Green Above the Red, The

DESCRIPTION: When the English red has been above the Irish green our fathers rose to set the green above the red. Heroes are named. Irish green is banned now but "we vow our blood to shed, Once and forever more to raise the green above the red"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(118))
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic political rebellion
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, p. 58, "The Green Above the Red" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 125-126, "The Green Above the Red" (1 text)
ST OCon058 (Partial)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(118), "The Green Above the Red" ("Full often when our fathers saw the Red above the Green"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 11(1411), Harding B 11(1412), "The Green Above the Red"
NOTES: The "Lord Edward" of some texts is Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798), one of the leaders of the United Irishmen and the last one to retain his liberty after the government cracked down (March 12). He doesn't seem to have been particularly smart, and was eventually wounded and captured (May 19); he died in prison of the effects of his wound. For more about him, see the notes to "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)."
For Wolfe Tone, see, e.g., the notes to "The Shan Van Voght."
Patrick Sarsfield, made Earl of Lucan by James II, was one of the Irish around the time of the Boyne; for his story, see "After Aughrim's Great Disaster."
My guess is that "Owen" is Owen Roe O'Neill (c. 1582-1649), nephew of Red Hugh O'Neill; he served for a time in the Netherlands, then fought against the English in Ireland in the 1640s, though he did not cooperate very well with other Nationalist leaders. For background on his career, see the notes to "General Owen Roe." - RBW
File: OCon058

Green Banks of Banna, The

DESCRIPTION: "By the green banks of Banna I wander alone Where the river runs softly by sweet Portglenone." The singer recalls the day her lover said he must leave her. She laments his long absence. She will be happy once he returns
AUTHOR: Maud Houston?
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H233, pp. 287-288, "The Green Banks of Banna" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3818
NOTES: Sam Henry attributed this to Maud Houston, but only in one of his copies. In any case, it's the sort of thing anyone might scrap together from traditional pieces. - RBW
File: HHH233

Green Bed, The

See Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36] (File: LK36)

Green Brier Shore (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, then I can court little and I can court long, and I'll court an old sweetheart till the new one comes along. I'll kiss them and court them...." Nancy and Willie declare their love and lamenting her rich parents' disapproval of Willie.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Fowke/MacMillan)
KEYWORDS: love courting floatingverses
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fowke/MacMillan 68, "Green Brier Shore, The" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 329, GRNBRIR2*
Roud #549
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The New River Shore (The Green Brier Shore; The Red River Shore)" [Laws M26] (lyrics)
cf. "Lovely Willie" [Laws M35] (lyrics)
cf. "Way Down the Ohio" (lyrics)
NOTES: Though it has the same title, it does not have the story line of the Laws M26, "Green Brier (Red River or New River) Shore" [though Roud lumps them, and I'm almost tempted to do the same until and unless more versions of this form show up - RBW].In fact there is precious little story line at all, the verses all describe Nancy and Willie declaring their love for each other and lamenting her rich parents disapproval of Willie.
Has a completely unrelated and lighthearted first verse which could also function as a chorus, "Oh, then I can court little and I can court long, and I'll court an old sweetheart till the new one comes along. I'll kiss them and court them -- keep their mind at ease. But when their back is turning I'll court who I please."
Fowke states that it seems to be a composite, borrowing verses from several other songs, including the other "Green Brier Shore" and "Lovely Willie." - SL
File: FowM068

Green Brier Shore, The

See The New River Shore (The Green Brier Shore; The Red River Shore) [Laws M26] (File: LM26)

Green Broom

DESCRIPTION: Old broom-cutter tells his lazy son to get to work cutting broom. The boy does, then takes it to market to sell. A lady hears him, and has him brought in, where she proposes marriage to him. They wed, as the lady sings his praises.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1720 (Pills to Purge Melancholy, under the title "The Jolly Broom-Man: Or the unhappy BOY turn'd Thrifty')
KEYWORDS: love marriage work worker courting
FOUND IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber)) Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 104-105, "Broom, Green Broom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #122, p. 2, "The Broom-Cutter"; Greig #124, pp. 2-3, "The Broom-Cutter" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan5 950, "The Broom-Cutter" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp-100E 49, "Green Broom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 223, "Green Brooms" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 76, "Green Broom" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H147, p. 474, "Green Broom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #120, pp. 98-99, "(There was an old man, and he liv'd in a wood)" (first half of the song only)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 166, "(There was an old man)" (1 fragment)
DT, GRNBROOM* GRNBROM2*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #139, "Green Broome" (1 text)
Roud #379
RECORDINGS:
Sam Larner, "Green Broom" (on SLarner02)
Sean McDonagh, "Green Brooms" (on FSB3)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.17(156), "The Green Broom," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 16(108a), Firth b.26(294), Firth b.25(38), Firth c.18(205), "Green Brooms"; Harding B 28(93), "Jack and His Brooms"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jack and His Brooms
NOTES: Found in Gammer Gurton's Garland, according to Sharp, and also in Pills to Purge Melancholy. -PJS
Not to be confused with "The Broomfield Hill," also sometimes found under the title "Green Broom." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: ShH49

Green Bushes, The [Laws P2]

DESCRIPTION: The singer courts a girl he meets by chance, offering her fine clothes if she will marry him. Although clothes do not interest her, she is willing to marry, even though she is already pledged. Her former love arrives and comments bitterly on her falseness
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (in the play "The Green Bushes" by Buckstone); before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 30)
KEYWORDS: courting love clothes infidelity
FOUND IN: US(NE,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland,England(Lond,South)) Ireland
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Laws P2, "The Green Bushes"
Sharp-100E 40, "Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 173-174, "Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 126, "Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 48, "Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 240-241, "Down by the Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 16, "Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 156, "Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H143, p. 395, "The Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 147, "Green Bushes" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 30, "The Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 84, "Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 19, "Green Bushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 246-247, "Way Down by the Green Bushes" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 66, "Green Bushes" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Darling-NAS, pp. 134-135, "The Green Bushes" (1 text)
DT 491, GREEBUSH*
Roud #1040
RECORDINGS:
Geoff Ling, "The Green Bushes" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 30, "Among the Green Bushes, &c," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.18(145), "The False Lover" ("As I was a walking one morning in May"), unknown, handwritten note "1827"; Harding B 11(52), Harding B 17(4b), Harding B 11(51), Harding B 11(53), "The False Lover"; Harding B 11(52), Harding B 17(4b), Harding B 11(51), Harding B 11(53), Firth c.18(147), "Among the Green Bushes"; 2806 b.10(80), Harding B 11(3102), "Down by the Green Bushes"; Firth c.18(146), Harding B 20(64), Johnson Ballads 512, 2806 c.8(194), 2806 d.31(71), 2806 c.17(157), Harding B 11(1416), Harding B 11(1889), Harding B 18(220), "Green Bushes" [same as LOCSinging as104920]; cf. Bodleian, Firth c.18(79), "Nut Bushes" ("As I walked out cne [sic] evening"), unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.13.310, "The Nut Bushes" (partially illegible)
LOCSinging, as104920, "The Green Bushes," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(220)]; also sb10147a, as101350, "The Green Bushes"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cutty Wren" (tune)
cf. "Farewell to Tarwathie" (tune)
cf. "Queen of the May" (theme)
cf. "The Shepherd's Lament" (theme, floating lyrics)
cf. "False Mallie" (theme: a man driven "mad" by a woman's infidelity)
cf. "Lovely Annie" (one verse and theme: a man driven "mad" by a woman's infidelity)
NOTES: Not to be confused with the song called "Behind the Green Bush" in Huntington. The latter appears to be derived from a minstrel piece (the lovers are "Damon" and "Pastora"), and does not appear to be traditional.
The broadside text "The Nut Bushes" is very like some versions of this song, but with a somewhat different ending, which Ben Schwartz describes as follows: "Singer meets Molly who is singing that she is to meet her lover below the nut bushes. He promises fine clothes if she will marry. She refuses. Her lover comes. Singer is frantic at losing Molly. His Captain threatens to send him to Bedlam."
As Ben says, "The Captain threatening the singer with Bedlam convinces me that the singer is a sailor; 'Molly' rejecting a sailor bound to Bedlam" is the plot line of 'False Mallie.' However, 'Nut Bushes' shares neither text nor structure with that ballad. The last verse -- the only one to name Molly and the only one to mention Bedlam -- is shared almost word for word with 'Lovely Annie'; the significant differences are the committer ('Captain' vs 'master') and the name of the woman." On that basis, I'm treating "Nut Bushes" as a redaction of this song, and filing it here because there is little evidence it exists in tradition. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as104920: 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.
One of the Bodleian broadsides, Johnson Ballads fol. 30, has the written date "1827" though the printer is not known. In any case, broadside Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 30 predates the 1845 play by Buckstone. - BS
Or at least its publication; Buckstone was not a very successful author, though certainly prolific. The Londoner (1802-1879), who was an actor as well as a writer, is credited by The New Century Handbook of English Literature (ed. Clarence L. Barnhart with William D. Haley, revised edition, Meredith Publishing, 1967) with "200 melodramas and farces," but Larousse's Biographical Dictionary counts only 150, none of them being of any note. (My quick check revealed the names of only three pieces by Buckstone, and none of the contents.)
Buckstone did do a tour of the U. S. in 1840; it is thus possible that he introduced the British song in America. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LP02

Green Carpet

DESCRIPTION: "On the green carpet here we stand, Take your true love by the hand, Take the one whom you profess To be the one whom you love best." "Oh what a beautiful choice you've made... Give her a kiss, and send her away, And tell her she can no longer stay."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: playparty marriage love nonballad
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Linscott, pp. 46-47, "On the Green Carpet" (1 text, 1 tune, which seems to mix "Green Carpet" and "Oats and Beans")
File: Lins46

Green Cockade, The

DESCRIPTION: In 1782 the Volunteers "won for Ireland full free trade" in return for Irish aid. In 1789 the Volunteers surrounded King William's statue "proclaiming Ireland should be free." But "the Irish divided, the English gained And Ireland once again was chained"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1887 (Madden's _Literary Remains of the United Irishmen of 1798_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: England Ireland patriotic political
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 4, "The Green Cockade" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(266), "The Green Cockade," unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shamrock Cockade" (subject of the 1782 Volunteers)
cf. "The Song of the Volunteers" (subject of the 1782 Volunteers)
cf. "The Dungannon Convention" (for that event)
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. [According to Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, A History of Ireland, p. 186, the year was 1777, though few other companies formed until 1778.] 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."
[Moylan lists the following] Irish Volunteer Society protests
February 15, 1782 - Volunteer Convention in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
September 8, 1783 - Volunteer Convention in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
November 4, 1779 - Volunteers parade at "the site, at the time, of an equestrian statue of King William. They had signs fixed to their cannon which read 'Free Trade or This'." - BS
For more on the Volunteers and their effect on Anglo-Irish relations, see the notes to "The Song of the Volunteers." The references to Irish unity accomplishing much are quite accurate; even before Grattan's Parliament (for which see "Ireland's Glory") gave Ireland a measure of independence, the Irish had shown that they could sometimes act on their own -- Mike Cronin, A History of Ireland, p. 94 writes that the Irish "could, when they operated as a single block, defeat the will of the British Parliament"; he notes on pp. 93-98 several instances of this in the period 1750-1780. But he also notes that they were usually not united, and when not united, the British could almost always manipulate the results to their own ends. And then, of course, came 1798, and the whole thing fell down. - RBW
File: Moyl004

Green Corn (I)

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

Green Corn (II)

See Hot Corn, Cold Corn (I'll Meet You in the Evening) (File: R267)

Green Erin

DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls happy times in Erin with Norah and their child. Years later he has returned. "But dark is my home and wild wild its trees wave For my wife and my baby are dust in the grave"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love return death Ireland nonballad baby wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1241, "Green Erin" (1 text)
Roud #6782
File: GrD61241

Green Fields and Meadows, The

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

Green Fields of America (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer bids farewell to Ireland. His parents weep to leave but he wants a trouble-free life in America with no taxes or tithes. We must follow "our manufacturies" across the Atlantic. "The landlords and bailiffs" have driven us from home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Harding 2806 b.10(70))
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell poverty America
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 156-158, "The Green Fields of Canada" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GRNFLDA3* GRNCANAD
Roud #2290
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "The Green Fields of Amerikay" (on IRPTunney01); "The Green Fields of Canada" (on Voice04); "Green Fields of Canada" (on IRPTunney02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(70), "Green Fields of America" ("Farewell to the land of Shillelagh and shamrock"), H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Harding B 11(1413), Harding B 11(3626), Harding B 11(2600), "Green Fields of America"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Emigrant's Farewell" (theme)
NOTES: Many versions of this song note that there are "no taxes or tithes to devour up our wages" in America. While this obviously is not true (America always had at least some taxes, even if only on the sale of taxable items), the freedom from the tithe was very important. For many years, Irish Catholics were charged a tithe which went to the (Anglican) Church of Ireland. Ireland was not entirely freed of the tithe until the mid-nineteenth century, though after 1838 it was up to the landlords to administer it. - RBW
File: DTgrncan

Green Fields of America (II), The

See The Emigrant's Farewell (File: HHH743)

Green Fields of Canada, The

See The Green Fields of America (File: DTgrncan)

Green Fields Round Ferbane, The

DESCRIPTION: "I curse the day that I sailed away From my dear little Isle so green." The singer recalls his youth and some friends he'll see no more. "The lust for gold it soon grows cold." "I'll turn my face from this awful place" and go home to stay.
AUTHOR: John Mary Doyle (1896-1969) (source: notes to IRHardySons)
EARLIEST DATE: 1980 (IRHardySons)
KEYWORDS: homesickness emigration return Ireland gold
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #17891
RECORDINGS:
Big John Maguire, "The Green Fields of Ferbane" (on IRHardySons)
File: RcGFRFe

Green Flag of Erin

DESCRIPTION: An song favoring "De Valera" over Colonel Lynch and his supporters, who "our country have sold" for the East Clare MP seat. The rest of the song is about "the banner of freedom, The Green White and Gold," the flag of tbe "republic we'll have"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1974 (IRClare01)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1917 - Eamon De Valera defeats Patrick Lynch in the East Clare MP bi-election
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #18469
RECORDINGS:
Michael Flanagan, "Green Flag of Erin" (on IRClare01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "DeValera Election Song" (subject)
NOTES: Notes to IRClare01: "The East Clare by-election of 1917 played a vital part in the movement towards Irish independence.... Newly released from prison and having narrowly avoided execution for his part in the Rebellion, Eamon De Valera easily took the seat." - BS
Not only was De Valera elected to the British parliament on July 11, 1917, but he was even elected to a seat that had formerly been held by the brother of John Redmond, the leader of the Irish Nationalist party (i.e. the moderate Irish faction); see Terry Golway, For the Cause of Liberty, p. 251. This was the third in a series of by-elections in which pro-Republic candidates defeated "Nationalist" (moderate) candidates (see Peter and Fiona Somerset fry, A History of Ireland, pp. 296-296). It was one of the first major tokens of the shift in feeling in Ireland from a desire for Home Rule to a desire for something less dependent on the British government. - RBW
File: RcGrFlEr

Green Flag, The

DESCRIPTION: "Hibernia's sons, the patriot band" are united, patriotic, and hope the time will come to punish the English "landlords, absentees, and knaves" "Hibernia then will raise her head, The green flag wide extending ... Justice then begins her reign"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1796 (_Paddy's Resource_(Philadelphia), according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: England Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 10, "The Green Flag" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Moyl010

Green Flowers O

DESCRIPTION: Anna Lee wonders whether "God forgot in his creating hours" to create flowers "with petals tinged of green." She finds one. The singer has never seen another.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (NFOBlondahl03)
KEYWORDS: flowers religious
FOUND IN:
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Green Flowers O" (on NFOBlondahl03)
NOTES: Blondahl03 has no liner notes confirming that this song was collected in Newfoundland. Barring another report for Newfoundland I do not assume it has been found there. There is no entry for "Green Flowers O" in Newfoundland Songs and Ballads in Print 1842-1974 A Title and First-Line Index by Paul Mercer. - BS
There is a biological reason why flowers aren't green: Most pollinators (bees, hummingbirds, etc.) are programmed to seek non-green colors when looking for nectar. A green flower would attract little attention -- and so the mutation, even if successful in other regards, would likely die out. - RBW
File: RcGrFloO

Green Garden

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

Green Grass

DESCRIPTION: "A dis, a dis, a green grass, A dis, a dis, a dis, Come all you pretty fair maids, And dance along with us." The singer goes a-roving, takes a girl by the hand, and promises her a prince. If the prince dies, she shall have another. All clap hands.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting dancing nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #645, p. 256, "(A dis, a dis, a green grass)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 62, "(A dis, a dis, a green grass)" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #215, "Green Grass" (1 text)
Roud #1381
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Walking on the Green Grass"
NOTES: Roud lumps this with "Walking on the Green Grass," apparently on the basis that they're both playparties about green grass. They look distinct to me. - RBW
File: BGMG645

Green Grass Grew All Round, The

See The Rattling Bog (File: ShH98)

Green Grass Growing All Around, The

See The Rattling Bog (File: ShH98)

Green Grass It Grows Bonnie

See I Wonder What Is Keeping My True Love Tonight (Green Grass It Grows Bonny) (File: K157)

Green Grassy Slopes, The

DESCRIPTION: "I'm going to speak ... of the deeds that were done by King William, On the green grassy slopes of the Boyne." "Praise God for sending us King William." "If ever our service is needed" we "will join, And fight, like valiant King William"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1895 (Graham)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OrangeLark 3, "The Green Grassy Slopes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Graham, p. 22, "The Green Grassy Slopes of the Boyne" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: For the Battle of the Boyne, see "The Battle of the Boyne (I)"; for the political background, see also "The Vicar of Bray." - RBW
File: OrLa003

Green Grave, The

See The Unquiet Grave [Child 78] (File: C078)

Green Gravel

DESCRIPTION: "Green gravel, green gravel, Your (bank/grass) is so green; The fairest young damsel I ever have seen." Usually a short lyric of praise for a girl, then a report that the girl's love is dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1894 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: courting death river playparty
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE,SE,So) Ireland
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 532, "Green Gravel" (2 short texts plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
SHenry H48b, p. 10, "Green Gravel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 10, "Green Gravel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, p. 188, "Green Gravel" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 10-11, "Green Gravel" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GRNGRAVL*
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, p. 79
ST R532 (Full)
Roud #1368
RECORDINGS:
Pratt family, "Green Gravels" (on Ritchie03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Trace-Boy on Ligoniel Hill" (tune)
NOTES: Usually tells of a girl whose young man was slain (in the Napoleonic wars?), but in the Ozarks it's a playparty. The Beers Family sings a version in which the young man survives and returns to the girl -- but I wonder if they didn't write that.
Randolph was told that the song "reflects the Irish Catholic's hatred of the Masonic fraternity," but the only evidence I've seen for this is the mention of "free masons" (or corruptions thereof) in a few texts.
By the time Linscott picked it up, it had become a singing game -- and she reports that it wasn't very popular because "it called for little energy or imagination." She thought it described the process of laying out the dead, but there is no hint of that in her words.
Lowry Charles Wimberly, Folklore in the English and Scottish Ballads: Ghosts, Magic, Witches, Fairies, the Otherworld, 1928 (I use the 1965 Dover paperback edition), p. 243, suggests that the green gravel of the song is an abortifacient, pointing out that there is a version of "Tam Lin" [Child 39] in which Janet seeks to use "gravil green" to end her pregnancy. But I've yet to see a version of this song which seems to refer to pregnancy.
The "Green gravel" refrain may perhaps be from a nursery rhyme from Halliwell (see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #326, p.177):
Around the green gravel the grass grows green,
And all the pretty maids are plain to be seen;
Wash them with milk, and clothe them with silk,
And write their names with a pen and ink
- RBW
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "Green Gravel" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959))
Sean O Boyle, notes to David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland": "Irishmen like to think that the mysterious name ['Green Gravel'] is a folk rationalization of 'An Glas Gaibhlinn,' the name of a fabulous Irish cow whose milk never ran dry." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R532

Green Grow the Leaves

DESCRIPTION: "O green grow the leaves on the (hawthorn) tree, Some grow high and some grow low; With this wrangling and this jangling We never shall agree, And the tenor of our song goes merrily."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (Leather)
KEYWORDS: nonballad playparty
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leather, p. 206, "Marden Forfeit Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Leath206 (Full)
Roud #2121
NOTES: This seems to be known mostly as a singing game, but Leather reports that her version, which has a counting-down chorus, was sung as a forfeit -- that is, if you missed one of the numbers, you had to drink a penalty. Hence her title. - RBW
File: Leath206

Green Grow the Lilacs

See Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)

Green Grow the Rashes (II)

See Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)

Green Grow the Rashes, O

DESCRIPTION: "There's naught but care on ev'ry han' In ev'ry hour that passes, O." In praise of women and love: "Green grow the rashes, O... The sweetest hours that e'er are spent Are spent amang the lasses, O." Other texts may be more explicitly bawdy
AUTHOR: Words: Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: 1794
KEYWORDS: love courting nonballad seduction bawdy
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1297, "Green Grows the Rashes O" (1 text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 98, "Green Grow the Rashes O" (1 fragment consisting of the chorus, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 97-99, "Green Grow the Rushes O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 160, "Green Grow The Rashes, O" (1 text)
DT, GRRASH* (the standard version) GRRASH1* (bawdy)
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #45, pp. 43-44, "Green grow the Rashes. A Fragment" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1784/1785); cf. #124, "A fragment" (1 text, with the "Green grow the Rashes" chorus but different lyrics)
ST SBoA097 (Full)
Roud #2772
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 25, "Green Grow the Rashes," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838
NLScotland, RB.m.168(207), "Green Grow the Rashes," J. Pitts (London), 1820-1844
NOTES: Not to be confused with the ritual/religious "Green Grow the Rushes, O." - RBW
Broadside NLScotland, RB.m.168(207): the imprint "Pitts, Printer, Wholesale Toy and Marble Warehouse, 6, Great St. Andrew Street, Seven Dials" is dated "between 1819 and 1844" at Bodleian Library site Ballads Catalogue; date shown is NLScotland "probable period of publication."
Creighton-SNewBrunswick is from the chorus as in the description above. - BS
A description for GreigDuncan7: The world's troubles are caused by women. Samson slew a thousand but a woman "his great strength subdued." King David paid dearly "when fair Bathsheba caught his eye." The first verse ends "the sourest hours the wardle saw Sprang frae the wives and lasses O." - BS
Samson, in fact, had enough woman trouble to be a twenty-first century sports star. In Judges 14:1-15:8, he becomes enamored of a Philistine woman, and engages in terrorism against the Philistines when the marriage plans don't work out. In 16:1-3, he hired a prostitute in Gaza and was trapped in the city, but escaped by tearing down the city gate. And only then, in Judges 16:4-31, did he become involved with Delilah, to whom the GreigDuncan song clearly refers, since she was able to trick him into revealing the secret of his strength, allowing the Philistines to capture and blind him.
David's interest in Bathsheba is told in 2 Samuel 11 -- David spies Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, and sleeps with her. Then, to cover his crime, he has Uriah killed. Most of the rest of 2 Samuel is devoted to working out the consequences of this: Bathsheba's first child by David dies soon after birth (2 Samuel 12:15-25), David's heir Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-22), Amnon's half-brother Absalom kills Amnon (2 Samuel 13:23-38), Absalom rebels and deposes David, then is killed in his turn (2 Samuel 15-18). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: SBoA097

Green Grow the Rushes (III)

See Lovely Willie [Laws M35] (File: LM35)

Green Grow the Rushes O (II)

See Green Grow the Rashes, O (File: SBoA097)

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

DESCRIPTION: Cumulative song with religious themes e.g., "I'll sing you three-o/Green grow the rushes-o/What is your three-o/Three for the Hebrew children/Two, two, the lily-white babes/clothed all in green-o/One is one and all alone and evermore shall be so."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1823 (Sandys, _Christmas Carols--Ancient and Modern_)
KEYWORDS: ritual cumulative religious nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland),US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (20 citations):
SharpAp 207, "The Ten Commandments" (5 texts, 3 tunes)
Sharp-100E 97, "The Ten Commandments" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 605, "The Twelve Apostles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 425-429, "The Twelve Apostles" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 605)
BrownII 50, "The Dilly Song" (2 texts; the first starts with the number 5!)
JHCoxIIB, #17, pp. 159-162, "The Twelve Apostles" (1 text, 1 tune, somewhat conjectural)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 83-85, "The Twelve Apostles" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 150, "The Twelve Apostles" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 187, "Scripture in the Nursery" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 74-75, "I'll Sing You One Ho!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 88, "Dus Ha My A Gan Dhys (Come and I Will Sing You)" (1 Cornish text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 41, "The Twelve Apostles" (2 texts)
Peacock, pp. 800-801, "The Twelve Apostles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 89, "The Twelve Apostles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 23, "Come and I Will Sing You" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 359, "Green Grow the Rushes" (1 text)
DT, GRNRUSH* (see also GRNRUSH2) GRNRUSH5
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 44-47, "Song of Numbers"
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928, notes to #258, ("What will be our twelve, boys") (1 text)
Bob Stewart, _Where Is Saint George? Pagan Imagery in English Folksong_, revised edition, Blandford, 1988, pp. 124, "Seven Was the Keys of Heaven" (1 tex)
Roud #133
RECORDINGS:
Patrick Gaffney, "Green Grow the Rushes Oh" (Columbia 350-D, 1925)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Children Go Where I Send Thee" (theme and structure)
cf. "Eleven to Heaven" (theme and structure)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Singing the Ten Commandments
Holy Babe
NOTES: Chambers, p. 47, cites his source as "a large manuscript collection of hitherto unpublished Scottish songs, by Mr P. Buchan." - BS
This is a song cluster extending as far as the Jewish Passover service, but whether it passed from there to folk song or vice versa is hard to say. -PJS (Sharp and Marson connects it with the Hebrew ritual "Counting the Omer/Song of the Kid" ; Newell links it to the Passover chant "Echod Mi Yodea," a connection supported by Cohen; Archer Taylor tried to link it to Sanskrit roots! - RBW)
[Compare also the American piece "Children Go Where I Send Thee." Botkin prints a text of that song] from a 1942 field recording and remarks:
"The present cumulative song is a version of 'The Carol of the Twelve Numbers' (often known as 'The Dilly Song'). There is a good deal of variation in the symbolism of the twelve numbers, and in the present song their significance has often been lost.
"For texts and notes, see 'The Twelve Apostles,' by Phillips Barry, Bulletin of the Folk-Song Society of the Northeast, Number 9 (1935), pp. 3-4; 'Ballads and Songs,' by George Lyman Kittredge, Journal of American Folklore, Volume XXX (July-September, 1917), pp. 335-337; 'The Carol of the Twelve Numbers,' by William Wells Newell, ibid., Volume IV (July-September, 1891), pp. 215-220; and 'The Carol of the Twelve Numbers,' by Leah Rachel Clara Yoffie, Southern Folklore Quarterly, Volume IV (June, 1940), pp. 73-75." - NR
Not to be confused with Burns's "Green Grow the Rashes-O," or with the "Green Grows the Laurel/Lilacs" family.
The Cornish words printed by Kennedy are by Talek and Ylewyth; they are translated from an English version, though Kennedy lists versions in other languages.
Some people consider this to be a variation of "Children Go Where I Send Thee"; since I'm not sure, I split them.
Bob Stewart, Where Is Saint George? Pagan Imagery in English Folksong, revised edition, Blandford, 1988, p. 74, claims that "The 'Dilly Song' is surely the best known and most popular of all true folksongs." As with most Stewart comments, he offers neither data no description of just what he was drinking when he came up with this idea. Probably he is another who lumps it with a wide variety of other songs. The version he prints, from the Barton Hill Mummers' Play (Bristol), appears rather untypical of tradition -- although very suitable for the rather strange interpretations he will use.
He suggests that the imagery comes from the Qabalah and ideas of the tree of life. I will agree only in the sense that -- although the sense of the song is religious, many of the references are in no sense Biblical. The following annotated version will demonstrate the point, with observations on Biblical links (where there are any) plus what Stewart thinks each number shands for.:
I'll sing you one, O
Green grow the rushes, O
What is your one, O
One is one and all alone and evermore shall be so. -- Refers to God or Jesus or both. Clearly it is a reference to the essential unity of God. (Even Stewart, p. 77, agrees with this, which tells you how certain it is -- although he makes a great deal more out of a basic Hebrew formula than the evidence is worth.)
Two, two, lily-white boys, clothed all in green, O -- Non-biblical. Stewart, p. 78, suggests that it links to "The Twa Brothers" [Child 49]! Baring-Gould suggested astrological Gemini twins Castor and Pollux. If we do look for Biblical twins, we have Jacob and Esau, and Judah's sons Perez and Zerah, but the latter pair are not personalities, and there is no hint that the former brothers were ever clothed all in green -- and then never got along.
Three, three, the rivals -- Who knows what this refers to? Not explicitly Biblical. The "three" may be the Trinity. although Stewart denies this; he offers a rather incoherent but Gnostic-sounding explanation
Four for the gospel makers -- Matthew, Mark, Luke John. Stewart, pp. 82-84, goes off on a long discussion of the four beasts associated with the Evangelists (man, eagle, lion, and bull), which he ties into what sound like Gnostic ideas. Here his information is so patently incomplete as to be absurd -- he ignores the use of the symbols in very early Gospel manuscripts, when the sort of heretical ideas he discusses were abhorrent to the Church.
Five for the symbols at your door -- ritual, not Biblical. (Though five could represent the five books of Moses). Stewart, pp. 84-85, connects this with the points of the pentagram, or with the sphere of Mars in the Tree of Life.
Six for the six proud walkers -- Got me (Brown A has "Firemen in the boat." Which doesn't help. Brown B has "ferrymen in the boat," which sounds rather like Charon). Stewart, p. 85, suggests that it is the Saint George whom he claims drowns in his longboat in the "Padstow May Song," whom he in turn links to the murderer in "Edward" [Child 13]. He suggests that the six proud walkers come from "The Joys of Mary."
Seven for the seven stars in the sky -- I'd blame this on J.R.R. Tolkien if it weren't so old. :-) (These would be the Pleiades, important to agricultural peoples as a sign of spring and planting season. - PJS.) Stewart, p. 86 also mentions the Pleiades, but again rings in the Tree of Life as well, and the crown of heaven, and druidic legend.
Eight for the April rainers -- Another ritual oddity (Brown: Eight archangels. Most traditions say there are *seven* archangels, though the Bible doesn't name them all and the Koran gives a different list. The figure eight might be the seven plus an unknown "head of the order")
Nine for the nine bright shiners -- Ditto (Brown: Nine is the night that the star shone bright!). Stewart, np. 87, notes versions which mention pale moonshine, and notes taht Luna, the Moon, was associated with fertility.
Ten for the Ten Commandments -- Ex. 20:2-17; Deut. 5:6-21. Stewart has a reference to the Qabalistic tenth sphere. I could imagine an obscure reference of this sort being corrected to a reference to the Commandments, but Stewart appears to have no actual basis for his tie-in except the number ten.
Eleven for the eleven who went to heaven -- The Twelve Disciples (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 10:14-16; Acts 1:13), less Judas Iscariot. Despite this obvious Biblical reference, Stewart links this to the abyss separating the Qabalistic spheres..
Twelve for the twelve Apostles -- same as the above, with either Judas or Matthias (Acts 1:23-26) added. Stewart, p. 88. rings in the twelve signs of the Zodiac as well.- RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: ShH97

Green Grow The Rushes, Oh! (II -- Singing Game)

DESCRIPTION: "Green grow the rushes, oh! (x2), Kiss her quick and let her go, Never mind the weather if the wind don't blow." "Though she wears a checkered gown, He and she must both kneel down...." "Give her a kiss and send her away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting nonballad
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Linscott, pp. 11-13, "Green Grow the Rushes, Oh!" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Linscott describes this as a kissing game, and seems to link it to the "Green Grows the Laurel" family. In fact it seems to partake of many other songs ("Green Grow the Rushes," "Hop High Ladies," etc.), and the mix is complex enough that I gave it its own entry. - RBW
File: Lins011

Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)

DESCRIPTION: The singer laments, "I once had a sweetheart but now I have none." (S)he wrote him a letter; the reply says to stop writing. (His/her) very looks are full of venom. (S)he wonders why men and women love each other
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1846 (in U.S., according to Studwell); before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.18(245))
KEYWORDS: love rejection parting
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber),England) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (23 citations):
Belden, pp. 490-491, "Green Grows the Laurel" (2 texts plus mention of 1 more)
Randolph 61, "The Orange and Blue" (3 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 118-121, "The Orange and Blue" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 61A)
BrownIII 280, "Red, White, and Blue" (3 texts with an interesting assortment of green-growing flowers); also probably 282, "I Sent My Love a Letter" (3 texts, of which "B" is clearly this; "A" is "Down in the Valley" and "C" is a mess with some "Down in the Valley" verses and others about Lulu; it's not clear which Lulu)
Chappell-FSRA 77, "Green Frows the Laurel" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 331-332, "The Orange and the Blue" (3 texts, all short, with local titles "Red, White and Blue," "Green Grows the Laurel," "Green Grows the Laurel"; 2 tunes on pp. 445-446)
SharpAp 156, "Green Grows the Laurel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 158, "Green Grows the Laurel" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H165a+b, p. 260, "Green Grow the Rashes (Green Grows the Laurel)" (2 texts, 2 tunes, though both are strongly mixed with something like "If I Were a Fisher"); also H624, p. 349, "I Am a Wee Laddie, Hard, Hard Is My Fate" (1 text, 1 tune, also probably a composite of this and something else)
Gardner/Chickering 29, "Green Grows the Laurel" (2 texts; the "A" text is probably mixed with some other lost love song)
Peacock, pp. 454-455, "Green Grows the Laurel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 20, "I Wrote My Love a Letter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 29-30, "Green Grows the Laurel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 113-114, "Green Grows the Laurel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #70, p. 2, "Green Grows the Laurel" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1138, "Green Grows the Laurels" (5 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord, p. 182, "Green Grows the Laurel" (1 text); also p. 187, "The Rose and the Thyme" (1 text, mostly "I Wonder What Is Keeping My True Love Tonight" but with several verses which probably belong here)
BrownII 130, "Sweet William and Nancy" (1 text, mostly "William and Nancy (II) (Courting Too Slow)" [Laws P5] but mixed with this song and other material)
Lomax-FSNA 170, "Green Grows the Laurel" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 139, "The Green Laurels" (2 texts)
MacSeegTrav 62, "Green Grows the Laurel" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 165, "Green Grow the Lilacs" (1 text)
DT, GREENGRO* GRENGRO2* WEELADDY* (the last being the mixed Sam Henry version)
Roud #279
RECORDINGS:
Mary Delaney, "Green Grows the Laurel" (on IRTravellers01)
Louie Fuller, "Green Grow the Laurels" (on Voice15)
Marie Hare, "Green Grows the Laurel" (on MRMHare01)
Mike Kent, "The Nightengale" (on NFMLeach)
Tex Ritter & his Texans, "Green Grow the Lilacs" (Capitol 206, 1945)
Jeannie Robertson, "Green Grow the Laurels" (on FSB1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(245), "I Changed the Green Willow for the Orange and Blue", W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Will Ye Gang, Love"
cf. "The German Clockwinder" (tune)
cf. "The Ploughboy (I)" (lyrics)
cf. "The Blackbird and Thrush" (lyrics)
cf. "If I Were a Fisher" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I Wonder What Is Keeping My True Love Tonight (Green Grass It Grows Bonny)" (lyrics)
cf. "The Yellow Handkerchief (Flash Company)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I've Travelled This Country (Last Friday Evening)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Rue and the Thyme (The Rose and the Thyme)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "A Warning to Girls" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Loved by a Man" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: A legend has it that Mexicans call Americans "Gringos" because, during the Mexican War, the yanquis sang "Green Grow the Lilacs" so often. The term "gringo" is much older than this, however. - RBW
Leach does not explain why the title of this cut on NFMLeach is "The Nightengale."
"Cupid's Garden" (I) includes the following lines: "For I mean to live a virgin, And still the Laurel wear" (see, for example, Bodleian broadside Harding B 20(119)). In the language of flowers laurel stands for "perfidy"; the spurge laurel stands for "coquetry"
In Louie Fuller's Voice15 version each verse lists another seducer: the singer, a sailor and a pageboy.
Mary Delaney's version on IRTravellers01 adds verses I haven't seen before: "Now me mamma she blames me For courting too young, She may blame my small beauty And my flattering old tongue. She may blame my small beauty And my dark rolling eye, If my love is not for me And sorry am I." and "Oh then, thank God, agraghy, The case could be worse, I got money in my pocket And gold in my purse, When my baby is born I can pay for a nurse, And I'll pass as a maiden In a strange countery."
William E Studwell, The American Song Reader (New York,1997), on page 101 traces "red, white, and blue" from a Jacobite line "We'll change the green laurel to the bonnet so blue": "Irish-American soldiers in the Mexican War of 1846-1848 sang a version containing their homeland colors at the time, "orange and blue." (The song was published in the United States in 1846, while the war was still going on.) In time, the colors changed to the American national colors "red, white, and blue" and the plant changed from laurel to lilacs, with the ending line becoming "And change the green lilacs to the Red, White and Blue."
The "green laurel" line seems to be from this song, though I haven't seen any other connection to the Jacobite cause. The "blue bonnet" -- often a reference to the Black Watch -- may be a Jacobite reference (see the Hogg2 reference to "Cock Your Beaver"), though I don't even find that to be clear. Was the Orange Order flag -- blue or purple star on an orange background -- or any other flag with Williamite colors -- widely used in 19th century Ireland? [But see "The Protestant Boys": "... loyal Protestants ... Orange and Blue, ever faithful and true, Our King shall support and sedition affright"; also see the Orange Order song "Orange and Blue."] In spite of my reservations, what interests me here is the idea of Irish soldiers singing about "homeland [Orange] colors."
Roy Palmer, in Folk Songs Colected by Ralph Vaughan Williams says "There is a somewhat implausible theory that the song might have had a covert political meaning in Ireland, where green stands for republicanism (though united with orange and white in the tricolour) and the orange and blue for Ulster separatism." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R061

Green Hills of Antrim, The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, dark was the day when I sailed from Cushleake And crossed the wild ocean, my fortune to seek." The singer's new land has beautiful birds and high mountains, but he misses home and Mary Machree "where the green hills of Antrim sweep down to the sea"
AUTHOR: Words: Canon Barnes
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: homesickness emigration separation derivative
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H606, p. 208, "The Green Hills of Antrim" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mountains of Mourne" (tune, lyrics)
File: HHH606

Green Hills of Erin, The

See The Green Shores of Fogo (File: Pea522)

Green Island Shore

See All Around Green Island's Shore (File: Doy65)

Green Laurels, The

See Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)

Green Linnet, The

DESCRIPTION: "Curiosity bore a young native of Erin To view the gay banks of the Rhine" where he sees a "young empress" looking for her "green linnet." She recounts his exploits and says she will search until she finds him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 227); c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Napoleon love separation bird
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1769 - Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte
1798 - Napoleon's Egyptian campaign. When his fleet is destroyed at the Battle of the Nile, he is forced to abandon the troops there
1809 - Napoleon divorces his first wife Josephine; he marries Maria Louisa of Austria in 1810
1814 - Napoleon exiled to Elba
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
1821 - Death of Napoleon on Saint Helena
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf,Ont) Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 211-214, "The Green Linnet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 458-460, "The Green Linnet" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 10-11, "The Green Linnet" (1 text)
Zimmermann 30, "The Green Linnet" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Moylan 201, "The Green Linnet" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GRENLINN*
Roud #1619
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Green Linnet" (on Abbott1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 227, "Maria Louisa Lamentation. The Green Linnet," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(2326), Harding B 11(2327)[some illegible words], Harding B 11(3877), "Maria Louisas Lamentation"; Harding B 11(934), "Maria Louisa's Lamentation for the Green Linnet"; Harding B 25(1217)[largely illegible], "Maria Louisa's Lamentation"; Harding B 11(1421), 2806 b.11(72), 2806 c.17(158), 2806 c.18(134), "The Green Linnet" ("Curiosity bore a young native of Erin")
LOCSinging, as104930, "The Green Linnet," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Royal Eagle" (theme: Napoleon)
NOTES: This song is curiously confused. The speaker seems to be Maria Louisa of Austria, Napoleon's second wife (it can hardly be his first wife Josephine; she died before Waterloo) -- but surely she would know her husband's career better than she seems to.
This apart from the fact that theirs was a political marriage, and neither party seems to have had any real affection for the other. (Napoleon died with the name of his first wife Josephine on his lips, and Maria Louisa, once Napoleon was exiled, quickly became involved with other men.) - 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, "The Green Linnet" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001))
Harte on the bird theme here: "The Irish have throughout history attributed the names of animals, and of birds in particular, to their various leaders... During the Jacobite period the Stuart Pretender was known as the 'Royal Blackbird' [a symbol of course shared by the Scots - RBW], Dan O'Connell was known as the 'Kerry Eagle,' and Charles Stewart Parnell was known as the 'Blackbird of Avondale;' so that it would not be strange for an Irish singer to find Napoleon Bonaparte referred to as the 'Royal Eagle,' or as in this song, the 'Green Linnet.'"
Broadside LOCSinging as104930: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: SWMS211

Green Mossy Banks of the Lea, The [Laws O15]

DESCRIPTION: The young man, driven by "curiosity," roams the world. In Ireland he falls in love with a girl at first sight. He gains her father's approval by saying that he is rich. The two are married, and the American lad settles down on the banks of the Lea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1835 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(498))
KEYWORDS: rambling love courting marriage
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(West)) Ireland
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws O15, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea"
Butterworth/Dawney, pp. 18-19, "Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 98, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 31, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 70, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, short and full of odd distortions, e.g. the girl is "beautified" rather than "beautiful")
Peacock, pp. 523-524, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 600, "The Sweet Mossy Banks of the Wey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 24, "American Stranger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 47, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 47, "Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 477, MOSSYLEA MOSSYLE2
Roud #987
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lee" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
Tony Wales, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea" (on TWales1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(498), "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea," G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also Harding B 11(2224), Firth c.18(95), Harding B 11(1426), Firth c.18(86), Firth b.27(321), Johnson Ballads 1227, Johnson Ballads 1400, Harding B 11(1423), Harding B 11(1424), Harding B 11(1427), Harding B 11(1429), Harding B 11(1425), Harding B 11(1640), Firth b.26(65), Harding B 11(4030), Harding B 11(1430), Firth b.25(300), Johnson Ballads 341, "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lea"; Harding B 26(232), Harding B 26(231), "The Green Mossy Banks of the Lee"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Miss Green" (tune)
File: LO15

Green Mountain

See The Streams of Lovely Nancy (File: VWL098)

Green Mountain Boys, The

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

Green on the Cape

See Green Upon the Cape (File: PGa091)

Green Peas and Barley

DESCRIPTION: "Green [hot] peas and barley O On a Sunday [Christmas] morning." "This is the way the teacher [gentleman] stands, Fold your arms and clap your hands"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1603, "Hot Peas and Barley Rock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12977
File: GrD81603

Green Peas, Mutton Pies

DESCRIPTION: "Green peas, mutton pies, Tell me where my Jeannie lies, And I'll be with her ere she rise, And cudle her to my bosom." "I love Jeannie over and over, I love Jeannie among the clover; I love Jeannie and Jeannie loves me; That's the lass that I'll go wi."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: food courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 77, "(Green Peas, Mutton Pies)" (1 short text)
Roud #13204
File: MNSR077

Green Plaid, The

DESCRIPTION: Lord Lennox's Edinburgh regiment marches through Dumfries. One man would roll a lass in his green plaid. He says they have orders "each man to have a wife." She says her mamma would not approve. They leave for Minorca. She wishes she had gone with them.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: courting parting army clothes Scotland mother soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 90, "The Green Plaid" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #5793
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lord Lennox' Men
Minorca
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: "The 25th Regiment of Foot (The Edinburgh Regiment), under the command of Lord George Henry Lennox, was based in Dumfries, Annan, and Kirkcudbright from the middle of 1767 until February 1768. In the latter year it embarked for Minorca where it served until 1775." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD090

Green Shores of Fogo, The

DESCRIPTION: "Our barque leaves this harbour tomorrow." The singer is leaving Fogo and Katie "my fortune I'm after seeking In a far distant land o'er the sea"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: grief love parting nonballad lyric emigration
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1537, "The Green Hills of Erin" (1 text)
Peacock, p. 522, "The Green Shores of Fogo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SHORFOGO
Roud #6335
RECORDINGS:
Ken Peacock, "Green Shores of Fogo" (on NFKPeacock)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" [Laws H29] (tune)
NOTES: Peacock states "This native love lyric is patterned on a much older Irish song entitled The County I'm Leaving Behind." I considered marking this derivative but I have not seen the base text. - BS
Roud does lump them, but Joe Hickerson, in his notes to "Drive Dull Care Away, Volume 1," says merely that it "seems to be based on" the Irish song. That's separate enough for me. - RBW
If GreigDuncan8 is Peacock's "much older Irish song" then I agree with Roud in lumping them. The Newfoundland song in both Peacock and Digital Tradition has "green shores of Fogo" instead of "green hills of Erin" and leaves out a few verses. Peacock says, "I strongly suspect that she herself [the singer] is the Katie in the song," but the Katie verses are also in GreigDuncan8. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Pea522

Green Sleeves

See Greensleeves (File: ChWI239)

Green Upon the Cape

DESCRIPTION: "I'm a lad that's forced an exile From my own native land... I'm a poor distressed croppy For the green upon my cape." The boy goes to Belfast, bids farewell to his parents, and sets out by ship for Paris. He hopes to return to a free Ireland
AUTHOR: William Michael Watson (source: GreigDuncan1)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging as10165a); c.1800 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland soldier exile
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
PGalvin, pp. 91-93, "Green Upon the Cape" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 21A, "Green On My Cape" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 32, "Green Upon the Cape" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 143, "The Wearing of the Green" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 126-127, "(A Much Admired Song Called) Green on the Cape" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 15-17, 511-512, "Green Upon the Cape"
Roud #5773
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(47), "Green on the Cape," unknown, n.d.
LOCSinging, as10165a, "Wearing of the Green," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also as101650, as10165a, "Green on the Cape"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)"
NOTES: Galvin lists this as a "Northern variant of 'The Wearing of the Green,'" but the sheet music makes it obvious that this is forced; there aren't enough notes in the melody for the lyrics.
Clearly the singer is one of the "Wild Geese" who fled Ireland. The Wild Geese often formed "Irish Brigades" in foreign countries; this seems to be the case here.
The first migration of the Wild Geese came after the Boyne and the succeeding battles (roughly 1691-1700), but this song, despite its reference to Cromwell, probably refers to the second migration, as the young man left via Belfast. - RBW
It's not certain that broadside LOCSinging as10165a predates the other LOCSinging entries; it is the only one I can come close to dating. Its text seems corrupt. All three LOCSinging entries have Bonaparte promising to send a fleet "to pull the orange down," but only the De Marsan text has him promise as well to "guillotine their leaders, As well as 'King and Queen.'" In the broadside Bodleian 2806 c.8(47) the exile goes to New York and meets "Meagher, Walsh and Kelly" who promise to "send a convoy with you."
Broadside LOCSinging as10165a: 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
Last updated in version 2.4
File: PGa091

Green Valley

See Yon Green Valley (File: K168)

Green Wedding, The

See Katharine Jaffray [Child 221] (File: C221)

Green Willow Tree (I), The

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

Green Willow Tree (II), The

See In My Garden Grew Plenty of Thyme (File: R090)

Green Willow, The

DESCRIPTION: Phoebe accuses William. "She said he had deceived her" Usual "All Around My Hat" complaints. She fears dying a maiden. William claims his deception "was only to try if you were true" They marry and live happily as an example for young lovers.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: love marriage lie
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 81, "All Around My Hat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #567
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1432), "The Green Willow," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.18(133), Harding B 11(1433), "The Green Willow"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "All Around My Hat" ("All around my hat" lyrics)
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime pp. 80-81 words fit "All Around My Hat" but the tune is not the standard tune. On the other hand, Creighton-Maritime p. 81 has the standard "All Around My Hat" tune but, what seems to me to be, a different theme.
Broadside Harding B 11(1432) matches Creighton-Maritime p. 81 but replaces the line "But since it is my fortune that I must Marry an old man" with "But since 'tis my misfortune that I must die a maiden." The description for "The Green Willow" is from a more complete but undated broadside Bodleian Firth c.18(133). - BS
File: CrMa081

Green Woods o' Airlie, The

DESCRIPTION: "The bonniest lass in a' the countryside Has fa'en in love wi' the plooman laddie But little did she think her heart was betrayed At the fit o' the green woods o' Airlie." After some laments over him, he comes back to her and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #66, p. 1, "The Green Woods o' Airlie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 846, "The Green Woods o' Airlie" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 111-112, "The Green Woods o' Airlie" (1 text)
Roud #3324
ALTERNATE TITLES:
My Bonny Plooman Lad
File: Ord112

Greenback Dollar

DESCRIPTION: Categorized by a lost love theme ("Don't forget me, little darling") and the line(s) "I don't want your greenback dollar; I don't want your watch and chain." Many versions say that the couple cannot marry because of parental opposition
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Weems String Band)
KEYWORDS: love separation family floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 733, "Don't Forget Me, Little Darling" (4 texts, 2 tunes, but only "A" and "B" are this song; "D" is "Don't Forget Me, Little Darling"; "C" is probably composite)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 504-505, "Don't Forget Me, Little Darling" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 733A)
DT, GBDOLLAR*
Roud #3420
RECORDINGS:
Callahan Bros., "Greenback Dollar" (Conqueror 8682, 1936)
[Clarence] Ashley & [Gwen] Foster, "Greenback Dollar" (Vocalion 02554, c. 1933)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Greenback Dollar" (Bluebird B-6090 [as Daddy John Love?], 1935)
Weems String Band, "Greenback Dollar" (Columbia 15300-D, 1928) [see notes]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Drowsy Sleeper" [Laws M4] (plot)
cf. "The Silver Dagger (I)" [Laws G21] (plot)
cf. "Rye Whiskey"
cf. "I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister" (tune)
cf. "Don't Forget Me, Little Darling (I)" (plot, floating lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Dixon Brothers, "Greenback Dollar - Part 2" (Bluebird B-6462, 1936)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Answer to 'Greenback Dollar'" (Bluebird B-7151/Montgomery Ward M-7301, 1937)
Wiley, Zeke & Homer, "Greenback Dollar - Part 3" (Bluebird B-7426, 1938)
NOTES: Most versions of this appear to be pastiches of floating verses -- or at least floating themes. The mention of the "greenback dollar" is so characteristic, however, that I decided to classify this as a separate song. - RBW
This should not be confused with the fiddle tune of the same name, nor the folk-revival song with the chorus "I don't give a damn about a greenback dollar/Spend it as fast as
I can"; the former is a popular fiddle tune, while the latter was composed by Hoyt Axton. Neither is any relation to this song. - PJS
We might note that the line "I don't want your greenback dollar" might have originated in a context not related to a rejected lover: The first "greenbacks" -- i.e. paper money unbacked by gold -- were issued during the Civil War, and they did depreciate significantly, with an average exchange rate of about three greenbacks for two gold dollars, but it sometimes fell to about two to one when Union forces seemed to be in particular trouble.
George Lineberry, the husband of the grand-niece of "Uncle Dick" Weems and "Uncle Frank" Weems, offers what is probably the final word on the matter:
"The Weems String Band (Perry County, TN) traveled to Memphis, TN in 1928 where Columbia was recording groups for the potential '1928 version American Idol.' (NOT).
"[Their] musical numbers were instrumental -- not vocal arrangements. However, Columbia wanted lyrics, i.e. no lyrics -- no record. So the Weems String Band went back to the hotel, created some lyrics (kind of) for their two songs: 'Greenback Dollar' and 'Davy' (sometimes referred to as 'Davy, Davy'). The lyrics met the minimum requirement, but both songs remained basically instrumentals.
The next day they returned to Columbia's 'studio' and recorded both songs, resulting in their only record."
In the case of "Greenback Dollar," it appears that other hillbilly musicians (presumably operating under the same "get some words or get lost" imperative) proceeded to supply their own lyric grafts to produce the confusion of words found in the recording list. - RBW
File: R733

Greenfields (How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours)

DESCRIPTION: "How tedious and tasteless the hours When Jesus no longer I see; Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flowers Have all lost their sweetness to me. The midsummer sun shines but dim, The fields strive in vain to look gay...."
AUTHOR: John Newton (1725-1807)?
EARLIEST DATE: 1779? (published with tune in 1808 in the Missouri Harmony)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 625, "How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 154, "Greenfields" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3385
RECORDINGS:
Old Harp Singers of Eastern Tennessee, "Greenfields" (on OldHarp01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Delights in Christ (tune)"
cf. "Edgefield" (same words, different tune)
NOTES: The uncertainty about the authorship of this hymn derives from the fact that many early sources do not credit it. The earliest record seems to be The Original Sacred Harp, which credits John Newton in his book Olney Hymns, 1779. The tune is "Delights in Christ." - PJS, RBW
(The Missouri Harmony version, to the tune "Greenfields," precedes the Sacred Harp publication, but with no author listed. Note that there is another tune, "Greenfield," in the Missouri Harmony; it's not the same. The Missouri Harmony also sets the words to the tune "Harpeth.")
Moderns, of course, will know it (if at all) to the tune "Greenfields." The Sacred Harp also sets this to the tune "Edgefield," by J. T. White, but that version seems less popular.
For background on JohN Newton, see the notes to "Amazing Grace." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: San154

Greenhorn, The

DESCRIPTION: Recitation; a greenhorn arrives in the lumber camp and makes friends with everyone except Joe Bonreau, the camp bully. The greenhorn doesn't respond until Joe talks about the greenhorn's girlfriend, after which he proceeds to wipe the floor with Joe
AUTHOR: Probably Marion Ellsworth
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Recitation; a greenhorn arrives in the lumber camp, and although he's quiet and doesn't smoke, drink or chew tobacco, he makes friends with everyone except Joe Bonreau, the camp bully, who teases him without mercy. The greenhorn doesn't respond until Joe makes remarks about the greenhorn's girlfriend, after which the greenhorn proceeds to wipe the floor with him. All approve, and Joe shakes his hand, saying to the speaker, "I guess, Jack, you was right/When I start in to rile that kid/I was fool with dynamite."
KEYWORDS: lumbering fight logger recitation
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 103, "The Greenhorn" (1 text)
Roud #8882
NOTES: This, like the other pieces probably written by Ellsworth, does not seem to have entered oral tradition. - PJS
File: Be103

Greenland (The Whaler's Song, Once More for Greenland We Are Bound)

DESCRIPTION: "Again for Greenland we are bound To leave you all behind." The singer describes the trip to the Greenland whaling grounds -- and the return, where they "see our sweethearts and our wives All waiting on the pier." The singer will return next year
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: whaler travel return reunion sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #85, p. 1, "The Whaler's Song" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 10, "Greenland" (7 texts, 8 tunes)
Ord, pp. 317-318, "The Whaler's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GRNLNDBD GRNLNDB2*
Roud #970
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "Greenland Bound" (on Lloyd9)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Once More for Greenland
File: Ord317

Greenland Disaster (I), The

DESCRIPTION: A sealing expedition leaves St. John's for the ice fields and all is well. When the men reached the ice, a storm comes up and freezes them. There are 25 dead and 23 missing. The singer concludes by hoping his audience will pray with him.
AUTHOR: Mrs. John Walsh ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: storm disaster death hunting
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 21, 1898 - Greenland disaster
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Doyle2, pp. 40-41, "The Greenland Disaster" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 146, "The Greenland Disaster" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 79, "The Greenland Disaster" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ryan/Small, pp. 46-51, "The Greenland Disaster (1)," "The Greenland Disaster (2)" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
ST Doy40 (Partial)
Roud #4080
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Greenland Disaster (II -- Sad Comes the News)" (subject)
cf. "The Greenland Disaster (III -- Miscellaneous)" (subject)
NOTES: Horace Beck in his book Folklore and the Sea (Mystic Conn.: Mystic Seaport Museum, 1985), p. 208 gives a brief account of sealing disasters in Newfoundland that he obtained from George A. England, Vikings of the Ice (London, 1924) pp. 54-59. - SH
This song is item dD34 in Laws's Appendix II. Laws knew only the version in Greenleaf/Mansfield; obviously it is more popular than he thought.
The versions of this song are very diverse; Blondahl's, e.g., tells the story of the disaster in detail, while Doyle's is a bit briefer on that account but spends many stanzas detailing the names of the dead. Some of this may be caused by the vast numbers of Greenland Disaster poems floating about; Ryan/Small have four probably non-traditional versions in addition to the two traditional forms (this and "The Greenland Disaster (II)." - RBW
File: Doy40

Greenland Disaster (II -- Sad Comes the News), The

DESCRIPTION: "Sad comes the news from over the sea...." The Greenland sails for the ice in March, and soon finds seals. At the end of March, a blinding snowstorm begins. The men on the ice freeze, and many are never found.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: storm disaster death hunting
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 21, 1898 - Greenland disaster
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 926-927, "The Greenland Disaster" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ryan/Small, pp. 50-51, "The Greenland Disaster (3)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST RySm050 (Partial)
Roud #6465
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Greenland Disaster (I)" (subject)
cf. "The Greenland Disaster (III -- Miscellaneous)" (subject)
NOTES: The Greenland incident produced several poems; Ryan and Small have no fewer than seven items on the tragedy, though their first two are both versions of "The Greenland Disaster (I)" and the last four appear to be non-traditional.
Based on Peacock's text, this is distinguished from the more-common "Greenland Disaster (I)" partly by being in triple time, partly by te first line quoted, and also by an inaccurate date (March 31 rather than March 21). - RBW
File: RySm050

Greenland Disaster (III -- Miscellaneous), The

DESCRIPTION: Catchall entry, for all poems about the Greenland Tragedy not covered by the other pieces on the subject. The Greenland goes to the ice, and 48 men are frozen or lost as a heavy storm traps them away from the ship
AUTHOR: various, some unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (variiuus poems in the Harbour Grace Standard)
KEYWORDS: storm disaster death hunting
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 21, 1898 - Greenland disaster
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 53, "Written in Memory of the 48 Men Who Lost Their Lives in the S. S. Greenland Sealing Disaster of Monday, March 21st, 1898 (4)"; p. 54, "The Greenland Disaster (5)"; pp. 55-56, "The Greenland Disaster (6)"; pp. 57-58, "The Greenland Disaster (7)" (4 texts)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Greenland Disaster (I)" (subject)
cf. "The Greenland Disaster (II -- Sad Comes the News)" (subject)
NOTES: The poems cited here are not one piece, but I've lumped them because there are so many of them, none traditional. These pieces are to be strongly distinguished from The Greenland Disaster (I) and (II), which *are* traditional. - RBW
File: RySm052

Greenland Fishing

See The Greenland Whale Fishery [Laws K21] (File: LK21)

Greenland Whale Fishery, The [Laws K21]

DESCRIPTION: The singer and his companions (are forced by poverty to) sign on a whaler. They spot a whale. The whale is harpooned, but sinks the boat and escapes. Five crewmen are killed. The captain regrets the loss of whale and/or crew. At last they leave Greenland
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1820 (_The Mavis_, according to Greig); before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.17(160))
KEYWORDS: ship whale whaler death
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Britain(England(South,Lond),Scotland(Aber)) Bahamas Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (21 citations):
Laws K21, "The Greenland Whale Fishery"
Belden, pp. 104-105, "The Greenland Whale Fishery" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 9-10, "The Whalefish Song" (1 text, 1 tune, without reference to the drowned men); pp. 11-12
Colcord, pp. 151-152, "Greenland Fishery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 223-227, "The Whale," "The Greenland Whale" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Leach, pp. 707-708, "The Greenland Whale Fishery" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 147-148, "Whaling Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 42, "The Greenland Fishery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Friedman, p. 401, "The Greenland Whale Fishery" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 169, "The Greenland Fishery" (1 text)
FSCatskills 95, "Bound for the Stormy Main" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 81, "The Greenland Whale" (1 text)
Greig #85, pp. 2-3, "The Greenland Fishery"; Greig #87, p. 2, "The Greenland Fishery" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan1 9, "The Greenland Fishery" (10 texts, 8 tunes)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 50-51, "The Greenland Whale Fishery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 122-123, "The Whale" (1 text, 1 tune, plus a fragment from _Moby Dick_ which may well be derived from this song)
Scott-BoA, pp. 142-144, "The Greenland Whale Fishery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 32, "The Greenland Whale Fishery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 832-833, "Greenland Fishery" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 94, "Greenland Fisheries" (1 text)
DT 321, GREENLAN* GRENLAN2* GRNFISH* GRENFIS4*
Roud #347
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Greenland Fishing" (Rec. 1941, unissued at the time; on AlmanacCD1)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Greenland Whale Fishery" (on Lloyd9)
David Pryor: "When the Whale Get Strike" [fragment] (AAFS 512 A1, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
Pete Seeger, "The Greenland Whalers" (on PeteSeeger10)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.17(160), "Greenland Whale Fishery" ("In eighteen-hundred and twenty-three"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Firth c.13(67), Firth c.13(68), Firth c.13(69), Firth c.13(71), Harding B 11(90), Harding B 11(3307), Harding B 11(958), Harding B 25(778), "Greenland Whale Fishery"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Barrack's Song" (form)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Greenland
Whale-Fishing
NOTES: [Lloyd cites a blackletter printing of this piece from before 1725.]
In 1830, the English whaling fleet moved from the right-whale grounds off Greenland to Baffin Bay, and thence to the grounds off Hawaii and Peru. The whalers' songs nonetheless continued to refer to the Greenland grounds. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LK21

Greenmount Smiling Ann

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a beautiful girl, "Greenmount smiling Ann." He sees a young man in green approach her. They go off together; the birds sing and the swans glide along with them. He is assured they are "joined in Hymen's ban."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love husband wife bird marriage beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H182, pp. 464-465, "Greenmount Smiling Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4457
File: HHH182

Greenock Railway, The

DESCRIPTION: Paddy pays a fare on the Greenock Railway to Glasgow. He enters a box and fights an upper-class man who says he is in the wrong fare class. He fights and escapes to work the harvest and return to Ireland, or is taken by a peeler and serves three months.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging sb30407a)
KEYWORDS: violence travel escape technology Scotland humorous police railroading
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 290, "The Greenock Railway" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #5833
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(823), "Paddy on the Railway" ("A paddy once in Greenock town"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 c.15(276),"Paddy on the Railway"; Harding B 11(2925), 2806 b.11(250), Harding B 11(2924), "Paddy on the Railway" ("Paddy one day from Greenock town")
LOCSinging, sb30407a, "Paddy on the Railway," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(086), "Paddy on the Railway," unknown, c.1870; also SSSSSS, "X"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Iron Horse (I)" (theme: country folk ride the railroad)
NOTES: If the description has not made it clear, this is another song about the country man confused by "wonders" of "civilization" for "never one in the county of Clare, Ever saw or heard of a Railway."
Sir Robert Peel established the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1812 and its success led, in 1829, to the Metropolitan Police Act for London. Originally the term "Peeler" applied to the London constabulary. (source: Sir Robert "Bobby" Peel (1788-1850) at Historic UK site.)
GreigDuncan2 texts are fragments; broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(823) is the basis for the description.
Broadside LOCSinging sb30407a: 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
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD2290

Greens

DESCRIPTION: "Greens, greens, good old (collard/culluhed) greens, I eats 'em in the mornin', I eats 'em in the night, I eats 'em all the time; They make me feel just right."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sandburg, p. 347, "Greens" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 8, "Collard Greens" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #4491
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Turnip Greens" (theme)
NOTES: It's not clear whether the Sandburg and Pankake songs are the same (about all they have in common are the phrase "good old collard greens") -- but both are fragments; it seems pointless to separate them.
The Pankakes have another song, "Turnip Greens," which may spring from the same, er, roots. - RBW
File: San347

Greense's Bonny Lass

DESCRIPTION: The singer, with "a wee drap spirits," pays a night visit to his love who had left the window ajar and the door bar greased. "Wi' hasty feet and lovin' arms I catched my lovey in the dark." He is ecstatic. She was "blithe to bid me come again"
AUTHOR: William Scott of Fetterangus (source: GreigDuncan4)
EARLIEST DATE: 1832 (Scott, _Poems, Chiefly in the Buchan Dialect_, according to GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting sex nightvisit
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 786, "Greense's Bonny Lass" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6198
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blythe, Blythe and Merry Was She" (half the chorus and the sense of the chorus)
File: GrD4786

Greensleeves

DESCRIPTION: A song of a man rejected by "Lady Greensleeves," whom he describes as "all my joy" and "my delight." He offers various gifts and honors if she will return to him and complains about what he has already spent upon her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1580 (Stationer's Register; the first surviving printing is from _A Handful of Pleasant Delights_,1584, and we first find the tune in 1652)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Leather, p. 137, "Handkerchief Dance [Greensleeves]" (1 tune, with dance instructions but no text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 239-242, "Green Sleeves" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 140, "Greensleeves" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 259, "Greensleeves"
ADDITIONAL: Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 86-89, "A New Courtly Sonnet of the Lady Greensleeves" (1 text)
DT, GRNSLVS* GRNSLV3*
ST ChWI239 (Full)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Greensleeves" [probably instrumental] (on PeteSeeger47)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "O Shepherd, O Shepherd" (tune)
cf. "The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward" [Child 271] (tune)
cf. "What Child Is This?" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
At Rome there is a most fearful rout/New Song of Lulla By (BBI ZN331)
You traitors all that doo deuise, to hurt our Queen in trewcherous wise/A warning to all false Traitors.. [execution of 14 traitors, Aug. 1588] (BBI ZN3138)
Good Lord what a wicked world is this/A most excellent godly new Ballad (BBI ZN1009)
NOTES: I have heard that green sleeves betokened a prostitute, and that this song is about a young man who yearned for a woman he could not marry because of her occupation. Kelly Eberhard informs me of a contrary legend, that green sleeves betokened English royalty. (I wonder, in all seriousness, if green sleeves did not betoken a "queen," which means of course both the female member of the ruling family and a prostitute.)
The actual origin of this tune is unknown (some have credited it to Henry VIII!), but it became popular almost instantly after its registration. Shakespeare mentions it twice in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" (II.i.57 and V.v.18); Chappell lists many other mentions from before 1600. Ault notes that the title was registered to Jones (who would later print the Handful of Pleasant Delights version) on Sept. 3, 1580 -- and, that, on the same day, another printer registered "The Lady Greenesleeve's Answer to Donkyn her friend," implying that the piece was already well enough known to draw knock-offs.
Whether the piece ever really took a place in the traditional repertoire is another matter. - RBW
The words perhaps [did] not [become traditional], but the tune certainly did, being found in various forms as a morris dance, a country dance ("Green Sleeves and Yellow Lace") and two carols ("What Child Is This," of course, and "Dame Get Up and Bake You Pies"). -PJS
File: ChWI239

Greenwood Laddie, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes the beauty of her greenwood laddie. Her parents oppose the match because he has no riches, but she says "the more that they slight you, the more I'll invite you". She would still cherish him if she had the gold of the Indies or of Africa.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (recorded from Charles Boyle)
KEYWORDS: love beauty gold money lyric nonballad lover father mother
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 130, "The Greenwood Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 137, "The Greenwood Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2123
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Greenwood Laddie" (on IRRCinnamond02)
Paddy Tunney, "Greenwood Laddie" (on IRPTunney01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of the Bann (I)" [Laws O2] (lyrics)
NOTES: In 1909 Joyce collected "The Greenwood Lad," but only the tune, and without seeing it I won't cite it as Earliest Date. This is similar in tone to "Banks of the Bann," and even shares a verse, but it's otherwise different enough that I split them without question. - PJS
Kennedy speculates that this might be somehow connected with a Gaelic song, and that the youth's "green-ness" might have political significance. Which strikes me as a rather forced interpretation. - RBW
File: K130

Greenwood Siding, {The)

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

Greer County

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

Greer's Grove

DESCRIPTION: Johnny intends to spend the night with Nancy but her cronies beat him and take his money. Next day his mother and neighbors comment on his appearance. He denies being beaten. Fellows, beware of Nancy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond02)
KEYWORDS: courting sex fight humorous
FOUND IN: Ireland
ST RcGrrGrv (Full)
Roud #7004
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Down By Gruyer's Groves" (on IRRCinnamond02)
NOTES: The description is based on John Moulden's transcription from IRRCinnamond02 included in the Traditional Ballad Index Supplement. - BS
File: RcGrrGrv

Gresford Disaster, The

DESCRIPTION: 242 miners and three rescuers died in the Gresford mine explosion. The management is accused of destroying the fireman's records to cover criminal negligence. "Down there in the dark they are lying; they died for nine shillings a day"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952
KEYWORDS: disaster death mining
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 22, 1934 - explosion of the Gresford pit mine (in Denbyshire) kills 265 miners and three rescuers
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
MacColl-Shuttle, pp. 11-12, "The Gresford Disaster" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 116, "The Gresford Disaster" (1 text)
DT, GRESFORD
Roud #3089
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. A. Cosgrave, "The Gresford Disaster" (on FSB3)
File: PBB116

Grey Cat Kittled in Charlie's Wig, The

DESCRIPTION: "The grey cat's kittled in Charlie's wig (x2), There's one of them living and two of them dead, The grey cat's kittled in Charlie's wig"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1826 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: animal childbirth
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 40, "(The grey cat's kittled in Charlie's wig)" (1 short text)
GreigDuncan8 1675, "The Grey Cat's Kittled in Charlie's Wig" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1826 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 143, ("The cats hae kittled in Charlie's Wig")
Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 385, ("The cat has kittled in Charlie's Wig")
Robert Chambers (Edited by Norah and William Montgomerie), Traditional Scottish Nursery Rhymes (1990 selected from Popular Rhymes) #43, p. 33, "The Grey Cat"
Roud #13024
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jock Robb" (tune, per GreigDuncan8)
NOTES: Chambers (1826) includes this and a Lillibulero verse as "Whig rhymes after 1745." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MSNR040

Grey Cock, The, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248]

DESCRIPTION: Man bids his love to let him in. After some hours of lovemaking, he tells her he must depart when the cock crows (or before). She hopes the cock will not crow soon, but it crows early. She learns that her lover is a ghost, and may never return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1769 (Herd)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Man comes to his lover's window, bidding her open and let him in. They spend the night in lovemaking; toward dawn, he tells her he must leave when the cock crows for day. She prays the cock not to crow too soon, but the cock in fact crows early. She remarks her lover's cold lips and skin, realizing he has returned to her dead. As he leaves, she asks when she will see him again; he replies with impossibilities ("When the fish they fly, love, and the sea runs dry, love/And the rocks they melt in the heat of the sun") -- i.e., at the Judgment Day.
KEYWORDS: love sex farewell death dialog nightvisit paradox supernatural lover ghost
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,West),Scotland) US(Ap,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Child 248, "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" (1 text)
Bronson 248, "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" (16 versions)
SharpAp 36, "The Grey Cock" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #6}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 310-313, "The Grey Cock" (1 text plus Joyce's version of "The Lover's Ghost")
Leach, pp. 611-612, "The Grey Cock" (2 texts)
Warner 90, "Pretty Crowin' Chicken" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 83-85, "The Grey Cock" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #11, #13}
Karpeles-Newfoundland 21, "The Lover's Ghost" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 52-53, "The Grey Cock, or The Lover's Ghost" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #16}
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 48, "Willie the Waterboy" (1 text, 1 tune, short enough that it might be Child #77 or Child #248 or a combination or perhaps independent; Roud files it with Child #248, but Dawney with Child #77)
Hodgart, p. 148, "The Grey Cock" (1 text)
SHenry H699, pp. 383-384, "The Bonny Bushes Bright" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 248, GREYCOCK*
ST C248 (Full)
Roud #179
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Fly Up My Cock" (on IRRCinnamond02)
Cecilia Costello, "The Grey Ghost" (on FSB5 [as "The Grey Cock"], FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #16}
A. L. Lloyd, "The Lover's Ghost" (on Lloyd1) (on Lloyd2, Lloyd3)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Grey Cock" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Night Visiting Song" (motif)
cf. "A Waukrife Minnie" (motif)
cf. "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)" (motif)
cf. "Willie's Fatal Visit" [Child 255] (motif)
NOTES: [Of Bronson's sixteen versions,] only one is of the Night Visiting Song type and one of the I Once Loved a Lass type. - AS
Hugh Shields wrote an article, "The Grey Cock: Dawn Song or Revenant Ballad?" (reprinted in E. B. Lyle, Ballad Studies, pp. 67-92) which argues that, in its original form, this was an "alba" or "dawn song" rather than a revenant ballad.
The problem with the hypothesis, as even Shields grudgingly admits, is that this type of song is literally unknown in English (it's associated primarily with the Iberian peninsula, though James J. Wilhelm, Medieval Song, p. 107, claims that the oldest Dawn Song is the Provencal "En un vergier sotz folha s'albespi," and Wilhelm prints several other dawn songs from France, and even a few from Germany).
Shields never ever really defines the form, giving only a few footnotes, one pointing to a German article on Chaucer's Troilus. Looking at the examples in Wilhelm (there are several more found among the Provencal songs), it appears that the characteristic of the form is two young people, forbidden to meet, still coming together at night and having to part before dawn. Though there are also "religious" alba songs, presumably in praise of the light, and a few other things. All of them, however, are art or minstrel songs, not folk songs.
The former type of alba song, obviously, resembles "The Grey Cock" -- but the motivations are entirely different, and so, generally, is the outcome; in the alba songs, the light simply threatens to reveal the lovers, while it threatens the ghost's very existence in the English ballad. I incline to think the similarity, if there is one, is coincidental -- i.e. "The Grey Cock" may be an alba song, but it is not from the tradition of alba songs.
I should probably note, though, that the Provencal examples cited come mostly from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries -- i.e. some of them come from the time when England ruled large parts of Provence. Henry II had Provencal troubadours in his entourage (perhaps the most famous of all, Bertran de Born, c. 1140-1214, had a part in the quarrels between Henry and his son Henry the Young King, and wrote a lament for the latter). So the form could have been introduced into England at the time -- if you believe that it could have survived the conversion into English and then have lasted until modern times.
There is a nursery rhyme verse which is probably related to this, though it might also have been influenced by "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight" or something similar:
Oh, my pretty cock, oh, my handsome cock,
I pray you, do not crow before day,
And your comb shall be made of the very beaten gold,
And your wings of the silver so gray. (Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #852, p. 320.) - RBW
The nine-verse Costello version [Vaughan Williams/Lloyd] of "The Grey Cock" begins with five verses often found in "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)," including the distinguishing lines
Saying, "I'll be guided without a stumble...."
"....Disturbing me from my long night's rest?"
"It is your own true love, pray don't discover..."
"....For I am wet after my long night's journey,
Besides I'm wet love unto the skin."
followed by the "where is the blushes" verse from "Willy O!", two bribery and betrayal verses from Child 248, and ends with the "when the fish they fly" verse from "I Will Put My Ship In Order"; Ewan MacColl's version of the Costello text adds one more verse from "Willy O!"
Perhaps a revenant "The Grey Cock" was closer to the P.W. Joyce version and the two closely related Karpeles-Newfoundland texts; that ballad also concludes with the "when the fish they fly" verse. There the distinguishing lines include
"And where is your bed, my dearest love," he said,
"And where are your white Holland sheets?
And where are the maids, oh my darling dear," he said,
"That wait upon you whilst you are asleep?"
"The clay it is me bed, my dearest dear," she said,
"The shroud is my white Holland sheet.
And the worms and creeping things are me servants, dear," she said,
"That wait upon me whilst I am asleep."
(Joyce's text, unlike Karpeles's, reverses the sex of the parties.) Or maybe that is another independent set of ballads.
Child's notes to "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father?" refer to a ballad without a ghost theme ended prematurely by a crowing cock: "The cock is remiss or unfaithful, again, in a little ballad picked up by Burns in Nithsdale, 'A Waukrife Minnie,' Cromek, Select Scottish Songs. You can read the text of the 1789 poem at Burns Country site.
Robert Cinnamond's version on IRRCinnamond02, like Child, Johnson, SHenry and BarryEckstormSmyth, have no ghostly elements. At the end, as in SHenry, the woman is deserted by a man who would just rather not be married. My own inclination, without getting into the "alba" controversy, is to believe that the ghostly versions, like Costello, Vaughan Williams/Lloyd and MacColl, have imported the ghost from entirely different ballads. - BS
Ford says of Burns's report of "The Waukrife Minnie" (lovers interrupted by early crowing with no ghost involved) that he had it "from the singing of a country girl in Nithsdale." Ford's comment is in connection with his own text of "My Rolling Eye" [Seventeen Come Sunday [Laws O17]] (Robert Ford, editor, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland [first series] (Paisley,1899), pp. 102-105) which includes the following verses, again about the interruption of two non-ghostly lovers by an early-crowing cock:
It's waery fa' the waukrife cock
May the foumart lay his crawing,
He wauken'd the auld wife frae her sleep,
A wee blink ere the dawing.
She gaed to the fire to blaw the coal,
To see if she would ken me,
But I dang the auld runt in the fire,
And bade my heels defend me.
Finally having read the Shields article cited above, I see that it analyzes the Costello version on pp. 71-77. Once the chimeric nature of that and other texts is demonstrated I find it difficult to understand the grounds for considering "The Grey Cock" to be a revenant ballad.
See R. H. Cromek, Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, (London, 1810), pp. 72-75, "The Gray Cock," which Child describes as "a song by Allan Cunningham, impudently put forward as 'the precious relique of the original'." Cromek writes, "This copy was communicated by Mr. Allan Cunningham. He had it from his father...."; Cunningham's "forgery" has nothing of the revenant theme which, I assume, he would have incorporated if he had thought it appropriate to the ballad he was faking. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C248

Grey Goose, The

DESCRIPTION: "Last Monday morning, Lord, Lord, Lord... My daddy went a-hunting... for de grey goose." The goose is found and killed; it takes six weeks to fall, and six weeks to pluck, and six weeks to cook... It cannot be cut, and comes back to life and flies away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (recording, Washington "Lightnin'")
KEYWORDS: talltale bird cook hunting
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 5, "The Grey Goose" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 242-243, "De Grey Goose" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 95-97, "Grey Goose" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 907-908, "The Grey Goose" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 109-110, "Grey Goose" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 403, "The Gray Goose" (1 text)
DT, GRAYGOOS
Roud #11684
RECORDINGS:
James "Iron Head" Baker, "The Grey Goose" (AFS 207B, 1933) (AFS 205 A3, 1934; on LC03)
Augustus "Track Horse" Haggerty & group, "The Grey Goose" (AFS 223 A2, 1933)
Lead Belly, "The Grey Goose" (on GrowOn2)
Pete Seeger, "Gray Goose" (on PeteSeeger05); "Grey Goose" (on PeteSeeger08, PeteSeegerCD02)
Washington "Lightnin'," "The Gray Goose" (AFS 182 A, 1933)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
cf. "The Sucking Pig" (theme)
cf. "The Worderful Crocodile" (theme)
cf. "T'Owd Yowe wi' One Horn" (theme)
cf. "Home, Happy Home"
NOTES: Paul Stamler writes, "[This song and 'Home, Happy Home'] are so close that it might be better to call [the latter] an Alternate Title." I have no knowledge of "Home, Happy Home." Anyone know more? - RBW
"Home, Happy Home" was collected, almost certainly from white informants, by Garry Harrison in southern Illinois, probably in the 1970s. - PJS
John Greenway sees this as similar to "Cutty Wren." Once again, I don't see it. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LxU005

Grief Is a Knot

DESCRIPTION: Willie leaves Mary for another girl. Mary goes to her deathbed and sends for Willie who promises to take care of their baby. The baby dies too and is buried with Mary.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: infidelity sex burial death baby lover
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 673-674, "Grief Is a Knot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9803
File: Pea673

Grigor's Ghost

DESCRIPTION: Grigor loves his rich cousin Katie. Her father arranges for Grigor's impressment. He is killed near Fort Niagara; the finger with her ring is cut off. His ghost appears to Katie without the finger. She dies. The father is left "bereft of all joys."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1825 (Buchan, _Gleanings of Scotch, English, and Irish Scarce Old Ballads_, according to GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: grief love ring army battle parting death America Scotland father servant soldier ghost
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 340, "Grigor's Ghost" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #4600
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "On One Thursday's Evening" (tune, according to GreigDuncan2)
NOTES: This is a long ballad and many elements were left out of the description. Among them: Grigor, whose father had been exiled, was taken in and poorly used as a servant by his uncle MacFarlane; Katie is courted by wealthy suitors; her mother overhears their meeting and reports it to MacFarlane; when Grigor and Katie part she asks to be allowed to accompany him in the army but Grigor refuses and she gives him a ring; after Katie dies of grief the mother dies the same night.
According to the ballad, Grigor is killed near Fort Niagara July 30, 1759, four days after the battle there. - BS
The battle of Fort Niagara was part of William Pitt's grand strategy of 1758-1759 for the French and Indian War, in which he attacked the French in Canada on many fronts. The most notable of these campaigns was that of James Wolfe against Quebec, for which see "Brave Wolfe" [Laws A1].
The Niagara campaign took place some weeks before that, and in some ways was even more decisive (because the French had no real chance to reverse the result; they could have retaken Quebec). The British had already accomplished one of the objectives for which they had started the war: They had taken the fort at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, the site of the future Pittsburg (see Walter R. Borneman, The French and Indian War, Harper-Collins, 2006, pp. 187-192). This allowed British resettlement of much of western Pennsylvania, from which they had been driven after Braddock's Defeat (for which see the song of the same name). But if the British could capture Fort Niagara, they could cut off Quebec (and, hence, European France) from the trans-Appalachian areas.
John Prideaux, newly appointed brigadier general, was given 3000 troops and sent up the Mohawk River to take the fort. (Borneman, p. 193). He was joined by about a thousand Iroquois at Oswego (see Fred Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 2000; I use the 2001 Vintage Books edition; pp. 330-331). This was significant for the British, because the Iroquois had been fairly quiet until then, and most other tribes supported the French. Prideaux therefore left a thousand British and American troops at Oswego to guard his communications and rebuilt the fort there, and rowed the rest of the troops to a point near the mouth of the Niagara River (Borneman, p. 194).
Fort Niagara, built in 1725 near the mouth of the Niagara and much improved in the years since, was well-built and well-situated for most purposes, with water on three sides and a strong wall on the fourth. But it was undermanned; the officer in charge thought that the threat was over for the year, and had sent most of his garrison off to other duties (Anderson, p. 355). His reasons were valid, but the conclusions were wrong; when the British showed up, the fort was manned by only about 500 men (fewer than 200 French regulars and about 300 locals). Plus it was vulnerable to artillery fire from a high point nearby (Borneman, p. 195). Prideaux put his troops there on July 7, 1759 and began a siege.
On July 20, Prideaux was killed by his own artillery (Anderson, p. 336, Borneman, p. 196). On July 23, before the English command could properly be reorganized, the French troops that had earlier left the fort returned. But, disregarding advice from the locals, the 1500 or so men marched right into an ambush and were slaughtered on July 24 (Borneman, p. 198; Anderson, p. 337, says that the Indians in the relief column pulled out, so it was perhaps only 600 Frenchmen who went to their doom. Either way, the relief expedition failed). With no further hope of rescue, Fort Niagara surrendered on July 25 (Anderson, p. 337; Borneman, p. 199).
The battle broke the back of the French position west of the Appalachians. For the moment, New France (what we now would call Quebec) still stood, but it had no real supply line to the southwestern forts. French settlements in places like Michigan and Illinois were cut off from contact with the French government. Few were actually attacked, but they could be taken any time the British wanted them.
The last sputter of the Niagara campaign came as the French attacked Oswego on the supply line to Fort Niagara (Borneman, pp. 202-203). This was a complete fiasco for the French, but perhaps this was the attack in which Grigor was killed. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD2340

Grizzly Bear (Grizzely Bear)

DESCRIPTION: "Oh that grizzely, grizzely, grizzely bear, Tell me who was that grizzely bear. Oh Jack o' Diamonds was that grizzely bear." The singer describes the grizzely bear (and how his family tries to avoid and/or hunt it)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (sung by convicts of Negro Prison Camp Worksongs)
KEYWORDS: nonballad hunting animal
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Courlander-NFM, p. 106, "Grizzly Bear" (1 text)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp.184-192, "Grizzly Bear" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 402, "Grizzly Bear" (1 text)
Roud #16673
RECORDINGS:
Texas state farm prisoners, "Grizzly Bear" (on NPCWork, FMUSA) [Jackson believes the lead singer here is Joseph "Chinaman" Johnson]
NOTES: Courlander suggests the "Grizzly Bear" was a convict whose appearance was so wild that he resembled a bear. As most if not all versions seem to come from prisoners, this is at least possible. But several of the prisoners Jackson spoke to thought it was a warden, Carl Luther McAdams, considered very strict but fair and sometimes known as "the Bear." Still others mentioned a Joe Oliver who predated McAdams.
Jackson notes that some scholars consider "the bear" to be a homosexual convict, but observes that the prisoners he talked to rejected that interpretation completely.
Jackson's versions of the song vary widely; the two sung by Benny Richardson actually have plots of sorts, and Jackson calls them ballads -- though they're pretty vague, just a sort of travelogue. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: CNFM106A

Grogal McCree

See Gay Girl Marie [Laws M23] (File: LM23)

Ground for the Floor (I)

DESCRIPTION: At day's end, the singer (a shepherd) makes his way home, where he sits content. He praises the cottage, though he has "nothing but ground for my floor." He sleeps well, rising cheerfully to his work and playing his pipe; he has no high ambitions
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Sharp)
KEYWORDS: home farming work music nonballad sheep shepherd worker
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 250, "Ground for the Floor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1269
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "The Sun Being Set" (on Maynard1); "Ground for the Floor" (on Voice20)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ground for the Floor (II)" (subject)
File: RcGftF

Ground for the Floor (II)

DESCRIPTION: The singer has "a neat little cottage with ground for the floor" surrounded by brambles and thorns. He is happy with his dog and gun, a three-legged stool, a fire on the ground, bed of straw, and one guinea in the pocket of his only suit.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3660))
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND IN:
Roud #1269
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3660), "Ground for the Floor" ("I lived in a wood for a number of years"), J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also Harding B 11(3659), Harding B 16(108b), Harding B 11(1437), Harding B 11(1438), Harding B 11(1439), Firth c.19(212), Harding B 28(81), Harding B 11(321), Harding B 25(781), "Ground for the Floor"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ground for the Floor (I)" (subject)
NOTES: The description is from broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3660). Roud assigns the same number to this and "Ground for the Floor" ("The sun being set"); while they are about the same general subject and share a single phrase, I don't see how they are related. - BS
File: RcGftFl2

Ground Hog

DESCRIPTION: A family goes ground hog hunting, catches one, cooks and eats it with great enjoyment. Almost anything can happen in the process as verses float in and out.
AUTHOR: unknown (credited on the Norris recording to Harold Gray)
EARLIEST DATE: 1911
KEYWORDS: hunting food humorous animal family
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Randolph 413, "The Ground-Hog Song" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BrownIII 221, "The Ground Hog" (3 texts plus a fragment and indirect mention of 2 more)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 30, "The Ground Hog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 123, "Groundhog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 8, "Ground Hog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 131, "Groundhog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 271-274, "Groun' Hog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 893-895, "Groun'-Hog" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 231, "The Ground Hog" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 5-6, "Ground Hog" (1 text)
JHCox 176, "Ground Hog Song" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 56-57, "Groundhot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 402, "Groundhog" (1 text)
DT, GRONDHOG*
Roud #3125
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Ground Hog" (General 5018B, 1941; on Almanac01, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Seena Helms, "Groundhog" (on HandMeDown2)
Homer & Jethro, "Groundhog" (King 596, 1947)
Vester Jones, "Groundhog" (on GraysonCarroll1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Groundhog" (on NLCR16)
Land Norris, "Ground Hog" (OKeh 40096, 1924)
Frank Proffitt, "Groundhog" (on Proffitt03)
Jack Reedy & his Walker Mountain String Band, "Ground Hog" (Brunswick 221, 1928; on CrowTold02, LostProv1)
Pete Seeger, "Ground Hog" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b) (on PeteSeeger08, PeteSeegerCD02)
Doc Watson, Arnold Watson & Gaither Carlton, "Ground Hog" (on Watson01)
File: R413

Groundhog

See Ground Hog (File: R413)

Group of Jolly Cowboys, A

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

Groves of Blackpool, The

DESCRIPTION: "Now de war, dearest Nancy, is ended." The Cork City Militia return home to a grand reception and local brew. Their band plays "Boyne Water" and "Croppies Lie Down." It's good to be back among the tanners and glue-boilers "in de Groves of de Pool"
AUTHOR: Richard Alfred Milliken (1767-1816) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: rebellion drink music soldier home
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Moylan 61, "The Groves of Blackpool" (1 text, 1 tune)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 168-173, "The Groves of Blackpool" (1 text)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
De Groves of de Pool
NOTES: The text mimics the local accent by replacing "th" by "d" with occasional other translations ("because" becomes "bekase," "pretty" becomes "purty," "murder" becomes "murther," "educated" becomes "edicated," ....).
Moylan: "A song from the loyalist side ... commemorates the activities of the North Cork Militia who became notorious, during the period when Wexford was under martial law, for the enthusiasm and brutality with which they carried out their duties." Moylan quotes Sparling's caracterization (from Irish Minstrelsy p. 504): "In 1798 Milliken was unenviably notorious for 'zeal and efficiency' as a yeoman."
Croker-PopularSongs: "The Cork Militia were especially Orange. They suffered severely in the Rebellion of 1798...."
Croker believes the last verse - a toast to the tanners and glue-boilers "in de Groves of de Pool" - is the work of John Lander rather than "honest Dick Millikin." - BS
According to the brief biography in Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 791, Milliken (or Millikin, as she spells it) lived and died in Cork; she gives his death date as 1815. He is known almost exclusively for his poem "The Groves of Blarney," which if nothing else had quite a vogue in the broadside press; see its entry. In this index, see also "The River Lee." - RBW
File: Moyl061

Groves of Blarney

DESCRIPTION: "The groves of Blarney they are so charming." The flowers, "grand walks," "the stone" and statues are described. No commander can compare with Lady Jeffers. If the singer were a poet like Homer "in every feature that I'd make it shine"
AUTHOR: probably Richard Alfred Milliken (1767-1816) (see Notes)
EARLIEST DATE: 1800 (1798-1799 probable date written, printed copies in Cork by 1800, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: nonballad lyric
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
O'Conor, p. 33, "Groves of Blarney" (1 text)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 137-144, "The Groves of Blarney" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 362-365, "The Groves of Blarney" (1 text)
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 28-30, "The Groves of Blarney" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4035), "Groves of Blarney" ("The groves of Blarney, they are so charming") , J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1855-1858; also Harding B 11(2095), 2806 b.11(161), Harding B 18(223), "Groves of Blarney"
LOCSinging, sb10145b, "The Groves of Blarney", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Last Rose of Summer" (tune, per Hoagland)
cf. "Castle Hyde" (tune and theme, per Hoagland)
cf. "The Plains of Drishane" (theme: extravagant praise of Cork)
cf. "Castle Hyde" (theme: extravagant praise of Cork)
cf. "The Groves of Glanmire" (theme: extravagant praise of Cork)
NOTES: Irish Minstrelsy by H. Halliday Sparling (London, 1888), pp. 437-438, 505, "The Groves of Blarney" makes the attribution to Milliken. [Granger's Index to Poetry accepts this identification, but notes at least one version with an additional stanza by Francis Sylvester Mahony, for whom see "Bells of Shandon"; the attribution in Granger's appears to be based on Hoagland. She adds that "Millikin at a party declared he could write a piece of absurdity which would surpass 'Castle Hyde....' The Groves of Blarney was the result...." Other poems by Millikin in this index include "The Groves of Blackpool" and "The River Lee." - RBW].
Croker-PopularSongs, quoting the memoir prefixed to Poetical Fragments of the late Richard Alfred Millikin[1823]: "During the Rebellion, several verses were, in the heat of party [Croker: an electioneering dinner], added to this song, particularly those alluding to the mean descent of a certain noble lord [Croker: Lord Domoughmore (then Lord Hutchinson)]; but they were not the production of the original author, who, incapable of scurrility or personal enmity to those with whom he differed in opinion, scorned such puerile malice." Croker makes the added verse "'Tis there's the kitchen hangs many a flitch in ... All blood relations to my Lord Donoughmore"; Croker notes that, in The Reliques of Father Prout [Rev Francis Sylvester Mahony (1804-1866)] that verse is replaced by "There is a stone there, that whoever kisses ...." "may clamber to a lady's chamber, Or become a member of parliament....
The Jeffrey/Jeffers/Jeffares family were Protestants granted lands previously owned by Catholic Irish. In County Cork they took over Blarney Castle (source: The Jeffrey Family site). Kissing the Blarney Stone, on the top story of the castle tower, is supposed to give the gift of eloquence.
Broadside LOCSinging sb10145b: 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: OCon033

Groves of Glanmire, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer "come to this country a stranger" and, in his travels, has found "none to equal Glanmire." He lists the fine groves, the Bride Valley, the salmon fishing, hare hunting, "the finest of oak, lime and larch" and working mills.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: travel commerce fishing hunting nonballad lyric
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OCanainn, pp. 90-91, "The Groves of Glanmire" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Groves of Blarney" (theme: extravagant praise of Cork) and references there
NOTES: This is more moderate in praise of local places than "Castle Hyde" and "Dear Mallow, Adieu," and fairly close in spirit to "The Town of Passage" (I). On the other hand it is just one more of the family of songs that has spawned so many parodies around Cork. See, for example, "The Groves of Blarney,' "The Plains of Drishane,' "Darling Neddeen,' "The Town of Passage" (II and III) and "The Praise of Kinsale." Or maybe this is just too subtle a parody for me to understand; it does end with a strange line that of all the mills working "there is one making silverspring starch." Silverspring Starch Company is/was in Glanmire (according to an entry on the Limerick City Council site 2/13/2006).
OCanainn: "Glanmire [is] some four miles from Cork city, on the Dublin Road." - BS
File: OCan090

Gruig Hill

DESCRIPTION: The singer goes out to take the air, and sees a beautiful girl who lives near Gruig Hill. He describes her beauty at length. They go to her home; her family greets him kindly. He sets out for his home, hoping to marry her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love beauty drink
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H626, p. 465, "Gruig Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #18996
File: HHH626

Gude Wallace [Child 157]

DESCRIPTION: Wallace meets a woman washing at a well. She says 15 Englishmen who seek him are at the inn. He says he'd go there if he had any money; she gives him some. He goes, disguised, vanquishes the 15, calls for food, is set upon by 15 more and defeats them too.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1768?
KEYWORDS: fight outlaw money food disguise
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1286 - Death of Alexander III of Scotland
1290 - Death of his granddaughter Margaret "Maid of Norway"
1292 - Edward I of England declares John Balliol king of Scotland
1296 - Edward deposes John Balliol
1297 - William Wallace, the Guardian of Scotland, defeats the English at Stirling Bridge
1298 - Edward defeats Wallace at Falkirk. Wallace forced into hiding
1305 - Capture and execution of Wallace (August 23)
1306 - Robert Bruce declares himself king of Scotland
1307 - Death of Edward I
1314 - Battle of Bannockburn. Robert Bruce defeats Edward II of England and regains Scottish independence
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 157, "Gude Wallace" (9 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Bronson 157, "Gude Wallace" (2 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 465-466, "Gude Wallace" (notes plus part of Child G and a fragment of Child A)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 133-134, "Gude Wallace" (1 fragment, which mentions Wallace but otherwise has little resemblance to the Child ballad; it may be unrelated)
Leach, pp. 433-435, "Gude Wallace" (1 text)
DT, GUDWALL*
Roud #75
NOTES: William Wallace is one of the most famous figures in Scottish history, but surprisingly little is known of him. Prior to the reign of John Balliol, he was invisible; we don't even know his birth date, though many think he was born around 1272 (Magnusson, p. 133).
As Keen puts it on pp. 66-67, "Considering the impact which his career made on the imagination of his countrymen, we know remarkably little historical detail of the life of William Wallace. The date of his birth is unknown. He came of a family of small landowners whose estates were in Ayrshire, and who seem to have been of Welsh origin. Nothing certain is known of him until after the outbreak of war between England and Scotland in 1296. In 1297... he slew the sheriff of Lanark, according to tradition to avenge the death of his beloved, Marion Bradfute, the heiress of Lamington, who had been executed by the English for sheltering her outlawed lover. This deed made him immediately a hero in the eyes of the common people.... He soon found himself at the head of a powerful irregular force. It was his genius that converted this undisciplined horde into an army of foot soldiers."
King Alexander III of Scotland had died in 1286, with his only heir being his granddaughter, Margaret Maid of Norway. But she in turn died in 1290 -- without heirs, not surprisingly, since she was only eight years old. (For background on this, see the notes to "Sir Patrick Spens" [Child 58]). There was no other obvious heir -- not only had Alexander III had no other children, but his father Alexander II had no other descendants, nor his grandfather William the Lion. Thus the heir would presumably have to be sought among the descendants of William's younger brother David Earl of Huntington, or among William's and David's sisters, meaning that, if they were in the same generation as Alexander III, they would be third cousins of the dead king. (There is a convenient genealogy of this on page 301 of Oram, although it has an error in the genealogy of William the Lion's older brother Malcolm the Maiden.)
Alexander had been on good terms with Edward I, the King of England at the time, and Edward had already been interfering in Scottish affairs even before Margaret died (Prestwich, pp. 359-364). With her dead, Scotland faced a real succession crisis as perhaps as many as sixteen claimants came forward (Oram, p. 113). Most of them could be set aside, but the claims of John Balliol and Robert Bruce the Competitor (the grandfather of King Robert I Bruce) were strong -- Balliol was the grandson of David of Huntington's eldest daughter, and Bruce the son of the second daughter.
Edward was given the right to determine the heir to the Scottish throne. He conducted a long investigation and decided (correctly, by modern reckoning) that Balliol deserved the throne (Prestwich, pp. 366-368). But Edward also decided that Balliol was his vassal, and answered to Edward, and would do just what Edward told him. From the moment Balliol took the crown, Edward insisted on hearing legal cases over his head (Prestwich, pp. 370-371).
Prestwich notes on p. 371 that Balliol -- his father's fourth son -- had not expected to be a great magnate, let alone a king; he had no training for the role he had entered into. He probably wasn't as ineffective as he came to be portrayed (Oram, p. 112); Scots chroniclers portrayed him in the worst possible light because they wanted to glorify Robert Bruce, and English looked down on him because he failed to defeat Edward I. But he certainly wasn't imperious enough to face Edward I in a contest of self-importance.
There is a genuine debate over just how much homage the King of Scots owed the King of England. Warren, pp. 177-179, studied what records there are and suggests that the most reasonable opinion is that the Scottish kings owed homage for Lothian (plus their lands in England), but nothing else in Scotland. Of course, this was before Henry II took forced homage from William the Lion -- and then Richard I sold back the claim. For a ridiculously low price, too -- 10,000 marks, or 6,667 pounds (McLynn, p. 122). Scotland was poor, but that still was only a year or so of Scottish revenue. Only a monomaniac would have sold Scotland so cheaply. But Richard did it. Richard's sale, it seems to me (as to most Scots) should have freed Scotland from any obligation at all (although Prestwich, p. 374, thinks Edward had a claim). But even Prestwich agrees that Edward's demands were too extreme.
The Scots called Balliol the "Toom Tabard" (empty coat) because he wouldn't stand up to Edward -- but even Balliol eventually suffered more abuse than he could take and went into what Edward regarded as rebellion (this came when Edward demanded that Balliol perform feudal service in France; Prestwich, p. 372). The Scots, unwilling to comply and needing help. concluded what would come to be known as the "Auld Alliance" with France. Edward deposed Balliol and declared himself in charge (Oram, pp. 114-115). This was typical Edward; Balliol reportedly had been willing to turn over his kingship to Edward in return for an English earldom, but Edward the Inflexible turned that down flat (Prestwich, p. 473), and even went so far as to publicly tear the coat of arms from Balliol's clothes (Prestwich, pp. 473-474 -- another reason for the "Toom Tabard" name).
Balliol ended up living on his estates in France, hoping for French help which never came (Oram, p. 115) -- although his son would later claim the Scottish throne, ironically with the support of the English King Edward III. It's not even absolutely sure when Balliol died; it was probably 1313.
Edward's attempt at a takeover was so complete, he even set up a new administration in Berwick, abandoning Edinburgh (Prestwich, p. 474). He gave control of the country to Earl Warrene, who as it turned out did not want to do the job (Prestwich, p. 477).
It was in 1296 that Balliol was deposed. A sort of conspiracy by the nobility of Scotland collapsed instantly as Edward overran the country. Edward thought he had won (Prestwich, p. 476). It didn't take long to prove him wrong. In a sort of People's Revolt, Wallace rose to defend Scotland from Edward's attempts to take over the country. His rebellion apparently started quietly enough: He got into a brawl with some of Edward's soldiers who were at Lanark, and had to flee. A women (possibly his wife) who helped him escape was tortured and killed; Wallace responded by killing a local English officer (Fry/Fry; p. 78; MacLean, p. 37).
In other times, Wallace might have been called simply an outlaw. But with Scotland an occupied nation, he could call himself a freedom fighter. He declared himself a supporter of John Balliol and raised a rebellion.
The higher nobility of Scotland was almost universally indifferent. They weren't happy with Edward I, but they had made terms with him, even if at sword point, and weren't willing to risk more fighting. (The fact that a lot of them had estates in England was a major factor in this.) But Wallace was able to gather a band of small landowners and minor knights. And he picked a good time: The French had recently declared that Edward I's province of Gascony was forfeited to them, so Edward was spending his time in Flanders and other places trying to get Gascony back. He wasn't paying attention to Scotland -- except to try to extract money from it, which obviously made him even less popular (Prestwich, p. 476).
In 1297, Wallace's troops met an English army at Stirling Bridge, the last place it was possible to cross the Forth without boats. The English under the Earl of Surrey started to cross the bridge in the presence of Wallace's army (Magnusson, pp. 135-138), and of course he destroyed the portion across the bridge and won a major victory -- Cook, p. 91, says the bridge broke under the fleeing English, though Magnusson, p. 139, makes the more reasonable suggestion that Surrey ordered it destroyed to protect his remaining troops.
It was not a complete victory for the Scots; Wallace's chief lieutenant Andrew de Moray was mortally wounded in the battle (Magnusson, p. 139), and many English garrisons held out. But the Scots had shown they could still fight -- an immense pschological boost. As a result, Wallace became a Guardian of Scotland, and obviously respectable (Mitchison, p. 43). People even called him "William the Conqueror" (McNamee, p. 22).
But Stirling Bridge had been fought while Edward I was away campaigning against France. He came rushing back, assembled an army, and himself led it -- the first time he had actually led an army in battle in more than thirty years (Prestwich, p. 479).
Edward's campaign was not really very well-organized; he had supply problems (Prestwich, pp. 480-481). But he had by far the better-equipped army. And Wallace, the guerilla, tried to fight a set-piece battle at Falkirk in 1298, and was disastrously beaten by Edward (MacLean, p. 38). Edward, no fool, assembled an army of bowmen, cavalry, and infantry, while Wallace had little but spearmen, arranged in schiltrons. Fifteen years later, at Bannockburn, it would be demonstrated that the schiltrons could beat off infantry or cavalry. But Edward I was not the military incompetent his son was. He had, and used, his longbowmen -- the first real use of the weapon that would later bring the English to the brink of victory in the Hundred Years' War. The bowmen broke up the schiltrons, then the cavalry swept up the scattered remnants (Magnusson, pp. 143-144). The Scottish army had ceased to exist. Wallace survived, but from Guardian of Scotland he fell to being a fugitive outlaw; he soon resigned his guardianship and went into hiding (Magnusson, p. 147).
Wallace supposedly went on to try to negotiate with France and the Papacy on behalf of Balliol (Magnusson, pp. 148-149). Edward was distracted by continental affairs and couldn't concentrate fully on Scotland; there were even truces between the sides during this period. A certain amount of governmental work was done by the Scots, and they did send embassies all over the place (Prestwich, pp. 490-496). But if Wallace was part of this, he was largely ineffective -- indeed, it's hard to imagine them dealing with a man who hadn't even been a knight until so created, perhaps unofficially, after he became a guerilla.
When the French armies were defeated at Courtrai in 1302, the respite for Scotland was over. Edward was able to devote all his energies to Scotland (Prestwich, p. 497). Edward had pretty well pacified Scotland by 1303. Wallace spent the rest of his life on the run, with a price on his head (a hundred pounds, according to Magnusson, p. 152). Prestwich, pp. 499.500, reports Wallace fighting the English again in the winter of 1303-1304, but their force was routed and Wallace, although he again escaped, once again found himself without any soldiers.
Wallace betrayed and captured in 1305 (by Scots, no less; Prestwich, p. 503), subjected to a kangaroo trial in England (the charge was treason, even though he had never taken an oath to Edward I, and the trial, according to Magnusson, p. 155, consisted simply of a recitation of the charges followed by conviction and sentence; Edward I, that alleged paragon of justice, did not so much as allow a statement by the defence), and executed with torture (Fry/Fry, p. 79). Edward's justification for drawing and quartering Wallace was that the Scot hadn't fought according to the rules of chivalry (Prestwich, p. 503). Portions of his body were gibbeted at various sites around England (Keen, p, 68).
Wallace's brother John Wallace was apparently captured the next year (Prestwich, p. 510).
That much is (probably) fact -- and it's about all the fact we have. Edward I had used black propaganda about Wallace, circulating horror stories about his behavior (Prestwich, p. 512). Once he was in custody, Edward tried to blot out Wallace's memory and leave no relics (hence the treason indictment and the destruction of Wallace's body, according to Magnusson, pp. 157-158), and even the histories sponsored by the Bruces and the Stuarts tried to ignore him (Magnusson, pp. 162-163), just as they tried to blacken John Balliol (Oram, p. 112). Wallace, after all, made Robert Bruce look inconsistent; Bruce's ancestors had competed against John Balliol, and Bruce himself had worked with the English as recently as 1301 (Prestwich, p. 496) -- as Earl of Huntingdon, he was one of those guys with estates on both sides of the border.
It was only later that Wallace became a true national hero, meaning that his legend was created after the facts were almost completely lost -- e.g. it is believed that Blind Harry wrote his "Wallace" in the reign of James IV, almost two centuries after Wallace's death (Keen, p. 69).
Kunitz/Haycraft, pp. 259-260, hint that Blind Harry didn't even write "Wallace," since it contains Latin allusions a blind man would be unlikely to know. They suggest that John Ramsey, who copied the only manuscript in 1488, may have had a hand in the composition. They declare that it contains "no attempt to picture the historic Wallace."
Blind Harry's poem (of which Keen says on p. 69, "Its literary merit is slight, and its historical accuracy is even slighter," while noting that it is very long) is largely hagiographic, giving Wallace a bunch of Robin Hood-like adventures (Keen, p. 74, who notes the utter improbability of it all -- since Robin was a genuine outlaw but Wallace was a royal servant). The most that can be said is that the fictional Wallace described by Blind Harry is the sort of person who would have adventures such as are found in this ballad.
Blind Harry also makes Wallace larger than life -- literally; Harry says that he was two and a quarter ells tall, or 83 inches=6'11" or 2.1 meters (Magnusson, p. 133). The other late Scottish sources are little better. Scotland's National Wallace Museum has an artifact called (almost certainly falsely) Wallace's Sword; it is 1.7 meters long, or 5'7" (Magunsson, p. 126). Magnusson, pp. 146-147 also notes how many alleged Wallace relics there are around Scotland -- most notably a Wallace Oak, but just as Robin Hood in England gathered wells and churches and trees named after him, so did Wallace in Scotland. This ballad seems to be another example of that; Child notes that the incident is found in Blind Harry, though I suspect the ultimate inspiration was the tale of Wallace's wife and how her treatment caused him to become an outlaw.
Wallace's influence is still being felt today; Magnusson, p. 159, notes that when a referendum was held to re-create a Scottish parliament in the late twentieth century, the date chosen for hte referendum was September 11, 1997 -- the seven hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Stirling Bridge. - RBW
Bibliography

Cook: E. Thornton Cook, Their Majesties of Scotland, John Murray, 1928
Fry/Fry: Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, The History of Scotland, 1982 (I use the 1995 Barnes & Noble edition)
Keen: Maurice Keen, The Outlaws of Medieval Legend, Dorset, 1961, 1977, 1987
Kunitz/Haycraft: Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, Editors, British Authors Before 1800: A Biographical Dictionary, H. W. Wilson, 1952 (I use the fourth printing of 1965)
MacLean: Fitzroy Maclean, A Concise History of Scotland, Beekman House, 1970
Magnusson: Magnus Magnusson, Scotland: The Story of a Nation, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000
McLynn: Frank McLynn, Richard & John: Kings at War, Da Capo, 2007
McNamee: Colm McNamee, The Wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and Ireland 1306-1328, Tuckwell, 1997
Mitchison: Rosalind Mitchison, A History of Scotland, second edition, Methuen, 1982
Oram: Ricahrd Oram, editor, The Kings & Queens of Scotland, 2001 (I use the 2006 Tempus paperback edition)
Prestwich: Michael Prestwich, The Three Edwards: War and State in England 1272-1377, Weidenfeld, 1980 (I use the 2001 Routledge paperback edition)
Warren: W. L. Warren, Henry II, 1973 (I use the 1977 University of California Press paperback edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: C157

Gudeman, Ye're a Drunken Carle

DESCRIPTION: Dialog in which the husband and wife continue a twenty year fight about his drinking. She concedes she'll take a drink for a cure. They agree to end the fight and share the pitcher from now on.
AUTHOR: Alexander Boswell (1775-1822) (source: Ford)
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Boswell)
LONG DESCRIPTION: She: you're a drunk, confused, ne'er-do-weel. He: You're a scold and a cow that would be a bull. She: I spin to clothe you and you waste it on drink. He: You like a drink yourself. She: Perhaps only to cure the cholic. He: You don't hesitate to take a cholic when it brings a drink; but we've fought for twenty years so let's stop now. She: I'm wrong; we're too feeble to fight longer. He: You're right; from now on we'll share the pitcher between us.
KEYWORDS: accusation drink dialog humorous husband wife bargaining
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1870, "Hech, Goodman, You're a Drunken Carle" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: [Alexander Boswell], Songs Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh, 1803 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 5-7, "East Nuik o' Fife" ("Auld gudeman, ye're a drunken carle, drunken carle") [see note]
Robert Ford, editor, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland [second series] (Paisley, 1901 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 126-127, "Gudeman, Ye're a Drucken Carle"
Roud #13496
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "East Nuik o' Fife" (tune, per Ford)
NOTES: Boswell prints each song with the title "Song" and, under that -- as if the title -- the name of the tune. This song is printed with the apparent title "East Neuk o' Fife." Ford makes it clear that Boswell had written new words to the old fiddle tune, "East Neuk o' Fife." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81870

Guerrilla Boy, The

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

Guerrilla Man, The

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

Guess I'll Eat Some Worms

DESCRIPTION: "Nobody (likes/loves) me, Everybody hates me, Going to the garden To eat worms." The rest of the song may describe the means by which one consumes the invertebrates or list the reasons why the singer is disliked (assuming it isn't obvious)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Opie & Opie)
KEYWORDS: animal food
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp.138-139, "Guess I'll Eat Some Worms" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, EATWORMS
ADDITIONAL: Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #137, "(Nobody Loves Me)" (1 text)
Roud #12764
File: DTeatwor

Gui-Annee, La

See Guillannee, La (La Gui-Annee) (File: BMRF584)

Guid Coat o' Blue, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer's wife buys him a good coat against the winter. "Nae mair will I dread the cauld blasts o' Ben Ledi." He ridicules those who, in pride, prefer new fashions to such a coat. "We fret over taxes ... but daft silly pride is the warst tax o' ony"
AUTHOR: John Paterson (source: _Whistle-Binkie_)
EARLIEST DATE: 1843 (_Whistle-Binkie_)
KEYWORDS: pride clothes nonballad wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan3 660, "The Guid Coat o' Blue" (2 texts, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Rodger, editor, Whistle-Binkie, Fifth Series (Glasgow, 1843), pp. 10-11, "My Guid Coat o' Blue"; also Whistle-Binkie, (Glasgow, 1878), Vol II, pp. 128-129, "My Guid Coat o' Blue"
Roud #6087
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.27(324), "Guid Coat o' Blue" ("The blue bell was gane, and the bloom aff the heather"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1849-1880; also Harding B 17(205b), "My Guid Coat o' Blue"; Harding B 26(238)[some words illegible], "The Gude Coat o' Blue"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lass o' Glenshee" (tune, per _Whistle-Binkie_ and Bodleian broadsides Firth b.27(324) and Harding B 17(205b))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Coat o' Blue
File: GrD3660

Guid Guid Wife, The

DESCRIPTION: "To hae a wife, and rule a wife, Taks a wise wise man." The singer lists the penalties and injuries a man with a bad wife will suffer, and the benefits to a man with a good wife. A man with a good wife "gets gear eneuch"; a bad wife brings "care eneuch"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: marriage hardtimes warning nonballad husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 154, "A Guid, Guid Wife" (1 text)
File: Ord154

Guid Nicht an' Joy Be Wi' You A'

DESCRIPTION: As the singer prepares to leave the gathering, he declares, "Guid nicht, an' joy be wi' you a', Since it is sae that I maun gang." He praises those with whom he has been drinking, has a last drink of his own, and starts on the long voyage home
AUTHOR: Words: John Imlah/Music: James B. Allan ?
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(762))
KEYWORDS: drink home friend nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1530, "Good Nicht an' Joy Be Wi' You A'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 373-374, "Guid Nicht an' Joy Be Wi' You A'" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: John Imlah, May Flowers (London, 1827 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 131-132, "Guid Night! an' Joy Be Wi' You A'!"
Roud #3936
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(762), "Good Night, and Joy Be With You All" ("All the money e'er I had, I spent it in good company"), W., Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824
NOTES: An argument could easily be made that "Guid Nicht an' Joy Be Wi' You A'" and "The Parting Glass" are the same song. Two verses often show up in both songs: "All the money e'er I had, I spent it in good company, And all the harm that e'er I did, I hope excused I will be, And what I've done for want of wit, to my memory I cann't recall, So fill us up a parting glass -- good night and joy be with you all," and "If I had money for to spend, And leisure time to set a while, There is a fair maid in this town, that surely has me heart beguile: Her rosy cheeks - and her ruby lips I own she has my heart enthrall'd; Then fill to me the parting glass, Good night - and joy be with you all." The difference is in the remaining verses. "The Parting Glass" is concerned with a lover missed; "Guid Night, and Joy Be With You all" is about leaving a party, or emigrating, or dying, and leaving good friends behind. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Ord373

Guide Me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah

DESCRIPTION: "Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim though this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty.... Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more." The singer asks to be guided by the pillar of fire and to be taken safely to Canaan
AUTHOR: Words: William Williams (1717-1791) and others?
EARLIEST DATE: 1745 (words translated, according to the Methodist Hymnal)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ritchie-Southern, p. 48, "Guide Me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp. 94-95, "Guide Me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7103
NOTES: There seems to be some confusion about the origin of this hymn. Every source I checked credits at least some of the words to William Williams. Johnson thinks him the original and sole composer; Granger's Index to Poetry supports this. But the hymnals I checked all consider it a translation of the Welsh "Arglwydd arwain trwy'r Anialwch," with Peter Williams (1722-1796) responsible for some of the translation.
That's nothing to the tune, though. Three different books give three different melodies. Johnson lists his as by Thomas Hastings (1784-1872). The Lutheran hymnal I checked claims a tune written by George W. Warren in 1884. A Methodist hymnal sets it to John Hughes's "Cwm Rhonda," probably best known as the tune for "God of Grace and God of Glory." (A Mormon hymnal also uses "Cwm Rhonda, without listing the tumne mane on the page, but changes the lyrics to begin "Guide US, O though great Jehovah, GUIDE US TO THE PROMISED land; WE ARE weak, etc.) All of these tunes are different. So is Jean Ritchie's; hers is unattributed.
The earliest printing in my possession, in H. S. Perkins, H, J. Danforth, and E. V. DeGraff, The Song Wave, American Book Company, 1882, pp. 196-197, does not credit the lyrics but says the tune is "from Flotow." With no explanation of who or what a Flotow is. Presumably it's a reference to Friedrich von Flotow (1812-1883), whom Internet sources associate with this song.
The imagery of the song is strongly reminiscent of the Exodus -- e.g. in Exodus 16:4 God promises "bread from heaven" (the manna which the Israelites ate until they settled in Canaan). The Israelites are led by a pillar of fire at night (Ecxodus 13:21, etc.) There are no crystal fountains in Exodus, or anywhere in the Hebrew Bible, but the idea may have been inspired by the various references to water from a rock.
There is one other Exodus-inspired reference in the song, which is, however, an error. The name "Jehovah" is found in the King James translation of Exodus 6:9 as the (personal) name of God.
Unfortunately, that's not the correct name of God. The proper English consonants are not JHVH but YHVH, and the vowels are simply wrong. Jews eventually came to consider it profane to read the name of God (hence the Greek Bible consistently renders the name YHWH by Kyrios, the Lord, and English versions follow suit for the most part; the King James Bible has only half a dozen exceptions, but Exodus 6:9 is one of them).
To remind scripture readers not to pronounce the name of God (which was pretty definitely YAHVEH or YAHWEH), the Jews eventually started writing the consonants YHWH with the vowels of "adonai," the word for "Lord." What this was supposed to mean was, "When you see YHWH, read 'adonai.'" But the translators of the King James Bible took it literally, and applied the vowels of "adonai" to the consonants of "YHWH" and so produced the barbarism "Jehovah." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RitS048

Guignolee, La

See Guillannee, La (La Gui-Annee) (File: BMRF584)

Guillannee, La (La Gui-Annee)

DESCRIPTION: A (new year's) revel song, in which the singers demand pork-chine, or else the daughter of the house. Guillannee is mistletoe. In English this becomes "La Gui-Annee"; the singers declare "We've come to ask for mistletoe on this last day of the old year."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage nonballad party father children
FOUND IN: US(MW, So) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Belden, pp. 515-516, "La Guignolee (La Gaie-Annee)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 584, "La Guillannee" (1 text, 1 tune)
BerryVin, p. 10, "La Guillannee" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Bloomsdale Singers, "La Guignolee" (KSGM 11279-A, n.d., prob. 1950s)
Prairie Durocher [sic] Singers, "La Guignolee" (KSGM 11279-B, n.d., prob. 1950s)
NOTES: Botkin offers extensive notes on the Guillannee custom. He quotes Carriere: "The name Guillannée is to be explained as an abbrebiation of gui de l'année, gui de la nouvelle année, New Year's Mistletoe."
The correct title of this song is given as "La Guillannée." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BMRF584

Guilty Sea Captain, The

See Captain Glen/The New York Trader (The Guilty Sea Captain A/B) [Laws K22] (File: LK22)

Guinea Negro Song

DESCRIPTION: A slave's complaint of his capture: (lines from various versions): "The Englie man he [s]teal me, And carry me to Birgimy [Virginee]. The American man he [s]teal me, And give me pretty red coatee, And make me fence rail toatee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: slave work commerce theft clothes
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 472, "Guinea Negro Song" (2 short texts, probably from the same informant)
Roud #11800
NOTES: Brown's notes indicate that this came from an ex-slave to whom this originally happened. White objected that this was chronologically impossible. It isn't, quite -- while the English banned the slave trade in the early nineteenth century, and even the Americans eventually stopped it, an Englishman with no morals might have taken a slave and slipped him through American customs.
But I think White is right and the informant didn't suffer this fate. The dialect is just a little too cutesy. - RBW
File: Br3472

Guise o' Tough, The

DESCRIPTION: "I gaed up to Alford for to get a fee, I fell in wi' Jamie Broon and wi' him I did agree." He eats till all are amazed. He works, finds his plow bad, replaces it, damages the replacement. He lists the other characters in the bothy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work farming moniker money food
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #4, pp. 2-3, "Guise o' Tough" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 378, "The Guise o' Tough" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, pp. 236-237, "The Guise o' Tough" (1 text)
Roud #3800
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Geordie Williamson" (some verses are shared)
cf. "Drumdelgie" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
NOTES: Greig #21, p 2: "While no doubt several of the expressions used in this class of song are more or less common property, it will be seen that 'Guise o' Tough' must have borrowed a good deal from 'South Ythsie."
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Guise (378) is at coordinate (h1-2,v6) on that map [near Alford, roughly 24 miles W of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Ord236

Guise of Tyrie, The

DESCRIPTION: "O wat ye how the guise [happening] began ... at Tyrie." Lady Tyrie and the laird o' Glack plotted to instal "bobbing Andrew [Cant]." The "muirland wives" give Lady Tyrie "ill tauk," saying she and her husband will go to hell; they tear her veil.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: political religious clergy
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig "Folk-Song in Buchan," p. 33, ("Oh wat ye hoo the guise began") (1 fragment)
GreigDuncan3 681, "The Guise o' Tyrie" (1 fragment)
ADDITIONAL: Peter Buchan, Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1875 (reprint of 1828 edition ("Digitized by Google"))), Vol I, pp. 260-261, 312-313, "The Guise of Tyrie"
William Walker, The Bards of Bon-Accord 1375-1860 (Aberdeen, 1887 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 70-72, ("O wat ye how the guise began")
Roud #6106
NOTES: Walker explains that the subject is the appointment of Andrew Cant by Alexander Forbes, Lord Pitsligo, to the pulpit of a new church in Pitsligo. The appointment of this "apostle of the Covenant" "was received with considerable disapprobation in the adjoining parish of Tyrie ... and out of this discontent sprang the song." Lady Fraser supported Cant "but how Elphinstone of Glack got mixed up in it, we have been been unable to explain."
Buchan says of Cant that he was "a character much celebrated in the history of the troubles of Scotland in the seventeenth century. His induction to the pastoral charge of the parish of Tyrie, of which he was the first Protestant minister, having given great offence to the rabble, one of them composed the Guise of Tyrie. Mr Cant being an avowed enemy to all, and everything that savoured of Popery ... [Buchan concludes with an example]."
For more about the Scottish Covenanters see the notes to "The Bonnie House o Airlie" [Child 199]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD3681

Gull Cove

DESCRIPTION: If you commit to fishing Gull Cove and "if the codfish fades away as it often done before, We could lose our year in Gull Cove, where the stormy winds do blow." The song describes a bad year and all the boats that lose the year.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: fishing hardtimes
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 48, "Gull Cove" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best, "Gull Cove" (on NFABest01)
NOTES: Lehr/Best: Gull Cove is near Branch, St Mary's Bay [at the southwest corner of the Avalon Peninsula]. - BS
File: LeBe048

Gull Decoy, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer reports, "I take no books, nor I read no papers, I have no money to spend or lose." He reads other people's newspapers, sets his dogs on orphans, and has no company but the gulls he whistles to, hence the name "the Gull Decoy."
AUTHOR: Larry Gorman
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness dog bird money
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 255-256, "The Gull Decoy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 85-86,246, "The Gull Decoy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 19, "The Gull Decoy" (1 text plus some fragments, 1 tune)
ST Doe255 (Partial)
Roud #9193
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mick Riley" (characters)
NOTES: Manny and Wilson state that "This song was made up by Larry Gorman before he left Prince Edward Island in 1873.... Tradition says that the ballad was a satire on Larry's own uncle, and that Larry was 'run off the Island' for it." It is also said that later Larry was 'run out of Miramichi' for the mostly unprintable Donahue's Spree, so he went to Maine. These are only two of the many fables that cluster round the memory of that imp, Larry, the terror and delight of the logging camps for over fifty years." - RBW
Ives-DullCare: There is a discussion alleging that "Gorman was convinced Riley [the subject of the song names himself Patrick Riley] had cheated him out of some wages, but whatever he may have done, that poet dug up all the dirt he could find on him, and (according to some people I've talked to) what he couldn't find he invented.... [We] have enough here to show the kind of character assassination local satire could involve, and few employed it with more zest or skill than Larry Gorman." - BS
File: Doe255

Gum Shellac

DESCRIPTION: Singer cites real and fictitious accomplishments of tinkers with gum shellac: making Pharaoh's coffins; building Birmingham; fighting the Romans, Spanish, Danes, Black and Tans, and Cromwell; making cannons in Hungary; teaching Nero to play.
AUTHOR: "Pops" Johnny Connors (source: Jim Carroll's notes to IRTravellers01)
EARLIEST DATE: 1985 (IRTravellers01)
KEYWORDS: humorous political talltale tinker
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #2508
RECORDINGS:
"Pops" Johnny Connors, "Gum Shellac" (on IRTravellers01)
NOTES: Jim Carroll's notes to IRTravellers01: "Gum shellac is a paste formed by chewing bread, a technique used by unscrupulous tinsmiths to supposedly repair leaks in pots and pans. When polished, it gives the appearance of a proper repair but, if the vessel is filled with water, the paste quickly disintegrates, giving the perpetrator of the quick just enough time to escape with his payment." - BS
File: RcGumShe

Gum Tree Canoe, The

DESCRIPTION: "On Tom Big Bee river so bright I was born In a hut made of husks of the tall yellow corn, And there I first met with my Julia so true And I rowed her about in my gum tree canoe." The singer describes his work -- and the happy times courting in the canoe
AUTHOR: S.S. Steele ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1847 420770)
KEYWORDS: courting home love river
FOUND IN: US(SE,So) Australia
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 787, "The Gum Tree Canoe" (1 text)
BrownIII 269, "The Gumtree Canoe" (1 short text plus a fragment)
Hugill, p. 473, "The Gumtree Canoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 172-173, "The Gumtree Canoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 168-170, "The Gumtree Canoe" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 481, "My Gum Tree Canoe" (source notes only)
DT, GUMTREE GUMTREE2 TOMBIGBE
Roud #759
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1847 420770, "The Gum Tree Canoe," G. P. Reed (Boston), 1847; also sm1885 18094, "The Gum Tree Canoe" (tune) [both attribute words to S.S. Steele and music to A.F. Winnemore]
LOCSinging, as104990, "The Gum Tree Canoe," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as104980, as105000, as201240, "The Gum Tree Canoe"
NLScotland, RB.m.143(143), "The Gum-Tree Canoe," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Indian Hunter" (theme)
cf. "Give Me a Hut" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
On Tom Big Bee River
The Tombigbee River
NOTES: The 1847 sheet music credits this to S. S. Steele, an attribution accepted by Patterson/Fahey/Seal -- but we all know that such attributions were less than utterly reliable. It is reported to have been sung by "A.F. WINNEMORE and his band of VIRGINIA SERENADERS." It does seem likely that the song did originate with this group; the earliest outside collection that I know of comes from 1909. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as104990: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: R787

Gum-Tree Canoe, The

See The Gum Tree Canoe (File: R787)

Gumtree Canoe, The

See The Gum Tree Canoe (File: R787)

Gun Canecutter, The

DESCRIPTION: The canecutter is struggling to survive, and "there's no joy for me, I got to cook my own tea, So I think I will marry a slutter." He needs her to help him with his work, so he hopes she'll "look into me eyes, she'll fall for me lies..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: wife work Australia
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 106-107, "The Gun Canecutter" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA106

Gustave Ohr

DESCRIPTION: Gustave Ohr recalls his quiet youth and how he fell in with (George) Mann's evil company. Eventually they attacked a man in a sugar camp. Ohr was taken and condemned to die. He concludes by thanking various legal officers for their kindness
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: execution gallows-confession
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1879 - George Mann and Gustave Ohr attack, rob, and beat to death John Whatmaugh. They are condemned to death later in the year
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Eddy 121, "Story of Gustave Ohr" (1 text)
ST E121 (Full)
Roud #4099
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Charles Guiteau" [Laws E11] (meter) and references there
cf. "Charles Mann" (meter, subject)
NOTES: As "The Story of Gustave Ohr," this song is item dE39 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: E121

Guy Fawkes

DESCRIPTION: "I'll tell a doleful tragedy; Guy Fawkes, the prince of sinisters, Who once blew up the House of Lords... That is, he would have blown them up... If only they had let him." Fawkes is betrayed, captured, and executed, and now they repeat it every year
AUTHOR: Thomas Hudson (per Moffat, _English Songs of the Georgian Period_)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914
KEYWORDS: political execution nobility memorial death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1605 - The botched "Gunpowder Plot"
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
LPound-ABS, 37, pp. 84-86, "Guy Fawkes" (1 text)
DT, GUYFAWKE
Roud #4974
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bow Wow Wow" (tune) and references there
SAME TUNE:
Lloyd George, The Prince of Sinisters (The New Guy Fawkes) (Letter to the Editor, London Times, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 1909, p.10)
NOTES: The "Gunpowder Plot" was an attempt by a group of Catholics to regain control of united Britain. The plan was to blow up the British houses of parliament (along with King James I and VI) on November 5, 1605. To this end, several dozen barrels of gunpowder were stashed below the parliament building.
It was in this secret chamber that Guy Fawkes, who was largely responsible for the execution of the plot, was captured on November 4. He and many fellow conspirators were eventually rounded up and hung. Guy Fawkes Day has since been an annual occasion for fireworks and celebrations in England: "Please to remember The fifth of November: Gunpowder Treason and Plot!"
There is, however, some reason to believe that the government was in on the secret all along, and let the plot proceed as far as it did in an attempt to strengthen its shaky position.
This is one of several political pieces set to the tune "Bow Wow Wow" -- a song which hardly exists in its own right, but which makes it very easy to sustain a line of patter. - RBW
File: LPnd084

Guy Reed [Laws C9]

DESCRIPTION: Guy Reed is trying to break up a log jam when he is drowned. His funeral is given a full description; he is buried in his family plot
AUTHOR: Joe Scott (a friend of Reed's)
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Gray)
KEYWORDS: logger death drowning
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 9, 1897 - Death of Guy Reed of West Byron, Maine
FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws C9, "Guy Reed"
Ives-DullCare, pp. 96-99,246, "Guy Reed" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 183-186, "Guy Reed" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gray, pp. 24-28, "Guy Reed" (1 text)
Manny/Wilson 20, "Guy Reed (The Andrew Grogan Shore)" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 709, GUYREED
Roud #1968
NOTES: Ives-DullCare: The singer says he bought a printed copy from Joe Scott in or before 1912.
The site of the log jam is the Androscoggin River in Maine. In Manny/Wilson it is corrupted to "Andrew Grogan," which explains the alternate title. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LC09

Guysboro Song

DESCRIPTION: The singer loses his parents and sister. He is treated badly by an uncle. He loses a captain's job at Canso: he drinks the freight and drowns 2 boys. On his other ship only 4 of 13 survive. He breaks his good knee in the Indies and decides to retire.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: drink hardtimes injury wreck orphan sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-NovaScotia 119, "Guysboro Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS119 (Partial)
Roud #1824
NOTES: This song is item dD48 in Laws's Appendix II.
The ballad mentions Guysborough County as the singer's birthplace, and Canso Strait and Ingonish as locales of his "hardships and pain." Guysborough County and Canso are on the south coast of Nova Scotia; Ingonish is on the Cape Breton coast. - BS
File: CrNS119

Gwan Round, Rabbit

DESCRIPTION: A call and response song: "My dog treed a rabbit, My dog treed a rabbit. Now watch that critter sittin' on that log, Now watch that critter how he do that dog."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942
KEYWORDS: animal dog hunting
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 707, "Gwan Round, Rabbit" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: BSoF707

Gwine Down Jordan

See probably The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)

Gwine Down to Jordan

See No More, My Lord (File: SBoA312)

Gwine Follow

DESCRIPTION: "Titty (i.e. Sister) Mary, you know I gwine follow, I gwine follow, gwine follow. Brother William, you know I gwine follow, For to do my Father('s) will. 'Tis well and good I am coming here tonight (x3) For to do my Father('s) will."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 18, "Gwine Follow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11841
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Buffalo Gals" (partial form)
NOTES: Allen/Ware/Garrison note that the second part of this is essentially "Buffalo Gals," but the first part is independent. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG018B

Gwine Ride Up in the Chariot

See I Hope I'll Join the Band (Soon in the Morning) (File: R266)

Gwine to Run All Night

See Camptown Races (File: RJ19039)

Gwineter Harness in de Mornin' Soon

DESCRIPTION: "Baby, baby, you don't know; De way you treat me I bound to go. Gwineter harness in de morning soon...." Descriptions of the life of a mule driver, primarily about a difficult job and an equally difficult team
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: work animal hardtimes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 47-49, "Gwineter Harness in de Mornin' Soon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15569
File: LxA047

Gypsies, The

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

Gypsy Countess, The

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

Gypsy Daisy

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

Gypsy Davy, The

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

Gypsy Girl, The

See The Gypsy Maid (The Gypsy's Wedding Day) [Laws O4] (File: LO04)

Gypsy Laddie, The [Child 200]

DESCRIPTION: A lord comes home to find his lady "gone with the gypsy laddie." He saddles his fastest horse to follow her. He finds her and bids her come home; she will not return, preferring the cold ground and the gypsy's company to her lord's wealth and fine bed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1740 (Ramsay)
KEYWORDS: elopement Gypsy marriage abandonment husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord,High),England(All)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,So,SE,SW) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont) Ireland
REFERENCES (56 citations):
Child 200, "The Gypsy Laddie" (12 texts)
Bronson 200, "The Gypsy Laddie" (128 versions+2 in addenda)
Greig #110, pp. 1-3, "The Gipsy Laddies" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan2 278, "The Gypsy Laddie" (11 texts, 7 tunes) {A=Bronson's #45, B=#47?, C=#43, D=#44, E=#48, F=#3, G=#88}
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 14, "Gipsy Laddy O" (1 text, 1 tune)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 269-277, "Gipsy Davy" (4 texts plus 2 fragments and a quoted broadside, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #109, #110}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 193-229, "The Gypsy Laddie" (19 texts plus 6 fragments, 8 tunes) {N=Bronson's #107}
Linscott, pp. 207-209, "Gypsy Daisy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 73-76, "he Gypsy Laddie" (3 texts plus portions of another)
Randolph 27, "The Gypsy Davy" (6 texts plus 2 fragments, 4 tunes) {Randolph's A=Bronson's #100, E=#103, G=#123, H=#40}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 49-51, "The Gypsy Davy" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 27G) {Bronson's #123}
Eddy 21, "The Gypsy Laddie" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #77, #98}
Davis-Ballads 37, "The Gypsy Laddie" (7 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #6, #91, #33}
Davis-More 33, pp. 253-261, "The Gypsy Laddie" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 37, "The Gypsy Laddie" (6 texts plus an excerpt, many of them mixed with "Sixteen Come Sunday"; "D" also partakes of "Devilish Mary")
Chappell-FSRA 16, "Gypsy Davy" (1 fragment)
Hudson 20, pp. 117-119, "The Gypsy Laddie" (2 texts)
Cambiaire, pp. 59-60, "The Gypsy Laddie (Gypsy Davy)" (1 text)
Shellans, pp. 36-37, "The Radical Gypsy David" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 215-225, "The Gypsy Laddie" (7 texts, with local titles "The Three Gypsies," "Black Jack Davy," "Gypsia Song," Oh Come and Go Back My Pretty Fair Miss," "Gypsy Davy," "The Lady's Disgrace," "Gypsy Davy"; 5 tunes on pp. 411-414) {Bronson's #75, #126, #106, #32, #9]
Brewster 19, "The Gypsy Laddie" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 71-72, "The Gypsy Laddie" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #10}
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 4, "Gypsie Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 16, "The Dark-Clothed Gypsy" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #50}
Peacock, pp. 194-197, "Gypsy Laddie-O" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 17, "The Gypsy Laddie" (3 texts, 4 tunes)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 220-221, "Gypsy Daisy," "Seven Gypsies in a Row" (1 text plus a fragment)
Leach, pp. 539-543, "The Gypsy Laddie" (4 texts)
Friedman, p. 105, "The Gypsy Laddie (Johnny Faa)" (2 texts)
OBB 148, "The Gypsy Countess" (1 text)
Warner 42, "Gypsy Davy" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 18, "The Gypsy Laddie" (1 text)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 110, "The Seven Yellow Gipsies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 5, "The Wraggle Taggle Gipsies, O!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 52, "The Gypsy Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 80, "The Gypsy Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #38, a separate, somewhat different transcription}
SharpAp 33, "The Gypsy Laddie" (5 texts plus 5 fragments, 10 tunes) {Bronson's #35, #21, #17, #26, #20, #97, #33, #104, #36, #34}
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 22, "Gypsy Davy (The Gypsy Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version) {Bronson's #26}
Sandburg, p. 311, "Gypsy Davy" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #99}
SHenry H124, p. 509, "The Brown-Eyed Gypsies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 57, "The Dark-Eyed Gypsy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 108, "Black Jack David" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 72, "The Gypsy Laddie" (1 text)
JHCox 21, "The Gyspy Laddie" (4 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #94}
JHCoxIIA, #10A-C, pp. 40-45, "Gypsy Davy," "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies, O," "The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, O" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #9, #74}
Ord, pp. 411-412, "The Gypsie Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #60}
Fowke/MacMillan 76, "Seven Gypsies on Yon Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
TBB 6, "The Gipsy Laddie" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 181-184, "Gypsy Davey"; "Gypsy Laddie O"; "Gypsy Laddie" (3 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #83, #81, #27}
Darling-NAS, pp. 75-78, "The Gypsy Laddie"; "Gyps of David"; "Gypsy Davy (Catskill's)"; "The Gypsy Laddie" (3 texts plus a fragment)
Gilbert, p. 35, "The Gypsy Davy" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 194, "Gypsy Davey"; p. 211, "The Gypsy Rover"; p. 213, "The Wraggle-Taggle Gypsies" (3 texts)
BBI, ZN2567, "There was seven Gipsies all in a gang"
DT 200, GYPDAVY GYPLADD GYPLADD2* GYPLADD3 GYPLADX GYPBLJK* GYPSYRVR* GYPHARBR* BLCKJACK* BLCKJCK2 BLKJKDAV GYPLADY*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #83, "The Wraggle Taggle Gipsies" (1 text)
Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, pp. 38-29, "The Wraggle Taggle Gipsies O!" (1 text, 1 tune).
Roud #1
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Gypsy Daisy" (on Abbott1)
Cliff Carlisle, "Black Jack David" (Decca 5732, 1939)
Carter Family, "Black Jack David" (Conqueror 9574, 1940)
Dillard Chandler, "Black Jack Daisy" (on Chandler01)
Robert Cinnamond, "Raggle Taggle Gypsies-O" (on IRRCinnamond02)
Harry Cox, Jeannie Robertson, Paddy Doran [composite] "The Gypsy Laddie" (on FSB5 [as "The Gypsie Laddie"], FSBBAL2) {cf. Bronson's #42, #45.1}
Mary Jo Davis, "Black Jack Davy" (on FMUSA)
Woody Guthrie, "Gypsy Davy" (AFS, 1941; on LCTreas)
Harry Jackson, "Clayton Boone" (on HJackson1)
Margaret MacArthur, "Gypsy Davy" (on MMacArthur01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Black Jack David" (on NLCR04); "Black Jack Daisy" (on NLCR14, NLCRCD2)
Maire Aine Ni Dhonnchadha, "The Gypsy-O" (on TradIre01)
Lawrence Older, "Gypsy Davy" (on LOlder01)
Walter Pardon, "Raggle-Taggle Gypsies" (on Voice06)
Jean Ritchie, "Gypsy Laddie" (on JRitchie01) {Bronson's #38}
Jeannie Robertson, "The Gypsy Laddies" (on Voice17)
Pete Seeger, "Gypsy Davy" (on PeteSeeger16)
Warren Smith, "Black Jack David" (Sun 250, mid-1950s)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1446), "Gypsy Laddie," W. Stephenson (Gateshead), 1821-1838; also Harding B 11(2903), "Gypsy Loddy"; Harding B 19(45), "The Dark-Eyed Gipsy O"; Harding B 25(731), "Gipsy Loddy"; Firth b.25(220), "The Gipsy Laddy"; Harding B 11(1317), "The Gipsy Laddie, O"; Firth b.26(198), Harding B 15(116b), 2806 c.14(140), "The Gipsy Laddie"; Firth b.25(56), "Gypsie Laddie"
Murray, Mu23-y3:030, "The Gypsy Laddie," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(092), "The Gipsy Laddie," unknown, c. 1875
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Roving Ploughboy" (theme, lyrics, tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Black Jack Davy
Clayton Boone
The Gypsy Davy
Johnny Faa
Davy Faa
The Wraggle Taggle Gypsy
The Lady and the Gypsy
Harrison Brady
Gypson Davy
Black-Eyed Davy
The Heartless Lady
Egyptian Davio
It Was Late in the Night
When Johnny Came Home
The Gyps of Davy
The Dark-Clothed Gypsy
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice17, re "The Gypsy Laddies": "Francis James Child locates the history behind the ballad to the expulsion of the Gypsies from Scotland by Act of Parliament in 1609, and the abduction by Gypsies of Lady Cassilis (who died in 1642), her subsequent return to her home and the hanging of the Gypsies involved. [ref. Child, IV, pp. 63-5.]"
Jeannie Robertson's version on Voice17 follows Child 200C,G in that the Gypsies are hanged in the last verse. - BS
Although the hero of this song is often called "Johnny Faa" or even "Davy Faa," he should not be confused with the hero/villain of "Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw)." - RBW
[Silber and Silber mis-identify all their texts] as deriving from "Child 120," which is actually "Robin Hood's Death." - PJS
Also sung by David Hammond, "The Dark-Eyed Gypsy" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)) Sean O Boyle, notes to David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland": "The tune has been known in the O Boyle family for four generations and has never been published." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C200

Gypsy Maid, The (The Gypsy's Wedding Day) [Laws O4]

DESCRIPTION: The gypsy girl, left to fend for herself, meets a young lawyer who asks her to tell his fortune. She tells him that he has courted many fine ladies, but he is to marry a gypsy. He takes her to his home and marries her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(40))
KEYWORDS: prophecy marriage Gypsy
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,So) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws O4, "The Gypsy Maid (The Gypsy's Wedding Day)"
Randolph 129, "The Gypsy Maid" (1 text)
Eddy 100, "The Gypsy's Wedding Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 346, "The Little Gipsy Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 100, "The Orphan Gypsy Girl" (1 text)
Rorrer, p. 90, "My Gypsy Girl" (1 text)
DT 469, GYPSGIRL
Roud #229
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "The Gypsy's Wedding Day" (on Barker01)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "My Gypsy Girl" (Columbia 15519-D, 1930; on CPoole02)
Jasper Smith, "The Squire and the Gypsy" (on Voice11)
Joseph Taylor, "The Gypsy Girl" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(40), "The Gipsey Girl" ("My father was king of the gypsies you know"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Firth b.28(37) View 2 of 2, "Gipsey Girl"; Harding B 16(101d), "Gipsy Girl"
Murray, Mu23-y1:046, "The Little Gipsy Girl," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C; also Mu23-y1:117, "The Little Gipsy Girl," unknown, 19C; Mu23-y4:028 [the last a very short version probably edited to fit in a corner of a page]
LOCSinging, as201140, "The Gipsey Girl" ("My father was king of the gipsies you know"), H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(55), "The Little Gipsy Girl," unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Squire and the Gipsy" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Gypsy Girl
The Little Gypsy Girl
NOTES: [Sources such as] Charlie Poole have cleaned this one up. Broadside LOCSinging as201140 reads:
He took me to a house, it was a palace I am sure,
Where ladies were waiting to open the door;
On a bed of soft feathers, where I pleased him so well,
In nine months after his fortune I could tell.
Her father keeps the baby, she gets a pension of twenty pounds a year and "no more shall my gipsey girl ever more rove" but when she's in the neighborhood, she says, "your fortunes I will tell."
The Murray broadsides are all of the same version in which "little gypsy girl" meets "two handsome young squires," goes with one of them, and becomes pregnant; they marry.
Broadside LOCSinging as201140: 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
This song may, just possibly, have actually encouraged one actual marriage: "Alberta Slim" (Eric Edwards, 1910-2005), the Canadian country singer, had a sideline of reading tea leaves. His daughter, after his death, reports that her father had met her mother when the mother had her tea leaves read. Slim looked at the leaves (and presumably looked at her even more intently), and told her that she was going to marry him. Which, of course, she did.
I don't know that Alberta Slim knew this song, but he did know quite a selection of English folk songs. - RBW
File: LO04

Gypsy's Warning, The

DESCRIPTION: "Trust him not, oh gentle lady, Though his voice is low and sweet." "Listen to the Gypsy's warning, Gentle lady, trust him not." The Gypsy tells of a girl betrayed; the lady scorns (her). (The sequel may give the man's self-defense and the lady's answer)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: Gypsy love warning
FOUND IN: US(MW,So,SW)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 743, "The Gypsy's Warning" (4 texts, 1 tune, the first being the "Gypsy's Warning" proper, the second the "Answer to the Gypsy's Warning," the third being "The Decision in the Gypsy's Warning," and the last an excerpt from a copyrighted piece by Monroe H. Rosenfeld)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 525-527, "The Gypsy's Warning" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 743A)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 154-155, "The Gypsy's Warning" (1 text)
Brewster 55, "The Gypsy's Warning" (1 text plus mention of 1 more); 56, "Answer to the Gypsy's Warning" (1 text)
JHCox 149, "The Gypsy's Warning" (1 text)
JHCoxIIB, #30, pp. 201-202, "The Gypsy's Warning" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 19-21, "Love's Ritornella" (2 texts, 1 tune, with this piece listed as an appendix to the song named)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 479, "The Gypsy's Warning" (source notes only)
DT, GYPWARN*
Roud #1764 plus 3761
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Gypsy's Warning" (Perfect 12330, 1927; Romeo 601, 1928) (Brunswick 122, 1927; Supertone S-2011, 1930)
"Gooby" Jenkins, "The Gypsy's Warning" (Okeh 45069, 1926)
Arthur Smith Trio, "The Gypsy's Warning" (Bluebird B-7893, 1938)
NOTES: This probably originated as three separate pieces, the original being "The Gypsy's Warning" and the sequels being the "Answer to the Gypsy's Warning" (in which the young man begs the girl "Do not heed her warning") and the "Decision in the Gypsy's Warning" (in which the girl decides to heed the warning).
The three can, however, be sung together, and they are obviously dependent. What is more, the versions have sometimes merged (e.g. in the version in Peters). So I am listing them as one song even though I know they are multiple.
The song seems to have been in tradition by 1880; Laura Ingalls Wilder quotes the first part in By the Shores of Silver Lake, chapter 22. - RBW
File: R743

Gypsy's Wedding Day, The

See The Gypsy Maid (The Gypsy's Wedding Day) [Laws O4] (File: LO04)

Gyteside Lass, The

DESCRIPTION: "Aw warn'd ye heven't seen me lass -- her nyem aw winnet menshun." He met her "When aw strampt upon her good, an' the gethors com away," but that did not prevent them courting. He tells of his delight that she will continue to spend time with him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 182-183, "The Gyetside Lass"/"Maw Bonny Gyetside Lass" [both titles are used in the page headings] (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3177
File: StoR182

H'Emmer Jane, The

DESCRIPTION: "Now 'tis of a young maiden this story I tell, and of her young lover...." Her love, a ship's captain, sails away and is presumed lost. H'Emmer Jane goes crazy and drowns herself. He finally returns; shown the grave of his beloved, he dies himself.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Fowke/MacMillan)
KEYWORDS: love separation death drowning humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fowke/MacMillan 50, "The H'Emmer Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 105, "H'Emmer Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4425
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "The H'Emm'r Jane" (on NFOBlondahl03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. Vilikens and His Dinah (tune, meter and same satirical treatment of story) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Emmer Jane
NOTES: Satire on popular broadsides and ballads of the period that told such melodramatic tales in great seriousness. Lyrics are written in imitation of an exaggerated Newfoundland accent, [e.g.] "On a cold stormy mornin' all down by the sea, H'Emmer Jane sot a-waitin', sot a'waitin' for 'e. On a cold stormy mornin' her body were found, so t'was figgered pretty ginerally she'd gone crazy and got drowned."
[The] date from a broadside set by Golden Hind Press, Madison NJ, 1941. States that "Emmer Jane is a fold song from the south shore on Newfoundland here printed for the first time." - SL
The dead captain is recognized because he is carrying H'Emmer Jane's handkercheif. If a [broken] ring is a man's token to be kept by a woman then perhaps the woman's token is her handkercheif. That is true in "Jack Robinson" where Jack reveals himself to his old lover by showing her handkercheif. See also the French ballad "Arthur" [indexed here] where the heroine embroiders Arthur's name on her handkercheif. Maybe the question is: How much credit do we give H"Emmer Jane's author for familiarity with the broadside scene? Is Jane's name a reference to "Crazy Jane" [also indexed here, with allusions to its many parodies]?
H'Emmer Jane's handkercheif is found in the vest-pocket of the Captain's "cold carcass"; in a modern literal (?) reading of "The Suffolk Miracle," the daughter's "holland handkercheif" is found around her dead young man's head [but then there's the counter-example of "The Silvery Tide" in which the murdered Mary is found bound by the murderer's handkercheif].- BS
File: FowM050

Ha, Ha, Ha

DESCRIPTION: Refrain: "Ha, Ha, Ha! Don't you hear me now?/The Black horse calverns are coming...." Verse: "When the war is ended the boys will see their fun/They'll march through the South with their ladies... And I'll raise me some little Union babies"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Refrain: "Ha, Ha, Ha! Don't you hear me now?/The Black horse calverns are coming/The ladies in the town, they think they're mighty gown/The hoopskirts they are a-flowing/It takes 40 yards of alapac to cover up the hoops/and to cover up the happy land of money." Verse: "When the war is ended the boys will see their fun/They'll march through the South with their ladies/I'll march mine through some Southern Union clime/And I'll raise me some little Union babies"
KEYWORDS: army Civilwar clothes nonballad nonsense children lover soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1861-1865 - American Civil War
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SharpAp 150, "Ha, Ha, Ha" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3638
NOTES: Eat your heart out, Uncle Dave. - PJS
File: ShAp2150

Haben Aboo an' a Banner

DESCRIPTION: The singer's family members are disreputable (father hanged for sheep stealing, mother burnt as a witch) and the singer himself fucks all comers in various positions for various reasons.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: crime execution commerce bawdy nonballad family witch
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1446, "When I Was a Souter in Fife" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT, DICKDAR3
Roud #7275
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as102960, "Dick Heuston, the Cobbler" ("My name is Dick Heuston, the Cobbler"), W. S. & J. Crowley (Baltimore), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Father's a Hedger and Ditcher" ("hedger and ditcher" line) and references there
cf. "I Used to Work in Chicago" (theme) and references there
cf. "The Cobbler" (theme) and references there
NOTES: GreigDuncan7: "Cf. 'Wi' ma habben a boo an a banner' in the Arthur Argo collection of songs in the archive of the School of Scottish Studies." The GreigDuncan7 are clearly either fragments of this song or floating lines common to it. The description is from the text at "The John Patrick Collection" at the folklore site. The text there has as its source Arthur Argo, A Wee Thread O' Blue [Prestige LP 13048). My copy of Ed Cray's The Erotic Muse (Pyramid, New York, 1972) has a long discussion of "I Used to Work in Chicago" and its relatives, including Argo's "Haben Aboo an' a Banner," with a fragment of Argo's text, on pp. 208-211.
The LOCSinging broadside is an entirely cleaned up version but its "When I was a 'prentice in London" verses and lack of verses about a wife make it this song rather than "The Cobbler." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71446

Habitant d'Saint-Barbe

DESCRIPTION: Cumulative, call and response song: "L'habitant d'Saint-Barb' s'en va t'a Montreal" after six verses, building to "Le bout d'la queue du chien d'l'enfant d'la femm' d'l'habitant de Saint-Barbe..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (Fowke/MacMillan)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage cumulative nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Que,Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/MacMillan 32, "L'Habitant d'Saint-Barbe" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Progression of verses is very similar to "The Wild Man of Borneo." - SL
File: FowL32

Hackler from Grouse Hall, The

DESCRIPTION: Paddy Jack, the Hackler, has fallen on hard times since the Sergeant was assigned Grouse Hall. He jails people on false charges, including drinking, for which he jails the Hackler. But soon Home Rule will sack "Old Balfour's pack"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: prison drink Ireland humorous police
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn 39, "The Hackler from Grouse Hall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3035
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sergeant's Lamentation" (sequel to this ballad)
NOTES: "The hackler was a distiller of high quality Poitin in 19th century Ireland" (source: Hearing before Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, US Patent and Trademark Office, January 6, 2000 in re United Distillers plc "On December 16, 1996 United Distillers plc filed an intent-to-use application to register the mark HACKLER on the Principal Register for 'alcoholic beverages, namely, distilled spirits, except Scotch whisky, and liqueurs.'....)
Apparently the more common definition is "one that hackles [to chop up or chop off roughly]; esp: a worker who hackles hemp, flax, or broomcorn." (source: Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, 1976); its this last definition that OLochlainn follows.
OLochlainn notes to "The Hackler from Grouse Hall" and its answer, "The Sergeant's Lamentation," explain the Sergeant's deeds and the references to people named in both songs and happenings in County Cavan. His source for notes is the singer.
The occurrences appear to be during Arthur Balfour's tour as Chief Secretary of Ireland in the late 1880s [1887-1891; his repressive methods earned him the nickname "Bloody Balfour." He made something of a habit of taking political prisoners -- see Robert Kee, The Bold Fenian Men, being Volume III of The Green Flag, p. 111 - RBW]. See for example the reference to the 1888 imprisonment of Father McFadden of Donegal in Derry Prison "for an agrarian speech" (source: Chapters of Dublin History site, Letters and Leaders of my Day Chapter XXII "Parnellism and Crime" (1887-8), by T.M. Healy). I'd guess, no doubt naively, that the issue here is moonshining to defeat high alcohol taxation. - BS
The other possibility for the date is 1902-1905, when Balfour was prime minister in succession to his uncle Lord Salisbury. Gladstone's proposals for Irish Home Rule had of course failed, but the issue never really went away, and the Liberals were increasingly in favor of it in the early twentieth century.
Supporting this dating is the fact that, during the Balfour administration, there was a movement for "tariff reform" -- i.e. lowering of duties within the British Empire, which would have made it easier for the Irish to export to England.
Balfour tried to calm the tariff controversy, but succeeded mostly in turning his party purely protectionist, thus making the Liberals even more popular with the Irish, since they were more likely to favor both Home Rule and Free Trade. So the song might well look forward to the 1906 election which shunted the Conservatives from power. - RBW
File: OLoc039

Had a Big Fight in Mexico

See Little Fight in Mexico (File: R549)

Had a Little Fight in Mexico

See Little Fight in Mexico (File: R549)

Had I the Tun Which Bacchus Used

DESCRIPTION: If the singer had Bacchus's wine cask he'd drink all day at no cost. And to avoid drinking alone he'd bring a friend. But since he does not have it, "let's drink like honest men." Let Bacchus have his wine; whisky is more divine.
AUTHOR: Richard Alfred Millikin (1767-1815) (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 88-92, "Had I the Tun Which Bacchus Used" (1 text)
NOTES: Bacchus (seemingly a Lydian name) is the God more properly know as Dionysus -- who was of course the god of wine and drunkenness -- and also of orgaistic rites; he was accompanied by the satyrs and Maenads (Baccae). He also had fertility aspects, which explains the idea of the bottomless wine vat.
Richard Alfred Millikin is better known as the (probable) author of "The Groves of Blarney." - RBW
File: CrPS088

Had I the Wyte

See Eence Upon a Time (Had I the Wyte) (File: GrD71399)

Hag's Rant, The

DESCRIPTION: Old Susie spins in the corner and asks for her tollies. We have to eat them dry because the cream turned. Hags have a connection with milk and butter. That old crone "some day at a witch stake will burn." "If only old Ireland was free!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1991 (Tunney-SongsThunder)
KEYWORDS: age magic food witch
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 28-29, "The Hag's Rant" (1 text)
NOTES: Tunney-SongsThunder: "tollies" are "potatoes" [though the play on "toll" is interesting - RBW]. Tunney doesn't say so but this may only be a song in Gaelic, which he has translated into "the slave's patter, as you say."
Pure speculation: Potatoes, an old woman, free Ireland: is Suzy just an old lady, or Granuaile or Granua [see notes to "Granuwale" and "The Young Man's Dream"], or both? - BS
File: TST028

Hagg Worm, The

See The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs (File: C034A)

Haggertys and Young Mulvanny, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders on a "pleasant evening"; as the sun illuminates the landscape, he sees a beautiful girl crying for "young Mulvanny Who lost his life on the Kipawa stream." She tells how he and the two Haggerty brothers died in a rafting accident
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger river death lumbering
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-Lumbering #39, "The Haggertys and Young Mulvanny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4559
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Kipawa Stream
File: FowL39

Haggis o' Dunbar, The

DESCRIPTION: "The haggis o' Dunbar": many better, few worse. To make it nice, they put in a peck of lice. To add fat, they put in a scabby cat. Chopped cheese, chickweed, sow's snouts and mugwort: you may get a bit if you're civil.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1819 (Scott, fragment); 1824 (Sharpe)
KEYWORDS: food humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1876, "The Haggis o' Dunbar" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, A Ballad Book (Edinburgh, 1891, reprint of 1824 edition), Vol II, #26 p. 12, "The Haggis o' Dunbar"
Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 134, "Dunbar"
Roud #6477
NOTES: .".. and he began to sing the old Scottish song, 'There was a haggis in Dunbar, Fal de ral, &c, Mony better and few waur, Fal de ral,'" (source: Walter Scott, "The Bride of Lammermoor" in Jedediah Cleishbotham, editor, Tales of My Landlord, Third Series (Edinburgh, 1819 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. II, p. 94). - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81876

Hail Mary

See Some Valiant Soldier (File: AWG045)

Hail to the Oak, the Irish Tree!

DESCRIPTION: "The Irish oak ... the kingly forest tree ... sickens where the slave, To power despotic, homage gives ... Its branching green head long defend The Shamrock, Thistle and the Rose. Hail to the oak, the Irish tree, And British hearts ..."
AUTHOR: W. Kertland? (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 115-117, "Hail to the Oak, the Irish Tree!" (1 text)
NOTES: See "The Sprig of Shillelah" for another example of "The Shamrock, Thistle[Scotland] and the Rose[England]" unity theme during and after the Napoleonic wars. Nevertheless, reference to "power despotic" remains. - BS
The unity theme is perhaps best known from its appearance in "The Bonny Bunch of Roses-O" [Laws J5]. I musst admit to finding some irony in the Irish calling the oak their tree at a time when the British made "Heart of Oak" almost an alternative national anthem. - RBW
File: CrPS115

Hainan's Waal

DESCRIPTION: The singer prefers a drink from Haining's Well to "liquor or wine or usquebaugh [whisky]." He describes the stream. The quarrymen picnic there. "Beasties" stop there. Wanderers recall it. Let's "hae a fling" to a fiddle there and then sing its praises.
AUTHOR: Frank Gilruth (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: dancing drink fiddle lyric
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #164, p. 1, "Hainan's Waal" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 506, "Hainan's Waal" (1 text)
Roud #5991
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; Haining's Well (506) is at coordinate (h3-4,v5-6) on that map [roughly 31 miles WNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
I would not go so far as to suggest literary dependence, but there is an interesting parallel here with the Biblical account of David and his Mighty Men in 2 Samuel 23:15fff. David, for whatever reason, declared, "O that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!" David at this time was still in the wilderness and could not move freely, so three men attacked a Philistine camp to bring David some of the water (which he then reused to drink). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3506

Hairs on Her Dicky Di Do, The

DESCRIPTION: A quatrain ballad, this describes in graphic detail the pubic hairs of the maid of the mountain, and her sexual adventures.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous
FOUND IN: Australia Britain(England) Ireland US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cray, pp. 134-135, "The Hairs on Her Dicky Di Do" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Anonymous singer, "Dicky Dido" (on Unexp1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ash Grove" (tune)
File: EM134

Hairst o' Rettie, The

DESCRIPTION: "I hae seen the hairst o' Rettie... I've heard for sax and seven weeks The hairsters girn and groan... But a covie Willie Rae... Maks a' the jolly hairster lads Gae singing down the brae." The singer praises Rae's efficient, comfortable organization
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work moniker
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #3, pp. 2-3, "The Hairst o' Rettie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 408, "The Hairst o' Rettie" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 271-272, "The Hairst o' Rettie" (1 text)
Roud #3512
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Parks o' Keltie" (tune, per Greig)
cf. "The Boghead Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
cf. "The Kiethen Hairst" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
cf. "The Ardlaw Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
cf. "The Northessie Crew" (subject: harvest crew moniker song)
NOTES: This song is so unusual that it's almost hard to describe (and impossible to keyword). Whoever heard of a bothy song in praise of the owner? - RBW
The "bothy song in praise of the owner" is not so strange considering that the crew is not hired for six months but only for the harvest. Peter A Hall, "Farm Life and the Farm Songs" in GreigDuncan3: "Improvement [technological] also had its effect on harvest, which as well as being the culmination of the farm year, was a most important social event particularly in terms of courtship ([GreigDuncan3] 406). The harvest crew was composed of farm workers, along with many temporary employees from the district ([GreigDuncan3] 401), drawn from a wide variety of occupations." (p. xxv); [the] last of the bothy ballads of the old pattern are from the 1880s ([GreigDuncan3] 372, 374), and although certain features are carried over into some of the local harvest songs ([GreigDuncan3] 408 to 412), they lack both the emotional tone and the structure of the older pieces." (p. xxx).
Greig: "Most people, we fear, will think that the poetry of the harvest field is ... gone; but that something may be made even out of the mechanical reaper is evident from the following clever and spirited ditty...."
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Rettie (408) is at coordinate (h6-7,v6) on that map [near Banff, roughly 42 miles NNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Ord271

Hairst, The

DESCRIPTION: "I see the reapers in the field, for hairst is come." The singer praises "The bonnie yellow waving grain, our precious staff o' bread." He hopes Victoria may long reign over the people, and rejoices, for "The hairst is here again."
AUTHOR: James Davidson
EARLIEST DATE: reportedly written 1859
KEYWORDS: farming harvest food nonballad
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1837-1901 - reign of Queen Victoria
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 263, "The Hairst" (1 text)
Roud #2167
File: Ord263

Hairy Capie

DESCRIPTION: Have you seen "hairy capie" [hairy cap] coming through the yard? He'll be here. He won't let his horse and mare rest. He's a "keerious cankert carlie" [strange, ill-natured churl]. A "Jenny Nettles" verse is included as well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: farming derivative nonballad horse
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1726, "Hairy Capie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2581
NOTES: Roud lumps GreigDuncan8 with "Jenny Nettles" with good reason. The second of the two verses is the usual first verse of "Jenny Nettles." I split them because the first verse, while patterned on "Jenny Nettles," has nothing to do with that story. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81726

Hal-an-Tow

DESCRIPTION: Spring ritual song; "Robin Hood and Little John they both are gone to fair-O"'; other verses similar. Cho.: "Hal-an-tow/Jolly rumble-O/For we are up as soon as any day-O/For to fetch the summer home, the summer and the May-O...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: possibly 1660 (mentioned by Nicholas Boson of Newlyn); first actual text 1846 (Sandys)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Spring ritual song; "Robin Hood and Little John they both are gone to fair-O"; "Where are the Spaniards that made so great a boast-O/They shall eat the goose feather and we shall have the roast-O"; "Of all the knights in Christendom St. George he is the right-O." Chorus: "Hal-an-tow/Jolly rumble-O/For we are up as soon as any day-O/For to fetch the summer home, the summer and the May-O/For summer is a comin' in and winter is a-gone."
KEYWORDS: magic ritual dancing nonballad Robinhood
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 92, "Hal-An-Tow" (1 text + Cornish translation, 1 tune)
DT, HALANTO*
Roud #1520
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Haile an Taw and Jolly Rumbelow
NOTES: A May song and Maypole dance. A version is still performed along with the Helston Furry Dance on May 8th of every year. Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. The phrase "Hal-an-tow [taw]" is variously translated as "heave on the rope" and "hoist the roof." - PJS
Both "hal-an(d)-to" and "rumbelo/rumble-o" have provoked scholarly discussion. No decisive answer seems to have been found.The phrases seem to date back at least to the beginning of the fourteenth century, however; Chambers, p. 74, quotes, with an astonishing lack of source detail, one of the "Brut" chronicles concerning the battle of Bannockburn:
Maydenes of Engelande, sare may ye morne,
For tynt [presumably past tense of tine, lose, forfeit] ye have youre lemmans at Bannokesborn,
With hevalogh
What wende [thought] the Kyng of Engleand
To have ygete Scotlande
With rombylogh.
Chambers explains both "hevalogh" and "rumbylogh" as "boating refrains," but does not show any supporting evidence, although this is accepted, e.g., but Phillips, p. 11n. Chambers also says that Fabyan's Chronicle (1516) has a similar rhyme, which is described as a dance and carol (p. 180).
Prestwich, p. 81, offers what seems to be a translation of this, which he describes as "a song mocking the oarsman's chant of 'Heavalow, Rumbalow'":
Maidens of England, sore may you mourn,
For you have lost your men at Bannockburn with 'Heavalow'.
What, would the king of England have won Scotland with 'Rumbalow'?"
Prestwich's source for this is F. W. D. Brie, editor, The Brut, Early English Text Society, 1906, 1908, volume i, p. 208 (i.e. the same original source as Chambers; cited also by Phillips, p. 11, who quotes both the original and the translation and also gives a little of the context).
Kennedy offers two alternate explanations. One agrees in part with Chambers: Dutch "Haal aan het tow, "haul on the rope" was taken over by Cornish sailors as "hal-an-tow." Alternately, "hal an to/taw" may be Cornish for "raise the roof." It is not obvious how this phrase, whatever its origin, would be combined with the northern "rombylogh."
The verse about the "Spaniards that made so great a boast-O" presumably refers to the Spanish Armada of 1588, which signally failed to invade England and suffered losses of thousands of men and dozens of ships.
Kennedy's Cornish words are by Talek and Yleweth, as are many of his other Cornish songs. Talek (E. G. R. Hooper) is perhaps the most interesting of the Cornish revivalists. Berresford Ellis, pp. 182-183, has this to say of him:
With the dead of Nance, E. G. R. Hooper (Talek) was elected as [the third] Barth Mur [Grand Bard]... in 1959 [and served until 1965 when the rules forced election of another]. Hooper has been a great benefactor to the revival by his publication of much work that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. Perhaps his most notable achievement has been the editing and production of the all-Cornish periodical An Lef Kernewek in which has appeared much of the most notable writing in Unified Cornish.... A prolific translator and writer, he edited Kemysk Kernewek, a miscellany... in Cornish, published in 1964. An Lef Kernerek have also published, in 1962, Lyver Hymnys ha Salmow, containing 100 hymns and psalms in Cornish.
Parry/Shipley is not complimentary of most Cornish literature, which it calls amateurish, but mentions Talek's Kernow yn Catalunya ["A Cornishman in Cataluna"] as one of the few exceptions
Whether any o f these explanations is true, or none, the "rumbelow" refrain was well enough known that W. S. Gilbert used it in "The Mikado." In Act I, lines 67-71 (p. 265 in Gilbert/Sullivan/Bradley), we find the chorus
Then man the capstan -- of we go,
As the fiddler swings us round.
WIth a yeo heave ho,
And a rumbelow,
Hurrah for the homeward bound!
Bradley often has notes on Gilbert's sources, but of this he can only say "rumbelow: A meaningless combination of syllables or words, like 'yeo heave ho', used as a refrain by sailors when rowing or performing some other routine and rhythmical task. In some editions of the libretto the phrase is altered to 'a rum below'." - RBW
Bibliography

Ellis: P. Berresford Ellis, The Cornish Language and its Literature, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974
Chambers: E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947
Gilbert/Sullivan/Bradley: Ian Bradley, editor, The Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan 1, Penguin, 1982 (I use the slightly revised 1985 edition)
Parry/Shipley: John H. Parry, article on Cornish in Joseph T. Shipley, editor, Encyclopedia of Literature, Philosophical Library, 1946 [a collection of articles about the literatures of various languages of the world)
Phillips: Seymour Phillips, Edward II, Yale 2010
Prestwich: The Three Edwards: War and State in England 1272-1377, 1980 (I use the 2001 Routledge paperback edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: K092

Halarvisa

DESCRIPTION: Swedish hauling or capstan shanty. No story line to verses, choruses: "Viktoria, Viktoria! Karre-verre-vitt-bom! Hurra sa! Viktoria, Viktoria! Karre-verre-vitt-bom!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1875
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty worksong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 426-427, "Halarvisa" (2 texts-Swedish & English, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Kom Till Mig Pa Lordag Kvall" (similar chorus)
NOTES: Hugill's notes (quoted from Sternvall's Sang under Segel 1935) say this was written down by "Navigation Pelle," 1875) - SL
File: Hugi426

Half Crown, The

DESCRIPTION: De Valera will give a half crown to every newborn. Singer marries a widow and does his "best for the blooming half crown." His wife says he's not trying hard enough but then admits she's 63. "Check your wife's age before going to bed"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1985 (IRTravellers01)
KEYWORDS: age sex marriage childbirth money humorous wife
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #16988
RECORDINGS:
Vincie Boyle, "The Half Crown" (on IRClare01)
Andy Cash, "The Half Crown" (on IRTravellers01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cod Liver Oil" (tune) and references there
NOTES: The tune, verse structure, and some lines derive from "Cod Liver Oil." Compare, for example, these lines from "Cod Liver Oil" [OLochlainn-More 30]
I'm a young married man, and I'm tired of my life,
For lately I married an ailing young wife.
with these from "The Half Crown"
I'm a young married man and I'm tired of life,
Half killed and half crazy from this strap of a wife.
In Andy Cash's version on IRTravellers01 the singer earns his half-crown in spite of his wife's age (though, perhaps, the "young baby scream" makes him wonder if the reward were sufficient).
Notes to IRClare01: "In 1944, despite considerable opposition, the DeValera government introduced a family allowance of two-and-sixpence for every child after the first." The song says that DeValera was concerned because "the population of Ireland was beginning to fall." - BS
Ireland's population was a constant concern of her politicians -- see, e.g., "Daniel O'Connell (I)," plus all the hundreds of emigration songs. The problem did indeed continue into the twentieth century and De Valera's presidency -- Ruth Dudley Edwards, An Atlas of Irish History, second edition,Routledge, 1981, shows that the population of Ireland *fell* 4% from 1901 to 1946 (a period when the rest of the world increased its population massively), and fell another 1% from 1946 to 1961. What's more, the population decrease was all concentrated in the Republic of Ireland (8% and 4%, respectively); in Ulster, the population increased in this period.
So De Valera had a point. Except -- paying people to have children only works if there are jobs to support the children, and the Republic of Ireland was an economic basket case for most of De Valera's lifetime, including at the time he proposed this silly idea. If, instead of gimmicks, he has worked on genuine economic development, real free trade (including even with England), and a reasonable policy on science and technology, he could have had the kids and kept them in the country too. As witness the fact that Ireland is doing just fine now that it's gotten away from De Valera type economics -- it's very nearly the fastest-growing country in Europe.
[Later: The above was written around 2005, and the 2008 recession did a fine job of smashing the Irish economy, But the point remains: People don't produce economic development; production of useful products produces economic development.] - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RcTHaCro

Half Door, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer finds a home with "a sweet colleen" behind an open half-door. She invites him to come in. They dance. He proposes but she tells him to come back when she is older"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (NFOBlondahl04)
KEYWORDS: courting dancing
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
Roud #5275
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman, "The Half-Door" (on Voice15)
Omar Blondahl, "The Half Door" (on NFOBlondahl04)
NOTES: GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador site has this as "Irish traditional" though I haven't yet seen any paper copy. - BS
There are a number of Irish recordings; actual field collections seem to be few. - RBW
File: RcHalDoo

Half Horse and Half Alligator

See The Hunters of Kentucky [Laws A25] (File: LA25)

Half-Hitch, The [Laws N23]

DESCRIPTION: A girl pretends to refuse her fiance. Finally he gives up, promising to marry the first girl he sees. She disguises herself as the ugliest woman possible and makes sure he sees her. He asks her to marry; she consents. She reveals herself after they wed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (Sturgis and Hughes)
KEYWORDS: courting disguise trick marriage
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Bronson (31), 1 version
Laws N23, "The Half-Hitch"
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 382-389, "The Loathly Bride" (1 text plus a version reprinted from Sturgis)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 236-239, "The Half-Hitch" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 33-37, "The Half-Hitch" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's (#1) in the appendix to #31}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 265-275, "The Half-Hitch" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's (#1) in the appendix to #31}
DT 453, HALFHITC
Roud #1887
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Marriage of Sir Gawain" [Child 31]
NOTES: This text is associated by some editors (e.g. notably Flanders) with Child 31, "The Marriage of Sir Gawain." It should be noted, however, that the only themes the two have in common are a marriage made for honour rather than love and an ugly woman who turns out to be beautiful (themes also found in "King Henry," Child 32). - RBW
File: LN23

Half-Past Ten

DESCRIPTION: The singer courted "wifie Jean," but her parents always locked the door at half past ten. Eventually she sees to it that the clock stops so she has more time with the young men. Finally her parents agree to the marriage; all live happily thereafter
AUTHOR: Catherine Mackay Bacon
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage trick technology
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 110-112, "Half-Past Ten" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan7 1501, "Half-Past Ten" (5 texts plus a single verse on p. 540, 6 tunes)
Ord, pp. 71-72, "Half-Past Ten" (1 text)
Roud #2856
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, R.B..m.168(213), "Half-Past Ten," Robert MacIntosh (Glasgow), c. 1850; also L.C.Fol.178.A.2(077), "Half-Past Ten," unknown, c. 1870
File: FVS110

Halifax Explosion, The [Laws G28]

DESCRIPTION: In Halifax harbor, a ship loaded with explosives is rammed by another vessel. The explosion and fire which follow cause terrible damage to the city and its population -- 1200 killed and 2000 wounded
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933
KEYWORDS: fire death disaster ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 6, 1917, 9:05 a.m. - The Halifax Explosion
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws G28, "The Halifax Explosion"
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 208-209, "The Halifax Explosion" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 676, HALIFAXX
Roud #2724
NOTES: I am not entirely sure this song belongs in Laws's catalog; he knew of only one collection, and none seem to have been found since (a fact which, by itself, should probably have excluded it), and that one collection is not very good, implying that tradition has not had the chance to work on it. But there can be no question that the event was worthy of commemoration in song.
The Halifax explosion has been called "the second most devastating blast in history" (behind Hiroshima; it actually did more damage than Nagasaki). As a survivor said, "Halifax was gone." Not surprisingly, it inspired several books. The most recent as of this writing is Laura M. MacDonald, written by a resident of Halifax (or, rather, by a resident of Dartmouth, the city on the other side of Halifax Harbour; apparently Dartmouth residents don't like being treated as part of Halifax). Most of what follows is based on MacDonald, although I have tried to tell the story in a more linear fashion (if I hadn't read the outline in Paine, I would have found her account very difficult to understand. As it is, reading MacDonald felt like I was watching a television drama where she took a commercial break every few pages). I have supplemented this with other references where I could.
To briefly sum up, the Halifax Explosion took place when the French munitions freighter Mont Blanc and the Norwegian Imo collided in Halifax harbor. The Mont Blanc was scheduled to make a run to Britain with a large load of explosives when the Imo, also bound to sea and sloppily steered, collided with it. The impact was not particularly damaging in itself, but it struck sparks, starting a fire on the French ship. The captain, rather than fight the fires, ordered the crew to abandon ship. Twenty minutes later, burning and floating aimlessly, the Mont Blanc ran up against a pier. The ship exploded, causing much damage and also starting a great wave which added to the damage.
If it weren't so tragic, the story of the Mont Blanc would be almost comic. Why in the world was such a lousy ship used for such an important purpose? The cargo consisted mostly of explosives (though no one not on the ship knew this, because -- this being wartime -- the standard red explosives flag was not shown; Glasner, p. 35), along with a large amount of gasoline-related fuels (MacDonald, p. 16). Originally launched in 1899 (Paine, p. 344), the Mont Blanc had been refitted to hold her touchy cargo (e.g. the nails in her hold had been replaced by copper to avoid striking sparks; MacDonald, p. 17).
All this in a ship with an inexperienced crew and a captain who was new to his ship (he had only reached the rank of captain in 1916; Glasner, p. 15) and had little English (MacDonald, pp. 15-16). In a crisis, he would not know how to deal with his ship. It probably didn't help that he had never been to Halifax before, either (Glasner, p. 26).
The real problem was her speed. The best the Mont Blanc could manage was about eight knots, and over a long stretch, she would probably not be able to exceed seven and a half. In fact, Glasner, p. 14, says that with the loading she had on her final trip she could barely make seven knots. By 1917, submarines were doing great damage, and the British were convoying their ships. The Mont Blanc was too slow to sail direct from New York to Britain. She would have to go to Halifax to join one of the slow convoys there -- and even that might be pushing her abilities (MacDonald, p. 18). The later description "Large Slow Target" would have been a brilliant description of the Mont Blanc.
And Halifax was by this time the major shipment point from Canada to Britain. Fears of submarines had caused the harbor to be made more secure. There were anti-submarine nets at the entrance which were closed at sunset. When the Mont Blanc arrived, the gates were shut for the day; she had to spend the night outside (Glasner, pp. 14, 16; MacDonald, p. 16), and then join what we might call the morning rush hour.
The other ship involved in the disaster was also trapped by the submarine precautions. The Imo had been launched as the White Star Lines ship Runic, but had been sold and was now a Norwegian tramp steamer used among other things to ferry food to civilians in Belgium. Her crew had recently spent a lot more time sitting around than sailing, and were probably very disappointed when they failed to make past the submarine barriers before they closed for the day (MacDonald, p. 20); they had had to wait for a shipment of coal (Glasner, p. 27).
The shape of the bay contributed to the problem. Halifax is an excellent port, with a large inner bay (the Bedford Basin) capable of holding many ships. But the basin is reached by "the Narrows," a long channel only about a third of a mile wide -- good for security, since it's easy to guard and control (Glasner, pp. 16-17) but a definite traffic bottleneck. Two ships can pass each other in the Narrows, but only if they stay on their proper courses. Ships going in and out have to be steered by pilots experienced in entering the channel. (Many harbors of course require such pilots, but few need them as much as Halifax).
The Imo, in its haste, broke the rules. As she left the Bedford Basin, she encountered the Clara. The standard for ships at Halifax was to pass "port to port" -- that is, as we might say it, to "keep on the right side of the road." But, because of where the ships were located, it was quicker to pass "starboard to starboard." The Imo ended up on the wrong side of the channel (MacDonald, p. 30). And she then noticed another ship, the Stella Maris, pulling two scows near the south bank (MacDonald, p. 32-34). And there was some haze over the Narrows (MacDonald, p. 31). Despite this, the Imo did not slow down; a witness reported, "She is going as fast as any ship I ever saw in the harbor" (MacDonald, p. 33). According to Glasner, p. 27, she was moving at seven knots, two knots faster than the harbor speed limit, though it's not clear how this was determined.
The pilot of the Mont Blanc, Francis Mackey, apparently spotted the Imo first, though all he could see in the fog was her masts. He ordered the Mont Blanc to edge toward the starboard (northeast) bank. He sent whistle signals to the Imo (MacDonald, p. 38).
Unfortunately, there was a mixup in the whistle signals. Mackey gathered that the Imo, already far out of her lane, intended to stay there. He couldn't head closer to the shore on the starboard side; he was as close as he dared to take the heavily-laden ship. He steered Mont Blanc to port and let the ship stop (MacDonald, pp. 39-40).
The Imo once again reacted improperly. Instead of steering around the Mont Blanc, she ordered her engines to reverse. Which, because she had no cargo, was a largely useless order; her screw was too high to have much power, and she was slow to answer the helm (MacDonald, p. 40). The captain and pilot on the Mont Blanc tried to put their ship in reverse. It was too late. The Imo crashed into her starboard side (MacDonald, p. 41).
Only then, far too late, did the Imo manage to actually start moving backward. She backed out of the Mont Blanc, causing further damage. And, in the process, she did something which started a spark (Glasner, p. 29, thinks the grinding of metal on metal did it). Whatever it was, it was the caused the petroleum on the Mont Blanc's deck to catch fire. An oil fire, the kind that cannot be put out just with water -- even if the Mont Blanc had had hoses able to reach the spot, which it didn't (MacDonald, p. 43). It appeared there was nothing the crew could do. The ship couldn't even be scuttled; the seacocks were rusted shut (Glasner, p. 30; MacDonald, p. 48). The crew of the Mont Blanc abandoned ship -- and headed for the Dartmouth shore, so they didn't even give the Halifax city authorities a warning..
It's not quite certain what they did before abandoning. Did they change course? Start up the engines? The witnesses disagree. Whatever they did, the ship for some reason drifted across the Narrows to bump into a pier on the Halifax shore (MacDonald, p. 42).
Various ships came around to try to pull the ship back into mid-channel, or put out her fires (Glasner, pp. 32-39, lists some of the attempts). It was useless. She was too big to move and burning too hard to control the conflagration (MacDonald, pp. 50-51). Gradually the barrels of benzol and monochlorobenzol cooked off. Eventually, they set off the high explosive in the hold (at 9:04:35 a.m., according to later seismic measurements; MacDonald, p. 181, etc.).
It was quite a haul. 200 tons of TNT. Ten tons of guncotton (nitrocellulose: cotton fibers treated with nitric acid. Horribly touchy when dry. Safe enough when wet, but how could it stay wet when surrounded by benzol fires?) Worst of all, 2300 tons of picric acid, some wet, some dry.
Picric Acid -- (NO2)3C6H2OH -- is a "very poisonous, yellow, crystalline, intensely bitter acid used in explosives, in dyeing, and in medicine" (AHDictSci, p. 496). It was the primary component of lyddite ("picric acid... mixed with 10% nitrobenzene and 3% Vaseline," PengDictSci, p. 254). It consists of a benzene ring with a hydroxyl (OF) group and no fewer than three NO2 groups, meaning that it can release tremendous amounts of chemical energy -- the only difference between picric acid and TNT is that TNT has a methyl group (CH3) where picric acid has its hydroxyl group (Le Couteur/Burreston, p. 98). Lyddite was used by the British as a shell burster (i.e. it's what made shells blow up when they hit something), and picric acid was the active ingredient; when dry, it explodes upon being subjected to pressure (e.g. being hit by a hammer, or of course colliding with an enemy ship or trench). It would also burn explosively if heated.
Although less familiar than TNT, because it is so much touchier, picric acid actually releases more energy when it explodes.
Picric acid was dangerous on other grounds. According to Darrow, p. 250, it also could be made into poison gas: "Chloropicrin, made from picric acid by the action of chlorine, was another [gas used in World War I]. It was mixed in a shell or bomb with tin chloride, which forms dense white clouds of vapor capable of penetrating the gas masks and carrying with it the volatile chloropicrin. Highly poisonous in itself, chloropicrin induces nausea and vomiting, thereby causing the victim to remove his mask and rendering him an easy prey to other lethal gases."
(If you're wondering why, given its dangers, picric acid was being made in Canada and shipped to Britain, rather than manufacturing in Britain, the basic answer is "nitrates." Picric acid, like every other major explosive used in the early twentieth century, required saltpeter or an equivalent nitrate source -- and the main source of nitrates was the west coast of Latin America. It was much easier to get them to Canada than to Britain in the days of submarine warfare. For more on this history of nitrates, see the notes to "Chamber Lye" and "Tommy's Gone to Hilo.")
MacDonald, p. 61, says that there were 2925 tons of explosives, total, on the Mont Blanc. The temperature of the explosion is thought to have been in the 5000C/9000F range (MacDonald, p. 62). In the era of conventional bombs, the largest ever used was about 10 tons. 2925 tons of mostly picric acid is in the nuclear weapons range -- at the very low end of the range (less than Hiroshima or Nagasaki by an order of about five), but unlike anything the world had ever seen in 1917, except for volcanic eruptions and meteor strikes.
The explosion was heard over 200 miles away, on Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island (Glasner, p. 81; MacDonald, p. 63). The Mont Blanc's anchor was thrown more than two miles, and other parts of the ship went three miles (MacDonald, p. 67).
People died in many ways. Possibly as many as 150 were simply vaporized and never found. More were killed by the pressure wave -- pulverized to death. Others died by being thrown into walls or other objections. Flying glass killed and maimed many more. All buildings within half a mile of the blast were destroyed (MacDonald, p. 64). The blast was so strong that it spawned secondary tornadoes (MacDonald, p. 66). It also caused a 20-foot-high wave to scour the Halifax basin, at some places reaching six blocks inland (MacDonald, map in frontispiece).
There were secondary effects -- fires, even the collapse of a magazine at a military base. It didn't explode, but it did burn a bit, putting out enough smoke to cause a secondary panic (Glasner, pp. 61-65).
Relief efforts were at first quite disorganized. The mayor of Halifax was away, leaving the Deputy Mayor in charge (Glasner, p. 55; MacDonald, p. 93). The fire chief had been killed (MacDonald, p. 94), as had many of the firefighters, and the city's one fire engine ruined (Glasner, p. 120). Many doctors were killed or hurt and unable to treat patients (MacDonald, p. 112). The hospitals ranged from damaged to almost completely unusable (MacDonald, p. 113). Medical supplies soon ran low, and the only way to sterilize equipment was to put it in boiling water (MacDonald, p. 118). Doctors operated on patients without anesthesia, and sewed up their wounds with ordinary cotton thread (Glasner, p. 94).
It was hard to bring in help from outside. The railroads had been damaged, or were blocked by ruined trains, and many telegraph lines were down. Only one rail line, in fact, was fully serviceable, and it was a new line, not yet up and running (MacDonald, p. 111).
The temperature the night after the blast was well below freezing (MacDonald, p. 143), and there followed a fierce blizzard, causing additional deaths (MacDonald, p. 145), adding to the strain on the survivors, and making it that much harder to bring in help.
The casualties could never be perfectly counted. Ritchie's round numbers (p. 95) are 1600 killed, 8000 wounded, 2000 missing. MacDonald's Appendix D, p. 291, lists 1611 official dead as of 1918; p. 293 lists 1201 bodies as buried, with 242 of them unidentified and 410 bodies missing -- but she reckons the known dead as of 2004 as 1952. She lists (p. 66) 6000 people as injured and 9000 as homeless. Others reverse those figures. Glasner, p. 41, says 1900 were dead and 9000 wounded, while on p. 118 she says 2000 were dead, 9000 injured, and 20,000 homeless -- which, if correct, means that more than half the city's population of roughly 50,000 was dead, wounded, or homeless. Very many of the injured lost their eyes to flying glass; 16 people lost both eyes, 249 lost one eye, and over 5500 had some sort of eye injury; 41 ended up totally blind (MacDonald, pp. 159, 234). The number of bodies was so large that, even when identifications had been made in the field, the information was often lost (MacDonald, p. 162).
Because the task was so great and the clues so few, very many bodies had to be buried before they were identified. Many of these, and some of the identified bodies from poor households, were buried in the same graveyard as the bodies brought in after the Titanic disaster (MacDonald, pp. 244-245). Coffins were improvised in all sizes, with parts of bodies in some and multiple corpses in others (MacDonald, p. 248).
There were hundreds of orphans: some 70 children who lost both parents, and 200 who lost one or the other parent. Of the latter, about 110 had lost their mothers and had no father at home (usually because he was serving in the war); MacDonald, p. 232.
It is estimated that 2000 buildings were destroyed and 10,000 damaged, leaving 25,000 people with damaged homes.
In one way, recovery was surprisingly swift. The explosion took place on Tuesday. By the following Monday, the authorities were saying they did not need more medical people (a number of temporary hospitals were up and running), and most mail and gas service was restored (MacDonald, pp. 219-220). But it took several weeks to end food rationing, and families were given a food allowance even after that (MacDonald, p. 229). And rebuilding took far longer -- indeed, most permanent rebuilding could not begin until spring when the ground thawed (MacDonald, p. 237). Even today, anyone digging near the harbor will soon find many artifacts of the explosion (MacDonald, p. 276).
The damage was estimated at $35 million -- Canadian dollars, but 1917 Canadian dollars. MacDonald, p. 68, applied conversion factors to make this $420 million in 2004 U. S. dollars. I suspect even that is low. That's strict inflation, but buildings were proportionally cheaper back then (e.g. a house could be had for $4000). I suspect that it would cost several billion to build replacements in today's world.
Even as the burials were going on, an investigation was underway. It was not supposed to be a criminal proceeding, but the man in charge was a judge, Arthur Drysdale, and a witness said, "The setting was almost Dickensian" (MacDonald, p. 252). It was a difficult situation, with the public howling for blood, and there was also the problem that, while the pilot and master of the Mont Blanc had survived, those on the Imo were both dead (Glasner, p. 43, has a photo of the ship blown ashore; her masts survived but her upper works were "demolished"). It was difficult to reconstruct what the crew of the Imo was thinking. MacDonald speculates that perhaps they failed to hear some of the whistle signals, but even seems insufficient.
MacDonald gives a detailed account of the proceedings (pp. 252-272), which ended with the blame being assigned almost entirely to pilot Mackay and master Le Medec of the Mont Blanc, plus the harbor Chief Examining Officer Frederick Evans Wyatt, responsible for procedures in the harbor.
We can't really know what happened. But, reading MacDonald, it appears to me that there were many mistakes, and the Imo made all of them but the final one, when Mackay turned the Mont Blanc hard to port to try to escape the coming collision and thereby caused it. Even there, he seems to have thought that was what the Imo was calling for. It is clear that MacDonald considered Mackay a scapegoat, and Paine too is open to the possibility (p. 345). Ritchie, p. 95, assigns no direct blame but mentions only the mistakes made by the Imo. Glasner, p. 121, makes it explicit: "A scapegoat was required, but Captain Haakon From [commander of the Imo] and [pilot] William Hayes were both dead. As a result, blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of the captain and pilot of the Mont Blanc and Commander Wyatt.... Wyatt, Le Medec, and Francis Mackay were all placed under arrest and charged with manslaughter. Eventually, however, all charges were dropped."
The Imo, amazingly, was salvaged after the explosion, renamed, and put back in service -- but managed to wreck itself in the Falklands in 1921 (MacDonald, p. 282).
This song has all the features of a broadside prepared shortly after the explosion; I wouldn't be surprised if the author intended it to help the people raising money for relief. It includes the following accurate details:
"It was on the sixth of December, nineteen hundred and seventeen,
That Halifax suffered disaster, the worst she'd ever seen;
It was five minutes after nine, those still alive can tell"
The time of the explosion was December 6, 1917, 9:05 [a.m.].
"She carried a deck load of benzoil and shells for overseas,
In her hold a new explosive, they call it TNT."
Benzoil, or benzol, is the liquid fuel that caused the initial fire. The cargo was not shells, but shell bursters; close enough. The TNT, as we see above, was a relatively small part of the cargo (and not new; trinitrotoluene had been around for decades. However, the Germans had used it first; it was a newer product to the British). But TNT was more famous than picric acid, even though less dangerous.
"Children were gone to their lessons, their mothers were busy at home,
While fathers worked on at the factories little dreaming they'd soon be alone."
Most of MacDonald's and Glasner's books are devoted to documenting where people were -- and, yes, it was an ordinary work day.
"The relief ship had rammed the monster tearing a hole in her side,
And eased out in the stream again and drifted on with the tide."
Obviously accurate from the account given above.
"Houses were crushed like paper, people were killed like flies,
The coroner's record tells us the toll was twelve hundred lives."
This would seem to imply the song was written very soon after the explosion, before the various missing could be tallied; 1200 is close to the number of actual bodies.
"Two thousand were maimed and wounded, hundreds more lost their sight
And God knows how many children were alone in the world that night."
This again implies composition soon after the event, since the number of wounded is low and the number of blinded slightly higher than the total who in the end were completely blinded.
"And then the following morning as if to hurt them twice
There came a storm from the ocean, a blizzard of snow and ice."
This obviously refers to the snowstorm that so hampered the relief efforts.
The major Canadian author Hugh MacLennan, who was a boy in Halifax at the time of the explosion, went on to make it the subject of his noteworthy first novel, Barometer Rising, published in 1941 (Brown, p. 417). - RBW
Bibliography

AHDictSci: Robert K. Barnhart, editor, The American Heritage Dictionary of Science (originally published as the Hammond Barnhart Dictionar of Science), Houghton Mifflin, 1986
Brown: Craig Brown, editor, The Illustrated History of Canada, Key Porter, 1987-2000
Darrow: Floyd L. Darrow, The Story of Chemistry, Chautauqua Press, 1928
Glasner: Joyce Glasner, The Halifax Explosion: Surviving the Blast that Shook a Nation, Altitude, 2003. N.B. This is a short, undocumented, rather sensational book (the series title is "Amazing Stories"!)
Le Couteur/Burreston: Penny Le Couteur & Jay Burreston: Napoleon's Buttons: 17 Molecules that Changed History, 2003 (I use the 2004 Tarcher/Penguin edition)
MacDonald: Laura M. MacDonald, The Curse of the Narrows, Walker, 2005
Paine: Lincoln P. Paine, Ships of the World, Houghton Mifflin, 1997
PengDictSci: E. B. Uvarov and Alan Isaacs, Editors, The Penguin Dictinary of Science, seventh edition, Penguin, 1946-1993
Ritchie: David Ritchie, Shipwrecks: An Encyclopedia of the World's Worst Disasters at Sea, 1996 (I use the 1999 Checkmark paperback edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: LG28

Hall's Lumber Crew

DESCRIPTION: The singer is hired for Hall's lumber crew; the various characters on the crew are described
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work moniker humorous logger
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 69, "Hall's Lumber Crew" (1 text)
Roud #8841
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Peaslee's Lumber Crew" (structure)
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme) and references there
NOTES: The "moniker song" consists mostly of listing the names of one's compatriots, and perhaps telling humorous vignettes about each; it's common among lumberjacks, hoboes, and probably other groups. Sometimes, as with this song and "Peaslee's Lumber Crew", it's clear the singer is plugging names and descriptions into a generic structure, although in this case he's added a bit of narrative. - PJS
File: Be069

Hallelu, Hallelu

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, one day as another, Hallelu, hallelu, When the ship is out a-sailing, Hallelujah." "Member walk and never tire... Member walk Jordan long road." "Member walk tribulation... You go home to Wappoo (?)" "...You want to die like Jesus"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 50, "Hallelu, Hallelu" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12009
File: AWG050B

Hallelujah

DESCRIPTION: "The election now is over, Now, men, you all know well, The Democrats done the best they could But the Republicans gave them -- Hallelujah (chorus)." Each verse leads you to expect a word, then zips in the chorus instead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad political lie Hell wordplay
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 421, "Old Lyda Zip Coon" (1 text)
Roud #7632
RECORDINGS:
Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers, "George Washington" (Victor 21469, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Fell Down in the Bucket" (technique)
cf. "Hopalong Peter" (technique)
cf. "Teasing Songs" (technique)
cf. "Old Zip Coon (II)" (technique)
NOTES: Like "Johnny Fell Down in the Bucket," this is one of those "hidden word" songs -- the verse leads you to expect the last word, which is usually not fit for polite company. But instead of saying the word, it breaks off into the chorus (which in this case starts with "Hallelujah," though the rest may vary). - RBW
File: R421

Hallelujah, Bum Again

See Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (I) (File: LxA026)

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (I)

DESCRIPTION: The bum explains that he cannot work when there are no jobs available, but then reveals his pleasure in a rambling life. He describes riding the rails, meeting women, begging, and -- sometimes -- troubles with the law.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (IWW Little Red Songbook)
KEYWORDS: begging humorous hobo train work
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 184-185, "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 109-111, "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" (1 text, said to be "copied from a broadside")
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 26-28, "Hallelujah, Bum Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 882-884, "Hallelujah, Bum Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 13, "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 197-202, ("Hallelujah, I'm a Bum") (partial texts illustrating the history of the song)
Silber-FSWB, p. 207, "Hallelujah, I'm A Bum" (1 text)
DT, HALLEBUM HALLEBU2
Roud #7992
RECORDINGS:
John Bennett, "Hallelujah I'm a Bum" (Madison 1642, 1927)
Harry Kirk [probably a pseudonym], "Hallelujah! I'm a Bum" (Edison 52364, 1928)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Hallelujah, I'm A Bum" (Victor 21343, 1928) (Decca 5640, 1939) (on McClintock01)
Frank Marvin, "The Bum Song" (Romeo 719/Cameo 8296 [as Lazy Larry], 1928)
Frank Luther, "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" (Brunswick 254, 1928; Supertone S-2056, 1931)
Pete Seeger, "Hallelujah I'm a Bum" (on PeteSeeger32)
Hobo Jack Turner [pseud. Ernest Hare] "Hallelujah! I'm a Bum" (Harmony 705-H/Diva 2705-G/Velvet Tone 1705-V, 1928)
Weary Willie [pseud. for Jerry Ellis/Jack Golding] (Perfect 12461/Pathe 32382, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (II)"
SAME TUNE:
Here We Rest (Greenway-AFP, p. 145)
Vernon Dalhart, "The Bum Song No. 2" (CYL: Edison [BA] 5653, n.d.)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "The Bum Song, No. 2" (Victor 21704, 1928) (Decca 5689, 1939)
Carson Robison Trio, "Bum Song No. 5" (Pathe 32477, 1929; Perfect 12571, 1930)
Hallelujah, Mr. Dean (song of Merrimac Mill strikes; Doug deNatale and Glenn Hinson, in their article, "The Southern Textile Song Tradition Reconsidered," published in Archie Green, editor, _Songs about Work: Essays in Occupational Culture for Richard A. Reuss_, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1993, p. 98)
NOTES: Sung to the hymn tune "Revive Us Again." - PJS
Note the following Argyllshire rhyme: "Hallelujah make a dumpling Hallelujah bring it ben Hallelujah make a big one Hallelujah amen" (source: R.C. Maclagan, "Additions to The Games of Argyleshire" in Folk-Lore, (London, 1905 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. XVI, p. 453). - BS
I've seen this credited to Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock, but George Milburn offers evidence that the song is older; Sandburg also claims it was sung in 1897. McClintock was responsible for popularizing it, and the publishers seem to have thought his name would increase sales.
Greenway offers a detailed discussion of the history of the song (including Milburn's evidence), coming to the conclusion that McClintock really was the author.
Topical texts on this basic pattern are common; a recent one by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber (p. 310 in the Folksinger's Wordbook) is about the activities of Richard Nixon. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LxA026

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (II)

DESCRIPTION: A quatrain ballad, this tells the bawdy adventures of a bum who begs food from housewives.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy begging humorous hobo sex
FOUND IN: US(MW,SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cray, pp. 200-202, "Hallelujah I'm a Bum" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7992
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (I)"
NOTES: This bawdy subset of McClintock's Wobbly song is sung to the hymn tune "Revive Us Again." - EC
File: EM200

Hamburg, Du Schone Stadt (Hamburg, You Lovely Town)

DESCRIPTION: German shanty. Sailor meets a girl who initially resists his advances, then takes his two dollars and tells him to wait while she runs up to her room. When he follows her up, he finds four men who beat and rob him. Choruses of "Oh, du mein ja, mein je!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Baltzer, _Knurrhahn_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty whore robbery Germany
FOUND IN: Germany
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 564-566, "Hamburg, Du Schone Stadt" (2 texts-German & English, 1 tune)
File: Hugi564

Hamburger Fair, The

See Animal Fair (File: San348)

Hame to My Nancy

See My Fancy Dwells With Nancy Belle (File: GrD4727)

Hame, Dearie, Hame

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

Hame, Hame, Hame

DESCRIPTION: "Hame, hame, hame, hame, fain wad I be ... to my ain countrie" "The green leaf o' loyalty's begun for to fa', The bonny white rose it is withering and a'; But I'll water't wi' the blood of usurping tyrannie" The sun will shine yet.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1783-1785 (_Robert Burns's Commonplace Book_, according to Cromek)
KEYWORDS: nonballad political Jacobites
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Hogg1 80, "Hame, Hame, Hame" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #135, pp. 1-2, ("Hame, hame, hame, O hame fain would I be") (1 text fragment)
GreigDuncan5, p. 637, ("Hame, hame, hame, O hame fain would I be") (1 text fragment)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol I, pp. 101-102, "Hame, Hame, Hame"
R. H. Cromek, Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, (London, 1810), pp. 169-170, ("Hame, hame, hame, O hame fain would I be")
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #191, "Hame, Hame, Hame" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosemary Lane" [Laws K43] (structure and some lines)
cf. "Hame, Hame" (tune, per Chambers)
NOTES: Hogg: .".. taken from Cromek; and sore do I suspect that we are obliged to the same masterly hand for it with the two preceding ones. The air to which I have heard it sung very beautifully, seems to be a modification of the old tune of "Mary Scott, the Flower of Yarrow." The two previous songs are "The Wars of Scotland" and "Lochmaben Gate," and Hogg suspects the author to be Allan Cunninghame [sic].
The GreigDuncan5 text, from Greig, is in a note to GreigDuncan5 1057, "Hame, Dearie, Hame."
Greig: "Around the touching cry of "Hame, hame" different songs have at one time or another been woven. Allan Cunningham and James Hogg produce versions with a Jacobite message. But verses like the following are alien to true folk-song: - [text]. Such things we never pick up on the traditional field. Nobody hears of them until they appear in some printed collection. The editor allows his readers to suppose that they are traditional and old, but the critic knows that they are mainly the work of the editor."
"Cromek died [1812] shortly after the issue [1810] of Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, which was mostly written by Cunningham, though palmed upon Cromek as recovered antiques." (source: J. Ross, The Book of Scottish Poems: Ancient and Modern, (Edinburgh, Edinburgh Publishing Co, 1878), "Allan Cunningham 1784-1842," p. 738; other sources agree)
However, in this case, if there is a Cunningham "forgery" [the term I have seen applied to his contributions to Cromek; for example, see Shoolbraid's comments re "Annie Laurie"], then Cromek would have to be complicit. Cromek writes, "This song is printed from a copy found in Burn's Common Place Book, in the editor's possession. It has long been popular in Galloway and Nithsdale, and has many variations, of which this is the best." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD5p637

Hamfat Man, The

DESCRIPTION: The ham fat man falls in love with Sara Ann, a girl in the market who sells him "polony sausages." But every day she wants a new dress, and after he goes broke she goes off to Bathhurst. The moral: "Never trust a girl that lives in Sydney town."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1984
KEYWORDS: courting food money separation
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 94-95, "The Hamfat Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, p. 5, "Ham Fat Man" (1 fragmentary text, which does not contain any of the above plot, and is almost certainly bawdy, but which appears from its pattern to be the same piece)
NOTES: Don't ask me why the title of the song (in Fahey, anyway) is "The Hamfat Man" while all the references in the text are to a "Ham fat man." - RBW
File: FaE094

Haming on a Live Oak Log (Mister Gator)

DESCRIPTION: "I went down on the river on a live oak log, log, log, Well the way I was haming, partner, like a lowdown dog, like a lowdown dog." The singer confuses a gator for a log and has to fight it. He complains about his sentence and the work his captain demands
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (recorded from "Chinaman" Johnson by Bower, Lomax, and Seeger)
KEYWORDS: animal fight prison
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 240-245, "Haming on a Live Oak Log" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #17457?
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I Was Down in the Bottom
Shake It, Mister Gator,
Move Along, 'Gator
File: JDM240

Hamlet Wreck, The

DESCRIPTION: "See the women and children going on the train, Fare-you-well, my husband, if I never see you again." The train runs late, and collides with a local (?). The rest of the song amplifies the repeated line, "So many have lost their lives"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Durham Morning Herald)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death disaster
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 27, 1911 - The Hamlet Wreck
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownII 290, "The Hamlet Wreck" (1 text)
Cohen-LSRail, p. 273, "The Hamlet Wreck" (notes only)
Roud #6634
NOTES: The notes in Brown say that the passenger train involved in this wreck was a special carrying some 900 members of St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church on an annual outing (from Durham to Charlotte). The collision occurred near the town of Hamlet, and at least 8 people killed and 88 injured.
The piece apparently was first printed as a broadside credited to Franklin Williams and William Firkins, but Brown left a note expressing strong doubts about the attribution. I must say, though, it looks like a composed song to me -- and not one which circulated much in oral tradition. Had it been created orally, there would have been more personal stories included. - RBW
File: BrII290

Hammer Man

DESCRIPTION: "Drivin' steel, drivin' steel, Drivin' steel, boys, Is hard work, I know...." "Treat me right... I am bound to stay all day; Treat me wrong, I am bound to run away." "Boss man... See the boss man comin' down the line."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad worksong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, p. 139, "Hammer Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: San139

Hammer Ring

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, my hammer, hammer ring (x2), Ringin' on de buildin, hammer ring (x2)." Doncha hear dat hammer... She ringin' like jedgment." "Oh, Lawd, dat hammer." There may be references to Black Betty, or mentions of Noah/Norah
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: chaingang work
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 61-62, "The Hammer Song" (1 text, tune referenced)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 193-201, "Hammer Ring" (7 texts, 2 tunes, very diverse; some could perhaps be filed with "Black Betty" or other prison songs, and they often share verses with "Drop 'Em Down")
RECORDINGS:
Jesse Bradley and group of prisoners, "Hammer, Ring" (AFS 219 A2; on LC8)
Texas state farm prisoners, "Let Your Hammer Ring" (on NPCWork)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Take This Hammer"
cf. "Don't You Hear My Hammer Ringing"
NOTES: Not to be confused, obviously, with the Modern Folk "Hammer Song" ("If I Had a Hammer"). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LxA061

Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane

DESCRIPTION: Known mostly by the first verse: "Hand me down my walkin' cane (x3), I'm gonna catch the midnight train, All my sins been taken away, taken away." Remaining verses involve traveling, prison, food, where the singer wants to be buried, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recordings, Kelly Harrell, Gid Tanner, Henry Whitter & Fiddler Joe)
KEYWORDS: rambling food prison death burial floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 53, "Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane" (1 text)
BrownIII 363, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
DT, WALKCANE
Roud #11733
RECORDINGS:
Boswell Sisters, "Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane" (Brunswick 6335, 1932)
Vernon Dalhart, "Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane" (Durium [UK] 9-3, 1933)
Durium Dance Band w. Carson Robison & his Pioneers, "Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane" (Durium [UK] EN-27, 1932)
Sid Harkreader w. Grady Moore, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Paramount 3022, 1927; Broadway 8055 [as "Harkins and Moran"], c. 1930)
Kelly Harrell, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Victor 20103, 1926; Montgomery Ward M-4330, 1933; on KHarrell02)
Sim Harris, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Oriole 916, 1927)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Brunswick 107/Vocalion 5028, 1927)
Claude Moye, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Champion 15688 [as Asparagus Joe]/Supertone 9363 [as Pie Plant Pete], 1929)
North Carolina Hawaiians, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (OKeh 45297, 1929; rec. 1928)
Carson Robison w. his Pleasant Valley Boys, "Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane" (MGM 12266, 1956)
Carson Robison [Trio], "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Crown 3027, c. 1930)
Short Creek Trio, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Gennett 6272/Challenge 398 [as Logan County Trio], 1927)
Ernest V. Stoneman and the Dixie Mountaineers, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Edison 51938, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5297, 1927)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Banner 1993, 1927/Domino 3964/Regal 8324/Oriole 916 [as by Sim Harris]/Homestead 16490 [as by Harris], c. 1929)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (Columbia 15091-D, 1926)
Gordon Tanner, Smokey Joe Miller & Uncle John Patterson, "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (on DownYonder)
Henry Whitter & Fiddler Joe [Samuels], "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (OKen 45061, 1926)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "All My Sins Been Taken Away"
cf. "Heaven and Hell" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Mary Wore Three Links of Chain" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Free at Last" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Dawsonville Jail" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Ballad of Blue Bell Jail (Greenway-AFP, p. 143)
NOTES: It is possible (perhaps even likely) that the song filed as "All My Sins Been Taken Away" is a worn-down version of this piece, but it is known in enough versions that I finally split them. - RBW
File: FSWB053

Hand O'er Hand (I)

DESCRIPTION: "Hand, Hand, Hand o'er hand, Divil run away with a west country man." Other verses, if any, probably float.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Bone)
KEYWORDS: shanty
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Bone, p. 42, "Hand O'er Hand" (1 short text, 1 tune)
File: BoCB042

Hand O'er Hand (II)

See So Handy (File: Doe012)

Handsome Bill

DESCRIPTION: The singer tells Bill that she is too young to marry. Her sisters have not yet left school so she is still needed at home. She has already turned Ned, her cousin, down twice. And she will never marry a drinker: "join the temperance army and claim me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage rejection drink nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 903, "Handsome Bill" (1 text)
Roud #6234
File: GrD4903

Handsome Cabin Boy, The [Laws N13]

DESCRIPTION: A disguised girl signs aboard ship as a cabin boy. The ship's captain discovers her secret and, even though his wife is aboard, gets her pregnant. One night the "boy's" cries awaken the crew, who learn she is in labor. All are thoroughly astonished
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: cross-dressing ship pregnancy
FOUND IN: US(MW) Britain(England,Scotland) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws N13, "The Handsome Cabin Boy"
GreigDuncan1 181, "The Handsome Cabin Boy" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 160, "The Handsome Cabin Boy" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 163, "The Handsome Cabin Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 280-281, "The Handsome Cabin Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 123-125, "The Handsome Cabin Boy" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 192, "The Handsome Cabin Boy" (1 text)
DT 445, CABINBOY*
Roud #239
RECORDINGS:
Bob Hart, "The Female Cabin Boy" (on Voice12)
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:035, "The Female Cabin Boy," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
NOTES: For accounts of women who served in the navy or the army, and sometimes became pregnant as a result, see the notes to "The Soldier Maid." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LN13

Handsome Collier Lad, The

See The Collier Lad (Lament for John Sneddon/Siddon) (File: HHH110)

Handsome Harry (The Sailor and the Ghost B)

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

Handsome John

DESCRIPTION: "A lady lived near Portland square, She keep a waiting maid so fair Who loved the footman as her life Expecting for to be his wife." The lady loves the footman and beats the maid. The maid runs away and the lady marries handsome John
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: infidelity love marriage promise injury
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 38, "Handsome John" (1 text)
Roud #6363
NOTES: Why do I have this feeling the marriage turned out to be not very happy? - RBW
File: GrMa038

Handsome Molly

DESCRIPTION: The singer sings the praises of handsome Molly, noting that "Sailing round the ocean, sailing round the sea, I'll think of handsome Molly wherever she may be." She proves less than faithful, but he loves her still
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting sailor separation abandonment
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
BrownII 82, "The Lover's Lament" (4 texts plus a fragment, "E," that is probably "Handsome Molly"; the others are true "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)" texts)
SharpAp 180, "The Irish Girl" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 3 tunes, with the "A" text going here and the "B" and "C" fragments tentatively filed under "The Irish Girl")
Silber-FSWB, p. 148, "Handsome Molly" (1 text)
DT, HNDSMMOL
Roud #454
RECORDINGS:
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Handsome Molly" (Gennett 6304/Champion 15629, 1927) (Victor 21189, 1928; rec. 1927; on GraysonWhitter01, LostProv1)
Mike Seeger, "Handsome Molly" (on MSeeger01)
Glenn Neaves, "Handsome Molly" (on GraysonCarroll1)
Doc Watson & Gaither Carlton, "Handsome Molly" (on Ashley02, WatsonAshley01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)"
NOTES: It is my firm belief that this is a version of the "Farewell Ballymoney/Loving Hannah" family of songs (with which it shares several verses and the whole plot, as well as melodic similarities). In this I actually agree with Roud.
Paul Stamler, however, observes that "The plotline is similar, but I'd be inclined to split off 'Molly' and class the 'went to church on Sunday' verse as a floater. Look at it this way -- if you ask old-time musicians to play 'Handsome Molly' about 95% can do so, but if you ask them to play 'Farewell Ballymoney' at least 95% will go, 'Hah?'"
I still think I'm right, but it is certainly true that "Molly" has achieved independent circulation (though all the versions I hear seem to come ultimately from the Grayson & Whitter recording), and so we list it as a separate song. - RBW
The SharpAp version shows that the song, with lyrics very close to those sung by Whitter, was circulating some nine years before he made his very-influential recording. Whitter, it should be noted, came from the same area in Virginia where the SharpAp version was collected. - PJS
File: FSWB148

Handsome Sally

DESCRIPTION: A young man loves Sally, a servant, whose mistress also wants the lad. The mistress has Sally drowned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1909 (Joyce, _Old Irish Folk Music and Songs_)
KEYWORDS: murder drowning
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SharpAp 120, "Handsome Sally" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2370
NOTES: This in several regards resembled "The Lady and the Farmer's Son" [Laws O40]. Paul Stamler indeed filed them under the same heading. But Laws and Roud separate them, and I can hardly argue with that weight of authority. - RBW
File: ShAp2120

Handsome Shepherdess, The

See The Sailor and the Shepherdess [Laws O8] (File: LO08)

Handsome Young Airman, The

See The Dying Aviator (File: MA142)

Handsome Young Farmer, The

See Teasing Songs (File: EM256)

Handsome Young Sailor, The

See The Soldier Maid (File: DTsoldma)

Handy Bandy Barque, The

See The Campanero (File: Doe084)

Handy, Me Boys

See So Handy (File: Doe012)

Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Been All Around This World)

DESCRIPTION: Man about to be hanged laments his life. Says, "Hang me, oh hang me, and I'll be dead and gone/It's not the hangin' that I mind, it's layin' in the grave [or jail] so long." In some versions he describes his life as a gambler.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: execution punishment death gambling gallows-confession lament
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Belden, pp. 472-473, "The Gambler" (1 text)
Randolph 146, "My Father Was a Gambler" (2 texts, 2 tunes); 348, "Since I Left Arkansas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 173-175, "My Father Was a Gambler" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 146A)
Friedman, p. 232, "The Gambler" (1 text)
Fife-Cowboy/West 92, "I've Been All Around This World" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 57, pp. 130-131, "The Gambler" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 298, "John Henry-I"; 299, (1 text, 1 tune, containing a large portion of "Been All Around This World" or a relative)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 129-130, "I've Been All Around the World" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GAMBLR2
Roud #3416
RECORDINGS:
Justus Begley, "I've Been All Around This World" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
Grandpa Jones, "I've Been All Around This World" (King 524, 1946)
Art Thieme, "Cape Girardeau" (on Thieme02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Roving Gambler (The Gambling Man)" [Laws H4] (floating lyrics)
cf. "Don't Let Your Watch Run Down" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Horse Trader's Song" (tune, floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Cape Girardeau
I've Been All Around This World
The Hobo's Lament
The Hobo Blues
NOTES: Laws regards Belden's and Randolph's versions of this as a ballad, "The Gambler," which he lists as dE43. But the text seems much more diffuse than Laws's small and highly specific subset. - RBW
File: R146

Hang on the Bell

DESCRIPTION: "The scene is in a jailhouse; if the curfew rings tonight The guy in number 13 cell will go out like a light." To prevent the bell from ringing, the convict's daughter Nellie ties herself to the bell, and keeps it silent until a pardon arrives
AUTHOR: T. Connor, C. Erard, R. Parker (according to Joe Hickerson)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1950 (recording, Beatrice Kay)
KEYWORDS: prison execution humorous reprieve father children derivative
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, HANGBELL
NOTES: This is often listed as a parody of Rosa Hartwick Thorpe's 1867 poem "Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight." "Parody" may be a rather strong word; there is no stylistic influence at all. (The first lines of the Thorpe poem are "Slowly England's sun was setting o'er the hilltops far away, Filling all the land with beauty at the close of one sad day, And the last rays kissed the forehead of a man and maiden fair," or, in other publications, "England's sun was slowly setting...." The rest is equally nauseating.)
Despite its lack of quality, this thing was popular enough to earn nine citations in Granger's Index of Poetry.
The one thing that survived from the Thorpe original to this song is the absurdist plot of the girl silencing the curfew bell.
This byblow is not widely published, and there are few if any early recordings, but Joe Hickerson traced enough oral transmission that I have, with some misgivings, included it in the Index. Mostly, perhaps, to examine the relationship between the original poem and the derived song. - RBW
File: DThangbe

Hange-ed I Shall Be

See The Wexford (Oxford, Knoxville, Noel) Girl [Laws P35] (File: LP35)

Hanging Johnny

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Away, away... Hang, boys, hang!" The singer reports, "They call me Hanging Johnny... Oh they say I hang for money. They say I hung my daddy... We'll... hang together... And we'll hang for better weather."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Great Lakes sailor Carl Joys says he learned it before 1870)
KEYWORDS: shanty ship sailor
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 31, "Hanging Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 65-67, "Hanging Johnny" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 72-73,"Hanging Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 47-48,"Hanging Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 284-285,"Hanging Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 208-209]
Sharp-EFC, LI, p. 56, "Hanging Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 54, "Hanging Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 26, "Hangman Johnnie" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 87, "Hanging Johnny" (1 text)
DT, HANGJOHN
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). Hanging Johnny" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #2625
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "Hanging Johnny" (on LastDays)
Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Hanging Johnny" (AFS 4231 A1, 1939; in AMMEM/Cowell)
W[illiam] H. Smith, "Hangman Johnny" (on NovaScotia1)
NOTES: According to most sources, the "hanging" in this song does not refer to execution. Great Lakes sailor Carl Joys said it referred to the young sailors who went aloft to swing out the halyards when a sail was hoisted. Another account says it referred to a sailor who held a rope lashed to other sailors. If this "hanger" let them go in a bad sea, they would be washed overboard and lost. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe031

Hanging of Charlie Birger

DESCRIPTION: Charlie Birger is feared throughout the Midwest; after the shooting of Joe Adams, Birger's henchman Thomasson turns state's evidence and Birger is sentenced to hang. Despite appeals and an unsuccessful suicide attempt, he is hanged on April 19, 1928.
AUTHOR: Carson Robison (or, possibly, Andrew Jenkins)
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Charlie Birger, bandit, is feared throughout the Midwest; after the shooting of Joe Adams and a public outcry, Birger's henchman Thomasson turns state's evidence and Birger is sentenced to hang. Despite appeals and an unsuccessful suicide attempt, he is hanged on April 19, 1928. The singer draws lessons in morality from this story
KEYWORDS: accusation betrayal crime execution murder punishment death suicide outlaw
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 19, 1928 - hanging of Charlie Birger
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Burt, pp. 214-215, "(The Death of Charlie Burger)" (1 text)
DT, CBIRGER
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Hanging of Charlie Birger" (OKeh 45215, 1928) (Edison 11002, 1929 [as "The Hanging of Charles Birger"])
Frank Luther, "The Hanging of Charlie Birger" (Supertone 9183, 1938)
Art Thieme, "The Hanging of Charlie Birger" (on Thieme02)
NOTES: Birger's gang, and the rival Shelton Bros. gang, made Williamson Co. in southern Illinois a battleground in the mid-1920s, fighting over the rights to the regional bootlegging trade. The first bomb ever dropped on United States soil was a load of dynamite the Sheltons dropped on Birger's hangout from an airplane. The song accurately tells what happened after that. - PJS
File: DTcbirge

Hanging Out the Linen Clothes

See Driving Away at the Smoothing Iron (File: ShH82)

Hangman Johnnie

See Hanging Johnny (File: Doe031)

Hangman, Hangman

See The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)

Hangman, Slack on the Line

See The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)

Hangman, Slack Up Your Rope

See The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)

Hangman's Song, The

See The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)

Hangman's Tree, The

See The Maid Freed from the Gallows [Child 95] (File: C095)

Hangtown Gals

DESCRIPTION: "Hangtown girls are plump and rosy, Hair in ringlets, mighty cozy... Touch them and they'll sting like hornets. "Hangtown girls are lovely creatures, Think they'll marry Mormon preachers." They are often seen grinning and exposing their linens
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Arnett, p. 97, "Hangtown Gals" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 192, "Hangtown Girls" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Buffalo Gals" (tune)
File: Arn097

Hanky, The

See The Bonny Blue Handkerchief (File: HHH161)

Hannah Healy, the Pride of Howth

DESCRIPTION: The singer is love sick for Hannah. Each morning courters swarm around her but none "dare entreat her or supplicate her." The singer is giving up; he'll "raise my mind from all female kind so Adieu, sweet Hannah, the pride of Howth!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1840 (From a Waterford chap-book, according to Sparling)
KEYWORDS: love beauty nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 93, "Hannah Healy, the Pride of Howth" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 329-330, 512, "Hannah Healy, the Pride of Howth"
Roud #9773
NOTES: The Howth peninsula is about seven miles northeast of Dublin. - BS
File: OLcM093

Hannah McKay (The Pride of Artikelly)

DESCRIPTION: The singer bids farewell to Ireland and Magilligan, wondering how he can leave such a beautiful, friendly place. Even more painful is parting with Hannah McKay. He will think of her all the way through his voyage.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration separation farewell
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H656, p. 187, "Hannah M'Kay/The Pride of Artikelly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13543
File: HHH656

Hannamaria

DESCRIPTION: Hannamaria used to live in singer's town; she weighed 590 pounds. After supper a bunch of fellows get drunk and fight; singer is knocked ten feet into the air, but, "I fell down 'cause Hannamaria." Singer is going home with her; he warns others not to
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963 (recording, Poplin Family)
KEYWORDS: sex warning fight drink humorous talltale lover
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Poplin Family, "Hannamaria" (on Poplin01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hopalong Peter" (theme)
NOTES: Very confused story line. The singer picked it up from her father, though, so it has entered tradition in a small way. I suspect minstrel origins. - PJS
And there appears to be another recording, LC 4083 A2, sung by Crockett Ward, though I haven't been able to verify that it is the same song. - RBW
File: RcHanMar

Hanstead Boys

See Cape Cod Girls (File: LoF023)

Hantoon, The

DESCRIPTION: Wexford barque Hantoon is off the coast of Portugal "when this cruel British monster on us came bearing down." Captain Neill tried "to save his ship and crew, But those cursed, heartless tyrants had cut our barque in two." Four of eleven are lost.
AUTHOR: William Martin, Slippery Green, Wexford
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 27, 1881 - The Hantoon wreck
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, pp. 46-47, "The Hantoon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7351
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fethard Life-Boat Crew (I)" (tune)
NOTES: December 27, 1881: "'The Hantoon' ... was run down ... on the homeward voyage from Galatz"; four of the crew of eleven were lost. Galatz is "one hundred miles up the Danube" [p. 53]. (source: Ranson) - BS
File: Ran046

Hap and Row

DESCRIPTION: "Hap and row, hap and row, Hap and row the feetie o't; I never knew I had a bairn Until I heard the greetie o't." Life with the baby is described: A cinder from the cooking fire burns its feet; Sandy's mother wraps them in her cap
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: baby clothes food
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1398, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Hap and Row" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 157, "(Hap and row, hap and row)" (1 text)
Roud #7252
NOTES: This is presumably the original which Burns converted into "The Reel of Stumpie." I suspect there are cross-fertilized versions, so some care should be taken in looking at each. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MSNR157

Happy 'Tis, Thou Blind, for Thee

See Callino Casturame (Colleen Og a Store; Cailin O Chois tSiure; Happy 'Tis, Thou Blind, for Thee) (File: HHH491)

Happy Coon, The

DESCRIPTION: "I've seen in my time some mighty funny things, But the funniest of all I know Is a colored individual." The "very queer old coon" never speaks, is knock-kneed and pigeon-toed, but whistles all the time -- even when his wife dies or he is hit with a brick
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: abuse disability music
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 424, "The Happy Coon" (1 text)
Roud #11766
File: Br3424

Happy Days of Youth, The

DESCRIPTION: "The happy days of youth they are fast fleeting by Old age is coming on with a dark stormy sky." The singer recalls meeting his love "among the broom" and wishes he could have such a day again. "Farewell to happy youth likewise to mirth and glee"
AUTHOR: Robert Gilfillan (1798-1850) (source: Greig #136, p. 2)
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: age courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #82, p. 1, "The Happy Days of Youth" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 542, "The Happy Days of Youth" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6018
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "[542C] From her [Mrs Beaton] early note-book, this being written in 1867." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3542

Happy Family, The

See The Irish Family (File: K275)

Happy Green Shades of Duneane, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer asks the muses to help him praise Duneane. It is the land of his fathers. But now he must leave; he bids farewell to friends and says there is nothing like living among them. He hopes someday to return.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration separation homesickness
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H653, p. 211, "The Happy Green Shades of Duneane" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH653

Happy Land of Canaan, The

DESCRIPTION: "Down in Harper's Ferry Section there was an insurrection, John Brown thought the niggers would sustain him. But old Governor Wise put his specs upon his eyes For to send him to the happy land of Canaan." The rebels defy the abolitionist northerners
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar rebellion death war slavery
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
October 16-18, 1859 - John Brown and 20 others (15 of them, including Brown's three sons, are white) capture the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, hoping to gather the weapons needed for a slave rebellion. Forces led by Robert E. Lee soon attack the rebels; only Brown and four others live to be captured and placed on trial
Dec 2, 1859 - Hanging of John Brown at Charlestown, Virginia
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Belden, pp. 363-364, "The Happy Land of Canaan" (1 text)
Randolph 226, "The Happy Land of Canaan" (3 texts (one Unionist), 1 tune)
Thomas-Makin', p. 81, (no title) (1 fragment, perhaps of this piece or perhaps another "Happy Land of Canaan" variant, but it uses that line and dates from the slavery era)
Roud #7705
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bull Run (War Song)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The "Governor Wise" in the first stanza of both Randolph's and Belden's texts is Henry A. Wise (1806-1876), Governor of Virginia 1856-1860 and later a Confederate Brigadier. As ex-governor, he was strongly pro-secession, and worked hard to push his state and his successor in that direction. - RBW
File: R226

Happy Land, The

See There Is a Happy Land (File: DTtiahl)

Happy Marriage, The

DESCRIPTION: "How blest has my life been, what joys have I known, since wedlock's soft bondage made Jessie my own." The singer looks fondly back on life and children. Though his wife is growing old, he finds happiness at home and tells others they should do the same.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1853 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: love husband wife marriage children age
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H753, p. 501, "The Happy Pair" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST HHH753 (Full)
Roud #9464
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Contented Wife and Answer
File: HHH753

Happy Morning

DESCRIPTION: "Weep no more, Marta/Martha. Weep no more, Mary. Jesus rise from the dead, Happy morning. Glorious morning, glorious morning, My Savior rise from the dead, Happy morning." "Doubt no more, Thomas...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Jesus
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 10, "Happy Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11852
File: AWH010B

Happy or Lonesome

DESCRIPTION: "Come back to me in my dreaming, come back to me once more.... When the spring roses are blooming, I'll come back to you." "Absence makes my heart fonder, Is it the same for you? Are you still happy, I wonder, or are you lonesome too?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Burnett & Rutherford)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND IN: US
ST RcHOL (Full)
Roud #11518
RECORDINGS:
Burnett & Rutherford, "Are You Happy or Lonesome" (Columbia 15187-D, 1927; on BurnRuth01)
The Carter Family, "Happy or Lonesome" (Bluebird 5650=Victor ???, 1934)
Steve Ledford, "Happy or Lonesome" (Bluebird 7742, 1938)
SAME TUNE:
"My Sweetheart in Tennessee" (recorded by Burnett & Rutherford, Columbia 15187-D, 1927; on BurnRuth01)
NOTES: Charles K. Wolfe calls this a parlor song which gained favor with old-time musicians, but does not list the author.
The Burnett and Rutherford recording is the earliest mention I can find of the piece. Curiously, the duo recorded only two songs in that session: "Happy or Lonesome" and "My Sweetheart in Tennessee" -- with nearly-identical tunes. One suspects the latter of being something Burnett just fixed up to have something to put on the flip side of the disk. - RBW
File: RcHOL

Happy Pair, The

See The Happy Marriage (File: HHH753)

Happy Roon' the Ingle Bleezin'

DESCRIPTION: The miser spends his time "watchin' ower [his riches] wi' cautious e'e." On the other hand, "the sons of social pleasure Spend the nicht in harmony." Friendship brings us together "happy roon' the ingle [fireplace]"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad friend
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 549, "Happy Roon' the Ingle Bleezin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6025
File: GrD3549

Happy Shamrock Shore, The

See The Shamrock Shore (I) (File: HHH069)

Happy Stranger, The

See Poor Stranger, The (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone) (File: R059)

Happy Wanderer, The

DESCRIPTION: "I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track, And as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back." The singer extols the joys of hiking and hopes to continue to do so
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1975
KEYWORDS: rambling nonballad travel
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, HAPWANDR*
SAME TUNE:
I Love to Go A-Gorging (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 32)
NOTES: A genuine folk song, or just something they inflict upon kids at camp? Don't ask me. I learned it in elementary school, rather less than voluntarily. - RBW
File: DThapwan

Happy, Frisky Jim

DESCRIPTION: Assorted nonsense about Jim's family and neighbors: "I'm my daddy's only son, Gay and lively, full of fun, Brother's twice as old as me, So we're twins, you plainly see." Jim's girl, whose "mouth is like a big bull calf," also figures prominently
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonsense family twins
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 431, "Frisky Jim" (2 texts)
FSCatskills 153, "Happy, Frisky Jim" (1 traditional text plus a sheet music version, 1 tune)
ST R431 (Partial)
Roud #7610
NOTES: Although the statement about the brothers being twins sounds like nonsense, there is a time when it is true -- at the time when the younger brother is exactly as old as the interval between the births of the older and younger. Of course, this requires a baby less than an hour old to be talking....
Although the sheet music version in Cazden et al is apparently from the nineteenth century, it doesn't appear to me to be the original; it looks as if it has had minstrel verses grafted onto a traditional (non-racist) core. - RBW
File: R431

Harbour Grace

DESCRIPTION: "Harbour Grace is a very nice place And so is the Bay of Islands, So we give three cheers for Carbonear When the boys comes home from swilin'." Disconnected verses about George and Lizer, going to town and sea, and Mackety Bay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: courting hunting sea humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Smith/Hatt, p. 35, "Harbour Grace" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 180, "Harbour Grace"; p. 207, "Harbour Grace" (2 text, 2 tune)
Roud #2723
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Harbour Grace" (on NFOBlondahl04)
Berton Young, "Harbour Grace Diddling" (on MRHCreighton)
NOTES: A song in the style of Weevily Wheat but clearly not related. Smith/Hamm: "this is a Newfoundland song. It is a dance tune, used by fiddlers." Of the places mentioned in the song, Harbour Grace and Carbonear are on the west shore of Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula and Bay of Islands is on the west coast of Newfoundland just south of what is now Gros Morne National Park.
MRHCreighton and Creighton-Maritime, p. 180, is an example of Newfoundland "chin" or "cheek" music and Nova Scotia diddling [the book and LP are of the same performance]. Peacock explains "'Chin' or 'mouth' music is a vocal imitation of instrumental music and is used for dancing when a fiddle or accordion is not handy. Some singers ... become so proficient that they are often called upon even when instruments are available." - BS
File: RcHarGrI

Harbour Le Cou

DESCRIPTION: "As I rowed ashore from my schooner close by, A girl on the beach I chanced to espy" who lives in Harbour Le Cou. The sailor courts and wins girl until they meet his "old comrade" who sends "regards to your missus and wee kiddies two"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Fowke/MacMillan)
LONG DESCRIPTION: A sailor takes up with a girl in Harbour Le Cou, but has his amorous plans thwarted by a ship-mate who inquires (within hearing of the girl) about the health of the sailor's wife and children. The girl tears into the sailor and he flees, warning others to beware not only of pretty girls but also of old comrades.
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity seduction separation humorous children husband sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Peacock, pp. 198-199, "Harbour Le Cou" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 26, "Harbour Le Cou" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 56, "Harbour Le Cou" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 108-109, "Harbour Le Cou" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HARBLCOU*
Roud #7297
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing) [Laws P14]" (theme)
NOTES: Harbour Le Cou is a fishing village on the southwest coast of Newfoundland near Port aus Basques. - SL
File: Doyl3026

Hard of Hearing

See The Deaf Woman's Courtship (File: R353)

Hard Time in Old Virginnie

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Hard Time in Old Virginnie." Verses: "Summer comin' again." "Comin' in the rainbow." "Comin' in the cloud." "My old missus promise me" "When she die she set me free." "She love so long" "Till her head got bald."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: hardtimes freedom slave nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, p. 116, (no title) (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Raise a Ruckus" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Old Marse John" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Described by Courlander as a pestle song for pounding rice. - RBW
File: CNFM116A

Hard Times (II)

See The Rigs of the Times (File: K237)

Hard Times (III)

See The Cryderville Jail (File: LxU090)

Hard Times (IV)

See Old Bee Makes the Honey Comb, etc. (File: Br3479)

Hard Times and Old Bill

DESCRIPTION: "Old Ailey Bill came home from court" and stops at a bar (?) "to have some sport. And it's hard times and poor old Bill." Will McNealey hides under a bed, sees what happens, steals a frying pan, sells it, and beats his wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (collected by Henry from C. L. Franklin)
KEYWORDS: abuse escape husband wife commerce
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 11, "Hard TImes and Old Bill" (1 text)
NOTES: For the life of me, I can't tell what this is about. I suspect that it is based on a real incident, but that several verses have been lost from Henry's seemingly unique text. - RBW
File: MHAp011.

Hard Times at New Little River

See The Cryderville Jail (File: LxU090)

Hard Times Come Again No More

DESCRIPTION: "Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears While we all sup sorrow with the poor." The singer describes sad people suffering from poverty, and begs, "Hard times, come again no more."
AUTHOR: Stephen C. Foster
EARLIEST DATE: 1859
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, HRDTIMES*
Roud #2659
RECORDINGS:
Edison Quartette, "Hard Times Come Again No More" (CYL: Edison 9120, 1905)
L. M. Hilton, "Hard Times Come Again No More [Mormon version]" (on Hilton01)
SAME TUNE:
Hard Crackers, Come Again No More (cf. Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 116)
NOTES: It is perhaps more a comment on the folk revival than on this song to note that it is easily the most popular Foster song with revival singers. It wasn't especially popular at the time, and Spaeth (A History of Popular Music in America, p. 116) regards it as an "adequate potboiler." - RBW
File: DThrdtim

Hard Times in Mount Holly Jail

See The Cryderville Jail (File: LxU090)

Hard Times in the Mill (I)

DESCRIPTION: Complaints of life in the mills (e.g. "Worked in a cotton mill all my life, Ain't got nothin' but a barlow knife"). The wages are poor, the bosses hard, and the conditions brutal. Chorus: "Hard times in (this old mill), Hard times (everywhere)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes factory technology boss miller
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 274-275, "Hard Times in the Mill" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Hard Times in the Mill" (on PeteSeeger13)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Hard Times in the Mill (II)"
cf. "Pickle My Bones in Alcohol" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hard Times in This Old Mill
Cotton Mill Blues
NOTES: This is obviously very similar to "Hard Times in the Mill (II)" -- but since the versions I've seen have different metrical patterns, and have no words in common except "hard times in," I tentatively classify them separately.
This version is recognized by longer lines in the verse (see sample above) and the non-repeating chorus. - RBW
I'm not sure I'd split these two songs. The verses tend to be floaters (e.g., the "Barlow knife" one, which shows up in fiddle tunes), and the metrical differences aren't that big. I guess I'd want to see all the verses. There's a 1962 recording by Hedy West with the Barlow knife verse in it. - PJS
It's the usual problem of the ordinary versus the extreme versions. Sigh. - RBW
File: SBoA274

Hard Times in the Mill (II)

DESCRIPTION: About bad conditions in the mills (e.g. "Ev'ry morning at half past five, You got to get up dead or alive"). The food is poor, money tight, "the boss is cussin' and the spinners cryin'." Chorus: "Hard times in the mill, my love, hard times in the mill."
AUTHOR: Possibly Dorsey Dixon
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes factory technology boss miller
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Arnett, p. 145, "Hard Times in the Mill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 142, "Hard Times in the Mill" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 369-370, "Hard Times in the Mill" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Seena Helms, "Hard Times" (on HandMeDown2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hard Times in the Mill (I)"
NOTES: This is obviously very similar to "Hard Times in the Mill (I)" -- but since the versions I've seen have different metrical patterns, and have no words in common except "hard times in," I tentatively classify them separately.
This version is recognized by shorter lines in the verse (see sample above) and the repeating chorus. - RBW
I'm not sure I'd split these two songs. The verses tend to be floaters (e.g., the "Barlow knife" one, which shows up in fiddle tunes), and the metrical differences aren't that big. I guess I'd want to see all the verses. There's a 1962 recording by Hedy West with the Barlow knife verse in it. - PJS
It's the usual problem of the ordinary versus the extreme versions. Sigh.
To add to the fun, there are at least three different mill working songs called "Cotton Mill Blues" (a variant title for this family), first recorded by Wilmer Watts, Daddy John Love, and Tommy Scott. - RBW
File: Arn145

Hard Times of Old England, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer tells that the trade has gone; if you go to a shop without money, you can't buy. If you ask for a job, there is none; tradesmen walk the street looking for work; soldiers and sailors have come home to starve. He hopes the hard times will not last.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (recorded from Ron Copper)
KEYWORDS: poverty commerce unemployment work hardtimes starvation England worker
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 224, "The Hard Times of Old England" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HRDTMENG*
Roud #1206
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rigs of the Time" (subject)
NOTES: Kennedy seems to think that this song arose in the recession following a war, since sailors and soldiers were returning home to find no work. But the British military did not institute a true draft until World War I; the size of the military stayed relatively constant. And economic trouble was constant in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century; the population was growing faster than the system could expand. So this could be just a song of falling standards of living. - RBW
File: K224

Hard to Be a Nigger

DESCRIPTION: "Well, it makes no difference How you make out your time. White man sho' to bring a Nigger out behind. Ain't it hard (x3) to be a nigger?" "Nigger makes do cotton, White folks get de money." The singer complains about unequal pay and unequal justice
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: discrimination Black(s) hardtimes nonballad work
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 233-234, "Hard to Be a Nigger" (1 text)
BrownIII 473 "White Folks Go to College" (1 fragment, at least tangentially related to this song); also 480, "Hard Times" (1 text, massively composite: Chorus from "Lynchburg Town" and verses from "Old Bee Makes the Honey Comb" and the "White Folks Go to College" version of "Hard to Be a Nigger")
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 227-228, "Ain't It Hard to Be a Nigger" (1 text plus a possible fragment)
Roud #15555
File: LxA233

Hard Traveling

DESCRIPTION: "I been doin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed." The singer describes the hard times he's met on his travels: "Workin' in a hard rock tunnel," "Workin' that Pittsburgh steel," facing the lonely task of following Highway 66
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (recording, Woody Guthrie & Almanac Singers)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad loneliness hardtimes rambling train prison farming work worker hobo
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 226, "Hard Travellin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 89, "Hard Traveling" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 59, "Hard Traveling" (1 text)
DT, HARDTRAV*
Roud #13926
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Hard Travelling" (on PeteSeeger18)
File: LoF226

Hard Travellin

See Hard Traveling" (File: LoF226)

Hard Trials

DESCRIPTION: "The foxes have holes in the ground... And everything has a hiding place, but we poor sinners have none. Now ain't them hard trials?..." Unrelated verses, often floating, about religious life, fidelity to denominations, the Devil, justice, death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: religious death Devil floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 600-602, "Hard Trials" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
Roud #7554
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Methodist Pie" (floating verses)
cf. "Lonesome Valley (I)" (floating verses)
NOTES: It's not clear, from the Lomax notes, whether this song actually exists on its own. Of their eight stanzas, they themselves admit to importing four. Three of the others float. The chorus is commonplace. So I am tempted to regard this as simply a Lomax assembly job. - RBW
File: LxA600

Hard Up and Broken Down

DESCRIPTION: "Once I had money plenty and friends too, by the score... But now I'm poor and lonely... No one seems to know me now because I'm broken down." He has wasted his fortune, and now his old friends ignore him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: poverty money
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 838, "Hard Up and Broken Down" (1 text)
Roud #7446
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime" (theme)
cf. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" (theme)
cf. "If But One Heart Be True" (theme)
cf. "Up a Tree" (theme)
NOTES: Randolph speculates that this is the "ruin of some English music-hall ditty." The literary reference ("As the immortal Shakespeare says, all this world's a stage" -- As You Like It, II.vii.139b) makes this a strong possibility. - RBW
File: R838

Hard-Working Miner, The

See Only a Miner (The Hard-Working Miner) [Laws G33] (File: LG33)

Hard, Ain't It Hard

See (references under) Tavern in the Town (File: ShH94)

Hard, Hard Times

See The Rigs of the Times (File: K237)

Hardest Bloody Job I Ever Had, The

See Ard Tack (File: PFS266)

Harding's Defeat

DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "Come all you good people the truth I'll relate/Concerning of Harding's most cruel defeat/Concerning bad conduct was used, they say/That caused us to be defeated on that very day"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: army battle fight war
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SharpAp 204, "Harding's Defeat" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #3603
NOTES: Making even an educated guess about the subject of this song is difficult, given that we have only one stanza. The collection date obviously precludes World War I and all later wars, as well as references to Warren G. Harding. I'd say the Spanish-American War is also out, because the informant would have remembered more.
The Civil War is an obvious possibility, but this is a Southern song, and there were no Confederate generals named Harding. There were a couple of Union general officers, but neither suffered an obvious defeat.
There is the confusing case of the American ship Defence in the Revolutionary War. Samuel W. Bryant'sThe Sea and the States, p. 83, mentions an American ship Defence, commanded by a Captain Harding -- but Bryant describes only a victory won by this ship. The Revolutionary War also featured a privateer Defence which suffered was sunk in 1779. Privateers of course had notoriously bad discipline. But if the data in Lincoln P. Paine's Ships of the World is correct, these two ships named Defence cannot have been the same vessel.
I'm stumped. My guess is that "Harding" is an error for some other name. Hardee, maybe -- confederate Lt. General William J. Hardee was a competent officer whose ineffective forces made it impossible to interfere with Sheman's March to the Sea. Alternately, there is John Hardin, 1753-1792, a Virginian who moved to Kentucky and was heavily involved in Indian fighting until killed in 1792. This may be the best bet. - RBW
File: ShAp2204

Hardly Think I Will

See Common Bill (File: R119)

Hardy Sons of Dan, The

DESCRIPTION: "For to score a goal there was none so bold, As the hardy Sons of Dan," named for Dan O'Connell. They won the Belturbet Tournament in 1889 and their second team won another tournament at Derrylin.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1980 (IRHardySons)
KEYWORDS: sports
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #17895
RECORDINGS:
Red Mick McDermott, "The Hardy Sons of Dan" (on IRHardySons)
NOTES: Notes to IRHardySons: "Drumlane, or Droim Leathan, is just a few miles south of Belturbet, in Co. Cavan. The 'Drumlane Sons of O'Connell' formed in 1886, and faded out of existence, probably in the inter-war years. They re-formed in 1966, and its present ground, O'Connell Park, opened in 1986. The GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) was founded in Thurles, Co Tipperary, on the 1st November 1884, and Drumlane joined in 1888."
For background on Dan O'Connell see the notes to "Daniel O'Connell" (II). - BS
File: RcHaSoDa

Hare of Kilgrain, The

DESCRIPTION: The hunter goes out in pursuit of sport. The hare tells its story of how the dogs pursued it. It leads them on a long chase, and proclaims that it did humans no harm, but at last the hounds catch and kill their innocent prey
AUTHOR: James Sloan ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection; reportedly written c. 1770)
KEYWORDS: animal death hunting
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H12, p. 31, "The Hare of Kilgrain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2883
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Innocent Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The Granemore Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The White Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
NOTES: The Henry text appears to be composite; the first two verses are in praise of the hunt and Richard Hunter at its head. The perspective then shifts to the hare, forced to flee and run and at last die.
Nimrod was "a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Genesis 10:8-10). - RBW
File: HHH012

Hare's Dream, The

DESCRIPTION: "On the twenty-seventh of January," the hare is awakened from its dream as the hounds come hunting. The trapped hare complains that the hunters let the fox go free while taking the hare; "All the harm e'er I done was crop the heads o' green kale."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: animal hunting food dog
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H172, pp. 31-32, "The Hare's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3574
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "The Innocent Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The Hare of Kilgrain" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The Granemore Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The White Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "Donagh Hill" (form, hunting theme)
NOTES: For the complex relationship between this song and "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)," see the notes to that song.
There is a broadside, NLScotland, Ry.III.a.6(020) "Hare's Dream," unknown, n.d. It is not related; the "Hare" in this case is an Irish-born criminal apprehended in Scotland who dreams of what happened after his crimes. - RBW
File: HHH032A

Hare's Lament, The

DESCRIPTION: An old hare, hiding from poachers and sent by "Queen" Mother Mouse, asks old Pat Bashon for shelter. They recall old times when he chased and fooled the poachers. He goes to the poachers' court and informs for twenty pounds. Happy ending for "haries"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: escape help poaching animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 500, "The Hare's Lament" (1 text)
Roud #5985
File: GrD3500

Hares in the Old Plantations

See Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping (File: K249)

Hares on the Mountain

DESCRIPTION: The singer avers that if young women ran like hares on the mountain, if he was a young man he'd go hunting. Likewise if they sang like birds in the bushes he'd beat the bushes, etc. ad (possible) nauseum
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1836 (Samuel Lover's novel _Rory O'More_ . See NOTES)
KEYWORDS: sex lyric nonballad animal bird
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) Ireland US(NE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Bronson (44), "The Twa Magicians" -- the appendix includes 11 versions (#2-#12) which are this song
Sharp-100E 63, "Hares on the Mountains"; 64, "O Sally, My Dear" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #2, #12}
Kennedy 169, "Blackbirds and Thrushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 50, "Blackbirds and Thrushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 173, "Sally My Dear" (1 text)
DT, HARESMTN* SALLYDR*
Roud #329
RECORDINGS:
Dickie Lashbrook, "Blackbirds and Thrushes" (on FSB2CD)
Pete Seeger, "Sally My Dear" (on PeteSeeger06, PeteSeegerCD01) (on PeteSeeger14)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll Your Leg Over" (form, theme)
cf. "Creeping and Crawling" (tune)
cf. "The Twa Magicians" [Child 44]
NOTES: It has been theorized that this song descends from "The Twa Magicians" [Child 44] (so, for instance, Bronson, who prints this piece as an appendix to that ballad). Frankly, I don't see it. More likely is the connection with "Creeping and Crawling (The Knife in the Window)," with which it shares a tune. But even they have separate plots. - RBW
OLochlainn-More: "Sometimes attributed to Samuel Lover (1797-1865) as he printed it in his novel Rory O More, but is probably an older ballad rewritten. He was a versatile genius, poet, artist, novelist, folk-lorist and antiquarian." See my speculation on Lover for "Widow Machree (II)." - BS
File: ShH63

Hark from the Tomb

DESCRIPTION: "Hark from the tomb a doleful sound, My ears attend the cry, Ye living man, come view the ground Where you must shortly lie." "Grant us the power of quickening grace To fit our souls to fly, Then when we drop this dying flesh We'll rise above the sky"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1836 (Methodist Hymnal)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad death
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 638, "Hark from the Tomb" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7563
NOTES: Sometimes credited, seemingly on inadequate evidence, to John or Charles Wesley. In the Sacred Harp, where it bears the tune "Plenary," the words are said to be by Isaac Watts, with the tune by A. Clark. The Missouri Harmony uses the tunes "Funeral Thought" and "New Durham." - RBW
File: R638

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

DESCRIPTION: "Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory (be) to the new-born King." In praise of the baby Jesus, the "incarnate deity, pleased as man with man to dwell." The song offers both praise and thanks for the coming of Jesus
AUTHOR: Words: Charles Wesley (1707-1788) (adapted by George Whitefield) / Music: Felix Mendelssohn (1808-1847)
EARLIEST DATE: 1739 ("Hymns and Sacred Poems")
KEYWORDS: Christmas nonballad religious
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 381, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 269-270, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
DT, HRALDANG*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp. 46-47, "Hard, the Herald Angels Sing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #32, "Hard, the Herald Angels Sing" (1 text); cf. #31, "Hark, How All the Welkin Rings" (1 text)
Roud #8337
SAME TUNE:
Uncle Joe and Aunty Mabel (File: EM374)
Beecham's Pills (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 37)
Make New Friends But Keep The Old (partial tune) (DT, NEWFRNDS*, GSFRIEND*)
NOTES: In the Sacred Harp, this is given the tune "Cookham." It's not the standard Mendelssohn melody.
The original Charles Wesley text might come as a surprise; the title line is "Hark how all the welkin rings, 'Glory to the king of kings,'" then turns to more familiar lines. This text can be found, e.g., in the Penguin Book of Carols.
The "welkin" is the firmament or the dome of heaven; George Whitefield apparently changed it (and made sundry lesser changes) not because the word was archaic because it didn't fit his theology; Wesley was of course Arminian (meaning that human beings actually had some role in gaining, or at least accepting, salvation), but Whitefield was pure Calvinist, meaning that he believed in salvation by God's caprice, with no amount of human action having anything to do with it. (As you can probably tell, I am not a Calvinist.)
It was a fellow by the name of W. H. Cummings, who had performed under Mendelssohn's direction, who mated the Wesley/Whitefield words with the Mendelssohn melody, publishing the result in 1856. Only then did the song become popular.
For the life of Charles Wesley, author of (some of) the lyrics of this piece, see the notes to "Jesus Lover of My Soul." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FSWB381C

Harlaw

See The Battle of Harlaw [Child 163] (File: C163)

Harm Link

See The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn [Laws H13] (File: LH13)

Harmless Young Jim

DESCRIPTION: Jim says to a girl, "My name it is harmless Young Jim" and offers to "take you to the bakery and buy you a bun." She resists. He persists. They marry and have a son. "I'm sure I'd been better to leave her alone"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage sex childbirth bawdy wordplay food
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 282-283, "Harmless Young Jim" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9968
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blackberry Grove" (innuendoes)
cf. "Buttercup Joe" (innuendoes)
File: Pea282

Harness up Yo' Hosses

DESCRIPTION: "Harness up yo' hosses, Hey, o hey! Harness up yo' hosses, We'll teach you how ter drive 'em, Hey, oh hey! We'll fight fur Uncle Sam."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: horse work fight Civilwar
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 373, "Harness up Yo' Hosses" (1 fragment)
Roud #11748
NOTES: Brown's text is too short for certainty, but it seems reasonable to assume that this refers to the American Civil War and the way "contrabands" (escaped or captured slaves) were treated: The Federals quickly began to use them as teamsters, and by the middle of the war was enlisting them as soldiers as well. - RBW
File: Br3373

Harp of Erin (I), The

See Erin, My Country (The Harp of Erin) (File: HHH478)

Harp of Old Erin, The

DESCRIPTION: "The Harp of Old Erin will be heard once again, And will twine with the Shamrock in every green glen, And the round tower and wolfdog in sunshine will be With Home Rule for Ireland and Ireland free"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: Ireland patriotic political
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn, p. 231, "The Harp of Old Erin" (1 fragment)
NOTES: The current description is all of the OLochlainn fragment. - BS
File: OLoc231

Harp on the Willow, The

DESCRIPTION: "Come brethren and sisters, and hear me relate, And I will inform you of my present state." The singer trusted Jesus, but now feels rejected, "My harp on the willow seems to be hung." The singer begs to be restored to the former state of grace
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious request harp
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 655, "The Harp on the Willow" (1 text)
Roud #7576
NOTES: This song contains assorted allusions to Psalm 137 (e.g. the harp on the willow, Psalm 137:2), but they seem almost incidental to the plot -- the piece just uses them as the coin of the realm, rather than actively adopting the psalm. - RBW
File: R655

Harp or Lion

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees in the news that Irishmen "despise their country's story, All they love is England's glory, Ha-ha-ha!" Shame on O Neill, Emmet, Tone and Ninety-eight. We should replace "our old green banner" with "the mangy British lion! Ha-ha-hah!"
AUTHOR: T.D. Sullivan (1827-1914) (source: OLochlainn-More)
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (_Songs and Poems_ by T.D.S., according to OLochlainn-more)
KEYWORDS: England Ireland humorous nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 47, "Harp or Lion" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9763
NOTES: Sullivan is the author of a number of Irish patriotic poems, of which "God Save Ireland" is probably the best-known. - RBW
File: OLcM047

Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls, The

DESCRIPTION: "The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls As tho' that soul were fled." Tara's glory is fled, and the only sign that freedom still exists "Is when some heart, indignant, breaks."
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore
EARLIEST DATE: 1851 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1851 490660)
KEYWORDS: harp music freedom nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (6 citations):
O'Conor, p. 10, "Harp That Once" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 320, "The Harp That Once Thro' Tara's Halls" (1 text)
DT, TARAHARP*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 381, "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls" (1 text)
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 32-33, "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls" (1 text)
Charles W. Eliot, editor, English Poetry Vol II From Collins to Fitzgerald (New York, 1910), #488, p. 819, "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls" (by Thomas Moore)
Roud #13392
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(8a/b) View 8 of 8, "The Harp That Once Throug Tara's Halls," R. March and Co. (London), 1877-1884; also Harding B 11(1155), "The Harp that Once Tara's Halls"; Firth b.26(381), "The Harp That Once in Tara's Halls"; Firth c.26(121), "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Hall"; Firth b.27(457/458) View 2 of 4, "The Harp of Tara's Hall"
LOCSheet, sm1851 490660, "The Harp That Once Thro' Tara's Halls," William Hall and S (New York), 1851; also sm1851 680650, "The Harp That Once Thro' Tara's Halls"; sm1851 491690, sm1879 02685, "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Hall" (tune)
LOCSinging, as105190, "The Harp That Once Thro' Tara's Halls," Thos. G. Doyle (Baltimore), 19C
NLScotland, RB.m.143(144), "The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1875
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Highland Maid" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Highland Maid (File: Ord297)
Old Ireland I Adore (File: OCon113)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Tara's Harp
NOTES: This is one of the classic poems of Irish melancholy; Granger's Index to Poetry cites no fewer than fifteen anthologies. Ironically, it seems rare in tradition.
Tara, according to legend at least, was the seat of the ancient Irish high kings. - RBW
File: FSWB320C

Harpin' Mannie, The

See The Lochmaben Harper [Child 192] (File: C192)

Harpkin

See The Fause Knight Upon the Road [Child 3] (File: C003)

Harrison Campaign Song

DESCRIPTION: "A farmer there was, who lived at North Bend"; he regretfully leaves his log cabin to go to Washington. Coming to the White House, he sets everyone astir. When they prove unable to dislodge them, he warns them to get hard cider by March fourth
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 2, 1840 - William Henry Harrison defeats Martin Van Buren
Mar 4, 1841 - Harrison (the first Whig to be elected President) is inaugurated. He gives a rambling inaugural address in a rainstorm and catches cold
April 4, 1841 - Harrison dies of pneumonia, making him the first president to fail to complete his term. After some hesitation, Vice President John Tyler is allowed to succeed as President
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 335, "Harrison Campaign Song" (1 text)
Roud #7840
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" (subject)
cf. "Old Tippecanoe" (subject)
cf. "Tippecanoe" (subject)
NOTES: For details on the (thoroughly dirty) 1840 Presidential campaign, and the purely false picture it drew of William Henry Harrison, see the notes to "Old Tippecanoe."
It should perhaps be pointed out that, at the time this song was sung, new Presidents were still inaugurated on March 4.
The way this song is written might make it appear that Van Buren undertook some sort of cabinet shake-up during the 1840 campaign. He didn't; three of his six cabinet secretaries stayed the whole administration, and while two offices turned over in 1840, one of those was Postmaster, held by Amos F. Kendall, the advisor Van Buren "could not spare;" he assuredly was not driven out. - RBW
File: Beld335

Harrison Town

DESCRIPTION: The singer (warns against bad company which led him to break the law). He now has been captured and faces prison. He hopes that his horse, which served him so well, will be well cared for. (He promises to live a reformed life with his girl when released)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: outlaw crime punishment prison horse
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 162, "Harrison Town" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 155-156, "Harrison Town" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 162A)
Roud #4095
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boston Burglar" [Laws L16] (theme)
NOTES: This song is item dE34 in Laws's Appendix II. Randolph's second text shows some signs of influence from "The Boston Burglar" or something similar, but these may be later additions; the first text shows none. - RBW
File: R162

Harrowing Time

DESCRIPTION: A bothy ballad describing spring harrowing. "Cauld winter it is now awa', And spring has come again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #71, pp. 1-2, "Harrowing Time" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 421, "Harrowing Time" (6 texts, 4 tunes)
DBuchan 70, "Harrowing Time" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
Ord, pp. 256-257, "Harrowing Time" (1 text)
Roud #5587
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Drumdelgie" (tune)
cf. "The Miller of Straloch" (tune, per Greig)
cf. "The Fyvie Ploughmen" (subject: ploughing match)
cf. "The Plooin' Match" (subject: ploughing match)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Cauld Winter's Noo Awa
Come All Ye Jolly Ploughboys
File: DBuch70

Harry Bail

See Harry Bale (Dale, Bail, Bell) [Laws C13] (File: LC13)

Harry Bale (Dale, Bail, Bell) [Laws C13]

DESCRIPTION: The orphan Harry Bahel is at work in a sawmill when he is dragged onto the saw. He dies the next day and is buried as his siblings grieve
AUTHOR: Charles Bahel?
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: orphan death burial technology lumbering grief
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 1879 - Death of Harry Bahel, at age 19, in Arcadia Township, Lapeer County, Michigan
FOUND IN: US(MW,So) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws C13, "Harry Bale (Dale, Bail, Bell)"
Belden, pp. 418-419, "Harry Bale" (1 text, in which the hero is called "Harry Dale")
Fowke-Lumbering #33, "Harry Bale" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Manny/Wilson 80, "The Little Shingle Mill (The Death of Harry Vail)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rickaby 27, "Harry Bail" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 113, "Harry Bail" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Beck 61, "Harry Bail" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 700, HARYBALE
Roud #2217
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Haggerty (The Flat River Girl)" [Laws C25]
NOTES: Two of Gardner and Chickering's informants, John B. Redhead and William Rabidue, both of whom worked in lumber mills in the general vicinity, credit this to Harry Bahel's brother Charlie (Rabidue, who supplied Gardner and Chickering's main text, also mentions a Johnny Coffey). There does not seem to be any actual proof of this. - RBW
File: LC13

Harry Dunn (The Hanging Limb) [Laws C14]

DESCRIPTION: Harry Dunn has gone to work in the woods of Michigan despite his mother's advice. One day he dreams that there is trouble at home. On that very day he is killed by a falling branch. His parents are shocked to death when his body arrives
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: logger dream family mother death lumbering
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Newf,Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws C14, "Harry Dunn (The Hanging Limb)"
Rickaby 26, "The Hanging Limb" (2 texts)
Gardner/Chickering 114, "Harry Dunn" (1 text)
Doerflinger, pp. 221-223, "Harry Dunne" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 162, "Harry Dunn" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 763-765, "The Woods of Michigan" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 36-37, "Harry Dunn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 59, "Harry Dunn" (2 texts, one called "Harry Dunne"; 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #34, "Harry Dunn" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 130, "Lumbering Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 767, HARRDUNN
Roud #639
RECORDINGS:
Martin Sullivan, "Harry Dunn" (on Lumber01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Boy Killed by a Falling Tree in Hartford" (plot)
cf. "Chance McGear" (plot)
cf. "The Substitute (plot)
cf. "Whitney's Camp" (tune, plot)
cf. "Erin's Green Shore" (tune)
File: LC14

Harry Dunne

See Harry Dunn (The Hanging Limb) [Laws C14] (File: LC14)

Harry Flood's Election Song

DESCRIPTION: "Ye lovers of trade and every handicraft" strike up the band for Harry Flood. "Our freedom's declared, we'll chase dull sorrows, All cares we'll banish to feast and banquet." Listeners are urged to toast Harry Flood
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1771 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 86, "Harry Flood's Election Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9770
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "This fragment of an election song for the famous Henry Flood (1732-1791) undoubtedly dates back at least to 1770." - BS
It is interesting to speculate on just when Flood or his supporters would have used this song. He did not run for office very often; when he first entered the Irish parliament, there was no upper limit on how long a parliament could sit.
He first became a member of parliament in 1759, sponsored by a landowner interest. A fine orator, he argued vigorously for reforms and increased rights for the Irish (at least for Protestants).
In 1775, though, Flood was induced to join the establishment as vice-treasurer, and he was no longer in position to oppose the existing order. He left the government in 1781, eventually purchasing a seat in the British parliament. (His gifts as a speaker and lawyer had made him rich), but he was no longer particularly important as a reformer; his causes were taken over by Henry Grattan (for whom see "Ireland's Glory"). - RBW
File: OLcM086

Harry Hayward Song, The

DESCRIPTION: "Minneapolis was excited, And for many miles around, For a terrible crime committed." "Kit" goes riding, and is found shot and beaten to death. The rest of the song thunders at the criminal
AUTHOR: probably Joseph Vincent Brooks
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Minneapolis Journal); probably published 1895
KEYWORDS: murder
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
December 1895 - Execution of Harry Hayward for the murder of Kitty Ging
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Burt, p. 96-99, "(The Harry Hayward Song)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Walter N. Trenerry, Murder in Minnesota (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1985), pp. 154-155, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: I'm not sure I've ever seen a murder ballad with fewer facts mixed in with more moralizing. The version printed by Burt has only a partial name of the victim, no name for the murderer, no real background, no date, and no aftermath.
And not much poetry, either.
Burt states that Harry Hayward was (and so would remain as of 2007), the last man legally hanged (as opposed to lynched) in Minnesota. It appears, however, that this statement is false; the death penalry was not abolished until 1911 (Blegen, p. 439), and according Trenerry pp. 223-227, there were ten executions between after Hayward's date with a hempen necktie, and all are described as hangings.
The crime itself, however, gets little historical attention; it's not mentioned in Blegen, nor in Norman K. Risjord's A Popular History of Minnesota, nor in William E. Lass's Minnesota: A History. As of when I indexed the song, there wasn't even any mention of it on the Minnesota Historical Society's web site that I could find, although I eventually managed to find a photo of a well-dressed, vaguely handsome young man with a mustache..
The Historical Society did of course publish Trenerry's book, which has a chapter on the crime; all of what follows is taken from that source. In 1894, Harry Hayward and Katherine "Kitty" Ging were both 29 years old and unmarried. Hayward was "a professional gambler, a ne'er-do-well, and an associate of petty crooks." He also dealt in counterfeit money, which apparently allowed him to keep gambling after he would otherwise have been bankrupt. He had never really held a steady job; his family was sufficiently well-off that his father gave him a building, which he sold to finance his gambling.
It appears that Kitty Ging, perhaps tempted by promises of marriage, gave him both money and her body. (The former seems certain. The forensics of 1894 would of course have been unable to prove that Hayward was the one responsible for her not being a virgin. Trenerry's language is very decorous, but it does not sound as if she was pregnant.)
On December 3, 1894, Ging's body was found near Lake Calhoun in south-central Minneapolis. She had been shot in the head, and the body was then dumped from a cart and run over. This shortly after Hayward had induced her to open life insurance policies for which he was to be the beneficiary.
Hayward himself did not commit the murder, though he helped identify the body (and set up a constant moan about the money she allegedly owed him). Rather, he had induced a not-too-bright employee of his father's, Clause A. Blixt, to do the deed (getting him thoroughly drunk to help him along). The purpose of this was to allow Hayward to establish an alibi, which he did by going out with another woman.
But Hayward didn't keep quiet enough. He had talked to his brother Adry about killing Ging, and eventually the brother went to the police. Investigations led to Blixt, and enough evidence came out to lead to Harry. Hayward and Blixt were charged with murder on December 13. Hayward's attorney tried to get Adry Hayward's testimony excluded on the grounds that he was insane (Trenerry admits that Adry doesn't seem to have been too bright), but the judge allowed it, and that plus miscellaneous other evidence was enough for conviction. On March 8, 1895, the case went to the jury, They returned a verdict of first degree murder after less than three hours (including time for lunch). There was an appeal, but it was denied, and Hayward went to the gallows on December 11, 1895. He gave a confession shortly before his death.
Blixt was also convicted of murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment; he went insane some time before his death. (Sort of makes you wonder about the hotel where Adry and Harry Hayward lived and Blixt worked, doesn't it? Was there perhaps a mercury source somewhere nearby?)
It's hard to believe this feeble piece of poetry could be traditional, but Trenerry's text, from the 1924 Minneapolis Journal, differs substantially from Burt's in the later stanzas. I doubt we can find out much more; the Minneapolis Journal ceased publication before I was born.
Burt does not mention the fact, but the tune appears to be "The Fatal Wedding," which was published and became very popular just a few year before the Ging murder.
Dunn, p. 141, describes an advertisement in the Brainerd Weekly Journal of a song called "The Fatal Ride": "It was written by one 'Marius' to words by Joseph Vincent Brookes who... was formerly in the restaurant business in [Brainerd] and locally celebrated as a 'tragic poet.' The front page of this song describing the notorious murder in Minneapolis of Kitty Ging by Harry Hayward was said to have been decorated 'with a very fine picture of the buckskin horse and carriage that were used when Miss Ging rode to her death.'"
The description is surely of this song, although neither Dunn nor I have been able to locate the sheet music. But the evidence seems sufficient to list Brookes as the probable author of the words. - RBW
Bibliography

Blegen: Theodore C. Blegen, Minnesota: A History of the State (1963; I use the 1975 University of Minnesota edition with a new final chapter by Russell W. Fridley, but this is merely an appendix to the Blegen book; it is actually placed *after* the index!)
Dunn: James Taylor Dunn, "A Century of Song: Popular Music in Minnesota," Minnesota History magazine, Winter 1974, pp. 122-141
Trenerry: Walter N. Trenerry, Murder in Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society, 1962 (I use the 1985 edition, which is not listed as revised, but I noticed a reference to 1980 in one of the appendices)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Burt096

Harry Lumsdale's Courtship

DESCRIPTION: "First when Harry cam' to Clatt," he asks bonnie Jean, "wilt thou go Up to Auchindoir we' me?" Jean and her mother hesitate. Harry decides to turn to Betty Brown. After he leaves, Jeannie says, "O for him back again!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: love courting mother rejection separation
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 766, "Harry Lumsden," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Harry Lumsden" (2 texts)
Ord, pp. 427-429, "Harry Lumsdale's Courtshhip" (1 text)
Roud #6186
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Highland Harry
NOTES: Ord describes this as the original for Burns's "My Harry Was a Gallant Gay" (aka "Highland Harry.") This strikes me as unlikely. The common material is a single verse, near the end of Ord's text and clearly not integral to it; it seems more likely that "Highland Harry" is a genuine traditional song and that Ord's obscure poem has picked up its chorus. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Ord427

Harry Lumsden

See Harry Lumsdale's Courtship (File: Ord427)

Harry Newell

See Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going) (File: SBoA050)

Harry Orchard

DESCRIPTION: "Harry Orchard is in prison, The reason you all know; He killed Frank Steunenberg...." "He set his bomb out carefully." "Harry blamed the Wobblies." "The chiefs were brought to Denver... Bill Haywood and George Pettybone Were brought to Idyho."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder execution punishment IWW trial execution
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1896-1900 - Frank R. Steunenberg's term as governor of Idaho
Dec 30, 1905 - Steunenberg killed by a bomb blast at his home. Harry Orchard, his accused murderer, would spend the rest of his life in prison.
1906-1907 - Trials of the IWW officials for complicity in Steunenberg's murder
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 93-95, "(The Song of Harry Orchard)" (1 text)
NOTES: Frank Steunenberg, during his term as governor of Idaho, had made difficulties for the Western Federation of Miners. His murder was thought to be in retaliation for that. Suspicion eventually fell on Harry Orchard (Tom Hogan).
The Pinkertons brought in James McParland/McPharland (I've seen both spellings, and am unable to verify which is correct), already famous for cracking the Molly Maguires (and, incidentally, the model for "Birdy Edwards" in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Valley of Fear") to work on Orchard.
Orchard finally implicated Charles H. Moyer, William "Big Bill" Haywood, and George Pettibone of the Industrial Workers of the World as being responsible for the planning of the crime. Clarence Darrow, however, was able to secure their acquittal. Orchard alone was punished, being sentenced to life imprisonment. Although eventually eligible for parole, he elected to spend the rest of his life (nearly fifty years) in prison, dying in 1954 at age 88.
Of the three IWW officials, Haywood (1869-1928) is perhaps the most likely to have been involved; he was originally an officer of the Western Federation of Miners, and later presided over the founding of the IWW. He was convicted of sedition in 1918, and fled to the Soviet Union in 1921.
This is item dE48 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Burt093

Harry Saunders

See Prince Robert [Child 87] (File: C087)

Harry the Tailor

DESCRIPTION: Harry seeks a wife. He tickles Dolly, the dairymaid. She shoves him into the well. The farmer hauls him out. He accused the farmer of knocking him in; the farmer throws buttermilk at him. He tells his mother "If this is your courtin', the devil take all"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (Vaughn Williams)
KEYWORDS: courting accusation abuse farming humorous mother
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 131, "Harry the Tailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HRRYTAIL*
Roud #1465
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Friar in the Well" [Child 276] (plot)
File: K131

Hartford Wreck, The

DESCRIPTION: A train is wrecked on near Hartford, Vermont. Passenger Joseph Maigret is fatally injured and discusses his fate with his son.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Flanders collection)
KEYWORDS: train wreck father death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 4, 1887 - The Hartford Wreck
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, p. 272, "The Hartford Wreck" (notes only)
Roud #4136
NOTES: This is item dg36 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: LSRa272C

Harvard Student, The (The Pullman Train)

DESCRIPTION: As the train pulls into a village, a girl gets on and openly sits next to the "tall and stout and swell" (Harvard student). He gets "soot" in his eye; she offers to remove it. They enter a tunnel, and after kissing sounds her earring is found in his beard
AUTHOR: Louis Shreve Osborne?
EARLIEST DATE: 1871 (Harvard Advocate)
KEYWORDS: courting train humorous
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 391, "The Harvard Student" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 218-320, "The Harvard Student" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 391)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 109-110, "The Eastern Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 50-52, "In the Tunnel" (1 text)
Roud #7617
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Pullman Train
Riding Down from Bangor
NOTES: According to Cohen, the 1871 printing in the Harvard Advocate is credited to "S. O. L." It was printed under the title "In the Tunnel." He speculates that "S. O. L." might be a distortion of the initials of poet Louis S. Osborne, who attended Harvard at the time.
His speculation has external support. Having read Cohen's comments, I went looking for works of Louis Shreve Osborne's. I found exactly one in Granger's Index to Poetry, that being "Riding Down from Bangor," in Hazel Felleman's The Best Loved Poems of the American People, p. 515. Which proves to be this very poem. But it may be that Felleman followed the same line of logic; her attributions are not very reliable. I think, on the whole, we have to list this as a "probable" case of authorship. - RBW
File: R391

Harvest Home Song (I)

DESCRIPTION: Singer toasts the master of the house, his health and prosperity, and the mistress; listeners are urged to drink up. Cho: "So drink, boys, drink! And see that you do not spill/For if you do, you shall drink two, for that is our master's will"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1890 ("Sussex Songs," John & Lucy Broadwood)
KEYWORDS: farming harvest ritual drink party nonballad worker
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, MILLDEE3*
Roud #310
RECORDINGS:
Tony Wales, "The Woodcutter" (on TWales1)
NOTES: This was sung as part of a harvest-supper ritual; each person's cup would be filled as the song was sung around the table. Variants salute other rural occupations, such as woodcutting (cf. the Wales recording). This can be distinguished from other harvest-home songs by the "Drink, boys, drink" chorus. - PJS
File: RcHaHS1

Harvest Home, The

DESCRIPTION: "Come, ye jolly lads and lasses, Ranting round in pleasure's ring... Blythe and merry we hae been, Blythe and merry let us be." The workers are not gathered to gain "warldly gear" but to celebrate now that the harvest is over
AUTHOR: John Anderson of Upper Boyndlie (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work music party
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #164, p. 2, "The Harvest Home" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 632, "The Harvest Home" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 272-273, "The Harvest Home" (1 text)
Roud #5595
NOTES: Greig: ." .. written about the middle of last century, or perhaps somewhat earlier." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Ord272

Harvest is Ower, The

See Molly, My Dear (File: GrD4861)

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Green Above the Red, The

Green Banks of Banna, The

Green Bed, The

Green Brier Shore (II), The

Green Brier Shore, The

Green Broom

Green Bushes, The [Laws P2]

Green Carpet

Green Cockade, The

Green Corn (I)

Green Corn (II)

Green Erin

Green Fields and Meadows, The

Green Fields of America (I), The

Green Fields of America (II), The

Green Fields of Canada, The

Green Fields Round Ferbane, The

Green Flag of Erin

Green Flag, The

Green Flowers O

Green Garden

Green Grass

Green Grass Grew All Round, The

Green Grass Growing All Around, The

Green Grass It Grows Bonnie

Green Grassy Slopes, The

Green Grave, The

Green Gravel

Green Green

Green Green Rocky Road

Green Grow the Laurels (II)

Green Grow the Leaves

Green Grow the Lilacs

Green Grow the Rashes (II)

Green Grow the Rashes, O

Green Grow the Rushes (III)

Green Grow the Rushes O (II)

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

Green Grow The Rushes, Oh! (II -- Singing Game)

Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)

Green Hills of Antrim, The

Green Hills of Erin, The

Green Island Shore

Green Laurels, The

Green Linnet, The

Green Mossy Banks of the Lea, The [Laws O15]

Green Mountain

Green Mountain Boys, The

Green on the Cape

Green Peas and Barley

Green Peas, Mutton Pies

Green Plaid, The

Green Shores of Fogo, The

Green Sleeves

Green Upon the Cape

Green Valley

Green Wedding, The

Green Willow Tree (I), The

Green Willow Tree (II), The

Green Willow, The

Green Woods o' Airlie, The

Greenback Dollar

Greenfields (How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours)

Greenhorn, The

Greenland (The Whaler's Song, Once More for Greenland We Are Bound)

Greenland Disaster (I), The

Greenland Disaster (II -- Sad Comes the News), The

Greenland Disaster (III -- Miscellaneous), The

Greenland Fishing

Greenland Whale Fishery, The [Laws K21]

Greenmount Smiling Ann

Greenock Railway, The

Greens

Greense's Bonny Lass

Greensleeves

Greenwood Laddie, The

Greenwood Siding, {The)

Greer County

Greer's Grove

Gresford Disaster, The