Jimmy and Nancy (III)

DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells his true love "It is all for your sweet sake I am bound to cross the ocean." Her mother and father are against them but she will not turn against him. He promises to be true. They kiss and part; she wishes him well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: love separation dialog lover sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 528-529, "Jimmy and Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 52, "Jimmy and Nancy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #958
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jimmy and his Own True Love" [Laws O30] (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jimmy and Nancy the Departure
Lisbon
NOTES: Roud lumps this with Laws O30, "Jimmy and his Own True Love." It's a difficult question, since the only field collection of O30 in Laws is from Mackenzie. But the Mackenzie version revolves around the giving of the ring. Until and unless I see the broadsides Laws cites, I'm keeping them separate.
In addition, it appears that at least one version of this song is entitled "Lisbon," a title usually reserved for "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)" [Laws N8]. Laws did not know any of the Newfoundland collections cited for this song. Again, we separate, because this has no cross-dressing theme or promise by the girl to come with him. - RBW
This is not
Bodleian, Harding B 12(155), "William and Nancy's Parting" ("Come all you pretty maidens that have a mind to go"), Burbage and Stretton (Nottingham), 1797-1807; also Johnson Ballads 1597, Harding B 11(1999), Harding B 25(2062), Johnson Ballads 1059, 2806 c.18(336), Firth c.12(172), "William and Nancy's Parting"
or
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(332), "William and Nancy's Farewell," unknown, n.d. - BS
File: Pea528

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Jimmy and Nancy on the Sea

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

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Jimmy Bell's in Town

DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy Bell's in town, Lordy, walkin' round, He got greenbacks enough, sweet babe, to make a man a suit." Bell preaches a sermon, warning of the dangers of hell; "All them sisters sittin' in the back corner Cryin' Jimmy Bell my man."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: clergy nonballad Hell
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, p. 75, "Jimmy Bell's in Town" (1 text, probably partial)
File: CNFM075

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Jimmy Burse

DESCRIPTION: "I saw the undertakers leavin' With a casket in the hearse... The remains of Jimmy Burse." Burse goes out to transport a convict in his car, but is shot by the prisoner York. Burse is buried; the singer hopes he will find justice
AUTHOR: unknown (but very possibly by someone in the Vass family)
EARLIEST DATE: 1957 (collected by Shellans from Ruby Vass, who had a manuscript dated 1937)
KEYWORDS: prison murder escape technology burial
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1932 - Murder of taxi driver Jim Burrus. Shellans prints a newspaper chronology of the saga.
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shellans, pp. 70-71, "Jimmy Burse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7323
File: Sel070

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Jimmy Folier

See Jamie Foyers (File: McCST084)

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Jimmy Hughes's Feastio

DESCRIPTION: "Come, let us all to Georgetown go .. At Jimmy Hughes's feastio"; 100 are expected but only 30 show up. "The Senator arose with pride ...My son shall run the countrio. They turned him down, my darling boy, They did not know his worthio"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: rejection food party humorous political
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 12-13, "Jimmy Hughes's Feastio" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12484
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee: "When Senator J.J. Hughes received his appointment to the Senate he wanted his son to replace him as the local Member but his son was not nominated. A Testimonial dinner was held for the Senator in Georgetown but very few people showed up. It was written circa 1930." - BS
File: Din012

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Jimmy Judge

See Jimmie Judd (The Beau Shai River) [Laws C4] (File: LC04)

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Jimmy Leeburn

See Jamie Raeburn (Caledonia) (File: MA085)

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Jimmy Loud

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

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Jimmy Mo Veela Sthore (Jimmy, My Thousand Treasures)

DESCRIPTION: The singer misses Jimmy, who "travels the wide world o'er" on a quest for wealth. Her parents "never do give me ease." They want her to marry someone rich. She would go to the woods where no one will tease her and stay there until Jimmy returns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: courting separation money father mother
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 28A, "Jimmy Mo Veela Sthore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9782
File: OLcM028A

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Jimmy Murphy

DESCRIPTION: "On the banks of Kilkenny... Is Joe Jimmy Murphy Who is lost and forsaken." "Tomorrow he will ride... through the city." "Tomorrow he will hang; But it's not for sheep-stealing But for courting a pretty girl By the name of Moll Figen"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: death execution playparty courting
FOUND IN: US(So) Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Belden, p. 291, "Joe Jimmy Murphy" (1 text)
Moylan 119, "Little Jimmy Murphy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7951
NOTES: Belden calls his text "possibly a game song, but certainly originally a song about a hanging, and evidently Irish." To me, his version looks like a serious song that took on a game-song chorus. - RBW
Moylan has "the serious song." From the description of Belden, I think the "game song" is close enough to Moylan that the songs should be kept together. [Perhaps more decisive is the fact that Belden's text seems to be nearly unique, though it has wandered far from the Irish roots. - RBW] Here is some more of Moylan
We gathered our pikes and flintlocks and green branches
And into old Wexford we soon were advancing.
Chorus: Skinny-ma-link, killy-ma-jo, whiskey, frisky too-ra-loo
Rank-a-diddle-i-doe, ding-doora-lie-o.
We fought through New Ross, Vinegar Hill and through Gorey
But it was the boys of the Cork Militia that deprived us of glory.
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Luke Cheevers, "Little Jimmy Murphy" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes)
Moylan: "This unusual piece appeared in the Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society in 1913. The note to the song says that it was heard by the informant being sung by a street-singer in Liverpool in 1830." - BS
For the battles of New Ross, Gorey, etc., see the notes to "Father Murphy (I)" and the various cross-references there. - RBW
File: Beld291

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Jimmy My Riley

DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy-my-Riley was a grand old rascal, Jimmy-my-Riley ho (x2)." "Pick it up and shuck it up and throw it over yonder." "The cows in the old field hornin' Jimmy Riley." "The mules in the old field kickin' Jimmy Riley."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal nonballad food work
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 195, "Jimmy My Riley" (1 text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 188, "Jimmie-Ma-Riley-Oh!" (1 short text); Scarborough has another stanza which she files here though it looks to me as if it might be a much-debased version of "Reuben Ranzo" or something like that
NOTES: As often happens with items like this, the Borwn and Scarborough verses don't have quite the same format. But the chorus line seems enough reason to lump. - RBW
File: Br3195

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Jimmy Randal

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

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Jimmy Randolph

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

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Jimmy Ransome

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

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Jimmy Rose

DESCRIPTION: "Jimmy Rose he went to town (x3) To 'commodate the ladies." "Fare ye well, ye ladies all (x3), God Almighty bless you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 100, "Jimmy Rose" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, p. 211, "Jimmy Rose" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST SBoA211 (Full)
Roud #11596
File: SBoA211

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Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo

See Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo (File: MA130)

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Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo

DESCRIPTION: "If you want a situation and you'd like to know the plan To get on a station... Pack up the old portmanteau and label it Paroo, with a name that's aristocratic -- Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo." The song details how the "aristocratic" name can bring benefits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Paterson, _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: Australia work animal
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 130-131, "Jimmy Sago, Jackeroo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 114-115, "Jimmy Sago, Jackaroo" (1 text)
Roud #8394
NOTES: According to Patterson/Fahey/Seal, a Jackaroo was a young man working on a station to gain experience -- in effect, an apprentice. Naturally he was teased and held in low esteem.
The spelling is uncertain (Jackaroo/Jackeroo), as is the origin; Andrew and Nancy Learmonth Encyclopedia of Australia2nd edition, Warne & Co, 1973, article on "Jackeroo" (their spelling) says that the "origin is uncertain, most probably a coined Aus.-ouning word based on a 'Jacky Raw', but an Aboriginal origin is also claimed." It adds that a female parallel, "Jillaroo," dates from the twentieth century. - RBW
File: MA130

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Jimmy Walsh and Stephen

See Two Jinkers (File: Doy11)

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Jimmy Whelan

See Lost Jimmie Whalen [Laws C8]; also James Whalen [Laws C7] (File: LC08)

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Jine 'Em

DESCRIPTION: "On Sunday mornin' I seek my Lord, Jine 'em, jine 'em oh! Oh jine 'em, believer, jine 'em so, Jine 'em, jine 'em oh." "Join, brethren, join us O... In Jesus's name we sing and pray"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 21, "Jine 'Em" (1 short text with a possible variant, 1 tune)
Roud #11972
File: AWG021A

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Jingar Ring

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

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Jinger Blue

See Ginger Blue (File: R298)

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Jingle at the Window (Tideo)

DESCRIPTION: Playparty. "Jingle at the window, (tideo/dideo)....' "Pass one window, tideo...." Pass two windows, tideo...." "You swing heads... I swing feet... Ain't dat nice... walkin' on de ice."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (JAFL 24)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 525, "Jingle at the Window" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 208, "Tideo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 115-116, "Dance Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, p. 134, "Tideo" (1 text, with two verses of "Tideo" and one probably from "Go In and Out the Window")
Roud #3597
NOTES: For the possible relationship of this to "Sugar in My Coffee," see the notes to that song.
Scarborough's version of this has stanzas twice as long (eight lines) as Randolph's, but presumably this is just the usual story of half the tune being lost. - RBW
File: R525

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Jingle Bells

DESCRIPTION: In praise of sleighing in the snow. Taking his "one horse open sleigh," the singer courts Miss Fanny Bright. Even a brief detour into a snowbank does not deter his ardor. The singer urges others to get a horse and sleigh and go courting
AUTHOR: James Pierpont
EARLIEST DATE: 1857
KEYWORDS: horse nonballad courting
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 93-96, "Jingle Bells Or the One horse open Sleigh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Krythe (16), pp. 219-220, "Jingle Bells" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 376, "Jingle Bells" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 313+, "Jingle Bells"
DT, JNGLBLL*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Pony Song" (approximate tune, theme, and some words)
NOTES: According to a big of folklore which I have not attempted to check, Pierpont wrote this while living in Florida. Hm. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RJ19093

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Jingle-Berry Tea

DESCRIPTION: "Buck-skin moccasin tow-headed Bill, Once went a-courtin' up on the hill, The first one he courted was a pretty gal to see, Set right down to Jingleberry tea."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 416, "Jingleberry Tea" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7613
NOTES: Randolph informs us that "This is a fragment of a ribald song popular in the [1870s], and is said to have been brought west from Tennessee." However, he fails to give us enough additional detail to identify the song.
He also knew an informant who suggested the name be changed to "sassifras," on the grounds that "It's ag'in the law to print words like jingle-berry in a book." - RBW
File: R416

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Jingo Ring (Merry-Ma-Tanzie, Around the Ring)

DESCRIPTION: "Here we go around the ring; Choose you one while we do sing; Choose the one that you love best, And she will come at your request." "Now you've got her, and I wish you much joy, You are my son and childish joy... Kiss her quick, and that will do."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1580, "The Merry Ma Tanzie" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Greig #152, p. 2, "Jingar Ring" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 173, "Around the Ring" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 65, "(Here we go round the jing-a-ring" (1 text)
ST Fus173 (Full)
Roud #12970
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lipto" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
A Guinea Gold Ring
File: Fus173

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Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad

See Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad (File: FVS045)

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Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, ken ye my love Johnnie, he lives doon on yonder lea, and he's lookin', and he's joukin', and he's aye watchin' me." The singer describes her deep fondness for (Johnnie/Jockie), and looks forward to a happy life despite his poverty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 45-47, "Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan4 756, "Johnnie Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNLAD
Roud #6131
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Johnny Lad" (on SCMacCollSeeger01)
File: FVS045

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Jinny Get Your Hoecake Done

DESCRIPTION: Fiddler's mnemonic for a moderately well-known tune: "Jinny, get your hoecake done, my love, Jinny, get your hoecake done; Jinny, get your hoecake done, my love, Jinny, get your hoecake done."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: dancetune nonballad food
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 158, "The Hoe-Cake" (eighth of 12 single-stanza jigs) (1 short text)
ST Fus158C (Full)
Roud #16825
File: Fus158C

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Jinny Go Round and Around

DESCRIPTION: "Where did you get your whisky? Where did you get your dram?.... Down in Rockingham. Cho: Jinny go round an' around (x3) Way down in Rockingham." The remaining verses may give reasons why the singer will not marry or describe river life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage drink dancing playparty floatingverses river
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 272, "Jinny Go Round and Around" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 233-234, "Jinny Go Round and Round" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 272)
BrownIII 389, "The Privates Eat the Middlin'" (1 fragment, probably a Civil War adaption of this piece)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 589, "[Number Ninety-Nine]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 711, "Where'd You Get Yo' Whisky?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 121-122, "(Number Ninety-nine)" (1 text, 1 tune)
MWheeler, pp. 24-25, "Master Had a Bran' New Coat" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R272 (Full)
Roud #836 (etc.)
RECORDINGS:
Earl Johnson & His Dixie Entertainers, "I Get My Whiskey From Rockingham" (Okeh 45183, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cindy" (floating lyrics)
cf. "A Railroader for Me (Soldier Boy for Me)" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Way Down in Rockingham
Rockingham Cindy
NOTES: This is an extremely problematic piece, recognized by the "Where did you get your whiskey" stanza. The rest is no unity, but the results are too fragmentary to classify as separate songs.
Almost all of these lyrics of some versions show up in one or another version of the "Cindy/Jubilee" family, but the chorus is different, so I've separated them. The Botkin Mississippi River piece (compare Courlander's) is almost equally remote from both "Cindy" and "Jinny," but not worth another entry, so I file it here.
Paul Stamler notes another piece, "Rockingham Cindy"; I suspect that to be a variant of this one.
The chorus "Jinny go round..." does not appear in all versions; I don't know if it is an addition to the Randolph text or if it dropped out of the usual versions sung by old-time singers. - RBW
File: R272

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Jinny Jenkins

See Jenny Jenkins (File: R453)

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Joan and John Blount

See Get Up and Bar the Door [Child 275] (File: C275)

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Joan o' Grinfield!

See The Four-Loom Weaver (File: DTfourlo)

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Joan's Ale Is Good

See When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)

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Job

See Come All You Worthy Christian Men (File: ShH91)

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Job, Job

DESCRIPTION: "Oh Job, Job, good Lord, Tell me how you feel, good Lord." Sundry Biblical incidents are narrated: Pilate's wife and her dream of Jesus, Joshua stopping the sun, etc. Verses are very long, with variable numbers of lines
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recordings, Rich Amerson, Dock Reed-Vera Hall Ward)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 53-56, "(Job, Job)" (1 text); pp. 225-226, "Job, Job" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10964
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "Job Job" (on NFMAla4)
Dock Reed & Vera Hall Ward, "Job Job" (on NFMAla5) (on ReedWard01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Swing Low" (a few lines)
NOTES: The account of Joshua stopping the sun is found in Joshua 10:12-13. Pilate's wife's dream is found in Matthew 27:19 (only; the other gospels have no hint of the story). - RBW
File: CNFM225

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Jock and Meg

See The Week After the Fair (I) (Jock and Meg) (File: GrD3585)

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Jock Geddes

See Jock Gheddes and the Soo (File: RcJGatSo)

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Jock Gheddes and the Soo

DESCRIPTION: Jock's mother warned him to "Come hame sober" but Jock "as usual soon forgot." Arriving home he falls in a dung hill where a sow, liking the smell, licks his mouth. Jock wakes, "spat for near an hour," has the pig killed, and has not had whisky since.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous animal death
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 573, "Jock Geddes" (1 text)
Roud #5130
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "Jock Gheddes and the Soo" (on Voice13)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Courtin' in the Stable (The Workin' Steer)" (plot)
cf. "Doran's Ass [Laws Q19]" (plot)
File: RcJGatSo

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Jock Hamilton

DESCRIPTION: Duke Hamilton bet five hundred guineas he can go through London singing but not speaking. Though thrown in jail he does not speak. The bailiff's daughter tries but only gets a gold ring. He wins the bet and the bailiff's daughter by singing.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: ring prison gambling music
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 324, "Jock Hamilton" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #5869
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Duke Hamilton
Lord Hamilton
NOTES: The chorus, which is the Duke's song, is .".. Tey ey addlety, Tey ey addlety tam; ... Eetify addlety, Tey ey addlety tam." Since "He's won her by singin' song, He's won her by Eetify addlety, Tey ey addlety tam" this seems a case of bawdy words replaced by nonsense sounds (as in Blind Blake's explicit "I wish someone would tell me what 'diddie wa diddie' means"; also see "The Chandler's Wife" and "Jack the Jolly Tar" [Laws K40]). - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD2324

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Jock Hawk

DESCRIPTION: "One night I into Glesga went To spend my penny fee, Twas then a girl gave consent To bear me company." They go to a tavern. A crowd of sailors comes in -- then are called away. Jock is left to pay the entire bill. He warns others of the trick
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: drink money trick sailor warning
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan2 295, "Jock Hawk" (10 texts, 5 tunes)
Ord, pp. 278-279, "Jock Hawk's Adventures in Glasgow" (1 text)
Roud #2311
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jock Hack
One Day I Up to Glasgow Went
File: Ord278

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Jock o Hazeldean

See John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)

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Jock o the Side [Child 187]

DESCRIPTION: Jock o the Side has been taken prisoner in a raid. His neighbors hope to ransom him, but (Hobie Noble/The Laird's Jock) will free him with five men. They make their way to Jock's prison, break down the doors and perform other feats, and bring Jock away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1774 (Percy papers)
KEYWORDS: borderballad prisoner escape rescue
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Child 187, "Jock o the Side" (4 texts)
Bronson 187, "Jock o the Side" (4 versions)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 145-147, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text, 1 tune) {Compare Bronson's #3, a variant of the same tune but with different text}
Friedman, p. 246, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
OBB 138, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
Warner 191, "Bold Dickie and Bold Archie" (1 text, 1 tune, primarily Child 188 but possibly with elements of 187)
TBB 25, "Jock o' the Side" (1 text)
DT (187/188), JOCKSIDE JOHNWEBB*? BOLDARCH*?
Roud #82
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hobie Noble" [Child 189] (characters)
cf. "Archie o Cawfield" [Child 188] (plot)
NOTES: Jock o' the Side (Side is a region in Liddesdale) was a well-known thief and raider of the 1560s. - SF
It is interesting to note that (apart from Jock himself), the characters in this drama are completely unfixed; in one version, Robin Hood's companion Much the miller's son is one of the raiders (and not a very bold one). - RBW
File: C187

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Jock o' Hazel Green

See John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)

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Jock o' Rhynie (II)

See Rhynie (File: RcRhynie)

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Jock o' Rhynie (The Praise o' Huntley)

DESCRIPTION: "I've been abroad, I've been at hame... But noo I've come to Huntley." The singer escapes his parents and sets out to earn his fee. His parents offer no support. After working with Mr. Stephen and Jock o' Huntley, he vows to be "mair wiser."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work farming father mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #146, p. 3, "The Praise o' Huntly" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 349, "The Praise o' Huntly" (8 texts, 4 tunes)
Ord, pp. 338-339, "In Praise o' Huntley" (1 text)
Roud #3943
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Huntly (349) is at coordinate (h4,v5-6) on that map [roughly 34 miles WNW of Aberdeen]; Mains of Rhynie (348,349) is at coordinate (h2-3,v5) on that map [roughly 31 miles WNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Ord338

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Jock Robb

DESCRIPTION: "My mailison's [curse is] on ye, Jock Robb"; you built your house next to mine and taught my children "to bob." "My blessing gae wi' ye, Jock Robb"; when you come you make us happy and "gar our blithe bottoms play bob!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1824 (Sharpe)
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad children curse
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1779, "Jock Robb" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, A Ballad Book (Edinburgh, 1891, reprint of 1824 edition), Vol I, #11 p. 35, "The Fiddler's Benison"
Roud #12989
NOTES: What is "bob"? I'm guessing "dancing." - BS
Attested Scots meanings of the verb "to bob"/"to bab," according to Alexander Warrack, The Scots Dialect Dictionary, Waverly Books, 2000, p. 25, include "to bob" (a nice circular definition, that), "to move up and down quickly," "to dance," "to pop in and out," "to curtsey," and "to move quickly." Thus "to bob" probably does mean "to dance" in this case -- something the Presbyterian church certainly would not like. But the noun "bab" also means "gossip," so although Warrack does not list this as a verb sense. I would not absolutely rule out the meaning "to gossip." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81779

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Jock Scott

DESCRIPTION: Jock recalls the first time he saw Mary, whose beauty ensnared him. He takes a job with her father, and wins her heart. They plan to flee. Her father follows and drags her away. When they try again, he is accused of forgery. He hopes to win free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love courting servant father punishment trick
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #81, pp. 1-2, "Jock Scott" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1096, "Jock Scott" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Ord, pp. 448-450, "Jock Scott" (1 text)
Roud #5620
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Henry Connors" [Laws M5] (plot)
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" [Laws M6] (plot)
cf. "William Riley's Courtship [Laws M9]" (plot)
cf. "Jock Scott" (plot)
cf. "The Footboy" (plot)
cf. "Nairn's River Banks" (tune, per GreigDuncan6)
File: Ord448

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Jock Sheep

DESCRIPTION: A lady asks a knight not to lie with her "for spoilin' o' my goun." She asks that he take her to her father's castle first. Once there she shuts the door in his face. Disguised as a lady in labor the knight lures her out and rapes her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Jock Sheep, a knight, and a lady set a tryst but she asks him not to lie with her "for spoilin' o' my goun." She asks that he take her to her father's castle where "ye shall hae your wills o' me." Once there she shuts the door in his face. Then she taunts him by comparing him to a marigold, and impotent cock and impotent stallion. He disguises himself as a lady in labor in the wood. When his lady goes to "her" aid she finds Jock. He rapes her, repeating her taunts. She asks that "sin you've taen your wills o' me You may conduct me hame." He does.
KEYWORDS: seduction escape trick knight rape disguise
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kinloch-BBook V, pp. 17-21, "Jock Sheep" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 302, "Jock Sheep" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
DT JOCKSHEP
Roud #5862
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Baffled Knight [Child 112]" (plot)
cf. "The Broomfield Hill [Child 43]" (first verse)
cf. "Errol on the Green" (tune, according to GreigDuncan2)
cf. "The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4]" (motif: "damsel in distress" as lure)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Whistle o' Yer Thoom
NOTES: Child notes to 112, "The Baffled Knight": "There is a Scottish ballad in which the tables are turned upon the maid in the conclusion. This being of comparatively recent, and not of popular, but of low literary origin, cannot be admitted here. It can be found in Kinloch's Ballad Book, 'Jock Sheep,' p. 16, and the Kinloch MSS, I, 229, communicated by James Beattie, Mearnsshire. Other versions are, in the Campbell MSS, 'Dernie Hughie,' II, 233; 'Jock Sheep, or, The Maiden Outwitted,' Buchan MSS, I, 155."
The first verse of Kinloch matches "The Broomfield Hill," Child 43A and Child 43C, which sets a different tone than Child 112: here Jock and the lady set the tryst; in Child 112 (as in other Child 43 versions) the meeting is not planned. What is not clear here is why the lady changes her mind; the lady's dilemna described in "The Broomfield Hill" is not stated here.
The version of Child 112 closest to "Jock Sheep" is version D.b. The taunts -- the marigold, impotent cock and shy stallion -- are only in that version of Child 112. In other versions of "Jock Sheep" references to an impotent bull and ram are added to the list (for example, Greig-Duncan).
The non-fragmentary text from GreigDuncan2 preserves the "Jock Sheep" characteristic of taking its first verse from Child 43, "The Broomfield Hill." GreigDuncan2 notes that "Jock Sheep," as a result, had "formerly been treated in print as versions of this ballad [Child 43]." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C112A

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Jock Stewart (The Man You Don't Meet Every Day)

DESCRIPTION: (Jock Stewart) invites the company to enjoy his generosity. "So be easy and free when you're drinking with me; I'm a man you don't meet every day" The singer may talk of his well-built hut, his hunting trips, or whatever people discuss in pubs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink hunting friend
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland US(So) Australia
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 476, "The Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (1 text)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 161-162, 286, "A Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (2 texts, 2 tunes, heavily localized)
DT, JSTEWART*
Roud #975
RECORDINGS:
Cornelius O'Sullivan, "I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day" (Victor 79126, late 1920s-early 1930s)
Belle, Sheila, and Cathie Stewart, "Jock Stewart" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bound to Australia" (meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "The First of the Emigrants" (tune, meter, chorus)
File: R476

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Jock Stewart the Factor

DESCRIPTION: "Jock Stewart the factor, Sae weel he did thrive, Afore he'd kiss his ain wife He'd kiss ither five"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: infidelity nonballad husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1440, "Jock Stewart the Factor" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7271
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan7 text excluding the chorus. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71440

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Jock Tamson's Tripe

DESCRIPTION: On his wedding night Jock comes home drunk, goes to his tripe can in the dark, and eats one of the caps his mother had washed and put in the can. He gets sick and, to everyone's amazement, vomitsa clean cap instead of tripe.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: wedding clothes drink food humorous mother disease
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 286, "Jock Tamson's Tripe" (6 texts, 4 tunes)
Roud #5835
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jock Tamson
File: GrD2286

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Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant [Child 282]

DESCRIPTION: A "merry merchant" comes to a tavern and finds himself in a series of contests with (a disguised) Jock the Leg. They set out together, and Jock demands the merchant's pack. The merchant fights him off, then six of his men as well; they declare friendship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: robbery outlaw fight
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 282, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (1 text)
Bronson 282, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (7 versions)
Greig #35, p. 1, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 263, "Jock the Leg and the Merry Merchant" (6 texts, 5 tunes) {A=Bronson's #2, B=#6, C=#1, D=#5, E=#3}
DT, JOCKLEG*
Roud #3856
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" [Child 132] (plot)
NOTES: Child observes that this is essentially a Robin Hood ballad with the names changed. One wonders if it might not be a Scottish redaction of "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C282

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Jockey Hat and Feather

DESCRIPTION: "As I was walking out one day A-thinking of the weather I saw a pair of roguish eyes 'Neath a hat and feather." The girl asks how the singer likes her hat. He likes it (or her?) very much. She leaves; he misses her, and dreams of the hat
AUTHOR: Fred Wilson and W. H. Brockway
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: clothes dream loneliness separation
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 490, "Jockey Hat and Feather" (1 text)
Gilbert, p. 59, "Jockey Hat and Feather" (1 text)
Roud #7586
NOTES: Spaeth (A History of Popular Music in America, p. 173) says that this was "one of a large group of songs [in the 1860s] that discussed details of feminine attire," but mentions only this and "Tassels on Her Boots." - RBW
File: R490

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Jockey to the Fair

DESCRIPTION: Jocky puts on his Sunday suit and goes to Jenny's house, wakes her by tapping at the window. Jenny says, "Everyone's asleep or out: are you going to hold to your vows?" He says yes. They run off to the Fair and get married. Returning, they bless the day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 16(118d))
KEYWORDS: love clothes elopement marriage courting sex promise family
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(England(South,West), Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 90-92, "Jockey to the Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 170-171, "Jocky to the Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3344
RECORDINGS:
Edmund Henneberry, "Jocky to the Fair" (on NovaScotia1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(118d), "Jocky and Jennys Trip to the Fair," J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 16(119a), Firth b.26(244), Harding B 11(1884), "Jocky and Jenny's Trip to the Fair"; Firth c.19(152), Firth b.26(407), Harding B 11(1886), Firth b.26(372), Harding B 25(972), Harding B 28(64), "Jockey to the Fair"; 2806 c.16(62), "Jockey and Jenny"; Harding B 21(13), "Trip to the Fair"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
With Jockey to the Fair
NOTES: There's also a fiddle tune, "Jockey to the Fair", to which these words can be sung. As for the keyword "sex" -- it's not mentioned in the song, but you can believe what you like. - PJS
For another version see Robert Bell, editor, [The Project Gutenberg EBook (1996) of] Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), "Jockey to the Fair" - BS
File: CrSe170

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Jockey's Lament, The

See Alec Robertson (II) (File: MA146)

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Jockey's Lamentation

See O'er the Hills and Far Away (I) (File: Arn017)

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Jocky and his Owsen

DESCRIPTION: "Twa afore ane, Three afore five [the order in which oxen are yoked] ... An' Jocky at the last; Jenny and her five kye Fullin' in fast"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, according to GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 430, "Jocky and his Owsen" (1 text)
Roud #5946
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 quotes a more complete version on p. 639 from Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland (1881). - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3430

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Jocky Said to Jeanie

DESCRIPTION: "Jocky said to Jeanie, wilt thou do't? Ne'er a fit, quo' Jeannie, for my tocher good." She says her dowry is too good for such as him. He says he has gold, gear, and land. She consents: "Ye're welcomer to tak me than to let me be."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1796 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: love courting dowry
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 823, "Jocky's Proposal" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 22, "Jocky Said to Jinnie" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ST CrNS022 (Full)
Roud #1792
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jocky Said to Jeany
NOTES: Creighton-NovaScotia heard this song in Gaelic and French as well as English and always to the same tune. - BS
My feeling is that Creighton's version was a local adaption. Her tune (in 2/4 and with a range of only a fourth) bears no resemblance to that, e.g., in the Scots Musical Museum (in 3/2 and with a full octave range). My guess would be that a Gaelic drone went into French and English. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: CrNS022

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Jocky Said to Jeany

See Jocky Said to Jeanie (File: CrNS022)

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Jocky Said to Jinnie

See Jocky Said to Jeanie (File: CrNS022)

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Jocky to the Fair

See Jockey to the Fair (File: CrSe170)

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Jocky's Proposal

See Jocky Said to Jeanie (File: CrNS022)

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Jody Chant

See Sound Off (Cadence Count, Jody Chant) (File: LoF317)

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Joe Bowers [Laws B14]

DESCRIPTION: Joe Bowers leaves for California to raise money to marry Sally. Returning home, he is irritated to find that she has married another, a red-haired man, and has a red-haired baby
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1856 ("Johnson's Original Comic Songs")
KEYWORDS: travel marriage infidelity settler
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,So,SE,SW)
REFERENCES (22 citations):
Laws B14, "Joe Bowers"
Dean, pp. 98-99, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Belden, pp. 341-343, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, apparently a collation of four versions, 1 tune)
Randolph 187, "Joe Bowers" (3 texts plus an excerpt, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 190-193, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 187D with the tune re-transcribed)
BrownII 258, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Hudson 70, pp. 197-198, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Shellans, p. 23, "The Disappointment of Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 751-752, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 431, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Warner 63, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 421-423, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 174, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 12, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 88, pp. 186-188, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
JHCox 50, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCoxIIB, #24A-B, pp. 186-187, "Joe Bowers" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 63, "Joe Bowers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 171-172, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 207, "Joe Bowers" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Joe Bowers" (source notes only)
DT 381, JOBOWERS*
Roud #2806
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "Joe Bowers" (on Cansler1)
Logan English, "Joe Bowers" (on LEnglish02)
Jean Ritchie, "Joe Bowers" (on Ritchie03)
Pete Seeger, "Joe Bowers" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The State of Arkansas (The Arkansas Traveler II)" [Laws H1] (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Ghost of the Peanut Stand (File: CrSNB070)
NOTES: Various suggestions have been put forward regarding the author of this song; Laws quotes Louise Pound's attribution to John A. Stone (Old Put). Friedman advocates John Woodward. The Lomaxes mention the Johnson of "Johnson's Original Comic Songs." Belden alludes to Merwin's attribution to Frank Swift. I suspect the matter can no longer be settled. - RBW
File: LB14

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Joe Bowman

DESCRIPTION: Singer and friends meet hunt-master Joe Bowman at dawn; they go out in search of game, and flush a fox. He runs swiftly and cleverly, but is killed in the end. All gather around the fire and drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (recorded from John Dalton)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer and friends meet hunt-master Joe Bowman at dawn; they go out in search of game, and flush a fox. He runs swiftly and cleverly, but is killed in the end. All gather around the fire and drink. Chorus: "When the fire's on the hearth and the good cheer abounds/We'll sing to Joe Bowman and the Uilswater hounds/For we ne'er shall forget how he woke us at dawn/With the crack of his whip and the sound of his horn"
KEYWORDS: death hunting drink animal worker
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 252, "Joe Bowman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1858
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bold Reynard ('A Good Many Gentlemen')" (theme)
cf. "Bold Reynard the Fox (Tallyho! Hark! Away!)" (theme)
cf. "The Innocent Hare" (theme)
cf. "The Echoing Horn" (theme)
NOTES: Joe Bowman (1851-1940) was a well-known and well-liked character in the Lake District; he hunted the Uilswater foxhounds for forty years. - PJS
Kennedy claims there are "many" songs about Bowman -- but cites only one, which he does not quote, and cites only his own recording of "Joe Bowman." One thinks Kennedy, as so often, has been a bit on the overenthusiastic side. - RBW
File: K252

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Joe Brady and Dan Curley

DESCRIPTION: The singer claims that Joe Brady and Daniel Curley are innocent of Burke's murder but that the informer Carey, a confessed killer is free: "Carey is more guilty than any of the rest ... the daggers which had done the deed he broke them into bits"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1883 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: betrayal execution murder trial political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Chronology of the Phoenix Park murders (source: primarily Zimmermann, pp. 62, 63, 281-286.)
May 6, 1882 - Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish and the Under Secretary Thomas Henry Burke are murdered by a group calling themselves "The Invincible Society."
January 1883 - twenty seven men are arrested.
James Carey, one of the leaders in the murders, turns Queen's evidence.
Six men are condemned to death, four are executed (Joseph Brady is hanged May 14, 1883; Daniel Curley is hanged on May 18, 1883), others are "sentenced to penal servitude," and Carey is freed and goes to South Africa.
July 29, 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell kills Carey on board the "Melrose Castle" sailing from Cape Town to Durban.
Dec 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell is convicted of the murder of James Carey and executed in London (per Leach-Labrador)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 84, "Lamentable Lines on Joe Brady and Dan Curley" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders) and references there
NOTES: For broadsides on the same subject see
Bodleian, Harding B 14(186), "Lines on the trial & sentence of Joe Brady and Dew Curly and others for the Phoenix park murder" ("All in high and low station who dwell in this nation," unknown, n.d.
Bodleian, Harding B 40(6), "Lines written on the execution of Joe. Brady ("Good christians all on you I call to hear my lamentation"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?),1850-1899; I could not download the image for verification.
Zimmermann p. 62: "The Phoenix Park murders and their judicial sequels struck the popular imagination and were a gold-mine for ballad-writers: some thirty songs were issued on this subject, which was the last great cause to be so extensively commented upon in broadside ballads." - BS
File: Zimm084

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Joe Brook

DESCRIPTION: The singer leaves Grey Rapids in October 1924 and takes the train for Deersdale to go logging with Coughlan on Joe Brook. The crew has men from every country. Key men in the crew are named.
AUTHOR: Frank O'Hara
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: lumbering moniker
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 77-80, "Joe Brook" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 25, "The Joe Brook Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST IvNB077 (Partial)
Roud #1948
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: The song "describes life at Coughlan's Camp in a lumber operation for Geo. Burchill & Sons of South Nelson" near the Miramichi River. - BS
File: IvNB077

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Joe Fowler Blues, The

See I'm Going Down the River (File: MWhee050)

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Joe Higgins

See I Don't Mind If I Do (File: MA263)

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Joe Hill

DESCRIPTION: The singer "dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, Alive as you and me." He points out that Hill is dead. Hill replies, "I never died." The singer describes the details of Hill's death; Hill answers, "What they forgot to kill Went on to organize."
AUTHOR: Words: Alfred Hayes/Music: Earl Robinson
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (music copyright; the words are older)
KEYWORDS: death dream labor-movement lastwill
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1879-1915 - Life of Joel Emmanuel Hagglund, known as "Joe Hillstrom" or "Joe Hill."
1902 - Hill emigrates to the United States
Jan 10, 1914 - The Salt Lake City robbery/murder for which Joe Hill was arrested
1915 - Execution of Joe Hill for the murder
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Arnett, p. 175, "Joe Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, p. 95, "(Joe Hill)" (1 fragment)
DT, JOEHILL
ADDITIONAL: Sam Richards, "The Joe Hill Legend in Britain," essay in Archie Green, editor, _Songs about Work: Essays in Occupational Culture for Richard A. Reuss_, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1993, pp. 316-331 (1 full text plus excerpts and fragments, 1 tune0
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Joe Hill" (on PeteSeeger39) (on PeteSeeger48)
NOTES: Lori Elaine Taylor wrote an essay, "Joe Hill Incorporated: We Own Our Past," which appeared in Archie Green, editor, Songs about Work: Essays in Occupational Culture for Richard A. Reuss, Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1993. According to p. 26,
* Alfred Hayes's poem was first pubished in New Masses and then in a Communist anthology, Proletarian Literature in the United States
* Hayes gave a copy of the poem to Earl Robinson in 1936. Robinson set it to music to supply a song for a "Joe Hill campfire" that evening.
* The song spread across the country that summer.
* Reportedly Alfred Hayes "avoided association with the song througout his life," but Robinson was proud of it; he recorded it in 1941, and had earlier played piano on Michael Loring's recording. The song became even more popular after Paul Robeson recorded it.
Earl Robinson, shortly before his death, counted translations of the song in twelve languages.
Taylor suggests, p. 33, that it is this song more than anything else that accounts for the Joe Hill legend. Another part of the legend is due to Big Bill Haywood, Hill, according to Taylor, wrote to Haywood, "Don't waste any time mourning -- organize!" Haywood shortened this to the memorable "Don't Mourn -- Organize!" -- which proved a billiant slogan.
Green's book also contains the Sam Richards essay "The Joe Hill Legend in Britain" mentioned as an "Additional" entry above. It supplies evidence that this piece has actually gone into oral tradition -- and notes on p. 320 that this song about Hill is more popular than any of Hill's own songs except perhaps "The Preacher and the Slave." Richards in fact believes (p. 326) that this may be the most popular labor song in Britain today.
Richards mentions on pp. 320-321 that Paul Robeson premiered his version of the son in 1947 in Salt Lake City itself. That must have been something to see....
The innocence of Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, "Joe Hill," is such an article of faith in the folk community that it was stated as fact in the earlier editions of this index. This even though the sources containing this song knew so little about the case that different sources gave different dates for his execution.
An honest assessment has to admit uncertainty. Facts are sadly few -- indeed, little is known of Hill's dozen years of freedom in the United States; even before his death, he was legendary enough that he is said to have been part of far more labor actions than any man could possibly have participated in. He rambled -- but probably not as much as the tales imply. Presumably he worked at least some of the time, but records of this are few. All that is really certain is that he was the best and most important songwriter for the IWW.
The story of his execution is even more troubling.
What is known is that a murder took place in early 1914 at a grocery store in Salt Lake City. John G. Morrison and his son Arling were slain. Arling managed to kill one of the attackers; according to Morrison's surviving son Merlin, he shot another in the chest. The killers left without actually taking anything.
Hill later turned up at a doctor's with a bullet hole in his chest. It was a clean injury; the doctor treated and released him.
Still, when the police looked for a killer, they found Hill with an injury that fit the description, and he had no alibi. Arresting him was certainly not unreasonable; how many guys were there in 1915 Salt Lake City (the city of the conservative, law-abiding Mormons) with bullet wounds in their chests?
The problem was not the arrest but the trial. Hill attempted to defend himelf, all the while claiming the trial was fixed. This is probably overblown, but certainly the judge was prejudiced against him, and allowed the prosecution undue liberties. Hill, a non-lawyer, didn't know when to protest. No evidence could be presented to directly connect Hill with the murder (Merlin Morrison could not identify him), but with the city convinced he was guilty, and with no alibi except a vague claim about a woman's honor, he was naturally convicted.
One of those convinced that he should die was the governor of Utah. So the various calls for clemency and a new trial were denied. He was executed on November 19, 1915. He had written that he didn't "want to be caught dead in Utah," so his body was cremated and the ashes sent all over the country as a rallying point.
A good summary of the case is found in the December 2005 issue of American History magazine. Author Ben Lefebvre sums up the whole case pretty well: "Whether Hill was guilty of murder or not, he clearly did not receive a fair trial, one that might have credibly determined the truth" (p. 62).
It does seem that few people actually want the truth. I visited Amazon.com in trying to find good additional sources to allow further research. The reader reviews were absolutely useless -- clearly most of them had already decided their opinions, and they reviewed the books positively or negatively based on what *they* think happened.
A mild example of this occurs in Sing Out! magazine, volume 27, number 5 (1979), p. 39. which mentions the attempt, on the hundredth anniversary of Hill's birth, to win him a pardon. It mentions the holdup, and it mention's Hill's bullet wound. It does not mention the eyewitness testimony that one of the robbers was injured, nor does it describe how feeble Hill's alibit was, nor does it describe his attempts to represent himself. Thus, while it never quite says that Hill was innocent, it makes the case against him appear much weaker than it actually was.
The Richards essay cited above lists several books about Hill's life and trials. Richards himself thinks that Hill's conviction was on "very slender circumstantial evidence." (We should note that circumstantial evidence is now known to be generally more reliable than eyewitness evidence. The weak point in the evidence, if anything, is the eyewitness testimony to what went on during the fatal robbery.) Ralph Chaplin published an account that was largely hearsay. Wallace Stegner felt Hill to be guilty. Philip Foner is certain Hill never had a fair trial. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Arn175

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Joe Jimmy Murphy

See Jimmy Murphy (File: Beld291)

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Joe Livermore

DESCRIPTION: Joe Livermore captains Columbia from Eastport. "When we got to Eastport it was on the lucky day, Each man took his chest and no longer would stay, If we can't do no better boys, we'll stay on the shore And we'll never go to sea with old Joe Livermore"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: ordeal sailor ship
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-NovaScotia 124, "Joe Livermore" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS124 (Partial)
Roud #1826
NOTES: The tune as given by Creighton doesn't quite match any version of the Derry Down tune I know, but that is clearly the basis for the piece; looking at the lyrics, I suspect this is derived from "Red Iron Ore." The similarity is great enough that I instantly felt I had met this song before, even though (to the best of my knowledge) I haven't. - RBW
File: CrNS124

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Joe Slinsworth

See Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth) (File: R219)

---

Joe Steinberg

See Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth) (File: R219)

---

Joe Stiner (Joe Slinsworth)

DESCRIPTION: The singer, (Joe Stiner), has apparently recently arrived in the West when he is induced to join the army. After various adventures under General Lyon, the army he is with is defeated and he flees back to Saint Louis, vowing not to fight again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar foreigner battle
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 10, 1861 - Battle of Wilson's Creek
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Belden, pp. 362-363, "Joe Slinsworth" (1 text)
Randolph 219, "Joe Stiner" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 223, "(Joe Steinberg)" (1 fragment)
Roud #3592
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jolly Union Boys" and references there (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
NOTES: This song describes, with fair accuracy, the campaigns of Captain (later General) Nathaniel Lyon in 1861. The action takes place in Missouri, which was the northernmost of all slave states. Although a minority favored secession, most Missourians probably wanted to stay with the Union.
Governor Jackson, however, was not one of them. Having the machinery of state government at his back, he moved to take Missouri from the Union.
The Union governor, John C. Fremont, did little to prevent him, so Lyon, with the political support of Frank Blair, Jr., set out to circumvent him. Lyon captured the Missouri arsenal, then took Camp Jackson from Confederate General Frost. He then drove the Confederates in rout from Rolla.
Then Lyon made his mistake. He decided to risk his 5000 men against 10000 Confederates in a surprise attack. This might have worked (especially as Confederate generals Price and McCulloch hated each other), but Lyon's outflanking force (led by the inept Franz Sigel-- the Siegel of the song) was routed with small loss to the enemy.
The Confederates were now warned, and had a better than five-to-two numerical edge. Even so, the remnants of Lyon's little army held on all day, until their commander was killed. The senior surviving officer, Major (later General) Curtis, ordered a retreat.
Wilson's Creek was not really a costly battle by later standards; the forces involved were small, and so badly trained that they were almost unable to inflict casualties. But the campaign had been a hard one (it succeeded, all by itself, in preserving most of Missouri for the Union); it would not be surprising if a few soldiers refused ever to return to the army. - RBW
File: R219

---

Joe Turner

DESCRIPTION: "They tell me Joe Turner he done come (or "done come and gone") (x2), Got my man and gone." "He come with forty links of chain (x2), Got my man and gone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (copyright, W. C. Handy)
KEYWORDS: separation police
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Sandburg, p. 241, "Joe Turner" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 137, (no title) (1 fragment)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 265, (no title) (1 fragment), followed by p. 266, (Joe Turner Blues) (1 text, the Handy version)
Handy/Silverman-Blues, p. 104-107, "Joe Turner Blues" (1 text, 1 tune, extremely heavily adapted; the original tune, with a single verse, appears on page 17)
DT, JOETURNR*
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Going Down the River for Long
NOTES: Courlander reports that this was based on an incident on 1892, when a flood cost a number of people their livelihood. A storekeeper named Turner (though not Joe Turner) anonymously supplied their needs until he died, whereupon the gifts stopped.
It should be noted, however, that this does not match Sandburg's song at all, though it has the same lyrics as Courlander's fragment. Presumably Courlander's source adapted an older song to a local need. In support of this, we note that Handy/Silverman, though dating the song to the same time, regard Turner (actually Joe Tourney, brother of the governor of Tennessee) as the leader of a chain gang.
Scarborough tells a variant on the same story: Joe Turner was the brother of one-time Tennessee governor Pete Turner, and seems to have been an enforcer of Jim Crow laws, grabbing Blacks seemingly at random and subjecting them to prosecution in kangaroo courts.
The notes in Handy/Silverman regard this as the archetypal folk blues -- perhaps even the ancestor of the entire genre. The former statement may arguably be true; the latter I must seriously doubt. It seems more like the ancestor of the popular blues. Handy, according to Scarborough, admitted to using the traditional piece and supressing Turner the corrupt policeman and turning him into a missing lover. - RBW
File: San241

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Joe Williams

DESCRIPTION: "My name it is Joe Williams, my age is 21, I came out to this country a ramblin' son-of-a-gun...." "I went to town.... On Fifth Avenue I met a pretty lass, I introduced her to my elick, and I shoved it up her ass." His reward is a venereal disease
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1976 (recorded by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: derivative disease whore
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Logsdon 32, pp. 182-185, "Joe Williams" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10096
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier (I)" (tune) and references there.
File: Logs032

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Jog Along Till Shearing

DESCRIPTION: "The truth, it's in my song so clear Without a word of gammon: The swagmen travel all the year Waiting for the lambin'." The shearers work when they must, drink when they can, and scratch along until the next shearing season begins
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (collected from Joe Cashmere)
KEYWORDS: sheep rambling Australia
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 86-87, "Jog Along Till Shearing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 142-143, "Jog Along 'til Shearing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 190-191, "Jog Along Till Shearing" (1 text)
DT, JOGSHEAR*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bow Wow Wow" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Big Gun Shearer" (plot)
File: MA086

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Johanna Shay

DESCRIPTION: "In the Emerald Isle so far from here across the deep blue sea, There live a maid that I love dear...." He praises Johanna's beauty and fidelity. The birds' song remind him of her. He hopes she will soon become Mrs. O'Day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, pp. 106-107, "Johanna Shay" (1 text)
Roud #9575
File: Dean106

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John (George) Riley (I) [Laws N36]

DESCRIPTION: A stranger urges a girl to forget her lover; she will not. He tells her that Riley had been aboard his ship, and that Riley had been killed in battle with the French. She is distressed; he reveals that he is Riley and will never again leave her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Shield's _Songs and Ballads in use in the Province of Ulster...1845_, according to Moylan) +1818 (William Garret, _Right Choyse and Merrie Book of Garlands_)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise reunion
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Laws N36, "John (George) Riley I"
Greig #138, pp. 2-3, "George Rylie"; Greig #148, p. 2, "George Rylie" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan5 1039, "George Riley" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
SharpAp 82, "George Reilly" (8 texts, 8 tunes)
Brewster 39, "George Reilly" (1 text)
Eddy 37, "George Riley" (2 texts, although Laws assigns only the A text to this ballad; the B text, which is fairly short, might go with this or N37)
JHCox 95, "George Reilly" (1 text plus mention of 2 more; Laws's citations are far from clear, since he cites the same page reference under both N36 and N37, but Cox's printed text is clearly this piece; presumably he thinks one of the unprinted texts to be N37)
Moylan 9, "George Reilly Who Fought at Port Royal Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 592, JREILLY6
Roud #267
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The New-Slain Knight" [Child 263]
cf. "The Banks of Brandywine" [Laws H28]
cf. "The Blooming Bright Star of Belle Isle" [Laws H29]
cf. "Willie and Mary (Mary and Willie; Little Mary; The Sailor's Bride)" [Laws N28]
cf. "A Seaman and His Love (The Welcome Sailor)" [Laws N29]
cf. "William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer)" [Laws N30]
cf. "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32]
cf. "Lovely Nancy (I)" [Laws N33]
cf. "Janie of the Moore" [Laws N34]
cf. "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35]
cf. "John (George) Riley (II)" [Laws N37]
cf. "The Mantle So Green" [Laws N38]
cf. "MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe)" [Laws N39]
cf. "The Banks of Claudy" [Laws N40]
cf. "The Lady of the Lake (The Banks of Clyde II)" [Laws N41]
cf. "Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token)" [Laws N42] (one of the most common of the ballads of this sort, often known as "John Riley")
cf. "Blackbirds and Thrushes (I)"
cf. "As Broad as I was Walking"
cf. "Come All Ye False Lovers"
cf. "Skerry's Blue-Eyed Jane"
cf. "The Banks of the Clyde"
cf. "The Banks of the Dee (II)"
cf. "Lurgan Town (I)"
cf. "The Banks of the Inverness"
cf. "Cairn-o'-Mount"
cf. "Drumallachie"
cf. "Down by the Seaside" (part of plot, lyrics)
cf. "Yon Green Valley" (lyrics)
cf. "Bleacher Lassie o' Kelvinhaugh"
cf. "The Lass of Swansea Town (Swansea Barracks)"
cf. "The Soldier's Return"
cf. "Billy Ma Hone"
cf. "Mary of Sweet Belfast Town"
cf. "As I Was Walking Down In Yon Valley" (plot)
cf. "The Plains of Waterloo" (tune, per GreigDuncan5)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
George Riley
John Riley
Johnnie Riley
NOTES: The theme of a lover coming in disguise and testing his love is ancient; there is a version in Ovid's Metamorphoses (VII.685 and following). Cephalus doubts Procris, and (disguised by the goddess Diana) comes to her and tries to get her to be unfaithful to him. She utterly rejects his advances.
In that case, however, the ending is not happy. Although they are reunited, and happy for a time, she eventually starts to doubt him (prompted perhaps by his earlier doubts?). She follows him as he goes hunting, and he -- hearing a rustling in the leaves -- kills her with a cast of his javelin.
Even older, of course, is the version in the Odyssey. - RBW
See the notes to "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32] for Mackenzie's discussion of Laws N36 as source for "The Mantle So Green" [Laws N38] and "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32].
[On April 12, 1782], Admiral George Brydges Rodney defeated the French Admiral the Count De Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes in the Caribbean and brought the captured French ships into Fort Royal. (source} Moylan; George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney at the Wikipedia site). [See also Arthur Herman, To Rule the Waves, pp. 316-318; Herman notes that Rodney pioneered the attack from the leeward side, assuring that the French could not escape him by running; Herman also considers the battle to have re-established British naval dominance, which was not broken even in the Napoleonic Wars. - RBW]
Both Laws and Moylan make fight the battle between Rodney and De Grasse. Laws has Reiley serving on Belflew; Moylan makes it Balflour. Moylan notes "The Formidable was Admiral Rodney's own vessel. The Barfleur was the ship which captured de Grasse's flagship, the Ville de Paris." - BS
Brewster's version also mentions the Rodney/De Grasse battle; the ship in his text is the Belle Flower, though the date is April 10. Eddy has the date right; the ship is the Belflew. Cox also lists the Belflew (and has the April 12 date); presumably their agreement was the basis for the name in Laws.
For more on Rodney, see the notes to "Rodney's Glory." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LN36

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John (George) Riley (II) [Laws N37]

DESCRIPTION: A stranger urges a girl to marry him; she replies that, having lost her chance to marry Riley, she intends to live single. He tries again, asking her to come to (Pennsylvania); she refuses. At last he reveals that he is Riley, and offers to marry her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1817 (The New American Songster)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage disguise
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Ireland Britain(England)
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Laws N37, "John (George) Riley II"
Randolph 56, "John Riley" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BrownII 93, "John Reilly" (1 text, presumably this song though Laws does not list it under any Riley ballad)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 267-270, "Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor" (3 texts; the second, "The Sailor," with tune on p. 427, is this song; the first, "Young Willie's Return, or The Token," with tune on pp. 426-427, is "The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor)" [Laws N35]; the third, "Billy Ma Hone," with tune on p. 427, seems to be its own song)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 135-136, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 34, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, p. 95, "John RIley" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 82-83, "Young John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 79, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 210-211, "[John Riley]" (1 text, 1 tune, sufficiently abbreviated that the plot does not allow us to say which Riley ballad it is, but the first verse implies it goes here)
JHCox 95, "George Reilly" (1 text plus mention of 2 more; Laws is difficult to interpret on this point, but it appears he means one of Cox's un-printed texts to go here while the printed text in N36)
SHenry H826, p. 309, "James Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 149, "John Riley" (1 text)
DT, JREILLY2
Roud #267
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "John Riley" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01) (on PeteSeeger29); "Johnny Riley" (on PeteSeeger40)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. esp. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
George Riley
John Riley
Johnnie Riley
NOTES: The characteristic first verse of this particular Riley ballad runs something like
As I walked out one summer's morning
To take the fine and pleasant air,
There I spied a most beautiful damsel,
She appeared to me like lilies fair. - RBW
The first two Seeger recordings have distinctly different tunes. - PJS
File: LN37

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John Anderson, My Jo (I)

DESCRIPTION: Singer tells how, when she first saw John, he was young, handsome, and her first love; now his hair is white, but she loves him still. They've climbed the hill together and must now totter down, but they'll go hand in hand and "sleep together at the foot"
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: 1790
KEYWORDS: love age death hair
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 141, "John Anderson, My Jo (I)"
DT, JOHNAND3*
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #302, p. 419, "John Anderson My Jo" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1790)
ST FSWB141B (Full)
RECORDINGS:
Henry Burr, "John Anderson, My Jo" (Victor 4557, 1906; Victor 16213, 1909)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 12[some words illegible], "John Anderson My Jo" ("John Anderson, my jo, John, when we were first acquent")[2 verses], J. Catnach (London), 1829; also Firth b.25(600/601) View 1 of 2, Firth b.28(25a) View 1 of 2, Firth b.25(295), "John Anderson My Jo" [2 verses]; Firth c.14(21), "John Anderson My Jo" [6 verses]; Firth b.27(271), Johnson Ballads 528, Harding B 11(1894), "John Anderson, My Jo" [7 verses]; Harding B 11(487), "John Anderson My Joe[sic] ("John Anderson, my jo, John, when nature first began)" [5 verses]
Bodleian, Harding B 45(17) View 3 of 3, "John Anderson My Joe[sic], John" ("John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean"), unknown, no date; also Harding B 11(439), "John Anderson, my jo"
LOCSheet, sm1836 370070, "John Anderson my Jo John" ("John Anderson, my jo, John, when nature first began)," George Endicott (New York), 1836 (tune)
LOCSinging, sb20240a, "John Anderson, my Jo"("John Anderson, my jo, John, When we were first acquent"), J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo, John"
cf. "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (tune)
cf. "Cruiskeen Lawn" (tune)
cf. "John Barleycorn, My Jo" (temperance parody)
cf. "Wae Be to that Weary Drink, John Anderson, My Jo" (temperance derivative)
NOTES: This sounds like a version of "John Anderson, My Jo, John" that's been so thoroughly bowdlerized that nothing remains but the aging motif. The overall mood of the two songs is so different that I've split them. - PJS
This is actually the Burns rewrite, published in the Scots Musical Museum (and fairly often reprinted, e.g. in Palgrave's Golden Treasury, item CXCVII). Apparently Burns didn't dare publish the bawdy original, but liked the feeling of ths song.
Those who want to see an even stranger rewrite should examine "John Barleycorn, My Jo, John" (Logan, pp. 221-222), a parody in which grain is the singer's love. Another broadside parody is "My Bonnie Meg, My Jo" [NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(105), "My Bonnie Meg, My Jo," unknown, c. 1875], which deals with a man's problems with an elderly shrew of a wife.
NLScotland L.C.Fol.60(15b), "John Anderson, My Jo (A New Reading)," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890, is also a raspy dialog between husband and wife, in which they decide to go to bed and fight another day; it is probably a rewrite of the Burns version, though there might be some bawdry from the traditional version. - RBW
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 45(17) italicizes Burns's two verses among its total of eight verses; Harding B 11(439) has the same arrangement without the italics. This eight verse version, beginning "John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean" seems the basis for the temperance song "Wae Be to That Weary Drink, John Anderson, My Jo" ("John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean"). The first verse at least of this version seems to belong to "John Anderson, My Jo, John," viz.,
John Anderson, my jo, John, I wonder what you mean
To rise so soon in the morning, and sit up so late at e'en.
Ye'll blear out a' your e'en, John, and why should you do so,
Gang sooner to your bed at e'en, John Anderson, my jo.
Broadside LOCSinging sb20240a: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: FSWB141B

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John Anderson, My Jo, John

DESCRIPTION: Singer upbraids her lover for rising so early and coming to bed so late, tells him he's aging and risking being cuckolded. She describes his attributes fairly explicitly, and her own, saying "'Tis all for your conveniency/John Anderson, my jo"
AUTHOR: Attributed to Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: age marriage sex husband bawdy
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 131-133, "John Anderson My Jo" (1 text, short and probably bowdlerized; Percy's first and final editions have some differences)
Silber-FSWB, p. 155 "John Anderson, My Jo (II)
DT, JOHNAND*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo (I)"
cf. "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (tune)
cf. "Cruiskeen Lawn" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
John Anderson, My Jo (I) (File: FSWB141B)
Johnny Bull, My Jo, John (File: SBoA118)
John Bull's Epistle (Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 172-174)
O Jimmy Fisk, My Jo, Jim (fragment in Cohen-LSRail, p. 91)
NOTES: It's clear that "John Anderson, My Jo (I)" is a thoroughly bowdlerized version of this song, but their mood is so different that I've split them. - PJS
And properly; Burns reportedly had to clean it us to make the song singable in polite society.
There is still a third version, the Digital Tradition's JOHNAND5, which is a temperance song.
Burns may have had his hand in some versions even of the bawdy text, but it is not all his; the "official" version, in the Scots Musical Museum (filed in the Index as "John Anderson, My Jo (I)") is entirely Burns's work. - RBW
File: FSWB155A

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John Atkins (The Drunkard's Warning)

DESCRIPTION: "Poor drunkards, poor drunkards, take warning by me, The fruits of transgression behold now I see." John Atkins, when drunk, slew his "dear companion." His family and friends are left weeping. He regrets his acts and warns against drink
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Henry, from Mrs. William Franklin)
KEYWORDS: drink warning execution murder
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 115, "John Atkins" (1 text)
Roud #4191
File: MHAp115

---

John B. Sails, The

DESCRIPTION: A description of a horrible journey on the "sloop John B." Refrain: "Let me go home! I want to go home; I feel so break-up, I want to go home." Among the problems on the voyage: A drunken first mate who is arrested for robbery and a cook who won't
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: ship sailor hardtimes cook Caribbean
FOUND IN: West Indies
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 22-23, "The John B. Sails" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 280, "The John B.'s Sails" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 93, "John B. Sails" (1 text)
DT, WRKJOHNB
Roud #15634
RECORDINGS:
Rex Allen, "Wreck of the John B" (Mercury 5573, 1951)
Cleveland Simmons Group: "Histe Up the John B. Sail" (AAFS 418 B2, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Sloop John B.
The Wreck of the John B.
NOTES: Although I have yet to encounter a version of this song actually describing the sinking of the John B., the craft is said to lie at the bottom of Governor's Harbor in Nassau, where its remains are considered almost a historic monument. - RBW
File: San022

---

John Barbour

See Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)

---

John Barleycorn

DESCRIPTION: John Barleycorn is proclaimed dead but springs to life when the rain/dew falls on him. At midsummer he grows a beard; then men with scythes cut him, bind him to a cart, wheel him to a barn, and brew him into beer. The last verse praises his merits
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1625 (broadside from the reign of James I)
KEYWORDS: resurrection death magic drink
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(NE) Canada(Ont,Queb) Ireland
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Sharp-100E 84, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 276, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 56-57, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 216-217, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 89, "The Barley Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 13,13A, pp. 32,105,160-32,105,160-162, "John Barleygrain" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hodgart, p. 156, "Sir John Barleycorn" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 559, "John Barleycorn" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 101, "John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 46-48, "John Barleycorn" (1 text plus some excerpts, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN282, "As I went through the North Country"
DT, JBARLEY* BARLEY1
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #23, pp. 22-24, "John Barleycorn. A Ballad" (1 text, from before 1784)
Roud #164
RECORDINGS:
O. J. Abbott, "The Barley Grain for Me" (on Abbott1)
Austin Flanagan, "The Barley Grain" (on Voice14)
Haxey Hood singers and customers at "The King's Arms," Haxey, Lincs. "John Barleycorn" (on FieldTrip1)
Fred Jordan, "John Barleycorn" (on Voice13)
A. L. Lloyd, "John Barleycorn" (on Lloyd3, Lloyd5)
Pete Seeger & O. J. Abbott, "Barley Grain" (on Newport59/60)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 3(83a), "A pleasant new ballad to sing ev'ning and morn, of the bloody murder of sir John Barley corn"; also Johnson Ballads 1408[many illegible words], "Sir John Barleycorn"("There was three knights came from the north"), W. Jackson and Son (Birmingham), 1842-1855; Harding B 11(1189), Harding B 15(386b), Johnson Ballads 2847[some illegible words], "Sir John Barleycorn"; 2806 b.9(38), "The Barley Corn"
LOCSinging, as100660, "The Barley Corn," P. Brereton (Dublin), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Barley Grain for Me
NOTES: Burns: "This is partly composed on the plan of an old song known by the same name." - BS
MacColl & Seeger speculate that "John Barleycorn" was derived from the Scots ballad "Allan-a-Maut," found in the Bannatyne manuscript, 1568; its theme is similar. - PJS
Of course, the legend of the eternal grain is old -- as is the legend of the dying-and-resurrected God. Jesus, obviously, is the prototype of this, but there is also the Greek Persephone legend and others.
Incidentally, when Prohibition was passed in the United States, John Barleycorn was given a bonus funeral, beyond the annual supply. The February 2005 issue of American History magazine showed an actual tombstone:
In Memoriam
John Barleycorn
Born B.C.
Died Jan. 16, 1920
Resurrection?
There are also broadsides commemorating his death, e.g. NLScotland, Ry.III.a.10(099), "A Hue and Cry After Sir John Barleycorn," unknown, after 1720. The notes to the broadside state that this was made in respone to Robert Walpole's 1725 imposition of the malt tax -- but, in context, it seems likely that the idea was lifted from an early form of this song. - RBW
The Bodleian broadside Douce Ballads 3(83a) appears to be older than the other broadsides. Unfortunately, Bodleian has neither the printer nor date estimate. The tune is noted as "Shall I lye beyond thee."
Broadside LOCSinging as100660 appears to be the same as Bodleian 2806 b.9(38) printed by P. Brereton (Dublin). - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: ShH84

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John Barleycorn, My Jo

DESCRIPTION: The singer addresses John Barleycorn. "You rob me of my money John which ought to pay my bills." You go disguised "as Mr Porter." I take my first drink in the morning "before that I get up" Preachers preach against him: "on you we'll turn our backs"
AUTHOR: George Barron (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink derivative nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 601, "John Barleycorn, My Jo" (1 text)
Roud #6051
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo (I)" (form)
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo, John" (form)
cf. "Wae Be to that Weary Drink, John Anderson, My Jo" (another temperance derivative of "John Anderson")
ALTERNATE TITLES:
John Barleycorn
File: GrD3601

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John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold

DESCRIPTION: Singer praises Barleycorn; his robes are rich and green, his head speared with prickly beard; when stricken down, he uses his blood for England's good. Chorus: "Hey John Barleycorn/Ho John Barleycorn/Old and young thy praise has sung/John Barleycorn"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 20(81))
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer praises John Barleycorn for his heroic qualities; his robes are rich and green, his head speared with prickly beard; when stricken down, he uses his blood for England's good. All, great and small, find his aid valuable -- he "makes weak men strong and old ones young and all men brave and bold". The singer praises ale, scorning all other drinks. Chorus: "Hey John Barleycorn/Ho John Barleycorn/Old and young thy praise has sung/John Barleycorn"
KEYWORDS: age drink nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 277, "John Barleycorn's a Hero Bold" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 227-229, "Hey! John Barleycorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2141
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(81), "John Barleycorn" ("John Berleycorn [sic] is a hero bold"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 13(13), Harding B 11(1509), Harding B 11(3188), Firth b.26(301), Harding B 15(150a), "John Barleycorn"
LOCSinging, as111460, "John Barleycorn," W.S. Fortey (London), no date
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John Barleycorn" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hey John Barleycorn
NOTES: Although this shares subject matter and a few words with "John Barleycorn", it lacks the explicit death-and-resurrection plot of the latter, so I split them. - PJS
More interesting to me is the extreme similarity between the Ford and Kennedy versions. The only substantial difference might be a mishearing on Kennedy's part: He transcribes the near-nonsense "fit nigh to serve the queen" for Ford's "fit knight to serve the queen." There are other differences, but they are such as might arise simply in a singer's minor variations between sessions. I have to think there is literary dependence. - RBW
Broadsides LOCSinging as111460 and Bodleian Harding B 11(3188) are duplicates. - BS
File: K277

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John Barleygrain

See John Barleycorn (File: ShH84)

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John Barlow

See Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)

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John Brown Had a Little Indian

See Ten Little Indians (John Brown Had a Little Indian) (File: R594)

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John Brown Had a Little Injun

See Ten Little Indians (John Brown Had a Little Indian) (File: R594)

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John Brown's Body

DESCRIPTION: In stirring cadences, the story of anti-slavery zealot John Brown's death is told: "John Brown's body lies a-mould'ring in his grave (x3); his soul goes marching on." "He captured Harper's Ferry with his nineteen men so true...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1861 (Huntington)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar Black(s) death execution memorial burial rebellion slavery
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1800 - Birth of John Brown
October 16-18, 1859 - John Brown and 20 others (fifteen of them, including Brown's three sons, are white) attack the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, hoping to gather the weapons needed for a slave rebellion. Forces led by Robert E. Lee soon attack the rebels; only Brown and four others live to be captured and placed on trial
Dec 2, 1859 - Hanging of John Brown at Charlestown, Virginia
FOUND IN: US(SE,MA) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (13 citations):
BrownIII 378, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, mixed, plus two of the offshoot "Hang (John Brown/Jeff Davis) from a Sour Apple Tree")
Doerflinger, pp. 72-73, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune -- a curious sailor's version that mentions Brown only peripherally and replaces the "His soul goes marching on" with "Then it's hip, hip, hip, hurrah!")
Hugill, pp. 442-443, "John Brown's Body" (1 text plus fragments of a German version, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, p. 40, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, tune referenced)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 158-160, "John Brown" (1 text, slightly modified by Huntington, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 37, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 528-529, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 84-85, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 62, "John Brown's Body" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 305, "John Brown's Body" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 131, "Battle Hymn of the Republic (Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us? -- John Brown -- Glory Hallelujah -- John Brown's Baby Had a Cold upon His Chest")
GreigDuncan8 1629, "John Brown's Snapsack" (1 short text -- see note)
DT, JOHNBRWN*
Roud #771
RECORDINGS:
J. W. Myers, "John Brown's Body" (Victor A-824, c. 1901)
Pete Seeger, "John Brown's Body" (on PeteSeeger24) (on PeteSeeger28) (on PeteSeeger29)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (tune & meter)
cf. "Marching On" (tune & meter)
cf. "Solidarity Forever" (tune)
cf. "Marching Song of the First Arkansas" (tune)
cf. "James Brown" (tune)
cf. "On to Washington" (tune)
cf. "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School" (tune)
cf. "The Bulldog on the Bank" (tune)
cf. "Pass Around the Bottle (As We Go Marching Home)" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Battle Hymn of the Republic (File: RJ19022)
Solidarity Forever (File: SBoA282)
The Bulldog on the Bank (File: FSWB399B)
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School (File: PHCFS100)
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Horror of the Ending of the Term" (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 101)
James Brown (Greenway-AFP, p.p. 38-39)
On to Washington (Greenway-AFP, p. 62)
My Pink Pajamas (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 34; DT, PINKPAJ)
Chicken Sandwich (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 11)
Glory, Glory, Pork Superior (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 21)
The Bulldog and the Bullfrog (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 47)
Glory, Glory, How Peculiar (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 106)
The Bugs Marched Down the Aisle (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 154)
She Waded in the Water (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 209)
Birmingham's My Home (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 245)
Oh, Ay Liff in Minneapolis (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 246)
NOTES: The well-known tune of this piece, "Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us," is often credited to William Steffe, but I know of no absolute proof of this. The "John Brown" words were composed within months of the anti-slavery crusader's death, and had spread throughout the Union by the early stages of the Civil War. (Note that Huntington has a version from 1861!) - RBW
John Uhlemann reports that the tune has been traced from a 17th century Swedish Lutheran hymnal, and that it has also entered folk tradition in Hungary, presumably independently of its American associations. - PJS
I have seen it argued that the "John Brown" of the song was not the abolitionist but an obscure American soldier (Irwin Silber describes him as "Sergeant John Brown, a Scotsman, a member of the Second Battalion, Boston Light Infantry Volunteer Militia," who later joined the Twelfth Massachusetts). I suppose this is possible -- but everyone interpreted it to mean the fanatic who captured Harper's Ferry. - RBW
GreigDuncan8 is a fragment about John Brown's possessions -- "John Brown's snapsack number ninety nine" and "John Brown's stocking is darned in the heels" -- with the tag line "As we go marching on." Duncan is quoted: "The ordinary song, or rather the parody, supposed to refer to the queen's John Brown." Prince Albert died in 1861. This John Brown was a servant of Queen Victoria, whom she befriended in the decade after Albert's death. "The Queen's friendship with Brown caused resentment among her family and courtiers, and stories spread in society, and were published in foreign newspapers, that the Queen had secretly married Brown. References to 'Mrs Brown', meaning the Queen, were common at society dinner tables in London." (Source: Jasper Ridley, "Victoria r. 1837-1901" in The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England, ed. Fraser (London, 1975), p. 305). If Duncan is right, and this is a parody, this version should probably be split. - BS
I was indeed sorely tempted to split. If another version turns up with clear references to Victoria's John Brown, I certainly will.
Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-1861) in 1840. He was not well-liked at the time, being suspected of being "on the make" (see the notes to "The Wheels of the World"). But in fact he served England well as a diplomat -- e.g. his last significant act was to prevent a possible war with the United States in 1861 over the "Trent" affair; his exertions in this affair may have contributed to his death (Marshall, pp. 153-154). And Victoria doted upon him; when he died, she assumed mourning, and wore it for the rest of her life. She insisted on the construction of many monuments (Marshall, pp. 157-158), and had the room where he died preserved exactly as it had been at the time (Marshall, pp. 146-148). She largely withdrew from public view, as well, and was roundly criticized for her lack of involvement in public business, which lasted for about a decade; Marshall titles the chapter about her life in 1861-1865 "The Bitter Years."
The man largely credited with breaking her out of her funk is John Brown, "who was blunt and honest but caring," according to Ashley, p. 692. She had known him before Albert's death, when he cared for her horses in the Highlands. There her life had been relatively informal, so she had known him better than most of her other servants (Marshall, p. 168). But it was not Victoria who summoned Brown to be with her in England; it was others concerned with her behavior (Marshall, p. 169). It worked: She started to come out of her funk.
Victoria had a strong tendency to lean on one particular person -- Lord Melbourne (people had also called her "Mrs. Melbourne" for a time; Marshall, p. 170), or Albert, or someone. In a sense, Brown took that role. He accompanied her everywhere, and she started quoting his advice widely, as she had done with Albert and others (Longford, p. 323), and eventually made him an esqure and more than tripled his salary in the course of just three years (Longford, p. 326). Little wonder that the family began to resent him (Marshall, p. 169).
At the time, people suspected that the relationship was more serious than it probably was; by 1866 we see the the newspapers sometimes sarcastically calling Victoria "Mrs. Brown" (Longford, p. 327) -- or accusing them of a sexual relationship without benefit of marriage (Marshall, p. 170).
As Ellis puts it, "Victoria was a woman who needed a man. Melbourne, Uncle Leopold, Wellington, Disraeli were all public figures to whom she could give her personal trust. In this time of private withdrawal she turned to Brown, one of the two ghillies who had looked after her and Albert, a handsome intelligent Scot with a blunt manner, a (well-managed) fondness for whisky, and a strong chin. He went everywhere with her, conspicuously dressed as a Highlander.... His privileged status caused resentment in her household, and wild rumors were started that she had married him." There were even proposals to abolish the monarchy, so reclusive was the Queen and so peculiar her treatment of Brown.
It all faded out in the 1870s -- Victoria, it is true, continued to depend on Brown, but she began to play a more public role again (Longford, p. 345, declares that "All the Queen's troubles went back to the same source: her seclusion), and other tragedies made her seem much more human. There was even talk of him marrying someone else, although it does not appear that a marriage actually happened (Longford, pp. 332-333).
There is absolutely no substantial evidence of a sexual relationship, let along a marriage. Indeed, Marshall, p. 199, believes that it was not just Brown who drew Victoria out of her isolation; it was also Disraeli, who knew how to flatter her (the ultimate example being his work to make her Empress of India). In any case, Brown died in 1883 (giving a rather short window for the composition of a song about him). Longford, p. 333, also declared that a marriage with a commoner was completely out of Victoria's character, and adds evidence from her private writings that she stayed faithful to Albert all her life.
Interestingly, Morris, p. 440, reports that Victoria's "attachment to her Indian clerk, the Munshi, who succeeded the ghillie John Brown in her affections, edged toward the scandalous." But it's hard to believe that really amounted to anything; Victoria was by this time in her sixties and about as wide as she was tall. - RBW
Bibliography

• Ashley: Mike Ashley, British Kings and Queens, Barnes & Noble, 2000 (originally published as The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens, 1998)
• Ellis: Roger Ellis, Who's Who in Victorian Britain, 1997 (I use the 2001 Stackpole Books edition)
• Longford: Elizabeth Longford, Queen Victoria: Born to Succeed, Harper & Row, 1964
• Marshall: Dorothy Marshall: The Life and Times of Victoria, part of the Life and Times series of biographies of English monarchs (Antonia Fraser, general editor), 1972 (I use the 1998 Welcome Rain paperback edition)
• Morris: James Morris, Pax Britannica: The Climax of an Empire, 1968 (I use the 1980 Harcourt Brace/Harvest paperback)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Doe072b

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John Bruce

See John Bruce o the Forenit (File: DBuch67)

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John Bruce o the Forenit

DESCRIPTION: "At Martinmas term I gaed to the fair... I feed wi' a mannie to ca' his third pair, They ca' him John Bruse o' the (Fornit/Corner)." The song starts with a recitation of the poor conditions, then lists the folk found there -- including the pretty daughter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work moniker hardtimes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #133, p. 1, "John Bruce" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 372, "John Bruce o' the Fornet" (5 texts, 1 tune)
DBuchan 67, "John Bruce o the Forenit" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
Ord, pp. 229-230, "John Bruce o' the Corner" (1 text)
Roud #3937
ALTERNATE TITLES:
John Bruce o' the Fornit
Jockey Bruce o' the Fornet
John Bruce
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; South Fornet (372) is at coordinate (h1,v8) on that map [roughly 11 miles W of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: DBuch67

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John Bruce o' the Corner

See John Bruce o the Forenit (File: DBuch67)

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John Bruce o' the Fornet

See John Bruce o the Forenit (File: DBuch67)

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John Buchan, Blacksmith

DESCRIPTION: "Dear John, my plough is come to hand" begins a letter to the blacksmith praising his work. "Her every joint is so exact ..." It makes the ox-team so fast "neighbors swear they are grown fat." Love to your family and "kind wishes to my Will"
AUTHOR: William Lillie (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 462, "John Buchan, Blacksmith" (1 text)
Roud #5965
File: GrD3462

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John Bull and His Crew

See The Irish Harvestmen's Triumph (File: CrSNB104)

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John Bull Lives In England

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "John Bull lives in England, Taffy lives in Wales. Sandy lives in Scotland where there is all the girls. Paddy lives in Ireland as ev'rebody knows. There never was a coward where the little shamrock grows."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sternvall, _Sang under Segel_)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong home
FOUND IN: Sweden Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 453-454, "John Bull" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13694
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy Magee's Dream" (theme of national comparison)
NOTES: The Swedish shanty book Sang under Segel had the only previous printed version of this, but Hugill seems to think that it originated in England and migrated to Sweden. - SL
I think this is true at least of the words (though I don't know if they migrated to Sweden). Steve Roud collected a version of the text, and there are rather similar nursery rhymes floating about. - RBW
File: Hugi452

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John Burke

DESCRIPTION: "Bad luck attend you Percy wherever you may be. You would not assist my Johnny for he's drownded ... in the flurry off Kerry Bay." His true love comes to the funeral "dressed in her rich robes" and they bid "adieu to Johnny as we all marched away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: death funeral disaster lament lover mother sister clothes
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 467-468, "John Burke" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea467 (Partial)
Roud #9791
NOTES: Peacock notes "I was unable to find any reference to this lament in the Irish collections at my disposal." Burke's name and "Bad luck attend you" seem Irish enough, but maybe it's not Irish. There's a Kerry Bay near Gairloch in northwest Scotland across the Minch from the Outer Hebrides. The ballad mentions a "far field of glory on the leeward shore"; what war is this about? - BS
The prevailing winds in Britain are generally from the west (northwest in summer, southwest in winter). So the windward shore is Britain, the leeward the Hebrides, or Ireland -- or, just possibly, North America. It's hard to imagine a battle in the Hebrides that would be commemorated in an English song. And Kerry is on the southwest coast of Ireland. So "Kerry Bay" might be Dingle Bay, or just possibly Bantry Bay (which is just south of modern County Kerry, but in the same general area).
The most noteworthy battle in County Kerry proper was probably Callan (1261), but that is surely too early. So my guess (and it's just a guess) is that this refers to 1796 and the Bantry Bay landing, for which see "The Shan Van Voght." This fits on other grounds, since Hoche's Bantry Bay fleet had suffered badly from a storm (December 1796) and did not attempt to land. - RBW
File: Pea467

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John Cherokee

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Refrain: "Alabama John Cherokee, Way-aye-yah! Alabama John Cherokee." Slave who keeps running away is caught and put on board a ship, from which he escapes again. He's put in chains, and finally starves to death in the hold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917
KEYWORDS: shanty slave escape Indians(Am) ghost
FOUND IN: West Indies
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Colcord, p. 103, "John Cherokee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 439, "Alabama" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd,p. 330]
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "John Cherokee" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #4693
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Alabama John Cherokee
NOTES: Colcord and Hugill both state this is definitely of Negro origin, probably introduced to seaman by slaves stowing cotton. - SL
File: Hugi439

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John Dameray

DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus, "John come down the backstay... John Dameray." The singer's mother urges him to come home; he decides to do so, for he has "no money and no clothes." He vows, "From sea I will keep clear, and live by selling beer"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1893
KEYWORDS: shanty drink poverty homesickness
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 8-9, "John Dameray" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 272-273, "John Dameray," "Johnny, Come Down the Backstay" (2 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 201-202]
ST Doe008 (Partial)
Roud #9439
ALTERNATE TITLES:
John Damaray
File: Doe008

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John Done Saw that Number

DESCRIPTION: "John done saw that number, Way in the middle of the air." John the Baptist's preaching is summarized, and his baptism of Jesus described. The descent of the spirit on Jesus concludes the song.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Rev. Moses Mason)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible Jesus
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 61-64, (no title) (1 text)
Roud #11843
RECORDINGS:
Rev. Moses Mason, "John the Baptist" (Paramount 12702A, 1928; on AAFM2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel"
cf. "John Saw the Holy Number" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The feel of this is much like "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel," but the plot is purely New Testament (and the form argues that it is not the same as "John Saw the Holy Number," despite the similarity in first lines). The allusions include (where possible, I quote the text of Mark as the most primitive):
"John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance..." Mark 1:4; compare Matt. 3:1, Luke 3:2
"As it is written in the prophet Isaiah ["Esaias" in the song and the King James Bible]...
'The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
"Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight."'" - Mark 1:2-3; cf. Matt. 3:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23
"Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather girdle about his waist." - Mark 1:6; cf. Matt. 3:4
"In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." - Mark 1:9; cf. Matt. 3:13, (Luke 3:21)
"John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.'" - Matt. 3:14-15
"And just as [Jesus] was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn open and the Spirit descending like a dove on him." - Mark 1:10; cf. Matt. 3:16, Luke 3:22, (John 1:32)
"The Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the Wilderness... [the Temptation]" - Matt. 4:1-11; cf. (Mark 1:12-13), Luke 4:1-13. - RBW
File: CNFM061C

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John Doolan

See The Wild Colonial Boy [Laws L20] (File: LL20)

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John Dory [Child 284]

DESCRIPTION: John Dory gets a horse and sets out for Paris. There he meets King John. He offers to bring King John "all the churles in merie England" in return for a pardon. Dory is overtaken by one Nicholl of Cornwall, who takes him prisoner after a sharp battle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1609 (Ravenscroft)
KEYWORDS: ship royalty pardon battle foreigner
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1350-1364 - Reign of John II of France (the only French king named John who lived during the Hundred Years' War)
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 284, "John Dory" (1 text)
Bronson 284, "John Dory" (7 versions)
OBB 133, "John Dory" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 93-96, "John Dory" (1 text, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #1d, #3, #1c}
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 16, "John Dory" (1 text)
ST C284 (Full)
Roud #249
NOTES: In addition to the citation from Ravenscroft, we find a reference to this song in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle; ActII, scene iv, line 35 reads, "Would I had gone to Paris with John Dory."
There is a fish, Latin name Zeus astralis, informally known as the "John Dory." It is apparently carniverous, approaching its prey cautiously and colored so as to resemble seaweed. I do not know if the name is in any way connected with this song. - RBW
File: C284

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John Fergusson's Crew

DESCRIPTION: "There once was a man In Howland did dwell; His name was John Fergusson...." His lumber camp is small. The food is so bad the loggers claimed the butter moved. Tthe cooks are no good. Several men are lost. The camp is known by "the pork rind on the door"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Gray)
KEYWORDS: logging hardtimes food cook moniker
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, pp. 28-29, "John Fergusson's Crew" (1 text)
File: Gr029

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John Fox

DESCRIPTION: John Fox is caught stealing a hen. Expecting death, he makes his confession: his father was a thief; he steals to support his wife's appetite; he stole lambs before being caught. If you marry such a wife "train her wi' the rod. Use her to nae delicacies"
AUTHOR: Sawney Riddell (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: warning theft humorous animal chickens sheep father wife abuse
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #103, p. 1, "John Fox" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 498, "John Fox" (1 text)
Roud #5984
NOTES: Greig notes that the author, who is also the man who owned the stolen lambs in the song, must have written it "in the earlier part of last [19th] century, when the depredations of the fox had to be reckoned with. The song begins "There lives a man into this place, John Fox it is his name, And o' a' the ill deen hereaboot John Fox he gets the blame." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3498

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John Francois

See Boney (File: Doe006)

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John Funston [Laws F23]

DESCRIPTION: Young, handsome John Funston robs and murders William Cartmell. Although an innocent man is first held, Funston spends money too freely; he is captured and condemned to die. His family claims his body from two doctors who want it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: murder robbery execution corpse
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 9, 1825 - John Funston murders William Cartmell
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws F23, "John Funston"
Eddy 119, "John Funston" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Burt, p. 81-82, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 756, JONFUNST
Roud #2261
File: LF23

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John Gilbert is de Boat

DESCRIPTION: "John Gilbert is de boat, di-de-o... Runnin' in the Cincinnati trade." Description of the boat's travels, her cargo, the crew. "You see dat boat a-comin', she's comin' round de bend, An' when she gits in, She'll be loaded down again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: ship travel commerce nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 276, "John Gilbert is de Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
MWheeler, p. 43-46, "John Gilbert" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 574, "John Gilbert" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10012
NOTES: Botkin reports (following Wheeler), "The John Gilbert ran from Cincinnati to Florence, Alabama. She was built in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1881, and was named for Captain John Gilbert, of Evansville, Indiana, president of the Ohio and Tennessee River Packet Company." - RBW
File: LoF276

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John Grumlie

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

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John Gunn

DESCRIPTION: John Gun, the singer, says his men have robbed many a purse of gold. They stole merchant goods in a market near Inverurie. He names those who gave him trouble and have been or will be repaid. He has been set free from jail and "must go abroad"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: prison robbery exile
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan2 256, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "John Gunn" (2 texts, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan2 256, "John Gunn" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5849
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "For A' That and A' That" (tune, according to GreigDuncan2)
NOTES: GreigDuncan2: "[The singer] states that John Gunn was a well known robber in the north." "[Another singer] got it about '51 or '52 from a man who had been in the Turruff [sic] district." Maybe Turriff is meant. GreigDuncan3 has a map of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3"; Turriff is at coordinate (v5,h8) on that map [roughly 31 miles NNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD2256

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John Hardy [Laws I2]

DESCRIPTION: John Hardy, a "desperate boy... who carried a (gun) every day," threatens to kill any man who wins his money. Finally he does lose his money and shoots the other. Hardy flees, but before he can leave the state he is taken, tried, and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1909 (JAFL22)
KEYWORDS: murder gambling execution
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 19, 1894 - Execution (in Welch, WV) of one John Hardy, convicted for committing murder during a gambling fight
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Laws I2, "John Hardy"
Randolph 163, "John Hardy" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 244, "John Hardy" (3 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 103, "John Henry" (1 short text, which despite the title appears to have two "John Hardy" verses and only one of "John Henry")
Leach, pp. 759-761, "John Hardy" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 393, "John Hardy" (2 texts)
Lomax-FSUSA 85, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 141, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 124-126, "John Harty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 50, "John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 142, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 246, "John Hardy" (1 text)
JHCox 35, "John Hardy" (9 text, some of John Henry, some of John Hardy, some mixed: A is John Hardy with a John Henry second verse, B, C, and G are John Hardy with a John Henry opening verse, D, F, and I are pure John Hardy, E is John Hardy with material from John Henry and a "Pretty Little Foot" song, H is John Henry)
SharpAp 87, "John Hardy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 179, "(John Hardy)" (1 fragment)
Darling-NAS, pp. 235-236, "John Hardy" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 197, "John Hardy" (1 text)
DT 656, JOHNHARD
Roud #3262
RECORDINGS:
Clarence Ashley, "Old John Hardy" (Columbia 15654-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
Dock Boggs, "John Hardy" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1)
Carter Family, "John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man" (Victor V-40190, 1930; Zonophone [UK] 4294, n.d.; rec. 1928; Bluebird B-6033/Montgomery Ward M-4741, 1935; on AAFM1)
Eva Davis, "John Hardy" (Columbia 167-D, 1924)
Eve David [pseud. for Eva Davis?] "John Hardy" (Diva 6010-G, c. 1930)
Buell Kazee, "John Hardy" (Brunswick 144, 1927; on BefBlues1, ConstSor1) (on Kazee01)
Leadbelly, "John Hardy" (Musicraft 311. 1945)
Frank Proffitt, "John Hardy" (on Proffitt03)
J. W. Russell, "John Hardy" (AFS 3163 A3, 1936)
Mike Seeger, "John Hardy" (on MSeeger01)
Pete Seeger, "John Hardy" (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger27)
Ernest Stoneman, "John Hardy" (OKeh 7011, 1925); "Justin Winfield" [Ernest Stoneman, Willie Stoneman, and the Sweet Brothers], "John Hardy" (Gennett 6619, 1928; on RoughWays1)
Fields Ward, Glen Smith & Wade Ward, "John Hardy" (on HalfCen1)
Walter Williams, "John Hardy" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
NOTES: Cox prints a copy of the execution notice for John Hardy, who was convicted of first degree murder. He follows this with assorted personal reminiscences about Hardy. Unfortunately, the texts he quotes are very confused (most include John Henry verses among the stanzas about John Hardy), and one has to suspect that the reminiscences are also confused.
We also note that Sharp was finding North Carolina texts of the song only 20 years after the murder -- a surprisingly quick diffusion. I was initially tempted to wonder if Cox's John Hardy is indeed THE John Hardy.
I think these doubts can now be set aside. John Garst, who has done so much for John Henry scholarship, has also turned his attention to John Hardy, as has Norm Cohen.
Garst found the following:
"Census records report a John Hardy who was born in Virginia and who was 13 years old in 1880, when he lived in Glade Springs, Washington County, Virginia, with his parents, Miles and Malinda Hardy. If this is the John Hardy who was hanged in 1894, then he would have been about 27 years old, an age that fits some eyewitness descriptions.
"According to the Wheeling Daily Register of January 20, 1894, the trouble over the craps game was a pretext for Hardy to kill Thomas Drews. 'Both were enamoured of the same woman, and the latter proving the more favored lover, incurred Hardy's envy.' There was testimony to the effect that Hardy enlisted a confederate, Webb Gudger, who was also tried in connection with the crime.
Cohen and Garst both examined the data in Richard Ramella, "John Hardy: The Man and the Song," (Goldenseal 18, Spring 1992) Garst notes the following from that source:
"'Hardy's cohort Webb Gudger was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. After serving four years in the state penitentiary, he returned to McDowell County and later died in a railroad work accident near Elkhorn.' Gudger hid behind a rock during the game of craps and had agreed to shoot Drews if Hardy failed to do so.
"Hardy and Gudger were captured at the same time, a few days after the killing."
Ramella also states, "...Hardy's mother attempted to pay bail, but bail was not allowed for persons accused of capital offenses. There were possibly two other women connected with Hardy, his wife and a woman friend."
Garst has now established with high probability the existence of the wife, quoting the following news clip:
"Shot From Ambush.
"HUNTINGTON, W. Va., April 16.--
'Mrs. Mary Hardy was shot from ambush fifty miles south of this city last Saturday night while on her way home, by an unknown assassin. Her husband, John Hardy, was hanged in McDowell county several months ago. She was a desperate character."
Garst also found data on Gudger from the 1880 census:
Name: Webb Gudger
Home in 1880: Old Fort, McDowell, North Carolina
Age: 19
Estimated birth year: abt 1861
Birthplace: North Carolina
Occupation: Prisoner - Raleigh
Marital Status: Single
Race: Mulatto
Gender: Male
Garst observes that "his 'occupation' as a prisoner, at age 19, makes him a pretty good candidate" for Hardy's co-conspirator.
It all adds up to a pretty convincing case. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LI02

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John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man

See John Hardy [Laws I2] (File: LI02)

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John Harty

See John Hardy [Laws I2] (File: LI02)

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John He Baptized Jesus

DESCRIPTION: "John he baptized Jesus; 'Twas all through his command. The Holy Bible tells us That John was a righteous man. Little children, our lodging's here tonight (x3), I know you by your little garments. Our lodging's here tonight."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 604, "John He Baptized Jesus" (1 fragment)
Roud #11914
NOTES: Unquestionably a composite. But of what elements? - RBW
File: Br3604

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John Henry [Laws I1]

DESCRIPTION: The boss of a railroad crew has brought in a steam drill. John Henry, the best driver in the gang, vows he will never be outclassed by the machine. In a contest between the two, Henry is victorious (in most versions), but dies of the exertion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (JAFL)
KEYWORDS: train work death technology railroading worker
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (27 citations):
Laws I1, "John Henry"
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 61-89, "John Henry" (2 texts plus many excerpts and a copy of the Blankenship broadside, 2 tunes)
BrownII 280, "John Henry" (2 texts plus 5 fragments, 1 excerpt, and mention of 1 more, but only the "A" text, plus probably the "C" fragment, is this song; the fragments are of "Take This Hammer," "Swannanoah Tunnel," etc.)
Chappell-FSRA 103, "John Henry" (1 short text, which despite the title appears to have two "John Hardy" verses and only one of "John Henry")
Leach, pp. 756-759, "John Henry" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 383, "John Henry" (6 texts, but only three are true versions of "John Henry"; the rest appear to be variants of "Take this Hammer")
PBB 109, "John Henry" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 150-153, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 24-25, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 81, pp. 164-165, "John Henry (The Steel-Driving Man)" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 74, "John Henry" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax-FSNA 298, "John Henry-I"; 299, "John Henry-II" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the first containing a large portion of "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me/Been All Around This World" or a relative)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 3-10, "John Henry" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 233-237, "John Henry" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 240-241, "[John Henry]" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 52 "Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand (John Henry)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 243, "John Henry" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 111, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 748, "The Death of John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune -- a strange version, sung, and partly spoken, by Dave Macon. It starts with the death and funeral, then goes back to the familiar story)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 111-115, "(John Henry)" (1 text); pp. 280-285, "John Henry" (3 tunes, partial texts); also pp. 137-138, "(John Henry)" (1 text, with a fragment of the plot of "John Henry" but many lyrics from "Take This Hammer")
JHCox 35, "John Hardy" (9 text, some of John Henry, some of John Hardy, some mixed: A is John Hardy with a John Henry second verse, B, C, and G are John Hardy with a John Henry opening verse, D, F, and I are pure John Hardy, E is John Hardy with material from John Henry and a "Pretty Little Foot" song, H is John Henry)
Darling-NAS, pp. 230-234, "John Henry" (3 texts plus a text of "Take This Hammer")
PSeeger-AFB, p. 82, "John Henry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 107, "John Henry" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 123, "John Henry" (1 text)
DT 317, JHNHENRY* JOHNHENR
ADDITIONAL: Zora Neale Hurston, _Mules and Men_ (New York,1990 (paperback edition of 1935 original)), pp. 251-255, "John Henry" (with tune)
Roud #790
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "John Henry" (on NFMAla3)
DeFord Bailey, "John Henry" (Victor 23336, 1932/Victor 23831, 1933; rec. 1928)
James "Iron Head" Baker, "Little John Henry" (AFS 202 A1, 1934) (AFS 1853 B1, 1853 B2, 1937)
Dock Boggs, "John Henry" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
Big Bill Broonzy, "John Henry" (on Broonzy01)
Callahan Brothers, "John Henry" (Decca 5998, 1941)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "John Henry Blues" (OKeh 7004, 1924)
Bill Cornett ,"John Henry" (on MMOKCD)
(Joe) Evans & (Arthur) McClain, "John Henry Blues" (Oriole 8080/Perfect 181/Romeo 5080/Conqueror 7876, all 1931; on BefBlues3)
G. B. Grayson and Henry Whitter, "John Henry the Steel Driving Man" (Gennett, unissued, 1927)
Fruit Jar Guzzlers, "Steel Driving Man" (Broadway 8199, 1928; on TimesAint03)
Woody Guthrie, "John Henry" (Stinson 628, mid-1940s)
Willie Hamilton, "John Henry" (on HandMeDown1)
Vera Hall, "John Henry" (AFS 1320 A2, 1937) [Note: Dixon/Godrich/Rye also identifies this AFS number with a Vera Hall recording of "Po' Laz'us"; one of them is clearly in error, but I don't know which - PJS]
Sid Harkreader, "John Henry" (Broadway 8114, c. 1930)
Sid Hemphill, "John Henry" (on LomaxCD1700)
Doc Hopkins, "John Henry" (Radio 1411, n.d.)
Furry Lewis, "John Henry" (on FLewis01, DownHome)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "John Henry Blues" (OKeh 45101, 1927; on TimesAint02, ConstSor1)
Buell Kazee, "John Henry" (on Kazee01)
Ed Lewis, "John Henry" (on LomaxCD1705)
Furry Lewis, "John Henry (The Steel Driving Man), parts 1 & 2" (Vocalion 1474, 1930; rec. 1929)
Uncle Dave Macon, "The Death of John Henry" (Vocalion 15320, 1926) (Brunswick 112, 1927; Brunswick 80091, n.d.)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "John Henry was a Little Boy" (Bluebird B-6629, 1936); "John Henry" (King 550, 1946)
Earl McCoy, Alfred Meng & Clem Garner, "John Henry" (Columbia 15622-D, 1930)
New Lost City Ramblers, "John Henry" (on NLCR05)
Virgil Perkins & Jack Sims, "John Henry" (on FMUSA, AmSkBa)
Pete Seeger, "John Henry" (on PeteSeeger05) (on PeteSeeger16) (on PeteSeeger47) (on PeteSeeger23)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "John Henry" (Edison 51869, 1926) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5194, 1926)
Glen Stoneman, George Stoneman & James Lindsay, "John Henry" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1702)
Gid Tanner & Riley Puckett, "John Henry" (Columbia 15019-D, 1924; Silvertone 3262, 1926 [as Gibbs & Watson])
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "John Henry" (Columbia 15142-D, 1927)
Henry Thomas, "John Henry" (Vocalion 1094, 1927)
Welby Toomey, "Death of John Henry" (Champion 15198/Silvertone 5002, 1927)
Willie Turner, "John Henry" (on NFMAla6)
Doc Watson, Gaither Carlton & Arnold Watson, "John Henry" (on WatsonAshley01)
Williamson Bros. & Curry, "Gonna Die With My Hammer In My Hand" (OKeh 45127, 1927; on AAFM1, TimesAin't3)
Martin Young & Corbett Grigsby, "John Henry" [instrumental] (on MMOKCD)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Take This Hammer" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Shelton Brothers, "New John Henry Blues" (Decca 5173, 1936)
NOTES: The popularity of this song is shown by its influence on other songs: Not only is John Henry's hammer mentioned in "Take this Hammer" and relatives, but it also inspired W. C. Handy's "John Henry Blues." Quite a record for a song which came into existence only well into the railroad age.
The bibliography of this song is huge, and no attempt is made to reproduce it here. In 1983, when Brett Williams published John Henry: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood Press), that book's bibliography was 13 pages long (though some of the books in the "Background" section are pretty irrelevant). But it lists 13 films about John Henry, and a page and a half of printed works inspired by him -- how many folk songs have such a legacy?
And, of course, more has been published since.
The first two major scholarly books on the topic are Guy B. Johnson, John Henry: Tracking Down a Negro Legend, 1929, and Louis Chappell, John Henry: A Folk-Lore Study, 1933. Both were attempts to find "the real John Henry." And both eventually turned to West Virginia's Big Bend Tunnel, on the Chesapeake and Ohio (C & O) line -- by far the most common location cited in versions of the ballad. In that case, the contest took place in the early 1870s.
More recently, Scott Nelson's book 2006 book Steel Drivin' Man offered the suggestion that John Henry was John William Henry, a prisoner in the Virginia State Penitentiary, leased to C & O to work at Lewis Tunnel. His body was returned to Pen for burial near the white workhouse there.
The most detailed detective work, however, has been done by John Garst, who has comparied the versions of the song with local traditions about John and such external testimony of witnesses as he can find. (He also looked over this note to make sure I didn't misrepresent him, and made extremely valuable suggestions. And I do mean *extremely* valuable; this is not a perfunctory thanks. He corrected several errors, and amplified points which I had missed. Any remaining errors are of course mine.) He has published an initial version of his findings in "Chasing John Henry in Alabama and Mississippi," Tributaries: Journal of the Alabama Folklife Association, Issue No. 5, 2002, 92-129, and an updated (but necessarily short and minimally documented) version in the Old Time Herald, Volume 11, #10 (April-May 2009), pp. 14-23.
His conclusions are in stark contrast to what has gone before. He argues that
* The John Henry story took place near Leeds, Alabama, in the Dunnavant Valley, near Oak Tunnel, in the vicinity of Coosa and Oak Mountains (which are two miles apart).
* That the "Captain" of the song is Fred Dabney (born 1835), who was entitled to be called Captain; he had served atthat rank in the Confederate Army, who worked for the C & W railroad -- he was the chief engineer and responsible for building the line through the Dunnavant Valley
* That John Henry was perhaps (John) Henry Dabney, born c. 1850 -- possibly a slave on the Dabney family plantation, or possibly Henry, slave to Captain Dabney's father, Augustine "Gus" Dabney, a lawyer in Raymond, Mississippi. John Garst tells me that the plantation was owned by Captain Dabney's uncle, Thomas Dabney. In 1860, Thomas owned 154 slaves, while Gus owned eight, one of whom we know by name, Henry. Gus's Henry was a teenager during the Civil War, "just the right age to have been John Henry."
* That his wife may have been Margaret Foston, whom he married in 1869. According to John Garst, "This depends on the assumption that the Henry Dabney of Copiah County in the 1870 and 1880 censuses was John Henry. The data suggest that the census Henry and the slave Henry could be the same person, and that makes a tidy story, but that is conjecture. What we have are three separate items that we can interpret as overlapping: (1) Spencer's testimony that he was John Henry Dabney, (2) Letitia Dabney's testimony about the slave boy Henry in her (and Captain Dabney's) family, (3) census and marriage records for Henry Dabney of Copiah County, Mississippi (1870 and 1880)."
* That the most likely date for the contest is Tuesday, September 20, 1887
* That John Henry may be one of the first people buried (in an unmarked grave) at Sand Ridge cemetery, about two miles from the C & W line.
What we unfortunately still lack is, obviously, John Henry's grave -- and also external evidence of a contest with a steam drill (though even here, Dunnavant has a better case, since steam drills apparently were not used on the Big Bend Tunnel. John tells me that "We know that Coosa Tunnel was bored using Ingersoll steam drills. The case for Big Bend rests on the possibility, for which there is testimony, that a steam drill was tried out there against John Henry. The use of steam drills in boring Big Bend is therefore not required for the Big Bend theory."). These are the sorts of things that, of course, do not show up in census records or the like.
The Old-Time Herald article by itself is not entirely convincing -- too much of the evidence has to be offered in extremely condensed form. John Garst has said himself that it is too short to document the material he has -- and his postings to the Ballad-L mailing list demonstrate this conclusively: He has more than is in the OTH article. We can only hope that he will someday be able to publish in full form -- including not only his conclusions but his source data. (Most notably, I think he needs a textual analysis of the versions of the song "John Henry," attempting to isolate what is original and what a later accretion.)
With all that scholarly caution, however, I must add that I think John Garst has by now presented a very compelling case. I was never persuaded by earlier arguments about John Henry's existence. I now incline to think he was real. I look forward to John's full-length publication of his data. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LI01

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John Henry Hammer Song, The

See Take This Hammer (File: FR383)

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John Hinks

See Jack Hinks (File: Doy09)

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John J. Curtis [Laws G29]

DESCRIPTION: John J. Curtis, a coal miner, is trapped in an avalanche of coal after setting a dynamite explosion. When he succeeds in lighting a match, he discovers he is blind. He asks his listeners for kindness
AUTHOR: Joseph Gallagher
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: mining begging injury
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1888 - John Curtis, age 28, is blinded in a mine in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. He made his living thereafter by singing and selling broadsides of this song, made for him by Joseph Gallagher
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Laws G29, "John J. Curtis"
DT 711, JJCURTIS JOHNCURT
Roud #7724
File: LG29

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John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

DESCRIPTION: "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt His name is my name too. Wherever we go out, The people always shout, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Da da da da da da da."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 240, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 199, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" (1 text)
DT, JJJSCHM*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "John Jacob Jinglehaimer Schmitt" (on PeteSeeger11)
File: FSWB240B

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John James O'Hara

DESCRIPTION: John James O'Hara from Tara and Mickey McNamara from Mayo "are famous Irishmen no matter where they go." Now "we're returning back to dear old Erin's Isle"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: return Ireland nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 54, "John James O'Hara" (1 text)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
O'Hara From Tara, McNamara From Mayo
NOTES: This sounds to me as if O'Hara and McNamara were musical performers who went to the United States. There was a John O'Hara responsible for a 1941 music, "Pal Joey" (see Gilbert, LostChords, p. 353); with so little background from Tunney's song, I doubt we can tell if they are the same. It doesn't seem very likely. I can't find any candidates for McNamara. - RBW
File: TSF054

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John Jasper

DESCRIPTION: "John Jasper was a man, as you all do understand, And he preach-ed to de people with a vengeance... And he preache'ed to de people dat de sun do move." Concerning the power of the preaching of Jasper
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious clergy
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1812-1901 - LIfe of John Jasper, originally a slave, who became a preacher in 1839 after a conversion experience and often preached a sermon, "De Sun Do Move"
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 605, "John Jasper" (1 text plus a fragment)
Roud #11915
File: Br3605

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John Kanaka

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "John Kanaka-naka, too-li-ay." The sailors describe how they will "work tomorrow but no work today!" Some details of their trip around the horn on a Yankee ship are given
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1977
KEYWORDS: sailor shanty work
FOUND IN: Barbados
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Hugill, pp. 288-289, "John Kanaka" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p.212]
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 50-51, "John Kanaka" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JONKANAK*
Roud #8238
NOTES: "Kanaka" was a term applied to Hawaiian men. Whether this song is referring to that or to "Canucks" (French-Canadians) is obscure. - PJS
The term is used in Australia for Polynesians in general, especially those who worked in the Queensland sugar plantations. (It is said to mean simply "man.") I have to suspect that the song originally referred to the Polynesians, though of course northern sailors might have thought it meant Canucks. - RBW
File: FaE050

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John Ladner

DESCRIPTION: John Ladner leaves PEI to find work in Saint John. Failing that, he goes to Maine and works six years in Madison. Thanksgiving morning he is crushed by logs he is rolling to a stream to be floated to the mill. Doctors cannot save him. He dies at 23.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: death lumbering memorial
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 29, 1900 - probable date of the death of John Ladner (see NOTE)
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 40-41, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 60-61,248, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 26, "John Ladner" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Din040 (Partial)
Roud #4061
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Peter Amberley [Laws C27]" (plot)
NOTES: This song is item dC40 in Laws's Appendix II.
Dibblee/Dibblee have a report that the grave "is in the Victoria West, P.E.I. Cemetery and it was dated circa 1895."
Ives-DullCare: "John Ladner, 33, of Victoria West was killed in a logging accident in Madison, Maine, on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1900." - BS
Manny and Wilson note a version which dates the accident to 1884. One must suspect confusion with something else - RBW
File: Din040

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John Lewis

See Poor Omie (John Lewis) (Little Omie Wise) [Laws F4] AND Naomi Wise [Laws F31] (File: LF04)

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John Lovie

DESCRIPTION: A man loves his maid servant. His mother is opposed. She becomes pregnant. He poisons her. Her mother asks for an examination and the doctors find arsenic. The man is tried but guilt was not proven. "We'll leave him to Heaven's just judgement at last"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: murder trial pregnancy poison mother servant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 206, "John Lovie" (1 text)
Roud #5836
NOTES: GreigDuncan2 quotes an account of the trial from Bruce, The Black Kalendar of Aberdeen (Aberdeen, 1854). Margaret Mackessar died August 14, 1827. John Lovie was tried and a "Not Proven" verdict returned. - BS
Emily Lyle, Fairies and Folk: Approaches to the Scottish Ballad Tradition, Wissenschaflicher Verlag Trier, 2007, p. 106, comments briefly on two "arsenic ballads" in the Greig/Duncan collection, "John Lovie" and "The Wife o' Gateside." She points out that Scots juries were allowed three verdicts, Guilty, Not Guilty, and Not Proven -- the latter of these allowing the accused to go free but saying that there was a significant probability of guilt. In both cases, apparently, the use of arsenic was demonstrated but it could not be shown who poisoned the dead person. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD2206

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John MacAnanty's Courtship (The Fairy King)

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees MacAnanty courting a pretty girl, promising to make her his queen. She says she is too poor, and her parents and friends would be angry. He says they can sail around the world and return in a night, and that he has found no other like her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1873 (Joyce)
KEYWORDS: love courting magic beauty rejection
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H56, p. 354, "John MacAnanty's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6875
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Fairy King's Courtship
File: HHH056

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John Malone

DESCRIPTION: "I'm going with Captain Murphy ... There's nothing to be had by us in this neglected Isle ... The Irishman that stays at home must wear the Union brand ... I'm sailing for Columbia's shore; may God send fair the wind ... pray for John Malone"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell sea ship America patriotic Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, p. 81, "John Malone" (1 text)
File: Ran081

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John Marshall

DESCRIPTION: "We're glad to see you, John Marshall, my boy, So fresh from the chisel of Rogers. Go take your stand on the monument there Along with the other old codgers." The singer tells Marshall of all that has gone wrong since his death.
AUTHOR: Innes Randolph?
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: America judge political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1801-1835 - John Marshall serves as Chief Justice of the United States
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 236, "John Marshall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7709
NOTES: This song came out of the post-Civil War reconstruction of Virginia, when the southern states were still treated as occupied territory. The song portrays a state held in subjection, against what the singer views as the requirements of the constitution.
In defense of the Radical Republicans -- who put Virginia in this suppressed condition -- it should be pointed out that their view was that the Confederate states, by withdrawing from the Union, had committed governmental suicide and had therefore to be recreated.
John Marshall (1755-1835), of Virginia, was not the first Chief Justice of the United States, but he was the first great head of the judiciary. At the very beginning of his term (1803, in the case "Marbury vs. Madison") he established the principle of "judicial review," i.e. that the Supreme Court was the ultimate guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. Although not explicit in the Constitution, this capacity is one of the chief regulators of the U.S. balance of power. - RBW
File: R236

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John Martin, The

DESCRIPTION: "Come all ye jolly fishermen a-going to the ice, Beware of the John Martin and don't go in her twice." Skipper Nick Ash is cruel; he throws the singer's teapot overboard and makes the crew work ever harder. They still gather many seal.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Murphy, Songs Sung by Old Time Sealers of Many Years Ago)
KEYWORDS: hunting ship hardtimes work
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, pp. 20-21, "The Song of the John Martin (1)," "The John Martin (2)" (2 texts)
ST RySm020 (Partial)
Roud #12524
NOTES: Doyle, who published this song in his 1927 edition, claims it was written by "in 1845 by John Reardon of Perry's Cove," but the earlier publication by Murphy does not list an author. Doyle also says the John Martin was captained by John Bransfield, who is not mentioned in the song. - RBW
File: RySm020

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John McBride's Brigade

DESCRIPTION: "In far-off Africa to-day the English fly dismayed Before the flag of green and gold born by McBride's Brigade." The Irish Brigade fights with Kruger against the English in Transvaal. "Remember '98". The flag will fly with McBride on Ireland's soil.
AUTHOR: (published by Arthur Griffith)
EARLIEST DATE: 1900 (_United Irishman_, April 7 edition)
KEYWORDS: army war Africa Ireland patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 92, "John McBride's Brigade" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune) and references there
NOTES: Zimmermann: The United Irishman claimed the ballad "is being sung throughout Mayo" in 1900. "John McBride had become a major in the Boer army after forming an Irish Brigade in South Africa. He stood as a candidate for Mayo in the election of 1900, but was not elected. He was sentenced to death and shot after the rising of 1916."
For more information about McBride's Brigade and the Irish support for the Boers see the book review of MacBride's Brigade by Donald McCracken at the Republican Sinn Fein site. - BS
The reference is evidently to the second Boer War (the 1899-1902 conflict people usually think of when one mentions the Boer War). The first war (1880-1881) was almost more of a demonstration, in which the Transvaal and Orange Free State won something approximating what the Irish would have called Home Rule: they ran their internal affairs but let Britain handle foreign policy.
The second war was very complicated: The Boers had discovered gold, which the British wanted; on the other hand, the Boers were treating the Black natives even worse than the British.
But there was a lot more to it. The Boers of course wanted independence -- and, after the disastrous stunt known as the Jameson Raid (a private attempt in 1895 to control the Boers, but widely viewed as inspired by the British government), Kaiser Wilhelm II sent a telegram of support to Paul Kruger (1825-1904), the most important Boer leader. What should have been a colonial affair became an international incident.
The Boers were initially very successful, forcing the British to bring in a real army to suppress them. Many of these troops, ironically, were Irish; see "South Down Militia" for one of their songs. But, since the Boers were fighting the British, naturally a lot of Irish radicals supported the Boers.
It should be noted, however, that the two "Irish Brigades" which fought with the Boers were not from Ireland; they were locals. There was a pro-Boer movement in Ireland, but few men enlisted.
One of the Irish Brigades was insignificant; organized by a "Colonel" Lynch, it existed for only a few months, did not fight, and had few even of South African Irishmen (Kee, p. 148.)
The other Irish force was more significant. It even had an Irish-born Irishman: John MacBride (1865-1916). Upon his arrival, he was commissioned major, making him the second-in-command behind "Colonel" John Blake (an American emigrant to Africa who did at least have West Point training; Belfield, p. 23); MacBride did command for a time when Blake was wounded.
Kee, p. 149, notes that MacBride's brigade "played, by comparison with those Irishmen in the British army, a totally insignificant part in the war. It existed only for one year, from September 1899 to September 1900, when it was disbbanded by the Boers and the men gave themselves up to the Portugese frontier post at Kamati."
Townshend, p. 10, observes that the "aid of a few hundred Irish miners was probably less valuable as military than as moral support to the Afrikaners."
MacBride would estimate that his unit suffered 30% casualties -- yet, according to Kee, it lost only about 80 men, of whom 17 were killed. This implies that the "brigade" had an actual strength of 300-350 men, making it not a brigade but an understrength battalion. Presumably it was called a brigade because, well, there were lots of Irish Brigades. At least it makes it less unreasonable to have a major in command.
MacBride continued to find trouble even after coming home. In early 1900, he was nominated for parliament in a South Mayo by-election -- but was crushed by 2401 votes to 427 (Kee, p. 149).
This song may have been written in connection with that election, though it wasn't published until some weeks too late. Kee, who cites it on page 149, isn't clear on whether future Irish president Arthur Griffith -- at that time considered to be a rather militant nationalist, though he would come to be much more conservative -- wrote the piece or just published it.
MacBride in 1903 married the famous nationalist Maud Gonne; their son Sean was a major force in the IRA and in Irish politics after the Civil War.
MacBride did not participate in the planning of the 1916 rebellion (according to Foy/Barton, p. 89, the leaders "did not trust him to keep a secret"), but he joined the fighting "at the last moment" (Golway, p. 240), and was executed on May 5, 1916. It will tell you something about Maud Gonne that she divorced MacBride after their son was born, then adopted his name only after his execution. To be sure, Golway, p. 204, calls him "a boor, often drunk and menacing"; Yeats would call him "a drunken, vainglorious lout" (Foy/Barton, p. 89).
If this song was indeed published in 1900, it was written at a time when the Boers seemed to be well on their way to expelling the British. The tide would soon turn. - RBW
Bibliography

• Belfield: Eversley Belfield, The Boer War, 1975 (I use the 1993 Leo Cooper/Barnes & Noble reprint)
• Foy/Barton: Michael Foy and Brian Barton, The Easter Rising, 1999 (I use the 2000 Sutton edition)
• Golway: Terry Golway, For the Cause of Liberty, Simon & Schuster, 2000
• Kee: Robert Kee, The Bold Fenian Men, being volume II of The Green Flag (covering the period from around 1848 to the Easter Rising), Penguin, 1972
• Townshend: Charles Townshend, Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion, Ivan R. Dee, 2006

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Zimm092

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John McGoldrick and the Quaker's Daughter

DESCRIPTION: John McGoldrick loves a Quaker's daughter. Her father opposes McGoldrick and frames him to hang as a radical. The girl gets the jailer and turnkey drunk. The couple escape and are captured. They are freed on the friendly testimony and marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1826 (Sparling)
KEYWORDS: love marriage manhunt prison escape freedom father
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn 98, "John McGoldrick and the Quaker's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 319-320, 512, "John M'Goldrick's Trial for the Quaker's Daughter"
Roud #3047
File: OLoc098

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John McKeown and Margaret Deans

DESCRIPTION: "John McKeown and Margaret Deans, they were a matchless pair." As they sneak out, shortly before their wedding, she asks him to pick flowers. He trips and nearly falls off a cliff. She comes to his aid, falls over herself, and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting flowers death
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H129, pp. 141-142, "John McKeown and Margaret Deans" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9447
NOTES: This really sounds like it ought to have a moral at the end (though "don't sneak out to pick flowers on a clifftop" sounds a little strong). It's just that sort of banal-tragic song. There is no hint of such a conclusion in the Henry text, though. - RBW
File: HHH129

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John Mitchel

DESCRIPTION: "I am a true-born Irishman, John Mitchell is my name... I laboured hard both day and night to free my native land." He is taken, claiming he committed no crime except loving Ireland. He is transported to Bermuda, but hopes a free Ireland will remember him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1848 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion punishment transportation
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 27, 1848 - John Mitchel is "kidnapped, and carried off from Dublin, in chains, as a convicted 'Felon'." (source: Zimmermann, quoting Jon Mitchel's _Jail Journal_)
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar) US(MW)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
PGalvin, p. 45, "John Mitchel" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H179a, pp. 125-126, "John Mitchel's Farewell to His Countrymen" (1 text, 1 tune); H179b, pp. 126-127, "John Mitchell (b)" (1 text, tune referenced)
OLochlainn-More 27, "John Mitchel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 59, "Mitchel's Address" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 92-93, "John Mitchell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, p. 36, "John Mitchell" (1 text)
Roud #5163
RECORDINGS:
"Pops" Johnny Connors, "John Mitchel" (on IRTravellers01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2467), "Mitchells Address," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also Harding B 11(1908), 2806 b.10(55), Harding B 15(205a) , "John Mitchell's Address"
LOCSinging, as108900, "Mitchell's Address," Taylor (Bethnal Green), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Granua's Lament for the Loss of her Blackbird Mitchel the Irish Patriot" (subject: John Mitchel)
cf. "The Wee Duck (The Duck from Drummuck)" (subject: John Mitchel)
NOTES: John Mitchel (1815-1875) was one of the leading literary lights of the Young Ireland movement of the early-to-mid nineteenth century -- a movement which at the start was generally peaceful and liberal, but earnest in its appeal for better conditions.
Mitchel came to prominence in 1847 when he founded the journal The United Irishman. This came in the aftermath of the potato famines. (For the background on the Rebellion and the Blight, see the notes on "Skibbereen.") Until that time, Irish nationalism, led by Daniel O'Connell (for whom see "Daniel O'Connell (I)"), had been relatively cautious and had worked in a constitutional framework. There were disagreements -- the Young Ireland party, which published The Nation, was a little more radical than O'Connell.
The famines changed that. O'Connell, the pure constitutionalist, was unable to get help from Britain, and then died. Some Irish stayed true to his memory, but the crisis was so severe that many took a harder line. The Nation was one such, but they didn't really have a coherent strategy. That left room for a true radical: Mitchel.
Not only did he found a publication, he also founded United Irish Society. And he used is paper to publish tactical articles on how to fight oppressors.
It is interesting to note that many later leaders were inspired by Mitchel, but they viewed him very differently; some regarded him as a peaceful reformer, others as a fighter for Irish rights at any cost. (In the song, he campaigns for "Repeal," i.e. repeal of the Union with Great Britain; this was the slogan of O'Connell, and supporters of Repeal were generally peaceful.) According to Robert Kee (The Most Distressful Country, being Volume I of The Green Flag, p. 262), though, even such militants as Meagher (for whom see "The Escape of Meagher") tried to talk him into more peaceful methods.
Kee's comment on the situation (p. 263) seems to me to sum up the disastrous situation pretty well: Young Ireland and Mitchel "can be seen doing the wrong thing when no right thing was discernable. Cautious and sensible as was the main group, audacious as was Mitchel, both were utterly ineffectual. Mitchel was anxious to provoke a climax as quickly as possible. The others... continued to 'bide their time.' What they were really waiting for was a miracle." What they got was a fizzle.
In 1848, almost all of Europe was afire, with revolts in Italy, the Habsburg Empire, France. Few of the revolts were very successful; the Habsburgs, e.g. changed Emperors but not policies, and France got rid of Louis Philippe but soon replaced him with Napoleon III. And, unfortunately for the Irish, Britain was one of the few countries not so afflicted; she had the leisure to crush the abortive rising easily.
Not that it was a serious revolt; a more moderate man, William Smith O'Brien, eventually was pushed to try to raise a mob, but the whole thing ended with a scuffle in a cabbage patch; see the notes to "The Shan Van Voght (1848)."
Mitchel by then was out of circulation. He, Meagher, and Smith O'Brien had all been arrested early in 1848. Meagher and Smith O'Brien were released when the juries in their cases deadlocked (Kee, p. 268). But Mitchel, the most extreme, was convicted May 26 of "treason-felony," and sentenced the next day to fourteen years' transportation.
Despite the song, Mitchel and most of the other leaders of the rebellion ended up in Australia, not Bermuda.
[John Mitchel was indeed exiled to Bermuda in 1848 and subsequently moved to Cape Colony and finally to Van Dieman's Land (source: "John Mitchel of Newry" by John McCullagh (2003) on The Newry Journal site). - BS]
We should note, though, that he suffered far less in Bermuda than most. Although he was taken from Dublin in chains, from the time he went aboard ship he was in "minimum security" -- no shackles, no beating, and, when he arrived in Bermuda, no work ashore; he was allowed to stay aboard the convict hulk. (According to Kee, p. 269, the House of Commons actually inquired into why he was treated so well.)
Ironically, Mitchel was from a Protestant family, as was Smith O'Brien.
Lest someone claim that Mitchel was a man of true liberal principles, it should be noted that, after transportation to Van Dieman's Land, he escaped to the United States, where he edited various journals. And used those journals to advocate slavery -- in fact, according to Allan Nevins, The Emergence of Lincoln: Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos 1857-1859 (Scribner's, 1950), p. 438, Mitchel in fact produced something called the "honest human flesh program," His plan was to re-open the African slave trade, so as to drive the price of slaves so low that everyone could afford one.
Kee, p. 269, also reports that Mitchel approved of flogging prisoners I'd love to hear him explain how he would reconcile that with the Golden Rule -- or even with his own relatively kind treatment. - RBW
File: PGa045

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John Mitchel's Farewell to His Countrymen

See John Mitchel (File: PGa045)

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John Mitchell

See John Mitchel (File: PGa045)

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John Morgan

DESCRIPTION: "The Baptists think they're a mighty big bug, But behind the door you'll find a jug. John Morgan! Till I die, I'll feed my niggers on chicken pie!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 432, "John Morgan" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Roud #7609
File: R432

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John Morgan, Where You Been?

DESCRIPTION: "Says I, 'John Morgan, where you been?' (x2) 'Down on the Ohio a-tryin' to swim.' Says I, 'John Morgan, where's your hoss?' Says he, 'I lost it swimmin' across.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle questions horse
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 2-26, 1863 - John Hunt Morgan's Ohio Raid (which also saw him operate in Kentucky and Indiana)
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', p. 66, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: Presumably a reference to confederate general John Hunt Morgan (1825-1864), perhaps the raid-happiest soldier in the western armies. In July 1863, he took a picked force on a raid into Kentucky. Although his superior Braxton Bragg had ordered him not to cross the Ohio, he did so on July 7, and continued chasing around until he and the remnants of his command were captured on July 26. Morgan would later escape, but this was his last major exploit, and he was killed in 1864. - RBW
File: ThBa066

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John Morrissey and the Black

See Morrissey and the Black [Laws H19] (File: LH19)

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John o Badenyond

See John of Badenyon (File: FVS51)

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John o' Arnha's Adventures

DESCRIPTION: John, the singer, compares his honest self to Robin Hood and Rob Roy, who pilfered and destroyed. He describes his daring feats since leaving "the botching trade." "Not only men, but monsters too ... scampered off when I cried 'Boo! I'm John o' Arnha'!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1824 (Bowick)
LONG DESCRIPTION: John, the singer, compares his honest self to Robin Hood and Rob Roy, who pilfered and destroyed. He describes his daring feats since leaving "the botching trade" [mending clothes]. He broiled potatoes in Etna's flames, boiled whale blubber in Davis Straits, rode dragons and "chased red meteors round the moon. He slew ten thousand scores of crocodiles and snakes, "held a griffin by the mane, and galloped through the air" Finally he defeated warlocks, witches, ghosts, and "the Kelpie" at "the Pon'age Pool" "Not only men, but monsters too ... scampered off when I cried 'Boo! I'm John o' Arnha'!"
KEYWORDS: bragging fight travel supernatural talltale monster ghost
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1702, "Jock o' Arnha'" (1 text fragment, 1 tune fragment)
ADDITIONAL: James Bowick, John Lee, and Others, Montrose Characters: Past and Present (Montrose, 1880 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 115-117, "John o' Arnha's Adventures"
Roud #13522
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot" (tune, per Bowick)
NOTES: "John O' Arnha'" is a long poem by George Beattie (1786-1823). See George Beattie, John O' Arna': A Tale to Which are Added The Murderit Mynstrell and Other Poems (1857,London, 9th Edition digitized by Google) pp. 7-51. According to Bowick [p. 113] the first version was published in Montrose Review in 1815 and expanded by Beattie after that. "Subsequent to the publication of the poem of "John o' Arnha'," the following song - which is a good summary of John's stories -- also appeared in the columns of the [Montrose] Review, and was a long favourite at the convivial companies of the period" (source: Bowick, p. 115). While we don't have an author for the song it was apparently among a collection from the Montrose Review published by the Montrose Review editor, John Bowick, in 1824.
Bowick, pp. 113-114: "The hero of the tale was John Finlay, one of the Burgh Officers, who, coming from Arnhall, a locality near Edzell, received the sobriquet of 'John o' Arnha'.' John had a wonderful opinion of his own importance, and, when speaking of himself, was in the custom of seriously relating extraordinary tales of his own prowess and hair-breadth escapes in foreign lands, though it was known that he rarely, if ever, crossed the boundaries of Forfarshire. John's eccentricity and unbelievable tales suggested to Mr Beattie the composition of his racy and comical story."
Beattie, in his preface -- pp. xiv-xv -- gives some background information: "The Hero himself is drawn from a living original in this neighborhood, already well known to fame. As to the second personage, the Water Kelpie, whose only ambition is, and has been, for centuries past, to wollow in the Ponage Pool, and take the benighted and well-worn traveller off the hands of the treacherous Spunkie, to plunge him in a watery grave, -- good breeding, or court etiquette, could not be expected to emananet from such a quarter. As to the 'grewsome' appearance of the Ghosts, poor fellows, no blame attaches to them -- it was none of their doings.... the Ponage Pool, on the North-esk ... [is] the well-known rendezvous of the Water Kelpie ... [an object] of terror to the superstitious, and of more than ordinary interest to those who may at times take delight in amusing their minds with the traditionary legends of this part of the country."
The GreigDuncan8 four-word fragment - "Brave Jock o' Arnha!" - compares to the last line of the fourth verse of Bowick. GreigDuncan's six-note tune fragment are at least close to the last line of the tune of "Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot."
GreigDuncan8: "Remembered by Archibald Knowles as a song of his father's and very old. It was a story of impossible feats." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81702

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John o' Badenyon

See John of Badenyon (File: FVS51)

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John o' Badenyon (II)

DESCRIPTION: "Where now the trees are budding green and flowers bloom on the lea" the singer used to meet her false lover and later met John o' Badenyon. John taught her to sing "to soothe my heart" and play the pipe he gave her before he died. She often returns.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: love bequest rejection death music
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 763a, "John o' Badenyon" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Ford, editor, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland [first series] (Paisley,1899), pp. 52-54, "John o' Badenyon"
Roud #13169
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John of Badenyon (I)" (theme) and notes there
NOTES: In his 1899 edition Ford includes both "John o' Badenyon (I)" and "John o' Badenyon (II)." Ford writes, "Whether [these verses] are older or later than Skinner's time, no one living may be able to tell." Skinner is the author of "John o' Badenyon" (I) in which the singer "tuned his pipe to John o' Badenyon" after having left a girl "cold as stone," and, again, after disappointments in politics, philosophy, and vain "hope for happiness below." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4763A

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John o' Badenyon (III)

DESCRIPTION: "... frae an honest canty sang by canty honest John We've named this handsome residence the town o' Badenyon." Here, "nane are better served than he wha serves himsel'." For example, the best gown is one you spin yourself.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: nonballad clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 763b, "John o' Badenyon" (1 text)
Roud #2592
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John of Badenyon (I)" (theme) and notes there
cf. "John o' Badenyon" (II) (theme) and notes there
NOTES: This song counts on the hearer's knowledge of either "John of Badenyon (I)" or "John o' Badenyon" (II) to draw the moral. Ford, referring to the first song says "what suits best with the moral of the song is a simple, solitary amusement, such as playing a tune on the pipes, which is wholly within one's own power." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4763B

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John o' Grinfelt

See The Four-Loom Weaver (File: DTfourlo)

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John of Badenyon (I)

DESCRIPTION: "When first I came to be a man, of twenty years or so, I thought myself a handsome youth, and fain the world would know." The young man wanders, meeting girls and getting in trouble; after each disappointment, he "tuned my pipe to John o' Badenyon"
AUTHOR: John Skinner (1721-1807)
EARLIEST DATE: 1806 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: rambling youth courting hardtimes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 51-55, "John o' Badenyon" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), pp. 75-76, "John o' Badenyon"
John Skinner, Songs and Poems (Peterhead, 1859), pp. 63-66, "John o' Badenyon"
Roud #2592
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Thomas Nicholson" (theme) and references there
cf. "John o' Badenyon" (II) (theme) and notes there
cf. "John o' Badenyon" (III) (theme) and notes there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
John o Badenyond
NOTES: Ford is unable to explain "John of Badenyon," suggesting such possibilities as a mournful tune or a relative of the author. Personally, I suspect a figure of folklore who had a sad and difficult life.
John Wilkes (1725-1797) and John Horne Tooke (1736-1812), whom the singer professes to have followed, were radicals who fought for liberal causes. Both were arrested and imprisoned at one time or another, as were some of their followers. Wilkes was, in fact, elected to Parliament from Middlesex (producing the slogan "Wilkes and Liberty") but barred from serving. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FVS51

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John of Hazelgreen [Child 293]

DESCRIPTION: A lady is weeping for John of Hazelgreen, whom she is not permitted to marry. She is offered marriage to another; this is little to her liking. By some means or other she meets Hazelgreen, and they are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: elopement love marriage separation
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) US(MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Child 293, "John of Hazelgreen" (5 texts)
Bronson 293, "John of Hazelgreen" (29 versions)
GreigDuncan5 1029, "Jock o' Hazel Green" (3 fragments, two of them on p. 624)
SharpAp 43, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5a}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 369-371, "Willie of Hazel Green" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #27}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 237-238, "Young Johnny of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 281-284, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #25}
Davis-Ballads 49, "John of Hazelgreen" (7 texts plus 2 fragments; the J text appears to have print influence; 3 tunes entitled "John o' the Hazelgreen," "John of Hazelgreen"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #3, #26, #2}
Davis-More 45, pp. 350-355, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 225-227, "John of Hazelgreen" (2 short texts, with local titles "John over the Hazel Green"; 2 tunes on pp. 415-416) {Bronson's #8, #7}
Peacock, pp. 537-538, "Johnny from Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 674-678, "John of Hazelgreen" (3 texts)
Friedman, p. 143, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 91-92, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 63, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 95-96, "John of Hazelgreen" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
DT 293, JOCKHZLD* JOCKHZL2*
Roud #250
BROADSIDES:
Firth b.26(534), "Hazle Green" ("As I walked one evening all for to take the air"), Webb and Millington (Leeds), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nancy Dawson" (plot)
cf. "Lady Jean" (plot)
cf. "Parody on Jock o' Hazeldean" (parody)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jock o Hazeldean
John over the Hazel Green
Jock o Hazledean
NOTES: Rewritten by Sir Walter Scott as "Jock o Hazeldean" -- a poem which has become perhaps more popular than the original ballad, and which is included in many poetic works (e.g. it is item CCXXVII in Palgrave's Golden Treasury).
Scholars since Child have debated the extent to which the Scott text (said to take only a single stanza from the traditional song) is influenced or has influenced tradition. One thing appears certain: The Scott text and some of the traditional versions are related (e.g. Davis's "J" is about 85% identical to the corresponding stanzas of Scott's text). Either the Scott text used more than the single stanza claimed, or his text has influenced tradition. - RBW
Broadside Bodleian Firth b.26(534) is a shortened version of the story.
There are broadsides of Scott's text. For example, Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 30, "Jock o' Hazel Dean" ("Why weep ye by the tide lady?"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 26(290), 2806 c.14(45), "Jock o' Hazel Dean"n. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C293

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John Peel

See D'ye Ken John Peel? (File: FSWB208)

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John Prott and His Man

DESCRIPTION: John Prott and his man go to the market. John buys and sells until he comes to his last coin. "If ye be an honest man, Stan' to that"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1886 (Gregor)
KEYWORDS: commerce money nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #21, p. 3, ("John Prott and his man") (1 text)
GreigDuncan8 1639, "John Prott" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Walter Gregor, "Children's Amusements" in The Folk-Lore Journal, Vol. IV, No. 2 (1886 (available online by JSTOR Public Library Collection)), #3 pp. 140-142 "John Prott and his Man" (10 texts)
Roud #13065
File: GrD81639

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John Randolph

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

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John Reilly

See Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)

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John Reilly the Sailor Lad

See Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)

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John Riley

See John (George) Riley (I) [Laws N36] AND John (George) Riley II [Laws N37] (File: LN36)

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John Riley (III)

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

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John Robertson

DESCRIPTION: When Joe comes to the camp to seek work to help his sick mother, John Robertson trains the boy to be a talented lumberjack. But one day Joe chops a tree with a bad core; Robertson is mortally hurt saving Joe.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG DESCRIPTION: John Robertson is an experienced lumberjack. When a greenhorn comes to camp, seeking work to help his sick mother, Robertson persuades the foreman to take him on, then takes the greenhorn under his wing. The young man, Joe, becomes a talented lumberjack, but one day he chops a tree with a rotten core. The tree falls on him; Robertson pushes him out of the way, but is fatally injured. Dying, he tells Joe that he's "glad 'twas me, not you" because of the sick mother (who recovers)
KEYWORDS: lumbering logger work friend family mother death dying disease apprentice
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 57, "John Robertson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4062
NOTES: This song is item dC41 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Be057

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John Roger the Miller

See The Gray Mare [Laws P8] (File: LP08)

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John Saw de Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand

See probably The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)

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John Saw the Holy Number

DESCRIPTION: "John saw the holy number, Sitting on the golden altar." "Fishman Peter, fish no more, fish no more, fish no more, Fishman Peter, fish no more, Sitting on the golden altar." "Weeping Mary, weep no more...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 538, "John Saw the Holy Number" (1 text)
Allen/Ware/Garrison, pp. 16-17, "John, John, of the Holy Order" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune); p. 77, "The Golden Altar" (1 text, tune)
Roud #11843
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John Done Saw that Number" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The notes in Brown explain, "The chorus apparently refers to John 7:4: 'And I heard the number of them that were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand."
This is a mess. First, this isn't John 7:4; it's Revelation 7:4. And there is no hint that they were sitting on a golden altar -- though in 8:3 they apparently worship before it. But in that case, the holy number is probably seven for the seven angels. Or so it appears to me.
Of course, the whole thing may be moot; the first Allen/Ware/Garrison text, which is probably the oldest, of course makes it a Holy ORDER, and John a member, and that makes perfect sense. But note that Brown's text and Allen/Ware/Garrison's "Golden Altar" version both make it a "Holy Number."
It may appear, from the title line, that this is the same as "John Done Saw that Number," but the form is distinct. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Br3538

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John Singleton [Laws C15]

DESCRIPTION: Singleton, chief sawyer in a lumber mill, is killed by the sawmill's machinery. His body is sent home to be buried.
AUTHOR: John Morrison?
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: logger death technology lumbering
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws C15, "John Singleton"
Beck 62, "John Singleton" (1 text)
DT 837, JONSINGL
Roud #2223
NOTES: Laws quotes Beck to the effect that the song was by "John Morrison," but Paul Stamler observes that Beck spells the name "Morison." Chances are that Dave D. Smith, who made the attribution, did not spell out the name, and Back and Laws used different spellings. - RBW
File: LC15

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John Smith My Fellow Fine

DESCRIPTION: "John Smith, fellow fine, Can you shoe this horse of mine? Ay, sir, and that I can, As well as ony man. There's a nail upon the tae, To make the pony climb the brae; There's a nail upon the heel... There's a horsie well shod."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan8); c. 1843 (Only True Mother Goose Melodies, according to the Opies)
KEYWORDS: horse nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1565, "John Smith" (2 texts)
Greig #121, p. 2, ("John Smith, a fallow fine") (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 445, "Robert Barnes Fellow Fine" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose, p. 33, note 31, "(Robert Barnes Fellow Fine)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 26, "(John Smith, fellow fine)" (1 text)
Roud #12964
File: SNR026

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John Smith, a Fallow Fine

See John Smith My Fellow Fine (File: SNR026)

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John Sold the Cow Well

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

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John Styles and Susan Cutter

DESCRIPTION: John and Susan are popping corn. At last "said she, 'John Styles, it's three o'clock, I'm dying of digestion; Instead of always popping that old corn, Why don't you pop the question?'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: humorous food courting
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
FSCatskills 155, "John Styles and Susan Cutter" (1 text+additional composed verses; tune referenced)
ST FSC155 (Partial)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Gray Goose (Lookit Yonder)" (tune)
NOTES: Cazden et al note that this piece is sung to the tune of "The Old Gray Goose (Lookit Yonder)," and was sung continuously with it; the two might form one ballad. - RBW
File: FSC155

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John Sullivan (The Moncton Tragedy)

DESCRIPTION: Sullivan kills a widow and her son, takes her cash, and sets the house afire. A daughter survives and blames Sullivan. He flees to Calais, is caught, brought back, tried, convicted and condemned to hang on Friday, March 12.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: execution murder robbery trial gallows-confessions
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 57-58, "John Sullivan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 35, "The Moncton Tragedy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Dib057 (Partial)
Roud #9267
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Sullivan Murder
The Meadow Brook Tragedy
The Dutcher Murder
NOTES: Manny/Wilson: "This sordid crime took place in mid-September, 1896, at Meadow Brook, eight miles from Moncton, New Brunswick."
Manny/Wilson note to "The Moncton Tragedy" has more details about the murder and trial, including further references. - BS
File: Dib057

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John T. Williams

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you jolly soldiers, I'll sing to you a song... Concerning my troubles... And how I got around them." "With a bottle of good whiskey I put the guard to sleep." The escaped rebel flees south, apparently making it back to Confederate lines
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: prisoner escape Civilwar
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 74-78, (no title) (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
cf. "James MacDonald" [Laws P38]
NOTES: Though perhaps based on a historical incident, this of course is built around older materials. Thomas's informant, "Rebel Jack," claimed John T. Williams was his captain, but while he offered many details about Confederate army life, I failed to notice any documentation of the regiment in which Jack served. - RBW
File: ThBa074

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John Tamson

DESCRIPTION: One night John Tamson "had an amour wi' Boatie Jamie's servant lass which raised an unco clamour." "Johnnie's deeds are ill, he likes but little licht"; that's why he courts at night.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting nightvisit rake servant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 777, "John Tamson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6193
File: GrD4777

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John the Baptist

See John Done Saw that Number (File: CNFM061C)

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John the Boy, Hello

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

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John the Revelator

DESCRIPTION: "My Lord called John while he was a-writing... Oh, John, John" "Who's that writing? John the Revelator." The song describes what and how John wrote: The book of "Revelations," "The book of Seven Seals," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (recording, Blind Willie Johnson)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So,SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 252, "John the Revelator" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 72, "John the Revelator" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 66, "(John the Revelator)" (partial text)
Roud #6701
RECORDINGS:
Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, "John, the Revelator" (Bluebird B-7631, 1938; Montgomery Ward M-7912, 1939; Victor 20-2073, 1946; rec. 1938)
Blind Willie Johnson, "John the Revelator" (Columbia 14530D, 1930; on AAFM2, BWJ03)
Spiritual Four Quartet, "John the Revelator" (AFS 5160 B1, 5163 A1, 1941; on in AMMEM/FortValley)
Trumpeteers, "John de Revelator" (Score 5012, n.d.)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Adam in the Garden Pinning Leaves" (theme)
cf. "It's Getting Late in the Evening" (theme)
NOTES: For the record, it is the "Book of Revelation," or properly the "Revelation to John" (Greek APOKALYPSIS IOANNOU), not the "Book of Revelations."
The book does not say which John wrote it. Tradition has it that John the Apostle wrote the Apocalypse. However, it is patently obvious that the same man cannot have written on the one hand the Gospel and Letters of John and on the other the Apocalypse. The Gospel is in simple but clear and even, in a way, highly stylized Greek, easy to translate. The Apocalypse is in poor Greek, by someone whose native language was pretty definitely Aramaic -- but it clearly uses all the big words it can muster.
Of course, there is no direct evidence that the Apostle John wrote either the Gospel or the Letters of John. So it's possible that he wrote the Apocalypse.
In recent decades, J. Massyngberde Ford, (Revelation, being volume 38 of the Anchor Bible, Doubleday, 1975, pp. 26-33, 55, etc.) that the Apocalypse is in fact a Jewish production with a few Christian additions, consisting of the first three chapters, a few verses at the end, and one or two internal assertions. In this case, he suggests that the work was by, or from the school of, John the Baptist. His case that the Apocalypse is a non-Christian work, while not absolutely decisive, is very strong (there are very few explicitly Christian references in chapters 4-21 of the Apocalypse). I'm less convinced that we can really attribute it to John the Baptist.
Of course, that cannot have been known to the author of this song. On the evidence, he did not even know the widespread Christian tradition that John dictated the gospel to Prochorus (known in the Bible only from Acts 6:5, but there is a biography of John, written in the fifth century according to the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, which claims to be by Prochorus, and very many Byzantine copies of the Gospel contain illustrations showing John the Apostle dictating to Prochorus). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LoF252

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John Thomson and the Turk [Child 266]

DESCRIPTION: John Thomson is fighting the Turks when his wife appears. She then sets off and willingly joins the household of Violentrie. When Thomson learns she is missing, he finds her in the Turk's home. He attacks the Turk, burns his castle, and hangs his wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1801
KEYWORDS: love separation war fight foreigner punishment disguise trick
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(NE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 266, "John Thomson and the Turk" (2 texts)
Bronson 266, "John Thomson and the Turk" (1 version)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 91-95, "The Trooper and the Turk" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 45-49, "John Thomson and the Turk" (1 text)
DT 266, TROOPTRK
Roud #110
File: C266

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John Webber

See Billy Broke Locks (The Escape of Old John Webb) (File: LoF004)

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John Whipple's Mill

DESCRIPTION: The singer, goes to work in (John Whipple's) mill and finds himself in a race. He vows to "keep up if I did myself kill." After work, he goes out, fills his pipe, and relaxes. (Probably there is more of a story here, but it has been lost)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958
KEYWORDS: work contest
FOUND IN: US(MA) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
FSCatskills 171, "John Whipple's Mill" (4 fragments, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #50, "Shanelly's Mill" (1 text, tune referenced)
ST FSC171 (Partial)
Roud #3675
ALTERNATE TITLES:
John Harper's Hill
Trickeyside Hill
NOTES: Roud equates this song with item dC54, "Shanel's Mill," in Laws's Appendix II. But he does not cite the one reference in Laws (NYFQ 11); I cannot verify the connection. Fowke, however, accepts the equation, so here we lump them. - RBW.
File: FSC171

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John Yetman

DESCRIPTION: "... a hero brave from St. Mary's Bay, John Yetman was his name" who spent many years fishing alone in his dory. A Yankee captain shoots Yetman but is taken by Newfoundlanders, tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years at hard labor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: murder trial punishment fishing sea ship memorial
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Doyle3, p. 34, "John Yetman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 71, "John Yetman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7299
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "John Yetman" (on NFOBlondahl02, NFOBlondahl03)
File: Doyl3034

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John, Come Kiss Me Now

DESCRIPTION: "John, come kiss me now (x3) And make no more ado." Alternate form: "John, come kis me now, now, now, O John come kiss me now! John come kiss me by and bye, And make nae mair ado."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: tune said to daite to 1609 (Chappell/Wooldridge)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 268-269, "John, Come Kiss Me Now" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNKISS* (the Burns version)
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #343, pp. 476-477, "John come kiss me now.." (1 text, 1 tune, from 1792)
Roud #5521
NOTES: Roud links this with Randolph's "Come and Kiss Me, Robin." Possible, but I need a lot more evidence. Which may be hard to come by. Chappell/Woodridge states that only the first stanza survived. This is probably because it was indelicate. Burns had two additional stanzas, but how much of that is Burns and how much is traditional I do not know.
Although the song has survived poorly (apart from the Burns version, the only references seem to be in Herd and Chappell), it was apparently popular in its time. According to Edward J. Cowan, "Calvinism and the Survival of Folk," printed in Cowan: Edward J. Cowan, editor, The People's Past: Scottish Folk, Scottish History 1980 (I use the 1993 Polygon paperback edition), p. 37, this was transformed into a "godly" version which began:
The Lord thy God, I am,
That John dois (sic.) thee call,
Johne representit man
Be grace celestiall. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: ChW2269

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John, John Crow

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Every Sunday mornin', John, John Crow. When I go a-courtin', John, John Crow." Rhyming verses on courting, working, and eating. Written in dialect.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong courting
FOUND IN: US Barbados
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Harlow, pp. 199-200, "John, John Crow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9171
NOTES: Harlow's brief notes say this is a Barbadian negro shanty for unloading cargo. - SL
File: Harl199

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John, John, of the Holy Order

See John Saw the Holy Number (File: Br3538)

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Johnie Armstrong [Child 169]

DESCRIPTION: Johnie Armstrong "had nither lands nor rents," but "kept eight score men in his hall" by raiding. The king summons Armstrong to court. Armstrong comes; the king orders his execution. Armstrong instead dies fighting. His young son vows revenge
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1658
KEYWORDS: outlaw royalty punishment execution battle death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1530 - James V of Scotland puts down the Armstrongs
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Hebr))
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Child 169, "Johnie Armstrong" (3 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #6, #7}
Bronson 169, "Johnie Armstrong" (10 versions)
Leach, pp. 475-477, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 240, "Johnie Armstrong" (2 texts)
OBB 89, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 127-129+329, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 106, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 153-158, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text, from "The Charms of Melody" rather than tradition)
TBB 22, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 101-103, "Johnie Armstrong" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1503, "Is there never a man in all Scotland"
DT 169, JARMSTR1 JARMSTR2
Roud #76
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, S.302.b.2(064), "John Armstrong's Last Farewell," unknown, after 1700
SAME TUNE:
Fare Thou Well Bonny Gilt Knock Hall (per broadside NLScotland, S.302.b.2(064))
NOTES: Several English texts claim that Armstrong lived in Westmoreland, and raided the Scots. This is, of course, not true; he was a Scot. But neither side had much use for such an outlaw.
Izaak Walton's Compeat Angler refers to this tune (Chapter II), although in a strange list mixing folk songs ("Johnny Armstrong," "Chevy Chase") and art songs ("As at Noon Dulcina Rested," "Phyllida Flouts Me"). According to E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947, p. 181, the 1549 Complaynt of Scotland mentions a "Ihonne ermstrangis dance," which might well refer to the same Johnie Armstrong but probably is not the same song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C169

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Johnie Cock [Child 114]

DESCRIPTION: Johnie, despite his mother's advice, goes out to hunt the king's deer. He brings the deer down, but is betrayed by a passer-by. Seven foresters attack him; he kills all but one (and wounds that one), but is himself mortally wounded
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1780 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: hunting fight death
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North),Scotland(Aber,Bord,High)) US(MA,SE) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Child 114, "Johnie Cock" (13 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #4}
Bronson 114, "Johnie Cock" (16 versions)
Dixon XVI, pp. 77-81, "Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir" (1 text)
Greig #33, p. 1, "Johnnie o' Braidiesley" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 250, "Johnnie o' Braidisleys" (16 texts, 8 tunes) {A=Bronson's #9, B=#7, C=#8, D=#10, E (tune)=#11, F=#15, G=#6}
Ord, pp. 467-469, "Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 29, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 65-67, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 324-332, "Johnie Cock" (4 texts)
Friedman, p. 233, "Johnie Cock" (2 texts)
OBB 136, "Johnnie of Cockerslee" (1 text)
PBB 174, "Johny Cock" (1 text)
Niles 41, "Johnie Cock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 123-126+328, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 108, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
TBB 28, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 83-86, "Johnie Cock" (1 text)
DT 114, BRAIDSLY
Roud #69
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Johnie Cock" (on FSB5) {Bronson's #12}
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnnie o' Braidesley
Fair John and the Seven Foresters
Jock o' Brawdiesley
Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir
Johnnie Naughton
NOTES: The motif of one man fighting and defeating seven adversaries is almost a commonplace (see "Earl Brand," Child #7, and "Erlinton," Child #8, as examples). But this one has an interesting parallel to the French Song of Roland (especially in Motherwell's long text, Child's F):
Like Roland, Johnie sets out freely, despite cautions; like Roland, he is defeated and mortally wounded but defeats his attackers, whose few survivors flee; like Roland, he sends a message of his need only when it is too late; like Roland, he is given great honor after his death.
I do not mean to imply literary dependence; I doubt there is any. The actual plots are extremely different. But there is that same feeling: Just as Roland, even when he does something really stupid, is so heroic about it that his enemies cannot touch him (Roland's actual cause of death was blowing his horn so hard that he bursts several blood vessels), so too Johnny -- the poatcher -- goes out against his mother's warning and fights off a vastly superior enemy, leaving all dead, wounded, or in flight. But he dies because he has fought too hard. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C114

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Johnie Scot [Child 99]

DESCRIPTION: Johnny, serving at the English court, gets the king's daughter with child. He goes back to Scotland and sends for her; she sends word she is imprisoned. He comes with 500 men, fights the king's champion, and gains his lady.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1794 (Ritson-Tytler-Brown ms.)
KEYWORDS: royalty pregnancy prison rescue battle love
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(Ap,NE,SE) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Child 99, "Johnie Scot" (20 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #10, #11}
Bronson 99, "Johnie Scot" (12 versions)
GreigDuncan5 1013, "Love Johnnie" (1 text, 1 tune)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 213-224, "Johny Scot" (2 texts plus 1 fragments and sundry quotations, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #5, #1}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 45-55, "Johnssy Scot" (3 texts, the first being from "The Green Mountain Songster"; 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 101-104, "Johnny Scott" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 15-17, "Johnie Scot" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 303-308, "Johnie Scot" (2 texts)
SharpAp 29, "Johnie Scot" (3 texts, 3 tunes){Bronson's #2, #12, #4}
DBuchan 19, "Johnie Scot" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #10}
SHenry H736, p. 489, "Johnny Scot" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 99, JSCOTT1* JSCOTT2*
Roud #63
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1921), "Johnny Scot," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lang Johnny More" [Child 251] (plot)
File: C099

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Johnnie and Molly (I)

See Farewell, Charming Nancy [Laws K14] (File: LK14)

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Johnnie and Nancy

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

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Johnnie Cooper

DESCRIPTION: John Cooper comes home to find his wife's lover, a brewer, hidden as a pig. When John threatens to slaughter and eat the "pig" the brewer emerges and offers John enough gold and silver to retire if he were spared. He wishes his wife and her lover well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1733 (broadside, Bodleian Douce Ballads 2(267b))
LONG DESCRIPTION: John Cooper was offered a day's work by the brewer, who ran to bed John's wife. Having forgotten his tools John returned home to find his wife had hidden the brewer as a pig in a vat. When John threatened to take an arm or leg off the "pig" the brewer, who "thought he should die by the Cooper," emerged and offered John "the keys of my silver and gold" to spare him. John wished his wife and the brewer well "for they've made a rich man o' John Cooper" so that he could retire from working.
KEYWORDS: adultery bargaining hiding gold husband lover wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1433, "Johnnie Cooper" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #7357
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 2(267b), ("Attend my masters, and listen well"), Norris, T. (London), 1711-1732; also Harding B 1(43), "The Cooper of Norfolk" or "A Jest of a Brewer and a Cooper's Wife"
NOTES: "The Cooper of Norfolk" broadside preserves sheath and knife symbolism as in "Leesome Brand" [Child 15] and "Sheath and Knife" [Child 16] ("But she had a Trick which in some Wives are rife, She still kept a Sheath to another Man's Knife."
Child's view (Vol. V, p. 486) has "sheath and knife for mother and child" [(T579.1, "Sheath and knife as analogy for mother and unborn child"), Motif-Index of Folk-Literature revised and enlarged by Stith Thompson, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1955)]. Child 16B is a clearer case for the sense of "The Cooper of Norfolk" but regarding a dead lover: "'It's I hae broken my little pen-knife That I loed dearer than my life.' ... 'It's no for the knife that my tears doun run, But it's a' for the case that my knife was kept in.'"
Wurzbach and Salz, in their rework of Thompson's analysis of Child, mention both ballads but do not consider a 'sheath and knife' motif, or T579.1, at all (Natascha Wurzbach and Simone M Salz, translator Gayna Walls, Motif Index of the Child Corpus: the Englsih and Scottish Popular Ballad (1995)). - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71433

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Johnnie Cope

DESCRIPTION: "Cope sent a letter frae Dunbar, Said, 'Charlie, meet me, an ye daur, And I'll learn ye the art o' war." Prince Charles accepts the challenge; Cope makes sure his horse is ready to fly. Quickly defeated, Cope is the first to escape to (Dunbar/Berwick)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #234)
KEYWORDS: Jacobites battle abandonment humorous royalty
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 21, 1745 - Battle of Prestonpans. Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army routs the first real Hannoverian force it encounters
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) Canada
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Hogg2 58, "Johnny Cope"; Hogg2 59, "Johnny Cope" (2 texts, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 125, "Johnny Cope" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNCOPE* JOHNCOP2*
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, Burns: editor, Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #297, pp. 413-415, "Johnie Cope" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1790)
Roud #2315
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(139), "Johnny Cope" ("Cope sent a letter frae Dunbar"), W. and T. Fordyce (Newcastle), 1832-1842; also Harding B 11(138), 2806 c.16(120), Johnson Ballads 3189, 2806 d.31(7), Firth b.28(26b), Harding B 20(82), "Johnny Cope"
Murray, Mu23-y1:119, "Johnny Cope," unknown, unknown
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Barns o' Beneuchies" (tune)
cf. "The Frostit Corn" (tune)
cf. "The Buchan Turnpike" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Barns o' Beneuchies (File: Ord231)
The Frostit Corn (File: GrD3436)
The Buchan Turnpike (File: GrD3460)
Jemmie Forrest (broadside NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(106), "Jemmie Forrest," unknown, 1842?; same broadside as L.C.Fol.74(219a), ABS.10.203.01(151))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hey Johnnie Cope
NOTES: This song, with its slanging lyrics and sprightly tune, is extremely well known (the first two histories of the Forty-Five Rebellion I checked both title their chapters on Prestonpans "Hey Johnnie Cope"), but traditional collections are few and far between. It seems to have survived mostly in texts that borrow the tune.
The song is not as accurate as might be desired. The two armies, although both desired battle, almost blundered into each other. Tactics were minimal; the Jacobites -- having made the one sound strategic move of the battle by making a night march through a swamp into the loyalist rear -- took the field, charged, and routed the army of Lieutenant-General John Cope.
This is not as surprising as it sounds. Cope's army was in most respects inferior. Although theoretically composed of "regulars," in fact the troops were mostly raw. Nor were the units cohesive; it was a company from here and a battalion from there; officers and units had not worked together.
And the army was small. Reid, p. 32, offers evidence implying that the Hannoverian army was only about 2000 strong. It had a few artillery pieces, mostly in rather bad state -- but with no one except two officers to man them, and no ammunition, they played little part in the battle.
Nor is there evidence that Cope (1688-1760) was a coward; his courageous conduct at Dettingen (1743) had earned him a knighthood. If he had a problem, it was lack of brains, not of courage. He assuredly tried to stem the rout. But the disaster was too complete.
The versions I've heard of the song can't seem to agree whether he fled to Berwick or Dunbar. Magnusson, p. 594, reports that "Cope and his aide-de-camp could do nothing but gallop of southwards to Lauder and Coldstream and on to the safety of Berwick-upon-Tweed next day. Here, it is alleged (incorrectly), he had the humiliation of being the first general ever to bring to his superiors the news of his own defeat."
Cope was "examined" by a board -- in effect, a court martial. But Magnusson, p. 594, notes that their verdict on Prestonpans was that Cope "did his Duty as an Officer, both before, at, and after the Action: and that his personal Behavior was without Reproach."
The image in the song of Charles drawing his sword to lead his men in battle is almost true. According to McLynn, p. 151, Charles wanted to lead from the front at Prestonpans (a rather Charles-ish thing to do really; he was a far better man-on-horseback than actual general). And he did address his army -- his speech supposedly ended, "Gentlemen, I have thrown away the scabbard; with God's help I will make you a free and happy people." But his officers forced him to stay in the rear.
I can't help but note one great irony. In the British army, according to Baynes/Laffin, p. 105, "Johnnie Cope" is used to sound reveille for a number of Scottish regiments. Among them: The Black Watch, which had soldiers on the losing side at Prestonpans.
For another song on Prestonpans, with a similar take but some different details, see "Tranent Muir."- RBW
The Burns version is Hogg2 58. The Bodleian and Murray broadsides are Hogg2 59.
Hogg2: "Both sets of 'Johnie Cope' are taken from Gilchrist's collection -- a work in two volumes, published lately...." - BS
Bibliography

• Baynes/Laffin: John Baynes with John Laffin, Soldiers of Scotland, 1988 (I use the 1997 Barnes & Noble edition)
• Magnusson: Magnus Magnusson, Scotland: The Story of a Nation, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000
• McLynn: Frank McLynn, Bonnie Prince Charlie: Charles Edward Stuart, 1988 (I use the 1991 Oxford paperback edition)
• Reid: Stuart Reid, 1745: A Military History of the Last Jacobite Rising, Sarpedon, 1966

Last updated in version 2.5
File: DTjohnco

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Johnnie Gallacher

See Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly) (File: Pea469)

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Johnnie Ha

See Archie o Cawfield [Child 188] (File: C188)

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Johnnie Johnson's Ta'en a Notion

See Johnny Todd (File: FSWB174A)

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Johnnie Lad

See Johnny Lad (File: Log443)

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Johnnie o' Braidesley

See Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)

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Johnnie o' Cocklesmuir

See Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)

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Johnnie O'Rogers

See Jolly Old Roger (File: R496)

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Johnnie of Cockerslee

See Johnie Cock [Child 114] (File: C114)

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Johnnie Sangster

DESCRIPTION: A harvest song about binding sheaves and Johnnie Sangster the bandster. The first part of the song is apparently sung by Johnnie or one of his companions; the end is sung by a girl who wants to marry Johnnie.
AUTHOR: possibly William Scott of Fetterangus (1785-?) (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work harvest
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #3, p. 2, "Johnny Sangster" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 407, "Johnny Sangster" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
DBuchan 69, "Johnnie Sangster" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
Ord, pp. 265-266, "Johnnie Sangster" (1 text)
ST DBuch69 (Full)
Roud #2164
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Lad" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
NOTES: Ewan MacColl's version of this is sung to a Lydian melody -- the only such I can recall in traditional Scottish music. This is not universal; Ord's melody is generally quite close to MacColl's, but with that Lydian (sharpened) fourth reduced to an ordinary Ionian fourth. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: DBuch69

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Johnnie Shears a Hairst

DESCRIPTION: The singer says she and Johhny cut the harvest together. "Johnnie hisna a wife An' I'll win hame to guide him"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: courting harvest nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1346, "Johnnie Shears a Hairst" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7227
NOTES: The current description is based on the single GreigDuncan7 verse. - BS
Possibly related to Burns's "Robin Shure in Hairst"? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71346

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Johnnie Troy

See Johnny Troy [Laws L21] (File: LL21)

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Johnnie, My Man

See Farewell to Whisky (Johnny My Man) (File: K272)

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Johnnie, Wontcha Ramble

See Johnny, Won't You Ramble (File: LoF275)

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Johnnie's Got His Jean, O

See The Birken Tree (File: FVS088)

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Johnnie's Gray Breeks

DESCRIPTION: When the singer was 17 she loved handsome Johnny and made him fine grey breeches. Now she would make him breeches of patches "for a' the ill he's done me." Though he's left her with a baby she hopes he'll come back.
AUTHOR: William Tytler(?) (source: GreigDuncan7)
EARLIEST DATE: 1829 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: clothes nonballad baby rake
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1279, "Johnnie's Gray Breeks" (1 text plus 7 fragments, 4 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol II, pp. 335-336, "Johnie's Gray Breeks"
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), pp. 446-447, "Johnnie's Grey Breeks"
Roud #7141
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I'll Clout My Johnnie's Grey Breaks
NOTES: The description follows GreigDuncan7 1279A; the other GreigDuncan7 texts are fragments.
The story in Chambers and Whitelay has no mention of a baby or desertion. The fine breeches the singer made for Johnny "when the lad was in his prime" are threadbare now and she works to keep them patched. If she had time she would make him a new pair." There are so many shared lines that I consider these two versions of the same song.
Whitelaw: "We cannot give the original version of the song, some of which might be considered rather coarse for 'modern ears polite,' but we give a modified set of it, which is still of considerable antiquity, and used to be popular at our country firesides." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71279

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Johnnie's Nae a Gentleman

See Johnny Lad (File: Log443)

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Johnny

See The Girl Volunteer (The Cruel War Is Raging) [Laws O33] (File: LO33)

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Johnny and Betsy

See Betsy Is a Beauty Fair (Johnny and Betsey; The Lancaster Maid) [Laws M20] (File: LM20)

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Johnny and Jane

DESCRIPTION: "Johnny and Jane had a falling out; Johnny run Jane right outta sight." She promises to come; he beats and runs her naked around town. She's sentenced to Moundsville (VA) jail. She escapes. Refrain: "Johnny don't allow no lowdown hanging around."
AUTHOR: Frank Hutchison
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (recording, Martin & Roberts)
KEYWORDS: fight abuse prison escape humorous lover
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 59, "Johnny and Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNJANE*
RECORDINGS:
[Asa] Martin & [Doc] Roberts, "Low Down Hanging Around" (Conqueror 8207-B, 1933)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. ""Mama Don't 'Low" (lyrics)
cf. "Salty Dog" (tune)
File: CSW059

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Johnny and Mary

DESCRIPTION: "Down the burn and thro' the mead, His golden locks wav'd o'er his brow, Johnnie, liltin', tuned his reed, And Mary wiped her bonnie mou'." The poor but handsome couple find happiness and treasure in each other's company
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1869 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: love courting nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 272-273, "Johnnie and Mary" (1 text)
Roud #8498
NOTES: This is either incredibly bawdy or incredibly dumb. I'm betting on the latter.
Ford reports that it is from Bickerstafef's 1762 opera "Love in a Village." The obscurity of this work is shown by the fact that I checked eight different reference works (six devoted solely to classical music) without finding a single reference to opera or composer. For more on the very confusing story of Bickerstaffe, see the notes to "The Miller of Dee." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FVS272

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Johnny and Mollie (II)

See On Top of Old Smokey (File: BSoF740)

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Johnny and Old Mr. Henly

See Will the Weaver [Laws Q9] (File: LQ09)

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Johnny and the Landlady

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

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Johnny Appleseed's Song

DESCRIPTION: "I love to plant a little seed Whose fruit I never see; Some hungry strange it will feed, When it becomes a tree." "I love to sing a little song... And round me see the children throng." "So I can never lonely be." "The tree will tell my deed"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Allsopp)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad travel children
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 272, (no title) (1 text)
NOTES: Checking Granger's Index to Poetry, I find half a dozen "Johnny Appleseed" songs, none of which are this piece. The way Allsopp presents the poem, it might be traditional, so I've indexed it -- though I suspect it's just Allsopp not documenting sources.
Whether the poem actually goes back to John Chapman (c. 1775-1847) is obviously open to doubt.
It's ironic to note that Johnny Appleseed, though his work brought him fame and praise, in fact was introducing non-native species in many areas, and hence damaging the environment. - RBW
File: FORA272

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Johnny Barbour

See Willie o Winsbury [Child 100] (File: C100)

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Johnny Bathin

See Lake of Cool Finn, The (Willie Leonard) [Laws Q33] (File: LQ33)

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Johnny Blunt

See Get Up and Bar the Door [Child 275] (File: C275)

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Johnny Bobeens

See The Swapping Boy (File: E093)

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Johnny Boker (I)

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: " Do, my Johnny Boker (Booker/Poker), do!" Often with lyrics about the sailor's girl (Sally) or about the abuse inflicted by the Captain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Robinson)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 9, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 44, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 97-98, "Johnny Boker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 289-290, "Johnny Bowker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EFC, XL, p. 45, "Johnny Bowker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, p. 141, "Johnny Boker" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 168, "Jolly Poker" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 28, "Johnny Boker" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 86, "Johnny Boker" (1 text)
DT, JONBOKER*
Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Johnny Boker" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #353
RECORDINGS:
Capt. Leighton Robinson, "Johnny Boker" (AFS, 1951; on LC26)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Polka
Johnny Poker
NOTES: A blackface piece of the same name is also known, and is felt by some to be the original, but the relationship between the two is difficult to determine precisely. - RBW
File: Doe009a

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Johnny Booker (Mister Booger)

DESCRIPTION: About the troubles experienced by a teamster/sailor along the way: A broken yoke, a stalled cart, etc. Chorus something like "Do, Johnny Booker, oh do, do me do, Do, Johnny Booker, oh do" or "So walk a Johnny Booger to help that nigger...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress)
KEYWORDS: work travel
FOUND IN: US(So) Britain(England(North,South))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 268, "Mister Booger" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 100, "(Johnny Booker)" (1 fragment, 1 tune, probably this although it's short enough that it might be "Johnny Boker (I)")
Lomax-FSNA 258, "Knock John Booker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 194, "Johnny Booker" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JNBOOKER
Roud #3441
RECORDINGS:
Gus Cannon, "Old John Booker, You Call That Gone" (on AmSkBa, DownHome)
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (Brunswick 2883, 1925)
Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "Johnny Booker" (Decca 24214, 1947; on CrowTold01)
Jack Elliott, "Old Johnnie Booker" (on Elliotts01)
Earl Johnson & his Clodhoppers, "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (OKeh 45171, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Old Johnny Booker Won't Do" (on NLCR17, NLCRCD2)
Walter "Kid Smith, "Old Johnny Bucker Wouldn't Do" (Gennett 6825/Supertone 9407 [as Jerry Jordon, "Old Johnny Bucker Won't Do"], 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Man (Poor Old Horse; The Dead Horse)" (lyrics)
cf. "Went to the River (I)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: "Johnny Booker" includes key verses from "Poor Old Man": "Said an old man come riding by/Said, young man, your mule's gonna die/If he dies I'll tan his skin/If he lives I'll ride him again." This probably entered minstrel tradition via African-American sailors -- or entered the shanty tradition from minstrel shows.
The Chitwood-Landress recording is a bit of a conundrum: it doesn't include most of the canonical mule verses, nor the canonical chorus, but the tune and gestalt are the same. I classify it as a proto-Johnny Booker, and assign it the earliest date, but note its peculiarities; it may be a Chitwood-Landress composition, built on the skeleton of this song. - PJS
File: R268

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Johnny Bull, Irishman, and Scotchman

See Paddy Magee's Dream (File: OCon099)

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Johnny Bull, My Jo, John

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Johnny Bull, my jo John, I wonder what you mean, Are you on foreign conquest bent, or what ambitious scheme?" The Americans warn their "brother" (England) that their invasions have failed. John is advised to "remain on your fast-anchored isle."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: war patriotic political derivative
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 10, 1813 - Battle of Lake Erie. The Americans under Perry defeat the British.
Aug 24, 1814 - A British force under Robert Ross captures Washington, D.C. after brushing aside the incompetent defenders. (Madison's administration had already fled). Two days later the British leave for Baltimore.
Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which British General Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulse Pakenham.
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 118-120, "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 291, "Johnny Bull, My Jo, John" (1 text)
DT, JOHNAND4*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John Anderson, My Jo, John" (tune)
NOTES: A broadside from the War of 1812, based on Burns's "John Anderson My Jo, John." This tune seems to have been very popular for political songs at the time; Huntington (pp. 172-174) has another such song, "John Bull's Epistle" (which we might subtitle "Colly Strong"). - RBW
File: SBoA118

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Johnny Cake

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

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Johnny Carroll's Camp

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes details of life in a lumber camp.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (recording, Bill McBride)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 13, "Johnny Carroll's Camp" (1 text)
Roud #6516
RECORDINGS:
Bill McBride, "Johnny Carroll's Camp" (AFS, 1938; on LC56)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" and references there
NOTES: There is an entire genre of songs describing life in a lumber camp and the characters to be found there; check the cross-references. - PJS
File: Be013

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Johnny Come Down to Hilo

See Johnny Walk Along to Hilo (File: Doe072a)

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Johnny Come to Hilo

See Johnny Walk Along to Hilo (File: Doe072a)

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Johnny Coughlin

See Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly) (File: Pea469)

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Johnny Dhu

See The Little Beggerman (Johnny Dhu) (File: K345)

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Johnny Doyle (II)

See The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile) [Laws C5] (File: LC05)

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Johnny Doyle [Laws M2]

DESCRIPTION: Johnny and his sweetheart plan to elope, but the girl's servant reveals the plan. The girl is taken and forced to wed another. She becomes sick to death. The mother relents and offers to send for Johnny, but it is too late; the girl bids farewell and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1857 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.18(85))
KEYWORDS: elopement love marriage death
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(South,(Scotland(Aber))) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (20 citations):
Laws M2, "Johnny Doyle"
GreigDuncan5 1020, "Johnny Doyle" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Randolph 87, "Johnny Doyle" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 80-81, Johnny Doyle"" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 87A)
SharpAp 83, "Johnny Doyle" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hudson 44, pp. 159-160, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 248-250, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, locally titled "Johnny Dile"; tune on pp. 421-422)
Eddy 73, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 15, "The Lost Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 279-285, "Johnny Doyle" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Warner 81, "Young Johnnie" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H137, pp. 431-432, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 129, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 687-690, "Johnny Doyle" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 16, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 67, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 34, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 16, "Johnny Doyle" (1 text)
DT 430, JONDOYLE*
Roud #455
RECORDINGS:
Burzilla Wallin, "Johnny Dial (Doyle)" (on OldLove)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(85), "Johnny Doyle" ("There's one thing that grieves me and that I must confess"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1857; also Firth c.18(84), Firth b.25(291), Harding B 11(1911), "Johnny Doyle" ("I am a fair maiden what's crossed in love"); Harding B 18(324), "Johnny Doyle!" [same as LOCSinging as201890]
LOCSinging, as201890, "Johnny Doyle!," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(324) ]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" [Child 239] (plot)
SAME TUNE:
The Heart That Can Feel for a Suffering Maiden (per broadside Bodleian Firth c.18(85))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Dial
Johnny Dye
It's of a Tender Maiden
NOTES: Not to be confused with "Johnny Doyle II," a variant of Laws C5, "The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile)." Flanders, in Flanders-Ancient3, included this song based on the thematic similarity to "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" -- but Coffin's notes confess "Certaimly 'Johnny Doyle' has little but its basic motif in common with Child 239." - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as201890: H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LM02

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Johnny Dunlay

DESCRIPTION: Johnny Dunlay meets the singer "by the side of Aymer's haunted hall." They part and he rides to battle. The "fair Saxon soldiers" ambush him. He kills the Saxon leader. She curses the traitor who shot Johnny by Aymer's hall. He dies in her arms.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting battle betrayal death lover soldier
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 471-472, "Johnny Dunlay" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea471 (Partial)
Roud #6457
File: Pea471

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Johnny Faa

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

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Johnny Fell Down in the Bucket

DESCRIPTION: "Johnny fell down the bucket, The bucket fell down the well, His wife cut the rope... And Johnny fell down into -- (nonsense chorus)." "Johnny was walking in Hades, As meek and calm as a lamb, She stepped on a red-hot poker, And said, Well, I'll be --"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous Hell wordplay
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 420, "Johnny Fell Down the Bucket" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7631
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hallelujah"
NOTES: Like "Hallelujah" or "Hopalong Peter," this is one of those "hidden word" songs -- the verse leads you to expect the last word, which is usually not fit for polite company. But instead of saying the word, it breaks off into the chorus. - RBW
File: R420

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Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One)

DESCRIPTION: "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty One, Hurrah, Hurrah (or "Skiball" or "Football" or some such)... The great rebellion is begun, and we'll all drink stone blind, Johnny, fill up the bowl." A catalog of the events of the Civil War
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1863
KEYWORDS: Civilwar fight army rebellion war death freedom slavery
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Apr 12, 1861 - Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, opening the Civil War
Sept 23, 1862 - Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation published (to be formalized Jan. 1, 1863)
Apr 9, 1865 - Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrenders
May 13, 1865 - General Edmund Kirby Smith surrenders all remaining Confederate forces
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 227, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 222, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One" (1 text)
Davis-Ballads 10, "The Three Ravens" (the two texts in the appendix are this song)
Thomas-Makin', p. 54, (no title) (1 text, though the chorus line is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home")
DT, ABEWASH* FORBALES*
Roud #6673
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "In 1861" (on Thieme02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (tune) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
For Bales
Football
NOTES: For what little can be said about the ancestry of this tune, see the entry on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
Davis for some reason thinks this song a parody of "The Three Ravens." He offers no explanation. It's not the tunes, which are not given. - RBW
File: R227

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Johnny Fool

See Martin Said To His Man (File: WB022)

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Johnny from Hazelgreen

See John of Hazelgreen [Child 293] (File: C293)

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Johnny Gallagher (Pat Reilly)

DESCRIPTION: Johnny takes the bounty to join the army and a shilling to buy ribbons for his sweetheart or cockade. He complains of his cruel stepmother, his uncle "the ruin and downfall of me," and his father -- or recruiting sergeant -- who never "learnt me a trade"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(1912))
KEYWORDS: farewell father mother stepmother soldier recruiting
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan1 80, "Johnnie Gallacher" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 469-470, "Johnny Coughlin" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H574, p. 80, "Pat Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea469 (Partial)
Roud #920
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(1912), "Johnny Golicher" ("As I was walking through Newry one day"), H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Firth c.14(119), Firth b.25(358), Firth c.14(120), "Johnny Golicher"; 2806 c.15(312), "Johnnie Gallocher"; 2806 c.15(263), "Johnny Gallacher"; Harding B 17(147b), "Johnny Gallocher"; 2806 c.15(242), Firth c.14(121), Firth c.26(208)[some lines illegible], 2806 c.15(311), "Johnny Gallagher"; 2806 c.15(312), "Johnnie Gallocher"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnnie Glacher
File: Pea469

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Johnny German [Laws N43]

DESCRIPTION: A sailor meets a girl who tells him she is sad because of her lover's long absence. When he hears that Johnny is her lover, he tells her Johnny died months before. She takes to her bed; he reveals himself as Johnny
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1856
KEYWORDS: sailor separation reunion
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,So,SE) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws N43, "Johnny German"
Belden, pp. 155-156, "Johnny German" (1 text)
FSCatskills 23, "The Rainbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H156, p. 315, "Johnny Jarmin/The Rainbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 97, "Johnny Germany" (1 text)
BrownII 94, "Johnny German" (2 texts)
SharpAp 181, "Johnny German" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 55, "Johnny German" (1 text plus mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 65, "Johnny German" (1 text)
Chase, pp. 179-181, "Johnny Jarmanie" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 467, JONGERMN
Roud #557
File: LN43

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Johnny Germany

See Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)

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Johnny Get Your Gun (I)

DESCRIPTION: "One evenin' in de month of May, Johnny get your gun, get your gun, I met old Peter on the way... Moses wept and Abram cried... Satan's coming don't you hide." Johnny is advised to get his gun and fight Satan "to get to Heaven in de good ole way"
AUTHOR: F. Belasco (Monroe H. Rosenfeld)
EARLIEST DATE: 1886
KEYWORDS: Devil nonballad fight religious
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 97-101, "Johnny Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 113-114, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 313, "Johnny Get Your Gun"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Get Your Gun (II)" (chorus, tune)
NOTES: This piece does not really belong in a folk song catalog; the song in its original form does not seem to have gone into oral tradition. Rather, pieces of the complex whole survived. There is a nonsense version ("Johnny Get Your Gun (II)"), and the "dance" which concluded the piece provided the tune for George M. Cohan's "Over There" (published in 1917, and very popular in the World War I era). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RJ19097

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Johnny Get Your Gun (II)

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly to do with guns and animals: "Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded/Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded." Chorus: "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun/Johnny get your gun, I say."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly having to do with guns and animals: "Johnny got his gun, the gun was loaded/Johnny pulled the trigger and the gun exploded"; "Johnny got his gun, says turn me loose/Shot a crow and hit an old goose/Crow went caw, the duck went quack/Ought to seen the goose balling the jack." Plus the perennial "My ol' Johnny was a great ol' man/Washed his face in a frying pan/Combed his hair in a wagon wheel/Died with a toothache in his heel." Chorus: "Johnny get your gun, get your gun, get your gun/Johnny get your gun, I say."
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad nonsense floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 198, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (Brunswick 2883, 1925)
Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (OKeh 45171, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Johnny, Get Your Gun" (on NLCR10)
Fate Norris & his Playboys "Johnnie Get Your Gun" (Columbia 15435-D, 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny, Get Your Gun (I)" (chorus, tune, structure)
cf. "Old Dan Tucker" (floating lyrics)
File: CSW198

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Johnny Get Your Oatcake Done

See Whip Jamboree (Whup Jamboree) (File: Br3230)

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Johnny Grey

DESCRIPTION: A bailiff and soldiers arrive at Johnny's door, announcing, 'Johnny, the court has a warrant for you." He is to be transported, but takes up his gun and fights. Johnny is killed, but he slays bailiff and captain first. Listeners are urged to fight also
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: soldier death rebellion transportation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
PGalvin, pp. 37-38, "Johnny Grey" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: PGa037

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Johnny Harte

DESCRIPTION: A rich farmer's daughter falls in love with Harte, a poor soldier. Her parents complain to his colonel, who threatens to send Harte away. He answers boldly. The colonel is impressed and offers him promotion. The parents consent to the marriage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.14(207))
KEYWORDS: love soldier courting father mother
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
SHenry H106, pp. 443-444, "Johnnie Hart" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 88, "Johnny Harte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 32, pp. 84-85,119,169, "Johnny Harte" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2929
RECORDINGS:
James Halpin, "Johnny Harte" (on Voice15, IRHardySons)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.14(207), "Johnny Hart," W. Birmingham (Dublin), c.1867; also Harding B 26(298), Harding B 19(94)[a few illegible words], "Johnny Hart"
NOTES: At the time this song probably originated, it was still possible for soldiers to gain commissions in the British army by purchase (the practice was not abolished until 1871). An ambitious soldier might marry to gain the money to earn a commission, which would make him socially acceptable (more so, anyway). One wonders if that might not be related to what happened here. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: HHH106

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Johnny Holmes

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you jolly lumbermen, Wherever you may be.... It's of a jolly barber Which I am going to tell." The barber has worked for many lumber camps. The man somehow becomes rich enough to build two houses. The singer describes his looks and bad behavior
AUTHOR: probably at least partly the work of Jack McGinnis
EARLIEST DATE: 1902 (Gray)
KEYWORDS: logging hair
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, pp. 44-48, "Johnny Holmes" (1 text)
File: Gray044

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Johnny Is My Darling

DESCRIPTION: "Johnny is my darling, my darling, my darling, Johnny is my darling, the Union Volunteer." The girl extols the virtues of Johnny, who marched through town to save the Union. She hopes he will return as "Cupid's volunteer." Tune: "Charlie Is My Darling."
AUTHOR: Words: Father Reed
EARLIEST DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: Civilwar courting soldier
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-CivWar, p. 11, "Johnny Is My Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: SCW11

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Johnny Jarmanie

See Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)

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Johnny Jarmin

See Johnny German [Laws N43] (File: LN43)

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Johnny Jiggamy

See Gently, Johnny, My Jingalo (File: ShH65)

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Johnny Johnstone

See Johnny Todd (File: FSWB174A)

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Johnny Jump Up

DESCRIPTION: Beer is sold out; the singer tries cider. Never again. Falling-down drunk after a quart, he fights a policeman. A man on crutches dances and a friend goes to the mad house after cider. A corpse at a wake asks to take a quart for admission to Heaven.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: drink talltale
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OCanainn, pp. 72-73, "Johnny Jump Up" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: OCanainn: "The title of the song is the name of a cider made in Clonmell and well known for its potency, due to being stored in whiskey barrels." - BS
File: OCan072

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Johnny Kiss Yer Auntie

DESCRIPTION: Aunt Bell doted on Jock Macfarlan -- only she could call him Johnny -- and comforted him when, as a boy, a gander stole his bannock and, later, when Biddy Cameron rejected his proposal. She wisely told him his proposal would be accepted eventually.
AUTHOR: George Bruce Thompson (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #138, p. 2, "Johnny Kiss Yer Auntie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 905, "Johnny Kiss Yer Auntie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6257
File: GrD4905

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Johnny Lad (I)

DESCRIPTION: Sundry verses about Johnny, biblical themes, King Arthur, and Scottish politics, with refrain "And wi you, and wi you, And wi you, Johnny lad, I'd drink the buckles o my sheen Wi you, Johnny lad."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (quoted in Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: wife commerce Bible talltale royalty food humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Bronson 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (37 versions, but #21 is a fragment of "Johnny Lad")
Logan, pp. 443-445, "Johnny Lad" (1 text)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 45-47, "Jinkin' You, Jockie Lad" (a fragment of this song is quoted in the notes to that)
GreigDuncan4 755, "Johnnie's Nae a Gentleman" (6 texts, 5 tunes)
Ord, pp. 168-169, "Johnnie Lad" (1 text)
ST Log443 (Full)
Roud #2587
NOTES: The account of Samson fighting with "cuddie's jaws" is in Judges 15:15-16. There is, of course, no Biblical basis for the statement that he "focht a score of battles wearing crimson flannel drawers." While Samson spent most of his life battling the Philistines (mostly by accident), the clothing hardly fits an Israelite of the time.
The story of the Queen playing "fitba' with the lads on Glesga green" is unhistorical; by the time football/soccer became a major sport, Scotland's queen was a German lady living in England -- who, in any case, had no power to order an arbitrary arrest.
The story of King Arthur buying/stealing barley-meal to make pudding seems to have been imported from a nursery rhyme (known to Halliwell; see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #207, p. 144, "(When good King Arthur ruled this land)." Roud seems to lump these verses with "In Good Old Colony TImes"; this strikes me as an extreme stretch.
The man of Ninevah (Thessaly, Bablyon) who scratched out his eyes is unbiblical. But it may be the oldest part of the song, and may have originated independently. The lines appear, in rather different form, in Tom Thumb's Pretty Song Book Volume II (c. 1744); others appear in the second edition of Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus (c. 1799). These verses can be found in Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #28, p. 40, ["There was a Man so Wise"].
These verses seem to have provoked a great deal of discussion. Katherine Elwes Thomas, who never met a tall tale she didn't blow all out of proportion, connects this to the career of Dr. Henry Sacherevell (died 1724), who for a time was forbidden from preaching, then restored to favour.
It has also been argued that this verse was known to Shakespeare; in Twelfth Night, act II, scene III, line 79 (Riverside lineation), Sir Toby sings "There dwelt a man in Babylon, lady, lady." But this is more likely from a broadside known as "The Ballad of Constant Susanna" (BBI ZN2467), which is of course from the deuterocanonical additions to the Book of Daniel (Daniel chapter 13 in Catholic Bibles; it even begins "There was a man living in Babylon").
At least one version known to Rimbault (according to the Opies) made it King Stephen, not King Arthur, who was the thieving king. This is an interesting variant, because Stephen (reigned 1135-1154) had arguably stolen the kingdom from his cousin Matilda/Maud, the only surviving legitimate child of King Henry I. Henry had made his barons swear to support Matilda, but the barons preferred a king to a queen, and chose Stephen. The result was a reign marked by civil war and unrest. Not all sources consider Stephen to have stolen the kingdom -- but many did. - RBW
See Opie-Oxford2 11 for the King Arthur lines cited above by RBW. Opie also mentions "There was a man of Nineveh" or Thessaly, etc (Opie-Oxford2 497) as being "similarly embodied" in "Johnny Lad" (I).
Also see Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor, "Johnny Lad" (on Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor, "Two Heids are Better than Yin!," Monitor MF 365 LP (1962)). From the liner notes: "A few years ago, this was probably the most popular song of the folk revival in Scotland. Since then, endless dozens of verses have been added on themes historical, political, satirical, and nonsensical." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Log443

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Johnny Lad (II)

See Jinkin' You, Johnnie Lad (File: FVS045)

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Johnny Lowre

DESCRIPTION: "Of a' the lads in Tinwald toun... There never was sae droll a loon As bonnie Johnnie Lowrie." The singer describes the ways she visits Johnnie (e.g. "I took the flax unto the mill, My jewel follow'd after still"). They marry and are happy though poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 193-196, "Bonnie Johnnie Lowrie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13112
File: FVS193

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Johnny McEldoo

DESCRIPTION: McEldoo and friends are on a drinking spree. They stop at Swann's for food and McEldoo eats everything in sight. McEldoo thinks the bill too high and starts a fight. The police arrive and march the boys away. The boys pay the bill and go home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem01)
KEYWORDS: fight drink food humorous police
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
Roud #3390
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Johnny McEldoo" (on IRClancyMakem01)
Jimmy McBeath, "Johnny McIndoe" (on Voice14)
File: RcJoMcEl

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Johnny Murphy

See The Banks of the Little Eau Pleine [Laws C2] (File: LC02)

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Johnny My Honey

DESCRIPTION: "O Johnny my honey he's gotten some money." The singer says "he's bonnie and braw he's the flow'r o them a" She's been in France, Spain, England, and Ireland "but there's nae ane sae bonnie." Besides, "his hair has a nat'ral curl an a"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting hair nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 757, "Johnny My Honey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6177
NOTES: cf. "The Lass o' Glenshee" (tune, per GreigDuncan4)
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4757

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Johnny My Man

See Farewell to Whisky (Johnny My Man) (File: K272)

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Johnny Randall

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

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Johnny Randolph

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

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Johnny Riley

See Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)

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Johnny Riley (III)

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

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Johnny Sands [Laws Q3]

DESCRIPTION: Johnny says he is tired of life and asks his wife to help him drown. She is to tie his hands and push him into the river. As she comes running down the slope, he steps aside and falls in. When she calls for help, he points out that she has tied his hands
AUTHOR: unknown (claimed by John Sinclair in an 1842 broadside)
EARLIEST DATE: 1842
KEYWORDS: suicide trick death river drowning
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Ireland Britain(England(South),Scotland) Canada(West)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Laws Q3, "Johnny Sands"
Belden, pp. 237-239, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, but only the first text, "A", is this piece; there are references to 4 more, probably this but some might be "Marrowbones")
Randolph 754, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts, 2 tunes, but the "B" text goes with "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2])
BrownII 181, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus excerpts from 2 more and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 71, pp. 198-199, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Brewster 51, "Johnny Sands" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more; 1 tune)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 13-14, "The Drowning Lady (The Witch Song)" (1 fragment, 1 tune, which might be either "Marrowbones" or "Johnnie Sands")
Eddy 29, "Johnnie Sands" (1 text)
Warner 54, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan2 319, "Johnnie Sands" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, p. 93, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 451, "Johnny Sands" (1 text)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 222-223, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 575-576, "Johnny Sands" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 48, pp. 114-115, "Johnny Sands"; pp. 115-116, "Johnny Sands" (2 texts)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Johnny Sands" (source notes only)
DT 344, MARBONE4
Roud #184
RECORDINGS:
Grace Carr, "Johnny Sands" (on Saskatch01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Vands
NOTES: A number of editors confuse "Johnny Sands" [Laws Q3] and "Marrowbones" [Laws Q2]. They obviously have thematic similarity, and probably have exchanged parts. But the "gimmick" is different in each case; there seems no doubt that they are now separate songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LQ03

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Johnny Shall Have A New Bonnet

See Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be? (File: FSWB150B)

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Johnny Siddon

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

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Johnny Stiles

See The Wild Mustard River (Johnny Stile) [Laws C5] (File: LC05)

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Johnny the Sailor

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

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Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds) [Laws K36]

DESCRIPTION: Johnny comes from sea and asks the innkeeper for a bed and the chance to see her daughter (Molly). Neither is granted. He reveals that his last trip made him rich; the innkeeper offers him all he asked. He ignores the offer; he will go where he is wanted
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian, Harding B 25(1124))
KEYWORDS: sea money courting greed landlord sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (21 citations):
Laws K36, "Johnny the Sailor (Green Beds)"
Belden, pp. 160-162, "Green Beds" (2 texts plus reference to 1 more)
Randolph 53, "Johnny the Sailor" (3 texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 70-72, "Johnny the Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 53A)
Eddy 32, "The Green Bed" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 24, "The Green Beds" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Warner 49, "Captain John" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 108, "Green Beds" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 42, pp. 156-158, "Young Johnny" (1 text)
Brewster 31, "Young Johnny" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 430-431, "Jackson" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 58, "The Green Bed" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Greig #115, p. 2, "The Brisk Young Sailor Lad" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 48, "Johnny and the Landlady" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 48-49, "The Green Bed" (1 text, 1 tune)
Butterworth/Dawney, pp. 40-41, "A Story, A Story" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H779, p. 54, "The Sailor in the Alehouse" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 124, "Young Johnny" (1 text)
Mackenzie 93, "Green Beds" (2 texts, 1 tune); "The Liverpool Landlady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 142, "Jackson" (1 text)
DT 323, JACKBEDS* JACKBED2*
Roud #276
RECORDINGS:
Warde Ford, "Johnny" (AFS 4200 A1, 1938; tr.; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1124), "Liverpool Landlady," T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(2177), Harding B 11(2178), Firth c.13(178), Firth c.13(177), "Liverpool Landlady"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wild Rover No More" (plot)
cf. "The Saucy Sailor (Jack and Jolly Tar II) [Laws K38]"
cf. "Sweet William of Plymouth" (theme: poor sailor returning wealthy, is rejected by sweetheart's parents who think him still poor)
cf. "Snapoo" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jack Tar
I'll Tell You of a Story
The Sailor
NOTES: Laws's numeration of the ballad subfamily known as "Jackson" is confused. In Native American Balladry he lists it as an American song, with no known relatives, and numbers it as dH40. However, in British Broadsides, he lists it as a version of "Johnny the Sailor." The latter identification is clearly correct, even though Sandburg describes his text as a "survivor of the years of the War with Mexico." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LK36

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Johnny Todd

DESCRIPTION: Johnny Todd ships out, leaving his sweetheart in Liverpool. She meets another sailor, who offers to marry her. She accepts; Todd returns to find his love married. The moral: "Do not leave your love like Johnny/Marry her before you go"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: infidelity marriage warning travel return sailor
FOUND IN: US(NE) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1583, "Johnny Johnstone" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hammond-Belfast, p. 9, "Johnny Todd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 174, "Johnny Todd" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 106, "(Johnnie Johnson's ta'en a notion)" (1 text)
DT, JOHNTODD*
Roud #1102
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "Johnny Todd" (on LastDays)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sandy Murray
NOTES: I include the cross-reference because the verses in which the rival sailor courts the lady seem to be lifted from a broken-token song such as "John Riley (I)". - PJS
Interestingly, the Montgomerie text also has this bit, so it appears to be genuinely traditional.
The group Ossian has recorded a version of this in which Johnny Todd returns to his girl. They admit, however, to having rewritten the ending. To my mind, it doesn't add much.... - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FSWB174A

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Johnny Troy [Laws L21]

DESCRIPTION: Irishman Troy, a convicted robber, is sent to Australia. He and his fellow convicts escape as they are being taken ashore. Troy turns robber, but steals only from the rich, giving to the poor and transportees. At last he is taken and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Gardner/Chickering )
KEYWORDS: robbery transportation prison execution
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws L21, "Johnny Troy"
Gardner/Chickering 134, "Johnny Troy" (1 text)
Beck 88, "Johnnie Troy" (1 text)
DT 574, JOHNTROY
Roud #3703
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Try
File: LL21

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Johnny Walk Along to Hilo

DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus, "Johnny walk along to Hilo, Oh, poor old man, Oh, wake her, oh, shake, her, Oh, wake that gal with the blue dress on!" The verses usually consist of a scattering of lines from assorted Black and minstrel songs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 72, "Johnny Walk Along to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 102, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 266-268, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo," "The Gal With the Blue Dress" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 196-197]
Sharp-EFC, XVI, p. 19, "O Johnny Come to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 483-485, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, JOHNHILO*
Roud #650
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" (on PeteSeeger04)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Uncle Ned" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Come Down the Backstay
Johnny Come to Hilo
Shake Her, Johnny, Shake Her!
NOTES: Doerflinger says of this song that it was "doubtless invented by colored shellbacks, but [was] just as popular with whites" -- and indeed, Doerflinger's version is in white dialect while Lomax has a Black text. Even more interestingly, they don't have any lyrics in common except the chorus -- Doerflinger's only lyric is from "Uncle Ned," which the Lomax version does not quote. - RBW
File: Doe072a

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Johnny Was a Baptist

DESCRIPTION: "Johnny was a Baptist, O yes, Johnny was a Baptist, O yes, Johnny was a Baptist, Baptist, Baptist, Johnny was a Baptist, O yes." "He baptized Jesus, O yes." "Crying, Lord have mercy, O yes." "Sign J on your ticket, O yes."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 540, "Johnny Was a Baptist" (1 text)
Roud #11876
File: Br3540

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Johnny Will You Marry Me

DESCRIPTION: "Johnny will you marry me and take me out a danger?" "I won't marry you because you are a stranger." "Why didn't you tell me that before you told O'Farrell?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (for USBallinsloeFair, according to site irishtune.info, Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Alan Ng's Tunography, ref. Ng #2618)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection dialog nonballad
FOUND IN:
RECORDINGS:
Murty Rabbett and Dan Sullivan, "Johnny Will You Marry Me" (on USBallinsloeFair)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Standard on the Braes o' Mar" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnny Won't You Marry Me
Love Will You Marry Me
Love Won't You Marry Me
File: RcJWYMM

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Johnny, Come Down the Backstay

See John Dameray (File: Doe008)

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Johnny, Come-A-Long

DESCRIPTION: "Oh Johnny, Johnny, John, come a-long, come a-long (2X)" Nonsensical verses, with Johnny playing with his gun and playing hide n' seek with the ladies. Long chorus begins: "Down by the sea where the watermelons grow, back to my home I shall not go."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty nonsense
FOUND IN: Britain Germany US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 285-286, "Johnny Come-A-Long"
NOTES: Hugill called this a "runaway chorus," possibly referring to the fast pace of the tune and words, and says that it was a popular sea shore song in America. It is in fact, so quick and full of syllables that I think it would be difficult to sing while doing anything but sitting down. - SL
File: Hugi285

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Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye

DESCRIPTION: The girl meets her Johnny returned from the wars. She can barely recognize him; he has lost arms, legs, and eyes. She tells him "With your drums and guns and guns and drum, the enemy nearly slew ye... O, Johnny, I hardly knew ye."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(218))
KEYWORDS: soldier disability injury war
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (8 citations):
PBB 94, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Scott-BoA, pp. 329-330, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew You" (1 text, tune referenced)
Hodgart, p. 212, "Johnny, I hardly knew ye" (1 text)
O'Conor, pp. 92-93, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 388-389, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, pp. 278-279, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 271-274, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (1 text plus excerpts from 3 parodies)
Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, p. 90, "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye (1 text)
Roud #3137
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Johnny I Hardly Knew You" (on IRClancyMakem02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(218), "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" ("While going the road to sweet Athy"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 c.8(265), Firth c.26(233), "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye"; Harding B 26(297), 2806 b.9(118)[some illegible words],"Johney I hardly knew ye"[inconsistent spelling throughout]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (tune) and references there
cf. "The Wars of America" (plot)
NOTES: Scholars continue to argue whether "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" or the cheerful "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is the original. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," by Patrick S. Gilmore, can be firmly dated to the beginning of the Civil War, while "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" does not appear until slightly later (reportedly 1869, though the earliest date I've been able to verify is 1885).
For further details, see the entry on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." - RBW
File: PBB094

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Johnny, I Hardly Knew You

See Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye (File: PBB094)

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Johnny, Lovely Johnny

DESCRIPTION: Annie complains that Johnny had promised to marry her when they courted in her father's garden in County Tyrone. Johnny says "it was all but a jest ... I never intended for to make you my wife." She says she will kiss him if he ever returns
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (IRPTunney01)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction sex lie promise separation nonballad lover rake infidelity abandonment
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Ulster 14, "Lovely Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5168
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Haynes, "Lovely Johnny" (on Voice01)
Paddy Tunney, "Johnny, Lovely Johnny" (on IRPTunney01) (on Voice15)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The High Walls of Derry
File: RcJoLoJo

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Johnny, Oh Johnny

DESCRIPTION: "Johnny, oh Johnny, you are my darling, Like a rose that grows in the garden...." The girl's father offers her wealth to marry another; he mother scorns her for wanting Johnny. She intends to follow Johnny anyway, and bids her family farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970
KEYWORDS: love separation father mother money
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Darling-NAS, pp. 277-278, "Johnny, Oh, Johnny" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Steele, "Johnny O Johnny" (AFS, 1938; on KMM)
NOTES: A commonplace theme, but this doesn't look quite like any of the other versions. - RBW
File: DarNS277

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Johnny, Won't You Ramble

DESCRIPTION: "Well, I went down to Helltown To see the Devil chain down. Johnny, won't you ramble, Hoe, hoe, hoe!" The singer tells how the masters plan to make the slaves work harder. The slave offers money to avoid a whipping; master would "rather hear you holler"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (collected from "Lightning," David Tippen, and others by Lomax; first printed 1941 in Our Singing Country; Tippen may also have recorded it for the Lomaxes in 1933)
KEYWORDS: slave work prison hardtimes abuse
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 275, "Johnny, Won't You Ramble" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 128-130, "Jolly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 96, "Johnnie, Wontcha Ramble" (1 text)
Roud #6708
File: LoF275

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Johnny's Gone for a Soldier

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

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Johnny's Gone to Hilo

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "If I should die and be buried at sea, A mermaid's sweetheart I would be. Johnny's gone to Hilo! Heelo! Hilo! My Johnny's gone, what shall I do? Johnny's gone to Hilo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1956
KEYWORDS: shanty mermaid/man sailor death separation
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Chase, p. 157, "Johnny's Gone to Hilo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #481
NOTES: Possibly a fragment of another Hilo shanty, though the form is unusual -- but the text is so short that I can't identify the original. It is not (based on its form) a version of "Tommy's Gone to Hilo." - RBW
File: Cha157

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Johnny's The Lad I Love

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

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Johnson

See The Three Butchers (Dixon and Johnson) [Laws L4] (File: LL04)

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Johnson Boys

DESCRIPTION: "I hear the Johnson boys a-coming, Singing and a-hollering and shooting off their guns." A list of exploits of the minimally civilized Johnson Boys, who shoot, court, wash, farm, and fiddle in extravagant ways (but don't know how to court)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: talltale family humorous
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
BrownIII 338, "Johnson Boys" (2 text plus mention of 2 more)
Warner 129, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 115, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 170, "The Johnson Boys" (1 text)
DT, JHNSNBOY* JHNSNBY2*
Roud #6676
RECORDINGS:
Grant Brothers, "Johnson Boys" (Columbia 15460, 1929; rec. 1928)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters [or John Hopkins], "Johnson Boys" (Brunswick 179, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Johnson Boys" (on NLCR03)
Frank Proffitt, "Johnson Boys" (on Proffitt03) (on USWarnerColl01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnson Boys (II)"
cf. "Aunt Sal's Song (The Man Who Didn't Know How to Court)" (theme)
File: Wa129

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Johnson Boys (II)

DESCRIPTION: Description of the Johnson boys, who were boys of honor and DID know how to court; song describes their heroic service to the Confederacy as scouts: "When the Yankees saw them coming, They throw down their guns and hide."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: Civilwar family soldier
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 155, "Johnson Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnson Boys"
NOTES: This is an anti-parody, I guess -- a serious takeoff on a song that was originally humorous. - PJS
And if it describes actual people, I have been unable to determine who they are. - RBW
File: CSW155

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Johnson's Ale

See When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)

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Johnson's Motor Car

DESCRIPTION: The singer meets another Irish rebel, with orders to go to Dunbar. They decide to requisition the car driven by Doctor Johnson. They send a message urgently calling for his services, then ambush him. They promise to return the car when Ireland is free
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: IRA rebellion technology travel
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 320, "Johnson's Motor Car" (1 text)
DT, JHNMTR
Roud #4833
NOTES: It probably says something about the state of Anglo-Irish relations that a tale of deception, intrigue, and highway robbery, all in support of terrorism, is regarded as humorous.
It is certainly true that cars were highly valued in the period of the Irish quest for independence. Calton Younger, in Ireland's Civil War, tells a story on page 376 of a doctor who had a car -- and deliberately disabled it to prevent theft, before recommissioning it briefly to help Free State leaders. - RBW
File: FSWB320A

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Johnson's Mule

See The Old Gray Mule (Johnson's Mule) (File: LPns213)

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Johnston's Hotel

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes conditions at "Johnston's Hotel," which smells like corn-flakes; one is sent there by the magistrate Langley. Policemen who scout for boarders are described; all boarders are required to clean up the park and do other odd jobs all day
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer sarcastically describes conditions at "Johnston's Hotel," which smells like corn-flakes; one is sent there by the magistrate Langley. The furnishings and carpets are praised, while the beefsteak must be cut with a sword. Some policemen who are scouting for boarders are described; all boarders are required to clean up the park and do other odd jobs all day
KEYWORDS: prison punishment drink humorous moniker nonballad prisoner food
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1920s-1950: Dalton Johnston serves as governor
Late 1940s: Langley retires as magistrate
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
Roud #4819
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. Tom Sullivan, "Johnston's Hotel" (on Ontario1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Vilikens and his Dinah (William and Dinah) [Laws M31A/B]" (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "The Mountjoy Hotel" (subject, tune)
cf. "The Banks of the Don" (subject, lyrics)
NOTES: "Johnston's Hotel" is actually the Peterborough County Jail on the banks of the Otonabee River, just across from the Quaker Oats plant. While the resemblance to "The Banks of the Don" is patent, it's a separate song. Edith Fowke met the self-declared author, who said he wrote it in the 1930s (although he clearly derived its tune from "The Mountjoy Hotel" and some lyrics from "The Banks of the Don"). As the author had been an inmate of the establishment at the time of composition, she thought it prudent not to reveal his identity. - PJS
File: RcJohHot

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Johnstown Flood, The [Laws G14]

DESCRIPTION: A distraught father tells a stranger about his share of the Johnstown tragedy. He, his wife, and his children had sought shelter from the flood in the upper part of the house, but the waters tore them from his grasp. He was rescued, but his family died
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: flood death family
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 31, 1889 - The Great Flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, kills about 2500 people
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws G14, "The Johnstown Flood"
LPound-ABS, 61, pp. 135-138, "The Jamestown Flood" (1 text)
DT 825, JAMESFLD
Roud #3254
NOTES: There have been many histories of the Johnstown Flood. One of the more recent is McCullough, one of the first works of this noteworthy historian, which is the primary source for what follows.
Johnstown is about 60 miles almost due east of Pittsburg, on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Interestingly, it is not on one of Pennsylvania's major rivers; the stream which caused the flood was the Little Conemaugh River, which joins Stony Creek (or "the Stony Creek," as the locals called it) at Johnstown to become the Conemaugh River, which eventually becomes part of the Kiskiminetas River, which flows into the Allegheny. McCullough, p. 24, describes both the Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek as fast but not particularly large. Stony Creek, because it was deeper, was considered the more dangerous at the time.
Johnstown was a fast-growing town; according to McCullough, p. 23, it had tripled in size in less than three decades. The reason was industrialization; Johnstown made steel and steel products such as plows and rails. It can't have been a very comfortable place to live, with all the pollution and the noise and the cheap company houses, but it was doing well. At least for the company bosses.
What made it vulnerable was a man-made lake. A few miles above Johnstown on the Little Conemaugh was the hamlet of South Fork, where South Fork Creek joined the Little Conemaugh. A bit more than a mile above the town on South Fork Creek was a great dam, built some forty years before to create a lake variously called the Western Reservoir or the Old Reservoir or Lake Conemaugh.
The dam itself, made of earth, was sometimes called Three Mile Dam -- which was not very accurate (it apparently was a reference to the size of the lake behind it, but exaggerated). Still, it was an impressive structure, some 72 feet high and 900 wide. O'Connor, p. 29, says that it was the world's largest earthenwork dam. And the water usually was within six or seven feet of the top (McCullough, pp. 39-41). The total area of the lake was about 450 acres. The surface level was some 450 feet above Johnstown.
The building of the reservoir was one of those things that give government projects a bad name. The Pennsylvania legislature in 1836 had approved $30,000 to build a reservoir. The final cost, though, was $240,000. Worse, according to McCullough, p. 50, "two years after it was finished the whole thing would be obsolete and of no use whatsoever."
The whole thing was a boondoggle. Pennsylvania was jealous of New York's Erie Canal and wanted its own water transport system, even though that meant running a canal across the mountains! The idea was to haul barges over the passes using railroads. It all worked, more or less, but it needed more water than was reliably available. So the Conemaugh was dammed to supply a steady flow of water in the summer (McCullough, p. 52).
Unfortunately, the whole project was a money pit, and construction was halted at times because the state of Pennsylvania couldn't come up with the cash. And this even though the South Fork dam was built of earth rather than rock because it was cheap to hire people to move dirt. The thing was finally completed in 1852.
Then the Pennsylvania Railroad finished laying track across the state. The big fancy canal system, which couldn't possibly compete on price with the railroads, instantly lost any purpose, and within two years, Pennsylvania was trying to sell it -- and found no buyers. Finally the Pennsylvania Railroad itself bought the canal -- not for the canal itself but for the land it rested on. They paid a low price -- and, naturally, stopped doing any work on the canals and on the useless (to them) dam maintaining the Western Reservoir (McCullough, p. 54).
Not long after, on June 10, 1862, the dam failed for the first time (McCullough, p. 54). The surviving records aren't really good enough to indicate why, but that break was not repaired until 1879. The repairs were, however, rather casual; it appears that little work was done on the dam's foundations (which had been undermined by the first break), and the pipes which relieved pressure, which had failed, were not replaced. The goal, after all, was not to control water flow; it was simply to built a country club for rich men who wanted to fish and breath clear air (McCullough, pp. 56-57).
The locals were somewhat worried -- even the regular spring runoff frequently caused water to fill some of the low-lying streets of Johnstown, and the floods were growing worse each year as the rivers were more tightly channeled and deforestation increased runoff (McCullough, pp. 64-65). But there were enough people who thought the town was safe to make it impossible for the worriers to do anything about a reservoir outside their jurisdiction. A manager of the local ironworks at one point sent an engineer to look things over, and he sent a dire report -- but the club owners refused to pay any attention (McCullough, pp. 73-74) even though the ironworks offered to help pay the costs (McCullough, p. 75).
The dam, in fact, had been rendered even more vulnerable than the engineer had noticed: The top had been lowered to allow a two-lane road across the top, meaning that the spillway to relieve pressure on the dam were barely below the dam's new crest (and the great danger to an earth dam was that water would go over the top and erode the soil). The spillway itself had had bars installed to keep fish from escaping -- but which also meant that the spillway could easily be blocked by rubbish. It is also likely (though not certain), that the vulnerable center of the dam sagged below the edges. McCullough, p. 76, concludes that, at the center, the top of the dam was only four feet higher than the spillway.
Conclusion: Any serious rise in the water level, unless water was released in an orderly way, would result in the overtopping and destruction of the dam. And, because the pipes at the bottom had been removed, there was no possible way to release water. Not only was the dam a disaster waiting to happen, it was a disaster that couldn't even be repaired, because the lake could not be lowered! (McCullough, p. 77).
McCullough, p. 41, estimates the weight of the water at 20 million tons. That's 18 million cubic meters, or 18 thousand million litres, or 5 thousand million gallons.
The flood was the result of a very major storm, first observed in Kansas and Nebraska on May 28, 1889 (O'Connor, p. 11). The next day, it dumped rain from Kansas to Michigan and Indiana. Then it arrived in Pennsylvania on May 30 (O'Connor, p. 12).
The storm was described as the worst storm ever recorded in the western parts of that state. In the Johnstown area, rainfall totals were usually in the six to eight inch range, though Pittsburg suffered only an inch and a half of rain (McCullough, pp. 21-22). Johnstown was already starting to fill with water before the dam went out (McCullough, p. 79); by the second day of the downpour, the flood was higher than even the previous 1887 record (McCullough, p. 82). Some people left town, but others, with strong houses or on slightly higher ground, stayed behind.
It appears that, at some point, a message was telegraphed to the townspeople saying the dam was in danger, but the text has been lost and it is not clear just what it said; in any case, it does not appear to have changed people's behavior much, perhaps because similar messages had been sent in the past (McCullough, p. 87). A rider also took a message, and there were attempts to telephone Johnstown, but many of the lines were down (McCullough, p. 93).
The dam was now so full that it could not be ignored; workers were reportedly trying to cut a new spillway and to raise the central weak point (McCullough, p. 90). But there were too few, and it was too late. An attempt to clear the original spillway, now largely blocked by debris, also failed. By about noon, water started going over the top of the dam, and there were leaks lower down as well (McCullough, p. 95). At 1:52 on May 31, a message went out that water was going over the top of the dam. Word that the dam was in the process of failing reached Johnstown around 2:45 (McCullough, pp. 96-97). It appears that, by 3:00, workmen were refusing to do any more work on the dam itself and were simply trying to clear the spillways. Then, at 3:10, the whole thing crumbled (McCullough, p. 100).
Estimates of how long it took the lake to drain ranged from about half an hour to forty-five minutes. This makes the total amount of water flowing at any given moment roughly equal to Niagara Falls (McCullough, p. 102).
The first place to be affected by the flood was the town of South Fork, where the first casualties occurred (McCullough, p. 105). But the town was mostly on hillsides above the valley of South Fork Creek. It wrecked a bridge and a low-lying mill, but most of the town survived. Johnstown, nine miles away in a straight line but thirteen along the course of the river, would not fare so well, nor would the hamlets in between.
Unfortunately, there was a great bend in the Little Conemaugh a couple of miles below South Fork, and a great railroad viaduct cutting across it. The wreck of this viaduct, plus the miscellaneous refuse picked up along the way, seem to have temporarily blocked the flow of the flood, allowing it to build up another big pressure head (McCullough, pp. 107-109). The village of Mineral Point was next to feel the flood; it was nearly destroyed, though only 16 people were reported killed (McCullough, p. 111). There was quite a tangle as trains in the area had to be halted or re-routed (and places had to be found to put them while the lines were repaired and trains diverted). McCullough, p. 122, says that at least 23 train occupants died, in part because the train's crews did little to warn the passengers that they might need to flee.
Then it was the turn of the towns of East Conemaugh and Franklin, which were largely flooded and saw at least 28 people killed. Then the flood reached Woodvale, a relatively new town of about 1000 people. It had no warning at all, and was almost completely submerged. 250 houses were destroyed, and 314 people listed as killed (McCullough, p. 127). It was still only about an hour since the dam had broken.
Finally the flood reached Johnstown. The best guess is that the crest arrived in the town at 4:07 p.m., and took ten minutes to pass through the town (McCullough, p. 147). Slowed slightly by the wash up the valley of Stony Creek, the flood built another dam of debris at a bridge below the town, which later caught fire (McCullough, p. 149). Hundreds of people were trapped in the debris pile, though it is estimated that only about 80 died in it (McCullough, p. 173). The debris would eventually have to be dynamited to clear the river (McCullough, pp. 227-228).
But even once the fires died down and the waters ran downstream, the ordeal was not over. Probably in excess of 5000 people huddled on the hills above Johnstown (McCullough, p. 184), often ill or injured, with their homes destroyed in the valley below. And the weather at the time was bitterly cold (McCullough, p. 197).
The locals eventually decided to hold a town meeting to appoint a "dictator" to try to manage emergency operations (McCullough, p. 189). At first, there wasn't even enough paper to take notes about the descriptions and properties of the dead bodies (McCullough, p. 192). Lurid initial newspaper reports claimed ten thousand dead (McCullough, p. 203). McCullough, p. 193, notes that there was never an exact count of the dead; he lists 2209 as the "official" total (and gives this full catalog in an appendix) -- though he notes (p. 196) that two bodies were not recovered until 1906; it was obviously impossible to come up with an absolutely correct count. Of the bodies recovered, 663 would never be identified (McCullough, p. 194), in some cases because of decapitation by debris or burns so severe that features could not be made out. Plus many bodies were not discovered until they decomposed beyond recognition.
Nearly 400 children under age ten were killed, and 98 lost both parents. Hundreds more lost one parent (McCullough, p. 195).
The total population of the Conemaugh valley was believed to be about 23,000, so a tenth of the population was killed. The rate for Johnstown itself was higher, though only slightly.
Newspaper coverage of the event was constant -- O'Connor, p. 163, declares, "The editors of the nation's daily newspapers quicly seized upon the Johnstown flood as the biggest news break since Appomattox." Coverage however was poor, simply because communications were so bad. O'Connor, p. 176, notes instances of newspapers lifting descriptions of the flood from George Elliot's The Mill on the Floss and even a book by the reforming novelist Charles Reade.
Relief efforts began quickly, naturally enough, and often raised quite a bit of money (McCullough, p. 199; on p. 225, he notes contributions totalling over $3,700,000, and that's in 1889 dollars. The flip side is, Benet, np. 566, lists the damage at ten million dollars).
Unfortunately, there was at the time no organization really devoted to emergency relief -- no FEMA, and while the Red Cross existed, it was still fairly new and didn't have standard procedures yet; Clara Barton herself would lead the trek to Johnstown. (It would be the largest operation in Red Cross history to this time; McCullough, p. 231). Often volunteers would just wander into the Conemaugh valley and, having no idea what to do, simply added to the burdens of those who were doing their best. It would be several days before the Pennsylvania militia showed up (McCullough, p. 202), and in the interim, there was a lot of crime and mismanagement.
Fears of epidemics were felt as far away as Pittsburg (after all, the waters of the flood flowed into the Allegheny river); eventually men were assigned to try to clean up the river (McCullough, p. 209).
In a small stroke of luck, the weather was cold and wet for more than a week after the disaster. It made everyone miserable, but it also helped prevent disease and decay (McCullough, p. 229).
In the aftermath, attention naturally turned to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the maintainers of the dam. There were of course engineers who had publicly stated their concerns about its construction. The newspapers had a field day with this, though often exaggerating the engineers' reports (McCullough, pp. 242-249). Some members of the club did contribute to the relief funds -- the Carnegie Company gave $10,000, e.g. (McCullough, p. 255), but many club members did not give, and the club as a whole offered nothing. Lawsuits eventually began to be filed, but there was a limit on what this could yield -- after deducting a mortgage, the club had assets of only about $15,000 (McCullough, p. 257). The members had more, of course, but the whole principle of a corporation is limited stockholder liability.
There are few records of the actual trials, since transcripts were not kept (McCullough, p. 258), but in the end the club was not held liable. McCullough speculates that the great wealth and power of the club's members helped them.
Plus the great downpour was clearly natural. The only real fault was in the construction of the dam, and only a few officers would have known about that.
McCullough seems to consider them guilty, and I would too, but they too got off. The people of Johnstown were apparently bitter (McCullough, p. 264), but they were helpless. Perhaps they derived some small consolation from the fact that the flood, while it didn't destroy the club (except for the dam and the lake), did cause it to shut down (McCullough, p. 264); there wasn't much point in a fishing club with nowhere to fish!
Johnstown would begin rebuilding, and the iron mills came back; there were soon jobs for all the remaining workers. But its prosperity seems to have been damaged; the town has only about 30,000 residents now (more than in 1889, but not as much as its pre-flood population growth would suggest). There were fairly major floods there in 1936 and 1977, according to Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary, though none to compare with 1889.
It is little surprise that the event produced songs; it was the biggest news of the day, and McCullough, p. 204, notes that a Pittsburg newspaper actually had to reduce the size of its pages to have enough paper to meet the demand. (Ironically, much of what they published was fiction, such as accounts of a messenger named Peyton who tried to warn people of the flood.) Laws believes this song to be too literary to be a purely folk composition; he suspects it of having been originally printed in a newspaper. McCullough, p. 221, mentions poems written about the event. A popular piece of 1889 was "The Johnstown Flood" of Joe Flynn; I haven't seen a copy to compare. - RBW
Bibliography

• Benet: William Rose Benet, editor, The Reader's Encyclopdedia, first edition, 1948 (I use the four-volume Crowell edition but usually check it against the single volume fourth edition edited by Bruce Murphy and published 1996 by Harper-Collins; that edition however omits the Johnstown reference)
• McCullough: David G. McCullough, The Johnstown Flood,Simon and Schuster, 1968
• O'Connor: Richard O'Connor, Johnstown: The Day the Dam Broke, Lippincott, 1957

Last updated in version 2.5
File: LG14

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Join the Angel Band

DESCRIPTION: "If you look up the road you see father Mosey, join the angel band" (x2). "Do, father Mosey, gader your army." "O do mo' soul dager together." "O do join 'em, join 'em for Jesus." "Sister Mary, stan' up for Jesus." "Daddy Peter set out for Jesus"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 39, "Join the Angel Band" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10432
File: AWG039

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Join the C.I.O.

See I Am a Union Woman (File: Arn174)

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Joking Henry

DESCRIPTION: Joke and Henry are asleep on the railroad track when Joke gets hit by a brickbat. Joke says he'll henceforth sleep with a pistol, and with one eye open, and threatens the man who hit him; he thinks he may have seen the perpetrator going over a fence
AUTHOR: Credited to G. B. Grayson
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Grayson & Whitter)
KEYWORDS: violence
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Joking Henry" (Victor V40038, 1929; rec. 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (tune)
cf. "Battleship of Maine" (tune)
cf. "White House Blues (II)" (tune)
cf. "The Cannonball" (tune)
NOTES: About as minimal a plot as you can get, but here it is. Clearly the record people misheard the title; it should be, "Joke and Henry". - PJS
Just speculation, but -- could "Joke" be Grayson, the alleged composer, and Henry be Henry Whitter, his accompanist? - RBW
File: RcJokHen

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Jolie Fleur de Rosier (Lovely Flower of the Rose-Tree)

DESCRIPTION: French. Singer's father's golden keys have fallen into the sea; she'll marry whoever retrieves them. A "galant" dives in, but the keys begin to ring out; on his second dive, he drowns. Someone (her father?) curses all young women, for the galant is dead.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (BerryVin)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage grief promise death drowning tasks sea
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BerryVin, p. 72, "Jolie fleur de rosier (O Lovely Budding Rose-Tree)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Isabeau S'y Promene (Isabel)" (plot)
cf. "The Lady of Carlisle" [Laws O25] (theme)
NOTES: While the plot is clearly related to "Isabeau S'y Promene", the protagonists are different enough that I split them. You should check that out, though. - PJS
And also "The Lady of Carlisle" [Laws O25] and its variants -- essentially the same plot, but with a happy ending. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BerV072

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Jolly

See Johnny, Won't You Ramble (File: LoF275)

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Jolly Abbot, The

See King John and the Bishop [Child 45] (File: C045)

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Jolly Baker, The

DESCRIPTION: "I am a jolly baker, and I bake my bread brown...I've got the biggest rolling pin of any man in the town." A girl asks him to buy her a gown. She arrives with her "chemise up before." The baker lays her in many places, then boasts of other conquests
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1976 (collected by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: cook sex bawdy wordplay
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Logsdon 57, pp. 261-264, "The Jolly Baker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10107
NOTES: Logsdon notes a curious shift in this song: The first part is a double-entendre song, the end merely a series of sexual boasts. The strong impression is that the result is composite. But the first half seems to be unique, an the second too generic to identify, so I file it as one piece. - RBW
File: Logs057

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Jolly Barber Lad, The

DESCRIPTION: A lady sends for a barber to come and curl her hair. He comes to the door; the lady says to send him up, for "My husband he's a yeoman, and I might as well have no man." She pays the barber; now he goes to shave her, but never takes his razor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1969 (collected from John MacDonald)
LONG DESCRIPTION: A young lady sends for a jolly barber lad to come and curl her hair; he goes to "shave the lady, don't you know what I mean?" He comes to the door; the maidservant answers, and the lady says to send him up, for "My husband he's a yeoman, and I might as well have no man/He's just like a lady when he goes to bed with me." After the job is finished, she gives the young barber a sovereign and a crown; now he always goes to shave her, but he never takes his razor
KEYWORDS: infidelity sex wife husband work worker
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MacSeegTrav 37, "The Jolly Barber Lad" (1 tune, 1 text)
Roud #2515
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Chandler's Wife" (theme)
cf. "The Coachman's Whip" (theme)
cf. "The Farm Servant (Rap-Tap-Tap" (theme)
cf. "My Husband's Got No Courage in Him" (theme)
cf. "Fogan MacAleer" (see notes)
NOTES: Ives-DullCare re "Fogan MacAleer" makes "The Jolly Barber Lad" Lawrence Doyle's "model" for "Fogan MacAleer." Was "The Jolly Barber Lad" ever current in the Canadian Maritimes? Roud #2515 refers to a tape-recording from Ontario of "There Was a Jolly Barber and He Lived in Aberdeen." - BS
File: CcCST037

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Jolly Beggar, The [Child 279]

DESCRIPTION: A beggar asks lodging. He is admitted to the house, but wants more than his beggar's fare. Receiving much of what he asks, he at last receives the daughter of the house into his cloak. He then reveals that he is a nobleman; (perhaps he marries the girl)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1769 [Herd]
KEYWORDS: begging courting escape money sex nobility mother children
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West),Scotland(Aber,Bord)) Ireland US(NE,So)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Child 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (3 texts)
Bronson 279, "The Jolly Beggar" (37 versions, but #21 is a fragment of "Johnny Lad" and #28 is "Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw)"; it is likely that several of the other texts also belong with other songs.)
Greig #30, p. 2, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 274, "The Jolly Beggar" (10 texts, 7 tunes) {A=Bronson's #8, B=#20, C=#18, D=#14, E or G=#7}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 475-476, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 songster text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 47-48, "Hind Horn" (1 short text, properly titled "The Jolly Beggar," which might be "Hind Horn" [Shild #17] or "The Jolly Beggar" [Child #279] or a mix; 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 223-225, "Hind Horn" (1 short text, properly titled "The Jolly Beggar," which might be "Hind Horn" [Shild #17] or "The Jolly Beggar" [Child #279] or a mix; 1 tune) {Bronson's #18}
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 9-12, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Randolph 37, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 short text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
SHenry H183, p. 268, "The Rambling Suiler" (1 text, 1 tune, in which the visitor is not a nobleman but the colonel of a visiting headquarters; there might be a bit of "Pretty Peggy-O" mixed in)
MacSeegTrav 18, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-More 41, pp. 328-332, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 fragment, which Davis believes to be this song but which in fact could be almost anything)
JHCoxIIA, #14, pp. 61-63, "The Jolly Beggar" (1 text, but not from West Virginia) {Bronson's #2}
BBI, ZN2500, "There was a jovial Begger-man"
DT 279, BEGGAR1* BEGGAR2 BEGGAR3* BEGGR4* BEGGAR5* BEGGAR6
Roud #118
RECORDINGS:
Jeannie Robertson, "The Jolly Beggar" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #6}
Lucy Stewart, "The Beggar King" (on LStewart1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.13(1), "The Jolly Beggar" ("There was a jolly beggar and a begging he had been"), unknown, n.d.; also Firth c.26(57)[some lines illegible], Firth c.26(57), "Was a Jolly Beggerman"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gaberlunzie Man" [Child 279A]
cf. "The Beggar-Laddie" [Child 280]
cf. "The Tinker"
cf. "The Pedlar"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
He Wadna Lie in Barn
The Beggar Man
NOTES: Although this ballad is associated in tradition with James V of Scotland, there is no evidence that he ever courted in a manner such as this. James V in fact married a noble foreign lady, Mary of Guise-Lorraine. The basis for the song may be the fact that he was a fairly lusty liege; according to Stanley B. R. Poole, Royal Mysteries and Pretenders, Barnes & Noble, 1993, p. 36, he was thought to have had as many as nine illegitimate children.
Child draws a distinction between this and "The Gaberlunzie Man" (which he calls "The Gaberlunyie-Man" -- and, indeed, his texts are metrically distinct ("Gaberlunzie Man" uses eight-line stanzas with four feet per line; "The Jolly Beggar" typically has the standard four-line 4-3-4-3 stanza). In addition, his "Gaberlunyie-Man" lacks the ending. However, both songs occur in tradition and have so heavily cross-fertilized that it is often not possible to distinguish.
If there is a distinction to be drawn, it is probably in the form of the ending. In "The Jolly Beggar," the beggar sleeps with the girl and then reveals his status the next morning (perhaps abandoning her); in "The Gaberlunzie Man," he lures the girl away (as opposed to sleeping with her on the spot), and only later returns and reveals his wealth.
Due to the degree of cross-fertilization of these ballads, one should be sure to check both songs to find all versions. - RBW
See the Bruce Olson note at "The Juggler"; Bruce sees "The Juggler" as a sequel to "The Jolly Beggar."
Of the Bodleian broadsides listed, "Was a Jolly Beggerman" lacks the usual ending. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C279

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Jolly Best Lad

See Wrap Me Up in my Tarpaulin Jacket (File: FR439)

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