Harvest Shearin', The


DESCRIPTION: "Farewell, love, for I maun leave you" "Don't you hear the colonel crying, Run brave boys, keep colours flying." "No more we'll go to the harvest shearin'" or hear the blackbird. Farewell father, mother, sister, comrades and dearie.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: farewell war nonballad family friend lover soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 101, "The Harvest Shearin'" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #1301
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Fareweel, Lassie, I Maun Leave Ye
Love Farewell
File: GrD1101

Harvey Duff


DESCRIPTION: "Harvey Duff, keep the step, Oh, what's up with you"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1881 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: nonballad police
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 78, "Harvey Duff" (2 fragments, 1 tune)
NOTES: The tune seems to me to be close to "The Worms Crawl In."
Zimmermann: "The name became a popular cry to abuse traitors after the success of Dion Boucicault's melodrama The Shaughraun, first produced in 1875. The hero of the play was a Fenian, and the villain an informer -- Harvey Duff, 'a police agent in disguise of a peasant'," quoting The Dolmen Boucicault. "For a time, to call somebody Harvey Duff was like calling him a traitor -- cf. the name Quisling in the mid twentieth century. The constables had grounds for considering the expression offensive when it was systematically applied to them.... The name Harvey Duff survived as synonymous with policeman in the street rhymes of Dublin children."
Zimmermann discusses the arrests in 1881 of children, one six years old, for whistling the tune. He has other reports of people attacked or arrested by police for whistling "Harvey Duff" and of animals reportedly famous for their ability to mimic the tune.
"The arrests for whistling in Newcastle became a national controversy and 'Harvey Duff'" was whistled at every crossroads and every Land League gathering in the country." (source: "Hugh Murray Gunn" and Harvey Duff" quoting Freeman's Journal, February 12, 1881 at Gaelscoil O Doghair site.
As for words... one typical] fragment is included as the description, Zimmermann says "it is likely that many occasional squibs were set to this short air -- and soon forgotten."
Tim Coughlan, Now Shoon the Romano Gillie, (Cardiff,2001), p. 155 refers to the following text "used by the urchins of Dublin to taunt the police ... Harvey Duff, don't take me, Take the fellow behind the tree." "The words would be repeated until either the law gave chase or the game was abandoned for lack of action." - BS
File: Zimm078

Harvey Logan [Laws E21]


DESCRIPTION: Harvey Logan, pool player, gambler, and brawler, comes to the attention of the police after a gaming fight. Arrested following a gun battle, be escapes from Knoxville by taking the jailer hostage and riding off on the sheriff's horse
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Byrd Moore)
KEYWORDS: gambling prison escape
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 8, 1904 - Death of Harvey Logan
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws E21, "Harvey Logan"
Darling-NAS, pp. 195-196, "Harvey Logan" (1 text)
DT 790, HARVLOGN
Roud #2250
RECORDINGS:
Dock Boggs, "Harvey Logan" (on Boggs1, BoggsCD1)
Byrd Moore, "Harvey Logan" (Gennett 6549, 1928)
NOTES: According to Bill O'Neal, Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters, Harvey Logan was born in 1865 in Tama, Iowa, and he and three brothers were orphaned early and raised by an aunt. At age 19, he headed west with two younger brothers. They opened a ranch in 1888, with what O'Neal describes as stolen cattle. They reportedly worked as hired guns for a time, and Harvey, said to be very dour and a heavy drinker, apparently killed an important local in 1894.
In 1895, Harvey's brother Johnny was killed, and Harvey became even more brutal, killing three sheriffs around the west and joining the gang of "Butch" Cassidy. (There is a photo of Logan with Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and two others on p. 190 of O'Neal.)
The west became so hot for him that he moved back east to Knoxville, Tennessee, where in 1901 he was involved in a shootout with police. He killed three, but was wounded; he was captured a short distance away. Convicted, he escaped the Knoxville jail by taking the wrapping wire from a broom and using it to capture a guard. He fled to Colorado, where he was killed in 1904. - RBW
File: LE21

Haselbury Girl, The (The Maid of Tottenham, The Aylesbury Girl)


DESCRIPTION: A girl on the way to market meets a rakish young man, who proceeds to tie up her garter, which costs her her maidenhead. In many versions, she asks his name, and he refuses to answer.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1656 (printed in Choyce Drollery: Songs and Sonnets... Never Before Printed [London])
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex clothes courting
FOUND IN: US(SE,So) Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Kennedy 176, "The Haselbury Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 49, "Jackie Rover" (1 text)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 162-168, "The Maid of Tottenham" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
DT, HASLBURY* MAIDTOTN* UPSNDOWN
Roud #364
RECORDINGS:
Pop Maynard, "The Aylesbury Girl" (on Voice15)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" [Child 110]
cf. ""The Next Market Day""
ALTERNATE TITLES:
To Market, To Market
Tottingham Fair
The Salisbury Girl
The Ups and Downs
Jack the Rover
NOTES: Legman's notes in Randolph-Legman I, p. 167, terms this "a carefree reduction" of "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" (Child 110). The evidence is thin. - EC
File: K176

Hash o' Bennygak (Hash o' Benagoak)


DESCRIPTION: Bothy ballad. Humorous description of characters working on a farm. Singer says if you want to find him, he'll be on a herring boat
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (collected from Maggie McPhee)
KEYWORDS: farming work humorous moniker nonballad worker
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MacSeegTrav 106, "The Hash o' Bennygak" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1527
File: McCST106

Hat Me Father Wore, The


See TheHat My Father Wore (File: BrdHMFW)

Hat My Father Wore, The


DESCRIPTION: Paddy Miles comes from Ireland to America. On St Patrick's day he wears the hat "wore for more than ninety years ... From my father's great ancestors." He plans to return to Ballymore with "the hat my father wore"
AUTHOR: Daniel Macarthy (source: broadside LOCSheet sm1876 01751)
EARLIEST DATE: 1876 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1876 01751)
KEYWORDS: emigration return clothes America Ireland father
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1538, "The Hat My Father Wore" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Greig #168, p. 2, "The Hat My Father Wore" (1 text)
Dean, p. 64, "The Hat Me Father Wore" (1 text)
Roud #4796
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1119), "The Hat My Father Wore ("I'm Paddy Miles an Irish boy"), Jones (Sheffield), n.d.
LOCSheet, sm1876 01751, "The Hat My Father Wore!," E. H. Harding (New York), 1876 (tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sash My Father Wore (I)" (form)
cf. "The Sash My Father Wore (II)" (many lines)
NOTES: Zimmermann: "It has been noted that 'much of the pugnacity has gone from the music played on the 12th day of July' [S.H. Bell Erin's Orange Lily, p. 14]; there is a tendency to replace the most violent ballads by innocuous songs such as 'The Ould Orange Flute' or 'The Sash my Father Wore'. 'The Ould Orange Flute' appeared on nineteenth century broadsides. The other song ['The Sash my Father Wore'] is more recent; it was probably the paraphrase of a non-political song, 'The Hat my Father Wore'. A nationalist version, quite different in character but singable to the same tune, appeared in The Shan Van Vocht, August 1896." The "Donagh MacDonagh Song Collection" at tripod.lycos site includes a version of "The Hat My Father Wore" that has the singer exiled "For the joining of the Brotherhood in the year of '64"; the tune for MacDonagh's version is "The Sash my Father Wore." It is clear that "The Sash" is an adaptation of "The Hat," or vice versa.
The author is in question. The sheet music, LOCSheet sm1876 01751, states "words by Daniel Macarthy" with no attribution for the tune. GreigDuncan8 says "Cf. Walton's Treasury of Irish Songs and Ballads (Dublin, 1947), p. 105. The song was written by Johnny Paterson."
Weldon Thornton, Allusions in Ulysses: An Anotated List, (Chapel Hill, 1982), p. 92, refers to both claims as songs "which must be substantially the same" and goes no further to resolve the claims. - BS
According to Spaeth, A History of Popular Music in America, p. 331, William ("Billy") Jerome and Jean Schwartz in 1909 published a song"The May My Father Wore on St. Patrick's Day." That can hardly be the original of this, but I don't know how the one influenced the other. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BrdHMFW

Hateful Mary Ann


DESCRIPTION: A confused piece, with hints of stage origin. The singer waits for her love, who is much delayed. She fears bad weather has caused him to stop "with that hateful Mary Ann" "And it's all for the chilly, driving rain. At last he arrives (to her reproaches?)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love courting betrayal storm
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 144, "Hateful Mary Ann" (1 text)
Roud #6564
File: BrII144

Hattie Belle


See Lonesome Road (File: San322)

Hatton Woods


See The Bonnie Woods o' Hatton (File: Ord185)

Haud Awa, Bide Awa


DESCRIPTION: He asks that she accept him, a shepherd who would "row ye in his tartan plaid," and Highland soldier with a house and meadow and wealth to share with her. She rejects him and "winna gang wi' you" He says he'11 leave. She stops him. They agree to marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting farming money dialog soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #79, pp. 1-2, "Oh, Haud Awa'"; Greig #140, pp. 1-2, "Haud Awa, Bide Awa" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan4 858, "Haud Awa, Bide Awa" (6 texts, 5 tunes)
Roud #6251
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Haud Awa' Frae Me Donald (I)" (format and some lines of dialog)
File: GrD4858

Haud Awa' Frae Me Donald (I)


DESCRIPTION: Donald offers Eppie a plaid, ring and kiss, praises his own thigh and claymore, offers a silver brooch and coracle, cheese and butter, no work or spinning. She rejects each offer: "Ye are nae a match for me." In that case, he says, he'd never marry her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: courting bragging rejection dialog humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 857, "Haud Awa' Frae Me Donald" (2 texts, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 495, "Haud Awa'"
Roud #6133
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Haud Awa, Bide Awa" (format and some lines of dialog)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hielan' Donald
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 quoting Duncan: "Learnt from his mother sixty-five years ago. Noted December 1906." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4857

Haud Awa' Frae Me Donald (II)


DESCRIPTION: Donald asks Jenny to "come awa' wi' me." He asks why she no longer favours him. She says "some fickle mistress you may find will jilt as fast as thee." He claims the report of his infidelity is false and that he spread it. She tells him to prove it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity lie rejection dialog
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 494, "Haud Awa'"
Roud #8719
File: WhLa494

Haughies o' Indego, The


DESCRIPTION: On Halloween the Farquharsons, Frasers and Gordons gallop through the lea. Some dance under the moon. "Catherine Gordon was a bride, The laird o' Skene lay by her side." Some go to Skye, some by "Brig o' Dye" and "the laird he had to France to fly"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: sex travel dancing
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 620, "The Haughies o' Indego" (1 text)
Roud #6058
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 cites different interpretations. Maybe it refers to 1645, "when contingents were gathering to the Battle of Alford." Duncan says "the verses given seem to me much more like the celebration of some kind [of] gathering for sport or merry making.... The words do not suggest the ballad style of the seventeenth century."
[And nobody mentioned the 1745 Jacobite rebellion? With someone going to Skye, and the Laird going to France? Amazing. - RBW]
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Indego (620) is at coordinate (h0-1,v5) on that map [roughly 28 miles W of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3620

Haughs o Newe, The


DESCRIPTION: "As I gaed up the haughs o' Newe And through Strathdon upon my pony," the singer meets a maid so pretty that she makes him lightheaded. She turns him down; he cannot dance and speaks no Gaelic. He wishes he could do more to impress her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1238, "The Haughs o' Newe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 135, "The Maid of Don" (1 text); p. 193, "The Haughs o Newe" (1 text)
Roud #6781
File: Ord193

Haughs o' Cromdale, The


DESCRIPTION: "As I came in by Auchindoun, a little wee bit frae the toon... To view the Haughs o' Cromdale," the singer hears that the Highland army has been defeated. But Montrose refuses to accept defeat, and in a second battle heavily defeats the English
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1819 (Hogg1)
KEYWORDS: patriotic Scotland Jacobites battle
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Apr 30, 1690 - Battle of Cromdale
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Hogg1 2, "The Haughs of Cromdale" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #96, p. 1, "The Haughs o' Cromdale" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 113, "The Haughs of Cromdale" (2 texts, 5 tunes)
Roud #5147
RECORDINGS:
John MacDonald, "The Haughs O' Cromdale" (on Voice08)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(814), "The Hearts of Campbell" ("As I came in from Auchindown"), W. Stephenson (Gateshead), 1821-1838; also Harding B 11(480), "The Hearts of Campbell"; 2806 c.14(66), "The Haughs of Crumdel"
Murray, Mu23-y1:070, "Haughs o' Crumdal," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, RB.m.143(024), "Haughs o' Crumdale," unknown, c. 1890
SAME TUNE:
The Herald's Approach (per broadside Murray, Mu23-y1:070)
On the Restoration of the Forfeited Estates 1784 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #298, to the tune "As I came in by Auchindown")
NOTES: Historical accuracy is rarely to be found in folksong, but this piece comes close to taking the cake. There was only one Battle of Cromdale, in which Williamite army of Thomas Livingstone beat the Jacobites under Buchan easily. Montrose (1612-1650) was not involved in any way, having been executed some 40 years before!
John Prebble, Glencoe, Martin Secker & Warburg, 1966 (I use the 1968 Penguin edition), p. 90, says that Hugh Mackay, the Williamite commander in Scotland, "sent Sir Thomas Livingstone against Buchan [who had raised a standard of rebellion on behalf of James II] with twelve hundred horse and foot, and some levies from Clan Grant and Clan Mackay. The Jacobite leader was a brave and romantic fool. He made no proper reconnaissance, and posted too few sentinels. In the first dawn of May, while his army was still sleeping upon the haughs of Cromdale, Livingstone's six troops of dragoons galloped out of the mist, swinging their swords. It was a rout, not a battle.... Buchan [escaped] without hat, coat or sword. Four hundred Highlanders were taken prisoner and the rest went home in disgust."
That being the case, there have been various attempts to determine what battle the song is actually about. The best guess is the Battle of Auldern, May 9, 1645. Montrose, typically, had won a battle at Inverlochy in February, only to see most of his army dissolve. (A large part of his force was MacDonalds, and they were very inconsistent allies.) By May, the Covenanters felt strong enough to attack him. They managed an initial surprise, but Montrose won the day with a counterattack.
In some ways, the story of the song reminds me more of the raid on Dundee a month earlier (April 4-6), though that wasn't much of a battle -- but it did involve an attempt to attack Montrose, which miscarried. This was called a victory in London, but Montrose obviously was around to fight again a month later.
In neither case, though, did the result change the strategic situation much. Auldern came only a few weeks before the Battle of Naseby (June 14), and that much bigger and more important battle settled Charles I's hopes for good and all (though it was a while before people realized that).
Auldern does seem the best fit, but given the strange situation, I would not consider the connection proved. In particular, why conflate it with Cromdale? The latter was not a significant battle in any way; most short histories don't so much as mention it.
The song, despite its inaccuracy, has survived well, but that seems to be mostly because of its excellent tune, beloved by pipers. - RBW
Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03 regarding John MacDonald's version of "The Haughs O' Cromdale": "It was a complete shambles, prefiguring the Battle of the Boyne fought two months later, and the present song reflects events very much the way they happened. Curiously enough, the first song called The Haughs o' Cromdale to be printed (Jacobite Relics, 1819, vol.1 song 2) makes the battle a Jacobite victory, and brings in the long-dead Montrose to retrieve the day. John's song, recorded 150 years later, is certainly older than the Jacobite Relics rewrite." There are not two songs, but only one (though an argument can be made that the radical difference in outcome would justify splitting them): Hogg's -- and the broadsides' -- version has the reporter "in tartan trews" report the victory for Montrose; MacDonald's reporter simply states
For MacDonalds' men, Clan Ronald's men,
MacKenzie's men, MacGelvey's men,
And the highland men and the lowland men
Lay dead and dying in Cromdale. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: BrHauCro

Haughs o' Gartly, The


DESCRIPTION: "Lang Lowrie o Bucharn He wis there wi's tree o' arn [alder stick] He said he wid them a' govern Upon the Haughs o' Gairtly"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: sports
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 647, "The Haughs o' Gartly" (1 text)
Roud #6070
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Haughs o' Cromdale" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 entry.
GreigDuncan3 quoting a 1906 letter to Duncan: "[The Haughs o' Gartly] is a description of a New Year game of shinty." "Shinty" is "shinny" or -- in my day -- a pickup hockey game, not necessarily on ice.
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Gartly (647) is at coordinate (h4,v4) on that map [roughly 32 miles WNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3647

Haul 'Em Away


See Haul 'Er Away (Little Sally Racket) (File: FSWB086A)

Haul 'Er Away (Little Sally Racket)


DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with internal chorus "Haul 'er/'em away... Haul 'er away... Haul 'er away With a haul-ey-hi-o, Haul 'er away." Verses are about the "little" girls ashore ("Little Sally Racket," "Little Daisy Dawson" etc.) and their (sexual) exploits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty bawdy sex whore
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Hugill, pp. 315-317, "Haul 'Er Away" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 237-239]
Silber-FSWB, p. 86, "Little Sally Racket" (1 text)
DT, HAULRAWY
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cheer'ly Man" (form, lyrics)
cf. "Tiddy High O!" (character of Sally Rackett)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Haul 'Em Away
Haul Him Away
Sally Rackett
NOTES: A. L. Lloyd, in the notes to the recording "A Sailor's Garland," reports that this shanty (to a tune known in Jamaica as "Mr. Ramgoat" or "Hill and Gully") was discouraged in American vessels, though the British allowed it to be sung.
The song shares its verse form, and some lyrics, with "Cheer'ly, Man," but the choruses are distinct enough that we split themn rather tentatively. Lloyd, among others, lumps them. - RBW
File: FSWB086A

Haul Away, Boys, Haul Away


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Oh, Haul away an' let's get goin', boys. Haul away, boys, haul away! Oh, Haul away for merchant's money, boys. Haul away, boys, haul away!" No particular story line, but several verses have references to Cuba and sugar.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong animal
FOUND IN: West Indies
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 357-358, "Haul Away, Boys, Haul Away" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 269-270]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Bee Makes the Honey Comb" (lyrics)
File: Hugi357

Haul Away, Joe


DESCRIPTION: Shanty, characterized by, "Away, haul away, haul away, Joe" (or "...haul away, pull"). Some versions tell a story: the sailor has trouble with his Irish girl and goes to sea, or suffers grief from a Yankee girl, or otherwise suffers at women's hands
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (what appears to have been a fragment of the chorus appears in the diary of Mary Bray, probably in 1859; see A. A. Hoehling _Ships that Changed History_, p. 18)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor courting
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 4-5, "Haul Away, Joe" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 76-78, "Haul Away, Joe" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 41-42, "Haul Away, Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 75-78, "Haul Away, Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 358-361, "Haul Away, Joe" (1 text plus several fragments, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 270-272]
Sharp-EFC, XXVII, p. 32, "Haul Away, Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 138-139, "Haul Away, Joe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 30, "Haul Away, Joe" (1 text plus some loose verses, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 87, "Haul Away Joe" (1 text)
DT, HAULJOE*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Dance the Boatman Dance" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917. "Haul Away, Joe" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #809
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Haul Away, Joe" (General 5015B, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Bob Roberts, "Haul Away Joe" (on LastDays)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Haul Away, Old Fellow, Away" (similar chorus)
NOTES: The Silber text has a verse (also in Shay) "King Louis was the King of France Before the revolution... But then he got his head cut off Which spoiled his constitution."
I have to suspect this is some wag's addition, but it is worth noting that Louis XVI's France did not have a constitution. (If it had, Louis might have survived the revolution). Louis (1754-1793) became king in 1774, was reduced to figurehead status by the Revolution in 1789 and failed in an escape attempt in 1791 (even though still theoretical head of state!). In 1792, with a Prussian invasion in progress, the Republic was proclaimed (though never properly constituted), and Louis was put on trial. He was guillotined on January 20, 1793. - RBW
Bob Roberts also sang the "King Louis" verse. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe004

Haul Away, Old Fellow, Away


DESCRIPTION: Halyard shanty. French verses with English choruses "Haul away, old fellow, away." Sailor tells of meeting and falling in love with a girl, but she's too fine for him; sailors only get the trollops. He's sick of it all and is going to ship out far away.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Hayet, _Chansons de bord_)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty love farewell
FOUND IN: France Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 361-363, "Haul Away, Old Fellow, Away" (2 texts-French & English, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Haul Away, Joe" (similar chorus)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
C'est en passant sur l'pont de Morlaix
File: Hugi363

Haul in Your Bowline


See A Trip on the Erie (Haul in Your Bowline) (File: Wa035)

Haul on th' Bowlin'


See Haul on the Bowline (File: Doe009b)

Haul on the Bo'line


See Haul on the Bowline (File: Doe009b)

Haul on the Bowline


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Haul on the bowline, the bowline haul!" The lyrics may relate to the singer's friendship with Kitty on Liverpool (or elsewhere), or perhaps complain about a sailor's life.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1869
KEYWORDS: shanty nonballad sailor
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 9-10, "Haul on the Bowline" (1 text, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 75-76, "Haul on the Bowline" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 42-43, "Haul on the Bowline" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 95-96, "Haul the Bowline" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 354-357, "Haul the Bowline" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 266-269]
Sharp-EFC, XXXVII, p. 42, "Haul on the Bow-line" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 139-140, "Haul the Bowline" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 167, "Haul on the Bo'line" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 1, "Haul Away Your Bowline" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, p. 131, "Haul on the Bowline" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 12-13, "Haul on the Bowline" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 33, "Haul the Alabama Bowline" (1 text)
Bone, pp. 38-39, "Haul on th' Bowlin'" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 27, "Haul on the Bowline" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 310, "Haul on the Bowlin'" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 87, "Haul on the Bowline" (1 text)
DT, HAULBWLN* HAULBWL2*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Haul the Bowline" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917, one verse only.
Roud #652
RECORDINGS:
Joseph Hyson, "Haul the Alabama Bowline" (on NovaScotia1)
Richard Maitland, "Haul the Bowline" (AFS, 1939; on LC26)
Stanley Slade & chorus: "Haul On the Bowlin'" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Haul Away the Bowline
NOTES: Doerflinger says of this song, "Its unusual antiquity is shown by the fact that not since the sixteenth or early seventeenth century has the term 'bowline' been used for any rope on which a shanty would be sung."
Bone makes this statement even stronger; "'Haul on th' bowlin'... is probablly the oldest song we know at sea. The bowline has not been an important rope since, in about 1500, staysails were put in use to hold a ship on a wind. Before that date, the bowline was doutbless of stout cordage to haul the weather leech of a square-sail forward when the old carrack was sailing with the wind abeam. But, although a bowline of sorts was used in modern square rig, it could be set taut by a hand or two."
Linscott claims, without citing a source, that it "is said to have been a favorite in the time of Henry VIII" (1509-1547). Shay reports the same, again without a source. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe009b

Haul the Alabama Bowline


See Haul on the Bowline (File: Doe009b)

Haul the Bowline


See Haul on the Bowline (File: Doe009b)

Haul, Haul, Haul, Boys


DESCRIPTION: "Haul, haul, haul, boys, haul and be lively, Haul, oh haul, boys, haul. She will come, she must come; haul, boys, haul. (x2) Well, it seems to me like the time ain't long; Haul and be lively, haul, boys, haul."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: fishing work nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 226, "Haul, Haul, Haul, Boys" (1 text)
NOTES: The editors of Brown suggest that this is a fishing adaption of "Haul Away, Joe." Certainly possible -- but there is nothing compelling about the suggestion. - RBW
File: Br3226

Hauling Logs on the Maniwaki


DESCRIPTION: To the "Derry Down" tune, the singer tells of setting out for the Maniwaki -- a difficult trip. Once the loggers arrive in camp, the song settles in to a routine of describing the members of the crew
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger work lumbering moniker
FOUND IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-Lumbering #20, "Hauling Logs on the Maniwaki" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4384
File: FowL20

Hauling Wood to Bangor


DESCRIPTION: Singer gets up at five to haul wood to Bangor; he arrives and gets drunk. His father comes to find him. A fiddler plays "The Bells of Old Ireland" and the men dance. To the old women: "Perhaps you done as bad yourself And perhaps a damn sight worse"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: lumbering dancing drink music humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 31-32, "Hauling Wood to Bangor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12475
File: Dib031

Haunted Falls


See Haunted Wood (File: FCW041)

Haunted Hunter, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer, walking toward camp, is joined by a snowshoed figure who leaves no tracks. The singer falls in a snowdrift, to be found with hair bleached white. The other trappers recognize the signs of an encounter with the haunted hunter; all leave the area.
AUTHOR: possibly Billie Maxwell
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recording, Billie Maxwell)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, walking toward camp, is joined by a mysterious snowshoed figure who leaves no tracks in the snow. The singer falls in a snowdrift, to be found the next morning with hair bleached white. The other trappers recognize the signs of an encounter with the haunted hunter, and all leave the area.
KEYWORDS: hunting supernatural ghost
FOUND IN: US
Roud #11521
RECORDINGS:
Billie Maxwell, "Haunted Hunter" (Victor V-40241, 1929; on AuthCowboys, WhenIWas1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bill Was a Texas Lad" (tune)
File: RcHauHun

Haunted Wood


DESCRIPTION: A white man builds a home near "Haunted Falls." One day when he is away, Indians cast his wife to die on the rocks and burn his home with his children inside. "Now the old man wanders lonely... And the people... Call this place Haunted Wood."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (collected from Buck Lee; printed in JAF 1954); a related song was in existence by 1863; see NOTES
KEYWORDS: death murder Indians(Am.) revenge family
FOUND IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 41, "Haunted Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, pp. 144-146, "(Haunted Wood)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 34, pp. 190-194, "Haunted Falls" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5503
RECORDINGS:
Eva Ashley Moore, "The Haunted Woods" (on Ashley02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Petit Rocher" (plot)
NOTES: Speculation about this song has involved hanging some very big coats on some very small pegs.
The first speculation seems to have been Burt's (later cited by Logsdon), who quotes her informant's guess that the song derives from the 1862 Sioux Uprising -- now officially designated the Dakota Conflict by Minnesota government agencies).
There are severe problems with this assumption. "Haunted Wood" takes place in woods near a waterfall in the mountains. But Minnesota has no mountains -- the highest point in the state, although called "Eagle Mountain," is merely a medium-sized hill, 2301 feet above sea level -- and it is in an area occupied by the Ojibwe, not the Dakota. Nor were there forests in Dakota country -- northern and eastern Minnesota were forested at the time of the Dakota Conflict, but the Dakota were prairie nomads; they never lived in the Big Woods!
Nor does the plot of the song seem to match anything that happened in Minnesota. The Dakota Conflict began with a massacre -- but it doesn't sound like *this* massacre. Indeed, Karolevitz, p. 64, says that killing women and children went against Dakota tradition, although there were certainly instances of it during the Conflict. But there was also at least one famous instance of Dakota men giving up their personal possessions to ransom women and children taken captive by militant Santees (Karolevitz, p. 66).
We should note that our records of the Dakota Conflict are surprisingly patchy, due (I think) mostly to bad communications. At a time when Civil War armies transported forces by rail and communicated with each other by telegraph, almost all messages in the Dakota Conflict were carried by messenger, and railroads had no influence at all. The first major history of the state, Folwell's, is constantly stressing the rides people made to carry news (e.g. pp. 115, 147). There was a severe shortage of Springfield rifle muskets (Folwell, p. 158), and entrenching tools were even more rare. The whole thing sounds more like the French and Indian War than the Second Bull Run campaign then being fought in Virginia. Most estimates of casualties seem to have been pure guesses. Phisterer lists six battles of the Dakota Conflict on pp. 110-115, but in half the cases describes then only as "Fight with Indians" or "Organizations not recorded."
The roots of the Dakota Conflict went back almost sixty years. It was in 1805 that Zebulon Pike "bought" the region at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers (the heart of what is now the Twin Cities) from the local Indians for a little money and a lot of alcohol and trinkets (Beck, pp. 3-4). Fort Snelling, the first European settlement in the state apart from some old fur trade posts, was built beginning in 1819; at the time, it was the only American government post northwest of a line running from Fort Howard on Green Bay through Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin to Fort Atkinson at the junction of the Missouri and Platte rivers (see the map in Blegen, p. 98). At the time, Americans hadn't even surveyed the Minnesota River; that was done by Major Stephen Long in 1823 (Risjord, pp. 46-48). In 1825, the federal government tried and failed to create a peaceful boundary between the Dakota (Sioux) and Ojibwe (Chippewa). They failed (Beck, p. 4).
The real encroachments on Indian territory began in 1837, when the Dakota were forced to give up all their lands east of the Mississippi (Beck, p. 4; Risjord, p. 56). Then the Federals came up with the idea of reservations. It was the only way to make enough land available to meet migrants' demands. In 1849, when Minnesota became a territory, there were only about 4000 whites in the region. Nine years later, when Minnesota became a state, there were over 150,000 (Beck, p. 5). This was possible only because the Dakota had been bullied into making territorial concessions. By 1858, the Dakota were confined in a tiny area along the Minnesota river from its headwaters to a point somewhat west of New Ulm (see map in Blegen, p. 268). The whole thing was administered from two agencies (known, logically enough, as the Upper and Lower Sioux Agencies).
In return for these concession, the Dakota were supposed to receive a regular annuity. That, plus a conversion to an agricultural lifestyle, was supposed to allow them to live on a territory far smaller than their old nomadic range.
If you ignore the fact that it was destroying Dakota culture (which, frankly, would have had to happen soon anyway, because of population pressure -- even before the great European influx, Beck, p. 15, notes that the big game in Minnesota was largely hunted out; the Dakota, contrary to myth, did not live an environmentally sustainable lifestyle), the terms were sort of fair -- except for the footnotes. The Indians were tricked into giving up a large part of their annuity to settle alleged claims by whites (Risjord, p. 65). This meant that their income, which should have been reasonably sufficient, kept them in poverty. Jackson, p. 162, observes that "many more... would have entered on the agricultural life had the Government provided ways and means for them to do so." Beck, p. 15, adds that the government had neither improved the land nor supplied the instructors and material to let the Dakota do so themselves; not only did it cause resentment, it also caused many Dakota to go back to their old ways.
Even Harpers, p. 283, writing from the perspective of 1866 and with a clear desire that native culture be eradicated, admits that "It was unfortunate, however, that the patronage which the government bestowed upon the Indians was frequently dispensed through agents who took many opportunities to defraud the beneficiaries."
Charles Flandrau, one of the members of the first Minnesota Supreme Court, who also had done some work as an Indian Agent, commented, "Had I been an Indian, I would have rebelled too" (Karolevitz, p. 64).
An Episcopal Bishop, Henry A. Whipple, who had been in Minnesota since 1859, wrote to a new Indian agent, "[The Indians'] history with us has been one of robbery & wrong. Dishonest agents or careless servants have made way with his money, corrupt whites have polluted his home, wife & daughters & blasted his home by the accursed fire water.... An American might blush to ask how it happens that the English govt. have not had an Indian war in Canada this century? how it is we have a new one every year? ... The fault is our own" (Meier, p. 98).
Beck, p. 67, tells us that the Dakota were often desperate enough to prostitute their daughters and wives to the soldiers at Fort Ridgely in exchange for food and clothing. On p. 128, he notes that the number of White settlers in the Minnesota Valley roughly tripled from 1860 to 1862, putting even more of a squeeze on the Dakota.
During the conflict, Chief Little Crow would send a message to Henry Hasings Sibley (of whom more below) declaring (as Sibley wrote to his wife), "the reason the war was commenced was because he could not get the provisions and other supplies due the Indians, that the women and children were starving, and he could get no satisfaction from Major Galbraith, the U. S. Agent" (Meier, p. 102).
This was because, in 1862, the annuity payments were late (Carley, p. 6. It wasn't the first time, either; in 1854 and 1855, the payments had been both too late and smaller than promised; Beck, p. 56). It had been a hard winter, and the Dakota were going hungry. The Agencies refused to give them food until the payment came, and trader Andrew Myrick callously declared that they should "eat grass or their own dung" (Lass, p. 128. When his body was later found, the mouth was stuffed with grass; Jones, p. 212). Even then, many of the Dakota opposed going to war. Folwell thinks that the whole war could have been avoided had the money arrived on time (cf. discussion in Blegen, p. 267). But some young hotheads could take no more.
According to Blegen, p. 260, "On Sunday, August 17, [1862,] four young devil-may-care Wahpetons attached to a Mdewakaton camp were returning from a deer hunt in the Big Woods. They happened to pass the farmstead of a settler in Meeker County [between Litchfield and Willmar]. Their almost incredible names were Killing Ghost, Breaking Up, Runs against Something When Crawling, and Brown Wing; and the farmer... [was named] Robinson Jones. The Indians... decided to kill Jones, went to his house, first requested liquor, were refused, then followed him to the neighboring house of one Howard Baker, where Mrs. Jones was visiting. There... the Sioux hunters first engaged in a seemingly innocent target practice with the white men. The game was a ruse. The white men did not reload after firing at the target; the Sioux did so immediately, then took aim and shot down Baker, Jones and his wife, and a man named Webster, who chanced to be there on a search for land.... The Indians rushed back to the first farm and shot a girl, while the wives of Baker and Webster and some children saved their lives by hiding."
It will be evident, since none of the husbands involved survived, that this could not be the source for "Haunted Wood."
There were few trained troops in Minnesota at the time; most had been transferred east. The regulars were long gone (something that didn't help Indian relations; most regulars had been replaced by volunteers, who tended to dislike the Dakota more than the regulars, according to Beck, p. 127), and even volunteers were being pulled away as quickly as possible. Malvern Hill, the last of the Seven Days' Battles, had been fought on August 5. Second Bull Run took place on August 30. Antietam followed in September. Braxton Bragg invaded Kentucky in late August. (Jones, p. 191, thinks the Union failures of this period contributed to the Dakota decision to rebel, although his chronology is a few weeks off.)
This meant that, apart from a few under-strength companies, and a larger collection of untrained and unequipped recruits, every available soldier was on the front lines of the Civil War. It has been estimated that there were 7000 Dakota braves in the state at the time. Had they all been organized and properly led, they might very well have taken over the whole western half of Minnesota. As it was, they pushed many settlers off of their homes, sometimes violently. But they failed to take Fort Ridgely, or New Ulm, or most of the other key sites where battles occurred.
Some of the killings of settlers qualify as atrocities (e.g. Jones, p. 203, tells of a child having her leg torn off and being left to die), but most were fairly clean. Stephen Osman, formerly of the Minnesota Historical Society, tells me that the Uprising involved quite a few acts of torture by the Dakotas, but this ended quickly (and I have to note that few of the atrocity stories seem to have been verified). On pp. 109-110, Folwell tells of the slaughter in battle of a company of the Fifth Minnesota on August 18, but those were soldiers. Folwell does observe that many of those who were attacked in the area were German settlers (p. 111). On p. 115, he notes the killing of "nearly... fifty peaceable German settlers" near Milford. The song "Minnehaha," cited below, seems to imply a slaughter of Germans or Scandinavians.
But Folwell also notes that women generally were not killed. Similarly, there was a famous massacre at Lake Shetek in southwestern Minnesota, but men were the primary casualties; Carley, pp. 23-24, lists only widows, not widowers. Jones, pp. 194-199, tells many stories of attacks on August 18, but again, it was either men or whole families being killed; he tells only one story (p. 198) of a woman (Mrs. Joseph Stocker) being killed when her husband survived. Even in that instance, there seem to have been no children involved.
Still, Jackson, p. 163, states that "For three days the hostile bands, continually re-inforced, went from settlement to settlement, killing and plundering. A belt of country nearly two hundred miles in length and about fifty in width was entirely abandoned by the population, who flocked in panic to the towns and forts."
As soon as the Dakota chief Little Crow heard about the Jones affair, he tried to calm things down. Accused of cowardice by the young bravoes, he took charge of the uprising, but warned his people that "Yes, [the whites] fight among themselves, but if you strike at one of them, they will all turn upon you and devour you and your women and little children, just as the locusts in their time fall on the trees and devour all the leaves in one day. You will die like rabbits when the hungry wolves hunt them down in the hard moon" (Blegen, p. 261). He proved right.
After a month and a half of shifting fortunes, the Union finally managed to assemble the equivalent of a brigade to take on the Dakota. On September 23, at Wood Lake near Granite Falls, Union forces under Henry Sibley met those of Little Crow. The "battle" was not very well organized (Blegen, p. 274, calls it a "confused and random engagement"; Lass, p. 131, says it was an "awkward standoff punctuated by intermittent gunfire"; Risjord, p. 98, speaks of a "general melee...b[in which the Dakota] withdrew after two hours, leaving fourteen dead on the field, among them Mankato, Little Crow's most valuable lieutenant.") Carley, pp. 62-63, says that the whole thing came about because soldiers from the Third Minnesota (which had been forced to surrender to the Confederates and had returned to Minnesota without its officers) went foraging and ran into the Dakota. This let the Union forces stand largely on the defensive. They suffered seven killed and 33 wounded.
Little Crow and his forces retreated. Sibley did not really pursue; he wanted the Indians alive, so he could recover their captives (Jones, p. 217). Most of them were eventually released.
The Uprising was over. The retribution would follow.
No one knows how many Minnesotans were killed. Folwell p. 391, notes contemporary estimates that from 500 to 800 Europeans were killed, and on p. 392 seems to support an estimate of 644 as being roughly correct. Jackson, p. 163, says "Nearly a thousand were killed." Utley/Washburn, p. 203, declare that "fully eight hundred whites died violently in atonement for the wrongs done the Santee." Carley, p. 1, thinks the number between 450 and 800 but seems to favor the lower end of that range. Karolevitz, p. 64, mentions estimates from 490 to 800. The 800 number may be based on Harpers, p. 283.
Little Crow would eventually be killed in a raid in 1863 (Blegen, p. 281; Utley/Washburn, p. 204, say he was "shot down by a settler while picking berries") but that was after the Minnesota phase of the rising was crushed. The Indians may have had fewer losses at the time, but in the long run, they suffered severely. Carley, p. 1, says that no accurate estimate of Dakota losses in the war can be made; Dakota witnesses later admitted to 21 losses, but it is known that they carried off their injured and dead, and many surely died who were not counted.
In the aftermath, some 1700 Dakota were taken prisoner and held in a concentration camp below Fort Snelling. A military commission "tried" them, but each "trial" lasted only minutes; Lass, p. 132, notes that the commission sometimes settled forty cases in a day. It condemned fully 303 to death; Carley, p. 70. President Lincoln, to his great credit, ordered that all but 39 of them be spared; Carley, p. 72. One was later granted clemency, but the other 38 were hung on December 26, 1862; Carley, p. 73.
The remaining Sioux were then mostly forced out of the state, carted by steamship to the Dakotas, and later to Nebraska and other places (Lass, p. 133). The result was a new conflict in the Dakota Territory in 1863 (Jackson, p. 164), with occasional raids into Minnesota. Henry Sibley (who earned a brigadier's commission for his work, according Utley/Washburn, p. 204; although Phisterer, p. 278 notes that the commission dated from September 29, 1862, and expired in 1863) -- eventually led a long campaign through the Dakota region in 1863, adding to the tragedy (Carley, pp. 88-89; Beck, pp. 156-157). Back then, it was called "Manifest Destiny." These days, we have another term: "Ethnic cleansing." The Dakota remember it with bitterness to this day; I have heard them tell the tales of their anger and grief for those confined and often left to die by the banks of the Minnesota River.
Tales of massacres grew in the telling. The local newspapers had printed many false stories of Indian crimes even before the Uprising (Beck cites instances on pp. 46, 132 and elsewhere). During the Uprising, the New York Tribune at one time claimed that the town of St. Peter, Henderson, and Glencoe had been burned. But of these three, only St. Peter was close to the conflict zone, and even it was some distance "behind the lines." During the conflict, the Yankton Dakotian called for revenge for those who has "seen their wives and husbands, fathers, and mothers and children, butchered before their eyes" (Karolevitz, p. 65) -- even though the conflict apparently had not reached that part of South Dakota.
Bottom line; "Haunted Wood" does not fit conditions in Minnesota during the Dakota Conflict and does not appear to describe an actual incident of that conflict.
That isn't the end of the story, though. Because there is a possible ancestor of this song which has strong Minnesota ties.
According Dunn, pp. 124-125, "[T]here is at present no reason to doubt that Frank Wood's 'Minnehaha' was the first song by a Minnesota to find local publication.... It followed Wood's initial composition by eight months, appearing in October, 1863. The words -- 'Minnehaha, laughing waters, cease thy laughing now for aye' -- were written by Richard H. Chittenden, a captain in the First Wisconsin Cavalry, who took part in the Sioux Uprising. The song is dedicated 'To the memory of the victims of the Indian Massacre of 1862.' It deals in lurid words the terrors of the Indian revolt and was as close to the Civil War as any of the local music came."
Dunn, p. 124, also notes that Wood was Minnesota's "first song writer"; he published at least eight songs and one march, and taught piano in Saint Paul until he died in 1899. Few of his songs had any success.
Except, perhaps, for "Minnehaha." I have found no certain copy of this (even Dunn did not seem to have access to the sheet music), but there is an item in the John A. Nelson papers at the Minnesota Historical Society, an anonymous poem called "Minnie-ha-ha!" The singer begs Minnehaha Falls ("Minnehaha" is usually said to be from Dakota words meaning "Laughing Waters" -- although it seems in fact to be a generic Dakota word for a waterfall) to stop laughing. The poet asks them to "Give me back my Lela's tresses," says, "See that smoke that was my dwelling," and asks, "Have they killed my Hans and Otto?"
The poem is printed on page 100 of Meier. Looking at this version, I find few verbal resemblances to "Haunted Falls," but the two songs are almost certainly about the same incident. In addition, Bessie Stanchfield collected a song "Minnehaha, Laughing Water" from Elma Snyder McDowell of Saint Cloud in the 1940s (I think). Stanchfield's papers in the Minnesota Historical Society archives are fragmentary and do not seem to have a full text, but it seems clear that it was the same song as in Meier. So this song appears to have had some slight hold on Minnesota tradition.
The problem is, as the above outline of the tale of the Uprising reveal, the "Minnehaha" song no more appears to refer to any actual event of the Dakota Conflict than does "Haunted Wood." Minnehaha Creek runs through the western Twin Cities, and Minnehaha Falls is right in the middle of the city of Minneapolis and only a couple of miles from Fort Snelling, the first permanent site of American government in Minnesota. And the name "Minnehaha Falls" is attested on pp. 244-235 of Mayer/Heilbron as having been in common use in August 1851 (before Longfellow published "The Song of Hiawatha"). There are important Indian sites in the area, but all had been abandoned; by the time of the Dakota Conflict, there can't have been many Indians in the vicinity.
Blegen in fact has a map of the "hot spots" of the Dakota Conflict on p. 268, and none are closer to the Twin Cities than Mankato, which would be at least a two day march on foot. The chief battles of the early part of the war were even farther away up the Minnesota River, at Fort Ridgely between New Ulm and Redwood Falls (Folwell, pp. 125-130) and at New Ulm itself (Folwell, pp. 133-143). But Fort Ridgely was defended by soldiers; there were no children there. At the "First Battle of New Ulm" (another German community), only a single 13-year-old girl was killed. At the "Second Battle," 26 European men were killed and others wounded, but there were few if any female casualties. Thus these battles cannot explain the story of the song.
Folwell, p. 124, in fact notes that most of the refugees from the first stage of the conflict headed for the Twin Cities (then three cities, Minneapolis, Saint Anthony, and Saint Paul). Anyone who reached Minnehaha Falls would have been safe.
Plus I haven't found any references to Minnehaha Falls being called haunted. Unless the idea is somehow linked to "The Death of Minnehaha" in Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha." Longfellow's poem seems to have inspired a number communities to adopt the name "Minnehaha." But Longfellow's poem was published only in 1855. That is stretching coincidence to the breaking point.
So we're back where we started. "Minnehaha" may have inspired "Haunted Wood" (I suspect it did), but it still isn't true. On the other hand, so many stories were swirling around that it is perfectly possible that someone told a similar tale to whip up hatred against the Dakota.
I would add that I don't think the rewrite of "Minnehaha" which produced "Haunted Wood" was done by a Minnesotan. It *really* doesn't sound like a Minnesota story to me, and I live in Minnesota. That's not proof, of course -- not after a century and a half. But I do note that "Haunted Wood" (as opposed to "Minnehaha, Laughing Waters") found mostly in the west, and not in Minnesota.
If we assume that "Minnehaha, Laughing Waters" is the source, we can at least try to see what it might have described. There are other places called Minnehaha around the country . One is a county in South Dakota -- the county containing South Dakota's largest city Sioux Falls, in fact. Sioux Falls, on the Big Sioux River, was settled in 1857 (Karolevitz , p. 41) and temporarily abandoned during the Dakota Uprising (Beck, p. 152, which notes that all but three buildings of the new town were burned in a raid). Could the "Minnehaha" of "Minnehaha, Laughing Waters" be falls of the Big Sioux in Minnehaha County, rather than Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis? This would explain much. And the author of the poem might not want to call the Big Sioux River after his enemies, and so use a different name.
Alternately, there is a Minnehaha district in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, associated with an obscure folk Pennsylvania folk song, "Minnehaha (A Lament)." This is a region with woods and falls, although there doesn't seem to be any record of "Haunted Woods" there.
Consider too the Spirit Lake Massacre of 1857. A band of outcast Dakota, led by one Inkpaduta, attacked several households near Spirit Lake, Iowa on March 8-9. According to Beck, p. 43, "When they finished, thirty-four people, mostly women and children, were dead and four other women taken prisoner." (Karolevitz, pp. 41-42, however, says that 42 were killed and four women taken captive; Folwell, p. 402, says that "some thirty" were killed and three taken captive. Although Folwell shows a map of the sites raided on p. 403, and most of the names are English, not German, making "Hans" and "Otto" unlikely names for the children.) Inkpaduta's Dakota went on to attack Springfield, Minnesota (not the same site as the modern town of Springfield; it's on the Des Moines River just north of the Iowa border) on March 26. Army attempts to catch up with him failed (Blegen, p. 265); he fled into Dakota Territory -- perhaps giving the other Dakota more reason to think they could ignore White justice.
Spirit Lake, we note, is closer to South Dakota, and to Sioux Falls, than to the Twin Cities. Inkpaduta probably went very close to Sioux Falls in his flight -- and a defensive work was built there to defend against him (Karolevitz, p. 42). All in all, I rather suspect that it was one of the events at Spirit Lake, not the Dakota Conflict itself, which inspired this song.
Reinforcing this is the fact that Inkpaduta was reported to be roaming around the Yellow Medicine River in July 1862 (Beck, pp. 127-128). Stories of his outrages five years earlier would readily mix with the reports of the actual troubles of 1862.
I emphasize that all of this is extremely speculative. Still, I think the likelihood high that "Haunted Wood/Haunted Falls" is a rewrite of "Minnehaha, Laughing Waters," with the local Minnesota references deleted, perhaps to justify some local action against Indians. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: FCW041

Have a Little Banjo Beating


See Go Slow, Boys (Banjo Pickin') (File: R278)

Have Courage My Boy to Say No


DESCRIPTION: Singer exhorts his son, leaving home, to take a righteous path, despite temptation: he should shun "bright ruby wine," for "poison it stings like a viper," as well as "vile gambling dens," rather trusting in God. Refrain: "Have courage, my boy, to say no"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (recorded by Dixon Bros.)
KEYWORDS: virtue warning gambling drink wine nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US(Ro,SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, SAYNO
Roud #5263
RECORDINGS:
Dixon Bros. "Have Courage To Only Say No" (Bluebird B-7767, 1938; on Dixon04)
L. M. Hilton, "Have Courage My Boy to Say No" (on Hilton01)
File: RcHCMBSN

Have You Any Bread and Wine (English Soldiers, Roman Soldiers)


DESCRIPTION: "Have you any bread and wine, My fairy and my forey, Have you any.... Within the golden story?" More and more wine is requested, until the questioner is told to go away. The two sides declare allegiance to their lords, then prepare for a fight
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: food drink playparty nonballad fight
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1600, "We Are All King George's Men" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Linscott, pp. 40-42, "My Fairey and My Forey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hammond-Belfast, pp. 24-25, "The Rovers Meet the Winders" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Lins040 (Partial)
Roud #8255
ALTERNATE TITLES:
With Eerie and With Orie
NOTES: Hammond-Belfast: "This song is represented in hundreds of versions all over these islands, a conventionalized confrontation between two factions. According to Lady Gomme in her magnificent collection of 1894 [Alice B Gomme, Children's Singing Games], the game owes its origins to the ritual forays of the Border country. When two classes of mill worker arranged a ritual encounter in a Belfast street, they obeyed the rules of the games, confontation without contact. In this example, the rovers were aggressors, the winders in retreat."
The Hammond-Belfast version has the rovers issue a challenge, the rovers advance, the winders reply, the rovers advance again and the winders reply again. Rovers advance with "Ha! Ha! You had to go.... riding on a donkey" [as in some versions of "Hieland Laddie"]; winders reply with "Raddy daddy and we're not beat yet.... A button for your marley." This seems to have degenerated from something like text Ab of GreigDuncan 8 1600, "We Are All King George's Men" in which King George's men and King William's men alternate declaring allegiance, having wine, challenging to battle, pointing to a battlefield, and calling for support; GreigDuncan's text B, "With Eerie and With Orie," with no wine, has a pattern similar to Hammond-Belfast: only the sides alternating pointing to a battlefield and challenging to fight remains. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Lins040

Have You Heard Geography Sung?


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, have you heard Geography sung? For if you've not 'tis on my tongue. Oceans and seas and gulfs and these All covered over with little green islands."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 75, (no title) (1 fragment)
File: ScaSC075

Hawco, the Hero


DESCRIPTION: Jim Hawco drops his load of wood on the railroad track believing that the train has already passed by. Suddenly, the train comes and he risks his own life to take the wood off. He is arrested for his mistake but found in court to be a hero instead.
AUTHOR: M. A. Devine
EARLIEST DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: recitation train rescue trial
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doyle2, p. 75, "Hawco, the Hero" (1 text)
Roud #7298
NOTES: According to Doyle, the song is about a true incident that happened in Harbour Main in Conception Bay around 1905. The song also uses the names of judges that were active during the time of the incident. - SH
File: Doy75

Hawk and the Crow, The


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

Hawkie


See Ca' Hawkie Through the Water (File: StoR132)

Hawkie Is a Schemin' Bird


DESCRIPTION: "Hawkie is a schemin' bird, He schemes all round the sky, He schemes into my chicken house And makes my chickens fly." Remaining verses and chorus seem to float.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: bird chickens hunting floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 192, "Hawkie Is a Schemin' Bird" (1 text, with the "Hawkie" first stanza, a chorus from "Lynchburg Town," and verses such as "Went up on a mountain To give my horn a blow" and "Climbed up on a mountain... To sweeten Liza Jane")
File: ScaNF192

Hawks and Chickens Play


See Chickee Chickee Ma Craney Crow (Hawks and Chickens) (File: R570)

Hawthorne Tree, The


See Katie's Secret (File: R778)

Hay Marshall


See Rosie Anderson (File: Log392)

Haymaker's Jig


See Turkey in the Straw (File: R274)

Hayseed (I)


DESCRIPTION: The hayseed finishes his work and decides to go on a spree. He goes to town and takes an expensive ("five dollars a minit"!) room in a hotel. Before going to bed, he blows out the gas -- and dies of the fumes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: death corpse technology money
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sandburg, p. 50, "Hayseed" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HAYSEED*
Roud #12498
NOTES: The story of a visitor from the country blowing out the gas in a hotel and dying of the fumes seems to be common. According to Charlie Maguire, it really did happen at least once, to an Indian chief from the Itasca area named Busticogan, who died in 1910 (according to a historian named Bill Marshall). Details are hard to come by, and Busticogan has become largely a figure of cheap folklore. In any case, Busticogan was not on a spree; he was trying to obtain help for his people. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: San050

Hayseed (II), The


See A Hayseed Like Me (File: Grnw060)

Hayseed Like Me, A


DESCRIPTION: "I once was a tool of oppression And as green as a sucker could be, And monopolies bundled together To beat a poor bum like me." The newly energized singer promises to strike back: "The ticket we vote next November Will be made up of hayseeds like me."
AUTHOR: Words: Arthur L. Kellogg?
EARLIEST DATE: 1943 (Rochester, "The Populist Movement in the United States")
KEYWORDS: political poverty hardtimes derivative
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greenway-AFP, p. 60, "A Hayseed Like Me" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 359-360, "Hayseed Like Me" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 117, "The Hayseed" (1 text)
Roud #12497
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Hayseed Like Me" (on PeteSeeger13)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosin the Beau" (tune) and references there
cf. "Acres of Clams (The Old Settler's Song)" (tune, floating lyrics)
NOTES: I've seen versions of "Acres of Clams" which seem to have swallowed this song almost entire. But as it seems to have originated separately, I list it in its own right.
The Folksinger's Wordbook lists this as by Arthur L. Kellogg, but Greenway treats it as a traditional song from the populist movement of the nineteenth century. Certainly portions of it have "swapped" in and out of tradition; the amount of Kellogg influence on a particular version may be open to question. - RBW
File: Grnw060

He Arose from the Dead


DESCRIPTION: Story of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He tells his disciples to meet him in Galilee; he is crucified; Mary comes running to see him, the angels roll away the stone, and he arises from the dead
AUTHOR: Unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1883 ("The Story of the Jubliee Singers; with their songs")
KEYWORDS: execution resurrection death burial Bible religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(So, SE)
RECORDINGS:
Willie & Minder Coleman, "He Rose" (AFS 5089 A1, 1941)
Fisk Jubilee Singers, "He Arose" (on Fisk01)
Blind Lemon Jefferson, "He Arose from the Dead" (Paramount 12585 [as Deacon L. J. Bates], 1927/Herwin 93004, 1929; on Jefferson01, JeffersonCD01)
Rev. D. C. Rice & congregation "He Arose Them from the Dead" (Vocalion 1520, 1930)
Congregation of the Wesley Methodist Church, "He Rose From The Dead" [fragment] (JohnsIsland1)
Rev. S. J. "Steamboat Bill" Worell, "He 'Rose From the Dead" (Vocalion 1089, 1927)
Unidentified church parishioners, "Moaning" (AFS 4767 A1, 1941)
NOTES: The common version of this may have been adapted by Blind Lemon Jefferson, but it appears to be older. - (PJS, RBW)
File: RcHAFTD

He Comes Down Our Alley


See Do You Love an Apple? (File: K203)

He Is Coming to Us Dead


See The Express Office (He Is Coming to Us Dead) (File: R696)

He Lies in the American Land


DESCRIPTION: A man emigrates to America, leaving wife and children back in Europe. When he sends for them, they arrive to find only his grave; he has been killed in the steel mill. She cries out to him; his voice tells her not to wait, for he lies in the American land
AUTHOR: Andrew Kovaly
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: emigration separation reunion death work wife children worker technology
FOUND IN: US(MA)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "He Lies in the American Land" (on PeteSeeger13, AmHist2, PeteSeeger48)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Have a Father in My Native Land" (theme)
NOTES: Many, perhaps most of the workers who made steel in the two great centers of South Chicago and western Pennsylvania were eastern European immigrants. - PJS
I don't know if this is an authentic folk song; Paul thinks so, or he would not have submitted it. Certainly it has the genuine folk sensibility. - RBW
File: RcHLITAL

He Lookit Up into Her Face


DESCRIPTION: A man looks at a woman's face. She smiles. He thinks "I'll maybe you beguile." She blushes. He knew then "that her hert was a' my ain"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: seduction nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1357, "He Lookit Up into Her Face" (1 text)
Roud #7235
File: GrD71357

He Never Came Back


DESCRIPTION: Stories of people who "never came back." The first is a soldier lost at Bull Run. The rest are humorous: A waiter who never returned with a patron's steak, a swain who never returned with a ring for an old maid, a mother-in-law set loose in a balloon
AUTHOR: William Jerome ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1892 (Delaney)
KEYWORDS: humorous separation family technology soldier oldmaid
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 21, 1861 - First battle of Bull Run fought between the Union army of McDowell and the Confederates under Johnston and Beauregard
Aug. 29-30, 1862 - Second battle of Bull Run, fought between the Union army of Pope and the Confederate army of Lee
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 399, "He Never Came Back" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 368-371, "He Never Came Back" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 399)
BrownIII 394, "He Never Came Back" (1 text)
Roud #4948
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "He Never Came Back" (Decca 5447, 1937)
Peg Moreland, "He Never Came Back" (Victor V-40101, 1929)
Pickard Family, "He Never Came Back" (Perfect 12607, 1930)

File: R399

He Never Said a Mumbalin' Word


See Never Said a Mumbling Word (File: LxU102)

He Never Went Back on the Poor


See Jim Fisk [Laws F18] (File: LF18)

He Plays Comic Music Across the Broadgate


DESCRIPTION: "He plays comic music across the Broadgate But some of the notes are rather difficult to get He's got an ammunition for watering flowers." He makes ladies' shoes and charges six shillings and sixpence.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: nonballad music
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1449, "He Plays Comic Music Across the Broadgate" (1 fragment)
Roud #7277
NOTES: The current description is based on the GreigDuncan7 fragment.
I have no idea what this is about. - BS
Wild guess: It's a music hall song about a wannabe-musician who makes his actual living lighting lamps and such. I've seen several such songs, though this doesn't appear to be one of them. In a way, it's a sideline of the "shabby genteel" songs -- the guy wants to be a light opera singer but doesn't have what it takes. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71449

He Plowed the Lowlands Low


See Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low [Laws M34] (File: LM34)

He Rambled


See Didn't He Ramble (File: CSW174)

He Rode the Strawberry Roan


See (references under) "The Strawberry Roan" [Laws B18] (File: LB18)

He Swore by the Toenails of Moses


DESCRIPTION: "And he swore by the toe nails o' Moses That he'd like all who dared to oppose us"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS:
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1894, "He Swore by the Toenails of Moses" (1 fragment)
Roud #13563
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
Just in case you were wondering, there are no Biblical references to Moses's toenails -- nor to anyone else's, really. Even the word "toes" occurs only 13 times in the King James Bible (several of them perhaps inaccurately). The closest approach is in Leviticus chapter 8, where blood is placed upon the big toe in a ritual sequence. Also, women are to trim their nails in a purification ritual in Deuteronomy 21:12.
Perhaps the reference is to Exodus 3:5, where Moses is commanded to take off his sandals in the presence of the burning bush. Or, more likely, it's just a joke. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81894

He Took Her by the Lily-White Hand


DESCRIPTION: Perhaps the remains of a play-party song: "He took her by the lily white hand and lifted her over the gutter, With a kiss for you and a kiss for me and a kiss for the governor's daughter."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (Creighton and Senior)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton/Senior, pp. 260, "He Took Her by the Lily-White Hand" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: CrSe260A

He Was a Friend of Mine


DESCRIPTION: "He was a friend of mine (x2), Never had no money to pay his fine..." "He died on the road, Never had no money to pay for his board." "He never done no wrong, He was just a poor boy a long way from home." "I stole away and cried...."
AUTHOR: reportedly Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Eric Von Schmidt
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (recording, Bob Dylan)
KEYWORDS: rambling friend death
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 60, "He Was A Friend of Mine" (1 text)
DT, FRNDMINE
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Shorty George"
NOTES: In 1964 Roger McGuinn rewrote the song as a tribute to the recently assassinated President Kennedy. - PJS
File: FSWB060

He Was a Travelling Man


See Traveling Man (Traveling Coon) (File: RcTMTC)

He Was Boasting of His Shearing


DESCRIPTION: "He was boasting of his shearing Up in Jimmy Homlan's Bar...." This strange little fellow "tried to murder Hogan" for doubting his exploits. At last the quarrelling is silenced by the free availability of beer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: drink fight bragging Australia
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, p. 201, "He Was Boasting of His Shearing" (1 text)
File: MA201

He Was Standing by the Window


See The Broken Engagement (I -- She Was Standing By Her Window) (File: R771)

He Wears a Bonnet for a Hat


DESCRIPTION: The singer warns "there's nane o' you been gude to me" but it would pay to treat her well. When her wealthy lover comes in bonnet, napkin, and jacket to install her in the hall in fancy clothes she might be able to help her listeners with a peck of meal.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Christie)
KEYWORDS: poverty courting bragging reunion clothes nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #1800, p. 2, ("Maybe I'll Be Mairriet Yet") (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 798, "He's Comin' Here," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Maybe I'll Be Married Yet" (17 texts, 11 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1881 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh, 2007)), Vol II, pp. 58-59, "He Wears a Bonnet for a Hat" (1 tune)
Roud #6210
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bell Hendry" (tune, per GreigDuncan4)
cf. "The Tailor and the Sailor" ("Maybe I'll Be Mairriet Yet" lines finish the song)
cf. "A Man's a Man for A' That" (lyrics)
NOTES: Bell Robertson, one of Greig's sources, writes of "He Wears a Bonnet for a Hat" that "that was such a common song that I do not know who I got it from. Everyone sung it." Were those singers united in what to make of the song: is there really a wealthy lover [who may own the local mill] who will give her stocking and shoes while her listeners go barefoot? One who's "comin' owre the hills, That'll tak' me frae ye a' yet"?
The GreigDuncan8 Addenda account for 10 texts and 7 tunes. According to the supplementary notes at GreigDuncan8 p. 433 these texts and tunes "had been treated as a separate song in the early preparation of this edition but it is difficult to make a complete break between them and the items given as 'He's Comin' Here' and so they have been added as extra versions of that song." Verses float so freely between the two sets of texts that I cannot justify splitting them.
GreigDuncan4 quoting Gillespie: "First heard from Annie Duncan, Craigculter, about 1846. Noted 1905."
The chorus to Burns's "For A' That" [indexed as "A Man's a Man for A' That" - RBW] and "He Wears a Bonnet for a Hat" share their first two lines: "For a' that, an' a that, And twice as meikle's [muckle's] a that" (see Robert Burns, The Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (New Lanark,2005), p. 94, "For A' That"). - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4798

He-Back, She-Back


See Old Moke Pickin' on the Banjo (Song of the Pinewoods) (File: Be022)

He's a Dark Man


DESCRIPTION: "He's a dark man, he's a black man He's nae match for me He'd scarcely be linin' To the lad that likes me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 751, "He's a Dark Man" (1 fragment)
Roud #3869
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan4 fragment.
GreigDuncan4 suggests the fragment be compared to Crawford's "The Mailin" (E. B. Lyle, editor, Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs, #77). Roud lumps the two with Kinloch 22 "Court Her and Leave Her" ("First there cam whipmen, and that not a few") (George Ritchie Kinloch, editor, The Ballad Book (revised by Edmund Goldsmid) (Edinburgh, 1885), p. 46). Crawford and Kinloch texts might be the same song. I don't see any reason to lump the GreigDuncan4 text with the other two. - BS
In looking at the Kinloch item (#XXII), I was reminded of Cox's "Black Phyllis," which begins, "And then came black Phyllis, his charger astride, And took away Annie, his unwilling bride." And *that* is sounds like it could be linked in plot to this (this piece being Annie's words as she rejected the black man). If we took all these fragments, we could probably build a pretty good ballad. Which is not proof they belong together, however. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4751

He's a Fine Man, Johnnie Gollacher


DESCRIPTION: "He's a fine man, Johnnie Gollacher, He's a fine man to me; He's a fine man, Johnnie Gollacher, Gin he wad come for me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 752, "He's a Fine Man, Johnnie Gollacher" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6179
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "To a Meeting One Evening" (tune, per GreigDuncan4)
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan4 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4752

He's Comin' Here


See He Wears a Bonnet for a Hat (File: GrD4796)

He's Comin' This Away


DESCRIPTION: "Yonder comes my Lord (x2), He's comin' this away (x2), Yonder comes my Lord (x2), He's comin' this away (x2)." "A Bible in his hand...." "He's come to judge the world, Livin' an' the dead...." "Yonder comes that train...." "My mother's on that train...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious train death mother
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 259-260, "He's Comin' This Away" (1 text)
File: ScaNF259

He's Coming to Us Dead


See The Express Office (He Is Coming to Us Dead) (File: R696)

He's Gone Away


See Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove) (File: Wa097)

He's Got the Money Too


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes being engaged to someone who is a fine person -- and rich, too: "Oh don't I love my honey, And won't I spend his money? I'm as happy as a flower that sips the morning dew, For I've got a little (feller) and he's got the money too!"
AUTHOR: C. T. Lockwood?
EARLIEST DATE: 1875 (sheet music, LOCSheet, sm1875 03568)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage money
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 299, "I Know a Little Feller" (1 text)
Roud #7827
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "She's Got the Money Too" (OKeh 45552 [w. Sam McGee], 1931; rec. 1930) (Bluebird 7549, 1938)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1875 03568, "And He's Got the Money Too," Brainard's Sons (Cleveland), 1875
ALTERNATE TITLES:
She's Got the Money Too
I Went Down to New Orleans
NOTES: LOCSheet, sm1875 03568 lists this as by C. T. Lockwood, but it's not clear if he wrote the whole thing, or the tune, or just the arrangement.
Randolph reports his (single-stanza) text as a fragment of a piece called "I Went Down to New Orleans." The recordings I've heard (Macon's and other folk revival versions) don't seem connected -- but that may be a case of Uncle Dave free-associating about the song. - RBW
File: R299

He's Got the Whole World in His Hand(s)


DESCRIPTION: "He's got the whole world (right) in his hand (x3); He's got the whole world in his hand." The number of additional verses probably approximates the number of English speakers on earth; most are spiritual, but you can probably imagine some that aren't
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Warner 168, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hand" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 361, "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 273, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hand"
DT, WHOLWRLD
Roud #7501
RECORDINGS:
Bessie Johnson's Sanctified Singers, "The Whole World in His Hand" (OKeh 8765, 1930; rec. 1929; on Babylon)
File: Wa168

He's Nae Very Bonnie


DESCRIPTION: "He's nae very bonnie, but he's awfu' guid, And that's the chap that a girl should wed; Beauty's like flowers, it soon doth fade, They bloom to-day, and to-morrow dead"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage beauty nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1863, "He's Nae Very Bonnie" (1 short text)
Roud #13587
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 text. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81863

He's Owre the Hills, an' He's Whistlin' Bonny


DESCRIPTION: The singer thinks about Johnny and their time together. "He's far awa, but he's nae forgettin' He has my he'rt, an' I winna che't him ... he may coort, but he daurna mairry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1111, "He's Owre the Hills, an' He's Whistlin' Bonny" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6840
ALTERNATE TITLES:
He's Far Awa'
File: GrD61111

He's the Man for Me


DESCRIPTION: Singer plans to go to the mining areas, marry a rich senorita, wear fine clothes, and live without working. If necessary, he will divorce her and, although morally opposed to it, live by stealing
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1858 (Put's Golden Songster)
KEYWORDS: marriage theft clothes nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SW)
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "He's the Man for Me" (on LEnglish02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosin the Beau" (tune)
NOTES: Pity we don't have keywords "laziness" and "loafing." - PJS
File: RcHtMfM

Healin' Waters


DESCRIPTION: "Healin' waters done move (x2), What's de matter now?" "Healing waters done move (x2), Come to Jesus!" "... Soul gittin' happy now!" "...Hallelujah!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, p. 581, "Healin' Waters" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15564
File: LxA581

Health to All True-Lovers, A


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

Health to the Company, A (Come All My Old Comrades)


DESCRIPTION: Singer, preparing to emigrate, gives a toast: "Come all my old comrades, Come now let us join, Come blend your sweet voices in chorus with mine.... So here's a health to the company, and one to my lass... For we may and might never all meet here again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1875 (GreigDuncan8); Ord claims a report from 1836
KEYWORDS: emigration drink farewell
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (8 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1516, "The Emigrant's Farewell to Donside" (13 texts, 10 tunes)
Greig #59, pp. 2-3, "The Donside Emigrant's Farewell" (3 texts)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 222-223, "Come All My Old Comrades" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 59, "Come All Ye Old Comrades" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 350-351, "The Emigrant's Farewell to Donside" (1 text plus sundry stanzas, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 172, "Kind Friends and Companions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Ulster 50, "We May and Might Never All Meet Here Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HLTHCOMP*
Roud #1801
RECORDINGS:
Belle, Sheila, and Cathie Stewart, "The Parting Song" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
NOTES: There is a broadside, NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(41b), "Drink and be Merry, or The Bold 42!," (There was a puir lassie, I pity her lot"), Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890, which has this chorus, but the rest is about a girl saying goodbye to a soldier off to the wars. It's not clear which is earlier, but the broadside is quite commonplace. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: CrSe222

Hear Dem Bells!


DESCRIPTION: "All day I works in de cotton an' de corn... Waiting for Gabriel to blow his horn, So I won't have to work any more." "Hear dem bells -- oh, don't you hear dem bells? Dey's ringing out de glory of de dawn." "I sings and shouts wid all my might."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: work religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 229, "Hear Dem Bells!" (1 text)
File: ScNF229A

Hear that Rumbling


DESCRIPTION: "(Hear/I heard) that (rumbling/lumbering) (up/down) in the (ground/sky)." With many variants and floating material, the listener is told to reform, asked to pray for the singer, admonished to wait for Jesus, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 577, "Hear that Rumbling (I Heard a Mighty Rumbling)" (2 texts plus a fragment)
Roud #11895
File: Br3577

Hearken, Hearken


DESCRIPTION: A man and woman court seven years. His mother threatens to disown him "if you marry one that's below your station." The woman says "children ought to obey their parents" He marries her anyway, adores his wife and "never minds what his mother told him"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage money mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #177, pp. 1-2, "Hearken, Hearken" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 1000, "Hearken, Hearken" (1 text)
Roud #6288
NOTES: Greig #177 includes a version of "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)" - ("Hearken, hearken, and I will tell you") -- with a first verse virtually shared with "Hearken, Hearken": "Hearken, hearken, and I will tell you Of a lad and a country lass; Seven long years they've been a-courting, Many a jovial hour betwixt them passed." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1000

Hearken, hearken, and I will tell you


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

Hearken, Ladies, and I Will Tell You


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

Hearse Song, The


See The Worms Crawl In (File: San444)

Heart of Oak


DESCRIPTION: In praise of the British Navy that can drive off any foe: "Heart of oak are our ships, Jolly tars are our men: We are always ready. Steady, boys, steady, We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again."
AUTHOR: Words: David Garrick/Music: "Dr. Boyce"
EARLIEST DATE: 1759 ("Harlequin's Invasion")
KEYWORDS: navy sailor patriotic ship nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 189-191, "Heart of Oak" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HEARTOAK*
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 220,"Hearts of Oak" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Hawke" (context of the Battle of Quiberon Bay)
SAME TUNE:
Liberty (Darling-NAS, p. 340)
NOTES: This may not, at first glance, seem a folk song -- but it is one of Great Britain's leading patriotic songs; Samuel Elliot Morison (The Oxford History of the American People, p. 165) notes that "British throats went hoarse bawling out 'Heart of Oak"" in 1759, the year of England's greatest success in the Seven Years' War (Morison quotes the song on p. 170).
It appears that the song and the furor were inspired by the English success at Quiberon Bay, in which Admiral Hawke's British squadron demolished a French fleet and ended any possibility of France invading Britain. (See Arthur Herman, To Rule the Waves, p. 290. For Hawke and his various victories, see the notes to "Bold Hawke.")
The song is quite correct in describing British ships as built of oak. Oak was the preferred wood for ships because it resisted rot -- presumably because of the tannic acid found in it. It didn't last forever, but other woods usually wore out sooner; see David Cordingly, The Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon (Bloomsbury, 2003), p. 18. - RBW
File: ChWII189

Heart that Forms for Love, A


DESCRIPTION: The young man reports that he is tired of the single life. He has seen his love in dreams, but does not know where she is. He describes her looks. He declares he will seek her everywhere: "I'll mount old Barney... And find my Delsenia as soon as I can."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting separation dream
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 675, "A Heart that Forms for Love" (1 text)
Roud #7367
NOTES: Randolph conjectures that the proper title of this piece is "A Heart that Yearns for Love." I'd suggest "A Heart that Mourns for Love."
"Delsenia" makes me think of "Dulcinea," as in Don Quixote's girlfriend. Sounds awfully literary for an Ozark Folksong, though. - RBW
File: R675

Hearts of Gold


DESCRIPTION: The sailor compares sea life with that on land. The landlubbers work at the plow, go home at night, and sleep with their wives; the sailors work all hours and face storms. The sailor declares his life is better, and tells the girls to appreciate it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1832 (Journal from the _Bengal_)
KEYWORDS: sailor work home farming nonballad
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 68-70, "Hearts of Gold" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 137, "Sailor's 'Come-All-Ye'" (1 text-quoted from Eckstorm & Smyth's "Minstrelsy of Maine")
Harlow, pp. 219-222, "Edgartown Whaling Song" (1 text)
Roud #2022
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Whistling at the Ploo" (theme)
cf. "I Love My Sailor Boy" (theme)
File: SWMS068

Heathen Chinese, The


DESCRIPTION: "I've a very sad pitiful story to tell you, Although it's a common one too... But alas! there is no work for a white man to do; They're hiring the Heathen Chinese." The singer tells of his poor family; he will join the Knights of Labor to stop the Chinese
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: labor-movement poverty foreigner
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1869 - Establishment of the Knights of Labor by Uriah S. Stephens
1879 - Terence V. Powderly becomes Grand Master Workman of the Knights, opening membership to the unskilled -- and to minorities
1886 - Haymarket Riot causes the decline of the Knights of Labor
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 233, "The Heathen Chinese" (1 text)
Roud #15777
NOTES: The Haymarket Riot is one of those events that seems to have been viewed very differently by different sources. Jameson, writing not long after the event, gave this summary on p. 299:
Haymarket Massacre (Chicago), an Anarchit riot, originating in labor troubles which culminated in an open-air meeting in Haymarket Square, May 4, 1886. Violent speeches were made by the Anarchists Spies, Parsons, and Fielden. A bomb was thrown among the police, causing great loss of life. Spies, Parsons, Fischer, Engel, Schwab, Lingg, and Niebe were arrested and tried. The first four were hanged November 11, 1887. Fielden and Schwab were imprisoned for life. Lingg committed suicide. Governor Altgeld, of Illinois, pardoned Fielden and Schwab in 1893.
Schlesinger, p. 361, says that some 180 police were in attendance for the event. The weather was rainy and the crowd already starting to break up as a result when they arrived. The bomb killed seven and wounded more than fifty. "No one seems to know who committed the dreadful crime." Reportedly eight were arrested for murder -- evidently the seven listed by Jameson and one other. Terror is said to have swept the country, but there is no mention of organized labor.
I must say that, in reviewing this entry, I have no idea why I noted the Haymarket Riot. It is not mentioned in the song. It perhaps gives us a hint at the last possible date for the song, but we could be fairly sure it was before 1888 anyway.
Jameson, p. 131, notes a series of treaties in 1844, 1858, and 1868 had opened the doors for immigrants from the far east; 105,000 Chinese were identified in the 1880 census. An attempt to restrict immigration was passed by congress in 1879 but vetoed by President Hayes. In 1880, an agreement was reached with China to limit immigration. This also made it harder for those who left the United States for China to return. In 1888, immigration was stopped entirely. In 1892, laws were passed permitting expulsion of the Chinese. Chinese exclusion was a major issue in the 1888 presidential election, when Harrison was accused of not being firm on the issue (Wesser/Schlesinger, pp. 1647-1648). Thus the song almost certainly dates from before 1888. My guess is that it dates from after the Panic of 1873 but before 1880. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Br3233

Heather Down the Moor (Among the Heather; Down the Moor)


DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders "down the moor" and meets a beautiful girl. He courts her "the live-long day," and she stays with him even as her flocks wander. At the end, she leaves him. He wishes he could find her again and make her his "queen among the heather"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, according Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty separation sheep
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SHenry H177, pp. 271-272, "O'er the Moor amang the Heather" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Ulster 3, "Heather on the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 6, "Doon the Moor" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HTHRMOOR*
Roud #375
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Queen Among the Heather" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Magpie's Nest" (lyrics)
cf. "Banks of Sullane" (theme)
NOTES: This song is very close to "Queen among the Heather" (Kennedy #141, etc.); they have similar plots and occasional common lyrics. There will be versions where it is almost impossible to tell which is which. I thought about listing them as one song.
But on consideration, this song has two characteristics rarely seen in "Queen among the Heather." First, this song tends to follow a complex stanza pattern:
One morn in may, when fields were gay,
Serene and pleasant was the weather.
I chanced to roam some miles from home
Among the bonnie bloomin' heather
Down the heather
O'er the moor and through the heather.
I chanced to roam some miles from home
Among the bonnie bloomin' heather
Down the moor.
"Queen among the Heather" usually has simple four-line stanzas.
"Heather down the Moor" also tends to end with the lines
But if I were a king, I would make her a queen,
The bonnie lass I met among the heather
Down the moor. - RBW
File: HHH177

Heather Jock


DESCRIPTION: "Heather Jock's noo awa' (x2), The muircock noo may crousely craw, Since Heather Jock's noo away'." Jock can hide anywhere, and steal anything; bad from his youth, he also plays music on the sabbath. Now he is caught and on his way to Botany Bay
AUTHOR: credited by Ford to Dr. James Stirling
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: thief transportation
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
SHenry H39, pp. 123-124, "Heather Jock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 131-135, "Heather Jock" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan2 255, "Heather Jock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2339
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(093), "Heather Jock," unknown, c. 1875; also L.C.Fol.70(132b), c. 1890
NOTES: The tune here is not quite "Bobby Shaftoe" (or relatives such as "Katie Beardie"), but it sounds to me as if it might be derived from that type.
Even though Jock was apparently a scourge of the community, you can't help but feel that the singer admired him.
Ford gives extensive notes regarding John Ferguson, who reportedly inspired the song. He is said to have been placed on trial in 1812 and transported for life, primarily for stealing cattle. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: HHH039

Heathery Hills, The


DESCRIPTION: "I mind it well, and I see it yet" The singer recalls past days meeting Rory on the Heathery Hill. She misses her mother and her father's fields. "The city holds no pleasure" and she would give it up for a summer eve with Rory on the Heathery Hill.
AUTHOR: Ethna Carbery (Mrs. Seamus MacManus, Anna Johnston) (1866-1902) (source: _A Celebration of Women Writers_ on the University of Pennsylvania Library site)
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (Ethna Carbery, _The Four Winds of Erinn_, according to _A Celebration of Women Writers_ on the University of Pennsylvania Library site)
KEYWORDS: homesickness love separation lyric nonballad lover mother
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Bord))
Roud #5295
RECORDINGS:
Brigid Tunney, "The Heathery Hills" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
NOTES: IRTunneyFamily01: Brigid Tunney explains that she learned the song from her sister; it was among the songs she learned in Glasgow and brought back to Ireland on her annual return. - BS
According to Patrick C. Power, A Literary History of Ireland (Mercier, 1969), p. 160, Ethna Carbery, a native of Belfast, took Donegal as her theme; her "fame rests on one volume alone -- The Four Winds of Erinn. This was published posthumously in 1902. She essentially belongs to the nationalistic ballad tradition which goes back to the Nation writers."
According to Kathleen Hoagland, 1000 Years of Irish Poetry, p. 775, Carbery's true name was Anna Johnston McManus. (I have no idea why she needed a pen name after her death.) Her one song work well-known in folk circles is "Roddy McCorley." - RBW
File: RcHeaHil

Heave and Go, My Nancy O


DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. "Come all ye jolly sailors bold. Heave and go, my Nancy O! Listen till my tale is told. Heave and go, my Nancy O!" English version of a Danish shanty. No particular story line to the verses, but some make reference to Danish place names.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (L. A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Denmark Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, p. 319, "Heave and Go, My Nancy O" (1 text)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Om Dannebrog Man Ved
NOTES: This was quoted from L.A. Smith's Music of the Waters where it was included as a translation of a Danish shanty. It may have some connection with a song that Doerflinger found "Pull Away Now, my Nancy O!" but Smith didn't give a tune. The Danish version was called "Om Dannebrog Man Ved." - SL
File: Hugi319

Heave Away (I)


See Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go) (File: Doe062)

Heave Away (II)


See Heave Away, Me Johnnies (File: Doe063)

Heave Away (III)


See Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away (I) (File: Hugi308)

Heave Away Cheerily


DESCRIPTION: Chorus: Sing me lads cheerily, Heave me lads cheerily, Heave away cheerily o-ho! For the gold that we prize an' for sunnier skies, away to the south'ard we go!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (JFSS)
KEYWORDS: shanty money
FOUND IN: Britain US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Harlow, pp. 43-46, "Heave Away Cheerily" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 310-311, "Heave Away Cheerily O!" "As Off to the South'ard We Go" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 232-233]
Roud #932
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Off to the South'ard We Go
NOTES: Hugill gives the second text, "As Off to the South'ard We Go," as a variant of "Heave Away Cheerily" and quotes it from vol. 5 of the Journal of the Folk Song Society where was taken down by a Mr. Piggot from the singing of shantyman J. Perring of Dartmouth in 1912. - SL
File: Hugi310

Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away (I)


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Heave away, heave away, for the merchant's money, Ch: Heave away boys, heave away!" Verses mostly about money, "Heave away for the buckra's silver," etc...
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill); the Allen/Ware/Garrison version is from 1867 but might be any of several "Heave Away" songs
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong money
FOUND IN: West Indies
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hugill, p. 308, "Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away" (2 texts, 2 tunes; the "a" text is this piece; "b" is "Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away (II)") [AbEd, pp. 230-231]
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 61, "Heave Away" (1 short text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Hugill says this (and the other "Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away") are halyard shanties, despite the use of the word "heave" in the chorus. - SL
The easiest way to distinguish the two may be the fact that this one is in 2/4; "Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away (II)" is in 3/4.
The fragment in Allen/Ware/Garrison is so short as to be almost unclassifiable; Roud sticks it in with "Heave Away, Me Johnnies," but that seems to be simply a case of a catchall entry. I classify it here because the form fits better here than elsewhere.
One line in the Allen/Ware/Garrison text occurs occasionally elsewhere: "I'd rather court a yellow gal than work for Henry Clay." Henry Clay was, of course, one of the most important American politicians of the early nineteenth century, who was only fifteen years dead at the time Allen/Ware/Garrison picked up their text. So it might be about him, or perhaps about someone who opposed his presidential ambitions. It might also be about a different Henry Clay.
On the other hand, given that it is a sea song, there is a possibility that the line should not read "for Henry Clay," but rather "on the Henry Clay," referring to one of the ships by that name. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Hugi308

Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away (II)


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Oh I love the sailor an' the sailor loves me. Heave away, boys, heave away! He comes to my window ev'ry mornin' at three. Heave away, boys, heave away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Oh I love the sailor an' the sailor loves me. Heave away, boys, heave away! He comes to my window ev'ry mornin' at three. Heave away, boys, heave away." Verses all nonsense rhymes with some typical floating verses, i.e. "when I was a young man well in me prime, I'd love them yaller gals two at a time."
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong nonsense
FOUND IN: West Indies
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, p. 309, "Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away" (2 texts, 2 tunes; the "b" text is this piece; "a" is "Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away (II)") [AbEd, p. 231]
NOTES: Hugill says this (and the other "Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away") are halyard shanties, despite the use of the word "heave" in the chorus. - SL
The easiest way to distinguish the two may be the fact that this one is in 3/4; "Heave Away, Boys, Heave Away (I)" is in 2/4. - RBW
File: Hugi309

Heave Away, Me Johnnies


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Heave away, me johnnies/jollies, heave away, ay!" The sailor lists some of the ports the ship has been sent to, but now rejoices to be returning to (Liverpool) and its girls.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (Doerflinger)
KEYWORDS: shanty
FOUND IN: US(MA) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 61-64, "Heave Away" (3 texts, 1 tune, but only the last text goes with this piece; the others are "Yellow Meal")
Colcord, pp. 93-94, "Heave Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 14-17, "Heave Away My Johnnies" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hugill, pp. 303-308, "Heave Away, Me Johnnies" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 226-230]
Sharp-EFC, XXVI, p. 30, "Heave Away, My Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 49, "Heave Away!" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HEAVJHN* HEAVEJH2*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "We're All Bound Away" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #616
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go)" (tune, meter, chorus)
cf. "Yellow Gals (Doodle Let Me Go)" (style)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
We're All Bound to Go
NOTES: This song is probably identical in origin to "Yellow Gals (Doodle Let Me Go)," and perhaps also akin to "Yellow Meal." As, however, those songs have taken on a completely separate plot, I treat them separately. - RBW
File: Doe063

Heave Away, My Johnny (I)


See Heave Away, Me Johnnies (File: Doe063)

Heave Away, My Johnny (II)


See Hieland Laddie (File: Doe050)

Heave Her Up and Bust Her


DESCRIPTION: "The St. Clair River is thirty miles long, Heave 'er up, lads, Heave 'er high, An' we'll set our canvas to this merry song, Heave 'er up and bust her." The sailors head for Lake Huron, talking about the tasks of sailing the lakes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1963 (Walton collection)
KEYWORDS: sailor river
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 45-46, "Heave Her Up and Bust Her" (1 text)
File: WGM045

Heave, My Boys, Away


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Walk 'er round for we're rollin homeward. Heave me boys together! The bully ol' ship is a-lyin windward, Heave me boys away!" Verses have simple rhymes on sailing themes. Full ch: "Heave 'er an' we'll break 'er, For the old ship's a-rollin home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Bradford & Fagge, _Old Sea Chanties_)
KEYWORDS: shanty ship sailor
FOUND IN: Scandinavia Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 528-529, "Heave, My Boys, Away" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 384-385]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hob-y-derri-dando" (very similar tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Capstan Bar
NOTES: Hugill learned this from Swedish sailors, and says he has no idea how popular it was in British ships. - SL
File: Hugi528

Heaven Bell a-Ring


DESCRIPTION: "My Lord, my Lord, what shall I do? And a heaven bell ring and praise God." "What shall I do for a hiding place?" "I run to the sea, but the sea run dry." God's promises to the faithful are briefly summarized; listeners are advised to listen
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 20, "Heaven Bell A-Ring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 322-323, "Heaven Bell a-Ring" (1 text)
Roud #12065
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sinner Man" (lyrics)
File: DarNS32

Heaven Bells, The


DESCRIPTION: "O Mother, I believe (x3) That Christ was crucified." "Oh, don't you hear the heaven bells a-ringing over me? A-ringing over me? Oh, don't you hear the heaven bells a-ringing over me? It sounds like judgment day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 79, "The Heaven Bells" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12040
File: AWG079

Heaven is a Beautiful Place (I)


DESCRIPTION: "Heaven is a beautiful place, I know (x2), If you want to go to heaven on time, Sure got to plumb the line." "Ain't no sorrow in heaven I know...." "Ain't no (murders/gamblers/etc.) in heaven...." ""Loving union in heaven I know...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 579, "Heaven Is a Beautiful Place" (2 texts, but only "A" is this piece; "B" is "Heaven is a Beautiful Place (II)")
Roud #11830
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Heaven is a Beautiful Place (II)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The editors of Brown saw fit to lump the two "Heaven is a Beautiful Place" songs, but while they share the "Heaven is a beautiful place... If you want to go to heaven on time" stanza, the rest seems quite distinct; version (I) is a description of heaven; version (II) is mostly about Elisha. - RBW
File: Br3579A

Heaven is a Beautiful Place (II)


DESCRIPTION: "Elisha has done and seen the beautiful place. Heaven is a lovely place I know, I know." "Elisha done seen the sight, And said he didn't need any light. He has gone on to Heaven to rest. Heaven is a beautiful place, I know."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 579, "Heaven Is a Beautiful Place" (2 texts, but only "B" is this piece; "A" is "Heaven is a Beautiful Place (I)")
Roud #11830
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Heaven is a Beautiful Place (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: The editors of Brown saw fit to lump the two "Heaven is a Beautiful Place" songs, but while they share the "Heaven is a beautiful place... If you want to go to heaven on time" stanza, the rest seems quite distinct; version (I) is a description of heaven; version (II) is mostly about Elisha.
It's not at all clear to me why Elisha is singled out in this song; he reported no visions of heaven, and it was Elijah, not Elisha, who was carried up into heaven (2 Kings 2). Elisha simply died and was buried in an ordinary manner (2 Kings 13).
It's true that Elisha was responsible for an astonishing number of miracles (including one after his death) -- but they were not really *inspiring* miracles; the result reads almost like a Davy Crockett story, but with miracles rather than animals: Where Davy might kill a bear and defeat a wildcat, Elisha would cure a leper and feed a multitude.... - RBW
File: Br3579B

Heaven's a Long Way Off


DESCRIPTION: "This world is all so dark and cold, That' I've been a long time mourning, But the streets of heaven are paved with gold, Its light is upon me dawning. But heaven's a long way off (x3) And I've been a long time mourning." The singer warns of the grave
AUTHOR: unknown ("arranged" by Septimus Winner)
EARLIEST DATE: 1882 (The Song Wave)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad warning
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: H. S. Perkins, H, J. Danforth, and E. V. DeGraff, _The Song Wave_, American Book Company, 1882, pp. 114-115, Heaven's a Great Way Off" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Heaven's a Great Way Off
NOTES: Although I have never seed a traditional collection of this, The Song Wave calls this a "Slave Camp Hymn" arranged by Septimus Winner -- who is known to have worked with other Black material. So I'm including hte song, very tentatively. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BdHaGWOf

Heavenly Aeroplane, The


DESCRIPTION: "One of these days about twelve o'clock... The sinner's going to tremble and cry with pain And the Lord will come in his aeroplane." Jesus will take the saved on a very smooth, easy passage to heaven in the aeroplane.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: religious pilot technology Jesus travel
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 214-215, "The Aeroplane Song" (1 text)
Randolph 660, "The Heavenly Aeroplane" (1 text)
Roud #7384
File: R660

Heavenly Sunlight (Heavenly Sunshine)


DESCRIPTION: A hymn praising Jesus who allows us to "Walk... in sunlight all of my journey" and who will never forsake us. Chorus: "Heavenly sunlight (x2) / Flooding my soul with glory divine / Hallelujah, I am rejoicing / Singing his praises, Jesus is mine"
AUTHOR: words: George H. Cook / music: Henry J. Zelley
EARLIEST DATE: 1899
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
FSCatskills 80, "Heavenly Sunshine" (1 text, 1 tune, combined with #81, "My Lord Knows the Way")
ST FSC080 (Partial)
NOTES: Not to be confused with the Carter Family song "Sunshine in the Shadows" or "Sunshine in the Mountains," which is also properly titled "Heavenly Sunshine." - RBW
File: FSC080

Heavy-Hipped Woman (Black Gal II)


DESCRIPTION: "Quit yo' long-time talkin' bout yo' heavy-hipped woman, she done gone, she done gone." "My woman, she keeps on grumblin', Bout a new pair of shoes." Verses about poverty, work, prison, courting, a runaway woman, almost anything else.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: courting work prison railroading hardtimes poverty courting separation loneliness floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 13-14, "Heavy-Hipted Woman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HEAVYHIP*
Roud #6714
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Black Gal (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Since this is one of those wonderful Lomax accumulations of unrelated verses (from, e.g. "Take This Hammer"/"Swannanoah Tunnel"), it's hard to tell what the real story of this song is. I hope you can identify its relatives....
For a while I lumped this with "Black Gal (I)"; this follows Roud. But "Black Gal (I)" has a much stronger plot than this, which is mostly a complaint song. I suspect that song may have inspired this, but I would now consider them distinct. - RBW
File: LoF294

Hebrew Children, The


See Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children, The Promised Land) (File: San092)

Hecklin' Kame, The


DESCRIPTION: "I'm come to borrow yer hecklin' kame [GreigDuncan8: comb for dressing flax]," Answer: "I'll heckle my hemp and gie ye't again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: weaving dialog
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1713, "The Hecklin' Kame" (1 text)
Roud #13079
NOTES: The GreigDuncan8 notes relate this song to "The Bob O' Dumblane." See James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #513, p. 634, "The Bob o' Dunblane" (1 text, 1 tune): "Lassie, lend me your braw hemp heckle, And I'll lend you my thrippling kame: My heckle is broken, it canna be gotten, And we'll gae dance the Bob o' Dumblane. Twa geed to the wood, to the wood, to the wood, Twa gaed to the wood -- three cam hame: An't be na weel bobbit, weel bobbit, we'll bobbit, An't be na weel bobbit, we'll bob it again." From James Hogg, The Forest Minstrel, editors PD Garside and Richard D. Jackson (Edinburgh, 2006) ,p. 320: "Thomas Crawford ... says that the term 'The Bob of Dumblane' always had an equivocal sense because it refers to both the marriage festivity with its accompanying high jinks, and the sexual act itself." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81713

Hector MacDonald


DESCRIPTION: Hector joins the army and defeats Afghans in Kandahar. At Omdurman "in his great roll of glory It added the crown to his wide-world fame." "Now the great soldier's brave soul has departed ... he died broken hearted"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: battle death Africa nonballad soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 141, "Hector MacDonald" (1 text)
Roud #5774
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: "Hector Macdonald (1853-1903) became a hero in Britain, and particularly in Scotland, following the spectacular part he played in the battle of Omdurman fought in the Sudan on 2 September 1898. He shot himself when about to be court-martialled on a charge which has never been divulged but is presumed to have been one of homosexuality."
For an account of MacDonald's part on September 2 see Winson Churchill, The River War (London, 1997), pp. 209-218. Churchill: "All depended on MacDonald, and that officer, who by valour and conduct in war had won his way from the rank of a private soldier to the command of a brigade, was equal to the emergency" [p. 215]. See also Wikipedia article Battle of Omdurman - BS
Byron Farwell, Queen Victoria's Little Wars, 1972 (I use the 1985 Norton edition), p. 207. says that MacDonald first came to be noticed two dozen years before his death, in Afghanistan. As Lord Roberts traveled with a small escort in 1879, his force was attacked by Afghans. "In the sharp engagement that followed, Roberts was struck by the bravery and leadership shown by a colour sergeant of the 92nd. His name was Hector MacDonald and during the course of the action one of his men had called out to him, 'We'll make ye an officer for this day's work, Sergeant!' And another added, 'Aye, and a general too!' Roberts gave MacDonald a battlefield commission...."
He certainly didn't seem destined to be an officer in the very class-conscious British army, being a draper's assistant who had run away from home to become a soldier (Farwell, p. 247). And, indeed, he was more than nine years in the ranks before his promotion, and was still only a lieutenant in 1881, when he fought at Majuba Hill (for which see the song of that name). MacDonald was so determined that, once all else had failed, he actually fought the Boers with his fists, but finally was taken prisoner (Farwell, p. 250). Soon after, he was selected by General Evelyn Wood to be one of the two dozen officers Wood took to Egypt to rebuild the Egyptian army (Farwell, p. 282).
Initially he served as a battalion commander of Sudanese troops (Farwell, p. 332) -- another job looked down on by the snobs. He seems to have been known at this time as "Fighting Mac" (Farwell, p. 333). In 1898, as Kitchener went to fight in Sudan, Macdonald (then a colonel) was given command of a brigade of local troops (Farwell, p. 334). The Battle of Omdurman came about because Kitchener, without knowing it, planned to march across the front of a major force of dervishes. MacDonald was rather far from the main body when the Africans attacked. He calmly swung his brigade to face them, and beat off a force estimated at 20,000 (Farwell, p. 338). Farwell credits MacDonald solely with the victory; he thinks Kitchener botched his part. David Chandler, general editor; Ian Beckett, associate editor, The Oxford History of the British Army, 1994 (I use the 1996 Oxford paperback edition), p. 208, also mentions his noteworthy work at Omdurman, which "enable[d] Kitchener to complete the rout of the enemy and enter Omdurman in triumph."
Other battles in which Macdonald served included Gemaizah, Toski, Tokar, Firket, and Hafir (Farwell, p. 334).
"The fate of the crofter's son was [sad]. Macdonald further distinguished himself in the Boer War and he eventually became a major-general, but in 1903, while commanding the British forces in Ceylon, he was charged with being a practicing homosexual. He went to London to defend himself, but was ordered back to Ceylon to face a court of inquiry. He got no further than Paris. There in a hotel room this officer, so brave under the fire of Afghans, Dervishes and Boers, shot himself" (Farwell, p. 338).
MacDonald would have been 61 in 1914 -- still young enough, probably, for field service. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if he, rather than the excitable John French (one year older) or the unimaginative Douglas Haig (eight years younger) had commanded the British in France. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1141

Hedgehog, The


See Three Jolly Huntsmen (File: R077)

Hedger and Ditcher


See My Father's a Hedger and Ditcher (Nobody Coming to Marry Me) (File: BrII185)

Hedger, The


See Jolly Thresher, The (Poor Man, Poor Man) (File: R127)

Heel and Toe Polka


DESCRIPTION: Descriptions of how to dance the polka and other dances: "First the heel And then the toe And that's the way the polka goes." Or, "Heel and toe, we always go," etc. Similarly, "First the toe and then the heel, That's the way to dance a reel."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 110, "(First the heel)" (1 text, with the curious tag line "And we'll meet Johnnie Cope in the morning"!)
Roud #7932
File: MSNR110

Heelin' Bill


DESCRIPTION: "Contestants galore and fans by the score Set roostin' the gates of Saint Pete...." The various rodeo riders who have died are recalled. Finally we see "amongst them all, on old Fireball, There set ol' Heelin' Bill."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: cowboy death recitation moniker
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1937 - Death of Pete Knight
1950 - Death of "Heelin'" Bill Nix
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 36, "Heelin' Bill" (1 text)
NOTES: The number of famous bronc riders listed in this song probably tells us something about the profession.... - RBW
File: Ohr036

Heenan and Sayers [Laws H20]


DESCRIPTION: Heenan travels from America to fight the British boxers. Sayers draws first blood, but Heenan is ahead after thirty-seven rounds, and the British stop the fight
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: fight injury
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 17, 1860 - Boxing match between John C. Heenan and Tom Sayers
Events mentioned in some versions of the song:
c. 1541-1596 - Life of Sir Francis Drake
June 17, 1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (fought on Breed's Hill, and won by the British, though at heavy cost)
Oct 19, 1781 - Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown
Sapt 10, 1813 - Perry defeats the British at the Battle of Lake Erie
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Ireland Australia
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Laws H20, "Heenan and Sayers"
Rickaby 49, "Heenan and Sayers" (2 texts)
Dean, pp. 24-25, "Heenan and Sayers" (1 text)
Warner 9, "The British-American Fight" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 76-77, "Heenan and Sayers" (1 text)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 214-215, "Heenan and Sayers" (1 text, 1 tune, "reconstructed" by the collector)
Kennedy 321, "Heenan and Sayers" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More, pp. 253-255, "Heenan and Sayers" (1 text, tune referenced; OLochlainn 26)
DT 679, HEENSAYR
Roud #2148
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Whole Hog or None" (subject)
cf. "Donnelly and Cooper" (subject, tune)
cf. "Morrissey and the Black" (subject)
cf. "Morrissey and the Russian Sailor" (tune, subject)
cf. "Morrissey and the Benicia Boy" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Bold Benicia Boy
NOTES: John C. Heenan (Johnny Morrissey's last opponent) was born in New York but was called "the Benicia Boy" after Benicia, California, where he lived during his late teens. His match with Tom Sayers, which was stopped after 42 rounds, is said to have been the last of the (official) bare-knuckle boxing matches.
Tom Sayers was so successful as a boxer that his ability to land a blow had already entered the realm of proverb at the time of the Crimean War.
If you are wondering about all those historical references which appear to have nothing to do with the Heenan/Sayers fight, they are all appropriate to the Warner text, sung by "Yankee" John Galusha. This text is so distinct from all other "Heenan and Sayers" versions I've seen that I am tempted to list it as its own song. But it does have some common lyrics; it probably doesn't deserve a separate listing. - RBW
[Abraham Lincoln Papers] at the Library of Congress American Memory site: "Outside of the politicians there is in this city very little care or talk about party or candidates. Heenan & Sayers eclipsed the Charleston Convention ..." Letter from Orville H. Browning to Abraham Lincoln, June 29, 1860, re prospects in Pennsylvania.
America Singing at the Library of Congress American Memory site does not have this ballad but has eight other distinct ballads about Heenan and Sayers:
LOCSinging, as201320, "Heenan the Champion of the World," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also sb20189b, "Heenan, Champion of the World"
LOCSinging, as201310, "Heenan the Champion of the World," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also sb20189a, "Heenan the Champion of the World"
LOCSinging, as100200, "The American Eagle and British Lion" or "Yankee Heenan and English Sayers," unknown, n.d.
LOCSinging, sb20171a, "Happy Land of Canaan," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also cw102250, "Happy Land of Canaan"
LOCSinging, sb20170a, "Happy Land of Canaan," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also cw102250, "Happy Land of Canaan"
LOCSinging, sb10143b, "Great Champion Prize Fight," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
LOCSinging, sb20190b, "Heenan the Pride of America," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
LOCSinging, sb10021a, "Ballad in Answer to Sayers, England's Pride," H. De Marsan (New York), [imprint: 1860] [before the fight]
Bodleian Library site Ballads Catalogue does not have this ballad but has six others about Heenan:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(587/588)[could not be downloaded], "A New Song on Heenan and King," J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin), 1850-1899
Bodleian, Harding B 18(234),"Heenan the Champion of the World" (New York), H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
Bodleian, Harding B 18(235),"Heenan the Pride of America," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 attributed to A. Scott
Bodleian, Firth c.19(19),"The English Prize-Fighter and the American Champion," J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin), 1850-1899 about the fight with Sayers
Bodleian, Harding B 26(247),"Heenan's Arrival in England," unknown, n.d. before the fight with Jem Mace
Bodleian, Harding B 19(62),"Heenan's Challenge to Mace," unknown, n.d.; 2806 c.15(229),"Heenan's Challenge to Mace" before the fight with Jem Mace
Broadside H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site.
Broadsides LOCSinging as201320 and Bodleian Harding B 18(234) are duplicates, [as are] broadsides LOCSinging sb20190b and Bodleian Harding B 18(235). - BS
File: LH20

Heezh Ba


See Rock-A-Bye Baby (File: Wa190)

Heifer, The


DESCRIPTION: The heifer, a fabulous creature "with horns upon her heels," does incredible damage till the owner determines to sell her. She begs that she not be killed; she is the spirit of Lord Leitrim. The company determines to blow up the heifer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: animal Devil commerce humorous
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H675, pp. 24-25, "The Heifer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13347
NOTES: I'm sure this is political in some sense or other, but I can't tell the nature of the beast. - RBW
File: HHH675

Heights at Alma, The


See The Heights of Alma (I) [Laws J10] (File: LJ10)

Heights of Alma (I), The [Laws J10]


DESCRIPTION: The British and French land outside Alma. They attack and rout the Russians (most versions give the primary credit to the British,and especially the Scots), forcing them back to Sevastopol. Both sides suffer heavy casualties
AUTHOR: James Maxwell?
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford); c.1854 (broadside, NLScotland RB.m.143(159))
KEYWORDS: war battle patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 14, 1854 - Anglo-French landing near the mouth of the Alma
Sept 20, 1854 - Battle of Alma. The allies win an expensive victory over the Russians
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) US(MW) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont) Ireland
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Laws J10, "The Heights of Alma"
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 249-251, "The Heights of Alma" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 158, "The Battle of Alma" (1 fragment)
SHenry H123, p. 90, "The Heights of Alma" (1 text with variants, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 90, "The Heights at Alma" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 1000-1001, "The Heights of Alma" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 67, "Battle of Alma" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 148-149, "Battle of Alma" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 55, "The Battle of Alma" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 74, "The Heights of Alma" (1 text)
Manny/Wilson 73, "The Heights of Alma" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 40-41, "The Heights of Alma" (1 text)
DT 394, HGHTALMA*
Roud #830
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Heights of Alma" (on Abbott1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 2336, "The Battle of Alma" ("You loyal Britons pray draw near"), unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 26(41)[faded to almost total illegibility], Firth c.14(47)[faded to almost total illegibility], "The Battle of Alma"; Harding B 19(88), 2806 b.9(245), "Bloody Alma"
Murray, Mu23-y1:116, "The Battle of Alma," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, RB.m.143(159), "The Battle of Alma," unknown, c.1854
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Victory Won at Richmond" (meter, lyrics)
cf. "The Waggoner" (meter, lyrics)
cf. "The Kilties in the Crimea" (subject)
cf. "Grand Conversation on Sebastopol Arose (I)" (subject: British boasting about the Crimea)
cf. "Grand Conversation on Sebastopol Arose (II)" (subject: Battle of Alma)
NOTES: Bodleian Library site Ballads Catalogue has other broadsides about the battle:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(62), "We'll Hae Nane but Hielan' Bonnets Here!" ("Alma field of heroes, hail!"), unknown, n.d.
Bodleian, Harding B 26(43), "Battle of Alma" ("Oh boys have you heard of the battle, the allies have gained on the shore"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; Harding B 12(246), "Battle of Alma"
Bodleian, Harding B 26(42), "The Battle of Alma" ("Come all you true-bred Irishmen, and listen unto me"), unknown, n.d.
Manny/Wilson: "[This version] differs in words and tune from any published version we have seen. It may possibly have been altered by Jared MacLean [the singer] himself." This version does share two verses with Mackenzie 74; lacking Mackenzie's chorus it still has the same pattern and seems close enough to me for this to be considered Laws J10.
GreigDuncan1 has the one verse augmented by "Hey, Menschikoff, are ye waukin' yet? Sebastapol bells, are ye ringing yet? Gin ye were waukin, I wad wait, An' meet ye on the banks o' Alma" and sung to the tune of "Johnny Cope." - BS
The Crimean War probably doesn't set a record for strange beginnings (there was, after all, the War of Jenkins's Ear), but it came close: It started with a conflict over who had keys to which rooms in churches in the Holy Land (Binkley, pp. 168-171). But this involved politics in the Ottoman and Russian Empires plus the various Catholic states, and that meant Napoleon III was involved, and the British were trying to reform the Ottoman Empire, and mash it all up, and you ended up with a war.
A singularly inefficient war. The Russians were fighting the Turks by 1853. Britain and France allied with the Turks in March 1854, and sent off their armies to the east. "An Anglo-French expeditionary force appeared at Varna in June to drive out the Russians, but the Russians had already gone. Without even seeing the enemy the expeditionary force lost a fourth of its numbers through sickness" (Binkley, p. 174).
Finally, in the fall of 1854, the allies managed to locate some real live Russians in the Crimea, and set out to attack them.
The English commander was Lord Raglan, who had fought against Napoleon forty years earlier (and had lost an arm; see Woodham-Smith, p. 131), but he was now 65 years old and perhaps lacking in initiative (Woodham-Smith, p. 156).
According to Hibbert, p. 2, he was so like the Duke of Wellington that they were sometimes thought to be father and son (they differed by about twenty years in age). After brief service as a very junior officer, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, as he was then known, joined Wellington's staff, and served on it for some forty years, until Wellington died.
His life was amazingly limited. Hibbert, pp. 4-5, reports these traits: "His private life... was happy and successful, He was devoted to his wife and to his four young children. He was not rich, but had enough to spend between three and four thousand a year... He loved hunting and shooting and good food and the company of good-looking women and the pleasures of society. And like so many members of that society he cared little for the changing world outside it. Science and mechanics, which were beginning already to change the whole life of Europe [and the weapons their armies used, and hence military tactics] meant nothing to him. Nor did painting, nor music; nor did books. In fact in the great mass of his private correspondence only once does he mention having read one.... Even politics interested him only when they impinged upon the Army. In the six years that he sat as a High Tory Member for Truro he never once spoke in the House. He nonetheless was made the first Lord Raglan in 1852 (Hibbert, p. 6).
The British didn't really have much choice about picking such inferior commander; all their officers were either ancient or inexperienced or both -- or had earned their experience in India, which made them socially inferior; see Farwell, p. 69. Plus the British still followed the rule of commission by purchase (Hibbert, p. 8), which was to foist upon then such fools as Lord Lucan and Lord Cardigan of Light Brigade infamy; purchasing of commissions was not eliminated until 1871 (Chandler/Beckett, p. 188). This lack of competent officers was to cost them dearly in the course of the war. Hibbert, p. 16, says that four officers were considered for command of the expeditionary force -- and that only Raglan was under seventy. Compared to the alternatives, he may actually have been a good choice.
Give Raglan this much credit, at least: It was he who pushed the British army to adopt rifle muskets rather than smoothbores (Hibbert, pp. 18-19). These would utterly change the nature of war, and Raglan probably didn't understand them -- but they were a big advantage to the side that had them, since they had a much greater range than smoothbores, and they could actually hit a target.
To add to Raglan's age and conservatism, and the general incompetence of the British staff system, was the fact that Raglan was sick. Heat and dysentery affected him no less than his men (Hibbert, p. 21) -- and he was older and permanently crippled.
At the beginning of the war, Raglan's failings didn't matter. His stubbornness was important to getting the British and French to actually take action (Hibbert, p. 21), which had the secondary benefit of getting them out of the disease pits of their first landing place near Varna (Hibbert, pp. 29-31). Sadly, that didn't really get the armies to do anything useful; British forces had not coordinated their plans with that of the French under Saint Arnaud. (Liaison between the two forces was terrible -- indeed, even within the armies, commanders were hardly willing to work together. Part of it was political, but most of it was sheer personal jealousy.) This was one of the reasons it took so many months to get the forces actually on their way to the Crimea. To add to the absurdity of it all, the time spent in Bulgaria was completely wasted; no one used the time to gather useful intelligence. The Allies would be going into the Crimea blind (Hibbert, p. 33).
No one had even managed to gather decent information on a landing site; in the end, Raglan and his staff cruised the shoreline north of Sebastopol and simply picked a likely-looking spot (Hibbert, pp. 37-38).
Even the landing was a botch, despite being unopposed; although a buoy had been set out to delimit the British and French landing areas, the buoy somehow moved in the night before the landing, so the French had the entire beach and the British had to take their landing craft and hunt for a new spot to go ashore (Hibbert, p. 40). The landing took place September 14, 1854. By the time the rains began that afternoon, men were already collapsing -- some of them dying -- on the beach due to the stress of trying to travel while sick (Hibbert, p. 41).
When the song says the British troops spent the first night on the "cold, cold ground," it is no less than the truth; their tents had been sent back aboard ship after the landing (Hibbert, p. 42, attributes this to the impossibility of the weary troops to carry them, though I wouldn't be surprised if the staff botched things up again).
The British were so disorganized that it took them four days to get moving; the French had been ready two days earlier. Even after all that waiting, most men were not supplied with water for their canteens -- worsening their problems with the day's heat (Hibbert, p. 45). They also did not have time to cook their rations.
After a cavalry mix-up, the Russians settled in to their position of "enormous strength" on the Alma River. "...the Russsians withdrew from the ridges of Bulganak, and the British army came up on them to advance to bivouac for the night in order of battle. When darkness came the men, most of them too exhausted even to eat, fell to the ground, permitted at last to sleep.... Beyond the river, on steep ridges with rise to a formidable height, an untouched Russian army lay encamped" (Hibbert, p. 51). The troops would also have to cross the Alma, but at this time of the year, the water was low and it was a relatively minor obstacle; there were many fords (Hibbert, p. 54).
It is estimated that the 38,000 Russians faced 65,000 Allies (30,000 French, 26,000 British, and 9,000 Turks fought at the Alma, although both sides were starting to suffer severely from disease, and the European allies didn't let the Turks do much). The allies also had an advantage in armaments: The British forces, as noted, had rifle muskets, while almost all of the Russians still had the old smoothbore muskets, which couldn't hit anything beyond a few dozen yards (Wawro, p. 10).
The battle of Alma took place on September 20, 1854. The Russians occupied a position they thought impregnable, but they left parts of it essentially unoccupied (Woodham-Smith, pp. 180-182; Hibbert, p. 54). The allies marched south toward them; with the French on the right (east), with the sea guarding their flank; the British were on the left, with their left flank in the air (not that the Russians were going to leave their strong position to attack it).
According to Hibbert, pp. 56-57, the French commander St. Arnaud, apparently proposed that the French attack on the seaward side while the British tried to outflank the Russians on the landward side. Lord Raglan did not bother arguing with the sick man, but he didn't exactly do as planned, either.
By good luck rather than coordination, the French and British managed a sort of an attack en echelon (Hibbert, pp. 58-59, blames it on the nearsightedness of a British division commander, who couldn't see what he was doing and drifted off-line). The Russians could have made the British pay by attacking their flank -- but they made no move. Instead, the British advance -- though it stalled for some time, forcing the soldiers to face artillery fire they could not answer (Hibbert, p. 61) -- progressively involved the Russian forces and at last brought extra force into play on the Russian flank, causing it to break. (I'm vastly oversimplifying here, but the see-saw battle that actually happened really requires a map to explain.) Raglan's oblique movement had cost heavy casualties, but had -- potentially -- won the war. (Only to have the victory dissolve in more failure of coordination.)
Casualties figures at Alma are uncertain, particularly since many men were dying of cholera all the while. Initial reports had 1755 Russians killed, 362 British, and 60 French (!). Of these, only the Russian figure is possible. Warner, p. 33, gives figures of 6000 Russians, 2000 British, and French negligible -- though he also quotes a contemporary officer's letter claiming 2000 British and 5000 French casualties (Warner, p. 39), while on p. 40 he lists 342 British soldiers killed while noting that conditions for the injured were so bad that most of them would die and on p. 44 quotes a contemporary as saying there were 1400 French losses including those from disease.
After this much time, no reliable figures will ever be known, but it is a reasonable guess that at least 5000 men died. In any case, battle casualties in the Crimea were a joke; men were dying of disease so fast that many formations just melted away. Disease casualties far outnumbered those caused by fighting.
The song is generally fairly accurate about details: There was a downpour on the night after the landing, the British troops were without tents (the French were better off), meaning that the men did sleep on the ground. They were hardly better off on the day before Alma: The day the men marched to the Alma was indeed very hot and dry (Woodham-Smith, p. 170). The dry ground above the Alma River was indeed very high and a potentially strong defensive position (I seem to recall reading that at some points it rose 300 feet above the river) -- though it was not fully fortified (Warner, p. 29). The song is wrong about one thing: the landing took place on September 14, not September 18 as found in several versions (the confusion probably came about because, while the army landed starting September 14, it just sat there for four days. The advance toward the Alma began September 18; Hibbert, pp. 44-45).
The comment, "Scottish lads in kilts and hose Were not the last, you may suppose" is nothing less than the truth; according to Palmer, p. 101, "To the Russians, Sir Colin Campbell's kilted Black Watch and Cameron Highlanders seemed an irresistable force, 'the savages without trousers,' as the mortally wounded General Karganov alled them with grudging admiration." According to Woodham-Smith, pp. 187-188, it was the Highlanders who won the battle, taking the redoubt that anchored the Russian line despite extremely heavy fire. It was the second time the British had taken the position (the Russians had weakened it by pulling out its artillery, according to Hibbert, p. 70; they had a very strong tradition of not allowing guns to fall into enemy hands), but they had been driven out the first time (due in part to mistaken orders and the almost-standard confusion of battle; Hibbert, p. 72). The Highlanders took it and held it.
The song also says "The shot it flew like wind and rain When we the battery strove to gain." Again, this may be based on an eyewitness report; while crossing the river, a sergeant said many men were "shot down with grape and cannister -- which came amongst us like hail -- while attempting to cross [the Alma]" (Hibbert, p. 66).
Versions of this song give chief credit to different regiments for the victory at Alma; Ford's and Henry's texts mentions the "Thirty-third and the Fusiliers," but chief credit is probably due (as even the Ford and Henry texts imply) to Sir Colin Campbell's Highland Brigade: 42nd Highlanders (Black Watch), 78th Highlanders (Seaforth, though this regiment was not given honours for Alma) and 93rd Highlanders (Sutherland).
The additional stanzas in some of the Sam Henry variants mention "Prince Metchnikoff"; this is General Prince Alexander Sergeievich Menshikov/Menschikov/Menschikoff (1789-1869; the variant spellings of course arise because his name is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, but no source I've checked spells it the way Henry does). He was commander of Russian forces in the Crimea until his recall for reasons of health during the Sebastopol siege. Menshikov proved an utter disaster to the Russians (Warner, p. 42, says that "Raglan was inept, Menshikov was more so"); before the war, he had been sent to the Turks as an ambassador. His orders gave him little leeway to avoid war, but he did nothing to use what leeway he had.
The Henry text says that Menshikov left his coach at Alma. This is not true, but there was a Russian review before the battle, and many fine gentlemen and ladies turned out. Many of them fled, leaving coaches and picnic baskets behind.
Jacques Letoy de Saint Arnaud (1796-1854), who helped put Napoleon III on the French throne and was rewarded with a marshal's baton, was the overall commander of Allied forces in the battle, but this wasn't much to his credit; Raglan's movement, which was expensive but which won the battle, was against his orders.
Saint Arnaud did not die in combat at Alma, as the Henry text implies; instead, he was sick (one source suggests heart disease and cholera, another stomach cancer) at the time of the engagement, and died nine days later.
His timing was abominable. Had the allies moved straight on Sebastopol after winning at Alma, they might have taken it by siege -- but Saint Arnaud and others delayed things (Woodham-Smith, p. 191), and then wasn't around to straighten things out; the invaders instead tried a flank march around an army that was too disorganized even to have a flank at this time (Woodham-Smith, p. 192). The delay would cause great misery, at Balaclava, Inkerman, Sebastopol, and all the lands around, where men died of cholera, bad food, and all the other ills that plagued the ill-supplied Crimean armies.
Sam Henry twice credits this song to James Maxwell (fl. 1870), a schoolteacher from near Dungiven, to whom he credits several other songs. I'm not particularly confident of this; the other two Maxwell songs ("Adieu to the Banks of the Roe" and "Dungiven Priory Church") are poor pieces, different in style and quality, with no such historical allusions. I suppose Maxwell could have been a One Hit Wonder, but I'd like better proof of authorship.
Whoever the author was, he appears to have had access to Raglan's remarks on the battle; Raglan spoke of "the hill opposite, over which the Russians fled, quite thick with dead and wounded... the work of the Highland Brigade."
For further information about the Crimean War and the Sebastopol campaign, see "The Famous Light Brigade."
We might also note that "Alma" gives strong evidence of being molded on some earlier piece, though I haven't managed to locate such an exemplar. Neither does Laws mention such a piece. But the fact that the Alma form was used for "The Victory Won at Richmond" (1860s) and "The Waggoner" (internally dated to some time prior to 1840) clearly implies the existence of a "proto-Alma" ballad. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: LJ10

Heir of Linne, The [Child 267]


DESCRIPTION: The Heir wastes his money in gambling and wild living, (sells his lands,) and falls into poverty. He remembers a (letter/key) to be used only when he is in need. It tells him where to find a treasure; the Heir is once again rich -- and now wiser
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: money gambling drink poverty begging
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(SE)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Child 267, "The Heir of Linne" (3 texts)
Bronson 267, "The Heir of Linne" (4 versions)
Greig #72, p. 1, "The Heir o' Linne" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 273, "The Heir o' Linne" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {A=Bronson's #2, B=#3}
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 138-150, "The Heir of Linne" (2 texts, one from the Percy folio and one the heavily-expanded version printed in the _Reliques_)
Dixon IV, pp. 30-36, "The Heir of Linne" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 41, "The Heir of Linne" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 637-641, "The Heir of Linne" (1 text plus one text for comparison)
OBB 80, "The Heir of Linne" (1 text)
DT 267, LAIRDLIN*
Roud #111
NOTES: Child lists many foreign analogues to this ballad. It should not be assumed, however, that they are actually related; the theme is commonplace. Indeed, it could easily be suggested by the Biblical story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32); the only real difference is that, in the New Testament story, the father is still alive.
Still, Bronson links the tune loosely with "The Boom o' Cowdenknowes" -- which would make sense if someone were translating a text and fitting it to a British tune. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C267

Helen of Kirconnell


DESCRIPTION: The singer laments, "I wish I were where Helen lies." The two had been together when Helen was shot and died. The singer pursues and kills her slayer, then promises to be true forever. The rest of the song is a wish to join his love in death
AUTHOR: (published by Robert Burns)
EARLIEST DATE: 1797 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #155); seemingly also in Herd
KEYWORDS: courting love death revenge
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (6 citations):
OBB 152, "Helen of Kirconnell" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 324-325, "Helen of Kirconnell" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1856, "My sweetest sweet and fairest fair"
DT, HELNLIES
ADDITIONAL: The Illustrated Book of Scottish Songs from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century, (London, 1854 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 159-160, "Helen of Kirkconnell"
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #424, "Helen of Kirconnell" (1 text)
ST OBB152 (Full)
Roud #8191
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I Wish I Were Where Ellen Lies
NOTES: Under the title "Fair Helen," this is one of the handful of traditional songs in Palgrave's Golden Treasury (item CXXXV).
This song, or the folktale that underlies it, is said to have inspired Wordsworth's "Ellen Irwin." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: OBB152

Helg yn Dreean


See Hunt the Wren (File: K078)

Hell and Heaven (I've Been Buked and I've Been Scorned)


DESCRIPTION: "I been 'buked and I been scorned, Childrens... I been talked 'bout sure as you're born." The singer tells how to drive Satan away with the gospel, how he will ride to heaven with Jesus, and declares that he will enjoy himself there
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (recording, Tuskegee Institute Singers)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad Devil
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 588-591, "Hell and Heaven" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
Roud #15565
RECORDINGS:
Tuskegee Institute Singers, "I've Been Buked and I've Been Scorned" (Victor 18447, 1918)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, Mary Don't You Weep" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" (floating lyrics)
File: LxA588

Hell and Texas


See Hell in Texas (File: R196)

Hell in Texas


DESCRIPTION: The Devil, bored with Hell, decides it's time to expand the franchise. The sandiest place available is Texas; the Devil acquires a lease from God after negotiating the water rights. The Devil adds tarantulas, cacti, etc. and opens for business
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: Devil humorous Hell
FOUND IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 196, "Hell and Texas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 397-399, "Hell in Texas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 27, "Hell in Texas" (3 texts -- one each for Texas, Arizona (this one properly filing with "Arizona") and Alaska, 1 tune)
DT, HELLTEXS*
ADDITIONAL: Hal Cannon, editor, _Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering_, Giles M. Smith, 1985, pp. 55-56, "Hell in Texas" (1 text)
Roud #5104
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Arizona" (theme)
NOTES: This song and "Arizona" clearly are related; one probably suggested and influenced the other. But there is no way to clearly demonstrate which came earlier, so I list them separately. - RBW
File: R196

Hell-Bound Train, The


DESCRIPTION: The drunk passes out and dreams of the hell-bound train. The Devil is the engineer. When he announces that Hell is the next stop, the riders beg for mercy; the Devil replies with a list of tortures they face. The drunkard awakens and reforms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Railroad Men's Magazine, according to Cohen)
KEYWORDS: train Devil Hell drink
FOUND IN: US(So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 638-644, "The Hell-Bound Train" (1 text plus extensive excerpts and aportion of "Ride on the Black Valley Railroad" and a broadside print of "Railroad to Hell"; 1 tune)
Randolph 599, "The Hell-Bound Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 210, "The Hell-Bound Train" (1 text, 1 tune, the latter allegedly by Lomax himself)
Fife-Cowboy/West 125, "The Hell-Bound Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 15, "The Hell-Bound Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 94, "The Hell-Bound Train" (1 text)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 163-164,246, "The Hell-Bound Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 263, "The Hell Bound Train" (1 text)
DT, HELLBOND* HELLBND2*
Roud #5103
RECORDINGS:
Frank Hutchison, "Hell Bound Train" (OKeh 45452, 1930) (Velvet Tone 2366-V, 1931)
Sunset Jubilee Singers, "The Hellbound Train" (Hub 3004, n.d.) [Note: I'm not certain this is the same song, but I'm playing the odds]
Joseph Walsh, "The Hell-Bound Train" (on MREIves01)
NOTES: Lomax editions suggest "J. W. Pruitt(e)" as the author of this piece. One of Randolph's sources mentions a "Tom Gray." I wouldn't bet much on either attribution. - RBW
In the Beck version, Tom Gray is the protagonist, rather than the author (the song is in third person). - PJS
Cohen notes a strong similarity in concept to"Ride on the Black Valley Railroad," credited to I. N. Tarbox and printed in 1876. For more on this, one should see Cohen. - RBW
File: R599

Hello Girls


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

Hello Stranger


DESCRIPTION: Floating verses describing singer's grief because her sweetheart is in prison.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (recording, Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: loneliness separation prisoner floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 114 "Hello Stranger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15144
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "Hello Stranger" (Decca 5479, 1938)
File: ADR114

Hello, My Boy, Not I


See Oh, No, Not I (File: DTmarryn)

Hello, Somebody


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Hello, somebody, hello!" "There's somebody knocking at the garden gate...." "Somebody wants to know my name...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933
KEYWORDS: shanty
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 46, "Hello, Somebody" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 256-257, "Hello, Somebody!" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 186-187]
ST Doe046 (Partial)
Roud #9441
File: Doe046

Help Me Drive


DESCRIPTION: Hammering song. "Help me drive 'er, Uh! Help me drive 'er, Uh! Help me drive 'er, Uh! ah, home. Uh!" "Little Mary... ah, home!" "To de mountain... ah, home!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: worksong
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 218, "Work-Song" (1 short text, 1 tune)
File: ScaNF218

Hembrick Town


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

Hen and the Duck, The


DESCRIPTION: "The hen to herself said one beautiful day, Cluck, cluck, The day is so fine we'll step over the way And call on my neighbor and friend Madam Duck." The hen warns her chicks not to join the ducklings in the water -- but the chicks don't listen and drown
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: bird chickens death drowning river
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gardner/Chickering 199, The Hen and the Duck"" (1 text)
ST GC199 (Partial)
Roud #3712
File: GC199

Hen Cackle


DESCRIPTION: Characterized by the structure, "The old hen cackled... The next time she cackled...," E.g. "The old hen cackled, she cackled in the lot, The next time she cackled, she cackled in the pot." Material floats freely.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (recording, Fiddlin' John Carson)
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad food floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Darling-NAS, p. 252, "Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 157, "The Hen Cackled" (first of 12 single-stanza jigs) (1 text, perhaps from this though it's just a floating verse)
Roud #11058
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Goin' to Crow" (OKeh 4890, 1923)
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Hen Cackle" (Brunswick 2811, 1925)
Coleman & Harper "Old Hen Cackle" (Perfect 12751, 1931) (Oriole 8095, 1931)
Homer Davenport & the Young Brothers, "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster Crowed" (Silvertone 4009, 1925; Challenge 110 or 304, 1927 [both Challenge records as The Three Howard Boys])
George Edgin's Corn Dodgers, "Corn Dodger No. 1 Special" (Columbia 15754-D, 1932)
Fruit Jar Guzzlers, "Cacklin' Hen" (Broadway 8108, 1928)
Whit Gayden, "Hen Cacklin' Piece" (Victor V-40315, 1930)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Barnyard Serenade" (Victor V-40038, 1929; rec. 1928)
J. D. Harris "The Cackling Hen" (OKeh 45024, c. 1926; rec. 1925)
The Hillbillies, "Cackling Hen" (Vocalion 5020, c. 1926)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Hen Cackle" (OKeh 45123, 1927)
Clayton McMichen & his Georgia Wildcats, "The Old Hen Cackled" (Varsity 5064, c. 1942/Joe Davis 3512, n.d.)
Short Creek Trio, "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster Crowed" (Silvertone 8178, 1928)
Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett, "Hen Cackle" (Columbia 110-D, 1924)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Hen Cackle" (Columbia 15303-D, 1928); "Cacklin' Hen and Rooster Too" (Columbia 15682-D, 1931)
Gordon Tanner, Smokey Joe Miller & Uncle John Patterson, "Medley: Cumberland Gap/Gid Tanner's Bucking Mule/Hen Cackle" (on DownYonder)
Tennessee Ramblers, "Cackling Pullet" (Brunswick 225, 1928; Supertone S-2083, 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cluck Old Hen"
NOTES: This merges almost continuously with "Cluck Old Hen," and readers may want to check both. The line "The old hen cackled and the rooster's going to crow" is highly characteristic of this song.
According to The Old-Time Herald, Volume 11, #10, April-May 2009, p. 26, "[Ralph] Peer recorded Carson -- grudgingly, country music lore has it -- in cnnditions that were less than ideal. The sound of Carson's record, Peer would later say, was 'pluperfect awful.' Nevertheless, a test pressing of 500 of Carson's debut -- "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" on the A-side and "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow on the reverse -- sold out in the space of an afternoon." Although this was not the first "country" recordings waxed, it began the southern music boom. - RBW
File: RcOHCRGC

Hen's March, The


DESCRIPTION: "Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick-a-lairy ... And the aul' hen cries out, 'Tick-a-lairy'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: nonballad nonsense bird
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1664, "The Hen's March" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #13044
NOTES: GreigDuncan8: "There are more words describing all the actions of the hens."
The current description is based on the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Grd81664

Henhouse Door (Who Broke the Lock?)


DESCRIPTION: Floating verses: "Down in the henhouse, down on my knees/I thought I heard a chicken sneeze" "Hen... told the rooster, I love you best... you're a pop-eyed liar...." Ch.: "Who broke the lock? I don't know/Who broke the lock on the henhouse door..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1894 (recording, Standard Quartette)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Floating verses: "Down in the henhouse, down on my knees/I thought I heard a chicken sneeze" "Hen and a rooster went out west/Hen told the rooster, I love you best/Rooster told the hen, you're a pop-eyed liar/Saw you in the alley with the big Shanghai" "My old hen's a good old hen/Ain't laid an egg since I don't know when" etc. Chorus: "Who broke the lock? I don't know/Who broke the lock on the henhouse door..."
KEYWORDS: jealousy theft farming floatingverses humorous nonballad animal chickens
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
RECORDINGS:
Alabama Washboard Stompers, "Who Broke the Lock" (Vocalion 1587, 1931)
H. M. Barnes & his Blue Ridge Ramblers, "Who Broke the Lock on the Hen-House Door" (Brunswick 310, 1929/Supertone S-2052, 1930/Brunswick 1027)
Jack Bland's Rhythmakers, "Who Broke the Lock" (Banner 32605/Melotone M-12513/Oriole 2593/Perfect 15694, all 1932; Columbia 35841, 1940)
Bryant's Jubilee Quartet, "Who Stole De Lock Off De Henhouse Door" (Gennett 6608/Champion 15543 [as Southland Jubilee Singers]/Supertone 9081 [as Dixie Jubilee Choir]/Supertone 9293 [as Dixie Jubilee Singers], all 1928); "Who Stole De Lock" (Banner 32173/Oriole 8060/Perfect 175 [as Famous Garland Jubilee Singers]/Romeo 5060/Conqueror 7749, all 1931)
Vance Dixon & his Pencils, "Who Stole the Lock" (OKeh 8891, 1931)
Dunham Jazz Singers, "Who Stole the Lock" (Columbia 14609-D, 1931)
Otto Gray & his Oklahoma Cowboys, "Who Broke the Lock" (Vocalion 5479, c. 1931/Polk P9017, n.d./Panachord [UK] 25449, 1933)
Dick Hartman & his Tennessee Ramblers, "Who Broke the Lock?" (Montgomery Ward M-4914, 1936)
Texas Jim Lewis, "Who Broke the Lock" (Vocalion 3754/Perfect 7-12-55 [as Texas Jim Lewis' Lone Star Cowboys], 1937)
Frank Luther, "Who Broke the Lock" (Decca 5322, 1935)
Riley Puckett, "Riley's Hen House Door" (Bluebird B-7373, 1938)
Standard Quartette, "Who Broke the Lock on the Henhouse Door?" (CYL: Columbia, no #, rec. 1894)
Washboard Rhythm Kings, "Who Broke the Lock" (Victor 23283, 1931)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Talking Blues" (floating verses)
cf. "Cluck Old Hen" (floating verses)
cf. "The Chicken Song (I Ain't Gonna Take It Settin' Down)" (floating verses)
NOTES: The Bryant's Jubilee Quartet recordings are a perfect illustration of why discographers get migraines. - PJS
File: RcWBTL

Hennessy Murder, The


DESCRIPTION: "Kind friends, if you will list to me, A sad story I'll relate, 'Tis of brave Chief Hennessy And how he met his fate." The song mentions the time of his death, and opines that his killers were working with Satan
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder police
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 165-166, "The Hennessy Murder" (1 text, 1 tune); also "Hennessy Avenged" (1 text)
Roud #4128
NOTES: This is item dF58 in Laws's Appendix II.
File: Burt165

Henpecked Man, The


DESCRIPTION: "I'm the most henpecked man in town, I used to have lots of fun..." until his wife discovers him having an affair when he forgets to have receipts for the errands he allegedly was running. She makes sure he can't do it again. He warns against lies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recording, Kelly Harrell)
KEYWORDS: husband wife adultery hardtimes trick lie clothes
FOUND IN: US
Roud #13148
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "The Henpecked Man" (Victor 23689, 1929; on KHarrell02)
NOTES: I've never seen a version of this other than Harrell's, but it sounds traditional. The problem may be that no man would sing it for a collector.
Alfred Steagall's guitar accompaniment on this song is fascinating -- somewhere between ragtime and Mississippi John Hurt. I've heard nothing else like it on a recording of this era. I wonder if Steagall didn't influence later guitar stylists. - RBW
File: RcTHM

Henry and His Maryanne


See Henry and Mary Ann (Henry the Sailor Boy) (File: HHH037)

Henry and Mary Ann (Henry the Sailor Boy)


DESCRIPTION: Mary Ann bids Henry to stay with her. He refuses, and also refuses her offer to come with him. He goes to sea, where he performs valiantly and saves the Captain's life. When he comes home, the Captain gives him fifty pounds; the couple get married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1853 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 26(246))
KEYWORDS: love separation sailor money
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SHenry H37, pp. 485-486, "Henry, the Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 96-97, "Henry and His Maryanne" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 899-900, "Young Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 32, "My Mary Ann" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #2284
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(246), "Henry and Mary Ann," J. Moore (Belfast), 1846-1852; also Firth c.12(284), Firth b.27(353), "Henry and Mary Ann"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The River Roe" (tune)
cf. "Jeannette and Jeannott" (tune, per broadside Bodleian Firth c.12(284))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
My Mary Ann
NOTES: SHenry, re the tune for "Henry, the Sailor Boy": "almost all the [Irish] murder songs were composed to it." The tune is close to the one used by A.L. Lloyd for the verse of "Paddy West" (on Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd, "Blow Boys Blow," Tradition TCD 1024 (1996)) - BS
File: HHH037

Henry and Nancy


DESCRIPTION: Henry courts Nancy. Her parents lock her in their castle. Nancy writes Henry a letter. He dreams of her and wakes to find her letter. He goes to the castle, kills her, and kills himself. Her parents blame themselves. Nancy's ghost blames her mother.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting love murder suicide dream father mother ghost prison
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 675-676, "Henry and Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9943
File: Pea675

Henry and Servilla


DESCRIPTION: Broadside. Henry and Servilla are in love, but her mind changes; "perhaps it was a better match Within the mother's eye." Henry is bidden not to return. Henry intercepts her on her way to school, and shoots her then himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: love courting betrayal murder suicide
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
January 13, 1854 - Murder/suicide of Servilla (Jones?) and Henry
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 45-47, "Henry and Servilla, or the Death Bridal -- being a graphic account of the New Boston Tragedy" (1 text, slightly shortened)
NOTES: What I want to know is, why didn't someone shoot the mother who named her daughter "Servilla"?
This is as bad as it sounds, being littered, e.g. with small caps:
One had a DAUGHTER, just sixteen....
He loved SERVILLA long and well,
(Surely it was not strange,)
And happy was he in her love,
But ah! THERE CAME A CHANGE!
He took the maiden by the hand,
"YOU SHALL BE MINE," he said;
Then drew a pistol from his breast
AND SHOT HER THROUGH THE HEAD.
On second thought, I want to know why Henry didn't shoot the so-called "poet" who would inflict *that* on the world. - RBW
File: Burt045

Henry Clay Beattie


DESCRIPTION: Beattie is convicted of murdering a girl, but denies his guilt. His family tries to get him to confess, lest he "go to [his] doom with a lie." At last he confesses. On a Friday morning he is executed in the electric chair
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Kelly Harrell)
KEYWORDS: death murder prison punishment execution Hell
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1911 - Execution of Henry Clay Beattie
FOUND IN:
Roud #13147
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Harrell, "Henry Clay Beattie" (Victor 20797, 1927; on KHarrell02)
NOTES: The use of the electric chair as a means of execution obviously dates this song to the few decades before Harrell's recording. This would seem to imply that it is based on actual events. But I found no references to Beattie until Paul Stamler found an online auction of a publication entitled The Great Beattie Murder Case: Henry C. Beattie Jr., Life and Crime. Sensational story of the life of Beulah Binford, 'the woman in the case.'"
How far one can trust anything with a title like that is an open question, but apparently Beattie (1884-1911) lived in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife when he took Beulah Binford as his mistress (supposedly she did not know he was married). Beattie then murdered his wife with a shotgun. He claimed she was killed by a highwayman, but was tried and executed. - RBW
File: RcHCB

Henry Clay Songs


DESCRIPTION: Tunes in favor of "The Statesman, the Patriot, Clay" during his presidential campaigns. Sung to popular tunes such as "Rosin the Beau," they include "The Mill-Boy of the Slashes" and "Old Hal of the West"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: political nonballad derivative
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1777 - Birth of Henry Clay in Hannover County, Virginia -- a region known as "The Slashes," hence the song title "The Mill-Boy [=miller-boy] of the Slashes"
1824 - Clay's first campaign for President (in the first election where popular votes are recorded, Andrew Jackson is the clear winner in the voting, but no one wins in the Electoral College. John Quincy Adams is elected president by the House of Representatives, due mostly to backing from Clay)
1832 - Clay's second campaign for President. He is defeated by Andrew Jackson
1844 - Clay's third campaign for President, producing both ""The Mill-Boy of the Slashes," with its erroneous reference to Van Buren (who failed to earn the Democratic nomination) and "Old Hal o' the West." Clay is defeated by James K. Polk.
1852 - Death of Henry Clay
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 39-40, "The Mill-Boy of the Slashes" and "Old Hal o' the West" (2 texts, filed under "Old Rosin, the Beau," tune referenced)
Hudson 84, p. 211, "Henry Clay" (1 short text, to the tune of "Old Dan Tucker," with many floating elements)
ADDITIONAL: John Siegenthaler, _James K. Polk_, Times Books, 2003, p. 91, (A single stanza of a Clay campaign song beginning "Hurrah for Henry Clay" and ending "And Polk will soon burst his boiler")
Roud #4495
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosin the Beau" (tune) and references there
NOTES: This is a lumping entry, for all the various political songs associated with Henry Clay and his sundry campaigns for president. They're all of separate origin, but since they had tenuous hold on tradition (at best), it seemed easier to put them all here.
My old high school history text described the period of 1830-1850 as the era of Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster. This is a little unfair; no matter how weak Martin van Buren and John Tyler were, there is no questioning the importance of Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk!
Nonetheless, Clay was one of the greatest voices of the era, and the single most important force behind the Whig party -- one might almost say he *was* the Whig party, since it died almost the moment he did.
These days, he is usually remembered either for his many compromises, ending finally with the Compromise of 1850, or for his many presidential campaigns. But he was more. Holt's massive work gives this description on, p. 25:
"Clay was five years the senior of Webster, his great rival in the anti-Jackson camp. Whereas the granite-like Webster inspired awe and admiration, the irresistably appealing Kentuckian inspired love, affection, and often rapturous adoration from virtually everyone he met... Clay was a brilliant conversationalist, sparkling, witty, playful. Tall and thin, with a sandy complexion, a shock of brunette hair... gray, laughing eyes, and a straight, thin-lipped mouth that broke readily into a smile, the gracious, fun-loving clay charmed both men and women wherever he went. Neither as profound nor as learned as Webster, he exuded emotion and charisma when he addressed public audiences."
Jameson, p. 416, has this to add: "Mill-boy of the Slashes, a designation applied to Henry Clay, who was born in humble circumstances in the portion of Hanover County, Virginia, known as the "Slashes," and, like other farm-boys, used to ride to mill."
Schlesinger, p. 12, says this of Clay
"No man in American had a greater gift for exciting intense personal enthusiasm than Clay. A splendid orator, with a sure understanding of the crowd, he was endowed with a magnificent and garish imagination, which caught up and expressed the inarticulate popular feelings in their vague longing, their vulgarity and their wonder. He made Federalism a living vision, replacing the dry logical prose of Hamilton with thrilling pictures of a glorious future. The blaze of nationalist suggest a new and disarming name -- the American System -- and under Clay's solicitous care, this rebaptized Federalism slowly won its way to the inner councils of the government."
And yet, if Clay's vision resembles the modern American government, in the short term, he was largely a failure. Depending on how you count, he ran for President from three to five times -- the most by any serious candidate prior to Franklin Roosevelt. But the results were far from successful (see Hammond Atlas, p. U-59):
1824 -- the famous four-way election and the "corrupt bargain" that made John Quincy Adams President. Andrew Jackson won 43% of the popular vote, and 99 electoral votes; Adams has 31% of the vote and 84 electoral votes. William H. Crawford earned 13% of the vote and 41 electoral votes. Clay had 13% of the vote and 37 electoral votes. The election went to the House of Representatives. Clay, being the fourth place finisher, was eliminated from the contest. He threw his support to Adams, who thus (in the first election to feature direct vote count for President) because the first President elected with less than a plurality of the vote.
1832 -- Jackson, who had won the rematch with Adams in 1828, ran for re-election against a variety of candidates: Clay, Floyd, and the anti-Mason Wirt. Jackson won 55% of the vote, and 77% of the electoral vote; Clay won only 25% of the popular vote.
1840 -- By this time, the anti-Jackson, non-Democratic party had a name: They were Whigs. They had run three candidates in 1836, and lost to Martin van Buren. In 1840, Clay made noises about availability, but the Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison (one of their candidates in 1836) -- and won.
1844 -- With Harrison dead, the Whigs at last nominated Clay (the first time he was the sole candidate of the non-Democrats); he earned 48% of the vote to James K. Polk's 50%, but Polk won 62% of the electoral votes.
1848 -- Once again Clay made himself available; once again the Whigs nominated at general (Zachary Taylor) and won the Presidency for the last time.
Nor was this his last noble failure. In 1850, an old man of 72, he managed to put together the Compromise of 1850. He died in 1852 -- and, in 1854, Stephen A. Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act, thereby destroying the Compromise and opening the door for Civil War. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: SRW039

Henry Connor of Castledawson


See Henry Connors [Laws M5] (File: LM05)

Henry Connors [Laws M5]


DESCRIPTION: Dejected Henry tells his story. A serving man, he fell in love with his master's daughter. The girl's mother aids the match, but the father is opposed. When the two plan to flee to Scotland, the father plants evidence against Henry and has him transported
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: servant courting father emigration transportation betrayal trick love
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws M5, "Henry Connors"
SHenry H128, pp. 440-441, "Henry Connor of Castledawson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 94, "Henry Connors" (1 text)
DT 816, HENRCONR
Roud #1909
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" [Laws M6] (plot)
cf. "Jock Scott" (plot)
cf. "Matt Hyland" (plot)
cf. "The Footboy" (plot)
File: LM05

Henry Downs


DESCRIPTION: "Many an Orange villain fell Beneath the hand of Downs" "The trembling tyrants did propose A partial amnesty" which took "unsuspecting clowns" out of the battle. Downs continued to fight. In Dublin he was taken by Sirr, tried, condemned, and hanged.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1887 (Madden's _Literary Remains of the United Irishmen of 1798_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion execution trial Ireland patriotic police
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 1799 - Henry Downs is hanged at Malahide after being taken by Major Sirr in a Dublin alehouse.(source: Moylan)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 125, "Henry Downs" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)" (character of Major Sirr)
cf. "The Man from God-Knows-Where" (character of Major Sirr)
cf. "The Major" (character of Major Sirr)
NOTES: For more about Major Sirr see "Edward" (III), "The Man from God-Knows-Where," "The Major" and the notes to "Who Killed Cock Robin?" (II).
Moylan adds some information illuminating the events here. There was an amnesty and it was accepted by many insurgents. Downs, while a member of Joseph Holt's guerilla band, killed Jonathan Eves, mistakenly taking him to be an informer. He broke with the guerillas on this account. He came close to killing Major Sirr while being taken. Moylan reports Madden, in Literary Remains of the United Irishmen of 1798, believed that Downs was executed for shooting Eves. - BS
File: Moyl125

Henry Green (The Murdered Wife) [Laws F14]


DESCRIPTION: Henry Green threatens suicide if Mary Wyatt will not marry him (she is unsure about the idea because he is rich and she is poor). Soon after the marriage, he poisons her. She forgives him before she dies, but he is sentenced to death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: murder marriage poverty execution poison
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1845 - Murder of Mary Ann Wyatt Green (February) and execution of Henry Green (September)
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE,SE,So) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws F14, "Henry Green (The Murdered Wife)"
Belden, p. 321, "Henry Green" (1 text)
Randolph 157, "Henry Green" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 65-68, "Henry Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 792-793, "Henry Green" (1 text)
FSCatskills 66, "The Arsenic Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)\
Gardner/Chickering 142, "Young Henry Green" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 624-627, "The Murder of Miss Wyatt" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 100, "Henry Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, pp. 11-13, (no title) (1 partial text, 1 tune, plus an excerpt from this or a related ballad)
DT 666, ARSENICT*
Roud #693
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Billy Vite and Molly Green" (plot)
cf. "The Murdered Wife or the Case of Henry G. Green" (subject, plot)
NOTES: The Digital Tradition editors speculate that this was adapted from the music hall song "Billy Vite and Molly Green." This is conceivable, but a significant stretch -- this song is serious, "Billy" comic; "Billy" involves a supernatural element, and in "Billy" it is the boy who is poor and the girl rich. - RBW
Leach-Labrador notes that "the murder took place in Rensselaer County, New York" - BS
File: LF14

Henry Joy


DESCRIPTION: The singer from Ulster tells how he left his wife and children to follow Henry Joy McCracken. They are defeated at Antrim. Henry Joy is taken to Belfast by the redcoats and hanged in the barrack square.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1998 (Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998))
KEYWORDS: battle rebellion Ireland execution patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 17, 1798 - Henry Joy McCracken, a founder of the United Irishmen, is executed outside the Market House in Belfast (source: notes to Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998))
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 110, "Henry Joy" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry Joy McCracken (I)" (character of Henry Joy McCracken) and references there
NOTES: Moylan: "This song possibly dates from the early 19th century" - BS
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, "Henry Joy" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
Henry Joy McCracken was one of the most admirable of the United Irishmen. Sadly, he was no soldier, and his attempt to fight the British at Antrim a disaster; for details, see the notes to "Henry Joy McCracken (I)." - RBW
File: Moyl110

Henry Joy McCracken (I)


DESCRIPTION: "It was on the Belfast mountains I heard a maid complain... Saying, 'Woe is me... Since Henry Joy McCracken died on the gallows tree." Henry fought against the English, but was taken; now only his ghost comes got her. She dies and is buried
AUTHOR: attributed by different writers to P. J. McCall, William Drennan, and T. P. Cunning (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland love death burial execution ghost
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 7, 1798 - Henry Joy McCracken, a founder of the United Irishmen, leads several thousand men against Antrim, but is driven off. The Ulster phase of the 1798 rebellion is completely defeated by June 13, and the leaders later executed
July 17, 1798 - Henry Joy McCracken hanged in Belfast. (source: Moylan)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
PGalvin, pp. 34-35, "Henry Joy McCracken" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 60, "Henry Joy McCracken" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 109, "Henry Joy McCracken" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden 39, "Henry Joy McCracken" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3008
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry Joy" (subject)
cf. "Henry Joy McCracken (II)" (subject)
cf. "McCracken's Ghost" (subject)
cf. "The Social Thistle and the Shamrock" (written by McCracken)
NOTES: OLochlainn writes about finding the tune in 1913 in George Petrie [1789-1866], The Complete Petrie Collection. "The song here given was written by P. J. McCall [1861-1919], author of 'Boolavogue.'"
Leyden's source is OLochlainn 60. - BS
The ballad is recorded on two of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Tim Lyons, "Henry Joy McCracken" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes)
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Henry Joy McCracken" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
Pakenham, p. 172, says of McCracken (1767-1798) that he was "a remarkable man -- in may way the most attractive of all the original United brotherhood of Ireland." A Presbyterian, he tried to promote learning and social justice (not something that interested most Irish leaders); Smyth, p. 117, describes him as part of the "often socially radical" faction of the United Irishmen. He was also religiously tolerant (his brothers, Golway, p, 68, had attended the opening of BelfastÕs first Catholic Church in 1784, along with other members of the Belfast volunteers, as a gesture of ecumenicalism. McCracken himself, according to Golway, p. 69, actually supported Catholics when they were attacked by Protestants.)
McCracken, it appears, was not inherently opposed to British rule; he simply thought that Ireland could not achieve the social order he felt desirable without independence.
Sadly, British justice cared little for nobility of character. And, as a leader of troops, McCracken was contemptible. And several of his senior officers were in contact with the British General Nugent. McCracken, in attacking Antrim, made no provisions to guard against reinforcements. Nor could he make any real use of his ancient, ill-mounted cannon. The result was a complete defeat for the United Men at Antrim.
Four days later, the remnants of the United forces abandoned their camp at Donegore Hill. As an army, that was the end of them.
McCracken had not expected to command the Ulster army. Robert Simms had originally commanded the troops in County Antrim. But he wasn't going to fight without the French. He resigned, leaving McCracken in command (Golway, p. 84). McCracken had no military experience. A veteran army might have survived an ignorant commander. But the troops were as raw as he. They scared the British, but they posed little real danger.
McCracken himself escaped the rout, and hid in the home of his "lover" Mary Bodle (by whom he apparently had an illegitimate daughter; see Golway, p. 85). Contrary to what is reported in "Henry Joy McCracken (II)," Steward, p. 240, says that a patrol simply stumbled on him -- but one of themn had bought cloth from him and recognized him. What followed is confused -- apparently some of the men of the patrol wanted to free him -- but he ended up in custody. Golway, pp. 87-88, says that his trial began on July 16, and he was hung July 17 after refusing an offer to turn informer. Stewart, p. 241, says the court-martial began July 17 (the contradiction is probably a matter of how the phases of the McCracken case are labelled).
Stewart, p. 242, notes that McCracken's father and sister Mary Ann were present at the trial. The officer in charge, in an act of blatant cruelty, spoke to the father and told him that McCracken could live if he would reveal the name of his commander. Stewart reports the incident as follow: "Pollock caled Henry over and made the same offer to him. McCracken said, 'I will do anything which my father knows is the right thing for me to do.' 'Harry, my dear,' said his father, 'I know nothing of the business, but you know best what you ought to do.' At this McCracken said, 'Farewell, Father,' and walked back to the table."
The trial took place the same day, and although it was hard to find witnesses, McCracken was found guilty and ordered to be executed immediately. McCracken was hung at 5:00 p.m. on July 17 (Stewart, p. 245). - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: PGa034

Henry Joy McCracken (II)


DESCRIPTION: McCracken is betrayed for 50 pounds by Niblock. Why is there no song from 1798 to mark his hanging on High Street, Belfast? He is buried in Clifton Street cemetery with his sister Mary.
AUTHOR: Mrs Eileen Keaney (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (written 1964, published _Ceol_ vol. 2, no. 1, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion betrayal execution patriotic burial
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 17, 1798 - Henry Joy McCracken hanged in Belfast. (source: Moylan)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 111, "Henry Joy McCracken" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry Joy McCracken (I)" (character of Henry Joy McCracken) and references there
NOTES: For background on Henry Joy McCracken, one of the most admirable but perhaps not the most competent of the 1798 rebels, see the notes to "Henry Joy McCracken (I)." According to Terry Golway, For the Cause of Liberty, pp. 85, 87-88, his sister Mary Ann (1770?-1866) had tried to smuggle him out of the country before his death, but he was captured before arrangements were completed.
She kept on having ideas. She tried to come with him to the gallows. (Interestingly, he apparently gave no last speech.) After his hanging, she tried to have a doctor revive him., naturally without success. She then helped care for his illegitimate(?) daughter Maria. Mary Ann McCracken never married, and died in Maria's house. - RBW
File: Moyl111

Henry K. Sawyer [Laws G5]


DESCRIPTION: Henry K. Sawyer is fatally burned when he is trapped under a derailed train. He is taken from the wreck, but all he can do is bid farewell to his wife before he dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: train wreck farewell death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 8, 1848 - Henry Sawyer, superintendent of repairs for the Bangor and Oldtown Railroad, is fatally injured when his train derails
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws G5, "Henry K. Sawyer"
Cohen-LSRail, p. 272, "Henry K. Sawyer" (notes only)
DT 757, HENRSAWY
Roud #3249
File: LG05

Henry Lee


See Young Hunting [Child 68] (File: C068)

Henry Martyn [Child 250]


DESCRIPTION: Henry Martin (Martyn), the youngest of three brothers, is chosen by lot to turn pirate "to maintain his brothers and he." Martin overhauls a merchant ship; he either sinks her or is himself mortally wounded
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(181))
KEYWORDS: brother pirate
FOUND IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber),Wales) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So,SW) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (20 citations):
Child 250, "Henry Martyn" (5 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #42}
Bronson 250, Henry Martyn" (50 versions+2 in addenda)
Belden, pp. 87-89, "Henry Martin" (1 text, called by the singer "Andy Bardan")
Randolph 31, "Andrew Bardeen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #50}
Eddy 24, "Henry Martyn" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #16, #47}
Gardner/Chickering 81, "The Three Scotch Robbers" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #6, #10}
Gray, pp. 80-81, "Andrew Martine" (1 text, which seems rather defective although no gaps are shown)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 72-74, "Andrew Marteen"; pp. 201-203, "Andrew Batan" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #31, #46}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 15-44, "Sir Andrew Barton" "but including Henry Martyn" (11 texts plus a fragment, 10 tunes; in every text but "L," the robber is Andrew Bardeen or something like that, but many of the texts appear more Henry Martin-like) {K=Bronson's #2 tune for Child #167; B=#46, C=#31 for Child #250}
JHCox 150, "Henry Martin" (1 text)
Davis-More 37, pp. 290-299, "Henry Martyn" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 86-87, "Henry Martyn" (1 text, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #3, #4}
Karpeles-Newfoundland 22, "Henry Martin" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Mackenzie 13, "Bolender Martin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #17}
Leach, pp. 615-616, "Henry Martyn" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 358, "Henry Martyn" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #36}
Sharp-100E 1, "Henry Martin" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #36}
Silber-FSWB, p. 215, "Henry Martin" (1 text)
DT 250, HENRMART* HENRMRT3
ADDITIONAL: Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, pp. 36-37, "Henry Martin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #104
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Andrew Batan" (AFS 4194 B1, 1938; on LC58, in AMMEM/COWELL) {Bronson's #8 under "Sir Andrew Barton"}
A. L. Lloyd, "Henry Martin" (on ESFB1, ESFB2)
Sam Larner, "The Lofty Tall Ship" (on SLarner01, Voice12);"Henry Martin" (on SLarner02) [I do not know that the two Larner recordings are in fact different -- these two compilations drew from the same collection of field tapes -- but as the titles are given as different I thought it prudent to separate them. - PJS]
Lawrence Older, "Elder Bordee" (on LOlder01)
Pete Seeger, "Elder Bordee" (on PeteSeeger29)
Phillip Tanner, "Henry Martin" (on FSB5); "Young Henry Martin" (on Voice02) {one of these recordings, which may be the same, is Bronson's #33}
Tony Wales, "Henry Martin" (on TWales1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(181), "Henry Martin," W. Armstrong (Liverpool) , 1820-1824; also Firth c.12(87), Harding B 11(1367), Harding B 11(4096), 2806 c.16(273), Harding B 17(295a), Harding B 11(4207), Firth b.26(253), Firth c.26(210), "Henry Martin"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sir Andrew Barton" [Child 167] (plot, lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Elder Bordee
NOTES: This ballad cannot always be distinguished in practice from "Sir Andrew Barton" [Child 167]; see also the discussion under that song. - RBW
Having looked at the lyrics to "Elder Bordee," I'd place it somewhat closer to "Henry Martyn" than to "Sir Andrew Barton" [even though the Lawrence Older recording lists it as Child #167]; it's shorter, and it doesn't include the theme of the complaining merchants. Frankly, I think Child goofed when he split these ballads. - PJS
Child had the "advantage," if such it can be called, of seeing only British versions. Those are distinct enough. I've yet to see such clear distinctions in American versions.
Checking through the sources available to me, here are the "votes" of the various scholars:
Barry: One ballad (but with some rather farfetched conjectures about its evolution)
Belden: Apparently two (but based on the close similarities of the "Henry Martin" texts, which really proves only that this is a distinct family)
Bronson: One ballad (apparently, but based mostly on others' comments)
Child: Two ballads (probably), with "Andrew Barton" the elder and the source
Coffin: One ballad, following the arguments from Barry.
Davis: Two ballads
Gray: Apparently one ballad, since he connects his single short text from both songs
Sharp: Two ballads
Editors who print texts from their collections but state no clear opinion: Cox, Eddy, Flanders, Randolph
- RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C250

Henry Munroe


DESCRIPTION: At Ballynahinch General Nugent attacks the rebels under Clokey and Munroe. Having exhausted ammunition, Munroe escapes. Betrayed by a woman, he is taken and executed. "His head was put up" but retrieved by rebels. Young Teeling is also killed at Killala.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1893 (Young's _Ulster in '98_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: betrayal battle execution rebellion Ireland
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 13, 1798 - Battle of Ballynahinch (source: Moylan)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 85, "Henry Munroe" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "General Monroe" (subject) and references there
cf. "The Frenchmen" (character of Bartholomew Teeling)
NOTES: While sympathetic to the Defender cause the song blames the rebels "In attacking the Government when their strength it was so; It caused many to die like brave Henry Munroe."
"Teeling" is apparently Bartholomew Teeling hanged with Matthew Tone in Dublin (source: Moylan p.87 re "The Frenchmen") - BS
For Munroe/Monroe, see the notes to "General Monroe."
Smyth, pp. 118-119, describes a whole Teeling family. Luke Teeling was the patriarch, an Ulster linen merchant; he bankrolled some revolutionary publications. His son Charles H. Teeling is described as "The chief architect of the revamped Defenders." Charles's older brother Bartholomew journeyed on foot across most of Ireland, apparently campaigning against the British. A third Teeling, George, seems to have been slightly less active.
Stewart, p. 23, declares "The Teelings were Catholics in comfortable circumstances, and active liberals who had ardently supported the volunteers."
Charles Teeling, though not much past twenty (Stewart, p. 23, says he was only 18), was imprisoned in 1796 during the mass arrests of rebels in that year; eventually to be released on bail because he was ill (Stewart, p. 57). His role thereafter seems to have been minor. Bartholomew fled to France in 1797 (Smyth, p. 159), to return (and die) with Wolfe Tone.
Pakenham, esp. p. 344, mentions two Teelings, Batholomew and Matthew. The index cites Bartholomew once, and Matthew three times. But the first two references to Teeling do not mention his first name, and the third could be a conflation of Bartholomew Teeling and Matthew Tone. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Moyl985

Henry Stewart


DESCRIPTION: "Our gallant captain to us did say, 'We had better give ourselves up to pray ...' We had scarce lost sight of the Scottish shore When the sea most furiously began to roar." Only Captain Henery Stewart and one man more live to land ashore.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship shore storm wreck Scotland
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 99, "Henry Stewart" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #2773
NOTES: The current description is based on the Creighton-SNewBrunswick fragment. - BS
File: CrSNB099

Henry the Sailor Boy


See Henry and Mary Ann (Henry the Sailor Boy) (File: HHH037)

Henry Was a High-Learnt Man


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

Henry, My Son


See Lord Randal [Child 12] (File: C012)

Henry's Downfall


See Van Dieman's Land (II - Young Henry's Downfall) (File: FaE16)

Henry's Tribute


See King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France [Child 164] (File: C164)

Her Age It Was Red


See Crazy Song to the Air of "Dixie" (File: San342)

Her Bonny Blue E'e


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the beautiful girl "doon by the burn brae," and admits to thinking of her bonny blue eyes when he should be saying his prayers. But he is going across the sea; he must leave her for another to wed. He wishes her happiness
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love beauty separation emigration
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H71, pp. 246-247, "Her Bonnie Blue E'e" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13336
NOTES: Sam Henry claims this is a Scottish song. The only evidence for this is the dialect. The plot seems more typically Irish. - RBW
File: HHH071

Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still


DESCRIPTION: "It's been a year since last we met, We may never meet again. I have struggled to forget, But the struggle was in vain. For her voice lives in the breeze...." The sailor lives, dreams, and ornately alludes to the memory the sweetheart he left behind
AUTHOR: Words: J. E. Carpenter / Music: W. T. Wrighton
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Heart Songs); reportedly written 1864
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Warner 157, "Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still" (1 text plus a songster version, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 165-166, "Her Bright Smile" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 31-32, "Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BRITESML*
Roud #4353
RECORDINGS:
Eleazar Tillett and Martha Etheridge, "Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still" (on USWarnerColl01)
File: Wa157

Her Hair Was Like the Raven's Wing


DESCRIPTION: "Her hair was like the raven's wing, And her neck was like the swan"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: beauty hair
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 717, "Her Hair Was Like the Raven's Wing" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6155
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan4 fragment. - BS
A quick google search shows that these similies are extremely common (the name "swan-neck" goes back at least as far as Edith Svanneschals, "Edith Swan-Neck" the beloved mistress -- perhaps wife -- of King Harold II of England, who died at Hastings); I suspect the source of this fragment will never be identified. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4717

Her Hair Was o' a Darkish Brown


DESCRIPTION: "Her hair was o' a darkish brown, Her eyes o' a bonnie blue, Her cheeks were like the roses red, And the curls hung roun' her broo"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: beauty hair
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1209, "Her Hair Was o' a Darkish Brown" (2 fragments, 1 tune)
Roud #6797
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan6 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61209

Her Servant Man


See The Iron Door [Laws M15] (File: LM15)

Her White Bosom Bare


See Olban (Alban) or The White Captive [Laws H15] (File: LH15)

Herd Laddie, The (The Herdie)


DESCRIPTION: "Oh for the innocent days I hae see, When a' my young thoughts they were happy and keen." In those days he herded the cattle and swam with "wee Jenny," then used their clothes for beds. He recalls other details of his early life
AUTHOR: William Scott of Fetterangus (1785-?) (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1832 (Scott, Poems, Chiefly in the Buchan Dialect, according to Greig)
KEYWORDS: courting animal sex home work
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #3, p. 1, "The Hirdie"; Greig #6, p. 1, "The Hirdie" (2 short texts)
GreigDuncan3 429, "The Herd Laddie" (7 short texts, 6 tunes)
Ord, pp. 269-270, "The Herdie" (1 text)
Roud #5594
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hills of Glenorchy" (tune, per Greig)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Herd Loon
NOTES: Greig: "'The Hirdie,' another of his [Scott's] songs, is perhaps as well-known as 'Johnnie Sangster.' A verse will recall it to many readers:...." It was well-known enough that Greig never thought it worth while to print more than that one verse.- BS
This seems like it should lead to a conclusion -- the girl getting pregnant, the lad getting fired, something. But it doesn't. Unless Ord, like Greig, was suppressing the ending. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Ord269

Herd Laddie's Lament


DESCRIPTION: "A wee laddie sat wi' the tear in his e'e," and complains of his life: His feet are sore, wrapped in unrepairable shoes; he has no money for a new pair. His clothes are just as bad, he is hungry and worked too hard. He wishes for a better master
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: work poverty clothes hardtimes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 274, "The Herd Laddie's Lament" (1 text)
Roud #5596
File: Ord274

Herdie Derdie


DESCRIPTION: "Herdie Derdie, blaw your horn, A' your nowt's [cattle] among the corn; First ane, and syne twa, Herdie Derdie beats them a'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, according to GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #159, p. 2, "Herdie Derdie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 431, "Herdie Derdie" (2 texts)
Roud #5947
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 quotes Gregor with other lines ("... Sic a hird a nivir saw, Here aboot or far awa..." and, sometimes the last line of "Deel blaw the hirdie's plaid awa"). - BS
Looking at the lyrics of this, I wonder if "Herdie Derdie" is indeed an animal, or perhaps a "Yowie wi' a Crookit Horn." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3431

Herdie, The


See The Herd Laddie (The Herdie) (File: Ord269)

Herding Lambs Amongst the Heather


See Queen Among the Heather (File: K141)

Here Are Two Dukes


See Three Dukes (File: R551)

Here Come Three Dukes A-Riding


See Three Dukes (File: R551)

Here Come Three Kings A-Riding


See Three Dukes (File: R551)

Here Comes a Duke A-Riding


See Three Dukes (File: R551)

Here Comes a Lusty Wooer


DESCRIPTION: "Herecomes a lusty wooer, My a Dildin my A Daldin, Here comes a lusty wooer, Lilly bright and shine, A." "Pray who do you woo for?" "For your fairest daughter." "Then there she is for you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1744 (Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #26, p. 39, "(Here comes a lusty Wooer)"
Roud #13184
NOTES: The Opies include this in "The Singing Game" -- and it certainly looks like one. On that basis, I include it in the Index, though it seems quite rare. - RBW
File: BGNMG026

Here Comes Solomon and All His Glory


DESCRIPTION: "Here comes so-and-so Riding on a pretty [royal] pony Standing by [looking for] the house of glory" on so-and-so's wedding [washing] day. The singer would take Lily by the hand and give three cheers for so-and-so's daughter.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: wedding nonballad horse playparty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #152, p. 2, "Here Comes the King" (1 text)
GreigDuncan8 1611, "Here Comes Solomon and All His Glory" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #13203
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Mrs Macaroni
NOTES: The "so-and-so" riding can be Solomon, the king, or Mrs Macaroni.
GreigDuncan8: "Verses 2-3 of B [Greg #152] correspond to Opie, Singing Game, No. 86 'Monday Night', of which there are versions in this edition at [GreigDuncan4] 919 'Some Delights In Cards and Dice'." - BS
The line "Here comes Solomon in all his glory" is reminiscent of Song of Songs 3:7-11, but the royal pony is more likely a reference to 1 Kings, chapter 1. As David lay dying, his sons Adonijah and Solomon disputed the succession. David supposedly declared that Solomon, the younger son, should succeed (1 Kings1:28-37). The actual evidence for this is thin -- really just Solomon's propaganda. What is certain is that Somomon was proclaimed King, and rode King David's Mule (1 Kings 1:38). This was one of the acts which made him King. Too bad that he proved a spendthrift who did nothing to strengthen the kingdom, which broke up immediately after his death. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81611

Here Comes Three Lawyers


See Three Dukes (File: R551)

Here I Stand All Ragged and Dirty


See All Ragged and Dirty (Here I Stand All Ragged and Dirty) (File: R573)

Here Is a Letter, Fair Susannah


DESCRIPTION: Susannah receives a letter from the merchant that courts her. She says she will remain true to her sailor William: "he ploughs the sea Though he be married I will die a maiden"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: courting love parting sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1092, "Here Is a Letter, Fair Susannah" (1 fragment)
Roud #6830
NOTES: Roud assigns the same number to fragments Greig-Duncan6 1092 and 1114, "High in the Highlands." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61092

Here Is the Church


DESCRIPTION: "Here is the church, and here is the steeple. Open the doors and here are the people. Here is the parson going upstairs And here he is a-saying his prayers."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Wood)
KEYWORDS: clergy
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Opie-Oxford2 102, "Here is the church, and here is the steeple" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #605, p. 240, "(Here is the Church)"
Roud #16226
NOTES: Opie-Oxford2: "Newell (1883) collected the first two lines of the text in the U.S.A." - BS
File: BGMG605

Here Lies de Body uv Po' Little Ben


DESCRIPTION: "Here lies de body uv po' little Ben. We ain't gwyne to see 'im in I dunno when. 'Twas hard to part, but it could 'a' been wuss, 'Case Ben mou'ter been a no-'count cuss." Other verses may float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death burial floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 440, "Here Lies de Body uv Po' Little Ben" (1 short text, with a second stanza probably from "Watermelon on the Vine")
Roud #11779
File: Br3440

Here Stands an Old Maid Forsaken


DESCRIPTION: Kissing game: "Here stands an old maid forsaken, She's of a contented mind, She's lost her own true lover And wants another as kind; She wants another a kind, sir, I'll have you all to know, She's very well provided for With 45 strings to her bow (x2)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: love courting oldmaid playparty
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Linscott, pp. 15-16, "Here Stands an Old Maid Forksaken" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Lins015 (Full)
Roud #8065?
File: Lins015

Here We Come A-Wassailing


DESCRIPTION: "Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green." Chorus: "Love and joy come to you And to you your wassail too, And God bless you and send you a happy new year." The singers remind the listeners that they are not beggars, and bless them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1868 (Husk)
KEYWORDS: request ritual drink food begging nonballad wassail
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(Ap)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Ritchie-SingFam, p. 166, "Wassail Song" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
OBC 15+16, "Wassail Song" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 379, "Wassail Song" (1 text)
DT, WASSCOME* WASSBUD
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #33, "Here We Come A Wassailing" (1 text)
Roud #209
NOTES: The custom of "wassailing" (going from house to house, usually on January 5, begging food, drink and hospitality) is mentioned as far back as the 12th century in England; similar rituals are found across the continent of Europe and in the United States. - (PJS)
"Wassail," incidentally, is from Old English "Wes hael," "Be hale/whole," i.e. "Be in good health."
To tell this wassail song from all the others (most if not all of which are lumped by Roud), consider either the first verse:
Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wassailing
So fairly to be seen,
or the chorus, not met with in all versions:
Love and joy come to you
And to you your wassail too,
And God bless you and send you a happy new year,
(And God send you a happy new year)
- RBW
File: JRDF166

Here We Come Gathering Nuts in May


See Gathering Nuts in May (File: R561)

Here We Go Gathering Nuts in May


See Gathering Nuts in May (File: R561)

Here We Go in Mourning


DESCRIPTION: "Here we go in mourning, In mourning is my cry, I have gone and lost my true love, And surely I must die." "It's yonder he comes, And it's How do you do? And it's how have you been since I parted from you?" "Come now and let's go and get married."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting playparty mourning
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 72, "Here We Go in Mourning" (1 text)
Roud #7871
File: Br3072

Here We Go Looby Loo


See Looby Lou (File: R554)

Here We Go Looby Lou


See Looby Lou (File: R554)

Here We Go Round the Jing-a-ring


See Jingo Ring (Merry-Ma-Tanzie, Around the Ring) (File: Fus173)

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush


DESCRIPTION: "Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, Here we go round... So early in the morning." "This is the way we wash our clothes." "This is the way we bake the bread." And so forth, through many household tasks
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad playparty
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Linscott, pp. 38-40, "Mulb'ry Bush" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 244, (no title) (1 short text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 138, (no title) (1 text, in which the bush becomes a "strawberry bush"!)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #638, p. 253, "(Here we go round the bramble bush)"
DT, MULBERBS
Roud #7882
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gathering Nuts in May" (tune)
cf. "This Is the Way We Wash Our Clothes" (lyrics)
cf. "The Old Soap-Gourd" (form)
NOTES: Linscott reports this to the tune "Nancy Dawson," also used for "Nuts in May," and they do use the same tune in my experience, though I've never heard it called "Nancy Dawson."
I find it hard to imagine how Scarborough's version about a "strawberry bush" arose; strawberries don't grow on bushes.
There is another song, indexed as "This Is the Way We Wash Our Clothes," which shares lyrics and feeling with this. But it's a doll-dancing song; I've very tantatively split them. - RBW
File: Lins038

Here We Go Up (Hey My Kitty)


DESCRIPTION: "Here we go up, up, up, up, up, Here we go down, down, downy; Here we go over and over and over, And here we go round, round, roundy." "O, my kitty, my kitty, my kitty, O my kitty my dearie, Never was such a kitty as this, Never so far nor neary."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1740 (Tea-Table Miscellany, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: nonballad animal lullaby
FOUND IN: US(NE) Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Linscott, pp. 209-210, "Here We Go Up" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 288, "Hey, my kitten, my kitten" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #560, p. 228, "(Oh my Kitten a Kitten)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 51, "(Hey my kitten, my kitten)" (1 text)
Roud #3748
NOTES: Linscott claims this is a lullaby. The second verse, perhaps; the first seems more like a rhyme a parent would use while swinging a child through the air. In Opie-Oxford2, the "My Kitten" verse stands alone. Possibly the two should be split Especially since the Opies find several other sorts of verses tacked onto the "My Kitten" rhyme. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Lins209

Here, Jola, Here


DESCRIPTION: Used for cornhusking, but perhaps a hunting song: "Jola was a coon dog, Here, Jola, here." "Jola was a possum dog, Here, Jola, here." "Jola was a rabbit dog, Here, Jola, here." "Jola was a bird dog, Here, Jola, here."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: dog nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 207, "Here, Jola, Here" (1 text)
File: Br3207

Here, Rattler, Here


See Old Rattler (File: CNFM104)

Here's a Chorus


DESCRIPTION: "Here's a chorus; -- Irish slaves -- End your quarrels." Remember Emmet and Tone. "Union makes the nations great, End your quarrels." Remember the graves of 1798. "Steel is true and God is just, Chains or laurels"
AUTHOR: R.D. Williams (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion nonballad political Ireland
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 167, "Here's a Chorus" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This song is a plea for the position of the United Irishmen. For information about the early history of the United Irishmen see "The Boys of Wexford." Wolfe Tone, a founder of the United Irishmen, was executed in 1798. United Irishman Robert Emmet was executed in 1803. The Irish rebellion against British rule was started, and put down, in 1798. - BS
For the history of Wolfe Tone, see in particular "The Shan Van Voght." For Robert Emmet, see "Bold Robert Emmet" and the many cross-references there. - RBW
File: Moyl167

Here's a Health To All True Lovers


See The Ghostly Lover (File: GrMa34)

Here's a Health to Lord Ronald MacDonald


DESCRIPTION: An old woman drinks "a health to [ne'er do well] Lord Ronald McDonald That wears the huden [homespun] grey coat And another to [ruined] aul Leddy Jannet [who eloped with him]. That spins the yarn o'ot." (The bracketted comments are a spoken commentary)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: elopement nonballad clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 855, "Here's a Health to Lord Ronald MacDonald" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6224
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Naebody Comin' to Marry Me" [i.e. "My Father's a Hedger and Ditcher (Nobody Coming to Marry Me)"?] (tune, per GreigDuncan4)
File: GrD4855

Here's a Health to My Molly


DESCRIPTION: The singer gives a "health to my Molly where ever she be She is worthy of company better than me." If he were a sailor and she a fleeing fish he'd net her. "Of all the pretty maidens lovely Molly's for me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond03)
KEYWORDS: love lyric
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #6996
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Lovely Molly" (on IRRCinnamond03)
File: RcHaHtmM

Here's a Health to Our Sailors


DESCRIPTION: The singer toasts sailors and soldiers and to "yon bonnie lad" that has left her alone to rock her baby in Caledonia [Scotland].
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad baby sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1110, "Here's a Health to Our Sailors" (1 text)
Roud #6839
File: GrD61110

Here's a Poor Widow


See Poor Widow (File: HHH048f)

Here's a Poor Widow from Sandiland


See Lady of the Land (Here's a Poor Widow) (File: BGMG641)

Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries


DESCRIPTION: "Here's adieu to all judges and juries, Justice and Old Bailey too; Seven years you've transported my true love, Seven years he's transported you know." The singer wishes he had wings of an eagle to return to Polly. He vows to be rich if he ever returns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: love separation transportation
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 34-35, "Here's Adieu to All Judges and Juries" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 346-351, "New Jail/Prisoner's Song/Here's Adieu to all Judges and Juries" (1, not collected by Scarborough, of "Judges and Juries," plus 6 texts from her collections)
Roud #300
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Botany Bay (I)" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Fenian's Escape (The Catalpa)" (tune)
NOTES: This may well be the piece from which the music hall song "Botany Bay" arose. The earliest broadsides are dated c. 1815. - RBW
File: FaE034

Here's Adieu to Old England


DESCRIPTION: The singer is leaving parents and sisters and "London city where I took great delight" to join the convoys; "with our twenty-six pounders we will fight blow for blow" and "never will yield"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: navy war separation nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 1002-1003, "Here's Adieu to Old England" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9941
File: Pea1002

Here's an Oul' Widow


See The Rich Widow (File: Lins019)

Here's Tae the Kaim and the Brush


DESCRIPTION: The singer toasts "him that's won my hert But winna tak my han' ... Deep in love but daurna marry." He was a stable boy but now he's "in a foreign land" If he were here "I wadna smile tae you ava"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad servant hair
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1109, "Here's Tae the Kaim and the Brush" (1 text)
Roud #6838
File: GrD61109

Here's the Rosebud in June


See Rosebud in June (File: ShH93)

Here's the Tender Coming


DESCRIPTION: "Here's the tender coming, Pressing all the men, Oh! dear, hinny, What shall we do then? Here's the tender coming, Off at Shields Bar...." Despite attempts to avoid the pressgang, "They tyuek maw bonny laddie, Best iv all the crew."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: pressgang separation
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Stokoe/Reay, p. 177, "Here's the Tender Coming" (1 short text, 1 tune)
DT, TNDRCOMN*
Roud #3174
File: StoR177

Here's Three Beggars


See Three Sailors (Three Kings; Three Beggars; Thee Soldiers; Three Sweeps) (File: GrD81568)

Here's to the Black Watch


DESCRIPTION: The Black Watch fought in Japan, India, and Waterloo. "Let foreign countries think of us, and if they want to war, They will soon be taught a lesson by the gallant Forty-twa." "Here's to the Black Watch"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: army Scotland nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #158, p. 3, "The Gallant Forty-Twa" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 71, "Here's to the Black Watch" (1 text)
Roud #5798
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gallant Forty-Twa" (subject: 42nd Highlanders or Black Watch) and references there
NOTES: It is sad to note that this toast to the greatest of British regiments is no longer relevant; the Black Watch, the Forty-Second regiment, has been consolidated out of existence. For background, see the notes to "Wha Saw the Forty-Second." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1071

Here's to the Grog (All Gone for Grog)


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes his "nobby, nobby" coat, breeches, etc. All are decrepit, but will not be replaced, for "It's all gone for grog, Jolly, jolly grog... I've spent all my tin with the lassies drinking gin, And across the western ocean I must wander."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Sharp MS.)
KEYWORDS: clothes drink poverty hardtimes sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,North,South),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar) Australia
REFERENCES (5 citations):
GreigDuncan3 580, "Ale and Tobacco" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Kennedy 274, "Here's to the Grog" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 64, "Western Ocean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 238-240, "Across the Western Ocean I Must Wander" (1 text)
DT, HEREGROG*
Roud #475
RECORDINGS:
Liam Clancy, "All For Me Grog" (on IRLClancy01)
Tom Newman, "My Old Hat That I Got On" (on Voice13)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Nobby Hat
My Jolly, Jolly Tin
NOTES: Although some versions of this song make no reference at all to the sea, the singer's references to grog (which is technically rum mixed with water) label him as a sailor; only a seaman would speak of grog as opposed to some other sort of alcoholic beverage.
Creighton thinks the song might have originated as a music hall piece. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: K274

Here's to Ye A' and a Happy New Year


DESCRIPTION: "Here's to the lassie that aye proves sae true Here's tae the lad that's aye fill'd in beer ... I'll toss o'er this glass and I'll drink it with cheer For a health tae ye a' and a Happy New Year"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 638, "Here's to Ye A' and a Happy New Year" (1 text)
Roud #6074
File: GrD3638

Hermit of Killarney, The


DESCRIPTION: On Killarney's bank the singer sees a hermit who says "Adieu, adieu, thou faithless world, thou wert not made for me!" The hermit's pitiful condition is recounted. He criticizes the world's pomp, state, and ambition and laments his own credulity. He dies
AUTHOR: George Ogle (1739-1814) (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: dying nonballad river
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 199-204, "The Hermit of Killarney" (1 text)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs quotes Mr Weld who believes the inspiration for this song may be "an Englishman, of the name of Ronayn. The spot which he selected for his retreat was this small island, which yet retains his name; and when first I visited Killarney (1800), the ruins of his little habitation, planted in the midst of rocks very near the water, were still visible." Croker also quotes John Bernard Trotter['s reference] to this "celebrated song." - BS
Sir George Ogle the Younger (c. 1740-1814) was a poet and politician born in county Wexford. He served in the Irish parliament in the 1790s, and was briefly a Tory representative to Westminster. His best-known works are considered to be "Banna's Banks" (in the Index as "The Banks of Banna") and "Molly Astore" (in this index as "Gramachree"). - RBW
File: CrPS199

Hermit of St. Kilda, The


DESCRIPTION: "And is the Percy yet so loved By all his friends and thee? 'Then bless me, Father,' said the youth, For I thy guest am he."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS:
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1789, "The Hermit of St. Kilda" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #12994
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment.
This apparently refers to Stallir, "a devout Hermit of St Kilda," who built a house on the remote rocky island of Borrera a few miles from St Kilda off the north-west coast of Scotland (source: James Wilson, A Voyage Round the Coasts of Scotland and the Isles (Edinburgh, 1842 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol II., p. 57).
GreigDuncan8: "Words of ballad from Chambers' Miscellany." That's not definite enough for me to find. Is this in one of many volumes of Chambers's Miscellany of Instructive and Entertaining Tracts by William and Robert Chambers? Is it The Book of Days: a Miscellany...." by Robert Chambers? Something else? - BS
St. Kilda and Borerra are well to the west of the Hebrides, the most isolated rocks in all of Britain, but the mention of "the" Percy bothers me -- this sounds like a reference to the Percy earls of Northumberland, not some hermit. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81789

Herod and the Cock


See The Carnal and the Crane [Child 55] (File: C055)

Heroes, British Heroes


DESCRIPTION: "We sing of these soldiers and sailors, The deeds they have done on the foam, But what of the lads that work in the mine? Little of these do we know. They are heroes, British heroes." They face danger and death with no warning, and often die without hope
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (MacColl-Shuttle)
KEYWORDS: mining death
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
MacColl-Shuttle, pp. 12-13, "Heroes, British Heroes" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BRITHERO*
File: MacCS12

Herring Gibbers, The


DESCRIPTION: "It's all about the herring gibbers and how they get along." The packers and gibbers wake and cannot find their pants or socks. Some others laugh at the joke. The song names the captain, second hand, cook and one leaving Newfoundland.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: fishing sea ship derivative moniker
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 132-135, "The Herring Gibbers" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #667
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lumber Camp Song" (theme and tune)
NOTES: Peacock re [the Lumber Camp Song]: "The Herring Gibbers [could be] the original version. However, considering the fact that the lumbering version has been traced back at least a hundred years I am inclined to give it priority" - BS
The Lumber Camp Song is also much more widespread, making it a better candidate for parodying. Roud resolves the question by lumping the two. - RBW
File: Pea132

Herring in Salt, A


DESCRIPTION: "I hae laid a herring in saut Lass, gin ye lo'e me, tell me now." The singer gives reasons for her to "tell me now": "I hae brew'd a forpit o' maut," "a calf that will soon be a cow," "a house upon yon moor," ... but "I canna come ilka day to woo"
AUTHOR: James Tytler (1747-1805) (source: broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(127b))
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd); 1845 (Whitelaw) [see NOTES]
KEYWORDS: courting farming humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 890, "I Hae Laid a Herrin' in Saut" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), pp. 335-336, "Lass Gin Ye Lo'e Me" with Herd's ("I hae layen three herring a' sa't")
Roud #6138
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 25, "A Herring in Salt" ("I ha'e laid a herring in salt"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(127b), "Lass, Gin Ye Lo'e Me," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1856
NOTES: NLScotland commentary to broadside L.C.Fol.70(127b): "This broadside not only gives the reader the song, as reworked by James Tytler [1747-1805] in the 'Scots Musical Museum' (c. 1790) but also [like Whitelaw] gives the older version of 'Lass, gin ye Lo'e Me', as it appeared in Herd's 'Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs' (1776). The first line of Tytler's version is, 'I hae laid a herring in saut', and the older version begins, 'I ha'e layen three herrings a-sa't'."
Not all of the arguments presented by the singer are entirely convincing. "I hae a hen ... That ilka day lays me an egg" but the hen has "a happitie leg." "I hae a cheese upon my shelf" but "soon wi' mites 'twill rin itself." The house is big enough that "three sparrows may dance upon the floor." Money may not run fast and free: "a penny to keep, and a penny to spen'." The Herd fragment is hardly more convincing and also speaks more of potential than present wealth: the calf would be a cow, as in Tytler, and a grice would be a sow. As in Tytler, the suitor is too busy to "cum ilka day ... to lilt and to woo." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4890

Herring Loves the Moonlight, The (The Dreg Song)


DESCRIPTION: "The herring loves the moonlight, The mackerel loves the wind; But the oyster loves the dredging song, For she comes of a gentle kind." The oysters are called, and hearers are urged to buy them.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Baring-Gould-MotherGoose), with related materials going back to at least 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: food fishing
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #870, p. 325, "(The herring loves the merry moonlight)"
DT, DREGSONG?
Roud #8628?
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Quo' the Haddock to the Skate" (lyrics)?
NOTES: This is rather a conundrum, though it may be the fault of one or another of the Fisher Family (probably Archie). There is, in Herd, a song beginning "I rade to London yesterday," and continuing
Hay-cock, quo' the seale to the eel,
Cock nae I my tail weel?
Tail-weel, or if hare,
Hunt the dog frae the deer,
This was recorded by Cilla Fisher. A similar song is indexed as "Quo' the Haddock to the Skate." The version in the Digital Tradition ends with
The oysters are a gentle kin,
They winna tak unless you sing.
Come buy my oysters aff the bing,
To serve the sheriff and the king,
And the commons o' the land,
And the commons o' the sea;
Hey benedicte, and that's good Latin.
Murray Shoolbraid's Digital Tradition notes imply that this is from another source.
And Archie Fisher has recorded that as "Dreg Song." But he prefaces it with a verse quoted as a Mother Goose rhyme by the Baring-Goulds: "The herring loves the moonlight...." But this is from Walter Scott. There is, however, a very similar rhyme in Opie-Oxford2 (#206): "The hart he loves the high wood, The hare she loves the hill; The knight he loves his bright sword, The lady loves her will," which is thematically similar to some of the tales related to "The Marriage of Sir Gawain" [Child 31]." So I don't know what genuinely goes with what. For the moment, I'm lumping the whole mess here. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BGMG870

Herring Song, The


See The Red Herring (File: VWL086)

Herring, The


See The Red Herring (File: VWL086)

Hesitation Blues


DESCRIPTION: "Well, standing on the corner with a dollar in my hand, Lookin' for a woman who's lookin' for a man, Tell me, how long do I have to wait...?" The women want to see the money before they become friendly. The singer grumbles about sex
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (recording, Esther Bigeou)
KEYWORDS: sex whore money
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BrownIII 507, "I Got de Hezotation Stockings and de Hezotation Shoes" (1 short text, with a verse and chorus from "Hesitation Blues" and a verse from "Wanderin'")
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 276-277, (no title) (1 text, beginning "Ships in de ocean, rocks in de sea, Blond-headed woman Mak a fool out of me" but with chorus "Tell me how long I'll have to wait! Oh, tell me, honey, don't hesitate!")
Silber-FSWB, p. 75, "Hesitation Blues" (1 text)
Roud #11765
RECORDINGS:
Allen Brothers, "Can I Get You Now" (Vocalion 02890, 1935)
Jesse Ashlock w. Bill Boyd & his Cowboy Ramblers, "Must I Hesitate?" (Bluebird B-6351, 1936)
Esther Bigeou, "Hesitating Blues" (OKeh 8065, 1923)
Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies, "The Hesitation Blues" (Decca 5266, 1936)
[Richard] Burnett & [Leonard] Rutherford, "Curly Headed Woman" (Columbia 15240-D, 1928, rec. 1927; on KMM)
Sam Collins, "Hesitation Blues" (Gennett 6379, 1927; Champion 15472, 1928; Bell 1173/Supertone 350/Silvertone 5181?, all n.d.; rec. 1927)
Walter "Buddy Boy" Hawkins, "Voice Throwing Blues" (Paramount 12802, 1929; on TimesAint01)
Jim Jackson, "Hesitation Blues (Oh! Baby, Must I Hesitate?)" (Vocalion 1477, 1930)
Sara Martin (& Eva Taylor), "Hesitation Blues" (OKeh 8082, 1923)
Wingy Manone & his orchestra, "Hesitation Blues (Oh! Baby Must I Hesitate)" (Bluebird B-6394, 1936)
Reaves White County Ramblers, "Hesitation Blues" (Vocalion 5217, 1928)
Arthur Smith Trio, "Hesitating Blues" (Bluebird B-8101, 1939)
cf. Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "If the River Was Whiskey" (with verses from this song and "Rye Whiskey"; Columbia 15545-D, 1930; on CPoole02)
NOTES: W. C. Handy produced a song, "The Hesitating Blues" (copyright 1915; see Handy/Silverman-Blues, pp. 100-103) which uses this key line, but it is much more elaborate and with a different plot; I suspect they are separate songs, with one inspiring the other. Though the Brown text shows how mutable such blues can be. - RBW
The Esther Bigeou recording gives the writing credit to Handy; the Sara Martin (note the different title) attributes the song to Billy Smythe & Scott Middletonn. Is it the same song? Are they variants? We need to hear the actual records to sort all this out. - PJS
File: FSWB075

Hesleys, The


DESCRIPTION: Stories about the outcast Hesley family. Mrs. Hesley throws a man's boots in the street for refusing to board with her. She steals sheep. Her daughter cannot not find a husband even when she goes to Newark. And so forth
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958
KEYWORDS: family
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
FSCatskills 163, "The Buck Sheep-The Hesleys" (1 text+fragment, 1 tune)
ST FSC163 (Partial)
File: FSC163

Hevey's Mare


DESCRIPTION: "The Major," Jemmy at his side, takes Hevey's mare so that he need not chase traitors on foot. Sirr's need was sufficient to name Hevey criminal. But Hevey complains in court. "Adieu to all our seizures ... Loyalty now has few pleasures"
AUTHOR: "Ierne" (R.R. Madden) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1887 (Madden's _Literary Remains of the United Irishmen of 1798_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: humorous horse police theft
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 169, "Hevey's Mare" (1 text)
NOTES: Moylan makes "The Major" in this song Major Sandys. Maybe so. In other songs about Jemmy O'Brien (see the notes to "The Major") "The Major" is Town Major Sirr [for whom see, e.g., "The Major" - RBW]. Here is Moylan quoting P.J. McCall: "In turning their prisoners to pecuniary account Sirr and Sandys played into each one another's hands. The Major made the arrests, turned over the prisoners to Sandys and O'Brien (Jemmy the Informer), and the latter duly worked upon their hopes and fears ... [to obtain either] goods or money..... Heavey's liberation cost him a mare..." This, from "Who Killed Cock Robin?" (II):
Who stole the brewer's mare?
His worship turning round,
This soft impeachment owned,
He stole the brewer's mare! - BS
Madden's pen-name of "Ierne" is one of the sundry ancient names for Ireland. - RBW
File: Moyl169

Hexhamshire Lass, The


DESCRIPTION: "Hey for the buff and the blue, Hey for the cap and the feather, Hey for the bonny lass true That lives in Hexhamshire." The singer wishes he could have the girl; he cannot sleep without her, and says his heart will break
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1812 (Bell)
KEYWORDS: love rejection
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 64-65, "The Hexhamshire Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, (HEXHMLAS)
Roud #3182
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going)" (lyrics)
cf. "Aye Wauking, O" (some verses)
NOTES: Fragments of this seem to have made their way into Burns's "Ay Waukin Oh" (1790), but it's not really clear if this piece mixes Burns's source with something like "Katie Cruel" or if Burns reworked this song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: StoR064

Hey Betty Martin


DESCRIPTION: "Hey Betty Martin, tip-toe, tip-toe, Hey Betty Martin, tip-toe fine." Other verses, if there are any, are usually equally simple and may relate to dancing
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad playparty
FOUND IN: US(NE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Sandburg, p. 158, "Hey Betty Martin" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 587-588, "Hey, Betty Martin!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 280, "Hey Betty Martin" (1 text)
Linscott, p. 85, "High, Betty Martin" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #15418
File: San158

Hey Bonnie Laddie, Mount and Go


DESCRIPTION: A lady asks a sailor/robber to take her with him. He had loved her before but her parents married her to an old man. He takes her on a ship. The old man sends sailors to bring her back but they are driven off. Now she is rich and the old man grieves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: age elopement abandonement escape money sea ship sailor outlaw
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #158, p. 2, "Mount and Go" (1 text)
GreigDuncan7 1361, "Hey Bonnie Laddie, Mount and Go" (10 texts, 9 tunes)
DT, MOUNT&GO*
Roud #3860
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hynd Horn" (tune, per GreigDuncan7)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Waters Wan
My Parents Hae Married Me Owre Young
File: GrD71361

Hey Bonnie May, wi' Yer True Lovers Gay


DESCRIPTION: A lover is offered to a boy/girl. She/he is rejected ("I'll set him on yon thorn tree," for example): "He's fit for anither but he's nae fit for me." This is repeated until an acceptable lover is offered: "I'll tak' him in my arms twa"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: courting sex rejection nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1576, "Hey Bonnie May, wi' Yer True Lovers Gay" (1 text)
Roud #12968
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jenny Jenkins" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hey Wullie Wine
The Wadds
NOTES: For general info see Gomme 1.207-210 - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81576

Hey Donal, How Donal


DESCRIPTION: Donald meets "a bonnie wee lass" who says "when you think that no-one sees Donal come and kiss me." "I kissed her till her gums were sair" and she complained about his whiskers. He proposed; she accepted, as her mother had accepted her father's proposal.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage humorous father mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 910, "Hoch Donal" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6258
NOTES: The "Official Website for Sir Harry Lauder" has a version of "Hey Donal'!" attributed to Alex Melville and Harry Lauder. The first two verses and chorus are the same as GreigDuncan4 910B, with some difference in spelling and punctuation. The third verse has Miss MacKie telling Donal to leave quickly because, if her mother finds him there, "ye're a croaker." The third verse of GreigDuncan4 has the question and answer about mother, viz., "She said My mither's done too true the very same as I will do She took my father and I take you we'll baith take ane anither." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4910

Hey How Johnny Lad


DESCRIPTION: "Hey how, my Johnny Lad, ye're no sae kind's ye sud hae been." The singer complains that Johnny had the opportunity to meet her as her parents were away, but he never arrives. She concludes she needs a more ardent lover.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: courting abandonment
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1351, "Hoch Hey, Johnny Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: David Herd, editor, Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc. (Edinburgh, 1870 (reprint of 1776)), Vol II, pp. 215-216, ("Hey how Johnny lad, ye're no sae kind's ye sud hae been")
Phillip A Ramsay, The Poetical Works of Robert Tannahill (London, preface 1838), pp. 18-19, "Och Hey! Johnnie, Lad"
Roud #7148
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(110), "Och Hey, Johnnie Lad," unknown, c. 1840
NOTES: This is found in the fourth volume of the Scots Musical Museum, but it is not known whether it is by Burns or whether he touched it up. The NLScotland broadside is dramatically different from the SMM version.
The NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(110) version follows Tannahill in which the man explains that it was just a misunderstanding -- he was waiting in the wrong place -- and he invites her to another tryst to "seek the joys we tint yestreen." Herd agrees with the Description. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BrHHJL

Hey how Johnny lad, ye're no sae kind's ye sud hae been


See Hey How Johnny Lad (File: BrHHJL)

Hey Lizzie Lass


DESCRIPTION: The singer is waiting in the snow and cold for Lizzie to let him in. He says he'd be quiet and "wadna waken up ane o' your kin." Then, "I hear your fit on the floor" and his "fanciful fears" leave.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting nightvisit nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #109, p. 2, "Hey, Lizzie Lass" (1 fragment)
GreigDuncan4 781, "Hey Lizzie Lass" (1 text)
Roud #6195
File: GrD4781

Hey Rube


See Si Hubbard (Hey Rube) (File: San350)

Hey the Bonnie Breistknots


See The Bonnie Breist-knots (File: FVS303)

Hey the Mantle!


DESCRIPTION: "Early in the morning whan the cat crew day, Hey the mantle! how the mantle! Our gudeman saddl'd the bake-bread and fast rade away...." As he travels, he sees many marvels
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: humorous talltale clothes travel
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kinloch-BBook XII, pp. 45-47, "Hey the Mantle!" (1 text)
ST KinBB12 (Full)
Roud #8149
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Four and Twenty Tailors" (style)
File: KinBB12

Hey the Rose and the Lindsay, O


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

Hey Wi' the Rose and the Lindsay, O


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

Hey, Bonnie Lassie


See Hie Bonny Lassie (File: GrD4881)

Hey, Ho, Nobody Home


DESCRIPTION: "Hey, ho, nobody home, Meat nor drink nor money have I none, Yet will I be merry...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 231, "Ho-Hum, Nobody's Home" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 412, "Hey, Ho, Nobody Home" (1 text)
File: FSWB412G

Hey, Rufus


DESCRIPTION: "Hey Rufus, hey boy, Where in the world you been so long? Hey buddy, hey boy, Well, I been in the jungle, ain't goin' there no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: worksong nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 85-86, "(Hey Rufus)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10994
File: CNFM085

Hey, Then, Up Go We (Hey Boys Up Go We)


DESCRIPTION: "Know this, my brethren, Heaven is clear, and all the clouds are gone: The righteous man shall flourish now, good days are coming on. Then comes my brethren and be glad, and eke rejoice with me... And hey then up go we"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1681 (broadside, Bodleian Vet. A3 c.29(6))
KEYWORDS: religious death nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hogg1 9, "Hey, Then, Up Go We" (6 texts, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 204-208, "Hey, Then Up Go We" (1 tune, partial text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Vet. A3 c.29(6), "A proper new Brummigham ballad to the tune of Hey then up go we" ("Know now my brethren heaven is clear"), unknown (London), 1681
SAME TUNE:
Good Fellows all come lend an ear/The Good Fellows Consideration (BBI ZN1002)
Here is a crew of jovial Blades/The Good Fellow Frolick, Or, Kent Street Club (BBI ZN1126)
I walking near a Prison a Wall [sic]/ The Jesuits Exaltation (BBI ZN1343)
As Tom met Roger upon the Road/Tom and Rogers Contract (BBI ZN315)
A thumping lusty country lad/ Love in a Mist (BBI ZN2613)
Come listen young lovers/The Country Lass for me (BBI ZN662)
Come lovers all both great and small/ The Country Lass for me (BBI ZN669)
Come ye merry men all, of Watermans-hall/The Thames Uncas'd (BBI ZN703)
Where have you been, you drunken Dog/A Dialogue between a Baker and his Wife (BBI ZN2903)
Come, England, make a joyful Day/ England's Joy, For the Taking of the Chimney-Money (BBI ZN574)
Now now the Papists all go down/ Popery's Downfal, and The Protestants Uprising..Crowning of King William and Queen Mary (BBI ZN1951)
A Country Lad and bonny Lass/Have-at a Venture (BBI ZN726)
A frolick strange I'le to you tell/The Westminster Frolick, Or, the Cuckold of his own procuring (BBI ZN924)
A story strange I will declare/News from Crutchet- Fryers (BBI ZN2399)
Young maidens all, to you I call/Crafty Maids Invention (BBI ZN3183)
I am a Maiden in my prime/The Wanton Maidens Choice (BBI ZN1209)
You Batchelors that single are/Advice to Batchelors (BBI ZN2993)
Brave Bristol boys, where e're you be/The Brave Boys of Bristol (BBI ZN433)
Walking one Evening in a Grove/The Jesuits Lamentation (BBI ZN2723)
Since women they are grown so bad, I'le lead a single life/The Politick Countreyman (BBI ZN2364)
Fair maids draw near to me awhile/The West Country Maids Advice] (BBI ZN845)
You Dukes and Lords, and English Knights/.. Great Victory at Sea/ ..by Admiral Russel, May 1692 (BBI ZN3007)
See how the Tories drives their trade/A New Ballad, With the Definition of the Word Tory (BBI ZN2328)
The wanton Girls of Graves-end Town have now quite lost my heart/A Farewel to Graves-end (BBI ZN2724)
Now, now King James of high renown/.. Gratulation of King James the Second (BBI ZN1947)
The Lady Marquess and her gang are most in favour seen/Animadversions on the Lady Marquess (BBI ZN1594)
Come, come, my roaring ranting boys/The Merry Boys of Christmas (BBI ZN571)
What silly senseless country clown has put this wit in print/ The Citizen's Vindication Against the Downright Countryman (BBI ZN2810)
This twenty years and more that I have liv'd a single life/The Unsatisfied Lover's Lamentation (BBI ZN2584)
I am a downright Country-man, both faithful, and true/The Downright Country- Man (BBI ZN1195)
NOTES: The title of broadside Bodleian Vet. A3 c.29(6) indicates that the "original" predates 1681 by enough that the tune was already popular at that time.
Hogg1 has one entry in his main text which "I am informed ... is one of Charles I.'s time, and that it was originally an English song, though popular in this country"; that text follows the description above and broadside Bodleian Vet. A3 c.29(6). The other five texts are in his notes. Four are fragments but the fifth, which probably deserves its own entry in the index, is complete and "plainly relates to what was termed the Fanatic Plot, in the reign of Charles II." - BS
Yet another song I can't show to have existed in tradition, but which was so popular as a source of broadsides that I think it belongs here. Hard to tell, in this case, why the tune was so popular; it's not particularly effective. Perhaps it was liturgical use. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: ChWI204

Hey! John Barleycorn


See John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold (File: K277)

Hi For the Beggarman


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

Hi Ho Jerum


DESCRIPTION: "There was a rich man and he lived in Jerusalem, Glory hallelujah hi ro je-rum." The rich man rejects a request for help from a "human wreckium." The poor "wreckium" dies and goes to "Heavium"; the rich man ends up in "Hellium"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: Early 1950s (recording, Sam Hinton)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Macaronic song with pseudo-Latin phrases, e.g. "The rich man died, but he didn't fare so wellium/He couldn't get to Heaven, so he had to go to Hellium." In some versions, it's a retelling of the Dives and Lazarus tale: the poor man at the rich man's gate asks for bread; the rich man calls a "policium"; when they die, the poor man goes to Heaven, the rich man goes to Hell. Chorus inevitably includes the line, "Glory Hallelujah, Hi-Ho-Jerum" or similar.
KEYWORDS: poverty humorous warning hardheartedness death begging Hell
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 184, "There Was a Rich Man Who Lived in Jerusalem" (1 text, tune referenced)
Silber-FSWB, p. 25, "The Rich Man and the Poor Man" (1 text)
DT, RICHPOOR*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 33, #1 (1987), pp, 28-29, "Hi-Ho-Jerum" (1 text, 1 tune, as sung by Sam Hinton and learned from Dr. Norris Rakestraw)
Roud #4571
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lazarus and the Rich Man" (theme)
cf. "Dives and Lazarus" [Child 56] (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hi Ro Jerum
NOTES: This, obviously, is Jesus's parable of the rich man and Lazarus, with the names removed and a trace of feeble humor added. For background, see the other Lazarus songs. - RBW
This song has bawdy variants; I'm surprised they didn't turn up in Cray. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: FSWB025

Hi Rinky Dum


See Seventeen Come Sunday [Laws O17] (File: LO17)

Hi Tak the Bonnie Lassie


See My Mither Built a Wee, Wee House (File: GrD81727)

Hi Yo Boat Row


See De Boatman Dance (File: BMRF566)

Hi, Bara Manishee


DESCRIPTION: Travellers' cant. "Hi, bara manishee, will ye bing wi' me?" Translated: "Hi, bonnie lassie, will you go with me?/Hi, bonnie laddie, I didn't know your face/Will you come, will you hurry... to the camp?/If you don't get food, you'll get some drink"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963 (collected from Charlotte Higgins)
KEYWORDS: courting drink food foreignlanguage nonballad Gypsy migrant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MacSeegTrav 131, "Hi, Bara Manishee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6330
File: McCST131

Hibernia's Lovely Jane


See Hibernia's Lovely Jean (File: HHH467)

Hibernia's Lovely Jean


DESCRIPTION: The singer returns to Ireland from fighting in Spain, where he meets Hibernia's Lovely Jane. He says that her beauty exceeds that of goddesses or legendary beauties. But her parents will not let her marry a soldier. The singer despairs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1890 (Kenedy)
KEYWORDS: love soldier separation father mother beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H467, p. 428, "Hibernia's Lovely Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4385
File: HHH467

Hicarmichael


DESCRIPTION: The sheriff goes to arrest Hicarmichael on a Sunday; as the sheriff reads the warrant, Hicarmichael shoots him dead. Hicarmichael is arrested and taken to Knoxville. The singer warns listeners not to live a "wrecked" life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963 (recording, Dillard Chandler)
LONG DESCRIPTION: The sheriff goes to arrest Hicarmichael, a black man, on a Sunday; as the sheriff reads the warrant, however, Hicarmichael shoots him dead. Hicarmichael is eventually arrested and taken to Knoxville. The singer warns listeners not to live a "wrecked" life, nor to take life, for they cannot give it, and that money will not save them before God
KEYWORDS: violence warning crime murder law prison punishment death police Black(s)
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
Roud #6981
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "Hicarmichael" (on Chandler01)
File: RcHicarm

Hick's Farewell


See The Dying Preacher (Hick's Farewell) (File: R617)

Hickerty, Pickerty, My Black Hen


See Higgledy Piggledy, My Black Hen (File: BGMG299)

Hickety, Pickety, My Black Hen


See Higgledy Piggledy, My Black Hen (File: BGMG299)

Hickory Dickory Dock


DESCRIPTION: "Hickory Dickory Dock, A mouse ran up the clock, The clock struck one, The mouse fell down...." Other time-related verses may be added.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1744 (Tom Thumb's Pretty Song Book)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Opie-Oxford2 217, "Hickory, dickory, dock" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #8, p. 31, "(Hickory Dickory Dock)"
Roud #6489
File: BGMG008

Hicks's Farewell


See The Dying Preacher (Hick's Farewell) (File: R617)

Hidden Still, The


See Good Old Mountain Dew (File: LxA180)

Hiddle Diddle Dirdie


DESCRIPTION: "Hiddle diddle dirdie, When I was a herdie." Apparently the cattle ran to the corn, the herder ran home and got a bannock. The laird took his plaid, leaving him out in the cold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: clothes farming food animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1633, "Hiddle Diddle Dirdie" (1 text)
Roud #13069
File: GrD81633

Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale)


DESCRIPTION: Bible tales with warnings for sinners who don't heed: "Get your baggage on the deck and don't forget to take your check For you can't steal on board, hide away." Verses concern Jonah and the whale, Moses and Pharoah, (Daniel, Noah, etc.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920
KEYWORDS: Bible religious warning humorous
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 286, "Jonah and the Whale" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 346, "Jonah and the Whale" (6 text and/or fragments, but only the "C" text is this piece; "A" and "B" are "Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble)" and "D"-"F" are "Who Did Swallow Jonah?")
JHCox 133, "Jonah" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: [no author listed], Scenes & Songs of the Ohio-Erie Canal, Ohio Historical Society, 1971, "The Gospel Boat" (1 text, 1 tune; there are six verses, with the first two being traditional and the last four written by Pearl R. Nye. Nye's version does not mention Jonah -- it seems to be a river song -- but it has the "Hide away" chorus)
Roud #7786
RECORDINGS:
Ford & Grace, "Hide Away" (OKeh 45157, 1927)
McCravy Brothers, "Hide Away" (Victor V-40104, 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble)" (subject)
cf. "Wake Up, Jonah (Jonah III)" (subject)
cf. "Who Did Swallow Jonah?" (subject)
NOTES: I had some difficulty deciding whether to include the Cox "Jonah" song here. It's completely straight, and lacks the lyrics of most of the other versions (including the "hideaway" lines). But it uses the same (somewhat uncommon) metrical pattern, and it's on the same theme, and I don't know of any other similar texts. One or the other song may be a rewrite, but I'm listing both here.
All the texts, of course, are based on the Biblical book of Jonah. The humorous versions exaggerate; Cox's text stays fairly close to the actual content of chapters 1 and 2 of Jonah (except for, at times, calling the fish a "whale"; the Hebrew Bible emphatically says "fish"). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R286

Hide Thou Me


See Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over the Rock of Ages) (File: Br3547)

Hidi Quili Lodi Quili


DESCRIPTION: "Hidi, quili, lodi, quili, Hidi, quili, quackeo, If you'd a-been as I'd a-been, You would a-been so pretty, o!" (Someone) maakes a song, "heels in the path and toes in the grass, Don't take nothing but a dollar and half."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: music floatingverses work
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 206, "Hidi Quili Lodi Quili" (1 text)
NOTES: Listed in Brown as a corn-husking song, but it appears to be more than that. The first two verses look like a song about a migrant singer, or at least a migrant worker who sang, with the first verse being his song.
The third stanza, "The ole fish hawk said to the crow, I hope to the Lord tonight it'll rain; The creeks am muddy and millpond dry; 'Twasn't for tadpoles minnows all die," floats (e.g. from "The Crow Song (I)"); whether it played a role in the original song is unclear. - RBW
File: Br3206

Hie Bonny Lassie


DESCRIPTION: A poor shepherd says "Hey, bonnie lassie, blink o'er the burn." He tells all he would do when "we'll be married and lie in ae bed": turn her sheep for her, give her his dog, knife, and half-year's fee and sell one of his two lambs to buy her a head-piece
AUTHOR: Rev. James Honeyman (died c.1779) (source: Whitelaw and GreigDuncan4)
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Whitelaw)
KEYWORDS: poverty courting marriage farming nonballad dog sheep
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 881, "Hey, Bonnie Lassie" (3 texts, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 298, "Hie, Bonnie Lassie"
Roud #6136
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(835), "Hie bonny lassie" ("Hie bonnie lassie, come over the burn"), unknown, no date
NOTES: Servants and farm hands were typically hired for half a year. The offer here is for all the silver earned in that half year. See, for example, "The Hiring Fair at Hamiltonsbawn" which describes the practice in Ireland, and "Blackberry Grove" for England; the Scottish practice followed a similar calendar. See also, "Bad Luck Attend the Old Farmer." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4881

Hielan' Donal'


DESCRIPTION: Hielan' Donal kisses Katie Ronal' while she picks camomile. She says she wouldn't have him. He asks her to go to the hills with him where he had a big house and livestock. She declines. When he turns to leave she changes her mind and goes with him.
AUTHOR: Bell Robertson
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Greig)
KEYWORDS: elopement flowers
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig #143, p. 2, "Hielan' Donal'" (1 text)
Roud #1917
NOTES: Written by Bell Robertson based on the "Hielan' Donal' Kissed Katie" verse. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Gre143

Hielan' Donal' Kissed Katie


DESCRIPTION: "Hielan' Donald kiss't Kitty, Comin through the Narrow Wyn'" or among the camomile. She wore a striped coat and woolen gown; he kissed her when everyone was sleeping.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Anderson)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1718, "Hielan' Donald" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: William Anderson, Rhymes, Reveries, and Reminiscences (Aberdeen, 1867 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 183, ("Hielan' Donald kiss't Kitty")
Roud #6317
File: GrD81718

Hielan' Hills, The


DESCRIPTION: "The Hielan' hills are high high The Hielan' miles are long But Hielan' whisky is the thing To mak a body strong." "She'll tak a glass" or five or six "what business that tae you." A whisky "is the thing To paint it [her nose] like the rose"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 558, "The Hielan' Hills" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6032
File: GrD3558

Hielan' Jane


See Highland Jane (File: HHH477)

Hielan's o' Scotland, The


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

Hieland Jane


See Highland Jane (File: HHH477)

Hieland Laddie


DESCRIPTION: Used by sailors as they stowed cotton or lumber. "Were you ever in Quebec? Bonnie Laddie, Hieland Laddie, Stowing timber on the deck, Bonnie Hieland Laddie"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1857
KEYWORDS: nonballad shanty work
FOUND IN: US(MA,SE) Britain(Scotland) Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 50-51, "Highland Laddie" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, p. 102, "Bonbie Highland Laddie (1 text, with localization to the Great Lakes, including mentions of Marquette and Grand Marais)
Colcord, p. 95, "Highland Laddie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 72-73, "Riding on a Donkey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 143-150, "Heiland Laddie," "Donkey Riding," "My Bonnie Highland Lassie-O" (5 texts, 5 tunes plus fragments) [AbEd, pp. 115-121]
Sharp-EFC, XXVI, p. 30, "Heave Away, My Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 38-39, "Donkey Riding" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 64, "Donkey Riding" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 96, "Hieland Laddie" (1 text)
DT, DONKEYRD* HIELND* HIELND3* HIELNDLD*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Highland Laddie" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #4691
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Hieland Laddie" (on PeteSeeger26)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Belle-a-Lee" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Stow'n' Sugar in de Hull Below" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Tommy's Gone to Hilo" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Powder Monkey (Soon We'll Be in England Town)" (similar chorus)
cf. "Geordie Sits In Charlie's Chair" (tune and structure)
SAME TUNE:
Mussel Mou'd Charlie (Kinloch-BalladBook, pp. xi-xiii)
Geordie Sits In Charlie's Chair (File: GrD1131)
NOTES: Some versions of this song have verses or chorus about "Donkey riding, donkey riding, Riding on a donkey." This is legitimate shipboard technology, referring to a donkey engine (which might indeed need someone "riding" it to keep it running), but also caused the song to be tempting to children.
Since, however, there is no possible way to separate sea versions from kids' versions, I keep them as one song.
Riding the donkey might also be known as "donkeying around." Modern folkies may recognize this from Larry Kaplan's song "Old Zeb." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe050

Hieland Rory


DESCRIPTION: This song is about the wedding of Hieland Rory and Mary Morrison. The songs sung and played are listed. "The piper he got drunk" so a fiddler was brought in for the dancing.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1971 (recording, Jimmy McBeath)
KEYWORDS: wedding dancing drink music party
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
Roud #5146
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy McBeath, "Hieland Rory" (on Voice14)
File: RcHieRor

Higgledy Piggledy, My Black Hen


DESCRIPTION: "Higgledy piggledy, my black hen, She lays eggs for gentlemen, Gentlemen come every day To see what my black hen doth lay, Sometimes nine and sometimes ten, Higgledy piggledy, my black hen."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1853 (according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: Bird chickens food
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1665, "Hickerty, Pickerty, My Black Hen" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #299, p. 171, "(Hickety, pickety, my black hen)"
Opie-Oxford2 209, "Hickety, pickety, my black hen" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Iona and Peter Opie, _Children's Games in Street and Playground_, oxford, 1969, 1984, p. 38, "(Skinty, tinty, my black hen)"
Roud #13043
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cluck Old Hen" (partial theme)
NOTES: The spelling of the first couple of words of this piece vary greatly ("Hickety, pickety," "Hickerty, pickerty," "Higgledy Piggledy"). I doubt any particular form is authoritative, so I spelled it the way I learned it way back when. I don't recall a tune, but there are enough references that it may be a traditional song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BGMG299

High Above a Theta's Garter


See Far Above Cayuga's Waters (Parodies) (File: EM348)

High Barbaree [Child 285; Laws K33]


DESCRIPTION: (Two) ships meet a pirate man-o-war. In the ensuing battle, the pirate is sunk, disabled, or taken.
AUTHOR: unknown (the "High Barbaree" recension is by Charles Dibdin)
EARLIEST DATE: 1670 (the title is mentioned 1611; a fragment is found in 1634)
KEYWORDS: battle navy ship pirate
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,West),Scotland(Aber)) Ireland US(MA,NE,NW,SE)
REFERENCES (23 citations):
Child 285, "The George Aloe and the Sweepstake" (1 text)
Bronson 285, "The George Aloe and the Sweepstake" (15 versions)
GreigDuncan1 38, "The Coasts of Barbary" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #12}
Laws K33, "High Barbaree"
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 91-92, "The High Barbaree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 153, "High Barbaree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 161-162, "High Barbaree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 419-4212, "High Barbaree" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 320-321]
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 413-418, "High Barbary" (1 text plus 2 songster and 1 broadside version)
BrownII 118, "High Barbaree" (1 short text)
Chappell-FSRA 25, "The Queen of Russia and the Prince of Wales" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #14}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 229, "New Barbary" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #8}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 176-187, "The Coast of Barbary" (4 texts plus 3 fragments, 5 tunes) {F=Bronson's #8}
Leach, pp. 665-667, "The George Aloe and the Sweepstake"; pp. 777-778, "High Barbaree" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 399, "The George Aloe and the Sweepstake"; p. 407, "High Barbaree" (2 texts, 1 tune)
OBB 131, "The 'George-Aloe'" (1 text)
Warner 142, "Barbaree" (1 text, 1 tune)
PBB 79, "The Salcombe Seaman's Flaunt to the Proud Pirate" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 12, "The Coasts of High Barbary" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Darling-NAS, pp. 100-101, "High Barbaree" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 91, "High Barbaree" (1 text)
BBI, ZN953, "The George-Aloe and the Sweep-stake too"
DT, HIGHBARB* HIGHBRB3*
Roud #134
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "The Coast of High Barbary" (General 5017B, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Bob Roberts, "High Barbaree" (on LastDays)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 4o Rawl. 566(183), "The Saylors Only Delight; shewing the brave fight between the George-Aloe, the Sweepstake, and certain Frenchmen at sea" ("The George-Aloe, and the Sweep-stake too"), F. Coles (London), 1663-1674; also Douce Ballads 2(196b), "The Seaman's Only Delight: shewing the brave fight between the George-Aloe, the Sweepstakes and certain French men at sea"
LOCSinging, as102370, "Coast of Barbary," L. Deming (Boston), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sailor's Joy" (tune, broadsides Bodleian 4o Rawl. 566(183) and Douce Ballads 2(196b))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Blow High, Blow Low
NOTES: Scholars continue to debate the relationship between Child's text "The George Aloe..." and the better-known "High Barbaree." Laws considers them separate, as does Roud (listing "The George Aloe" as #6739 and "Barbaree" as #134, which will give you some idea of their relative popularity); Coffin, in Flanders-Ancient4, reports that "High Barbary" retains "little of [its] model beyond the plot outline and the Barbary refrain."
I, obviously, think them the same. (Or, more correctly, regard them as separate recensions, but see no point in separating two songs so often filed together, particularly given the rarity of "The George Aloe.") Bronson doesn't even note the difference.
Frank Shay and Coffin, among others, reports that "High Barbaree" was written by Charles Dibdin (1745-1814), who wrote a number of songs for the Royal Navy (including "Blow High Blow Low"). If so, it seems likely that he was inspired by "The George Aloe..."; I do not consider this by itself reason to separate the two (again, most especially since certain publications do not distinguish them).
For more on author Charles Dibdin, see the notes to "Blow High Blow Low." - RBW
The first known text of "The George Aloe..." is found in the Shakespeare/Fletcher play "The Two Noble Kinsmen" (perhaps written c. 1611; printed 1634), Act III.v.59-66 (a section generally attributed to Fletcher):
The George Alow came from the south,
From the coast of Barbary-a;
And there he met with brave gallants of war,
By one, by two, by three-a.
Well hail'd, well hail'd, you jolly gallants!
And whither now are you bound-a?
O let me have your company
Till [I] come to the sound-a." [The word "I" is missing in the quarto print; conjectured by Tonson.]
Child can find no historical records of a voyage of these ships, particularly in the vicinity of Barbaree. But it is noteworthy that, in the 1540s, Henry VIII had a ship called the Sweepstake. According to N. A. M. Rodger, The Safeguard of the Sea, p. 181, this ship and three others were set to patrolling Scotland in 1543 (?). And the enemy ship in "The George Aloe" was French, and the English squadron kept a French fleet from joining with the Scots.
We also find a ship called the Sweepstake in commission in the 1580s, commanded by Captain Diggory Piper; she was a privateer who took at least a couple of Spanish ships. This is interesting because Piper seemed to inspire music; there is a "Captain Diggory Piper's Galliard" mentioned on p. 343 of Rodger.
I won't say that either event inspired this song, but it might have influenced the name of the ship. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C285

High Barbary


See High Barbaree [Child 285; Laws K33] (File: C285)

High Blantyre Explosion, The [Laws Q35]


DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of meeting a young girl mourning her lover, John Murphy. Murphy, only 21, was killed in the mines of High Blantyre in a great explosion. She transplants the daisies they walked among to his grave and waters them with her tears
AUTHOR: John Wilson? (source: broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(46b))
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (collected by A. L. Lloyd); c.1877 (broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(46b))
KEYWORDS: mining death love flowers
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct 22, 1877 - Explosion at the Dixon Colliery in High Blantyre near Glasgow. Over two hundred are killed
FOUND IN: US(MA) Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws Q35, "The High Blantyre Explosion"
Morton-Ulster 6, "The Blantyre Explosion" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 27, pp. 69-70,115,167, "The Blantyre Explosion" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 543, BLANTYRX*
Roud #1014
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(46b), "The Sorrowful Lamentation of Jane Sneddon for the Loss of her Lover, John Murray, in the Disaster at High Blantyre," unknown, c.1877
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Collier Lad (Lament for John Sneddon/Siddon)" (theme, characters?)
NOTES: Broadside NLScotland L.C.Fol.70(46b) is "signed" by "John Wilson, B.S.,G." - BS
And that broadside poses rather a conundrum, because of the name "Sneddon." The broadside is clearly this song (though unusually full), but the name might well be derived from "The Collier Lad (Lament for John Sneddon/Siddon)." Since both are on the same theme, I have to suspect some sort of connectin. - RBW
File: LQ35

High Chin Bob


See The Glory Trail (High Chin Bob) (File: FCW124)

High Germany


DESCRIPTION: Young man, conscripted into the war in Germany, bids his sweetheart come with him. She demurs, saying she is not fit for war. He offers to buy her a horse, and also to marry her by and by. She laments the war (and/or her pregnancy)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2899))
KEYWORDS: love war soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1714 - Hannoverian succession causes Britain to become involved in German wars
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
GreigDuncan1 96, "High Germany" (14 texts, 11 tunes)
Sharp-100E 56, "High Germany" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 679-680, "High Germany" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 279, "High Germany" (1 text)
BBI, ZN3231, "O cursed be the wars that ever they began" (?)
DT, WARGRMNY* WARGRMN2*
Roud #904
RECORDINGS:
Phoebe Smith, "Higher Germany" (on PhSmith01, HiddenE)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2899), "High Germany" ("O Polly love, O Polly love, the rout it is begun"), T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(1536), Harding B 17(127b), Firth c.14(154), Harding B 25(836), Firth c.26(222)[some words illegible], Harding B 11(829), "[The] High Germany"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Monroe" [Laws N7]
cf. "William and Nancy I" [Laws N8]
cf. "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9]
cf. "The Manchester Angel"
cf. "Across the Blue Mountain" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Wars o' Germanie" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "In Low Germanie" (lyrics, theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Wars of Germany
Germany
High Germanie
NOTES: Sharp cites a date of c. 1780 for this song. That the current forms of the song date from the eighteenth century is almost a historical necessity. The Hannoverian Succession (1714) brought a German prince to the British throne, meaning that English troops might be sent to intervene in German affairs. British interest in Germany ended when Napoleon rebuilt the Holy Roman Empire on his own terms, leaving the Hannoverian princes out of the picture.
This was reinforced a few years later, when King William IV died (1837). William's heir under English law was his niece Victoria, but Hannoverian law did not permit a female succession, so the throne of Hannover fell to Victoria's uncle Ernest. And, of course, Hannover, like the rest of Germany, was absorbed by Prussian in the 1860s and 1870s.
It's also worth noting that, by the nineteenth century, it was common for the wives of British soldiers to accompany them; the army actually made allowance for a certain number of wives per regiment.
In at least one of these cases, that of Fanny Dubberly, she even took a part in the fighting: At Gwalior, India (1858?), cavalrymen of the Eighth Hussars started a charge at the Indian mutineers. Mrs. Dubberly's horse was nearby and joined the charge (without her husband!). It's not clear what she would have done had she caught anyone, since she wasn't really a soldier -- but she did add weight of numbers to the charge. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: ShH56

High in the Highlands


DESCRIPTION: Highlanders clip sheep, Lowlanders feed cattle. The singer says a local lad "has a fancy for me" but she prefers someone farther away. She wants paper, pen, and ink "and I'll write a letter to my dear Willie"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad sheep
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1114, "High in the Highlands" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6830
NOTES: Roud assigns the same number to fragments Greig-Duncan6 1092 "Here Is a Letter, Fair Susannah," and 1114. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61114

High O, Come Roll Me Over


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "One man to strike the bell, High-O, come roll me over." Verses continue with "Two men to man the wheel", Three men to'gallant braces", etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong cumulative
FOUND IN: Britain US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, p. 169, "High O, Come Roll Me Over" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 136]
Roud #8294
File: Hugi169A

High Rocks o' Pennan, The


DESCRIPTION: "Cauld blaws the wind o'er the high rocks o' Pennan" as the singer laments the absence of Jamie, gone to America. She discusses their parting, at which he complained that the laws are too strict. He promises to fetch her once he has the money
AUTHOR: John Anderson (d.c.1870) (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1875 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love separation emigration crime
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #21, p. 1, "The High Rocks of Pennan" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1121, "The High Rocks o' Pennan" (6 texts plus a single verse on p. 548, 5 tunes)
Ord, pp. 342-343, "The High Rocks o' Pennan" (1 text)
Roud #3944
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lass o' Glenshee" (tune, per GreigDuncan6)
NOTES: This is the only emigration song I can recall where the singer's main reason is the laws against poaching. The overall feeling reminds me a lot of "Teddy O'Neill" (to which it can be sung), but I doubt there is dependance. - RBW
Greig: .".. written in the early [eighteen-]forties ...." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Ord342

High Times in Our Ship


DESCRIPTION: "It's of Martin Hurley, you bet he's not slack, He gets the two Daltons to work his cod trap." They meet rough water but get a good haul. The song continues with episodes showing "high times in our ship."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: fishing sea ship nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 136-137, "High Times in Our Ship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9964
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Martin Hurley
File: Pea136

High Times in the Store


DESCRIPTION: Low on bread, the singers stop at the store at Lance au Loop hoping for help. The shopkeepers complain that they are expected to give bread away. "These are two sturdy old fellows, gives nothing away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: bargaining rejection shore hardtimes commerce food
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leach-Labrador 84, "High Times in the Store" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab084 (Partial)
Roud #9976
NOTES: L'Anse au Loup is on the lower Labrador coast on the Strait of Belle Isle. - BS
File: LLab084

High-Toned Dance, The


DESCRIPTION: "Now you can't expect a cowboy to agitate his shanks In the etiquettish fashion of aristocratic ranks." The singer is out of his depth at a dance in Denver. Still, the ladies enjoy the chance "To see an old-time puncher at a high-tone dance."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (recording, Wilf Carter)
KEYWORDS: cowboy dancing humorous
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 104, "The High-Toned Dance" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11094
RECORDINGS:
Wilf Carter, "The Cowboy's High-Toned Dance" (Bluebird [Canada] B-4991, 1935)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mormon Cowboy (I)" (plot)
File: FCW104

High-Topped Shoes


See Don't Let Your Deal Go Down; also Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot (File: CSW182)

High, Betty Martin


See Hey Betty Martin (File: San158)

Highbridge (Through Every Age, Eternal God)


DESCRIPTION: Shape note hymn: "Through every age, eternal God, thou art our rest, our safe abode; High was thy throne ere heav'n was made Or earth thy humble footstool laid." "Death, like an overflowing stream, Sweeps us away; Our life's a dream, an empty tale..."
AUTHOR: Words: Isaac Watts
EARLIEST DATE: 1707
KEYWORDS: religious Bible nonballad death
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, p. 155, "Highbridge" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15052
RECORDINGS:
Singers from Stewart's Chapel, Houston, MS, "Stratfield" (on Fasola1)
NOTES: This is set to the tune "Highbridge" in the Missouri Harmony but to "Stratfield" in the Sacred Harp. There is a second Sacred Harp version, opening with the "Death, like an overflowing stream" stanza, which has the most evocative tune-name "Exit."
The "Death like an overflowing stream" stanza is in the Missoury Harmony with the tune Amanda.
For more on Isaac Watts, see the notes to "O God, Our Help in Ages Past." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: San155

Highland Harry


DESCRIPTION: Highland Harry's banished and the singer mourns she'll "never see him back again!" She wishes some "villains [were] hangit high" so he could return. He had "rush'd his injur'd prince to join; But, Oh! he ne'er came back again!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1821 (Hogg2)
KEYWORDS: rebellion exile nonballad Jacobites
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Hogg2 30, "Highland Harry" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 134, "Highland Harry" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #164,, pp. 276-277, "My Harry Was a Gallant Gay" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1787)
Roud #3809
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Harry Lumsdale's Courtship" (some lines) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Oh For Him Back Again
NOTES: Hogg2: "This edition is taken from Mr Moir's collection. The first three verses were altered by Burns from an old song; the other two were added by Sutherland."
Burns: "The chorus I picked up from an old woman in Dunblane; the rest of the song is mine." - BS
The tune is listed as "Highlander's Lament." Which obviously fits. It is interesting to note that Burns's text never mentions *which* villians should be hanged high; it's perhaps worth noting that (according to my Burns editions) he wrote the song in 1787, at which time Bonnie Prince Charlie was still alive though not for much longer. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1134

Highland Heather


DESCRIPTION: "The heather's queen o' mountain flowers." The singer compares the heather to the red and white rose, the lily, daisy and forget-me-not. "Search roon the world -- she beats them a'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: flowers nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 527, "Highland Heather" (1 text)
Roud #5876
File: GrD3527

Highland Jane


DESCRIPTION: The singer overhears another cry, "I have lost my bonny bride, My bonny blooming hielan' Jane." He describes her beauty. She was taken away soon after marriage. He hopes that death will soon take him as well
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: death separation marriage mourning
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1240, "My Blooming Highland Jane" (1 text)
SHenry H477, p. 140, "Hielan' Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2554
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.13(191), "Highland Jane" ("As [I] walked out one morning fair"), R. McIntosh (unknown), no date
File: HHH477
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