttle is not that though it looks like it might be related. - RBW
File: MacCS014

Dus Ha My A Gan Dhys (Come and I Will Sing You)

See Green Grow the Rushes-O (The Twelve Apostles, Come and I Will Sing You) (File: ShH97)

Dusty Bluebells

See I am the Master (Dusty Bluebells) (File: HHH048a)

Dusty Miller, The

DESCRIPTION: "Hey the dusty miller [(x2)], Dusty was his coat, dusty was his colour, dusty was the kiss That I got frae the miller." "Hey the dusty miller, With his dusty coast, He will spend a shilling Ere he win a groat."
AUTHOR: adapted by Robert Burns, but the extent of his changes is not clear
EARLIEST DATE: 1788 (Burns)
KEYWORDS: miller courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
GreigDuncan3 454, "The Dusty Miller" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
Opie-Oxford2 351, "O the little rusty dusty miller" (2 texts)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 107, "(O the dusty miller)" (1 text)
DT, DSTYMILR*
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #201, pp. 311, "Dusty Miller" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1788)
Roud #5959
File: MSNR107

Dutchman, Dutchman, Won't You Marry Me?

See Soldier, Soldier, Will You Marry Me (File: R065)

Dutchman's Song

DESCRIPTION: "Amongst the pines and hemlocks ... we gathered round the table" in the Dutchmens' bunk house to play poker.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: lumbering cards
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-NovaScotia 114, "Dutchman's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1820
NOTES: The description is based on a "fragment of a lumberman's song" in Creighton-NovaScotia. - BS
File: CrNS114

Dweley

See The Jawbone Song AND Crawdad, etc. (File: R259)

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Don't You Hear Jerusalem Mourn?

Don't You Hear My Hammer Ringing

Don't You Leave Me Here

Don't You Remember

Don't You Weep After Me

Donagh Hill

Donal Og

Donal Ogue

Donal' Blue

Donal' Don

Donald and Glencoe

Donald and His Mither

Donald Blue

Donald Campbell

Donald Monroe [Laws J12]

Donald Munro

Donald o' Dundee

Donald of Glencoe

Donald Og

Donald's Adventure

Donald's Return to Glencoe

Donald's Safe Come Back Again

Donald's Visit to Glasgow

Donall Og (Young Donald)

Donderbeck's Machine

Doneraile Litany, The

Doney Gal

Donkey Riding

Donkey, The

Donnelly

Donnelly and Cooper

Donnely and Cooper

Donnybrook Fair

Donside

Donside Wedding, The

Donzella and the Ceylon, The

Doodle Dandy

Doom of Floyd Collins, The

Doon by yon Clear Rinnin' Burnie

Doon the Moor

Doors of Ivory

Doos o' Dunbennan, The

Doran's Ass [Laws Q19]

Dors Le Petit Bibi (Sleep Little Baby)

Dottered Auld Carle, The

Double Tragedy, The

Double-Breasted Mansion on the Square, The

Douglas Tragedy, The

Doun the Middle an' Up Again

Dove, The

Dowie Dens o Yarrow, The [Child 214]

Dowie Houms o Yarrow, The

Dowie Houms of Yarrow, The

Down Among the Budded Roses

Down at the Station

Down at the Wangan

Down By Blackwaterside

Down by de Ribberside

Down by Gruyer's Groves

Down by Jim Long's Stage

Down by Sally's Garden

Down by the Brazos

Down by the Brook

Down by the Fair River

Down By the Glenside (The Bold Fenian Men)

Down by the Green Bushes

Down by the Greenwood Side

Down by the Liffey Side

Down By the Magdalen Green

Down By the Mellon Green

Down By the Riverside (Study War No More)

Down by the Sally Gardens

Down by the Sea Shore

Down by the Seaside

Down By the Tan-Yard Side

Down By the Tanyard Side

Down by the Weeping Willow Tree

Down Came an Angel

Down Erin's Lovely Lee

Down Fell the Old Nag