Il Faut Voir Que Je Me Sauvais (So I Ran Away)

DESCRIPTION: French. A reaper says "Quelle chaleur!" The singer thinks it said "Here is the robber." He runs. A mill says "Tri que traque." He thinks it said "Catch him." He runs. A priest says "Dominus vobiscum." The singer thinks he said "Here he is." He runs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage humorous wordplay
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 62-63, "Il Faut Voir Que Je Me Sauvais" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea062

Ilka Blade o' Grass Keps Its Ain Drap o' Dew

DESCRIPTION: "What is't that gars ye hang your heid and quit the cheery sun?" The depressed listener is urged to cheer up; troubles are certain but can be overcome, and there is a place for everything: "Ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, p. 385, "Ilka Blade o' Grass Keps Its Ain Drap o' Dew" (1 text)
Roud #5612
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, R.B.m.143(128), "Ilka Blade o' Grass Keps Its Ain Drap o' Dew," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
File: Ord385

Ilkley Moor Baht 'At

See On Ilkla Moor Bah T'at (File: K303)

Ill-Fated Persian, The

See The Persian's Crew [Laws D4] (File: LD04)

Ill-Fated Vernon, The

DESCRIPTION: "All you true-feeling Christians, I hope you will draw near, And hear my doleful story...." The Vernon, with six men aboard, sailed on October 25. A storm blew up (on Lake Michigan). The Vernon sank with 25 passengers. Other ships refused to help out
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (collected from John W. Green by Walton; supposedly composed 1887/1888)
KEYWORDS: ship disaster death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
October 1867 - the Vernon Wreck
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 176-177, "The Ill-Fated Vernon" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
NOTES: Walton/Grimm/Murdock give only a brief account of this disaster, though they mention that it cost the lives of six men from Beaver Island. Benjamin J. Shelak, Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan, Trails Books, 2003, pp. 61-62, adds a number of details. The ship was new (about a year old), but though Walton/Grimm/Murdock say she was considered entirely seaworthy, but she was said to have had high upperworks which, combined with her narrow beam, made her hard to handle in rough weather (she was 177 feet long, had a 26 foot beam, and was 18 feet deep).
Walton/Grimm/Murdock and Shelak disagree about the date of the wreck; the former says October 25, 1887; the latter, October 28. Vernon says it had made a trip from Chicago to Cheboygan, Michigan, and was on its way back. The ship was in trouble by the time it passed Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
Reportedly the boat was overloaded. The number of people on board is unknown, but Shelak says it was between 36 and 41. At least some of the passengers and crew went into the water, but though other ships passed through the area and saw wreckage, none attempted to help. As a result, only one man -- a crewmember named Axel Stone -- survived; he was picked up two days after the sinking. Stone claimed to have told the captain that the ship was taking on water and suggested dropping cargo -- and was told off for it. The ship survived for some time after that, but went down around 3:00 a.m.
Stone reported that several ships came so close that he could make out the faces of those aboard, but they did nothing. Hence, presumably, the bitterness of this song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: WGM176

Imaginary Trouble

See The Crying Family (Imaginary Trouble) (File: Wa062)

Immigration

DESCRIPTION: "Now Jordan's land of promise is the burden of my song, Perhaps you've heard him lecture and blow about it strong." But the singer warns that it is a land of bad food, hard work, vermin, and thirst. He warns people not to come
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Paterson's _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: Australia emigration warning food animal
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 109-110, "Immigration" (1 text)
NOTES: According to Patterson/Fahey/Seal, Mr. Jordan lectured in England in the 1860s about the benefits of Australian living. This song is the answer of someone who has been there. There is little evidence that it has gone into tradition. - RBW
File: PFS109

Immortal Washington

DESCRIPTION: "Columbia's greatest glory Was her loved chief, fair Freedom's friend." Listeners are urged to respect and praise the (recently deceased?) Washington, and God is asked to "Receive into thy bosom Our virtuous hero -- Washington"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1836 (The American Songster)
KEYWORDS: patriotic death nonballad recitation
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1732-1799 - Life of George Washington
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
JHCox 59, "Immortal Washington" (2 texts, though only the first is from tradition)
Roud #5465
NOTES: Almost makes you forget, in your nausea at such saccharine stuff, that Washington was a slaveowner who lost more battles than he won in his career.
I've tagged this with the "recitation" keyword because the only traditional text seems to be the badly garbled version in Cox. Even this is from manuscript, but certainly from memory (it contains too many senseless errors to be taken from print). There is no indication that it ever possessed a tune (it is hard to imagine a tune to this metrical pattern anyway). - RBW
File: JHCox059

Improbability

See Things Impossible (File: GC158)

In 1795

See In Seventeen Ninety-Five (File: RcIn1795)

In 1845

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

In a Boxcar Around the World

DESCRIPTION: "I'm the man that rode the boxcar around the world, boys, it's a pleasure to me." The singer tells of travelling around the world a dozen times by train. He asks, when he dies, to be left aboard the train and allowed to "ride forevermore."
AUTHOR: Cliff Carlisle
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (recording and copyright by Cliff Carlisle)
KEYWORDS: train rambling death nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 397-399, "In a Boxcar Around the World" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Cliff Carlisle, "In a Box Car around the World" (Bluebird B-6438, 1936)
File: LSRai397

In a Cottage by the Sea

See The Widow in the Cottage by the Sea (File: R702)

In a Handy Four-Master

DESCRIPTION: "In a handy four-master I once took a trip, Hooray boys, heave 'er down, An' I though that I was aboard a good ship, Way down, laddies down." The sailor finds she is a "workhouse." Sailors are worked hard and the food is bad. He will not sail her again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (collected by Walton from Henry Ericksen)
KEYWORDS: ship hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 71-72, "In a Handy Four-Master" (1 text)
File: WGM071

In and Around Nashville

See In Kansas (File: EM049)

In and Out the Window

See Go In and Out the Window (File: R538)

In Arkansas

See In Kansas (File: EM049)

In Blythe and Bonnie Fair Scotland

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

In Bohunkus, Tennessee

DESCRIPTION: The singer's father was responsible for cleaning up horse refuse in the streets of (Bohunkus). In the process, he once found "diamond(s) in the dung," which allowed the singer to pledge to the Beta (Theta Pi) fraternity
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: scatological
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cray, pp. 354-356, "In Bohunkus, Tennessee" (4 texts, 1 tune; the "D" text is not obviously related to the other three)
File: EM354

In Camden Town

DESCRIPTION: William seduces Polly. She becomes pregnant and asks that he marry her. He sends her home to her parents. "I'll not go home to my parents For to bring them to disgrace But I will go and drown myself Down in some secret place." He says he'll die with her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: seduction rejection pregnancy suicide drowning
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1155, "The Collier Lad" (4 texts)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 53, "In Camden Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1414
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Collier's Sweetheart
File: CrSNB053

In Cameltoon Once More

See Swansea Town (The Holy Ground) (File: Doe152)

In Canso Strait

See Canso Strait (File: Doe183)

In Castyle there Lived a Lady

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

In Collon I Was Taken

See Michael Boylan (File: Zimm015)

In Contempt

DESCRIPTION: "Build high, build wide your prison wall, That there may be room enough for all Who hold you in contempt." The song asks how the wardens can imprison people for their consciences, and says they can never lock up all who dissent
AUTHOR: Words: Aaron Kramer / Music: Betty Sanders
EARLIEST DATE: 1950
KEYWORDS: political nonballad prison
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 370-371, "In Contempt" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "In Contempt" (on PeteSeeger05)
File: SBoA370

In Courtship There Lies Pleasure

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

In Cupid's Court

DESCRIPTION: Fishing, the singer meets a maid. She asks if he is a stranger "brought up in Cupid's court ... an angler ... Or was it Cupid sent you here Young virgins to ensnare?" He asks her to marry, she agrees. "Instead of catching salmon He caught a prudent wife"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage fishing love beauty wife
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 52, "In Cupid's Court" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2731
RECORDINGS:
Grace Clergy, "In Cupid's Court" (on MRHCreighton)
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Cupid's Garden" or variants thereon. - PJS
File: CrMa052

In Days When We Went Gipsying

See In Days When We Went Gypsying (File: SWMS220)

In Days When We Went Gypsying

DESCRIPTION: "In days when we went gypsing A long time ago, The lads and lasses in their best Were dressed from head to toe." The singer looks back on the gay times of his early life. (He wishes he were back under the old oak tree.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: home travel nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 220-221, "In Days When We Went Gipsying" (1 text)
Roud #1245
File: SWMS220

In De Mornin'

See Ain't No Use Workin' So Hard (File: DarNS329)

In de Vinter Time

DESCRIPTION: "In de vinter, in de vinter-time, Ven de vin' blows on de vindow-pane, An' de vimmen, in de vaud'vil, Ride de veloc'pede in de vestibule,Ah, vimmins! Ah, mens!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonsense
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sandburg, p. 334, "In de Vinter Time" (1 short text, 1 tune)
DT, VINTIME
File: San334

In Dem Long, Hot Summer Days

See Old Rattler (File: CNFM104)

In Dessexshire As It Befell

See On Christmas Day It Happened So (File: PBB006)

In Doots

DESCRIPTION: "The snaw has been fa'in in the hale day lang." The singer doubts her lover will come tonight. Her father, mother and sister say he won't come. The collie hears him at the door. "I micht weel hae kent he wad be here the nicht"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: love storm nightvisit family
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 797, "In Doots" (1 text)
Roud #6202
NOTES: This is not the usual night visit song. The visitor, says mother, would not trudge "thro' drift for a kiss or twa," but the family seems well disposed toward the singer's "laddie." The difference is illustrated by a comparison with "This Is the Nicht My Johnnie Set"; in that song the waiting singer curses the collie for making noise when her lover "softly slips the ha' door"; here, "look at aul' collie, he's aff to the door His towsie tail waggin' a welcome kin": no softly slipping here. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4797

In Duckworth Street There Lived a Dame

DESCRIPTION: The singer courts an ugly woman on Duckworth Street. One night "I found her faithless she Fryin' sausages fer he." When he tells her "we must part ... With a fryin' pan she broke my head."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: infidelity sex bawdy humorous wordplay lover
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, p. 287, "In Duckworth Street There Lived a Dame" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9969
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Rich Old Miser" [Laws Q7] (theme of being hit over the head with cookware)
cf. "A Week's Matrimony (A Week's Work)" (imagery)
cf. "Charming Sally Ann" (imagery)
NOTES: If "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" maybe there is no double entendre here about frying sausages. On the contrary, this seems a song in which the writer let the metaphor get away. Peacock points out that Duckworth Street is one of the main commercial streets in St John's. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Pea287

In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty

DESCRIPTION: "In eighteen hundred and sixty I used to go to see A pretty little gal in Georgy, How dearly she loved me, She wanted me to marry, Soon as the war was over, She said we'd live together Like chickens in the clover, Tr la la la la la...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 530, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #6616
File: R530

In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One

See Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One) (File: R227)

In Eighteen-Forty-Five

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

In Eighteen-Forty-Nine

DESCRIPTION: "When I came to this country in 1849, I saw many a true love, but I never saw mine... I am a poor soldier and a long way from home." Floating verses of longing: "Farewell to my old father" "If... I could write a fine hand" "I wish I were a lark"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation courting family rambling floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 745, "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (2 texts, 2 tune)
Hudson 48, pp. 164-165, "Pretty Saro" (1 text, beginning with stanzas from "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" and ending with "Pretty Saro," plus mention of 1 more text)
DT, CAME1865
Roud #417
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pretty Saro" (floating lyrics, tune)
cf. "The Rebel Soldier" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell, Sweet Mary" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Backwoodsman (The Green Mountain Boys)" [Laws C19] (floating lyrics)
cf. "I Came to this Country in Eighteen Sixty-Five" (floating lyrics)
cf. "In Seventeen Ninety-Five" (lyrics)
cf. "When First To This Country (I)" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics) and references there
NOTES: This has so many floating stanzas (see the cross-references, and even that list is probably incomplete) that I'm not even sure, based on the fragments in Randolph, if this is a true song or just a sort of anthology.
Hudson's text of "Pretty Saro" mixes with this piece, and Randolph's texts also have lyrics from "Pretty Saro"; Roud lumps the songs. It's likely enough that there is a full-blown composite somewhere -- but I haven't seen it, and can't file it until I do. - RBW
File: R745

In Fair London City

See Disguised Sailor (The Sailor's Misfortune and Happy Marriage; The Old Miser) [Laws N6] (File: LN06)

In Frisco Bay (A Long Time Ago; Noah's Ark Shanty)

DESCRIPTION: Pulling shanty. "In Frisco Bay there lay three ships, To my way-ay-ay-o. And one of those ships was Noah's Old Ark, A long time ago." Up to 30 verses describing the ship, the animals and the conditions on the ark.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS:
FOUND IN: Britain US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Sharp-EFC, LIV, p. 59, "In Frisco Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 66-67, "A Long Time Ago" (fragments quoted from Sharp-EFC)
Hugill, pp. 99-100, "A Long Time Ago" (1 text, version "C" of "A Long Time Ago") [AbEd, pp. 90-91]
DT, NOAHARK
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Long Time Ago" (partial chorus)
cf. "Old Uncle Noah" (subject) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Frisco Ship
NOTES: Sometimes listed as a variant of "A Long Time Ago," but this has a distinct and (for a shanty) an unusually coherent story line. - SL
File: Hugi099

In Good Old Colony Times

DESCRIPTION: Three rogues (king's sons? miller, weaver, and tailor?) "fell into mishaps / because they could not sing." Eventually they turn to robbery. "The miller drowned in his dam / the weaver was hung in his yarn, and the devil clapped his claws on the tailor..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1804 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 84)
KEYWORDS: robbery punishment death
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,North,South),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Belden, pp. 268-269, "The Three Rogues" (3 texts)
Randolph 112, "In the Good Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 80, "The Three Rogues" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
FSCatskills 116, "The Three Rogues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 80, "The Three Sons" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 307, "Three Scamping Rogues" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan3 704, "Oh the Miller He Stole Corn" (5 texts, 4 tunes)
BrownII 188, "The Three Rogues" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 1 more)
Chappell-FSRA 108, "The Old King and His Three Sons" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 1, "In Good Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 116, pp. 234-235, "In Good Old Colony Times" (1 text)
JHCox 166, "The Three Rogues" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Flanders/Brown, p. 103, "The Farmer's Three Sons" (2 fragments)
Linscott, pp. 213-214, "In Good Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 7, "Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, p. 531, "Old Colony Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROGUES3* ROGUES2* (ROGUES32)
Roud #130
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Three Sons of Rogues" (on Maynard1, Voice07)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 84, "The Miller, Weaver, and Little Tailor ("In good king Arthur's days")," Laurie and Whittle (London), 1804
LOCSheet, sm1878 07980, "Old Colony Times," John Church & Co. (Cincinnati), 1878 (tune)
LOCSinging, as104730, "Good Old Colony Times," L. Deming (Boston), n.d.
ALTERNATE TITLES:
King Arthur
Three Jolly Rogues
Three Jolly Rogues of Lynn
When Bold King Edward
King Arthur's Servants
In Good King Arthur's Days
When Arthur Ruled this Land
The Little Tailor Dick
The Miller's Sons
NOTES: Botkin has a report that this was quoted by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to the Reichstag in 1888. Allegedly Bismarck learned it from a friend in 1832. I do not know how this could be verified, however.
One has to suspect that this has had a complex history of moving between the broadside press and the folk; how else can one explain its tendency to take on new settings, from King Arthur's court (very common in British settings) to the American colonies to "Lynne" (King's Lynn?).
The song is quoted by Thomas Hardy in Under the Greenwood Tree (a single "King Arthur" stanza in chapter 2, "Honey-taking, and Afterwards," of Part IV, "Autumn"). - RBW
Broadside Bodleian Johnson Ballads fol. 84: "A much admired song sung by Mr Chas Johnston, & proper to be sung at all Musical Clubs." In this version "Three Sons of Whores were turn'd out of doors ...." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: R112

In Halifax Town

See Love Has Brought Me to Despair [Laws P25] (File: LP25)

In Jersey City

See The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: LP24)

In Kansas

DESCRIPTION: A quatrain ballad, this describes the unseemly, unsanitary, unhealthy conditions and people in that state, at Yale, in Mobile, in Zamboanga or any other place disliked by the singer.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1844, when a version of the song was published in New York City by Atwill. Said to date from a song about the Irish famines, "Over Here."
KEYWORDS: bawdy scatological humorous
FOUND IN: Australia Canada Britain(England) US(MA,MW,NE,So,SW) New Zealand
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Cray, pp. 49-53, "In Kansas" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 428-429, "Kansas" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph 344, "In Arkansas" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 280-282, "In Arkansas" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 344A)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 265-267, "In Kansas" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 32, "In Kansas" (2 texts, 1 tune; the first belongs here, while the second is "Way Out West in Kansas")
Lomax-FSNA 204, "In Kansas" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 212-213, "In Kansas" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 43, "In Kansas" (1 text)
ST EM049 (Partial)
Roud #4455
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "In Kansas" (Conqueror 7894, 1931)
Art Thieme, "In and Around Nashville" (on Thieme06)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)" (tune & meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "Way Out West in Kansas" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The 'Taters They Grow Small
NOTES: Cray and Legman have historical notes, disagreeing on the origin of the American bawdy song. - EC
Given that this appears to be a clear parody of "The Praties They Grow Small," but that the 1844 version precedes the worst of the potato blights, the song origins are indeed mysterious. One suspects that the 1844 text is not the "full version," but a predecessor (the more so as Kansas was beyond the usual settlement line in 1844).
Randolph reports that "several old-timers have told me that this piece was written by an Missourian named Beecham or Beecher, shortly after the Civil War." He does not believe the story, however, and certainly this can only refer to the local adaptation.
There is no clear dividing line between this and "The Praties They Grow Small"; there are versions of this piece that are short enough and clean enough to belong with either. But, as often happens, we must classify them separately because the extremes are so distinct. - RBW
File: EM049

In London so Fair

DESCRIPTION: A girl goes to serve a lady whose son is a sea captain. They fall in love; when he must go to sea, he pledges to be true. She dresses as a man and enlists on his ship. He says she reminds him of his love. She reveals her identity and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: love sailor disguise cross-dressing marriage
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H203, pp. 330-331, "The Sailor on the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 178, "Up in London Fair" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #2989
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Carolan, "In London So Fair" (on Voice02)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Ship that I Command
File: HHH203

In Lonely Belvedere

DESCRIPTION: "My love he was a fine young man ... he lies within his grave in lonely Belvedere. 'My curse upon you Major Grant,' in anger she did say. 'My curse upon you Bennett ... Was you that caused my sorrow In lonely Belvedere'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: murder love burial soldier
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 209, "In Lonely Belvedere" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 61-62, "Lonely Belvedere" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2725
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime: "[The singer] said that the young man was killed in a riot in Newfoundland between the Orangemen and Roman Catholics." This could refer to the Belvedere Cemetery in St John's, Newfoundland. - BS
File: CrMa209

In Low Germanie

DESCRIPTION: "As I sailed past Jura's isle, Among the waters lone, I heard a voice, a sweet low voice Atween a sigh and moan" as a girl with babes on her knee laments her husband fighting in Germany. Her brothers and her love have all been called away
AUTHOR: Allan Cunningham ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love separation soldier war
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, pp. 360-361, "The Wars o' Germanie" (1 text)
Roud #5609
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "High Germany" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: Ord credits this to Allan Cunningham, and it's perfectly reasonable to assume Cunningham padded out a fragment of an existing song (probably "High Germany"). I do think there was that traditional fragment, though. - RBW
File: Ord360

In Manchester in Lancashire

See Mary Thompson (File: GrD2205)

In Measure Time We'll Row

DESCRIPTION: A song for rowing, listed as a round: "Then you'll see our oars with feathered spray, As they sparkle in the beam of day, In our little bark we glide, Swiftly o'er the silent tide... The warrior his heritage to restore... Oh, in measure time we'll row."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: river work
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doerflinger, pp. 172-173, "In Measure Time We'll Row" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9432
File: Doe172

In Memorial of 77 Brave Newfoundland Sealers

DESCRIPTION: "Sad comes the news from o'er the sea, To fill our hearts with dread, To tell us that the ones we loved Are numbered with the dead." The poem briefly mentions their home lives, and hopes that God will make things well
AUTHOR: probably Johnny Burke
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (Ryan/Small), from an undated broadside probably contemporary with the event
KEYWORDS: death hunting disaster religious
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 31, 1914 - date of the disaster, according to the broadside
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 93, "In Memorial of 77 Brave Newfoundland Sealers" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Newfoundland Disaster (I)" (subject)
cf. Pat Maher, "The Story of the Sealing Vessel, The Newfoundland" (on NFMLeach)
cf. "The Newfoundland Disaster (II)" (subject)
NOTES: This is one of those every-word-is-found-somewhere-else songs, but if there is an exact inspiration, I can't recall it. - RBW
File: RySm093

In Memoriam

DESCRIPTION: The supply boat has to stand by and watch Ocean Ranger sink. ODECO collects its eighty million from Lloyd's acknowledging no blame. The singer hopes the inquiry and "days when lives are sacrificed to corporate greed" end soon.
AUTHOR: Jim Payne
EARLIEST DATE: 1983 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea disaster storm memorial
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 15, 1982 - The Ocean Ranger oil rig, 225 miles east of Cape Race, Newfoundland, sinks in a storm. All 84/86 are lost. NSDB: "It's said everyone in NF was related to, or knew, someone onboard" (Lehr/Best, Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 55, "In Memoriam" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Lehr/Best: "ODECO, or the Ocean Drilling and Exploration Company, is the American company that owned the Ocean Ranger."
For a detailed account of the disaster and its causes see Inviting Disaster: Lessons from the Edge of Technology by James R. Chiles (HarperBusiness paperback, 2002), pp. 18-36. While Lehr/Best sees the ballad as questioning the courage of the crew of the supply ship Seaforth Highlander, Chiles has them doing the best they could. - BS
File: LeBe055

In My Father's House

DESCRIPTION: "There ain't no liars there in my Father's house (x3), Oh, there's peace, peace everywhere." "There ain't no crapshooters there...." "There ain't no cardplayers there...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad virtue cards
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, p. 483, "In My Father's House" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "There'll Be Joy, Joy, Joy" (Bluebird B-5911/Montgomery Ward M-4547, 1935)
File: San483

In My Garden Grew Plenty of Thyme

DESCRIPTION: The singer laments the loss of her thyme. She had spent her life making herself fair, only to find her thyme stolen by a sailor. Now "I gaze on the willow tree," and "I would I were clasped in my lover's arms fast, for 'tis he who has stolen my thyme"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: loneliness sailor seduction virginity gardening
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,So) Britain(England) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 90, "Keep Your Garden Clean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 122-124, "Keep Your Garden Clean" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 90)
Eddy 28, "Once I Had Plenty of Thyme" (2 texts, 1 tune, although both texts are largely derived from "The Seeds of Love")
Sharp-100E 34, "The Sprig of Thyme" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 138, "The Green Willow Tree: or, Once I Had Plenty of Thyme" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 26, "When I Was in My Prime" (1 text, 1 tune, more like this than the other thyme songs, though it's long and has probably picked up some outside elements)
DT, THYMEGAR THYMSEED (THYMTH2)
Roud #3
RECORDINGS:
Cyril Poacher, "Plenty of Thyme" (on Voice12)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2793), "Sprig of Thyme," J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1855-1858
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Seeds of Love"
cf. "Thyme, It Is a Precious Thing"
cf. "The Gowans are Gay"
cf. "Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme)"
NOTES: In flower symbolism, thyme stood for virginity. For a catalog of some of the sundry flower symbols, see the notes to "The Broken-Hearted Gardener."
Thyme songs are almost impossible to tell apart, because of course the plot (someone seduces the girl) and the burden (let no man steal your thym) are always identical. For the same reasons, verses float freely between them. So fragmentary versions are almost impossible to classify.
The Digital Tradition has a version, "Rue and Thyme," which seems to have almost all the common elements. Whether it is the ancestor of the various thyme songs, or a gathering together of separate pieces, is not clear to me.
The first line here, "In my garden grew plenty of thyme," is diagnostic but sometimes absent. The thrust of the song is how hard the woman worked to make herself beautiful, only to spoil it by losing her virginity.
To show how difficult all this is, Randolph and Ritchie have texts of this called "Keep Your Garden Clean" which are pretty much the same except for the first verse. On the basis of that distinction, I filed Randolph' with "In My Garden Grew Plenty of Thyme" and Ritchie's with "Garners Gay (Rue; The Sprig of Thyme)."
Many, including Randolph, Ritchie, and Roud, simply lump the whole business as versions of "The Seeds of Love."
Child prints a text (additions and corrections to "The Gardener", p. 258 in Volume V of the Dover edition) which conflates this song, or something similar, with that ballad. - RBW
File: R090

In My Laddie's Company

DESCRIPTION: The singer complains that her sailor with light brown hair has forsaken her. When she goes to bed she can't sleep "for thinking on my true love ... But he seldom minds on me." She wishes for a half-hour in his company.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad sailor hair
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1084, "In My Laddie's Company" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6774
File: GrD61084

In North America

DESCRIPTION: "Wine sparkles in our glasses, We have no debts to pay, We spend our time in pleasure In North America."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: nonballad money drink
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 196, "In North America" (1 fragment, seventh of seven "Quatrains on the War")
ST Fus196C (Full)
File: Fus196C

In Old Pod-Auger Times

DESCRIPTION: "I'll sing to you of the good old times When people were honest and true, Before their brains were rattled and crazed By everything strange and new." The singer grumbles about modern ways, and longs for "old pod-auger times"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Flanders/Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1829-1837 - Presidency of Andrew Jackson
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Flanders/Brown, pp. 69-71, "In Old Pod-Auger Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 251-253, "In Old Pod-Auger Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PODAUGER*
ST FlBr069 (Partial)
Roud #3739
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Good Old Days of Adam and Eve" (theme) and references there
NOTES: We really need a keyword "Whining-about-the-end-of-the-good-old-days." See the cross-references for similar songs.
The song lists the time of Andrew Jackson as the ideal, but I can't see anything in it that's specific to that era.
Linscott states that this comes from Comical Brown's Songs, after "Comical Brown," whom she describes as a nineteenth century solo performer. She gives no other details, however. - RBW
File: FlBr069

In Old Virginny

See East Virginia (Dark Hollow) (File: JRSF134)

In Oxford City

See Oxford City [Laws P30] (File: LP30)

In Praise o' Huntley

See Jock o' Rhynie (The Praise o' Huntley) (File: Ord338)

In Praise of Christmas

See Drive the Cold Winter Away (In Praise of Christmas) (File: Log293)

In Praise of John Magee

DESCRIPTION: John Magee finds no peace with his wife "So he says, 'I can auction you according to the law.'" The bidding is active and she goes to a farmer from Killarney for twenty-five shillings. "May the devil follow after her, the auctioneer did say"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: shrewishness abandonment commerce humorous husband wife
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Morton-Ulster 12, "In Praise of John Magee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 36, pp. 90-91,122,170, "In Praise of John Magee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2899
RECORDINGS:
John Maguire, "In Praise of John Magee" (on IRJMaguire01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sale of a Wife" (subject)
cf. "The Scolding Wife (V)" (theme: sale of a wife)
cf. "Danny Sim's Sow" (theme: sale of a wife)
NOTES: I don't believe this should be lumped with "Sale of a Wife." While they both have the auction they have no lines in common.
[It's interesting to note that both songs seem to be Irish, though; perhaps one inspired the other, and some editors lump them. - RBW]
Morton-Ulster: .".. such sales were quite common in England between 1750 and 1860." - BS
For background on wife-selling, see the notes to "Sale of a Wife." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MorU012

In Praise of the City of Mullingar

DESCRIPTION: "Ye may strain your muscles to brag of Brussels" or any other great city "But they're all far inferior" to Mullingar. The singer describes many scenes, the Royal Canal, the courthouse and workhouse, railway station, and finally "the beauteous females"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1874 (_Songs and Fables_ by Professor W.J. Rankine, according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 87, "In Praise of the City of Mullingar" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Mullingar is in County Westmeath, Ireland. - BS
File: OLcM087

In Praise of the Glen

See Lovely Glenshesk (II) (File: HHH028a)

In Robin Hood's Churchyard

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

In Savannah

DESCRIPTION: "�Neath the Southern skies there stands a humble cottage, �Neath its roof sits a mother old and gray." The singer wishes to return to Savannah, embrace his mother, and care for her in her "declining years."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: love mother home return
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, pp. 107-108, "In Savannah" (1 text)
Roud #9576
File: Dean107

In Seaport Town

See The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)

In Search of Silver and Gold

See Lord Lovel [Child 75] (File: C075)

In Seventeen Ninety-Five

DESCRIPTION: Singer comes into the country in 1795; considers himself lucky just to be alive. He knocks at a girl's door; she lets him in and says not to ramble any more. They marry and live happily, "And the stars sang a banjo tune/When she said that she'd be mine"
AUTHOR: unknown (additional words by Art Thieme)
EARLIEST DATE: 1966 (learned by Art Thieme)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage emigration wife
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "In 1795" (on Thieme06)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "In Eighteen Forty-Nine" (lyrics)
cf. "The Backwoodsman" (lyrics)
NOTES: Thieme learned the first verse from Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, added the second verse several years later. Despite a few similarities to "In Eighteen Forty-Nine," the song and its gestalt are sufficiently different that I've classified them separately. - PJS
File: RcIn1795

In Sheffield Park

See The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: LP24)

In Smiling June the Roses Bloom

See The Champion of Coute Hill (File: LeBe018)

In Some Lady's Garden (I)

DESCRIPTION: "In some lady's fine brick house, In some lady's garden, You walk so high you can't get out, So fare you well, my darling." "Oh, swing a lady ump-tum, Swing a lady round, Swing a lady ump-tum, Promenade round."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: dancetune nonballad playparty
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 114-115, "In Some Lady's Garden" (1 short text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 270, "Swing a Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11590
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Do, Do, Pity My Case" (lyrics) and references there
File: ScNF114B

In Some Lady's Garden (II)

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, somebody come and let me out of here, I'se in some lady's garden. I'll roll like a log if you let me out of here, I'se in...." "Oh, somebody come... I'll pant like a lizard if you let me out...." "I'll run like a rabbit." "I'll kick like a donkey."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: playparty captivity rescue animal
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 140, "In Some Lady's Garden" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Do, Do, Pity My Case" (lyrics) and references there
File: ScaNF140

In Springfield Mountain

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

In Summer

See Robin Hood and the Monk [Child 119] (File: C119)

In Tarland Toon

DESCRIPTION: "In Tarland toon, near by Aboyne Bill Morrice doth abide"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: home
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1923, "In Tarland Toon" (1 fragment)
Roud #18048
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81923

In Tarrytown

See Died for Love (I); also The Butcher Boy [Laws P24] (File: McST055)

In that Great Gettin' Up Morning

DESCRIPTION: "In that great gettin' up morning, Fare thee well, fare thee well...." Call and answer about the deeds of Gabriel (the Annunciation to Mary and the Last Trumpet). The refrain "Fare thee well" occurs throughout
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947
KEYWORDS: religious resurrection
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 106, "Great Gittin' Up Mornin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 349, "Great Getting Up Morning" (1 text)
Roud #15228
RECORDINGS:
Four Dusty Travelers, "Great Gittin' Up Mornin'" (Columbia 14499, 1930; rec. 1929; on VocalQ2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "We've Come to Judgment" (lyrics)
File: LxU106

In That Morning

DESCRIPTION: Spiritual: "In that morning, what a beautiful morning that shall be... Everybody got to rise for your Master Jesus in that morning...." Chorus: "...rise for your Master Jesus in that morning"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (Creighton/Senior)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton/Senior, pp. 280-281, "In That Morning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3349
NOTES: Surely a fragment of something else -- but given the amount of text, it's not clear what. - RBW
File: CrSe280

In the Baggage Coach Ahead

See The Baggage Coach Ahead (File: R704)

In the Bar-Room (The Celebrated Working-Man)

DESCRIPTION: Singer boasts of his abilities as a coal miner, saying he can hew more coal than anyone in the region, and if anyone doubts him, they should check out his abilities -- "and haven't I often proved it in the bar-room (public bar)"
AUTHOR: Ed Foley
EARLIEST DATE: 1892 (reported to have been sung by the author at the wedding of a niece in that year)
KEYWORDS: pride bragging drink mining work drink nonballad worker
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North)) US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, CELEBWRK*
Roud #3486
RECORDINGS:
Jack & Reece Elliott, "In the Bar-Room (The Celebrated Working-Man)" (on Elliotts01)
Jack Elliott, "In the Bar-Room" (on Voice20)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Celebrated Working-Man" (on IronMuse1)
NOTES: This song, written by an American anthracite miner, took up residence in the mining districts of northern England and entered the tradition almost instantaneously. For once we have an idea of the connection; apparently the person who carried it across the water was Yankee Jim Roberts, an anarchist miner from Kentucky who settled in Co. Durham and became a union activist. The song also became part of the tradition in its native Pennsylvania, and was collected there by the Archive of Folk Song. - PJS
File: RcITBRCW

In the Bogie There Was a Tree

See The Rattling Bog (File: ShH98)

In the Days of '76

See The Days of Seventy-Six (File: LoF019)

In the Days of Old Rameses

DESCRIPTION: "In the days of old Rameses, are you on, are you on, They told the same thing... In the days of old Ramesis, that story had paresis...." The story sarcastically mentioned was told by Adam in Eden, by Joshua at Jericho, etc., and now is old and tired
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonballad Bible
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, pp. 202-203, "In the Days of Old Rameses" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Reported by Sandburg to be the theme song of the Whitechapel Club, "a group of thirsty intellectuals who were opposed to everything." - RBW
File: San202

In the Days when I Was Hard Up

DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls how difficult life was when he faced poverty. He was scorned by family, and forced to all sorts of tricks to keep alive. He barely overcame the temptation to steal. His consolation was that he wore his ragged clothes honestly.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1860
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
FSCatskills 99, "In the Days when I Was Hard Up" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FSC099 (Partial)
Roud #4621
File: FSC099

In the Dense Woods

DESCRIPTION: The singer is lost and alone in the woods in a storm. He laments, "The cold wet ground must be my bed... The tempest howls, the rain descends. Oh Jesus, must my life here end?" After breathing his final prayers, he dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (Flanders/Olney)
KEYWORDS: death storm
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1860 - Death of James Fernald, said to be the hero of this song
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Flanders/Olney, pp. 243-245, "In the Dense Woods" (2 texts)
ST FO243 (Partial)
Roud #4686
File: FO243

In the Evening by the Moonlight

DESCRIPTION: "In de ebening by de moonlight when de darkies work was over... Dat's de only time we had to spare.... Uncle Gabe would take de fiddle down...." "All dem happy times we used to hab, will ne'er return again... In de ebe'ning...."
AUTHOR: James A. Bland
EARLIEST DATE: 1880
KEYWORDS: Black(s) nonballad fiddle music
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 87-90, "In the Evening by the Moonlight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 103-104, "In the Evening by the Moonlight" (1 text)
Geller-Famous, pp. 22-26, "In The Evening By The Moonlight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 250, "In The Evening By The Moonlight" (1 text)
ST RJ19087 (Full)
Roud #9591
NOTES: James A. Bland (1854-1911), one of the leading songwriters of the 1870s, was a university-educated Black (born in New York) who spent many years in England. That he wrote songs about slaves and slavery days says more about the climate of the time than about his feelings. Even so, there is a slight dig at slavery in the remark that the time after supper was "de only time we had to spare, to hab a little fun."
Bland also wrote "[Oh, dem] Golden Slippers" and "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny." - RBW
File: RJ19087

In the Garden

DESCRIPTION: "I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear, Falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses. And he walks with me...." The singer would stay and listen to the voices forever, "But he bids me go."
AUTHOR: C. Austin Miles (1868-1946)
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (published, according to Johnson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp, 188-189, "In the Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #18847
File: bdIthGar

In the Good Old Summertime

DESCRIPTION: "There's a time in each year that we always hold dear, Good old summertime." The singer recalls the happy days, "In the good old summertime (x2), Strolling through the shady lanes with that baby mine." He describes life as a child in summer
AUTHOR: Words: Ren Shields / Music: George Evans
EARLIEST DATE: 1902 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: nonballad courting
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 257, "In The Good Old Summertime" (1 text)
Geller-Famous, pp. 191-194, "In the Good Old Summertime" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 300, "In the Good Old Summertime"
DT, OLSUMMER
NOTES: This is another of those parlour songs whose chorus has entered tradition without reference to the verse. The result, however, seems popular enough to warrant inclusion here. - RBW
File: FSWB257A

In the Highlands of Scotland There's Weeping You Know

DESCRIPTION: The singer notes weeping in the Highlands because the young men have been sent "where the maidens daurna go." She looks forward to her Donal's return and his kisses "unless some brighter beauty blinks blithe in his e'e."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love war separation nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1115, "In the Highlands of Scotland There's Weeping You Know" (1 text)
Roud #6831
File: GrD61115

In the Hills of Roane County

DESCRIPTION: Singer courts and marries; his wife's brother Tom stabs him. Three months later, he kills Tom. He's sentenced to life in prison. His family mourns; he tells prison friends that when they write home, "put one of my songs in your letter for me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (recording, Blue Sky Boys)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer courts and marries; for unknown reasons, his wife's brother Tom stabs him. Three months later, he kills Tom. Tried, no one will speak up for him, and he's sentenced to life in prison. His mother weeps and his sister watches as his train departs; he now works in a prison foundry and awaits death, telling prison friends that when they write home, "put one of my songs in your letter for me"
KEYWORDS: grief courting love marriage fight violence farewell crime punishment prison revenge brother wife
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 26, #2 (1977), p, 9, "Hills of Roane County" (1 text, 1 tune, the Wilma Lee Cooper version)
Roud #3387
RECORDINGS:
Blue Sky Boys, "In the Hills of Roane County" (Bluebird B-8693, 1941; on ConstSor1)
Jimmie Osborne, "Hills of Roane County" (King 1231, 1953)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cruel Brother" (theme, sort of)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rhone County Prison
Hills of Rome County
NOTES: I could *swear* we did this one someplace else. - PJS
That happens to me all the time. The interesting thing, to me, is whether the song was known prior to the Blue Sky Boys recording. Roud has an interesting mention of a collection by Beck, possibly in the 1930s, but this does not seem to be well-documented or publicly available. Wilma Lee Cooper does claim to have learned it from her family, which would predate the Blue Sky Boys recording if her memory is correct. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: RcItHoRC

In the Jailhouse Now

DESCRIPTION: Bill Campbell disregards warnings and keeps gambling; he's in the jailhouse now. Bill Austin tries to vote twice; he's in the jailhouse now. Singer meets a girl; after a spree, he finds her hand in his pocket. She's in the graveyard, he's in the jailhouse
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer's friend (Bill Campbell) disregards warnings and keeps gambling; he's in the jailhouse now. Another friend (Bill Austin) tries to vote twice (in the white folks' election); he's also in the jailhouse now. Singer meets a girl (Ivy); they go out and paint the town, but when it comes time to pay, he finds the girl's hand in his pocket. She's in the graveyard now, and he's in the jailhouse
KEYWORDS: captivity warning crime murder prison punishment theft death gambling drink humorous prisoner thief
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Pink Anderson, "He's in the Jailhouse Now" (on PinkAnd1)
Gene Autry, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Champion 16141, 1930)
Blind [Arthur] Blake, "He's in the Jailhouse Now" (Paramount 12565, 1927; Broadway 5053 [as Blind George Martin; as "He's in the Jailhouse"], n.d.)
Bill Bruner, "He's in the Jail House Now" (OKeh 45438, 1930)
Walter Dalton, "In the Jail House Now" (Perfect 12468, 1928)
John Dilleshaw, "She's in the Jailhouse Now" (recorded for OKeh, 1929, unissued)
Adelyne Hood, "He's On the Chain Gang Now" (Columbia 2158-D, 1930) (Oriole 1935, 1930)
Jim Jackson, "He's in the Jailhouse Now" (Vocalion, unissued, 1927) (Vocalion 1146, 1928)
Frankie Marvin, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Edison 20002, 1929) (Brunswick 248, 1928) (Cameo 8328/Conqueror 7164 [both as Frankie Wallace], 1928)
Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band, "She's In the Graveyard Now" (Columbia 14255-D, 1927; on Ruckus1)
Billy Mitchell, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Bluebird B-6651, 1936)
Luther Ossenbrink, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Champion 15852 [as West Virginia
Rail Splitter]/Supertone 9570 [as Arkansas Woodchopper], 1929; Champion
45058 [as West Virginia Rail Splitter], 1935)
Jimmie Rodgers, "In the Jailhouse Now" (Victor 21245,1928; Bluebird B-5223, 1933; Montgomery Ward M-4721, c. 1935)
Memphis Sheiks [pseud. for Memphis Jug Band], "He's in the Jailhouse Now" (Victor 23256, 1930)
SAME TUNE:
Gene Autry, "He's in the Jailhouse - No. 2" (Romeo 5035/Oriole 8035/Perfect 12667, 1931; Picadilly 872 [UK], 1932)
Frankie Marvin, "I'm in the Jailhouse Now - No. 2" (Crown 3026/Homestead 22992, 1930)
Jimmie Rodgers, "In the Jailhouse Now - No. 2" (Victor [US & Can.] 22523, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4315, 1933; RCA Victor 20-6092, 1955)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
He's In That Jail House Now
NOTES: I'm astonished we haven't indexed this song yet -- looking at the keyword list, it has every important ingredient except, perhaps, trains and Mama. While Jimmie Rodgers' version is probably the best-known, the song was also current in African-American tradition; a very different version was recorded by blues singer Luke Jordan. - PJS
I've encountered this phenomenon many times: Songs well-known in folk revival circles don't always have much currency in books. I don't know if it's lack of collections or lack of respect for the songs; perhaps it's something of each.
Jimmie Rodgers copyrighted his version in 1928, and he is sometimes listed as the author, but the Louisville Jug Band recording argues against this. - RBW
File: RcItJHN

In the Lonely Glens of Yarrow

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

In the Mansions Above

DESCRIPTION: "Good lord, in the mansions above, (x2), My Lord, I hope to meet my Jesus in the mansions above." "If you get there before I do..." "My lord, I've had many crosses and trials here below..." "Fight on, my brother, for the mansions above."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, pp. 59, "In the Mansions Above" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12019
File: AWG059

In the Men's Apartment

DESCRIPTION: "She does all her endeavor ...": if she finds the women in the men's apartment "she'll beat their backs wi her twa fists And tear their very hair"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: violence hair courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1906, "In the Men's Apartment" (1 fragment)
Roud #16885
File: Grd81906

In the Merry Month of June, Love

DESCRIPTION: The singer complains that "times are nae wi' me love, as they hae been." He describes his love and says "surely ye've been very unconstant To change yer old love for any new." She says "you will have pleasure I would rather my old love than twenty new"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity beauty dialog nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 808, "In the Merry Month of June, Love" (1 text)
Roud #6209
NOTES: This reminds me a bit of "Will Ye Gang, Love," as sung, e.g., by Archie Fisher. But I don't have enough data to know if they're linked. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD48098

In the Month of October

See Moosehead Lake (File: LoF058)

In the Morning by the Bright Light

DESCRIPTION: "I'se gwine away by the light of the moon, Want all the children to follow me, I hope I'll meet you darkies soon, Oh, hally, hally hallelujah!..." Chorus: "In the morning, morning by the bright light Hear Gabriel blow his trumpet in the morning."
AUTHOR: James Bland
EARLIEST DATE: 1892
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 304, "In the Morning by the Bright Light" (1 text)
BrownIII 569, "Going to Heaven by the Light of the Moon" (1 fragment)
Roud #7776
File: R304

In the Pines

DESCRIPTION: Usually about a man whose girl has left him (on a train) (to meet another) ("in the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines, And I shivered the whole night through"). The girl, who rides the "longest train I ever saw," may die in a wreck
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: train separation loneliness love death
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 491-502, "The Longest Train/In the Pines" (3 texts containing many floating verses, 1 tune)
BrownIII 283, "In the Pines" (2 text plus a fragment; the "A" text, though very full, is damaged and probably mixed; the "B" text is mostly floating verses; "C" is only three lines, and may not belong here); also 297, "You Caused Me to Lose My Mind" (1 fragment, mostly of floating lyrics but with hints it goes here); also 301, "High-Topped Shoes" (2 texts, both mixed; "A" is mostly "Pretty Little Foot" with verses from "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" while "B" is a hash of "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down," ""More Pretty Girls Than One," "In the Pines," and others)
SharpAp 203, "Black Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 290, "The Longest Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 231, (fifth of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment, which might be this although it's too short to know)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 28, "Little Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 103 "In The Pines" (1 text)
DT, INPINES*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 26, #6 (1978), p, 5, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" (1 text, 1 tune, the Lead Belly version)
Roud #3421
RECORDINGS:
Gerald Duncan et al, "In the Pines" (on MusOzarks01)
Roscoe Holcomb, "In the Pines" (on Holcomb1, HolcombCD1)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "To the Pines, to the Pines" (on BLLunsford01)
Marlow & Young [pseud. for Burnett & Rutherford] "Let Her Go, I'll Meet Her" (Champion 15691, 1929; on KMM)
Clayton McMichen's Wildcats, "In the Pines" (Decca 5448, 1937)
Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, "In The Pines" (Bluebird B-8861, 1941); (Decca 28416, 1952)
Riley Puckett, "The Longest Train I Ever Saw" (Decca 5523, 1938) (Bluebird B-8104, 1939)
Lou Ella Robertson, "In the Pines" (Capitol 1706, 1951)
Texas Jim Robertson & the Panhandle Pushers, "In the Pines" (RCA Victor 20-2907, 1948)
Arthur Smith & his Dixieliners [or Arthur Smith Trio], "In the Pines" (Bluebird B-7943/Montomery Ward M-7686, 1938)
Pete Seeger, "Black Girl" (on PeteSeeger18) (on PeteSeeger43)
Tenneva Ramblers, "The Longest Train I Ever Saw" (Victor 20861, 1927)
Dock Walsh, "In the Pines" (Columbia 15094-D, 1926)
Ephraim Woodie & the Henpecked Husbands, "Last Gold Dollar" (Columbia 15564-D, 1930) [Filed here by Paul Stamler despite the title - RBW]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Long Lonesome Road" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
NOTES: This song became the basis of "Blue Diamond Mines" in the 1970s. -PJS
The elements in this song may vary widely, and it is best recognized by its form and the references to the pines. The plot described above is common but by no means universal.
Cohen briefly summarizes Judith McCulloh's Ph.D. dissertation ("In the Pines": The Melodic-Textual Identity of an American Lyric Folksong Cluster), which analyses over 150 texts she identified with this song. She seems to have identified three common textual motifs: "In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines" (118 texts), "The longest train I ever saw" (96 versions), and "(His/her) head was (found) on the driver's wheel, (His/her) body never was found." There is also a fairly characteristic tune. Still, the boundaries of this type are very vague; long versions almost always include very many floating verses and have no overall plot except perhaps a feeling of loneliness. - RBW
The Marlow & Young [Burnett & Rutherford] recording is a conglomerate of floating verses; I put it here because the one that floated from this song came first, but it could as easily go under, "Goodnight, Irene" -- it has the "Sometimes I live in the country" verse. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LoF290

In the Pit from Sin Set Free

DESCRIPTION: "In the pit from sin set free, Sudden death would glory be, That is why I sing with glee, Jesus saves." The miner, even as he struggles to bring up the coal, is thankful to Jesus.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious mining
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Warner 27, "In the Pit from Sin Set Free" (1 text, 1 (non-traditional) tune)
ST Wa027 (Partial)
Roud #7467
NOTES: The tune to the Warner recording was supplied by Sam Bayard, as the only one he knew to fit the words supplied by Benjamin S. Davies. The composite is not traditional, and the words may not be. - RBW
File: Wa027

In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree (II)

DESCRIPTION: A girl shows the singer her anatomy "in the shade of the old apple tree," and he makes the appropriate reply
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: sex bawdy parody
FOUND IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cray, pp. 277-278, "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (2 texts)
Roud #10242
SAME TUNE:
So I Climbed Up the Old Apple Tree (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 146)
File: EM277

In the Shadow of the Pines

See Shadow of the Pines (File: MN1135)

In the Summer of Sixty

DESCRIPTION: "In the summer of sixty as you very well know The excitements at Pike's Peak was then all the go." The singer buys a ranch, but a miner jumps his claim. He gets into a crooked card game, loses all his money, and flees the area
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1911
KEYWORDS: hardtimes gold poverty gambling cards
FOUND IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
LPound-ABS, 89, pp. 189-190, "In the Summer of Sixty" (1 text)
Roud #4978
File: LPnd189

In the Sweet By and By

See Sweet By and By (File: RJ19198)

In the Sweet Bye and Bye

See Sweet By and By (File: RJ19198)

In the Town of Oxford

See The Sheffield Apprentice [Laws O39] (File: LO39)

In the Township of Danville

See The Queenstown Mourner (In the Town of Danville) [Laws H14] (File: LH14)

In the Tunnel

See The Harvard Student (The Pullman Train) (File: R391)

In the Valley

DESCRIPTION: "I was in Judah's(?) land by God's (immortal) hand That Jesus Christ was born in the vally, In the valley, in the valley, That Jesus Christ was born in the valley." The early life of Jesus is recounted, and listeners advised to heed and rejoice
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Library of Congress recording)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 534, "In the Valley" (1 text)
Roud #11874
NOTES: This is a rather odd song; most of the early verses are based on the Biblical accounts of the Nativity in Matthew and Luke -- but the reference to "the valley" has no Biblical connection that I can see. Unless it refers to the Jordan valley, where John the Baptist, and presumably Jesus, began his ministry.
Jean Ritchie learned this song early in life, but forgot most of the words and composed new ones. - RBW
File: Br3534

In the Wilderness

See The Old Gray Mare (The Old Gray Horse; The Little Black Bull) (File: R271)

In Town

DESCRIPTION: "Whee-oop! Whoop-ee! Does anyone find any flies on me?" The cowboy arrives in town with his check, having worked for six months on the trail. He can't find a girl who really wants him, so he intends to spend his money on drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: cowboy drink
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, p. 416, "In Town" (1 text)
Roud #15582
File: LxA416

In Zepo Town

See The Bramble Briar (The Merchant's Daughter; In Bruton Town) [Laws M32] (File: LM32)

Inconstant Lover (I), The

See The Wagoner's Lad (File: R740)

Inconstant Lover (II), The

See On Top of Old Smokey (File: BSoF740)

Inconstant Lover (III), The

See The Broken Engagement (II -- We Have Met and We Have Parted) (File: Beld212)

Indeed Pretty Polly

See No Sign of a Marriage [Laws P3] (File: LP03)

India's Burning Sands

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

Indian Camp-Meeting Song

DESCRIPTION: "Pitch my tent on the camp ground And a-hu'em, and a hu'um! For to give the devil anotehr round, And a-hu'um, and a-hu'um! Yes, glory be to God, my soul's high; Leap for joy and let us fly, And a-hu'um, and a-hu'um!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Elsie Burnett)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 195, "Indian Camp-Meeting Song" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Few Days" (lyrics)
NOTES: Clearly derived from "Few Days" (or, just possibly, the other way around), but equally clearly a different song. I have no idea why this is called an "Indian" song; presumably it's a reference to that "a-hu'um" lyric, but I rather doubt that is actually derived from any native dialect. - RBW
File: MHAp195

Indian Chief, The

DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "My curse upon the timber with the wood in which it grew, That built the Indian Chief to drown Tom Cannon and his crew"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, p. 126, "The Indian Chief" (1 fragment)
NOTES: Before January 1, 1846 the Indian Chief was lost at Blackwater Bank, Wexford (source: Bourke in Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast v1, p. 61)
Ballads of "The Wreck of the Indian Chief," by Charles Steer and by Sir William Topaz McGonagall, are about a different wreck and rescue (January 8, 1881 in the English channel). - BS
File: Ran126A

Indian Fighters, The

See The Sioux Indians [Laws B11] (File: LB11)

Indian Hunter (I), The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh come with me in my light canoe While the sea is calm and the sky is blue, Come with me for I long to go To the isle where mango apples grow. Then come with me and give my love...." The hunter describes how he will care for the girl
AUTHOR: Words: Eliza Cook / Music: Henry Russell ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph); the Cook/Russell sheet music (which I cannot verify as the same song) was published 1836/7
KEYWORDS: love travel home hunting
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 781, "The Indian Hunter" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #2843
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gum Tree Canoe" (theme)
NOTES: Randolph's text sounds like a cross between "Gum Tree Canoe" and Christopher Marlowe. Ick. - RBW
File: R781

Indian Hunter (II), The

See White Man, Let Me Go (File: FJ032)

Indian Hymn

DESCRIPTION: Alone in the wood the singer looks to heaven; God looks down and says "Poor Indian never fear, I'm with you night and day." When he dies he'll go "above the sky" with no need of blanket or wigwam, "the better habitation share With Jesus good and kind"
AUTHOR: Rev. Silas Tertius Rand ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious Indians(Am.)
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 171, "Indian Hymn" (1 text)
Roud #2729
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Indian Maid" (theme)
cf. "When I Go Up to Shinum Place" (theme)
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime: "Apparently this was a hymn written by Rev. Silas Tertius Rand who ministered to the Micmac Indians."
See "When I Go Up to Shinum Place" for similar phrases. - BS
File: CrMa171A

Indian Lament, The

See The Sioux Indians [Laws B11] (File: LB11)

Indian Lass, The

DESCRIPTION: At a foreign ale house the singer meets "a young Indian lass [from] a place near Orleans." She invites him home, offers him a drink and they spend the night. She begs him not to leave but he sails away and offers "a health to the young Indian lass!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1852 (broadside, Bodleian Harding Harding B 11(1759))
KEYWORDS: love sex farewell drink sailor Indians(Am.)
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Creighton-NovaScotia 51, "Young Indian Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 57, "The Indian Lass" (1 text)
ST CrNS051 (Partial)
Roud #2326
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1759), "Indian Lass" ("As I was wa[l]king on a far distant shore"), Samuel Russell (Birmingham), 1840-1851; also Harding B 11(1752), Harding B 11(1754), Firth c.12(279), Johnson Ballads 2288, Harding B 11(1756), Harding B 11(1757), Harding B 11(1758), Johnson Ballads 436, "The Indian Lass"
LOCSinging, sb20217b, "The Indian Lass," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Mohee" [Laws H8] (theme, some verses, and references there)
cf. "I'm a Stranger in this Country (The Darger Lad)" (theme, verses)
NOTES: Tune for Creighton-NovaScotia is 4/4 and no relation to the "On Top of Old Smoky" waltz common for "The Little Mohee."
The known dates for the broadsides for "The Indian Lass" don't help decide which came first,: "The Indian Lass" or "The Little Mohee"; in any case, one is clearly a derivative of the other.
In all of these broadside versions except what is -- so far -- the earliest, [the text has] "She was born and brought up in a place near Orleans"; for Bodleian Harding B 11(1759) "She was born and brought up in the place New Orleans."- BS
For discussion of the relationship of this song to "The Little Mohee," see the entry on that song. I must admit, looking at this, that I wonder if "The Little Mohee" isn't older; this looks like a version of that crossed with "The Lakes of Ponchartrain." - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb20217b: H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: CrNS051

Indian Song, The

See The Sioux Indians [Laws B11] (File: LB11)

Indian Song: Ah, Pore Sinner

DESCRIPTION: "Ah, pore sinner, under the rock, Till the moon goes down in blood, You can hide yo'self on the mountain top, To hide your face from God. Um, ah, ta-alk about Jesus! Halle, halle, lu, there's glory in my soul."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 593, "Indian Song: Ah, Pore Sinner" (1 fragment)
Roud #11907
File: Br3593

Indian's Death Song, The

DESCRIPTION: The Indian tells his captors "Begin, ye tormentors, your threats are in vain, For the son of Alknomook shall never complain." He tells how his valor hurt the white men. Death will free him of pain and take him "to the land where my father is gone."
AUTHOR: Mrs. John Hunter
EARLIEST DATE: 1840 (The Social Lyrist)
KEYWORDS: death Indians(Am.) captivity punishment
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 40, "The Indian's Death Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11212
File: FCW040

Indian's Lament, The

See An Old Indian (The Indian Song) (File: Wa030)

Indian's Song

See An Old Indian (The Indian Song) (File: Wa030)

Indians' Farewell

DESCRIPTION: "When shall we all meet again? (x2) Oft shall glowing hope expire, Oft our wearied love retire, Oft shall death and sorrow reign, Ere we all shall meet again." Though the company is parted, and will in time grow old, they will meet again hereafter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad separation reunion
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 216, "Indians' Farewell" (1 text)
ST Fus216 (Partial)
Roud #16410
NOTES: No, there is no hint in the text why Fuson's informant called it "Indians' Farewell." - RBW
File: Fus216

Indifference

See A Rap At The Door (File: GrD4780)

Inglewood Cocky, The

DESCRIPTION: "'Twas an Inglewood cocky of whom I've been told, Who died, it is said, on account of the cold." He divides his estate, in the form of assorted animals, among his children, and tells them to raise their children on "pumpkin and beer"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Paterson's _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: father death lastwill
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Manifold-PASB, p. 109, "The Inglewood Cocky (or, The New England Cocky)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 279-280, "The New England Cocky" (1 text)
DT, INGLCOCK*
NOTES: The title "New England" of course does not reter to the northeastern parts of the United States; Paterson/Fahey/Seal describe it as the region of New South Wales around Armidale and Tamworth. - RB
File: PASB109

Ingo-Ango Fay

DESCRIPTION: "Go fay, go fay! Ingo-ango fay! Circle this house in a hoo-sal lay, In a ingo-ango fay. Go fay, go fay! Ingo-ango fay! Will hew my 'ligion away, Mimbi, kiki, joki lo, In a ingo-ango-fay!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: nonsense foreignlanguage nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 26, "Ingo-Ango Fay" (1 short text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Scarborough says this "seems to be a combination of African and English." Apart from the fact that "African" isn't a language, the formulaic nature of the text implies that it is either nonsense or, just possibly, a code version of English. Without more text, though, we can't establish the latter. - RBW
File: ScaNF026

Initiation of a Brother, The

DESCRIPTION: "Welcome, brother, to our band; Welcome, brother, heart and hand; True, together we will stand, Or together fall. By brave Schomberg's martyr fame, By great William's glorious name, We are brethren still the same, Brethren one and all"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: ritual nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 36, "Lines on the Initiation of a Brother" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The description is the complete text from OrangeLark. - BS
William III is of course William of Orange, and Schomberg is General Schomberg, killed at theBattle of the Boyne. For additional background, see the notes to "The Battle of the Boyne (I)." - RBW
File: OrLa036

Injy-Rubber Overcoat

DESCRIPTION: "Injy rubber overcoat, hip-te-doo-den-doo (x3), Injy rubber overcoat, molasses candy shoe. Oh what's the matter Susan, Oh what's the matter, my dear? Oh what's the matter Susan? I'm goin' away to leave you."
AUTHOR: (chrous from Dan Emmett's "What's de Matter, Susy?")
EARLIEST DATE: 1919
KEYWORDS: nonballad clothes separation
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 254, "Injy-Rubber Overcoat" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7820
File: R254

Inky Dinky Derby Town

See The Derby Ram (File: R106)

Innishowen

DESCRIPTION: The singer, a resident of Magilligan, crosses Greencastle Ferry to live in Innishowen "where the purty girls go neat and trim in every degree." He describes the girl he loves. Assured of his character, she agrees to marry him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty home marriage
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H209, pp. 465-466, "Innishowen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9458
NOTES: Sam Henry reports that this is based on the actual story of John Smith of Magilligan. Given that the song seems to have had only very local currency, it may even be true. - RBW
File: HHH209

Inniskillen Dragoon, The

See Fare Ye Well, Enniskillen (The Inniskillen Dragoon) (File: E150)

Inniskilling Dragoon, The

See Fare Ye Well, Enniskillen (The Inniskillen Dragoon) (File: E150)

Innocent Hare, The

DESCRIPTION: Sportsmen and hounds hunt the hare; after searching, the game is found. She takes off running; the huntsman blows his horn; the hare is killed. The singer declares she has led them a noble run, drinks success to all sportsment and to the "innocent hare"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (recorded from Mark Fuller & Luther Hills)
KEYWORDS: death hunting sports drink animal dog
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 251, "The Innocent Hare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1216
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hare of Kilgrain" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The Granemore Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The White Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (theme)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
cf. "Joe Bowman" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sportsmen Arouse
Sportsmen Arise
File: K251

Innocent Prisoner, The

DESCRIPTION: "On a bright starry night sat two lovers." They discuss their plans for marriage, and part for the night. He does not return the next day; he is falsely arrested for stealing money from his work. When at last he is released, she is still waiting
AUTHOR: Bradley Kincaid?
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Bradley Kincaid songbook #3)
KEYWORDS: love separation punishment lie reunion prison
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 140-141, "The Innocent Prisoner" (1 text)
Roud #18137
File: MHAp140

Innocents, The

DESCRIPTION: A tale of the birth of Jesus. In the time of Octavian and Herod, Isaiah's prophesy comes true and the King of the Jews is born. Brutal Herod orders the children of Bethlehem slain. Jesus escapes, but there is great mourning in Bethlehem
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920 (Oxford Book of Ballads)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious Bible execution death Jew
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
44 B.C.E. - Death of Julius Caesar brings Octavian to the front of Roman politics
37-4 B.C.E. - Reign of Herod the Great in Palestine
31 B.C.E. - Battle of Actium. Octavian gains sole control of Roman world
27 B.C.E. - Octavian named "Augustus" and declared "Princeps" by the Senate
6 B.C.E - Approximate date of the birth of Jesus
14 C.E. - Death of Octavian/Augustus
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OBB 108, "The Innocents" (1 text)
ST OBB108 (Partial)
NOTES: Loosely based on the story of Herod and the Massacre of the Innocents in Matt. 2:1-18.
However, this is very obviously a literary production. It shows an apparent knowledge of Josephus (at least indirectly), since it refers to Herod as a "Paynim born" -- which is technically true (Herod was of Edomite ancestry) but rather unfair; Herod regarded himself as Jewish.
Even more interesting is the reference to Octavian as Roman Emperor. It is true that Octavian was Roman Emperor when Jesus was born (so explicitly Luke 2:1, but we would have known it even without that reference). But the Bible refers only to "Caesar Augustus," never "Octavian." So the author either got the name from Josephus (though this is unlikely; Josephus usually says "Augustus" or "(Young) Caesar") or a Roman history. This effectively precludes the possibility of folk composition.
Overall, the language of the whole rather over-stylized business strikes me as probably being of the seventeenth century. - RBW
File: OBB108

Inquisitive Lover, The

DESCRIPTION: Woman asks her sweetheart when he intends to marry. He says he will when all sorts of impossible events take place. The woman comments that if all men were of his persuasion, we'd be waiting a long time.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: marriage nonsense paradox
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 106, "The Inquisitive Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10914
File: WB2106

Inspiration (The Rowan County Teachers)

DESCRIPTION: "The Rowan County teachers Convened the other day... I thought I would attend... And watch our modern teachers." He describes the meeting in the courthouse, praises the teachers' abilities, and hopes they will continue to spread learning
AUTHOR: Words: Edgar Hamm
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 252-253, "Inspiration" (1 text)
NOTES: I can't say with certainty that this is the most trivial thing I've ever seen memorialized in song -- but, other than Edgar Hamm's other school song, "Welcome (to Lyda Messer Caudill)," I haven't a better candidate off the top of my head.
The claim that the Rowan County school superintendant Lyda Messer Caudill was descended from Mary Queen of Scots is certainly possible (the song being written some three and a half centuries after her death, she would have uncounted descendants) -- but since Mary had only one child, James VI and I, the link to the British royal line must be more recent than Mary Stuart. - RBW
File: ThBa252A

Internationale, The

DESCRIPTION: Communist anthem, translated into most major languages. English: "Arise, you pris'ners of starvation, Arise you wretched of the earth...." The workers are urged to rise up, throw off their chains and their overlords, and work toward a united human race
AUTHOR: Words: Eugene Pottier/Music: Pierre Degeyter
EARLIEST DATE: 1887 (Chants Revolutionnaires)
KEYWORDS: political nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 297, "The Internationale" (1 (English) text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 303, "L'Internationale"
DT, INTERNAT*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "L'Internationale, " [sung in French] (on PeteSeeger47)
NOTES: Obviously not a "folk song" in the ordinary sense, and not as popular as it once was. But enough people have sung it at one time or another (in many languages, though the original is French) that it probably belongs here.
Ironically, this song was not written for Communism as such but for the Paris Commune of 1871 -- a movement which failed miserably, had no influence on future French policy, and wasn't "Communist" in the Leninist sense anyway. - RBW
File: FSWB297B

Intoxicated Rat, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer spills rum on the floor; rat licks it up, gets drunk and carries on. The cat comes out; the rat sobers up and runs back to his hole (or gets caught)
AUTHOR: probably Dorsey Dixon & Wade Mainer
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (recording, Dixon Brothers)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous animal
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 234 "The Intoxicated Rat" (1 text)
DT, INTOXRAT
Roud #11257
RECORDINGS:
The Dixon Brothers, "Intoxicated Rat" (Bluebird B-6327/Montgomery Ward M-4823, 1936; Victor 27495, 1941)
Farley Holden & his Six Ice-Cold Papas, "Intoxicated Rat" (King 628, 1947)
Cisco Houston, "Drunken Rat" (Disc 5067, 1940s)
New Lost City Ramblers, "The Intoxicated Rat" (on NLCR08)
NOTES: The first verse of this is apparently derived from "Four Nights Drunk," and the metre of the whole song implies that "Four Nights" may have been the source -- but it clearly has gone in its own direction. - RBW
File: FSWB234

Invasion Song, The

DESCRIPTION: 'Sad and dismal is the tale I now relate to you, 'Tis all about the cattlemen, Them and their murderous crew." Nate and Nick are "murdered by Frank Canton and his crew" as they defend the town of Buffalo. The singer tells how cattle raiders were repelled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: cowboy murder war outlaw
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 173-174, "Invasion Song" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blood-Stained Diary" (subject)
NOTES: Burt links this with an event she calls the Johnson County War, a conflict in Wyoming between honest herders and cattle rustlers. There are, apparently, conflicting versions of what happened; see Burt for details.
This is item dB40 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Burt173

Inverness-Shire

DESCRIPTION: "O as I came in by Inverness-shire, It was to view the brave Loch Ness, It was there I met wi' a fair young maiden...." The singer tries to induce her to marry. She says she had her chance years ago, and refused. He urges her to change her mind.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1985 (recording, Belle Stewart)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
Roud #6856
RECORDINGS:
Belle Stewart, "Inverness-shire" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
NOTES: This sounds like it ought to have a broken-token-and-reunion ending, but in the Stewart version at least, it ends with the girl rejecting the sailor and the sailor saying she should change her mind. - RBW
File: RcInvSh

Inverquhomery Ploughing Match, The

DESCRIPTION: The contestants appear before the match: Andrew Penny from Shannas, William Morris from Yokieshill, Alex Cheyne from Middletown. After an ellipsis "a social evening we had through, And parted all a happy crew"
AUTHOR: John Sim (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: contest farming moniker
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #166, p. 2, ("And now three cheers to Andrew Penny") (1 excerpt)
GreigDuncan3 426, "The Inverquhomery Ploughing Match" (1 excerpt)
Roud #5943
NOTES: Greig: ." .. a newspaper cutting of a poetical account of a ploughing match held at Inverquhomery so long ago as 1867. It bears the name of John Sim, whom I take to be the individual to whom "Ah, Smiler lad," once given in this column was attributed. An extract will show the style of the piece." - BS
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Inverquhomery (380,426) is at coordinate (h4-5,v0) on that map [roughly 26 miles N of Aberdeen] - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3426

Iomairibh eutrom ho ro (Row Lightly)

DESCRIPTION: In Scots Gaelic; "The milkmaid went to the seashore/And she did a thing that others would not do there/She gathered shell-fish at high tide there/And she broke her leg and cut her hand there." Chorus: "Row lightly, ho ro"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (recording, Allan MacDonald)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sea work injury worksong worker
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
RECORDINGS:
Allan MacDonald, "Iomairibh eutrom ho ro (Row Lightly)" (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743)
NOTES: Why do I get the feeling something else happened to the milkmaid? - PJS
File: RcIEHR

Iounndrain-Mhara, An (Sea-Longing)

DESCRIPTION: Scots Gaelic. The singer laments being far from the sea, "For in the glen I am a stranger." She recalls her brother on the ocean, and asks where is the ship to carry her home. No joy can reach her far from the sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Kennedy-Fraser)
KEYWORDS: ship exile foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 11, "Fath Mo Mhulaid a Bhith Ann (Being Here Has Caused My Sorrow)" (1 text+English translation, 1 tune)
Kennedy-Fraser II, pp. 225-229, "Sea-Longing (An Iounndrain-Mharra)" (1 text+English translation, 1 tune)
NOTES: The Kennedy text of this is long and conveys better than anything I've seen the emptiness they say sea-folk feel away from the waves. The Kennedy-Fraser text is shorter and more lyric, probably somewhat trimmed. - RBW
File: K011

Irchard of Taunton Dean

See Richard (Irchard) of Taunton Dean (File: RcIOTD)

Ireland Must Be Heaven, For My Mother Came from There

DESCRIPTION: "I've often heard my daddy peak of Ireland's lakes and dells. The place must be like heaven if it's half like what he tells." As proof he offers the fact that his mother was an angel, and she came from Ireland
AUTHOR: Words: Joe McCarthy & Howard Johnson / Music: Fred Fischer
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: Ireland home
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, p. 9, "Ireland Must Be Heaven, For My Mother Came from There" (1 text)
Roud #5493
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Little Bit of Heaven" (theme)
NOTES: This was apparently one of the major hits of 1916, the year it was published, though Dean seems to be the only traditional performer to have learned it. - RBW
File: Dean009

Ireland's Glory

DESCRIPTION: In 1776 "we were lazy and slavish," "Our woman were sluts and their husbands all slovens" and "The King was a god." But "Our peasants grew smart," "We could look at a King without much admiration" and "From a nation of slaves we've emerg'd into glory"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1783 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: pride nonballad patriotic royalty
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Zimmermann 3, "Ireland's Glory" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 11, "Ireland's Glory" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The complete title of Zimmermann's text is "Ireland's Glory" or "A Comparative View of Ireland, in the Years 1776 and 1783."
Zimmermann p. 36: "Street ballads we were used then [1724 and 1725] as a form of protest by the Anglo-Irish "garrison," but this protest was not so much nationalism as the reaction of planters merely demanding the same rights as were enjoyed by the people of Britain. A spirit of independence awoke among the Anglo-Irish when a Volunteer army was raised, in 1779, to check a possible invasion from the combined forces of France, Spain and Holland. Martial enthusiasm extended to the Catholic population. Eventually some 80,000 men were in arms. With the example of the revolution achieved by their "fellow subjects" in America, they became conscious of their force and began to claim the removal of economic disabilities, (song [Zimmermann] 2). They enforced freedom of trade in 1780 and legislative independence in 1782. Songs reflected the increased feeling of self-confidence, (song [Zimmermann] 3)."
The text states
But great was the change in the year seventy-seven.
We then were inspired by a spark sent from heaven.
Moylan speculates that the Battle of Saratoga may have been that spark. - BS
Possibly, but there were plenty of events in Ireland which might have inspired it. For example, 1778 saw the repeal of most of the anti-Popery act of 1704, giving Catholics much greater land and worship rights (see Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, A History of Ireland, pp. 183-184); I believe this was proposed in 1777. The same period saw the rise of the Volunteers, which included Catholics; Terry Golway, For the Cause of Liberty, p. 51, reports that there were 40,000 armed Volunteers by 1778, and Mike Cronin, A History of Ireland, p. 99, says there were 80,000 two years later. Cronin, p. 98, mentions much other legislation passed in the late 1770s. Obviously this was largely in response to the American rebellion, but any of these several events might have helped inspire the song. (See the notes to "The Song of the Volunteers.")
1782 was indeed the year of Irish semi-independence, as Grattan's Parliament gave Ireland what would later be called "Home Rule." The economy also improved.
(We should note that Ireland had had a parliament before that, but had had very little real power. For one thing, the British had held absolute veto power on legislation through a trick known as Poynings's Law, which had hobbled the parliament since 1494. Plus the British parliament retained the right to deal with Irish surpluses -- see, e.g., Cronin, p. 95. And, until Lord Townshend changed the rules in 1767, parliaments were elected for the life of the monarch, which of course made it completely unresponsive to events; see Cronin, p. 96).
The old Irish parliament had to be absolutely unified to accomplish anything, and even then, the British could find ways to get around their legislation. Grattan's more independent parliament changed that.
There were, sadly, three problems. One was that the parliament and electorate were still Protestant. The second was that England still controlled Irish trade -- and still had a veto under Poynings's Law.
And third, while it was an independent parliament, it wasn't a particularly representative parliament. As in England, there were many "rotten" boroughs. Robert Kee, in The Most Distressful Country (volume I of The Green Flag), p. 36, notes that "once the independence of the Irish parliament had been technically granted, the English government's hold over it was actually tightened by its systematic ever-increasing outlay of Crown patronage in Ireland."
Gradually Irish optimism turned to disillusionment, ending in the 1798 rebellion and the Act of Union. The truly sad part is, Grattan's Parliament *did* represent progress, and the biggest single concession England made until the 1920s. Had Ireland been a little more patient, a century of violence could perhaps have been saved. - RBW
File: Zimm003

Ireland's Liberty Tree

DESCRIPTION: A tree has been planted in Ireland ... 'Tis called 'Ireland's Liberty-Tree!'" Protect the tree. Emmet, Fitzgerald and Grattan died in its defence. Sheil and O'Connell forsee freedom. "Heaven will surely protect those Who guard Ireland's Liberty-Tree!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: second half 19C? (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 67, "Ireland's Liberty Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Robert Emmet (1780-1803) "Irish nationalist rebel leader. He led an abortive rebellion against British rule in 1803 and was captured and executed." (source: "Robert Emmet" at the Wikipedia site)
Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798) Irish revolutionary. "As a member of the United Irishmen, he helped organize the Irish Rebellion of 1798 against British rule in Ireland." He was arrested and died of his wounds in Newgate prison. (source: "Lord Edward Fitzgerald" at the Wikipedia site)
Henry Grattan (1746-1820) Lead the campaign leading, in 1782, to an Irish parliament in Dublin. He advocated Catholic emancipation in 1793. He opposed Union, which ended the Irish Parliament in 1801. In the English House of Commons he continued supporting Catholic emancipation. (source: "Henry Gratton: 1746-1820" in The Age of George III at the Web of English History site)
Richard Lalor Sheil (1791-1851) Was instrumental in the 1828 election of the "Liberator," Daniel O'Connell, over Vesey Fitzgerald. He himself served in Parliament for eighteen years. (source: "Richard Lalor Sheil" by M.J. Flaherty in The Catholic Encyclopedia at the New Advent site.)
Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) tried to convince the British to reform administration of Ireland and was the leading figure on behalf of Catholic Emancipation. - BS
For Emmet, see also "Bold Robert Emmet." Fitzgerald is the subject of "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)." Grattan role is covered in the notes to "Ireland's Glory." And Daniel O'Connell is the subject of a vast array of songs; see the notes and references under "Daniel O'Connell (I)."
For other songs about the Tree of Liberty, and some discussion of its origin, see the notes to "The Tree of Liberty." - RBW
File: Zimm067

Irene

See Goodnight Irene (File: LoF315)

Irene, Goodnight

See Goodnight Irene (File: LoF315)

Irish Barber, The

See The Love-of-God Shave (Lather and Shave) [Laws Q15] (File: LQ15)

Irish Boy and the Priest, The

DESCRIPTION: A son of Catholic father and Protestant mother prefers Protestantism. Father takes him to confession. The priest explains that all Catholics pay their confessor except the Pope who prays directly to God at no charge. The boy decides to do the same.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: money religious father clergy
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 29, "The Irish Boy and the Priest" (1 text)
NOTES: OrangeLark prints no music for this entry but has no comment as to whether or not it was sung. The text is rhymed couplets. - BS
There is something rather curious about this, in that the Catholic church generally does not recognize marriages made by other denomination, and also expects children of Catholic marriages to be brought up Catholic. Both parents are expected to agree to this. So -- clever as is the conceit of this song -- it would not often happen in practice. - RBW
File: OrLa029

Irish Boy, The

See My Irish Jaunting Car (The Irish Boy) (File: HHH592)

Irish Colleen, The

DESCRIPTION: A party of four girls, from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland each toasts her own land and national flower. "Though the flowers all resemble there's a vast gulf between The rose, leek, and thistle, and the Irish colleen"
AUTHOR: W. C. Robey
EARLIEST DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.28(10a/b) View 2 of 8)
KEYWORDS: party wine England Ireland Scotland nonballad patriotic flowers
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 366-368, "The Irish Colleen" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
ST Pea366 (Partial)
Roud #6459
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(10a/b) View 2 of 8, "The Irish Colleen," R. March and Co. (London), 1877-1884
NOTES: The authorship claim is from the broadside: "Written and composed by W.C. Robey Sung by Miss Lizzie Howard Music, Francis, Day & Hunter, London, W."
Library of Congress American Memory 19th century song sheets collection lists 13 different songs, not including this one, attributed to W. C. Robey and published in New York between 1882 and 1884. - BS
File: Pea366

Irish Dragoons, The

See Martinmas Time (File: DTmartin)

Irish Emigrant (I), The

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

Irish Emigrant (II), The

See I'm Sitting on the Stile, Mary (The Irish Emigrant II) (File: Pea462)

Irish Emigrant's Lament, The

DESCRIPTION: "I never will forget the sorrows of that day," when the singer sailed from home. He knows he will miss the land, the friends, "the trusty heart [of the girl] I once could call my own." He will eat strangers' bread, and feel their scorn, and wish for home
AUTHOR: William Kennedy
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration separation farewell
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H235, p. 203, "The Shamrock Sod No More" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 352-353, "The Irish Emigrant's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST HHH235 (Full)
Roud #2747
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Emigrant (I)" (subject)
NOTES: William Kennedy, a contemporary of William Motherwell, is reported by Ord to have been one of the Whistle-Binkie poets. For a composed song, even one composed a century before, it's amazing how much variation there is, in both text and tune, in the Henry and Ord versions (the former in G major, the latter listed as being in F major but apparently in D minor). - RBW
File: HHH235

Irish Familie, The

See The Irish Family (File: K275)

Irish Family, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes his family: "Me father had a horse/And me mother she'd a mare... So we'd a ride from father's horse/And a gallop from mother's mare." Cho: "So the more we have to drink/And the merrier we shall be/For we all do belong/To an Irish family"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Sharp mss.)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer describes life in his family: "Me father had a horse/And me mother she'd a mare/Sister Susie had a rabbit/And Johnny he'd a hare/So we'd a ride from father's horse/And a gallop from mother's mare/We'd a pie from Susie's rabbit/And a course from Johnny's hare." Successive verses follow the same pattern of ownership and use. Chorus: "So the more we have to drink/And the merrier we shall be/For we all do belong/To an Irish (happy) familie"
KEYWORDS: farming drink food nonballad animal bird bug horse sheep brother family father mother sister
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 275, "The Irish Familie" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HAPFAMLY
Roud #850
RECORDINGS:
Harold Covill, "The Happy Family" (on FSB10)
Jasper Smith, "Father Had A Knife" (on Voice11)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
My Father Had a Horse
NOTES: It's worth noting that although the song was collected twice under the name of "The Irish Family," it's never been found in Ireland. - PJS
Kennedy claims that this tune is "similar" to "Click Go the Shears." There are certainly points of contact, but it's not close enough (in my opinion) to list them as the same. - RBW
File: K275

Irish Free State, The

DESCRIPTION: "I went to see David, to London to David, and what did he do? He gave me a Free State, a nice little Free State, A Free State that's bound up with Red, White, and Blue." The singer rejects any British influence and demands freedom from the crown
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland freedom
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec. 6, 1921 - Negotiations for the Irish Treaty concluded. (It will be accepted by a bare majority of the Irish government, with the minority, including President de Valera, demanding more)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
PGalvin, pp. 71-72, "The Irish Free State" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, IRSHFREE*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ash Grove" (tune)
NOTES: In the aftermath of the 1916 Dublin Rising, Irish opinion was strongly divided about what came next. Had the British responded with concessions, Ireland might still be part of the Commonwealth. But it was World War I, and the British in any case have never been good at understanding the needs of their colonies. Gradually, the quiet Irish hostility turned to open warfare.
The result was mass rebellion and mass reprisal (for this, see e.g. "The Bold Black and Tan" and "General Michael Collins"). Eventually, the British had to make a decision: They could either make peace through genocide or they could negotiate. Give them this much credit: They decided to treat with the provisional Irish govenment.
The "David" of the song is David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister at the time. The Irish negotiators were a divided group; the two most distinguished were Arthur Griffith, who simply wanted peace and self-determination, and Michael Collins, the de facto head of the guerrilla army, who was much more determined to have independence.
Notably missing was Eamon de Valera, who was head of the Irish government insofar as it existed. He had named his arch-rival Collins, who didn't want the job, but de Valera was unwilling to go himself. Coogan, p. 228, says that that was the "worst single decision of de Valera's life, for himself and for Ireland." (And that, frankly, is saying a lot, because de Valera made quite a few irrational choices.)
The negotiators were stuck ended up with divided opinions and no real list of demands. (According to Coogan, p. 230, de Valera eventually admitted to deliberately creating a delegation he expected to deadlock: Griffith the moderate, Collins the fire-breather who was nonetheless a realist, Erskine Childers the extremist.) In the end, the deal they worked out involved withdrawal of British forces from Ireland, and complete internal self-government; the only limitations were in defense and external affairs, and those very limited. They also got their way on trade relations with England.
It was a great deal by rational standards. But not by de Valera standards. The Treaty contained two objectionable provisions: Ulster was given the right to remain British (a boundary commission was promised, but it never did its work; the British refused to set it up with Ireland in conflict, and other attempts to a solution were halted by intransigence either in Dublin or Ulster; in any case, Lloyd George had made irreconcileable informal promises about it to the Ulster and Nationalist Irish), and Ireland was to become a Dominion, with internal autonomy but still formally under the British crown.
For more on the evolution of this problem, see especially "A Loyal Song Against Home Rule."
Kee, pp. 156-157, defines the internal Irish problem pretty well, in my view: As long as there was no serious hope of an Irish republic, the rebels (Fenians, Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, Volunteers) didn't have to resolve their differences. Now, though....
As Kee says, "There had always been moderates and extremists in the movement though the difference had been fairly efficiently concealed. More important: there had always been realists and fantasists and this difference was now revealed clearly for the first time as some of the toughest of the extremists in the past -- Commandants of the IRA like MacEoin, of Ballinalee, and Mulcahy the Chief of Staff -- followed Collins, the toughest of them all, in support of the Treaty." He notes, sadly, that it was the often the widows and family who were the worst fantasists: The mother of Padraic Pearse, the widow of Tom Clarke, the sister of Terence MacSwiney.
The Ulster question was an ironic one in that the compromise it produced sounded good and was unworkable. The Ulster Unionists had initially wanted all nine counties of Ulster; had they had their way, Ireland might well be united now (if still highly uncomfortable), because Ulster would have had a Catholic majority. On the other hand, some of the British, including Winston Churchill, had been willing to give away Ulster (see, e.g., Coogan, p. 334); they knew it would bring more trouble than it was worth. But they couldn't simply hand Ulster to the Irish; parliament wouldn't stand for it and the Ulster Unionists would fight (Randolph Churchill said, "Ulster will fight; Ulster will be right").
The temporary compromise -- a six county Ulster still part of Britain -- might have been adjusted had Ireland been organized enough for further negotiations (a boundary commission, religious protections, some self-government). Or Michael Collins, who had had thoughts of conquering Ulster, might have pulled another rabbit out of his hat. But Collins died, the Irish Civil War came, and further negotiations had to wait until after Ulster Protestants and Catholics had hunkered down and come to hate each other.
In the interim, the British has insisted on maintaining Ulster as a six-county unit (rather than ceding the two Catholic counties while retaining the four Protestant areas). Even so, Ulster actually was a safer place for both Catholics and Protestants during the twenty years after the Treaty was accepted than was the Irish Republic. In any case, Britain and the provisional Irish government were both willing to try to solve Ulster; this was not the final cause of Ireland's war.
The worst of it was, if Ireland had not descended into war, the problem might have solved itself. The boundary commission, if done properly, would have left Ulster with only about four and a half counties -- and would quite possible have split off (London)derry, the second city of the province. Nearly everyone agreed that this rump would be economically unviable (indeed, a lot of people thought the six counties unviable); they would be forced in time to turn to Ireland. That question was never to be resolved.
The idea of Dominion status, and the loyalty to the crown it required, proved the bigger sticking point at the time; de Valera was only one of many who refused to acknowledge any ties to Britain (de Valera in fact resigned his Presidency). It was only words -- they were supposed to pledge fealty to the King, but they didn't have to *act* on that fealty -- but, to the Irish radicals, they were fighting words.
Kee, p. 150, says that the real problem in the negotiations with Britain was that the issues of Crown and Partition somehow came to be linked, which forced the outcome. His opinion is that, with more "give" on each side, Ireland could have been more strongly linked to the crown while being kept united. For the majority of the Irish people, this would probably have been a better solution. It's less clear that it would have satisfied the radical nationalists.
Given the course the negotiations had taked, the commissioners insisted that the deal they brought home was the most Britain would offer -- and they were probably right; Lloyd George's government, after all the disasters it had faced, was shaky and could not afford to look any weaker than it already did. A bare majority of Irish leaders accepted this, and on January 7, 1922 the Irish Dail voted (by 64 votes to 57) to accept the treaty. The population was almost certainly much more heavily in favor, since opponents of Sinn Fein generally had not dared to run in the election which had created this Dail.
If there were defects in the Treaty, one may lay much of the blame on the Irish government. It gave its negotiators plenipotentiary powers, but never told them what to ask for, and then tried to change the results. De Valera's conduct was particularly suspect -- he had hinted that he would accept dominion status, but when the commissioners came back with something that was essentially that, he condemned it out of hand.
The result was a civil war which lasted until 1923. It took two new constitutions, a split within Sinn Fein, the founding of the Fianna Fail and Sine Gael parties, sundry assassinations (including that of Collins), and many restrictive government measures to bring political stability to Ireland.
This even though the people clearly supported the Treaty and the Free State; they wanted an end to war. (Kee makes the valid point, p. 158, that the IRB and other militants hadn't paid any attention to the people's wishes until that point; there was no logical reason why they should start now.) Younger (pp. 313-314) gives vote totals for the election which follows (which was largely a referendum on the treaty): "pro-Treaty panel candidates gained 239,193 votes of a total of 620,283 votes cast [39%]; anti-treaty panel candidates... polled 133,864 [22%]; and Labour, Independents and Farmers won between them 247,226 votes [40%]."
Coogan, p. 329, notes that this election cost both the de Valera and Collins factions in parliament, but the former much more heavily: "Certainly the result was a severe blow to the de Valera faction which held only thirty-six seats, a loss of twenty-two. The Collins/Griffith party won fifty-eight seats, a loss of eight, but which taken with the pro-Treaty Labour Party's seventeen seats, the Farmers' Party's seven, the six independents, and the four Unionists represented a solid pro-Treaty majority."
Still, the government that was elected was fragile, and there had already been some shooting. It would get worse.
"King George and Queen Mary" are, of course, George V of England and his wife Mary of Teck, to whom, under the Treaty, the Irish still owed technical allegiance.
The term "Free State" is an interesting one. The Irish were pushing for the establishment of the "Saorstat Eireann." That's usually translated as the "Republic of Ireland," and of course the more vehement Irish nationalists called themselves "Republicans."
The British, however, proposed to translate it as "Free State" (Coogan, p. 263). This little bit of wordplay solved a major problem on the British side while technically giving the Irish what they wanted. At least, what the Irish-speaking ones wanted. Evidently not all that the Anglophones (which were, of course, all of them) wanted.
Although Galvin lists no author for this piece, it definitely looks contemporary with the events described; it appears that someone is putting words in the mouth of either Collins or Griffith. - RBW
Bibliography

Coogan: Tim Pat Coogan Michael Collins, 1992 (I used the 1996 Roberts Rinehart edition)
Kee: Robert Kee, Ourselves Alone, being volume III of The Green Flag (covering the brief but intense period from 1916 to the establishment of constitutional government in the 1920s), Penguin, 1972
Younger: Calton Younger, Ireland's Civil War (1968, 1979; I used the 1988 Fontana edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: PGa071

Irish Girl, The

DESCRIPTION: (The singer meets a girl by the river, lamenting her love gone to America). (She describes the pain of love.) (She) wishes she were far away with her love, or were a butterfly or a nightingale or a rose to be with her lover
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2654))
KEYWORDS: love separation bird loneliness floatingverses
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Belden, pp. 292-293, "The Irish Girl" (3 texts)
Greig #48, p. 2, "The Irish Girl"; Greig #59, p. 2, "The Irish Girl"; Greig #61, p. 2, "The Irish Girl" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan5 946, "The Irish Girl" (9 texts plus a single stanza on p. 595, 5 tunes)
SHenry H711, pp. 234-235, "The Manchester Angel" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment with no beginning)
OLochlainn-More 2, "The New Irish Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 131, "The Irish Girl" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 21, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (The "F" text in the appendix appears to be this, though heavily mixed with floating stanzas)
SharpAp 180, "The Irish Girl" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 3 tunes, but the "A" text is "Handsome Molly"; "B" and "C" are single-verse fragments which may or may not be this song)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 44, "The Irish Girl" (1 text, 1 tune, a confused and conflate mix of this song and "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)")
Dean, p. 109, "Molly Bawn" (1 short text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 98, "The Lament" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 195-198, "Pretty Polly" (2 texts, 2 tunes, even more infected by floating material than most songs of this group, but it appears to be this piece)
Creighton-NovaScotia 81, "My Irish Polly" (1 text, 1 tune, a long but very confused and mixed version)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 46, "Ruby Were Her Lips" (1 text, 1 tune)
OConor, p. 15, "The Irish Girl" (1 text)
Green-Miner, p. 230, "The Irish Girl" (1 text)
DT, IRISHGRL* IRISHGR2*
ADDITIONAL: Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 47,"The Irish Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #454
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "I Wish My Love Was a Red Rose" (on IRRCinnamond02)
James McDermott, "Let the Wind Blow High or Low" (on IRHardySons)
Walter Pardon, "Let the Wind Blow High or Low" (on Voice10)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2654), "The New Irish Girl," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 25(1341), "The New Irish Girl"
LOCSinging, as106240, "The Irish Girl," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as106250, "The Irish Girl"
Murray, Mu23-y1:025, "The Irish Girl," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(065), "The Irish Girl," James Lindsay (Glasgow), c.1875
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line" (lyrics)
cf. "Bonny Tavern Green" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Lover's Resolution" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I Wish I Were Yon Red, Red Rose
The Blue Cuckoo (the singer's name on IRHardySons)
NOTES: This mostly-lyric piece easily degrades and easily mixes. Sedley and Sharp both had versions which mixed with "Farewell Ballymoney (Loving Hannah; Lovely Molly)"; it appears that Roud lumps them. Sharp compounded the problem by tacking on verses from another version. And because the song is so lyric, it often loses parts (e.g. the Henry text has lost the first verses which describe the whole motivation). What tends to survive is the handful of "I wish I were" lyrics, e.g.
I wish I were a butterfly, I would light on my love's breast.
I wish I were a linnet, I would sing my love to rest.
I wish I were a nightingale, I'd sit and sing so clear,
I wish I were a red, red rose... and (he) to be the gardener.
Based on the contents, this could well be a degenerate fragment of "Erin's Flowery Vale (The Irish Girl's Lament)" [Laws O29]; at least some versions of this scattershot song seem to presuppose the situation described in that. But Laws ignores all the various versions of this song he should have known (e.g. Sharp, Belden, Brown). It must therefore be assumed that he either separates them or that he thinks these versions too lyric to include in his list. In any case, we've separated them. - RBW
Some clarity is provided for this confusing song by the LOCSinging broadsides as106250 and as106250. Their description, omitting floating verses and floating themes, is: The singer meets an expensively dressed Irish girl, crying and tearing her hair. Her lover has left and she won't follow. The lover says "I was of some noble blood and she of low degree." Her lover still loves her.
All of the broadsides I have seen include the floating verse "I wish I was in Dublin town [or Manchester, or Monaghan], and sitting on the grass, With a bottle of whiskey in my hand and on my knee a lass, We'd call for liquors merrily, pay before we go, And fold thee in my arms let the winds blow high or low."
Among the floating verses is this by Walter Pardon on Voice10, connecting to "The Manchester Angel" version:
I wish I were in Manchester, a-sitting on the grass
With a bottle of whisky in my hand and upon my knee a lass.
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "The Irish Girl" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)).
Broadside LOCSinging as106240: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: HHH711

Irish Girl's Lament, The

See Erin's Flowery Vale (The Irish Girl's Lament) [Laws O29] (File: LO29)

Irish Girl's Opinion, An

DESCRIPTION: "An Irish girl, and proud of it, a word I'd like to say... Paddy fights for England.... Then give to him old Ireland." No longer are Irishmen hung for wearing of the green, thanks to Dan O'Connell.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1775-1847 - Life of Daniel O'Connell
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 66, "An Irish Girl's Opinion" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2942), "An Irish Girl's Opinion", unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Daniel O'Connell (I)" (subject: Daniel O'Connell) and references there
File: OCon066

Irish Harvestmen's Triumph, The

DESCRIPTION: Irishmen that "reap the English harvest" should be prepared to fight "with John Bull and his crew." Irish harvestmen beat some Englishmen and go to look for work. At a railway line they fight navvies and beat them with bricks, stones, scythes, and hooks.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1860 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: fight harvest drink England Ireland patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Zimmermann 66, "A New Song on the Irish Harvest Men's Triumph Over the English" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 104, "John Bull and His Crew" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #13468
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 2235a, "The Irish Harvests Triumph Over the English ," P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.8(223), "The Irish Harvestmen's Triumph" [title spelled "Thriump"]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Boys of Old Erin the Green" (subject)
NOTES: Zimmermann's variant last verse and other comment identifying the "holy priest" as Father Maguire are both illustrated by Bodleian broadside 2806 c.8(223).
The navvies were British railway workers [see Coleman, Terry The Railway Navvies:A History of the Men Who Made the Railways (BCA, 1972)]
Zimmermann guesses at the tune: "The final words of the last stanzas suggest "The Shamrock Shore," Joyce, No. 415." Creighton's tune, with an Angelo Dornan fragment, is probably a better bet. - BS
The name "John Bull" as a symbol for England or the English comes from John Arbuthnot's 1712 satire The History of John Bull, and does not represent a real person. (It's interesting to note that "The Roast Beef of Old England" by Richard Leveridge [c. 1670-1758] was an anthem of the Royal Navy.)
Dornan's fragment ("Be sure you're well provided for With comrades stout and true, For you'll have to fight both day and night With John Bull and his crew") initially made me think of a navy song -- a boast to the French, perhaps, during the Napoleonic Wars. Which just shows how hard it can be to identify what songs are about. - RBW
File: CrSNB104

Irish Jaunting Car, The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, my name is Larry Doolin, I�m a native of the soil." The singer offers a day's diversion in his red-and-green jaunting car. He claims the Queen enjoyed his car, and the Lord Lieutenant recommended it. Others have enjoyed it a well
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1884 (Universal Irish Songster)
KEYWORDS: royalty travel
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, pp. 115-116, "The Irish Jaunting Car" (1 text)
Roud #5497
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (tune & meter) and references there
NOTES: Not to be confused with Sam Henry's "My Irish Jaunting Car (The Irish Boy)."
Although I have not (yet) found a copy of this reliably dated before 1884, it must be older, since Harry McCarthy used the tune for "The Bonnie Blue Flag." - RBW
File: Dean115B

Irish Jubilee, The

DESCRIPTION: "A short while ago An Irishman named Doherty Was elected to the Senate By a very large majority." This is cause for a tremendous party, described in loving and silly detail, e.g. those invited included "Old men, young men, Girls who were not men at all."
AUTHOR: Words: James Thornton / Music: Charles Lawler
EARLIEST DATE: 1890 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: party humorous political
FOUND IN: US(So) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 472, "The Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 363-366, "The Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 472)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 160-162,247, "Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 225-228, "The Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Ulster 49, "The Irish Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2916
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Auld Lang Syne" (tune for final half-verse)
cf. "The Kelligrews Soiree"
cf. "O'Dooley's First Five O'Clock Tea" (theme)
File: R472

Irish Laborer, An

DESCRIPTION: Singer is an Irish laborer, willing to work but told "No Irish wanted here". He retains his pride, praising the Irish for their generosity and their willingness to fight for America. He asks Americans to welcome the Irish.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: emigration discrimination Ireland nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Beck 84, "An Irish Laborer" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 123, "Irish Labourer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, IRSHLABR*
Roud #1137
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "No Irish Need Apply" (subject)
cf. "The Honest Irish Lad" (subject)
cf. "There Is Na Luck About the House" (tune)
NOTES: The potato famine of 1845 brought millions of Irish emigrants to America; they were often resented by nativists and segments of the American labor movement.
This is clearly related to "No Irish Need Apply," sharing a few lines, but as it consists mostly of praise and exhortations, and lacks the narrative of that song, I've classified it separately. - PJS
File: Be084

Irish Mail Robber, The [Laws L15]

DESCRIPTION: The Irish youth turns bad despite his father's warnings. To support his wild habits, he turns to crime and is at last convicted of mail robbery. He is sentenced to transportation for nine years, forcing him to leave his father and sweetheart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: father crime robbery separation transportation punishment
FOUND IN: US(NE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws L15, "The Irish Mail Robber"
Randolph 164, "A Prisoner for Life" (4 texts, 3 tunes, but only the "A" text is this piece)
DT 424, IRSHMAIL*
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 76-77, "A Prisoner for Life" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 164A)
Roud #1905
File: LL15

Irish Molly-O

See My Irish Molly-O (File: FSC062)

Irish Molly, O

See My Irish Molly-O (File: FSC062)

Irish Mother's Lament, An

DESCRIPTION: The Irish mother nurses her child and laments for her dead husband, "Won't you come back to your fond wife's arms? Have you no care for your sweet babe's charms?" She says she has no friends and no hope; "Cushla mavourneen, why did you die?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love death children father mother abandonment mourning
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H600, pp. 140-141, "An Irish Mother's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9448
File: HHH600

Irish Patriot, The

DESCRIPTION: "On Africa's burning shore" an old Irishman says an English lord killed his wife and baby because he would not join the rebels. In the army in Africa, he kills the lord and hides. The singer takes the old man home; he is buried near his wife and baby
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1957 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: age murder revenge return escape help Africa Ireland patriotic soldier baby wife
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 90-91, "The Irish Emigrant" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 142-144, "The Irish Patriot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12486
NOTES: The singer considers the old man "a true [Irish] patriot" although his crime was killing an English lord who wanted him to "join the rebel horde." I suspect that a broadside source for this ballad might have a different story.
Ives-NewBrunswick begins "As I strayed below those lofty paths on India's burning shore, A-listening to a tiger's howl or a savage lion's roar." India, rather than Africa [see Dibblee/Dibblee], is the place to find tigers. On the other hand, even Ives-NewBrunswick has the action taking place in Africa: "And to fulfill the oath I took I revenged on him to be, I sailed in that same ship with him to the coast of Cape Colony. When I arrived at Capetown, I was chosen for to be Lieutenant in the army, his lone bodyguard to be." Ives-NewBrunswick makes more sense with the problem coming up when "that cruel rebellion came and we were forced to go To fight for home and liberty with a [hated Saxon foe]." However, the []-bracketed words were inserted by Ives.
Ives says that this song "doesn't show up much (only twice, in fact) in published collections, [but] is very much a part of the old lumbercamp tradition." Ives's two other sources are Edward D Ives, Folksongs from Maine, 1965, 18, "The Irish Patriot" (collected 1962) and Horace P Beck, The Folklore of Maine, 1957, pp 93-95. Ives notes "that the song seems to have been reasonably popular in the lumbercamps" (p. 81). [Ives apparently did not know] Dibblee/Dibblee.
Re "tigers" in Africa: From Captain James Riley, Sufferings in Africa, 2000 edition of book published in 1817, an account of the ordeal of Riley and his crew in North Africa in 1815: "... near watering places: some tigers also now and then made their appearance. Such is the great western desart, or Zahahrah...." p. 298. Is Captain Riley referring to leopards or other desert cats? Is "tiger" a generic term for "dangerous cat"? If so, how common was that usage? - BS
"Tiger" did indeed originally mean, broadly speaking, any big feline that isn't a lion. The word originated in Greek ("tigris,"), and seems to have come into use only around the time of Alexander (e.g. Aristotle uses it); it is possible that the first actual tiger to be seen in Europe was sent by Alexander's successors. This word then passed through Latin to Old French to English. There was apparently a time when leopards were thought to be hybrids of lions and something else, so "tiger" was the word for a non-lion bred in captivity. It does seem as if its use in this song is anachronistic. On the other hand, lions and tigers can interbreed (to produce ligers and tigrons).... - RBW
File: Dib090

Irish Peasant Girl, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer thinks about widow Brown's daughter. She crosses the Atlantic to send money home. Her dying wish is that a letter be written to her mother and brother at home. Singer in Ireland thinks of "the lily of the mountain furze that withers far away"
AUTHOR: probably Charles Joseph Kickham (1825-1882)
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (Sparling)
KEYWORDS: emigration dying hardtimes Ireland separation money
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, p. 126, "The Irish Peasant Girl" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 261-262, 502, "The Irish Peasant Girl"
Roud #5687
RECORDINGS:
Tommy McGrath, "She Lived Beside the Anner" (on Voice04)
NOTES: O'Conor has the author as John Banim (1798-1842), who wrote "Aileen," "Soggarth Aroon," "The Reconciliation," "The Irish Maiden's Song," and "The Irish Mother in the Penal Days." Sparling makes Kickham the author and is supported in that by the article "Charles Joseph Kickham" at the New Advent site Catholic Encyclopedia. The first line is "She lived beside the Anner at the foot of Slievenamon"; Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the same was true of Kickham. - BS
Colum's An Anthology of Irish Verse also credits it to Kickham. For more on him, see the notes to "Patrick Sheehan" [Laws J11]. - RBW
File: RcTIrPGi

Irish Rebel Spy, The

DESCRIPTION: "In the city of Mialco, near the county of Leone There lived a comely maiden ... And the proper name she goes by is the Irish Rebel Spy." Her brother and true love die as Fenians. She outwits detectives, steals a horse, and warns the Fenians.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: rebellion trick Ireland patriotic
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Manny/Wilson 76, "The Irish Rebel Spy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi076 (Partial)
Roud #9178
NOTES: I have no idea what the names of city and county, in the first line, should be. Roud quotes a first line from a Fowke sound recording as "In the county of Malonta(?) in the city of Malone." - BS
Since a song approving of the Fenians is unlikely to have originated in Canada (the Fenians, after all, wanted to attack Canada!), we must assume the song is of Irish origin. There is no Irish county with no name anything like either Leone or Malone. My wild, wild guess is that the name is an error for "Athlone" -- not a county, but a well-known city, and one in the county of Roscommon, which isn't very singable.
The other name defeats me. Not too far from Athlone, but in Westmeath, is the town of Moate; I can't come up with anything closer. But I don't really believe it.
The other possibility would be to make the county "Mayo." In that case, the best emendation I can come up with is "In the city of Ballina in the county of Mayo." In this case, the song might be connected, somehow, with the activities of Michael Davitt (1846-1905), whose family had been evicted from their home in Mayo in 1852. Having lost an arm in a factory accident, and brutally treated as a prisoner, he returned to Mayo in 1879, and was in prison again by 1881. But he doesn't fit the song very well. More likely it arises from the Fenian uprising (read: fiasco) of 1867.
The one historical figure we can identify with certainty is James Stephens (1824-1901), a participant in the rebellion of 1848 and the founder of the Fenians in 1858, for whom see "James Stephens, the Gallant Fenian Boy." But he abandoned the movement in 1866, shortly before the Fenian rebellion. He was treated with scorn thereafter.
All in all, a very confusing, and confused, piece, this. - RBW
File: MaWi076

Irish Recruit, The

See The Kerry Recruit [Laws J8] (File: LJ08)

Irish Refugee, The (Poor Pat Must Emigrate)

DESCRIPTION: Leaving Ireland. "We have fought for England's queen ... why should we be so oppressed?" I'm going to America "for there is bread." "If ever again I see this land I hope it will be with a Fenian band, So God be with old Ireland, poor Pat must emigrate!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1884 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3100))
KEYWORDS: emigration hardtimes America Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 53, "The Irish Refugee" (1 text); pp. 106-107, "Poor Pat Must Emigrate" (1 text)
Roud #2558
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3100), "Poor Pat Must Emigrate", H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Harding B 11(3101), Harding B 11(3102), "Pat Must Emigrate"; 2806 b.10(79), Harding B 26(515), "Poor Pat Must Emigrate"; Harding B 18(297), "The Irish Refugee" or "Poor Pat Must Emigrate"; Harding B 19(78), "Irish Patt Must Emigrate "
SAME TUNE:
Podgee and Rhu [i.e. Paudeen Rhu] (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 18(297))
Apple Potatoes (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 19(78))
Apple Praties (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 26(515))
NOTES: The famine year of 1848 is sometimes stated as 1854.
As for the tune it may be that there are a number of songs on "the latest travels of the raking Paudheen Rhu." - BS
File: OCon053

Irish Rover, The

DESCRIPTION: "In the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and six We set sail from the coal quay of Cork." The ship, with too many masts, too strange a crew, and too unusual a cargo, sinks on its own improbabilities; only the singer is left to tell the tall tale
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: sailor ship talltale humorous disaster wreck
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, IRSHROVR*
Roud #4379
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Katey of Lochgoil" (theme)
File: DTirshro

Irish Sailor Boy, The

DESCRIPTION: "'My parents raised me tenderly, I being their only joy, When my first stroll I took to roam,' Cried the Irish sailor b'y" The captain and eleven of a crew of twenty four survive a ship wreck and land in St Peter's, Newfoundland
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor disaster death
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 128, "The Irish Sailor Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6347
File: GrMa128

Irish Serenade, An

See Oh Molly, I Can't Say That You're Honest (File: HHH082)

Irish Shore, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer wasted his youth on gambling and fast women. In London he spent his money on women and went to China. Now he is going home. "My rambling's oer, I'll hae a wife.... by pious works of sweet contemplation I'll end my days on the Highland shore"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(69))
KEYWORDS: sex rambling return gambling China
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 534, "The Highland Shore" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5897
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(69)[some words illegible], "The Irish Shore" ("You curious searchers of each narration"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also 2806 b.10(180), "Irish Shore"; Harding B 17(280a), 2806 b.10(211), Harding B 25(1756), Harding B 11(3471), Harding B 11(246), Harding B 11(247), Harding B 11(560), Harding B 11(561), 2806 c.18(283), "[The] Shamrock Shore"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Ye Curious Sages
NOTES: This singer blames all his misfortunes on women. In his youth "women's pleasures I freely tasted Which makes me wander thro' foreign clime." In London he sees "madams and crowds of lasses ... But do believe me their painted faces Are to ensnare us poor wanton slaves They hae nae love in their lewd embraces And we're all fools to their jilting ways." He condemns women of every country he has seen: "your gaudy dresses I do despise ... Wi' your surly looks and your greasy faces." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3534

Irish Sixty-Ninth, The

DESCRIPTION: A song telling the story of the 69th regiment, "The Irish Sixty-Ninth." The training of the regiment is described, then its long career in the Peninsula, at Antietam, Fair Oaks, Glendale, and perhaps Gettysburg
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (recorded from John Galusha)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar soldier
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Warner 14, "The Irish Sixty-Ninth" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 175-176, "The Gallant 69th" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa014 (Full)
Roud #7455
RECORDINGS:
"Yankee" John Galusha, "The Irish 69th" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
NOTES: Determining which regiment this song is about takes some research. The very name "The Irish Sixty-Ninth" immediately brings to mind the 69th New York regiment, a famous unit of the equally famous "Irish Brigade" that saw service through the entire Civil War. (For more about that unit, see the notes to "By the Hush.")
However, the unit in the song is said to have been commanded by "Colonel Owens," and the song refers several times to Philadelphia. Thus the 69th NY is not meant; we must look to the 69th Pennsylvania.
This regiment is not famous (and it certainly didn't suffer the extreme -- 90% -- casualties faced by the 69th NY), but it was mustered in in August 1861 (as in the song; the 69th NY mustered in in September) and its original commander was Col. (later Brig. Gen.) Joshua T. Owen. It is reported to have been mostly Irish. And it was a Philadelphia regiment -- in fact it was a member of what later came to be called the "Philadelphia Brigade."
The 69th PA fought in most of the battles in the east, starting with the 1861 fiasco at Ball's Bluff, and was one of the regiments that received Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg (possibly referred to in stanza 6, though this could refer to the Battle of Fair Oaks).
If there were only one version of this song, I might suggest that the name "Irish Sixty-Ninth" arose by confusion out of the World War I regiment with that nickname, in which Joyce Kilmer ("I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree") served and died. There was in fact a pop song about that regiment ("The Fighting Sixty-Ninth," by Anna L. Hamilton). However, with multiple versions, all clearly Civil War, this does not seem possible.
Among the other references in the song:
"Little Mac": Gen. George McClellan, who commanded the Army of the Potomac for most of 1862 and directed the Peninsula Campaign.
Fort Monroe: The starting point of the Peninsular Campaign. Yorktown: besieged in the Peninsula Campaign (Apr. 5-May 4, 1862).
Pickett's guns: possibly a reference to Gettysburg, but this would be out of sequence; I think it more likely to refer to the Battle of Fair Oaks/Seven Pines (first major battle of the Peninsula Campaign, May 31-June 1, 1862), where Pickett faced a heavy Union attack.
Antietam: battle fought in Maryland, Sept. 17, 1862.
Fair Oaks: an inexplicable reference. If it points to Fair Oaks/Seven Pines, mentioned above, it is out of sequence; if it refers to the Fair Oaks battle of October 1864, the 69th PA was not present and the results were in any case unfortunate for the Federals. Probably this is an errant reference to some part of the Peninsula campaign.
Glendale (also known as White Oak Swamp): one of the Seven Days' Battles, fought June 20, 1862 at the end of the Peninsula Campaign. The 69th PA had a prominent part in this battle.
Speath's song "The Gallant 69th," sung by Harrigan and Hart, has none of the historical references of the Warner song, and may be a separate piece (frankly, the two have nothing in common) -- but what are the odds of two Civil War songs about an Irish 69th regiment? Even if they are distinct, we might as well file them together. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Wa014

Irish Soldier and the English Lady, The

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

Irish Soldier Boy, The

See The Faithful Sailor Boy [Laws K13] (File: LK13)

Irish Song (The Gay Wedding)

DESCRIPTION: "It's of a gay weeding, As you soon shall hear, Got up in good style, And it ain't far from here." "Three hundred gay fellows That day marched along, All with their great cudgels." "You'd think them the locusts From the Egyptian plains...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Gray)
KEYWORDS: wedding humorous dancing foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, p. 107, "Irish Song" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blythesome Bridal" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Supposedly this had a Gaelic chorus (hence the "foreignlanguage" keyword), but Gray did not preserve it. I would not be surprised if this is a variant of one of the other riotous wedding songs, but Gray's four stanzas are not enough to identify it as such.
The reference to locusts in Egypt is clearly to Exodus 10:1-20, where a plague of locusts descends upon Egypt. The reference "like the wild devils Let loose from their chains" is not quite as certain, but I strongly suspect it is a reference to the Gerasene demoniac of Mark 5:1-13 and parallels -- a man who was so heavily possessed that he would break any chain placed upon him until Jesus cast out the demons. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Gray107

Irish Spree, The

DESCRIPTION: The boys and girls go to Patsy Murphy's restaurant. A fight starts followed by a fire. A policeman has his head split. Soldiers are called, 16 are dead: warrants are issued for murder and robbery. "I set sail for Australia in the morning"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: violence murder drink fire police transportation
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 80, "The Irish Spree" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1796), "The Irish Spree", unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 11(1979), "The Irish Spree"
File: OCon080A

Irish Stranger, The

DESCRIPTION: "I ne'er shall return to Hibernia's bowers.... It grieves me to ponder On the wrongs of thy injured isle... America might yield me some shelter from pain, I'm only lamenting whilst here I remain For the joys that I'll never see more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1240))
KEYWORDS: emigration hardtimes America Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, pp. 111-112, "The Irish Stranger" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 59, "The Irish Stranger" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1629?
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1240), "Irish Stranger", J. Catnach (Durham), 1813-1838; also 2806 b.11(219), Harding B 16(334b), Harding B 11(1797), Harding B 11(1631), Harding B 11(1657), Harding B 11(1241), "[The] Irish Stranger"
NOTES: Bodleian, 2806 c.17(179),"Irish Stranger" or "Joys That Are Gone", W. Armstrong (Liverpool),1820-1824 may be the earliest for this ballad at Bodleian but is illegible. - BS
File: OCon111A

Irish Wake, The [Laws Q18]

DESCRIPTION: Pat Malone, being "pressed for ready cash," decides to fake death to collect his life insurance. All goes well until the wake and funeral; he thinks they cost too much. At last, shortly before he is buried, realizing the consequences, he gives up the sham
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1893
KEYWORDS: death funeral trick
FOUND IN: US(MA,So)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws Q18, "The Irish Wake"
Randolph 473, "The Irish Wake" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 366-368, "The Irish Wake" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 473A)
FSCatskills 121, "Pat Malone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 148-149, "Pat Malone" (1 text)
DT 529, PATFORGT*
Roud #1008
RECORDINGS:
Lawrence Older, "Pat Malone" (on LOlder01)
Dan W. Quinn, "Pat Malone Forgot That He Was Dead" (CYL: Columbia Concert 5048, n.d.)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Finnegan's Wake" [Laws Q17]
NOTES: Laws lists this among the ballads of British origin, but cites no references. Cohen speculates that it is actually an American stage song. Given that it's been collected only on this side of the water (as best I can tell, and the Roud list supports this), I strongly suspect he's right. - RBW
File: LQ18

Irish Wedding, The

DESCRIPTION: "Sure won't you hear what roaring cheer was spread at Paddy's wedding, O?" All the boys and girls are named, there is music, food, dancing and drink. No fights! "Decadorous we'll have, says Father Quipes." A grand time is had by all.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: wedding humorous dancing drink food music party moniker
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, pp. 57-58, "The Irish Wedding" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(926), "The Irish Wedding", unknown, n.d.
File: OCon057

Irishman (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer, a new emigrant wandering in New Jersey, comes across "an oasis" -- the home of an old Irishman. They stop and talk; the old man asks about all the places he left behind long ago
AUTHOR: James O'Kane
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: rambling emigration homesickness
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H712, pp. 221-222, "The Irishman" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH712

Irishman (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Who a friend or foe can meet So generous as an Irishman?" He is warm-hearted, honest, forgiving, generous, open, honorable and fearless. "If the field of fame be lost It won't be by an Irishman"
AUTHOR: James Orr
EARLIEST DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 871)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 119, "The Irishman" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 871, "The Irishman" ("The savage loves his native shore"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 18(294), Harding B 16(115a), 2806 c.8(153), "The Irishman"
SAME TUNE:
Vive La (broadside Bodleian 2806 c.8(153))
File: OCon119

Irishman, The

DESCRIPTION: An Irishman arrives in America and sees many new things. He thinks a ship's anchor is an axe for a giant. A parrot singing "God Save the Queen" makes him think it a person; he would kill it were it not wearing green. He tries to hatch a pumpkin. Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (collected by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: humorous emigration bird
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Logsdon 59, pp. 268-270, "The Irishman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10109
File: Loga059

Irishman's Christening, An

DESCRIPTION: The parson mistakenly christened the singer with whisky: "it made me a sot." At his marriage he pulls out whisky instead of the ring. Were he dead in the ground where "no whisky is found" would he "call out from his grave to be christened again?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: childbirth death drink humorous clergy
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 71-73, "An Irishman's Christening" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 270-271, "An Irishman's Christening"
File: CPS071

Irishman's Farewell to his Country, The (The Shamrock Shore IV)

DESCRIPTION: Farewell, dear Erin's native shore, For here I cannot stay." The singer is leaving for America. "As our ship she lies at anchor, boys, Now ready for to sail." He bids farewell to friends, parents, grandfather.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell sea ship America Ireland nonballad friend family
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 88, "The Shamrock Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1455
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman, "Farewell, My Own Fair Native Land" (on Voice04)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(157), "The Irishman's Farewell to his Country," Haly (Cork), 19C; also 2806 c.8(121), "The Irishman's Farewell to his Country"; 2806 b.10(89), "The Irishman's Farewell to his Native Land"
File: OLcM088

Irishman's Goldmine, The

DESCRIPTION: An Irishman comes to Australia and to look for gold. He innocently trusts to a man who points to a "gold" patch. The Irish boy sets to digging as the ants swarm out onto his skin -- and start biting. He concludes that gold *is* the root of evil
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: gold bug Australia injury
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 276-277, "The Irishman's Goldmine" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA276A

Irishman's Lumber Song

See The Monkey Turned Barber [Laws Q14] (File: LQ14)

Irishman's Shanty

DESCRIPTION: "Did you ever hear of an Irishman's shanty Where water was scarce and whiskey was plenty? A two-legged stool and a table to match A stick in the door instead of a latch?"
AUTHOR: George W. Osborn
EARLIEST DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging sb20211b)
KEYWORDS: poverty drink humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 109, "Irishman's Shanty" (1 fragment)
O'Conor, pp. 118-119, "The Irishman's Shanty" (1 text)
Roud #4838
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(295), "The Irishman's Shanty," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as LOCSinging sb20211b]; also Harding B 18(296), "The Irishman's Shanty"
LOCSinging, sb20211b, "The Irishman's shanty," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(295)]; also as106270, as106280, as201680, "The Irishman's shanty"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Washerwoman" (tune and meter)
cf. "The Old Country Party" (tune)
NOTES: Broadsides LOCSinging sb20211b and Bodleian Harding B 18(295): H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: GrMa109

Irishtown Crew, The

DESCRIPTION: "On the first day of April, I'll never forget, / The Irishtown boys at Ratigan's met. / They filled up their glasses and swore solemnly / That that very day they'd go out on a spree!" The rest of the song is devoted to the participants and their antics
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: drink moniker
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Warner 15, "The Irishtown Crew" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa015 (Partial)
Roud #7466
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Campbell the Rover" (tune & meter)
File: Wa015

Iron Door, The [Laws M15]

DESCRIPTION: When the rich girl falls in love with a poor boy, her father locks her in a iron-doored prison. Her lover breaks in and sneaks her out (in men's clothing), but they meet her father. The boy prepares to die, but the father gives in
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.18(240))
KEYWORDS: love prison escape mercy father
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,Lond),(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws M15, "The Iron Door"
GreigDuncan5 1003, "Mary and her Servant Man" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 220-221, "Her Servant Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H668, pp. 444-445, "Love Laughs at Locksmiths" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 61, "The Young Serving Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 100-101, "Mary Ann" (1 text)
Kennedy 161, "The Iron Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 590-591, "Since Love Can Enter an Iron Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 84, "Since Love Can Enter an Iron Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 54, "Since Love Can Enter an Iron Door" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT 580, IRONDOOR
Roud #539
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(240), "Mary Ann and Her Servant Man" ("It's of a damsel both fair and handsome"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(2338), 2806 b.11(22), "Mary Ann and Her Servant Man"; Harding B 11(2339), "Mary Ann, and Her Servan [sic] Man"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Locks and Bolts" [Laws M13] (theme)
cf. "The Gallant Shoemaker" (theme)
cf. "The Sailor and His Love" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Young Servant Man
The Daughter in the Dungeon
Since Love Can Enter an Iron Door
NOTES: I'm sure it's not related, but it's interesting to note that Johannes Gutenberg (yes, that Gutenberg) was once involved with a girl names Ennelin zur Yserin Thüaut;re (in modern German, Annalein zur Eiseren Tüaut;r, or Little Anna of the Iron Door). Ennelin, or her mother, was apparently after him for breach of promise of marriage. (Source: John Man, Gutenberg, pp. 57-59). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LM15

Iron Horse (I), The

DESCRIPTION: "Come Hielandman, come Lowlandman... I'll tell you how I got atween Dundee and Perth, man, I gaed upon an iron road -- a rail they did it ca'...." The singer tells of his ride, the conductor, the demand for a fare. He says he will use his feet hereafter
AUTHOR: Charles Balfour ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: train technology humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
MacColl-Shuttle, p. 19, "The iron horse" (1 text (conflate), 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 158-160, "The Iron Horse" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 291, "The Iron Horse" (3 texts, 1 tune)
DT, IRONHORS*
Roud #5834
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Greenock Railway" (theme: country folk ride the railroad)
NOTES: GreigDuncan2 quoting Kerr, Kerr's "Cornkisters" (Bothy Ballads) as Sung and Recorded by Willie Kemp (Glasgow, 1950): "'The Iron Horse,' according to Ford, was written by Charles Balfour, for many years stationmaster at Glencarse between Dundee and Perth. It was first sung in public at a festival of railway servants held in Perth in 1848, and has since then attained wide popularity." - BS
Ford in fact knew Balfour, but his other attributions are sometimes so shaky that I'm putting a question mark on the claim of authorship. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: FVS158

Iron Merrimac

DESCRIPTION: The Merrimac starts from Norfolk to "make an end of Yankee Doodle Dandy-O." After sinking the Cumberland, the Merrimac confronts the Monitor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (recording, Judge Learned Hand)
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar navy war ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
March 8, 1862 - U.S. frigates Congress and Cumberland sunk by the CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimac). The Minnesota runs aground; had not the Monitor arrived the next day, the Merrimac would have sunk that ship also
FOUND IN: US(MA)
Roud #4767
RECORDINGS:
Judge Learned Hand, "Iron Merrimac" (AFS, 1942; on LCTreas)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Constitution and the Guerriere" [Laws A6] (lyrics, structure, tune)
cf. "The Cumberland" [Laws A26] (subject)
cf. "The Cumberland Crew" [Laws A18] (subject)
NOTES: This song is a rewrite of "The Constituion and the Guerriere"; however, as it describes a different battle, with different ships, half a century later, I've given it a separate entry. - PJS
For the historical background on this battle, see the notes to "The Cumberland Crew" [Laws A18]. - RBW
File: RcIroMer

Iron Mountain Baby, The

DESCRIPTION: "I have a song I would like to sing, It's awful, and it's true, About a babe thrown from a train By a mother, I know not who." The injured child is found by Bill Helm, and cared for. The singer warns people to beware of judgment
AUTHOR: J. T. Barton
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Belden); probably written 1902
KEYWORDS: train abandonment orphan
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 14, 1902 - Discovery of the baby later to be known as William Moses Gould Helm
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, pp. 419-420, "The Iron Mountain Baby" (1 text)
Roud #4162
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Iron, "Iron Mountain Baby Song" (Local Artists RC6-1B, n.d., prob. early 1950s)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Preacher (Hick's Farewell)" (tune)
NOTES: Belden reports that J. T. Barton wrote this song to help support the infant it commemorates. One can but hope the parents were better at caring for children than was Barton at crafting lyrics.
Barton said that this piece was printed and sold, so there may be a broadsheet copy somewhere, but no one seems to have found one. It really is a lousy piece of poetry, as well as being obnoxiously moralizing; one suspects that it was preserved only by people who personally remembered the story or the sales pitch.
This is item dH43 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Beld419

Iron Ore by 'Fifty-Four

DESCRIPTION: "Come, ladies and gentlemen, listen to me, I'll sing you a song of our north Counteree... Bound north to Ungava for rich iron ore In July, nineteen fifty-four." The building of a railroad into Labrador, and the four years of work involved, are described
AUTHOR: Words: Alan Mills
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: work technology Canada
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 215-217, "'Iron Ore by Fifty-Four" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Iron Ore" [Laws D9] (tune)
File: FMB215

Iroquois Lullaby (Ho, Ho, Watanay)

DESCRIPTION: Iroquois: "Ho, ho, Watanay (x3), Ki-yo-ki-na, ki-yo-ki-na." Translation: "Sleep, sleep, little one (x3), Now go to sleep, now go to sleep."
AUTHOR: unknown (English translation by Alan Mills)
EARLIEST DATE: 1955
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am) lullaby nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Canada(Queb)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 2-3, "An Iroquois Lullabye" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hey Hey Wataney
File: FMB002

Irrawaddy, The

DESCRIPTION: Fragment: "The curse upon Crossgadden, likewise his robbing crew; They robbed the Irrawaddy and the John R Skiddy, too"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship wreck commerce theft shore
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Apr 1, 1850 - "... Captain Shipley the master of the _John R Skiddy_ ... sailed his vessel ashore on Glascarrick beach .... he described the locals as 'the most abandoned set of villains that he had encountered'. They pillaged the wreck and anything brought ashore in defiance of both coastguard and police" (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 49)
Oct 13, 1856 - "... the _Irrawady_ was wrecked opposite Cahore Point on the Blackwater Bank. A fleet of local fishing boats was organised by the local coast-guards and rescued the crew and passengers.... The teak from her hull was used to form the pews at Ballyragget Church" (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 69)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, p. 127, "The Irrawaddy" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mariposa" (theme)
cf. "The Teapots at the Fire" (theme)
cf. "The Middlesex Flora" (theme)
cf. "The Old Mayflower" (theme)
NOTES: Ranson: "The 'John R Skiddy' had 430 passengers aboard, all of whom were saved. When the 'Irrawaddy' ran aground ... between four hundred and five hundred people ... boarded the vessel and carried away a large quantity of goods from her.... The coast-guards, evidently, had a hand in the looting for Mr Crossgadden was a coast-guard."
It may be unusual on the Irish coast, but not elsewhere, for coastal inhabitants to consider the cargo and ship remains among wreckage to be a fair source of enrichment. See, for example, "The Old Mayflower" from Newfoundland and "Mariposa" from Labrador. On the other hand see Ranson's "The Middlesex Flora" for similar activity on the Wexford coast. - BS
File: Ran127A

Irthing Water Hounds, The

DESCRIPTION: October 11, 1873, hounds from Irthing Water are on a fox hunt. Finally "the celebrated Mowdie" finds a fox in a hole. A terrier flushes Reynard and his trail flushes a vixen. Both foxes are killed. "Drink success to the Irthing lads"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967 (recording, Willie Scott)
KEYWORDS: death hunting animal dog
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
Roud #5692
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "The Irthing Water Hounds" (on Voice18)
NOTES: River Irthing is in Northumberland. - BS
File: RcIrtWaH

Is It Really Worth the While?

See The Morning After (File: Dean131)

Is There for Honest Poverty

See A Man's A Man For A' That (File: FSWB297A)

Is Your Lamps Gone Out

DESCRIPTION: "Is your lamps gone out? (x2), Oh, what you going to do in Egypt When your lamps gone out?" "If you get there before I do, O what you going to do... When your lamps gone out?" "The tallest tree in paradise..." "The Christians call it the tree of life..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (field recording, unknown artists)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MWheeler, pp. 75-77, "Is Yo' Lamps Gone Out" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10025
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "Is Your Lamps Gone Out?" (on Thieme06)
Unknown artists, "When Yo' Lamp's Gone Out" (AFS CYL-11-1, 1933)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wade in the Water" (floating lyrics) and references there
cf. "All My Trials" (lyrics)
cf. "Tell All the World, John" (lyrics)
cf. ""Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Almost all of this, except the chorus "Oh, what you going to do in Egypt When your lamps gone out," is paralleled in "All My Trials," and also in "Tell All the World, John." It is not clear to me which inspired the others. - RBW
From the ... verse "Come on sister and follow me/I will show you the man who set me free," it has been theorized that this may have been an Underground Railroad song. I don't think so, but it's worth mentioning. Thieme also suggests that "Egypt" may be a reference to the area of southern Illinois near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, known to boatmen as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt." The probable collection of this song in Texas makes that problematical. - PJS
File: MWhee075

Isabeau S'y Promene (Isabel)

DESCRIPTION: French: Isabel goes walking by the sea side. She meets a sailor who sings sweetly to her. She joins him on his boat, but then grieves because she has lost her gold ring. He dives three times to try to find it; the third time he does not come up.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1880 (E. Gagnon, Chansons Populaires du Canada)
KEYWORDS: courting ship death drowning ring foreignlanguage grief
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) US(MW)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Hugill, pp. 515-517, "La Danae" (2 texts-French & English, 1 tune)
BerryVin, p. 20, "Isabeau se promene (Isabeau Went a-Strolling)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune); also p. 89, "Mon joli coeur de rosier (Little Rosebud Fair)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 297-300, "Isabeau S'y Promene (Isabel)" (2 texts (1 French, 1 English), 1 tune)
DT, ISABEAU
ADDITIONAL: Edith Fowke and Richard Johnston, Chansons de Quebec (Folk Songs of Quebec), 1957, pp. 74-75, "Isabeau s'y Promene (One day Isabel Wandered)" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Isabeau S'y Promeneau" (on PeteSeeger29)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jolie Fleur de Rosier (Lovely Flower of the Rose-Tree)" (plot)
cf. "The Lady of Carlisle" [Laws O25] (theme)
NOTES: Reported by Scott to be sung in France, Quebec, and Louisiana, though his version is from New Brunswick. The correct title of this song is "Isabeau S'y Promène." - RBW
Last updated in version 25
File: SBoA297

Isabeau se promene

See Isabeau S'y Promene (Isabel) (File: SBoA297)

Island Jacobite Song, An

See The Silver Whistle (File: K009)

Island Unknown, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer has led a reckless life; leaving home, he joins the US Navy. His ship is wrecked in a storm. The lone survivor, he makes his way to a desert island. Resigned to death, he writes his life story, hopes his body will be found, and bids farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recording, Eck Robertson)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer says he has led a reckless life; leaving home, true love and parents, he joins the "jolly band" (of the US Navy). He sails, while they (and he) lament. After three weeks, his ship is wrecked in a storm. The lone survivor, he clings to wreckage, and makes his way to a desert island where no one has been before. Resigning himself to death, he writes his life story in a diary, and hopes his body will someday be found; he bids farewell to his loved ones
KEYWORDS: grief homesickness farewell parting separation travel death sea ship disaster storm wreck family lover sailor
FOUND IN: US(So)
Roud #17557
RECORDINGS:
Eck Robertson & Family, "The Island Unknown - Parts 1 & 2" (Victor 40166, 1929; on ConstSor1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "William and Harriet" [Laws M7] (some plot parallels)
NOTES: The parallel with "William and Harriet" is obvious: a desert island, starvation, death. But the circumstances of his leaving home are different, and he is traveling alone when shipwrecked rather than with his sweetheart. Those are enough differences for me to classify this as a separate ballad -- but see the cross-reference nonetheless. - PJS
File: RcIslUnk

Island(s) of Jamaica, The

See The Gallant Brigantine [Laws D25] (File: LD25)

Islaside

DESCRIPTION: "Until that I return again To walk on Islaside"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: return
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1810, "Islaside" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81810

Isle de France, The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the sun went down, and the moon advanced When the convict came to the Isle de France." The Irish convict was on his way home when a storm cast him ashore on the Isle. A letter from the queen sets the convict free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Manifold; broadside printed probably c. 1890)
LONG DESCRIPTION: A convict is shipwrecked on the Isle of France; he had been sentenced to seven years' transportation (for unruly behavior), and was on his way home when his ship, the "Shamrock Green," foundered. Cast up on the island, he is offered sustenance and comfort by the Coast Guard, who sends a sympathetic letter to the Queen. The convict is pardoned; he blesses the Coast Guard and wishes success to the Isle of France
KEYWORDS: royalty ship wreck rescue freedom transportation captivity crime punishment mercy pardon wreck Australia France prisoner
FOUND IN: Australia Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
MacSeegTrav 93, "The Isle of France" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 24-25, "The Isle de France" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1575
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.1270(009), "The Isle of France," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: The Isle de France mentioned here is not the Parisian region of France (the old crownlands of the French king), but (in the Australian version; the British versions may refer to one of the Channel Islands) the island of Mauritius.
The island was originally colonized by the Dutch (from 1638; they discovered it in 1507), then taken over by the French in 1721. The British occupied it in 1810, and renamed it Mauritius at about the same time. It became an independent member of the Commonwealth in 1968.
Mauritius was not a true prison colony, but it was uninhabited when the Dutch occupied it. The French brought in slaves from Africa to grow sugar. The British abolished slavery in 1834, but this left them with a need for workers, whom they imported primarily from India. Thus Mauritius was sort of a guarded colony even though it was not a destination for prisoners.
Manifold believes the Queen of the song to be Victoria, making the "Isle de France" of the song an anacronism. But it is at least possible that a non-ruling queen could have expedited the convict's appeal.
Alternately, it occurs to me that Ile-de-France has been the name of a number of French ships. Perhaps the name is a corruption of a version in which the sailor was rescued by a ship called Ile-de-France? - RBW
Perhaps it's not surprising, given our field of study, that we lack the keyword "kindness," but that is without question the subject of this ballad. - PJS
File: PASB024

Isle of Doagh (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer is leaving Isle of Doagh "to taste the cup of freedom in Americay." He thinks about the island and the school "where my childhood days I spent." "It will break my heart full sore to part with my comrades one and all."
AUTHOR: Willie "Jack" McLaughlin (source: McBride)
EARLIEST DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: emigration America Ireland nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 41, "The Isle of Doagh" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Isle of Doagh is in Donegal.
McBride: the song was written around 1910. - BS
File: McB1041

Isle of Doagh (II), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer is leaving Isle of Doagh for a foreign land. He recalls when he first arrived and how surprised he was to find it so lovely. He is sad to leave it now.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: emigration lyric home
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 42, "The Isle of Doagh" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Isle of Doagh is in Donegal. - BS
File: McB1042

Isle of France, The

See The Isle de France (File: PASB024)

Isle of Fugi

DESCRIPTION: "Then I'm bound for the Isle of Fugi; Fugi, Fugi; Then I'm bound for the Isle of Fugi; And from there to Tennessee."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: nonballad shanty
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Smith/Hatt, p. 29, "Isle of Fugi" (1 text)
Roud #9417
NOTES: Smith/Hatt: Smith's comment is "Well-known shanty for general work." Fowke notes that Hugill suggests "Fiji" may be meant. - BS
Since we're talking about Pacific destinations anyway, how about "Fuji," which would mean Japan? (Japan also has a city "Fukui," for that matter.) There is also an anchorage off the Philippines known as "Fuga." - RBW
File: SmHa029

Isle of Man Shore, The (The Quay of Dundocken; The Desolate Widow) [Laws K7]

DESCRIPTION: The singer and her family set out for Liverpool. A storm strikes; the passengers abandon the ship. The boats are swamped; Willie sees his wife (the singer) ashore, but is lost trying to save his father. The singer and her children must turn to begging
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: ship storm family begging shore travel drowning sea wreck baby father husband wife
FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws K7, "The Isle of Man Shore (The Quay of Dundocken; The Desolate Widow)"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 104, "The Quay of Dundocken" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 486-487, "Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 89-91, "The Desolate Widow" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 106-107, "The Quays of Belfast" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 818,ISLEMAN
Roud #525
File: LK07

Isle of Saint Helena, The

See Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena) (File: E096)

Isle of St. Helena, The

See Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena) (File: E096)

Israelites Shouting

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I wonder where's my sister, She's gone away to stay, Got hidden behind God's altar, She'll be gone till judgment day. Goodbye, the Israelites shoutin' in the heaven...." Remaining verses describe the departure of other family members
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson)
KEYWORDS: death religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, p. 71, "Israelites Shouting" (partial text); pp. 248-249, "Israelites Shouting" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #16362
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "Israelites Shouting" (on NFMAla4)
NOTES: Although the title immediately makes me think of the fall of Jericho, there is no clear evidence of that in the song; the shouting seems simply to be joyous. - RBW
File: CNFM071

It Fell Aboot the Mart'mas Time

See Martinmas Time (File: DTmartin)

It Fell About the Martinmas Time

See Martinmas Time (File: DTmartin)

It is Not the Cold Wind

DESCRIPTION: "It is not the cold wind that makes me tremble" but the singer's love for a false man who left her for a new sweetheart. "But after evening there comes a morning, And after morning a sunny day, And after false love there comes a true love"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Hayward-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity love nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hayward-Ulster, p. 38, "It is Not the Cold Wind" (1 text)
Roud #6528
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (theme) and references there
File: HayU038

It Is Not the White Swan that Floats on the Lake

DESCRIPTION: "It is not the white swan that floats on the lake"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: bird
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1800, "It Is Not the White Swan that Floats on the Lake" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81800

It Is of a Rich Lady

See The Jolly Young Sailor and the Beautiful Queen [Laws O13] (File: LO13)

It Makes a Long-Time Man Feel Bad

DESCRIPTION: "It makes a long-time man feel bad... When he can't-a get a letter... from home." There's a wreck out on the road somewhere...." "Captain George, don't you drive me all the time...." "Hattie Belle, don't you cry about a dime...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947
KEYWORDS: prison chaingang loneliness
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 291, "It Makes a Long-Time Man Feel Bad" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 77-78, "Make a Longtime Man Feel Bad" (2 short texts, both beginning "Roberta, let your hair grow long"; 1 tune); pp. 123-126, "Sure Make a Man Feel Bad" (1 text, 1 tune; Jackson apparently considers this a separate song, but it shares many lyrics with "Long-Time Man" and much of the rest is floating or improvised verses)
Roud #15968
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Alberta, Let Your Hair Hang Low" (lyrics)
File: LoF291

It Rained a Mist

See Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter [Child 155] (File: C155)

It Rains, It Hails and Snows and Blows

See Let Me In This Ae Nicht (File: DTaenich)

It Takes A Girl to Fool You Every Time

See notes under The Warranty Deed (The Wealthy Old Maid) [Laws H24] (File: LH24)

It Was a Lover and His Lass

DESCRIPTION: "It was a lover and his lass With a hey and a ho and a hey nonnie no." "In spring time (x3), the only pretty ring time, When the birds do sing... Sweet lovers ove the spring." The song alludes to courting in the rye, but there is little real plot.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1600 (Morley's "The First Book of Ayres or Little Short Songs")
KEYWORDS: love courting nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 114-115, "It Was a Lover and His Lass" (1 text, 1 tune)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 263-264, "A Lover and His Lass" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 155, "It Was A Lover And His Lass" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Norman Ault, _Elizabethan Lyrics From the Original Texts_, pp. 290-291, "It Was a Lover and His Lass" (1 text)
DT, LOVERLAS
NOTES: This is quoted by Shakespeare in "As You Like It" (Act V, Scene III, lines 13-30 or so). I'm far from convinced it's traditional; it was obviously a popular piece of Shakespeare's time -- and is attributed to Shakespeare, e.g., in Palgrave's Golden Treasury (item XI). But it shows up in enough songbooks that I decided to include it.
Morley, who in 1600 first published the lyrics, in 1599 published a tune called "O Mistress Mine" in The First Book of Consort Lessons. It is generally assumed, but cannot be proved, that they are to be connected. - RBW
File: FSWB155B

It Was a Mouse

See Frog Went A-Courting (File: R108)

It Was A' For Our Rightful' King

DESCRIPTION: "It was a' for our rightfu' king We left fair Scotland's strand; It was a' for our rightfu' king We e'er saw Irish land...." "Now a' is done that men can do, And a' is done in vain." The defeated soldier must leave his love and go into exile
AUTHOR: Robert Burns?
EARLIEST DATE: 1796 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: Jacobites soldier separation exile
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1685-1688 - Reign of James II (James VII of Scotland), the last Catholic king of Britain
1688 - Glorious Revolution overthrows James II in favor of his Protestant daughter Mary II and her husband and first cousin William III of Orange
Mar 12, 1689 - James arrives in Ireland and begins, very hesitantly, to organize its defense.
April-July, 1689 - Siege of Londonderry. James's forces fail to capture the Protestant stronghold, leaving Ireland still "in play" for William
August, 1689 - Marshal Schomberg brings the first of William's troops to Ireland. James continues to be passive, allowing more troops to reinforce them
March, 1690 - James receives reinforcements from France but still does nothing
June 14, 1690 - William lands in Ireland
July 1, 1690 - Battle of the Boyne. William III crushes the Irish army of James, at once securing his throne and the rule of Ireland. Irish resistance continues for about another year, but Ireland east of the Shannon is his; James flees the country, and many of his followers also depart into exile, to become the "Wild Geese" of Irish legend
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Hogg1 15, "It Was A' For Our Rightfu' King" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #589, p. 694-695, "It was a' for our rightfu' king" (1 text, 1 tune, from the Scots Musical Museum)
Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, p. 89, "The Farewell" (1 text)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #196, "The Farewell" (1 text)
Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol I, p. 124, "It Was A' For Our Rightfu' King"
ST SMM5IWAF (Full)
Roud #5789
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mally Stewart" (tune)
NOTES: Was this song written by Burns or collected by him?
Hogg1: "This song is tradtionally said to have been written by Captain Ogilvie, related to the house of Inverquharity, who was with King James in his Irish expedition, and was in the battle of the Boyne." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: SMM5IWAF

It Was at the Town of Caylen

DESCRIPTION: "It was at the town of Caylen this gelding we sold" then we stole a gallon of wine from Thomas Grant. "I and two more were condemned to the rope. But I led a scheme and the prison we broke."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: theft trial escape
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 101, "It Was at the Town of Caylen" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #2775
NOTES: The current description is based on the Creighton-SNewBrunswick fragment.
Creighton-SNewBrunswick: "If the music is any guide, this song in which the hero overcomes his difficulties must be a cheerful one." - BS
File: CrSNB101

It Was Daylight the Next Morning

See Nelson's Fame, and England's Glory (File: GrD1146)

It Was Early One Monday Morning

See William and Nancy I (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I) [Laws N8] (File: LN08)

It Was Not for the Diamond Ring

DESCRIPTION: The singer met a man with land, diamond ring, and "noble name" at a dance. She loved him and he promised to marry. He will marry "some smiling dame Of lineage like tae thine" She wishes he had passed her by.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: infidelity love promise nonballad nobility ring
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1186, "It Was Not for the Diamond Ring" (1 text)
Roud #6809
File: GrD61186

It Was One Summer Morning

See The Summer Morning (The White/Blue/Green Cockade) (File: StoR068)

It Wasna My Fortune to Get Her

See The False Bride (The Week Before Easter; I Once Loved a Lass) (File: K152)

It Wasna Sae

DESCRIPTION: These days we have only stumbling horses that falter in the bog but our cows can do that work. These days our farmers "are grown sae big Wi' thrashin' mills and a', It wasna sae in my young days When the ploomen thresh the straw"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming technology humorous nonballad animal horse
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 444, "It Wasna Sae" (1 text)
Roud #5956
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Good Old Days of Adam and Eve" (theme: Whining about the good old days)
File: GdR3444

It's a Long Way to Tipperary

See It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary (File: DTtiprar)

It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary

DESCRIPTION: Of an Irishman who comes to London then is called back home by his sweetheart. Know mostly for the chorus: "It's a long way to Tipperary, It's a long way to go, It's a long way to Tipperary, to the sweetest girl I know. Goodbye, Piccadilly...."
AUTHOR: Jack Judge (and Harry Williams?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1912
KEYWORDS: love separation return
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fuld-WFM, pp. 308-309, "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary"
DT, TIPRARY*
Roud #11235
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Long Way to Tipperary" (OKeh 45077, 1927; rec. 1926)
Frank Hutchison, "Long Way To Tipperary" (Okeh 45089, 1927)
John & Emery McClung "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary" (Brunswick 136, 1927)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (Columbia 15249-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
SAME TUNE:
The Harvest War Song (Greenway-AFP, p. 211)
It's a Long Way from Amphioxus (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 68-69)
It's a Long Way down to the Soupline [by Joe Hill] (Barrie Stavis and Frank Harmon, editors), _The Songs of Joe Hill_, 1960, now reprinted in the Oak Archives series, pp. 34-35)
It's a Long Way down to the Breadline [Joe Hill song rewritten by Charles Ashleigh] (Barrie Stavis and Frank Harmon, editors), _The Songs of Joe Hill_, 1960, now reprinted in the Oak Archives series, pp. 35-36)
NOTES: The folklore about this song is, if anything, better than the song itself (which, apart from the tune, is banal). Jack Judge came into a town on New Year's night and claimed he could write a song then and there. Challenged, he wrote "Tipperary."
Harry Williams was (like Judge) a vaudeville performer. The legend says that Judge owed Williams money, and offered this song in payment of the debt.
It is, of course, no longer possible to verify this. What is certain is that the song became immensely popular in the First World War, though more for the chorus (many, many Tommies came from London, after all) than the plot. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: DTtiprar

It's a Rosebud in June

See Rosebud in June (File: ShH93)

It's a Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday

DESCRIPTION: "It's a shame to whip your wife on Sunday/When you've got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...." Subsequent verses "It's a shame to play cards on Sunday...." "It's a shame to get drunk on Sunday."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Fiddlin' John Carson)
KEYWORDS: abuse gambling drink humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 78, "It's A Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 22, "Ain't It a Shame" (1 text)
DT, AINTSHAM
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "It's A Shame To Whip Your Wife On Sunday" (Okeh 45122, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "It's a Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday" (on NLCR12)
Pete Seeger, "Ain't It a Shame" (on PeteSeeger32)
NOTES: Some joke. -PJS
I have to suspect this is funnier in concert than in print. (It would be hard for it to be LESS funny, after all.)
The version in the Folksinger's wordbook omits the crucial first verse, but I don't think it actually circulated in that form; I think it's just a case of political correctness. - RBW
File: CSW078

It's Advertised in Boston

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

It's After Six O'Clock

DESCRIPTION: "It's after six o'clock After seven and weary After eight o'clock And then I'll see my dearie"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 806, "It's After Six O'Clock" (1 fragment)
Roud #6207
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan4 text. - BS
Possibly related to the item underlying Burns's "Ay waukin O"? The meter fits, and the idea is similar; the chorus of the Burns song is "Ay waukin O, Waukin still and weary; Sleep I can get nane, For thinking on my Dearie." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4806

It's All Night Long

DESCRIPTION: "Of all the animals in this world, I'd rather be a squirrel, I'd climb up on a telephone pole And peep all over the world. It's all night long. It's all night long."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 170, "It's All Night Long" (1 text)
NOTES: This song may be a version of one of the other "All Night Long" pieces, but I haven't seen the verse anywhere else, so it lists separately. - RBW
File: Br3170

It's Almost Day

DESCRIPTION: "Chickens crow for midnight and it's almost day (x2)" ""Christmas is a-coming and it's almost day." "Santa Claus is coming...." "Turkey's in the oven...." "I thought I heard my mother say...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 949 (recording, Lead Belly)
KEYWORDS: Christmas food nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 373, "It's Almost Day" (1 text)
Roud #11655
NOTES: This is about as silly as a song can be -- but the tune is good, and it's easy to improvise six-syllable lines with no rhyme for any occasion. There may even be some ballad-like versions out there. - RBW
File: FSWB373A

It's Almost Done

See Almost Done (File: LxU094)

It's Braw Sailin' on the Sea

DESCRIPTION: "There cam a letter late yestreen, Our ship maun sail in the morn." The girl gives back his ring, declaring, "Tak that, my bonnie lad, For I hae changed my mind." The song is largely comparisons: "It's braw sailing on the sea, It's better drinkin' wine."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love sailor separation betrayal ring
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #129, p. 1, "It's Braw Sailin' on the Sea" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1217, "It's Braw Sailin' on the Sea" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord, p. 203, "It's Braw Sailin' on the Sea" (1 text)
Roud #5537
File: Ord203

It's But a Man

DESCRIPTION: The singer, long past her twenties, cannot stop thinking about marriage "wi a'thing I need but -- a man." She makes a case that she would be a good catch and she will never give up.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
LONG DESCRIPTION: The singer, long past her twenties, cannot stop thinking about marriage "wi a'thing I need but -- a man" A gypsy fortold she would marry "a dark haired lad." She's "weel eneuch aff" and thrifty and a good cook and housekeeper: the marriage would be "nae cost ava to my man." She admits "I'm nae very bonny" nor dainty "but he'll get a' the bigger a bargain." Men talk politics, and such -- "stuff I can ne'er understand" -- but they don't ask the question "will ye hae me for a man." Her "lassie companions they mock me ... 'But never give up' is my motto.... my weel baited line I'll aye dangle Until I at length hook a man"
KEYWORDS: nonballad oldmaid
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1384, "It's But a Man" (1 text)
Roud #7245
File: GrD81384

It's Down in Old Ireland

DESCRIPTION: The singer was born in Limerick. In spite of his mother's pleading he "carried on with my wicked career." He marries and takes up highway robbery to care for her, is convicted and transported for seven years. Women are deceitful but he'd have no other
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: prison robbery transportation mother wife Ireland
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 161, "It's Down in Old Ireland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #490
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wild and Wicked Youth" [Laws L12] (theme)
cf. "Salisbury Plain" (theme)
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime includes this verse partly floated to/from "Old Kimball" (as sung by Texas Gladden):
Now ofttimes I've wondered how women loves man,
And more times I've wondered how men can love them,
For robbing by night and a-planning by day
Which caused me behind this prison walls for to lay. - BS
File: CrMa161

It's Down Where the Water Runs Muddy

See The Lover's Curse (Kellswater) (File: HHH442)

It's Funny When You Feel that Way

DESCRIPTION: The singer says, "when first I fell in love ... I felt as though I'd tumbled into honey And somebody had left me all their money." She rejects him, then accepts his advance and her father gives his permission to wed. "I long to hear the wedding bells"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1873 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1873 14066)
KEYWORDS: courting love wedding father
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1901, "Isn't It Funny When You Feel That Way" (1 fragment)
Roud #3693
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.16(103), "It's Funny When You Feel that Way" ("I sha'nt forget how queer I felt"), T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also Firth b.27(261), "It's Funny When You Feel that Way"
LOCSheet, sm1873 14066, "It's Funny When You Feel that Way," G. D. Russell & Co. (Boston), 1873 (tune)

File: GrD81901

It's Gettin' Late over in the Evening

See It's Getting Late in the Evening (File: CNFM065)

It's Getting Late in the Evening

DESCRIPTION: "Lord, it's gettin' late over in the evenin'... The sun most down." The singer asks that John not seal his book until the singer's name is entered. The Spirit seals the book. The singer warns sinners against their ways and prepares to depart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 65-66, "(It's Gettin' Late over in the Evening)" (1 text); pp. 234-235, "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10967
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (on NFMAla4)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John the Revelator" (theme)
NOTES: The theme of sealed and unsealed books is not uncommon in the Bible; we see several instances in the Revelation to John, often based on hints in the prophets (e.g. Ezek. 2:9-10).
The Book of Life is mentioned in Rev. 20:12. There is also the scroll sealed with seven seals of Rev. 5-8 (note that the scroll was the ancient form of a book). A second, "little" scroll occurs in Chapter 10. Chapter 7 describes another sort of seal -- the "sealing" of God's servants. - RBW
File: CNFM065

It's Good fuh Hab Some Patience

DESCRIPTION: "It's good fuh hab some patience, patience, patience, It's good fuh hab some patience, Fuh ter wait upon de Lawd." "My brudder, won't you rise en' go wid me (x3), Fuh ter wait upon de Lawd." "My sister...." "My fader...." "My mudder...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 597, "It's Good fuh Hab Some Patience" (1 text)
Roud #11910
File: Br3597

It's Hard to Leave You, Sweet Love

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)

It's Lookin' fer Railroad Bill

See Railroad Bill [Laws I13] (File: LI13)

It's Me for the Inland Lakes

DESCRIPTION: "If ever I follow the ships again, To gather my spuds and cakes, I'll not be working a deep-sea hack,, It's me for the inland Lakes." The singer says that sailors on lakers live in better conditions, make short runs, and get better pay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (collected from Captain Walkingthaw by Walton)
KEYWORDS: sailor work
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdoch, pp. 85-86, "It's Me for the Inland Lakes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15922
File: WGM085

It's Me, Oh Lord

See Standing in the Need of Prayer (File: FSWB350A)

It's Mony's the Race That I Have Run

DESCRIPTION: The singer thinks of ending a courtship. If s/he "had wings like a dove ... I would go and see my love Which makes one dull this evening"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1090, "It's Mony's the Race That I Have Run" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6828
File: GrD61090

It's No Business of Mine

DESCRIPTION: The singer, while proclaiming "Of course it's no business of mine," criticises the girls who are "after the fellow that's got the cash," the "temperate" men who "wouldn't touch whisky" but have red noses "caused by the cold," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting drink money accusation
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 392, "It's No Business of Mine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7616
File: R392

It's oft in my love's arms my love to him I've told

See The Back o' Rarey's Hill (The Jilted Lover) (File: Ord156)

It's Oh That My Christening Robe

DESCRIPTION: "It's oh that my christening robe my winding sheet had been That ever I was born to sae muckle grief and woe Sae fare ye weel my bonnie lad for I must go"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: grief courting nonballad clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1172, "It's Oh That My Christening Robe" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #6815
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan6 text. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD51172

It's Once I Courted As Pretty a Lass

See Hog-tub, The (File: OO2298)

It's Raining Here

DESCRIPTION: "It's raining here, storming on the deep blue sea (x2) Ain't no black-headed mama Can make a fool out of me." "Now I can see a train coming...." "Talk about trouble, that's all I've ever known." The singer, despite poverty, will not sing the blues
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: poverty separation train
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 508, "It's Raining Here" (1 text)
Roud #11810
File: Br3508

It's Raining, It's Pouring

DESCRIPTION: "It's raining, it's pouring, The old man is snoring. (He) bumped his head and he went to bed And he couldn't get up in the morning."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 227, "It's Raining, It's Pouring" (1 text)
NOTES: Another of those things I learned too far back to remember and without really wanting to learn. Makes it a folk song in my book. - RBW
File: PHCF227b

It's Seven Long Years

DESCRIPTION: Willie the sailor is gone seven years with no letter to Nancy. She regrets "it was my trembling hand deceived you, Caused my youthful tongue to lie." She dreams "Willie was landed safe on shore" but wakes to reality, "stark despair to reign supreme"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: grief love separation dream sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 59, "It's Seven Long Years" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB059 (Partial)
Roud #2757
File: CrSNB059

It's the Same the Whole World Over

See She Was Poor But She Was Honest (I) (File: EM128)

It's the Syme the Whole World Over

See She Was Poor But She Was Honest (I) (File: EM128)

It's Time for Us to Leave Her

See Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her (File: Doe089)

It's Time I Was a Bride

DESCRIPTION: "I'd like mighty well to change my name And share another's home." The woman is of marriageable age, and tired of being alone. "But he must be a soldier, A veteran of the wars, One who has fought for southern rights Beneath the Stars and Bars."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic oldmaid marriage
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 241, "It's Time I Was a Bride" (1 text)
Roud #7711
NOTES: I can't help but suspect that this song is an old piece about a girl who misses a man. Someone then tacked on the final stanza to give it a Confederate twist. - RBW
File: R241

It's Your Auld Wife and My Auld Wife

DESCRIPTION: "It's your auld wife and my auld wife Gaed oot to gaither snaw; Says your auld wife to my auld wife Wid ye gie my [...] a claw"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: bawdy nonballad wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1448, "It's Your Auld Wife and My Auld Wife" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7276
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan7 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71448

Italy

See Going Across the Sea (File: RcItaly)

Itisket, Itasket

See Atisket, Atasket (I Sent a Letter to My Love) (File: BAF806A)

Its G-L-O-R-Y to Know I'm S-A-V-E-D

See S-A-V-E-D (File: FSWB349)

Its of a Farmer All in This Town

See The Suffolk Miracle [Child 272] (File: C272)

Ivan Skavinsky Skevar

See Abdul the Bulbul Emir (I) (File: LxA341)

J. B. Marcum (A Kentucky Feud Song) [Laws E19]

DESCRIPTION: Curt Jett shoots J. B. Markham dead in the courthouse. Judge Jim Harkis allegedly tries to prevent a conviction by fixing the jury; this fails when the case is transferred to another county. Jett and accomplice Thomas White end up in prison
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967
KEYWORDS: murder trial prison feud
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1905 - Murder of J. B. Markham in Breathitt County, Kentucky
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So,SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws E19, "J. B. Marcum (A Kentucky Feud Song)"
Combs/Wilgus 60, pp. 159-160, "J. B. Marcum" (1 text)
Burt, pp. 249-251, (no title) (1 text)
DT 773, JBMARCUM
Roud #692
RECORDINGS:
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner ("Mac & Bob"), "The Murder of J. B. Markham" (Brunswick 305, 1929; Supertone S-2035, 1930; rec. 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesse James (I)" [Laws E1] (tune & meter)
File: LE19

J. C. Holmes Blues

DESCRIPTION: "Listen, people, if you want to hear A story about a brave engineer, J. C. Holmes was the rider's name...." Floating verses about Holmes, the people who want to ride his trains, the freight he wants to carry, the rails he'd like to ride
AUTHOR: Gus Horsley (but based on older materials)
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Bessie Smith)
KEYWORDS: nonballad railroading floatingverses
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 163-165, "J. C. Homes Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Casey Jones (I)" [Laws G1] (form, lyrics)
NOTES: I suffered for quite a while trying to decide whether to list this as its own song or as a by-blow of "Casey Jones." Formally, I probably should have done the latter; the amount of original material in this song is almost nil. It's simply a fixup of the blues ballad version of Casey Jones/Joseph Mikel/Jay Gould's Daughter (which already constitute an almost impossible mess to untangle).
I finally decided to keep this separate because it appears "J. C. Holmes" is a sport: It split off from the main "Casey" stock, but did not go into tradition in any recognizable form. Neither does it seem to have further influenced the "Casey" tradition. - RBW
File: LSRa163

J. R. Birchell

See The Murder of F. C. Benwell [Laws E26] (File: LE26)

J'ai fait une maitresse

See Les Metamorphoses (Metamorphoses) (File: Pea788)

J'ai Tant d'Enfants a Marier (I Have So Many Maids to Wed)

DESCRIPTION: French. Dance. Singer says he has so many young women to marry, he doesn't know how to manage. He implores one woman to dance, and gives instructions on how to do it. In the dance, a gentleman in the center of the circle chooses one woman to embrace/kiss
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (BerryVin)
KEYWORDS: courting dancing dancetune nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Que), France
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BerryVin, p. 44, "J'ai tant d'enfants a marier (I Have So Many Maids to Wed)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
NOTES: The lack of equivalency between the French texts and the English translations in "Folk Songs of Vincennes" is particularly acute in this example. - PJS
[For example, in Paul's original description, which I had to shorten, the French version has the man choose a woman to embrace; in the English, he kisses her. - RBW]
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BerV044

J'ai Tant Danse (I've Danced So Much)

DESCRIPTION: French. Singer has ripped the sole from her shoe dancing. A shepherd lad pays for the repair. The shepherd says they should marry in a month. She would rather wait a year. ch.: "Dansons, ma berger', joliment! / Quelle plancher en rompe!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (BerryVin)
LONG DESCRIPTION: French. Singer, a shepherdess, says she's danced so much, she's ripped the sole from her shoe. A shepherd lad offers to find her a cobbler and pays for the repair. The shepherd says they should go find a priest and marry in a month. The girl replies that a month isn't enough; she'd rather wait a year. ch.: "Dansons, ma berger', joliment! / Quelle plancher en rompe!" (Dance, my shepherdess, nicely, until the floor breaks (or resounds))
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting love marriage clothes humorous shepherd
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Que) France
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BerryVin, p. 56, "J'ai tant danse! (I've Danced So Much)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
File: BerV056

J'ai Trouve une Maitresse (I Found a Young Sweetheart)

DESCRIPTION: French. Singer meets a girl of 15 and falls in love. He asks her to love him; he'll wait until she's old enough. She says he won't have to wait long, and that her parents wish her never to wed. She, or he, regrets that a girl might never meet a lover
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (BerryVin)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage age grief courting love family father mother lover
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BerryVin, p. 78, "Ja'i Trouve une Maitresse (The Young Sweetheart)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
File: BerV078

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Il Faut Voir Que Je Me Sauvais (So I Ran Away)

Ilka Blade o' Grass Keps Its Ain Drap o' Dew

Ilkley Moor Baht 'At

Ill-Fated Persian, The

Ill-Fated Vernon, The

Imaginary Trouble

Immigration

Immortal Washington

Improbability

In 1795

In 1845

In a Boxcar Around the World

In a Cottage by the Sea

In a Handy Four-Master

In and Around Nashville

In and Out the Window

In Arkansas

In Blythe and Bonnie Fair Scotland

In Bohunkus, Tennessee

In Bonny Scotland

In Bristol There Lived a Fair Maiden

In Burnham Town

In Camden Town

In Cameltoon Once More

In Canso Strait

In Castyle there Lived a Lady

In Collon I Was Taken

In Contempt

In Courtship There Lies Pleasure

In Cupid's Court

In Days When We Went Gipsying

In Days When We Went Gypsying

In De Mornin'

In de Vinter Time

In Dem Long, Hot Summer Days

In Dessexshire As It Befell

In Doots

In Duckworth Street There Lived a Dame

In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty

In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One

In Eighteen-Forty-Five

In Eighteen-Forty-Nine

In Fair London City

In Frisco Bay (A Long Time Ago; Noah's Ark Shanty)

In Good Old Colony Times

In Halifax Town

In Jersey City

In Kansas

In London so Fair

In Lonely Belvedere

In Low Germanie

In Manchester in Lancashire

In Measure Time We'll Row

In Memorial of 77 Brave Newfoundland Sealers

In Memoriam

In My Father's House

In My Garden Grew Plenty of Thyme

In My Laddie's Company

In North America

In Old Pod-Auger Times

In Old Virginny

In Oxford City

In Praise o' Huntley

In Praise of Christmas

In Praise of John Magee

In Praise of the City of Mullingar

In Praise of the Glen

In Robin Hood's Churchyard

In Savannah

In Seaport Town

In Search of Silver and Gold

In Seventeen Ninety-Five

In Sheffield Park

In Smiling June the Roses Bloom

In Some Lady's Garden (I)

In Some Lady's Garden (II)

In Springfield Mountain

In Summer

In Tarland Toon

In Tarrytown