Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer, a former slave, is getting old and can't work; his master and mistress and fellow slaves are gone; only his old dog remains. His home is falling apart. He recalls the dances they used to have. He hopes the angels will watch over him.
AUTHOR: Will S. Hays
EARLIEST DATE: 1871 (sheet music)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, a former slave, is getting old and feeble; he can't work any more, his master and mistress are gone, and so are the other former slaves; no one else remains except his old dog. In former days the other "darkies" would gather around his door, and he'd play the banjo while they danced. His house is falling down, the footpath is overgrown and the fences fall down. Chorus: "The chimney's falling down, and the roof is caving in/I ain't got long round here to remain/The angels watches over me when I lay down to sleep/In the little old log cabin in the lane"
KEYWORDS: age loneliness home abandonment death farming dancing music slavery nonballad animal dog friend slave Black(s)
FOUND IN: US
Roud #2473
RECORDINGS:
Bentley Ball, "De Little Old Log Cabin in de Lane" (Columbia A3087, 1920)
Kenneth Barton [pseud. for Marian Underwood], "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Challenge 331, 1927)
Binkley Bros. Dixie Clodhoppers, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Victor V-40129, 1929)
Frank [or Kenneth] Calvert [pseud. for somebody, probably Vernon Dalhart or Carson Robison], "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Grey Gull/Radiex 4135, 1927)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (OKeh 4890, 1923)
Carroll Clark, "De Little Old Log Cabin in de Lane" (Columbia A-696, 1909)
Vernon Dalhart, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Cameo 1174/Romeo 399, 1927) 2455
Girls of the Golden West, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Victor 23857, 1933; Bluebird B-5737, 1934)
Doc Hopkins, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Broadway 8305, rec. 1931)
Bradley Kincaid, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Champion 15923 [as Dan Hughey]/Supertone 9505, 1929)
Silas Leachman, "Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Victor 1893, 1903)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner [Mac and Bob], "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Brunswick 350, 1929; Supertone S-2036, 1930; Aurora [Canada] 22004, 1931)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Vocalion 14864, 1924)
Clayton McMichen "Log Cabin in the Lane" (Crown 3447 [as Bob Nichols], 1933; Varsity 5026, n.d. but prob. c. 1939)
Metcalf & Spencer, "The Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Columbia 645, 1902; Columbia A-480, 1909)
Metropolitan Quartet, "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Edison 80484, n.d.) (CYL: Edison [BA] 3573, n.d.)
David Miller, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Gennett 3082/Silvertone 4019, 1925)
Fiddlin' Powers & Family "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Victor 19448, 1924) (Edison, unissued, 1925)
Riley Puckett, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Columbia 107-D, 1924) (Columbia 15171-D, 1927)
Oscar Seagle, "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Columbia A-3582, 1922; rec. 1921)
Frank C. Stanley, "A Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Imperial 44823, c. 1906)
Ernest V. Stoneman "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (Victor 20235, 1926) (Montgomery Ward M-8305 [as Stoneman's Dixie Mountaineers], 1939); Ernest V. Stoneman Trio, "Little Log Cabin in the Lane" (OKeh, unissued, 1927)
John White, "The Little Old Log Cabin" (Paramount 3190, 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Old Sod Shanty on My Claim" (tune)
cf. "Little Joe the Wrangler's Sister Nell" (subject, tune)
cf. "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune)
cf. "Beans, Bacon, and Gravy" (tune)
cf. "The Freehold on the Plain" (tune)
cf. "Little Old Mud Cabin on the Hill" (tune)
cf. "Double-Breasted Mansion on the Square" (tune)
cf. "cf. "Sara Jane" (tune)
cf. "My Cabin Home Among the Hills" (tune)
cf. "The Titanic (I) ("It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down") [Laws D24] (Titanic #1)" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Little Old Sod Shanty on My Claim (File: R197)
Little Joe the Wrangler [Laws B5] (File: LB05)
The Little Old Mud Cabin on the Hill (File: HHH642)
Little Joe the Wrangler's Sister Nell (File: R204)
The Freehold on the Plain (File: FaE174)
Beans, Bacon, and Gravy (File: Arn170)
Sara Jane (File: RcSarJan)
The Double-Breasted Mansion on the Square (File: FCW025H)
The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (I) (File: BRaF455)
The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (II) (File: Br3235)
The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (III) (File: RcTLRCBT)
The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (IV) (File: LSRai261)
The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (V) (The Hobo Tramp) (File: LSRai382)
My Cabin Home Among the Hills (File: RcMCHAtH)
Callahan Brothers, "Little Poplar Log House on the Hill" (Conqueror 8384, 1934)
NOTES: This pop song is the basis from which all of the cross-referenced songs were built. From a modern perspective it's sentimentally stereotyped balderdash, but it was a huge hit when published -- and, judging by the number of versions on 78s, it remained wildly popular half a century later. (Presumably among white people.) It's indexed here primarily because of the genuine folk songs it inspired. - PJS
According to Bill Malone (Don't Get above Your Raisin', p. 54), the 1923 Fiddlin' John Carson recording is "one side of the first documented recording of a southern rural musician." - RBW
Not quite; Eck Robertson recorded several sides of fiddle music on Victor before Carson made his first recording, and one of the discs was released before Carson's. But it didn't have any impact, probably because Victor considered itself a "prestige" label and had no idea how to market it. (They also, unlike their competitors, had no distribution agreement with a major mail-order company like Sears, and wouldn't until the 1930s, so they missed a prime means of distribution to rural buyers.) Carson's OKeh disc, backed with "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow," wasn't the first, but it was the one that started the avalanche. - PJS
Indeed so. An article in The Old-Time Herald, Volume 11, #10, April-May 2009, p. 26, tells us that "[Ralph] Peer recorded Carson -- grudgingly, country music lore has it -- in cnnditions that were less than ideal. The sound of Carson's record, Peer would later say, was 'pluperfect awful.' Nevertheless, a test pressing of 500 of Carson's debut... sold out in the space of an afternoon." - RBW
File: RcLOLCIL

Little Old Mud Cabin on the Hill, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls how his father sold the livestock to send him across the sea, "For in Paddy's land but poverty you'll find." The singer misses home, mother, the local music; he wishes he were still there
AUTHOR: S.Gaffney
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: homesickness emigration poverty
FOUND IN: Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H642, pp. 207-208, "The Little Old Mud Cabin on the Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 100-101, "Old Mud Cabin on the Hill" (1 text)
Roud #9271
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Coyle, "The Little Old Mud Cabin on the Hill" (on IRHardySons)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Joe the Wrangler" [Laws B5] (tune) and references there
cf. "Scarborough Settler's Lament" (theme) and references there
File: HHH207

Little Old Sod Shanty in the West

See The Little Old Sod Shanty on my Claim (File: R197)

Little Old Sod Shanty on My Claim, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer admits, "I'm looking rather seedy while holding down my claim." His little sod shanty is made of poor materials and is infested by mice. He recalls the easier life out east, and wishes a girl would join him
AUTHOR: Lindsey Baker?
EARLIEST DATE: 1888?
KEYWORDS: hardtimes settler bachelor
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 20, 1862 - President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act
FOUND IN: US(MW,Ro,So) Canada(West)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Randolph 197, "The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 90-91, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 89-91, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife VII, pp. 87-96 (20), "Little Adobe Casa" (6 texts, 2 tunes)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 142-143, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 205, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 25, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (7 texts, 2 tunes, though some of these -- especially the "G" and "H" texts -- appear distinct)
Arnett, pp. 94-95, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 74, p. 165, "The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 332-333, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 121, "The Little Old Sod Shanty On My Claim" (1 text)
DT, SODSHANT*
Roud #4368
RECORDINGS:
Jules Verne Allen, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (Victor 23757, 1933; on MakeMe)
Craver & Tanner [pseud. for Vernon Dalhart & probably Carson Robison], "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (Vocalion 5342, 1929)
Jenkins Family, "That Little Old Sod Shanty" (OKeh 45563, 1932; rec. 1930)
Lone Star Ranger, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (Regal 8881, 1929)
Chubby Parker, "My Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim" (Gennett 6319/Silvertone 25103, 1927)
Jack Weston, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (Van Dyke 84293, 1929)
John White, "The Little Old Sod Shanty" (Domino 4440/Cameo 9321 [as "My Little Old Sod Shanty"], 1929)
Marc Williams, "Little Old Sod Shanty" (Brunswick 564, 1931; rec. 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
cf. "Starving to Death on a Government Claim (The Lane County Bachelor)" (theme)
cf. "My Little German Home Across the Sea" (tune & meter)
cf. "I Will Tell You My Troubles" (tune & meter)
cf. "The Double-Breasted Mansion on the Square" (tune & meter)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Little Vine-Clad Cottage
The Little 'Dobe Casa
Little Old Sod Shanty in the West
NOTES: This piece is probably based on Will S. Hays's "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane," with which it shares a melody.
The song clearly dates back to the latter part of the nineteenth century, the period of Homestead Claims. The Homestead Act of 1862 had opened large areas of the western U.S. to settlement, allowing settlers to lay claim to 160 acre sections in return for nominal payments. However, the settlers were required to live on their claims for five years before they could "prove up" and gain title to the property. Many settlers, like the one here, wound up living in impossible conditions because it was the only way to stake the claim.
Fife in Thorp/Fife treats "Little Adobe Casa," and some related parodies, as separate from "Little Old Sod Shanty." (Interestingly, the Fifes lump the songs in "Cowboy and Western Songs"). To me these look to be simply localizations of the same song, and there are intermediate versions, so I do not separate them.
Several people seem to have claimed the authorship (e.g. Pound lists a report that one Emery Miller claims to have made it up while living on a claim in the 1880s). The claim by Baker seems to be the strongest, but proof is probably impossible. - RBW
File: R197

Little Page Boy, The

See Child Waters [Child 63] (File: C063)

Little Piece of Whang, The

DESCRIPTION: When the Lord sewed up Adam and Eve, He measured wrong, leaving Adam with a little piece of whang, and Eve with a gap. Ever since then, men have sought to lend women a bit of the whang to fill the gap.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 496-498, "The Little Piece of Whang" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8384
NOTES: Legman provides citations to a number of folktale antecedents to the modern bawdy song in Randolph-Legman I. - EC
The earliest of said folktales is apparently found in de Verville's "Le Moyen de Parvenir" (1610). However, one can find something rather similar as far back as Plato. The reference in the song is, of course, to Gen. 2:21-22. - RBW
File: RL496

Little Pig, The

See There Was an Old Woman and She Had a Little Pig (File: E068)

Little Pink

DESCRIPTION: "My pretty little Pink, I once did think, That you and I would marry." The singer complains that the girl has taken too long to make up her mind. In some versions he is a soldier who sets out to see the sights and fight in the Mexican War
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting love separation soldier floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Sandburg, p. 166, "My Pretty Little Pink" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 793, "Careless Love" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "B" text belongs here if it belongs anywhere)
BrownIII 287, "Darling Little Pink" (1 text); also 78, "Coffee Grows on White Oak Trees" (7 texts plus 1 excerpt and mention of 1 more, but almost all mixed -- all except "H" have the "Coffee grows" stanza, but "A" also has verses from "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss"; "and "C" through "H" are mostly "Little Pink"; "B" is mixed with "Raccoon" or some such)
Hudson 85, p. 212, "Going to the Mexican War" (1 fragment, with the "Knapsack on my Shoulder" text and also the "Coffee Grows" stanza; there isn't much "Little Pink" in it, but it clearly goes with the Brown texts cited above)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #808, p. 301, "(My little pink)" (a fragment that appears related but may be a by-blow)
ST San166 (Full)
Roud #735
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "We're Marching Down to Old Quebec" (floating verses)
File: San166

Little Plowing Boy, The

See The Jolly Plowboy (Little Plowing Boy; The Simple Plowboy) [Laws M24] (File: LM24)

Little Poppa Rich

DESCRIPTION: Children's game: "Little poppa-rich you draw your long lannet/Sit by the fire and spin/The hen's in the window a-combing her hair/The cat in the corner a-frying his fish... Cocka-pen dungle a-blowing his horn/The wind was high and it blowed him away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 or 1966 (collected from Caroline Hughes)
KEYWORDS: nonballad nonsense paradox playparty animal chickens
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MacSeegTrav 123, "Little Poppa Rich" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16639
NOTES: I call this a playparty for want of a keyword "game." - PJS
File: McCST123

Little Red Caboose behind the Train (I), The

DESCRIPTION: In this maudlin ballad, a young conductor is taking his bride to the city for their honeymoon. The train collides with the express, and the bride is killed. Now the old white-haired conductor "rides all alone In that little red caboose behind the train."
AUTHOR: Words: Bob Miller (tune by Will S. Hays)
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: train marriage wreck death
FOUND IN: US(MA) Canada
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 261-263, "The Little Red Caboose behind the Train" (2 texts; tune referenced. The "A" text is this piece;"B" is "Little Red Caboose (IV)")
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 455, "The Little Red Caboose behind the Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4762
RECORDINGS:
Barney Burnett & Bob Miller's Hinky Dinkers, "Little Red Caboose" (Brunswick 446/Supertone S-2074, 1930)
Vernon Dalhart, "Little Red Caboose" (Velvet Tone 1893-V/Diva 2893-G/Harmony 893-H [as Mack Allen], 1929)
Bob Ferguson [pseud. for Bob Miller] & his Scalawaggers "Little Red Caboose" (Columbia 15616-D, 1930)
Bob Miller, "Little Red Caboose" (Grey Gull 4286/Van Dyke 74286, 1930 [as Miller & Burnett]) (Victor 23693, 1932; Montgomery Ward M-4337, 1933)
Red River Dave (McEnery), "Little Red Caboose" (Musicraft 285, 1944)
Rocky Mountaineers, "Little Red Caboose" (Columbia [UK] FB-1249, 1935)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
cf. "Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (II), (III), (IV), (V)" (tune, structure)
NOTES: This is one of several songs by this name, all set to the tune of "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane"; you should check out the others as well, as they're sometimes hard to untangle. It should also not be confused with the dance tune "Little Red Caboose," as recorded by Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas.
It looks like Vernon Dalhart rushed his recording into print before the author's. - PJS
Roud for some reason lumps at least the first two "Little Red Caboose" songs, though they are clearly different in purpose (Caboose I is a song about a young woman's death, Caboose II is about railroad life). - RBW
File: BRaF455

Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Now I am a jolly railroad man and braking is my trade." He tells of the enjoyable life throwing switches and making up trains, and mentions the "jolly crew" resting in the little red caboose. He wishes luck and the attention of angels for the crew
AUTHOR: unknown (tune by Will S. Hays)
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recording, Pickard Family)
KEYWORDS: work train nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 583-590, "The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train" (3 texts, 1 tune; only the "A" text is this piece; "B" and "C," both short, are probably "Caboose" (III); also a sheet music cover from a song that is none of these)
BrownIII 235, "The Little Red Caboose behind the Train" (1 text)
Roud #4762
RECORDINGS:
Pickard Family, "Little Red Caboose" (Banner 6371/Cameo 9278/Conqueror 7349/Domino 4328/Jewel 5590/Lincoln 3305/Oriole 1562/Regal 8776/Apex[Canada] 8916/Crown[Canada] 81057/Melotone[Canada] 81037/Sterling[Canada] 281057, all 1929; Paramount 3231/Broadway 8179 [as Pleasant Family]/Conqueror 7736, 1931)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
cf. "Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (I), (III), (IV), (V)" (tune, structure)
NOTES: This is one of several songs by this name, all set to the tune of "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane"; you should check out the others as well, as they're sometimes hard to untangle. It should also not be confused with the dance tune "Little Red Caboose," as recorded by Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas. - PJS
Roud for some reason lumps at least the first two "Little Red Caboose" songs, though they are clearly different in purpose (Caboose I is a song about a young woman's death, Caboose II is about railroad life). - RBW
File: Br3235

Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (III), The

DESCRIPTION: Singer, a railroader, says he's getting old and feeble, and the only friend he has is the caboose (or his watch). He reminisces about working as a brakeman on the L&N and Southern railroads, and ironically wishes his young successors well
AUTHOR: unknown (tune by Will S. Hays)
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Marian Underwood & Sam Harris)
KEYWORDS: age disability loneliness train railroading technology work nonballad worker
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 583-590, "The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train" (3 texts, 1 tune; the short"B" and "C" texts are probably this piece; "A" is "Caboose" (II); also a sheet music cover from a song that is none of these)
RECORDINGS:
Marian Underwood & Sam Harris, "The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train" (Gennett 6155/Champion 15297 [as Clinch Valley Boys]/Challenge 334 [as Borton & Thompson]/Herwin 75549, all 1927)
Paul Warmack & his Gully Jumpers, "The Little Red Caboose Behind the Train" (Victor V-40067, 1929; on RRinFS)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
cf. "Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (I), (II), (III), (V)" (tune, structure)
NOTES: This is one of several songs by this name, all set to the tune of "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane"; you should check out the others as well, as they're sometimes hard to untangle. It should also not be confused with the dance tune "Little Red Caboose," as recorded by Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas.
Paul Warmack copyrighted the lyrics in 1930, but since he copyrighted the well-known music as well, and the Underwood-Harris recording precedes his, his claim is doubtful at best. - PJS
It's worth noting that, of the "Red Caboose" songs, this is the one most directly inspired by "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane"; not only does it share the tune, but also the plot of an old man looking back. It simply changes an old slave to an old raildoadman. - RBW
File: RcTLRCBT

Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (IV), The

DESCRIPTION: "Bill Jackson was a brakeman on number 51." Engineer Dad Mendenhall loses his brakes on Crooked Hill. The crew scrambles to set the brakes by hand in icy weather. Bill is thrown from the train and dies; his body is brought home in the caboose
AUTHOR: probably John Lair (tune by Will S. Hays)
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (100 WLS Barn Dance Favorites)
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 261-263, "The Little Red Caboose behind the Train (I)" (2 texts; tune referenced. The "B" text is this piece;"A" is "Little Red Caboose (I)")
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
cf. "Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (I), (II), (III), (V)" (tune, structure)
File: LSRai261

Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (V), The (The Hobo Tramp)

DESCRIPTION: "I will sing you a little song, won't entertain you long, 'Bout the hoboes that promenade the streets." The hobos travel about, suffering in the cold, wishing they could be in the caboose.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1892 (Delaney's _Collection of Songs_)
KEYWORDS: train hobo nonballad travel
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 382-384, "The Little Red Caboose behind the Train (II)" (2 texts; tune referenced)
RECORDINGS:
(Tom) Darby & (Jimmie) Tarlton, "The Hobo Tramp" (Columbia 15293-D, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" (tune) and references there
cf. "Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (I), (II), (III), (IV)" (tune, structure)
NOTES: According to Cohen, the Darby & Tarlton recording is the only version of this song not from a songster, and there are only a few print versions. There is no evidence that it ever went into tradition. On the other hand, the melody implies that it is one of the vast constellation of "red caboose" songs, so perhaps Cohen is right to include it in his book. - RBW
File: LSRai382

Little Red Fox, The

DESCRIPTION: "The little red fox is a raider sly" taking ducks, cocks, and geese for "a family young and growing." He is a "family man," a "hero bold" and a "gallant knight." He is finally "taken 'mongst the rocks, For the love of two bright eyes dying"
AUTHOR: Francis Arthur Fahy (1854-1935) (source: OLochlainn-More)
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: theft death humorous animal family
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 69, "The Little Red Fox" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "Adapted from the old ballad of the Maidirin Rua which was a macaronic song -- mixed Gaelic and English." - BS
Francis Arthur Fahy is probably most famous as the author of "The Ould Plaid Shawl." - RBW
File: OLcM069

Little Red Train, The

DESCRIPTION: A quatrain ballad, this describes the sexual activities and practices of the train crew and passengers. Recognized by the internal chorus, "(She/It) blew, (She/it) blew" and the final line "How (she/it) blew."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recordings, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: bawdy train humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So,SW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Cray, pp. 224-226, "The Little Red Train" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 254-256, "The Runaway Train" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 379, "The Wind It Blew Up the Railroad Track" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT, SHEBLEW*
Roud #9859
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "The Runaway Train" (Brunswick 2911, 1925) (Victor 19684, 1925) (Oriole 454 [as Dick Morse], 1925) (Edison 51584, 1925) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5028, n.d.) (Perfect 12207 [as Guy Massey], 1925)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" (tune)
cf. "Snapoo" (tune)
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Runaway Train
The Sixty-Nine Comes Down the Track
NOTES: The history of this song is a bit vague, as it has both clean and dirty forms. Sandburg prints a single stanza of a clean text (saying of it "This is for cold weather, around the stove in the switch shanty"). But the bawdy version seems to be much more widespread.
Which is original? The evidence available to me does not make it clear. The possibility that Sandburg's text is bowdlerized cannot be denied. - RBW
The Sandburg version may indeed be bowdlerized, but Vernon Dalhart also put out a clean version of "The Runaway Train" in 1925, two years before. Actually, he put it out several times that year, on different labels. Sandburg's verse isn't on his recording(s), though. - PJS
File: EM224

Little Rosewood Casket

DESCRIPTION: The singer, dying for love, asks her sister to bring her love's letters, kept in the rosewood casket. Having heard them read, she prepares to die and asks that the letters, (ring), and other tokens be buried with her
AUTHOR: Louis P. Goullaud & Charles A. White
EARLIEST DATE: 1870 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: death love infidelity ring farewell
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Australia
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Belden, p. 220, "Little Rosewood Casket" (1 text)
Randolph 763, "The Little Rosewood Casket" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 507-509, "The Little Rosewood Casket" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 763A)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 123-126, "Little Rosewood Casket" (2 texts)
BrownII 273, "Little Rosewood Casket" (3 texts plus mention of 21 others )
JHCoxIIB, #28A-B, pp. 185-197, "A Little Rosewood Casket" (1 text plus an excerpt, 2 tunes)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 182-183, "Little Rosewood Casket" (1 text)
Shellans, p. 40, "Little Rosewood Casket" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 261-262, "The Little Rosewood Casket" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-WeepMore, p. 35, "The Little Rosewood Casket" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 276-277, "Little Rosewood Casket" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 182, "Rosewood Casket"; p. 269, "Little Rosewood Casket" (2 texts)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "The Rosewood Casket" (source notes only)
DT, RSEWOOD*
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 206, "(The Rosewood Casket)" (1 text)
Roud #426
RECORDINGS:
Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper, "The Little Rosewood Casket" (Rich-R-Tone 415, n.d. but post-WWII)
Vernon Dalhart "The Little Rosewood Casket" (Edison 51607, 1925) (Victor 19770, 1925) (Cameo 811, 1925; Romeo 333, 1927) (Broadway 4053, c. 1930) (OKeh 40488 [as Tobe Little], 1925) (Herwin 75506, mid-to-late 1920s) (Banner 6044/Domino 0199, 1927; Conqueror 7175, 1928; Conqueror 7750, 1931) (Champion 15906, 1930; Champion 45076, c. 1935; rec. 1928)
Cal Davenport & his Gang, "Little Rosewood Casket" (Vocalion 5371, 1929)
Arthur Fields, "Little Rosewood Casket" (Radiex 02272, 1926)
Betty Garland, "Little Rosewood Casket" (on BGarland01)
Sid Harkreader and Grady Moore (as Harkins and Moran), "There's A Little Rosewood Casket" (Broadway 8056, c. 1930)
Lulu Jackson, "Little Rosewood Casket" (Vocalion 1278, 1929)
Bradley Kincaid, "The Little Rosewood Casket" (Gennett 6989/Supertone 9403, 1929); (Bluebird B-5895, 1935)
George Reneau, "Little Rosewood Casket" (Vocalion 5057/Vocalion 14997/Silvertone 3044, 1925)
Arnold Keith Storm, "Little Rosewood Casket" (on AKStorm01)
Ernest Thompson, "The Little Rosebud Casket" (Columbia 216-D, 1924)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Last Token"
NOTES: Titled by the authors, "A Package of Old Love Letters," this title seems extinct in tradition. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R763

Little Sadie

See Bad Lee Brown (Little Sadie) [Laws I8] (File: LI08)

Little Sally Racket

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

Little Sally Walker

DESCRIPTION: "Little Sally Walker, sitting in (a saucer), Cryin' (for the old man to come for the dollar), (Ride, Sally, Ride). (Fly) to the east, (fly) to the west, (Fly) to the one that you love best."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN: US(SE,So) Ireland Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber),Wales)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1585, "Three Little Sand Maidens" (1 text, 1 tune); 1586, "Rise, Sally Walker" (5 texts, 4 tunes)
Greig #152, p. 2, "Sally Walker" (1 text)
SHenry H48g, p. 11, "Old Sally Walker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson 143, pp. 209-291, "Little Sally Walker" (1 text)
Courlander-NFM, p. 157, "(Little Sally Walker)" (1 text); p. 278, "Little Sally Walker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 392, "Little Sally Walker" (1 text)
DT, LTLSALLY; also SALWALKER (a collection of several songs with this title, some of which belong here)
Roud #4509
RECORDINGS:
Mattie Gardner, Ida Mae Towns & Jessie Lee Pratcher, "Little Sally Walker" (on LomaxCD1703)
Vera Hall, "Little Sally Walker" (AFS 1323 B1, 1937)
Children of Lilly's Chapel School, "Little Sally Walker" (on NFMAla1)
Pete Seeger, "Little Sally Walker" (on PeteSeeger21)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "What's Poor Mary Weepin' For (Poor Jenny Sits A-Weeping)" (lyrics)
NOTES: In England, if the collections in Gomme are to be believed, this is about equally known as "Poor Mary Sits A-Weeping" and "Little Sally Walker/Waters." The latter name seems to dominate in the U. S., and so has been used on the basis of plurality.
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #644, p. 256, begins "Sally, Sally Waters, sprinkle in the pan" and ends "Choose for the prettiest that you like best." This certainly sounds related, but on its face it doesn't appear the same song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: CNFM157

Little Sally Waters

See Little Sally Walker (File: CNFM157)

Little Saro Jane

See Liza Jane (File: San132)

Little Scotch Girl, The

See The Keach i the Creel [Child 281] (File: C281)

Little Scotch-ee

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

Little Seaside Village, The

DESCRIPTION: "To a little seaside village came a youth one summer day." He wooed a girl, but then left a letter, "Goodbye, I'm going home." A year later he decides he loves her; her father shows him her grave; her message to him was "Goodbye, I'm going home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941
KEYWORDS: death betrayal love courting separation abandonment
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 801, "The Little Seaside Village" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 520-522, "The Little Seaside Village" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 801)
Roud #7422
File: R801

Little Shepherd, The

See Balm in Gilead (File: FSWB360A)

Little Shingle Mill, The

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

Little Ship Was on the Sea, A

DESCRIPTION: A ship is overtaken by storm "And all but One were sore afraid Of sinking in the deep." "He to the storm said, 'Peace, be still!' The raging billows cease" "It was the Lord, The Saviour and the Friend"
AUTHOR: Dorothea Ann Thrupp (1779-1847) (source: Sidney Lee, editor, _Dictionary of National Biography: Teach - Tollet_, (London, 1898 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. LVI, p. 336)
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Phillips)
KEYWORDS: sea ship storm Jesus
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (8 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1756, "There Was Twa Ships Upon the Sea" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Charlotte Phillips, The Shower of Pearls, (London, 1855 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 29-30, "The Little Ship"
The Albion Sunday School Hymn Book, (Southampton, 1867 ("Digitized by Google")), #64, ("A little ship was on the sea")
[William Reid] "The author of 'The Praise Book'," editor, The Children's Praise Book, (London, 1872 ("Digitized by Google")), #21, "A Little Ship Was on the Sea"
Elementary Books for Catholic Schools: Reading-Book No. II, (London, 1860 ("Digitized by Google")), #32 p. 87, "Jesus on the Waters"
A Selection of Hymns and Poetry Compiled Chiefly for the Use of the Friends' Sabbath Schools, (Liverpool, 1863 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 2-3, "Peace, Be Still"
The [Presbyterian] School Hymnal, (Philadelphia, 1899 ("Digitized by Google")), #67, "A Little Ship Was on the Sea" (1 text attributed to Dorothy A Thrupp and dated 1840, 1 tune attributed to Duncan Hume)
The Methodist Sunday-School Hymn-Book, (London, 1879 ("Digitized by Google")), #150 p. 118, ("A little ship was on the sea")
Roud #13517
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hame To My Nancy" (tune, per GreigDuncan8)
NOTES: Matthew 8.27: "Even the winds and the sea obey Him."
The "ADDITIONAL" references illustrate how widely printed this poem was and how it cut across denominations. Lee commented in 1898 that the song was popular among children. Was it not collected, except in GreigDuncan8, because it was known to be non-traditional? On the other hand, if it were that widely known why didn't the collector, Duncan, recognize it? Why did the contributor, who recalled that there was a storm in the forgotten part of the song, not recall where it was learned? Why was it recalled as dealing with two ships? - BS
I would note that few of the printings seem to be Scottish or Presbyterian. Checking my own collection of mostly-American hymnals, I do not find this in any -- not Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Mormon, or non-denominational military. Nor do I find it in Grangers Index to Poetry. There was a certain class of nineteenth century authors who just loved pwecious hymns for wittle people. And they all copied each other. I suspect that is what happened here.
Dorothea Ann Thrupp is also responsible for the lyrics to "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us," which (unlike "A Little Ship") is still remembered today.
The story of Jesus stilling the storm is in Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25. The preceise words "Peace! Be Still!" are in Mark 4:39 (only). The line about even the winds and sea obeying is in all three versins: Matthew 8:27, Mark 4:41, Luke 8:25.
We might incidentally add that the "Sea of Galilee" was actually a lake (in fact called "Lake Huleh" or the like in some sources), and a vessel sailing on it was a boat, not a ship. Most modern translations get this right; the King James Bible, which was obviously the source for this song, does not. To be fair, Greek does not draw a distinction between boats and ships (there is a distincition between large and small vessels, but that's not the same -- and the Bible doesn't seem to pay it much attention anyway). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81756

Little Shoe Black, The

DESCRIPTION: "I'm Daniel O'Connor, an orphan I am, My father and mother both lately did die, But, 'I clean your boots, Shall I shine your boots!' It's all day long I cry. Just give me one try and I'm sure you'll come back, Please to encourage this little shoe black."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: orphan work clothes hardtimes
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 36-37, "The Little Shoe Black" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MCB036

Little Streak o' Lean, A

DESCRIPTION: "A little streak o' lean, an' a little streak o' fat, Ole Massa grumble ef you eat much o' dat!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: food slave
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 207-208, "Work-Song" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
File: ScNF207B

Little Streams of Whisky

See The Dying Hobo [Laws H3] (File: LH03)

Little Swiler, The

DESCRIPTION: "He was such a very little chap, Blue eyes and sunny smile"; when the boy's father becomes ill, the youth sneaks off (with a knife but no gaff) to take a seal. A band of sealers finds him, feeds him, takes him home, for he "was really only ten"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (Ryan/Small)
KEYWORDS: youth work disease father children
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 116, "The Little Swiler" (1 text)
File: RySm116

Little Thatched Cabin, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the "little thatched cabin Where first shone the light of my life's early morn." He describes learning from and working for his parents. Now he is old, "and kind fortune smiles on me," but he would trade the fortune to be a boy again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home age
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H91, p. 156, "The Little Thatched Cabin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8121
RECORDINGS:
Big John Maguire, "The Neatly Thatched Cabin" (on Voice20)
NOTES: Sam Henry thought, based on a reference to vines, that this song originated in America. I'm not sure that constitutes proof, but I seem to recall seeing a very similar poem -- somewhere. So he is likely right. - RBW
File: HHH091

Little Vine-Clad Cottage, The

See The Little Old Sod Shanty on my Claim (File: R197)

Little White Cat, The (An Caitin Ban)

DESCRIPTION: The little white cat finds her kitten "dead in the hay of a manger." The sad mother brings the dead body home. The pretty kitten had never broken anything and had no enemies except mice.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection; Gaelic text in Costello 1923)
KEYWORDS: death animal
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H510, p. 17, "The Little White Cat" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 228-229, "The Little White Cat (1 text, a translation from the Irish said to be by "Mrs. Costello of Tuam")
Roud #13342
File: HHH510

Little White Robe

DESCRIPTION: Come on fathers and let's go home, I'm a-going where my troubles will be over, will be over, will be over I'm a-going where... There's a little white robe a-waiting for me, I'm a-going where..." Repeat for mothers, brothers, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 607, "Lily White Robe" (1 text)
Roud #5740 and 7137
RECORDINGS:
Frank Proffitt, "Little White Robe" (on FProffitt01)
File: RcLWRobe

Little White Rose, The

DESCRIPTION: "He gave me a rose, a pretty white rose, And asked me to wear it for him. She recalls their happy days together. Later, he is found dead, having thrown himself into the stream with a rose in his mouth.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: drowning suicide courting flowers
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 276, "The Little White Rose" (1 text plus mention of 2 fragments)
Roud #6628
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Willie Down by the Pond (Sinful to Flirt)" [Laws G19] (plot)
File: BrII276

Little Willie (I)

DESCRIPTION: "Little Willie went to heaven On a bright an' starry night, When I last viewed him in his coffin In his little Sunday suit." The singer describes the possessions the boy left behind. His sister hopes to meet him soon. Jesus will care for him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (Pound)
KEYWORDS: death family corpse religious
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 613, "Little Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LTWILLIE*
Roud #7443
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blue-Haired Boy (Little Willie II, Blue-Haired Jimmy)"
File: R613

Little Willie (II)

See Blue-Haired Boy (Little Willie II, Blue-Haired Jimmy) (File: RcBlHaJi)

Little Willie and Mary

See Willie and Mary (Mary and Willie; Little Mary; The Sailor's Bride) [Laws N28] (File: LN28)

Little Yorkshire Boy, The

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

Liverpool Dock

DESCRIPTION: The singer bids farewell to his mother as his ship sails away from Liverpool Dock. He hopes to return to his home, but there will be no one to meet him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: mother separation emigration parting
FOUND IN: US(So) Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 95, "Liverpool Dock" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragmentary text that might fit with any number of emigration ballads)
McBride 69, "Welcome Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R095 (Full)
Roud #3266
File: R095

Liverpool Girls

See The Liverpool Judies (Row, Bullies, Row; Roll, Julia, Roll) (File: Doe106)

Liverpool Judies, The (Row, Bullies, Row; Roll, Julia, Roll)

DESCRIPTION: The young sailor sets out from England to America. But a wild, drunken life lands him at the boarding-master's. Back at sea, he suffers cruelly at the hands of the mate (whom he curses to hell). (At last he arrives back in port)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924
KEYWORDS: sailor abuse drink return shanty
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 106, "Roll, Julia, Roll (Row, Bullies, Row)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 118-120, "The Liverpool Girls" (1 text, 1 tune, slightly cleaned up)
Colcord, pp. 176-177, "Row, Bullies, Row" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 198-199, "The Liverpool Girls" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 401-403, "The Liverpool Judies" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 304-306]
Lomax-FSNA 30, "Row, Bullies, Row" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 66, "The Liverpool Pilot" (1 text, 1 tune, a perhaps slightly adapted version but with too many similarities to split)
Creighton-NovaScotia 126, "Liverpool Girls" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LIVJUDY LIVJUDY2
Roud #928
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best, "The Liverpool Pilot" (on NFABest01)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Towrope Girls
NOTES: [Regarding their "Liverpool Pilot" version, Lehr/Best report] the singer "describes this as a heave-up shanty." The chorus is "And it's row, row, row bullies row For the Liverpool Pilot she have us in tow." - BS
File: Doe106

Liverpool Landlady, The

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

Liverpool Packet, The

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

Liverpool Pilot, The

See The Liverpool Judies (Row, Bullies, Row; Roll, Julia, Roll) (File: Doe106)

Liverpool Song, The

DESCRIPTION: "'Twas in the' cold month of December... I shipped in the clipper ship 'Defender....'" The singer complains of sailing along with a lot of foreigners who "didn't know a word of English But answered to the name o' 'Month's advance.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Bone); he reports learning it in 1900
KEYWORDS: foreigner sailor ship hardtimes
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Bone, pp. 140-144, "The Liverpool Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST BonCB140 (Partial)
Roud #653
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy, Get Back" (form, lyrics)
NOTES: Roud lumps this with "Paddy, Get Back," which clearly inspired it, but Bone notes that a sailor used each shantey "for its own special purpose on deck and it was rarely heard within the fo'cas'le, for entertainment...."
"[T]he elder hands maintained that the rousing of a chanty 'when ther worn't no call' could not but offend some presiding deity. But there were fo'cas'le ditty that could be sung in lieu and they had, in words and tune, a close resemblance to the chanty proper."
On that basis, I split them, though this hardly seems to exist in its own right.
There was an American clipper named Defender, launched in Boston in 1855 and wrecked in the South Pacific in 1859; I doubt it is the same ship. - RBW
File: BonCB140

Living on a Hill

DESCRIPTION: "When you get married and living on a hill, I will send you a kiss by a whippoorwill."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love marriage bird
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 231, (fourth of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
File: MHAp231D

Living on the Hallelujah Side

DESCRIPTION: Singer, once a sinner perishing with cold, is rescued by Jesus, and would not leave "this precious place." Chorus: "Glory be to Jesus, let the hallelujahs roll/Help me to ring the Saviour's praises far and wide... And I'm a-living on the hallelujah side"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Ernest V. Stoneman)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, once a sinner perishing with cold, is rescued by Jesus, and now would not leave "this precious place" for all earth's gold and millions. Chorus: "Glory be to Jesus, let the hallelujahs roll/Help me to ring the Saviour's praises far and wide/For I've opened up towards heaven all the windows in my soul/And I'm a-living on the hallelujah side"
KEYWORDS: rescue religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE) Bahamas
Roud #12646
RECORDINGS:
Ernest V. Stoneman, "Hallelujah Side" (on Stonemans01) (Victor 20224, 1926); Ernest Stoneman and Eddie Stoneman, "Hallelujah Side" (ARC, unissued, 1934)
Frank Welling & John McGhee, "The Hallelujah Side" (Vocalion 5241, 1928) (Champion 16585, 1933)
NOTES: In addition to the hillbilly performers listed above, the song has been recorded by Bahamian songster Joseph Spence. I suspect it was printed in a popular hymnal at some point. - PJS
File: RcLotHS

Liza Ann

DESCRIPTION: The singer offers herself to earn money to pay the fine for her man, serving on the chain gang.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy prisoner whore
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman I, p. 320-321, "Liza Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: RL320

Liza Anne

See Sweet Heaven (II) (File: RcSwHeav)

Liza Gray

See The Lady of the Lake (The Banks of Clyde II) [Laws N41] (File: LN41)

Liza in the Summer Time

See Liza Jane (File: San132)

Liza Jane

DESCRIPTION: "Goin' up on the mountain To plant a patch of cane, Make a jug of 'lasses To sweeten Liza Jane. O po' Liza, po' gal, O po' Liza Jane, O po' Liza, po' gal, She died on the train." About moonshine, courting Liza Jane, (and dodging work if possible)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection); +1893 (JAFL6)
KEYWORDS: courting drink nonballad work floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Randolph 435, "Liza Jane" (3 texts, 1 tune)
BrownIII 437, "Eliza Jane (II)" (1 text, which looks more like this than anything else though it lacks the chorus)
SharpAp 244, "Liza Jane" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Sandburg, pp. 132-133, "Liza Jane"; "Mountain Top" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "B" text, "Mountain Top," appears mixed with "Moonshiner" or something similar); 308-309, "Liza in the Summer Time (She Died on the Train)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thomas-Makin', p. 127, (no title) (1 fragment in which the girl is "Susan Jane")
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 7-8, "I Went Up on the Mountain Top" (1 text, 1 tune); also p. 192, "Hawkie Is a Schemin' Bird" (1 text, with the "Hawkie" first stanza, a chorus from "Lynchburg Town," and verses such as "Went up on a mountain To give my horn a blow" and "Climbed up on a mountain... To sweeten Liza Jane")
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 284-286, "Liza Jane" (2 texts, 1 tune. The main text is composite)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 591 [no title] (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 30, "Goodbye 'Liza Jane" (1 text)
DT, LIZAJANE
Roud #825
RECORDINGS:
Rufus Crisp, "Ball and Chain" (on Crisp01)
Homer & Jethro, "Poor Little Liza, Poor Gal" (King 773, 1949)
Bradley Kincaid, "Liza Up in the Simmon Tree" (Gennett 6761/Champion 15687 [as Dan Hughey]/Supertone 9362, 1929; Champion 45057, c. 1935; on CrowTold01)
John & Emery McClung "Liza Jane" (Brunswick 135, 1927)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Liza Jane" (on NLCR06, NLCR11)
Riley Puckett, "Liza Jane" (Columbia 15014-D, c. 1925; Silvertone 3261 [as Tom Watson], 1926)
George "Short Buckle" Roark, "I Ain't A Bit Drunk" (Columbia 15383-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Pete Seeger, "Oh! Liza, Poor Gal" (on PeteSeeger06, PeteSeegerCD01); "Liza Jane" (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03)
Uncle "Am" Stuart [vocal by Gene Austin], "Old Liza Jane" (Vocalion 14846, 1924; Vocalion 5039, 1926)
Tenneva Ramblers, "Miss 'Liza, Poor Gal" (Victor 21141, 1927)
Henry Whitter, "Liza Jane" (OKeh 45003, 1925)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Molly and Tenbrooks" [Laws H27] (lyrics)
cf. "Run Mollie Run" (lyrics)
cf. "Push Boat" (lyrics)
cf. "Cindy" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind" (floating verses)
cf. "Turn, Julie-Ann, Turn" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Goodbye Liza Jane
Saro Jane
Little Saro Jane
NOTES: The "Saro Jane" referred to under "Alternate Titles" should not be confused with "Rock About My Saro Jane," which is a different song.
This song is almost certainly of minstrel origin, and shares many floating verses with other, similar minstrel-show songs.
The Rufus Crisp recording, "Ball and Chain", is in fact one of those conglomerated songs incorporating floating verses from a dozen sources; RBW suggests putting it here because more of its verses seem to come from here than anywhere else.
Ditto the George Roark recording; I put it here for want of a better place. It could also go under "Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind," as its lyrics overlap with that song, but it doesn't have the plot theme of rejection. In fact, it doesn't have a plot at all. - PJS
File: San132

Liza Jane (II)

See Po' Liza Jane (File: Br3456)

Liza Lee

See Yankee John, Stormalong (Liza Lee) (File: Hugi080)

Lizie Lindsay [Child 226]

DESCRIPTION: A young man comes to court Lizie Lindsay, asking her to come to the Highlands with him. Neither she nor her relatives are interested. He then reveals that he is a rich lord (the Lord of the Isles?); she changes her mind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1796 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MA,NE,So)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Child 226, "Lizie Lindsay" (8 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
Bronson 226, "Lizie Lindsay" (9 versions+1 in addenda)
GreigDuncan4 854, "Lizzie Lindsay" (7 texts, 3 tunes)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 297-299, "Lizzie Lindsay" (1 text with variants, 1 tune) {Bronson's #6}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 269-271, "Lizie Lindsay" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCoxIIA, #11, pp. 46-47, "Leezie Lindsay" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Brewster 20, "Lizie Lindsay" (1 text)
Ford-Vagabond, p. 314, "Leezie Lindsay" (1 short text)
Randolph 29, "New Yealand" (1 fragment)
DT 226, LIZLIND*
Roud #94
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dugall Quin" [Child 294]
cf. "The Blaeberry Courtship" [Laws N19]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Donald Macdonald
Lord Ronald Macdonald
File: C226

Lizie May

See Lizie Wan [Child 51] (File: C051)

Lizie Wan [Child 51]

DESCRIPTION: (Geordy) finds his sister (Lizie Wan) crying. When he asks why, he is told that she is pregnant by him. He kills her to hide his crime. He is revealed by the blood on his sword, and is forced away from home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: incest murder pregnancy questions exile brother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland,England) US(Ap,NE,SE)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Child 51, "Lizie Wan" (2 texts)
Bronson 51, "Lizie Wan" (7 versions plus the #10 text of "Edward," which is actually "Lizie Wan")
SharpAp 14 "Lizzie Wan" (1 text, 1 tune){Bronson's #2}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 143-145, "Fair Lucy" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5b}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 332-338, "Lizie Wan" (2 texts, 2 tunes, which differ though both informants cited the same source) {A1=Bronson's #5b, A2=#4}
Leach, pp. 167-169, "Lizie Wan" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 159, "Lizie Wan" (1 text)
PBB 38, "Lizie Wan" (1 text)
Niles 21, "Lizie Wan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 65, "Lucy Wan" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
DT 51, LIZIWAN1*
Roud #234
RECORDINGS:
Jeanie Robertson, "My Son David" (on LomaxCD1700)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sheath and Knife" (plot)
cf. "The Bonnie Hind" [Child 50] (theme)
cf. "Edward" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lizie May
NOTES: John Jacob Niles claims that, in his experience, the only people willing to sing this song were men. He points out that Sharp's informant was a man; so was the singer who gave the song to Flanders. As usual, though, one must wonder about Niles's sources. In any case, Bronson lists four versions from women. - RBW
Niles may claim that the only informants willing to sing the song are men, but Vaughan Williams/Lloyd's version was collected from a Mrs. Dann of Cottenham, Cambs. Lloyd notes, however, that this was the only version of the ballad found in oral tradition in England, and that no new Scottish version has been reported since 1827. -PJS
On the scientific evidence that brothers and sisters raised apart are particularly likely to fall in love, and some further speculation as to why, see the notes to "Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14]." - RBW
File: C051

Lizzie Borden Songs

DESCRIPTION: Sundry comments on the Fall River murders, e.g. "Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks"; "There's no evidence of guilt, Lizzie Borden, That should make your spirit wilt." The poems/songs are not all derived from a single source
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder father mother
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
August 1892 - the Fall River Murders
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Burt, p. 14-15, (no title) (5 assorted fragments/excerpts)
DT, (FALLRIVR)
NOTES: Burt observes that there seem to be no truly traditional songs about this famous event. That being the case (and it appears she's right), I've lumped all Lizzie Borden items here as a placekeeper.
Lizzie Andrew Borden (1860-1927) was a spinster living with her wealthy father and stepmother when they were murdered in 1892. Borden was tried for the murders, but found innocent, and lived as a recluse in Fall River for another 35 years. - RBW
File: DTfallri

Lizzie Brown

DESCRIPTION: The singer, who has moved to Bee's Hotel to sleep with Lizzie Brown, extols the lady's lack of virtues.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 393-394, "Lizzie Brown" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: RL393

Lizzie Laing Began the Play

DESCRIPTION: "Lizzie Laing began the play Baubie Dick beet [bet] to hae Sara Dunn pat up a limmer [scoundrel] Cause she gat a sup in simmer"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS:
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1895, "Lizzie Laing Began the Play" (1 fragment)
Roud #13564
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81895

Lizzie Lindsay

See Lizie Lindsay [Child 226] (File: C226)

Lizzie Menzies

See Dugall Quin [Child 294] (File: C294)

Lloyd George

DESCRIPTION: Lloyd George won the great war but he'd still "better keep clear from the boys of Fair Hill"; the Germans had intended to capture Ireland. The bishops say only Freestaters get to heaven but there is a spot reserved for the boys of Fair Hill.
AUTHOR: Sean O'Callaghan (source: OCanainn)
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political religious IRA
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OCanainn, pp. 52-53, "Lloyd George" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The Irish Free State, created under the Free State Agreement, came into being December 1922. It did not provide for the independent republic desired by the IRA. David Lloyd George, who had been Prime Minister during the "Great War,' was British Prime Minister during the negotiation. (Source: Wikipedia article Irish Free State) See notes to "General Michael Collins" for additional background.
Fair Hill is a suburb of Cork City. - BS
And Cork, we should note, was one of the strongest centers of the rebellion in Ireland.
The Bishops did not say that only Freestaters get to Heaven; almost universally, they condemned all violence -- this is, after all, basic Christian doctrine, as is non-resistance to being governed by nonbelievers (so explicitly 1 Peter 213fff., and less explicitly but no less clearly in the writings of Paul). But since the Republicans started the violence -- and since they had very little Christian understanding of the other side -- they felt they were suffering the stronger condemnation. It was ironic to note than many Republicans considered their Catholic bishops to be working with the British!
The situation perhaps can be shown by the events of a single day in 1919. According to Robert Kee, Ourselves Alone, being Volume III of The Green Flag (Quartet, 1972, 1976), pp. 77-78, this day saw the murder of a British agent, which the Archbishop of Tuam labelled "'a shocking crime'... 'a most grave violation of the law of God.'" But even as this was going on, the entire Irish hierarchy was formally condemning British behavior in denying the Irish their political rights, and declaring, "Let the military domination of Ireland cease at once. Let the people of Ireland choose for themselves the Government under which they are to live."
Of course, the Irish people would choose the Free State (or Home Rule -- a government still with links to Britain). So in a way the Bishops were condemning the Republicans. But this was clear only after the fact.
The mention of the Germans capturing Ireland is a reference to the Casement Affair. They didn't really intend to invade Ireland (though they made vague promises along those lines); they could not, unless they beat the British Navy -- and the Battle of Jutland had settled that. What the Germans could do was send arms to the rebels -- arms which they considered unfit for their own soldiers. For background on this, see the notes to "Lovely Banna Strand.." - RBW
File: OCan052

Lo Que Digo

See Venadito (File: San294)

Load of Kail Plants, The

DESCRIPTION: The young man comes to Ballymoney to sell his kail plants. He does his business with various buyers, then sets out to seek a wife. He finds a girl, offers her tea, kisses her, asks her name, and presumably asks if she wishes to marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting farming commerce home
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H25b, pp. 261-262, "The Load of Kail Plants" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6919
File: HHH025b

Loading Pulp at Georgetown

DESCRIPTION: "I'll tell you how we load the pulp." The loading crew is named we are told how "they like to dine at Mrs Clay." "It is a very dangerous job." Pulp is poor at low price in 1953 and 1954 but "but the wages isn't bad"
AUTHOR: Joe Trainor
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: lumbering nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 100-101, "Loading Pulp at Georgetown" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12452
File: Dib100

Loakie's Boat

See Lukey's Boat (File: FJ046)

Lobster, The

See The Sea Crab (File: EM001)

Loch Erin's Shore (II)

See William and Eliza (Lough Erin's Shore) (File: HHH597)

Loch Erne's Shore

See William and Eliza (Lough Erin's Shore) (File: HHH597)

Loch Lomond

DESCRIPTION: Singer laments parting from his/her love by Loch Lomond, noting "the broken heart it kens nae second spring." Chorus: "You'll take the high road and I'll take the low road And I'll be in Scotland before ye But me and my true love will never meet again..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1841 ("Vocal Melodies of Scotland")
KEYWORDS: loneliness love parting separation Scotland lyric
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(MW)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 145-148, "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" (2 texts, 1 tune; the first is the common version and the second a variant without chorus which may have inspired the popular piece)
GreigDuncan8 1528, "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" (3 fragments, 3 tunes)
Dean, pp. 122-123, "Loch Lomond" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 257, "Loch Lomond" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 336-337, "Loch Lomond"
DT, LOCHLMND LOCHMOM (LOCHLOM2)
Roud #9598
RECORDINGS:
George Alexander, "Loch Lomond" (Columbia 3294, 1906)
Henry Burr, "Loch Lomond" (Victor 16062, 1908)
Unidentified baritone, "Star of Eve/Loch Lomand [medley]" (Climax [Columbia] X-88, c. 1901)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(17a), "Bonnie Banks of Lochlomond," unknown (probably Poet's Box ) (Dundee), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Is the Rose" (tune)
cf. "The Babcock Bedtime Story" (tune, some lyrics)
cf. "Flora's Lament for her Charlie" (verses)
SAME TUNE:
Red is the Rose (File: So28n3a)
Flora's Lament for her Charlie (broadside NLScotland, RB.m.168(178), "Flora's Lament for her Charlie," Robert MacIntosh (Glasgow), after 1849; probably the same broadside as Murray, Mu23-y3:013)
NOTES: The song (or at least the chorus) seems to have entered oral tradition in the US, probably through the recording by Benny Goodman's band. (Benny Goodman & his Orchestra, vocal by Maxine Sullivan, "Loch Lomond" (Victor 25717, 1937)). - PJS
Legends about this song are numerous. One has it that it was heard and/or composed by Lady John Scott in the 1840s. Another (supported by the Clancy family) is that it is derived from the Irish "Red Is the Rose," with which it shares a tune. ("Red Is the Rose" sounds more recent and more composed, though, at least to my ears.)
Legend has it that the "low road" is the road of death, and that the song was made by a Scottish prisoner following the 1745 Jacobite rebellion: The condemned soldier tells his comrade that (following his execution), he will take the low road back to Scotland and arrive first.
One real connection with the Jacobite rebellion is a broadside, NLScotland RB.m.168(178), "Flora's Lament for her Charlie," printed by Robert McIntosh, beginning "It's yon bonny banks and yon bonny braise, Where the sun shines bright and bonny, Where I and my true love went out for to gaze On the bonny, bonny banks of Benlomond." The next verse is standard "Loch Lomond." But it looks like a patch-up job, and no tune is listed.
More explicit, and perhaps more traditional, is Ford's second text, said to have been found by Lady Jane Scott in Edinborough; it has a terminal verse, "The thistle shall bloom, an' the King hae his ain" and an explicit complaint in the second verse that "My Ranald... the morrow he marches to Edinburgh toun, To fecht for the King an Prince Charlie!"
Both these items, however, look like patch jobs as well. The connection with the '45 remains uncertain.
Fuld offers a list of possible antecedants of the tune; all show noticeable differences. I think the matter must be regarded as unsettled.
Loch Lomond, one of the largest Scottish lakes, is a short way north of Dumbarton, and not far north and west of Glasgow; its outlet flows into the Clyde in Dumbarton. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FSWB257B

Loch na Garr (Lachin Y Gair)

DESCRIPTION: The singer is in England, a land of "a million luxuries," but longs for Caledonia. He remebers his childhood, his plaid and "traditional story ... on cheiftains long perished" As "one who has rambled o'er countries afar" he prefers "dark Lough Na Garr"
AUTHOR: George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) (source: broadside, NLScotland L.C.178.A.2(318))
EARLIEST DATE: 1807 (Byron, _Hours of Idleness_, according to Connie Beck's Lord Byron site)
KEYWORDS: homesickness emigration England Scotland
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Tunney-SongsThunder, p. 180, "Dark Lough Na Garr" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 508, "Lochnagar" (1 fragment)
Roud #2436
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(318), "Loch na Garr," Harkness (Preston), c.1870
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(55)[some words illegible], "Loch Na Garr" ("Away, ye gay landscapes! ye gardens of roses"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(2241), 2806 c.14(54), "Loch-na-Garr"; Harding B 26(118), "Dark Loch Na Gar"; Harding B 40(2) View 3 of 4,"Dark-Lock-na-Garr"; Harding B 19(88), "Dark Lock-na-Garr"
NOTES: Most of the broadsides and Tunney-SongsThunder are incomplete. For a complete version see NLScotland L.C.178.A.2(318). The commentary for that broadside notes that "Lochnagar [is] the mountain that gives this poem its title...." [about 40 miles west of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: TST180

Loch o' Shilin, The

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

Loch o' the Auds, The

DESCRIPTION: "At nicht i' my fun, when late I was rovin'" in May, the singer sees a beautiful Portnay girl talking with a rover. Then her long-time swain shows up, and is shocked to find her showing affection for another man. The singer warns against trusting women
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: courting betrayal rambling
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, pp. 446-447, "The Loch o' the Auds" (1 text)
Roud #5619
File: Ord446

Lochaber Shore

DESCRIPTION: The singer calls all people to hear his song about "sweet Lochaber Shore." He lists the local residents, and describes the weather during the past two years, cold winters, and a summer storm which carried of several sailors. He hopes for better times
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home disaster ship
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H134, pp. 168-169, "Lochaber Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13482
File: HHH134

Lochaber, Lochaber

DESCRIPTION: Lochaber, Lochaber, lack aday ... them that's away, Our lands are all barren, our gardens also....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: poverty emigration nonballad food gardening
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1813, "Lochaber, Lochaber" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #13077
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81813

Lochmaben Harper, The [Child 192]

DESCRIPTION: A (blind) harper sets out to work in England. He rides his mare, which has just given birth to a foal. In England, he contrives to tie his horse to King Henry's. Next morning, mare and horse are gone; King Henry pays the harper for his work and his mare
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1791
KEYWORDS: robbery royalty music harp
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Child 192, "The Lochmaben Harper" (5 texts)
Bronson 192, "The Lochmaben Harper" (3 versions)
GreigDuncan2 270, "The Harpin' Mannie" (1 text)
Dixon IV, pp. 37-41, "The Jolly Harper" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 519-522, "The Lochmaben Harper" (1 text)
OBB 144, "The Lochmaben Harper" (1 text)
DT 192, LOCHHARP
Roud #85
File: C192

Lochnagar

See Loch na Garr (Lachin Y Gair) (File: TST180)

Locked in the Walls of Prison

DESCRIPTION: "Locked in the walls of prison, Down in a narrow cell, Locked in the walls... No one to go my bail. If I was worth ten thousand, I'd bury it in my trunk, Or else I'd surely gamble Besides I might get drunk... Take me back... To wear the ball and chain
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929
KEYWORDS: prison chaingang drink crime
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 144, "Locked in the Walls of Prison" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5484
NOTES: Although nearly every word of this song occurs elsewhere (e.g. the final verse, "One foot upon the platform, T'other on the train," can be found in "The House of the Rising Sun"), this is the only version I know of that combines them in this way. - RBW
File: R144

Locks and Bolts [Laws M13]

DESCRIPTION: The singer misses his love. Her parents, learning she loved a poor man, locked her away (in her uncle's house). The young man breaks the locks and rescues her (possibly fighting a battle along the way). The two are married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1876 (Christie, _Traditional Ballad Airs I_)
KEYWORDS: love poverty separation rescue marriage
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Laws M13, "Locks and Bolts"
Belden, pp. 168-169, "Locks and Bolts" (1 text, a fragment)
Randolph 110, "I Dreamed of My True Lover" (2 texts, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, p. 74, "Rainbow Willow"; pp. 75-76, "I Dreamt Last Night of My True Love" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
BrownII 84, "Locks and Bolts" (1 text)
Chappell-FSRA 74, "Sylvania Lester" (1 text)
Brewster 65, "Locks and Bolts" (1 text from tradition plus a text from the Pepys Ballads)
SharpAp 80, "Locks and Bolts" (5 texts, 5 tunes)
Sandburg, p. 149, "I Dreamed Last Night of My True Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 162, "Locks and Bolts" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 31, "Locks and Bolts" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version)
MacSeegTrav 79, "Locks and Bolts" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Chase, pp. 132-133, "Locks and Bolts" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 438-441, "The Lass o' Bennochie" (3 texts, very diverse; the second is mixed with this song)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 111-112, "Rainbow Willow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 145, "Locks And Bolts" (1 text)
DT 328, LOCKBOLT*
Roud #406
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Locks and Bolts" (on Maynard1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Locks and Bolts" (on NLCR16)
Almeda Riddle, "Locks and Bolts" (Vanguard VRS-9158, n.d.); "Rainbow 'Mid Life's Willows" (on LomaxCD1707)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Iron Door" [Laws M15] (theme)
cf. "The Gallant Shoemaker" (theme)
cf. "All Over Those Hills" (theme)
cf. "The Lass o' Bennochie" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Sailor and His Love" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lass o' Bennachie
At the Back o' Bennachie
NOTES: "Rainbow 'Mid Life's Willows" is a truncated version of the song, ending with the singer's lamenting his separation from his true love; his breaking down the door is omitted. It does contain the key line, "Locks and chains [bolts] doth hinder," which places it as a version of this song.
The versions of "Locks and Bolts" found in MacSeegTrav, "The Lass o' Bennachie" and "At the Back o' Bennachie" should not be confused with the song indexed as "Where Gadie Rins", although the latter is also called "The Back o' Bennachie" and was collected from the same singer as MacColl/Seeger's "B" text. The songs are different. - PJS
Belden notes a song from Martin Parker called "The Lover's Joy and Grief" with the burden "but locks and bolts doe hinder." It is not clear what is its relation with the present song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LM13

Lofty Cavavaille, The

DESCRIPTION: The French barque Cavavaille under Captain Ormsby strikes Blackwater sand-bank on December 18. Though freed once from the sand, they are cast up on Blackwater beach, "to pieces split," and 27 are lost. The rich cargo from exotic lands is summarized.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 18, 1768 - Cavavile wrecked on Blackwater Bank; Captain Ormsby and 27 crew lost (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 71)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, pp. 120-121, "The Lofty Cavavaille" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7347
File: Ran120

Lofty Giant, The

See Little Brown Dog (File: VWL101)

Logan Braes

DESCRIPTION: Verses 1-2: A shepherdess mourns that her lover, now in the wars, no longer sees her at church or convoys her home. Verses 3-6: A soldier hears her complaint, reveals that he is her lover "free of war's alarms" and they marry.
AUTHOR: John Mayne (1759-1836) (source: Whitelaw; dates from Contemplator site)
EARLIEST DATE: 1789 and 1816 (see Whitelaw's explanation in notes below)
KEYWORDS: love wedding war reunion separation shepherd soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1123, "Logan Water" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol I, pp. 31-32, "Logan Braes"
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 24, "Logan Braes"
Roud #6842
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Logan Water" (tune, per Whitelaw)
NOTES: Apparently broadside Bodleian, 2806 c.11(31)), "Logan Braes" ("By Logan streams that rin sae deep"), unknown, no date is this song but I could not download and verify it.
Chambers: "This song, the author of which is still alive, was written as a substitute for one or two old rude verses which were formerly sung to the same air" [see "Logan Water" for one rude verse]. The first verse and a half of GreigDuncan6 are very close to Mayne's text but the last half verse ("O an Catrin wad come to peaceful terms An Britons a' lay doon their airms, An' soldiers view the British shore Syne I micht see my lad once more") is someone else's invention.
Whitelaw: As first printed in 1789 in Star Newspaper "we believe consisted originally of only the first two stanzas [that is the base of GreigDuncan6 text], to which indeed, the song in singing, is generally limited. The four additional stanzas first appeared in the Pocket Encyclopedia of Songs, published at Glasgow in 1816, and are probably not by Mayne." - BS
The "invention" of the half-verse mentioned above nonetheless seems to hearken back to the time of the original song. I assume that "Catrin," since she is significant enough to have to come to peace terms, is Catherine the Great of Russia, who died in 1796 (having reigned, formally illegally, since 1762). - RBW
Wild speculation with no chance of being proven or disproven: Katherine the Great was Czarina when the Russians took the Crimea in 18C. Is the Catrin reference noted above a misconception by a singer that she was Czarina in 1855 during the Crimean War? - BS
Ben and I came the the Catherine the Great speculation independently (which is why I am leaving in both of our semi-redundant notes). My feeling is that the reference is simply a holdover from an earlier form of the song written when Catherine was still alive. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61123

Logan County Jail (Dallas County Jail) [Laws E17]

DESCRIPTION: The singer has been a criminal (robber and pickpocket) from his youth. Eventually he lands in prison, facing an extended sentence.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: crime prison youth
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Laws E17, "Logan County Jail (Dallas County Jail)" (sample text in NAB, pp. 76-77)
Randolph 135, "The Dallas County Jail" (4 texts plus an excerpt, 3 tunes)
Combs/Wilgus 59, pp. 185-186, "Bob Sims" (1 text)
Ohrlin-HBT 57, "Sporting Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 42, "Logan County Court House" (3 texts plus mention of 1 more)
Darling-NAS, pp. 285-286, "The Prisoner's Dream" (1 text); also pp. 286-287, "Jack o' Diamonds" (1 text, mostly the "Jack of Diamonds" variant of "Rye Whiskey," but with material from this song)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 130, "At the Jail" (2 texts, 1 tune; the result looks to me to be a mix between this and "Danville Girl," though it's one of those vague cases....)
DT 739, DALLJAIL* LGANJAIL RAMSJAIL*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 20, #5 (1971), p, 19, "Sporting Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune, the Watts & Wilson version)
Roud #691
RECORDINGS:
Allen Brothers "Prisoner's Dream" (Victor V-40210, 1930) (Vocalion 02874, 1934) (one of these is on RoughWays1, but it's not clear which; the liner notes date it "1928")
Carl & Harty, "The Prisoner's Dream" (Melotone 7-01-53, 1937)
Gooby Jenkins, "The Prisoner's Dream" (OKeh 45082, 1927; rec. 1926)
Glenn Ohrlin, "The Sporting Cowboy" (on Ohrlin01)
Shelton Brothers, "The Prisoner's Dream" (Decca 5381, 1937)
Hobart Smith, "Hawkins County Jail" (on LomaxCD1700, LomaxCD1705)
Weaver and Wiggins (pseudonyms for Wilmer Watts & Frank Wilson), "The Sporting Cowboy" (Broadway 8112, c. 1931; on WhenIWas1 [as Watts & Wilson])
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Moonshiner's Dream" (theme, lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Moundsville Prisoner
NOTES: Most of the Laws ballads have clearly defined boundaries and distinct plots. This one is rather an exception. By its nature, it has attracted a lot of extra verses, and (perhaps as a result) also sometimes has pieces fall off. Laws himself discusses this point in NAB, pp. 77-79. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LE17

Logan Water

DESCRIPTION: On Logan's banks the singer "helpit a bonnie lassie on wi' her claes" but then she deceived him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Whitelaw)
KEYWORDS: sex clothes trick
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1122, "Logan Banks and Logan Braes" (4 text fragments, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 24, ("Ae simmer night on Logan braes") [three line fragment]
NOTES: Whitelaw quotes his fragment in explaining the prehistory of John Mayne's "Logan Braes": "The tune of 'Logan Water,' to which ... ['Logan Braes' is] adapted, is of considerable antiquity, and, before the production of Mayne, used to be sung to the words of by no means a scrupulous character beginning [text]."
GreigDuncan6 text count includes one verse on p. 549. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61122

Logan's Lament

DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the happy lives of various creatures, then turns to his own unhappy lot. His wife, children, and people have been destroyed by the white man. He vows to "dig up my hatchet and bend my oak bow...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1844 (fragment in Sanders' Fourth Reader)
KEYWORDS: animal Indians(Am.) murder revenge
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Eddy 112, "The Blackbird, or Logan's Lament" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Burt, pp. 128-129, "Logan's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST E112 (Full)
Roud #5340
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Steals of the White Man" (theme)
cf. "Jilson Setters's Indian Song" (theme)
cf. "An Old Indian (The Indian Song)"
NOTES: Eddy reports that this song is based on a speech by one Logan, the son of a white man and a Cayuga woman. His family was slain by Europeans, and he vowed revenge, igniting what is known as Lord Dunmore's War (for which see "The Battle of Point Pleasant"). When the Shawnee chief Cornstalk made peace with Dunmore (the Royal governor of Virginia) in 1775, Logan refused to give up his vengeance, and offered this speech (delivered under the Logan Elm in Pickaway County, Ohio) to back his position.
Despite its origin, the first few stanzas of this song bear an interesting similarity to Jesus's words in Matt. 8:20, Luke 9:58. - RBW
Logan, a chief of the Mingo tribe, was raised a Christian, and the beginning of his oration under the elm is a clear paraphrase of the cited passages from the Bible. A biography of Logan, and the full text of his speech, may be found in Walter G. Shotwell's Driftwood (1927, reprinted 1966 by the Books for Libraries Press, Freeport, NY). - PJS
File: E112

Logger's Alphabet, The

DESCRIPTION: A song by which lumbermen remember the alphabet and tell of their "merry" lives: "A is for axes as all of you know / And B is for boys who can use them also.... So merry, so merry, so merry are we / No mortals on earth are as happy as we"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Maine Sportsman, Volume XI, No. 126, February 1904, according to Gray)
KEYWORDS: logger nonballad lumbering wordplay
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 207-208, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune, plus a sort of personalized appendix, "The Shantyboy's Song," on p. 209)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 112-113, "Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 235-237, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 3, "The Woodsman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gray, pp. 10-14, "The Alphabet Song" (3 texts, the "A" text being from the Maine Sportsman and the "C" text from JAFL XXXV)
Rickaby 6, "The Shanty-Man's Alphabet" (1 text plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 102, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text plus an excerpt and mention of 5 more)
Fowke-Lumbering #1 , "The Shantyboy's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 168-170, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 98, "Alphabet Song (Lumberman's)" (1 text; the "A" and "B" texts in this entry are "The Sailor's Alphabet")
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 87-90, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 82, "The Lumberman's Alphabet (The Axe-Handle Song)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 564-565, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 5, "Alphabet Song" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 173-175, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 335-336, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (1 text)
DT, LUMBALPH*
Roud #159
RECORDINGS:
Sam Campbell, "The Shantyboys' Alphabet" (on Lumber01)
Sam Eskin, "Lumberman's Alphabet" (on GrowOn3)
Wilmot MacDonald, "The Lumberman's Alphabet" (on Miramichi1)
Gus Schaffer, "Lumberjack's Alphabet" (on AFS, 1938; on LC56)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sailor's Alphabet" (subject)
cf. "The Bawdy Alphabet" (subject)
cf. "A Is for Apple Pie" (subject)
cf. "Alphabet Song (I)" (subject)
cf. "The Average Boy" (subject)
cf. "Alphabet Songs" (subject)
cf. "Building a Slide" (tune, lyrics)
cf. "The Fisherman's Alphabet" (subject and structure)
cf. "Air Force Alphabet" (subject)
cf. "The Army Song" (subject)
NOTES: Linscott claims that there are unprintable versions of this song, but it's not clear (since she doesn't print them) whether they are really lumber-camp versions or just forms of the various bawdy alphabets.
She also says that the song has been attributed to Larry Gorman -- but what hasn't been?
Although all collections of this song appear to be from the twentieth century, chances are that it dates from the 1860s or earlier; by the 1870s, the crosscut saw was replacing the axe as the standard method for felling trees -- but most versions of this have multiple references to axes and few if any to saws. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Doe207

Logger's Boast, The

See Once More A-Lumbering Go (File: Wa031)

Loggers' Plight, The

DESCRIPTION: Landon Ladd Ladd comes to Newfoundland, forms a logger union, and calls a loggers' strike; some are thrown in jail. Premier Smallwood insists Ladd leave and that a new union be formed with Maxwell Lane to lead the way and come to terms with A.N.D.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: strike lumbering labor-movement Canada
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1959 - the [US-controlled] IWA (International Woodworkers of America [which split in 1987 into US and Canadian unions]) strikes the AND [Anglo-Newfoundland Development] company at Badger.
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 755-756, "The Loggers' Plight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9801
NOTES: The "on-ramp for K-12 school Web pages in Newfoundland and Labrador" site includes the background about the logging industry at Point Leamington and the strike.
"Throughout its history Point Leamington has been linked directly to the forest industry, and... many of the town's residents were -- and still are -- involved with logging camps and sawmill operations. Many men in the town and the surrounding communities worked at logging camps operated by... locals. The wood from these logging operations supplied the raw material needed to make newsprint by the AND Co. Paper Mill at Grand Falls.... Also, many of the locals operated sawmills within the Point Leamington area and employed many of the town's men.
"Over the years many men from Point Leamington were employed in the lumber woods and the seasonal trek to the logging camps in the fall and winter became a way of life.
"However, the wages and the living conditions in the early camps were far from adequate, and despite several attempts to improve those conditions, when the International Woodworkers of America (I.W.A.) arrived in the province in the late 1950's working conditions were still far from ideal.
"Although Landon Ladd's attempt at organizing the Nfld loggers into his union failed following the bitter strike of 1959, the Commission of Enquiry on the Logging Industry that followed in 1961 addressed the conditions of the camps, and this eventually led to improved conditions for loggers. Within a few years most of the recommendations of the Commission had been implemented, and many loggers attribute the improved working and living conditions in the logging camps (either directly or indirectly) to the I.W.A. strike of 1959."
Point Leamington, Grand Falls, and towns often mentioned in Newfoundland logging songs, like Badger -- originally Badger Brook -- and Bishops Falls are about 270 miles northwest of St John's on TC-1, not far from Bonavista Bay on the northeast coast.
The St. Mark's School site, in its biography of Newfoundland Premier Joseph Smallwood, states "On March 1959, a tragedy at the small town of Badger where striking loggers clashed with police officers. One member of the Newfoundland constabulary was clubbed and later died. Joey, who had opposed the strike and decertified the union a few days before, made him into a martyr. Joseph from then on consorted with corporate tycoons and devoted himself to large industrial endeavours like the Churchill Falls power project." St. Marks school is in King's Cove, Newfoundland, and serves grades K-12 for the northern section of the Bonavista Peninsula.
The IWA.CA site presents a view of the strike not in accord with the ballad. "In 1958, the Eastern Canadian Regional Council [of the IWA] organized loggers in Newfoundland and confronted the hostile government of Joey Smallwood who passed legislation decertifying and outlawing the IWA. In March 1959, battalions of RCMP marched on strikers in Badger, beating workers unconscious as women and children screamed. During the confrontation an officer was killed and a logger charged, later to be acquitted."
Peacock discusses the main characters of the ballad. "Landon Ladd is the local union representative sent in by the International Woodworkers of America to organize the loggers. Maxwell Lane is the head of the local union set up by Premier Smallwood to rid Newfoundland of alleged 'union gangsterism' emanating from the United States."
Peacock collected "The Loggers' Plight" at Rocky Harbour in July 1959. Rocky Harbour is on the northwest coast of Newfoundland. - BS
File: Pea755

Logie O Buchan

DESCRIPTION: The singer complains that "they have taken away Jemy the delight of the yard." She has been offered the hand of wealthy Sandy, but prefers to wait for her beloved Jemy. Before he left, he gave her half of his only sixpence
AUTHOR: George Halket?
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation poverty brokentoken
FOUND IN: US(SE) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 197-198, "O Logie o Buchan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hudson 55, pp. 171-172, "Logie o' Buchan" (1 short and much-damaged text)
GreigDuncan4 828, "Logie o' Buchan" (1 text plus a second version on pp. 549-550)
DT, LOGIBUCH*
ADDITIONAL: Charles W. Eliot, editor, English Poetry Vol II From Collins to Fitzgerald (New York, 1910), #340, pp. 571-572, "Logie o' Buchan" (by George Halket)
Roud #1994
File: SWMS197

Lolly-Too-Dum

DESCRIPTION: Daughter comes to mother, asking to be married. Mother, after pointing out she's young, asks who she will marry. Daughter says, "Handsome Dan" -- or any of forty more if he's not available. (The daughter marries, and mother looks for a husband herself)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: marriage loneliness courting mother
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Belden, p. 266, "Mother and Daughter" (1 text)
Randolph 370, "Rolly Trudum" (2 texts plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 299-300, "Rolly Trudum" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 370A)
Hudson 134, pp.280-281 , "Rolly Trudam" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 12, "Lolly-Too-Dum" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 138-139, "Lolly Too Dum" (2 texts, 1 tune, but the first is "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle")
Silber-FSWB, p. 344, "Lolly-Too-Dum" (1 text)
DT, LLYTOODM*
Roud #441
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "Rolly Trudum" (on Barker01)
May Kennedy McCord, "Rolly Trudum" (AFS; on LC12)
Pete Seeger, "Lolly Too Dum" (on PeteSeeger32)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Must And Will Get Married (The Fit)" (theme)
NOTES: This song is named for its chorus, "Lolly-too-dum, lolly-too-dum-day." Thematically, it is identical to "I Must And Will Get Married (The Fit)," but the stanza form is different enough that I have separated them. (Roud, of course, lumps them.) - RBW
File: LxU012

Lolotte

DESCRIPTION: Creole French, in praise of Lolotte. "Pauve piti Lolotte a mouin (x3), Li gaignin doulair." "Calalou porte madrasse, le porte jipun garni" (x2). "Pauve piti Lolotte a mouin... Li gaignin doulair, doulair, doulair... dans cour a li."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 112, "Lolotte" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: AWG112

Lomonds High, The

DESCRIPTION: Driving home his father's cows the singer meets a girl going to meet "friends" in Dumferline. His brother William is against the match but he proposes, she accepts, they marry and live happily "for he's been constant and she's been true"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: love marriage farming
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #168, p. 1, "The Lomonds High" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 969, "The Lomonds High" (1 text)
Roud #6298
NOTES: Greig: "The Lomonds are hills on the borders of Fife and Kinross, not to be confounded with Ben Lomond in the North-west corner of Stirlingshire." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD5969

London Bridge Is Broken Down

See London Bridge Is Falling Down (File: R578)

London Bridge Is Falling Down

DESCRIPTION: Upon learning that "London Bridge is (falling/broken) down," the singers must decide what to do, e.g. "Shall we build it up again?" "Mud and clay will wash away" "Iron and stone will stand alone"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1744 (Tom Thumb's Pretty Song Book)
KEYWORDS: playparty technology
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,NE,So) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Randolph 578, "London Bridge is Falling Down" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, p. 45, "London Bridge" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 34-36, "London Bridge" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 8, "London Bridge" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H48h, pp. 11-12, "Broken Bridges" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, p. 189, (no title; part of a section called "Granny London Tells About Old Times") (1 text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire, p. 135, "London Bridge" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 244, (no title) (1 short text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 81, "London Bridge" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Opie-Oxford2 306, "London Bridge is broken down" (4 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #641, pp. 254-255, "(London Bridge)"
GreigDuncan8 1566, "London Bridge" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Fuld-WFM, p. 337+, "London Bridge"
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #68, "London Bridge" (1 text)
ST R578 (Full)
Roud #502
RECORDINGS:
Pratt children and friends, "London Bridge" (on Ritchie03)
Pete Seeger, "London Bridge" (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rock-A-By Ladies" (tune & meter)
SAME TUNE:
Greenberg Shop is Moving South (Greenway-AFP, p. 126 note)
NOTES: The notes in Baring-Gould mention the hypothesis that this pertains to the breaking of London Bridge by Olaf of Norway in the reign of Ethelred II Unraed ("the Unready," c. 978-1016).
The situation is this: In 1013, the Viking king Swein Forkbeard had driven Ethelred (also spelled Aethelred) out of England. But Swein died in 1013, and in the uncertainty that followed, Ethelred was called back. From there, O'Brien, p. 86, takes up the account from there:
"In the spring of 1014, Aethelred returned to England. But resuming control of the country was not, apparently, an entirely straightforward exercise.... [H]e and his Norwegian ally Olaf Haroldsson encountered major problems around London.... The biggest obstacle there was London's bridge.... In occupying this large wooden structure the Dan[ish defenders] had a freat strategic advantage and were able to check any naval attacks from the River Thames below. Olaf, however, had an ingenious solution. He sneaked up to the bridge, fastened cables around the piles that supported it, and took those lines to ships waiting downstream. When the tide was right, his oarsmen rowed with all their might, the bridge fell and London was liberated."
Of course, there are three problems with this. First, any song about an event in the reign of Ethelred II would have to be in Old English, and would have to survive for roughly 750 years without leaving any trace in the records, and it would have to adapt from Old English to Middle English to Modern English. That is difficult enough, but perhaps possible.
The second problem is that the history here is dubious. Linklater, p. 137, tells us that "In the [Norse saga about the event] there is a detailed description o how [Olaf] broke down London Bridge and stormed the Danish positions in Southwark... though it is difficult to accomodate these stirring operations in the English narrative of events."
There is, in fact, no hint of the event in our primary English source, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (see Swanton, pp. 142-146, especially p. 145). The source for the story is Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, a saga of the Norse kings. But Snorri was born in 1179, and wrote his saga some two centuries after the events he narrates. And we know from his other works that he did not always follow his sources very closely anyway (Snorri/Young, p. 12). The reliability of the tradition is very questionable.
The third and final problem is -- I don't think this is possible. Without details on the construction of the bridge, and of the ropes used, I cannot prove this. But a bridge, to stand at all, had to be firmly footed in the river bottom. To pull it *up* from its footings would be possible with enough energy. But to pull it off its footings from the side would take a tremendous amount of power. I doubt even tides plus oars could supply that power. Alternately, the ropes might break the wooden supports -- this is a greater possibilit, but I suspect the ropes would break before the pilings did. Perhaps the bridge did fall in 1014 -- but far more likely that it was burned or broken than that it was pulled off its foundations.
Thus the idea that this song connects to an event is dubious. Simpson/Roud, p. 216, don't even mention the notion. Gomme mentins it only in passing. The Opies, in their extremely extensive notes, talk about foreign analogs (some of them much older than the earliest English versions), and bridges dedicated or mortared with blood, and note Carey's use of this in "Namby Pamby," but ignore King Ethelred. And I mention it with long, wearisome footnotes like these. - RBW
Bibliography

Linklater: Eric Linklater, Conquest of England, Doubleday, 1966
O'Brien: Harriet O'Brien, Queen Emma and the Vikings, Bloomsbury, 2005
Simpson/Roud: Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud, A Dictionary of English Folklore, Oxford, 2000
Snorri/Young: Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology, translated from Icelanding by Jean I. Young, University of California, 1954 (I used the 1973 reprint)
Swanton: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, translated and edited by Michael Swanton, 1996 (I use the 1998 Routledge edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: R578

London City (I)

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

London City (II)

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

London Heiress, The (The Brisk and Lively Lad)

DESCRIPTION: An heiress loves a farmer's son. Her father has him sent to the battle front. He is severely wounded. She is Captain's waiting maid in the hospital. She buys his discharge. They return to Ireland. She tells her father she will live with her lover.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(1132))
KEYWORDS: love marriage army war reunion separation injury father
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #83, p. 2, "The Farmer's Son" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 173, "The Dublin Heiress" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Morton-Maguire 33, pp. 86-87,119,169, "The Lady Heiress and the Farmer's Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BRSKLIVE*
Roud #2930
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1132), "London Heiress" ("In London lived an heiress unto a gentleman"), T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(2187), "London Heiress"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7]" (theme) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
In Dublin Lived an Heiress
File: MoMa033

London Rover, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer rides his horse from London "to get myself a dame ... lasses I saw plenty ... I told them I'd be marry'd But I never told them when." He courted a maid and a rich widow promising to marry but never told them when. He rides back to London
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1808 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 12(149))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage promise money horse rake lie
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1483, "I Never Taul Them When" (1 text)
Roud #1045
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 12(149), "The London Rover" ("I took my little horse"), Burbage and Stretton (Nottingham), 1797-1807; also Harding B 28(257), Harding B 25(1135)[many illegible lines], Harding B 17(169b), Harding B 16(131a), 2806 c.17(233), "The London Rover"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I Mounted My Neddy
File: GrD71483

London Squire, The

DESCRIPTION: A London squire in Aberdeen meets weaver's daughter Nancy. He claims that in his travels to France, Flanders and Ireland "the like o' thee I never saw before." She counts herself as good as those ladies. "That night they wedded and then they bedded"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting sex wedding beauty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 836, "The London Squire" (1 text)
Roud #6219
File: GrD4836

London Town

See The Ring-Dang-Doo (I) (File: EM182A)

Londonderry Air

See references under Danny Boy (The Londonderry Air) (File: FSWB323)

Londonderry Love Song

DESCRIPTION: The singer goes out wandering and sees boys and girls at play. He might be with them had his girl proved true. But her father told her she must cross the seas, and with much lamenting, she consented. She sails away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation emigration father
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1862 - Wreck of the Zared, of Londonderry
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H518, p. 301, "Londonderry Love Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6898
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dreadnought" [Laws D13] (The Sam Henry text of that song describes the Zared)
NOTES: A strange song: The father sends the girl away, but does not go with her or (apparently) offer her any means of support. One wonders if this isn't a worn-down version of something like "The Suffolk Miracle," where the father sends the daughter away because he doesn't like her lover.
If that were true, it would even explain the mention of the Zared -- the girl was coming home to her love, but drowned on the way. Very much "The Suffolk Miracle," with the genders reversed. - RBW
File: HHH518

Londonderry on the Banks of the Foyle

See Sweet Londonderry (on the Banks of the Foyle) (File: HHH813)

Lone Fish-Ball, The

See One Fish-Ball (One Meat Ball, The Lone Fish-Ball) (File: SRW074)

Lone Green Valley, The

See The Jealous Lover (II) AND The Jealous Lover (I) (File: E104)

Lone Pilgrim, The

See The White Pilgrim (File: R619)

Lone Prairie, The

See Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie [Laws B2] (File: LB02)

Lone Rock Mine Song

See Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line (File: ADR98)

Lone Rock Song

See Buddy Won't You Roll Down the Line (File: ADR98)

Lone Star Trail (II), The

See The Chisholm Trail (I) (File: R179)

Lone Star Trail, The

See I'm Bound to Follow the Longhorn Cows (File: LoF186)

Lone the Plow-Boy

See Cupid the Plowboy [Laws O7] (File: LO07)

Lone Valley

See Pretty Saro (File: R744)

Lone Widow, A

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

Lonely Louisa

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

Lonely Tombs

See Voice from the Tombs (Lonely Tombs) (File: Wa087)

Lonely Waterloo [Laws N31]

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a girl grieving for her love. She describes Willie, and the singer tells her Willie has died at Waterloo. The girl suffers terribly from grief; (in some texts he reveals himself as Willie and prepares to marry her)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: Napoleon separation grief
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord)) US(MW) Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws N31, "Waterloo II"
Gardner/Chickering 88, "Bloody Waterloo" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 88, "Lonely Waterloo" (2 texts)
Peacock, pp. 1007-1008, "Lonely Waterloo" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 127, "Lonely Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 67, "Lonely Waterloo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 390, BLDYWLOO*
Roud #622
RECORDINGS:
Ken Peacock, "Lonely Waterloo" (on NFKPeacock)
Willie Scott, "Bloody Waterloo" (on Voice08)
NOTES: The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Lonely Waterloo" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001))
Harte notes that his version came back to Ireland via a singer who had seen the text in Peacock. - BS
This has recently been set to a new (and highly effective) tune by Daithi Sproule of Altan. This seems to be a song everyone wants to revive. - RBW
File: LN31

Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter, The [Laws H12]

DESCRIPTION: The singer insists that a girl tell him whether she will marry him or not. She will not; she has another lover. He berates her love of wealth and threatens to go away as a soldier/sailor. (In some texts she changes her mind, but the man has a new girl.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection separation
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Laws H12, "The Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter"
Belden, pp. 195-196, "The Lonesome Scenes of Winter" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 136-137, "The Lonesome Scenes of Winter (All in the Scenes of Winter" (1 text)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 94, "The Gonesome [sic] Scenes of Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 108-109, "Lonesome Hours of Winter" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 156-157, "The Stormy Scenes of Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 57, "The Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 127-129, "Lonesome Scenes of Winter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shellans, pp. 38-39, "The Scornful Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 209-212,"Stormy Winds of Winter" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 50, "The Stormy Winds of Winter" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Peacock, pp. 445-446, "Flora" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, 650 CHILSCEN* CHILSCN2*
Roud #443
RECORDINGS:
Lewis McDaniel & Walter Smith: "I Went to See My Sweetheart" (Victor 23505, 1930; on ConstSor1)
Southern Melody Boys, "Lonesome Scenes of Winter" (Montgomery Ward 7227, 1937)
NOTES: The editors of Sam Henry's Songs of the People place H637 (p. 385, "Lovely Nancy") here -- but I frankly don't see the kinship. Belden, in discussing the matter, says that a song he knows as "Proud Nancy" (I assume the same piece) has "a like theme but little verbal resemblance." - RBW
File: LH12

Lonesome Dove (I - The Minister's Lamentation)

DESCRIPTION: "As I set in that lonesome grove, Set o'er my head a little dove, For its lost mate began to coo...." The singer recalls his lost wife and daughter, killed by consumption. But he thanks God who has taken them away, and hopes to see them in heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Social Harp)
KEYWORDS: death religious bird family disease children wife
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 607, "The Lonesome Dove" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, p. 486, "The Dove" (1 text)
BrownIII 305, "The Lonesome Dove" (1 text)
SharpAp 147, "The Lonesome Grove" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Cambiaire, p. 77, "Lonesome Dove" (1 text)
Roud #3637
RECORDINGS:
Almeda Riddle, "Lonesome Dove" (on LomaxCD1707)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Come All You Friends and Neighbors" (theme)
cf. "The Vulture (of the Alps)"
NOTES: The Social Harp version of this song (1855) is credited to William C. Davis. This is certainly possible -- it is hardly a true folk song -- but since Davis might be an arranger, I do not list an author. - RBW
File: R607

Lonesome Dove (II)

DESCRIPTION: Singer laments a lost love: "You've broken all your promises, Just marry whom you please." "The blackest crow that ever flew It surely will turn white." "Oh don't you see yon little dove?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Sharp)
KEYWORDS: love betrayal abandonment separation floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BrownIII 262, "The Slighted Girl" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 85, "Do You See That There Bird On Yonder Tree?" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
DT, (LONEDOVE) (TUTRLDOV) (TURTDOV2) TURTDOV3
NOTES: It's hard to decide if this is really a song or a collection of floating verses. The Brown text is interesting; it begins with a verse "You need not flirt nor flounce around. There's more pretty boys than one." Then it goes through the lost love routine, and concludes "Darling, darling, do hush up! I hate to hear you cry. As other friends are having to part, And why not you and I, my love, and why not you and I?" - RBW
Creighton-Maritime is a one verse fragment, "Do you see that bird there on yonder tree." It belongs, as Creighton notes, to some song which, she speculates, may be "George Collins" ("Lady Alice," Child 85) but I'd rather just put it here. - BS
File: Br3262

Lonesome Grove, The

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

Lonesome Hours of Winter

See The Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter [Laws H12] (File: LH12)

Lonesome Prairie, The

See Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie [Laws B2] (File: LB02)

Lonesome Road

DESCRIPTION: "Look down (x2) that lonesome road, Hang down your head and sigh. The best of friends must part some day, And why not you and I? (x2)." "I wish to God that I had died... Before I had seen your smilin' face." Singer may be in prison, having ignored mother
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: courting betrayal lie floatingverses lyric prison loneliness lover
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
BrownIII 292, "Lonesome Road" (2 texts); also 306, "By By, My Honey" (1 text, mostly "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" though with several floating verses, including one from this song)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 73, "The Lonesome Road" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 322-323, "Lonesome Road" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 308, "Hattie Belle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 273, "Look Down" (1 tune, partial text, placed here on the basis of the first line)
Roud #824
RECORDINGS:
Luther B. Clark [or Blue Ridge Highballers], "Wish to the Lord I Had Never Been Born" (Columbia 15096-D, 1926) [note: tentative identification; I have not heard the recording]
Delmore Brothers "Look Up, Look Down That Lonesome Road" (Bluebird B-7383, 1938)
J. Paul Miles, "County Jail" (on AFS, pre-1940)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Long Lonesome Road" (on NLCR06)
Kilby Reeves, "County Jail" (on Persis1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "More Pretty Girls than One" (tune)
cf. "Lonesome Stream"
NOTES: Not to be confused with the (non-traditional) blues by Will Nash, "Goin' Down that Long Long Lonesome Road." - RBW
File: San322

Lonesome Sea Ballad, The

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

Lonesome Stream

DESCRIPTION: "When you look way 'cross dat lonesome stream (x2), Way to Zion, Lawd, Lawd." "When you look way down that lonesome road." "I got a mother dead and gone." "She lef' me here to weep an' moan." "Dark cloud risin' i de east'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad death mother
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 602-604, "Dat Lonesome Stream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15547
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lonesome Road"
NOTES: The Lomaxes attribute this to Mississippi prisoners. I have not noted it elsewhere, though it obviously has links to "Lonesome Road." I suspect the Lomaxes may have engaged in editorial work. - RBW
File: LxA602

Lonesome Valley (I)

DESCRIPTION: "You've got to walk that lonesome valley, you've got to walk it by yourself; There's no one here can go there with you [or: walk it for you]; You've got to go there by yourself." Various floating verses about the difficult path to heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Jenkins Family)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Randolph 622, "Some Folks Say John Was a Baptist" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune -- a floating verse which, based on the tune, probably belongs here)
Warner 162, "Lonesome Valley" (1 text, 1 tune, sung and notated in three parts)
Sandburg, p. 486, "You Got To Cross It Foh Yohself" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 100, "Lonesome Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 762, "Lonesome Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 354, "Lonesome Valley" (1 text)
DT, LONEVALY
Roud #7098
RECORDINGS:
Carolina Ramblers String Band, "That Lonesome Valley" (Perfect 12818/Melotone 12428, 1932)
Carter Family, "Lonesome Valley" (Victor 23541, 1931; Bluebird B-6117/Montgomery Ward M-4735, 1935) (OKeh 03112, 1935; on CGospel1)
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, "Don't This Road Look Rough and Rocky" (Columbia 21334, 1954)
Elzie Floyd & Leo Boswell, "Lonesome Valley" (Columbia 15167-D, 1927)
Jenkins Family, "That Lonesome Valley" (OKeh 40377, 1925)
Heavenly Gospel Singers, "Walk This Lonesome Valley" (Bluebird B-6984, 1937)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Walk That Lonesome Valley" (Bluebird B-6596/Montgomery Ward M-7007, 1936)
Curt Mann, "Lonesome Valley" (on USWarnerColl01)
[Lester] McFarland & [Robert] Gardner, "The Lonesome Valley" (Vocalion 5127, 1927)
Blind Willie McTell, "I Got to Cross the River of Jordan" (LoC, 1940, two versions; one version is on Babylon)
David Miller, "That Lonesome Valley" (Gennett 6175, 1927)
Monroe Brothers, "You've Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley" (Bluebird B-6477, 1936)
Pete Seeger, "You've Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley" (on BroonzySeeger1); "Lonesome Valley" (on PeteSeeger47)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hard Trials" (floating verses)
SAME TUNE:
Dixie Reelers, "Lonesome Valley - Part 2" (Bluebird B-6713, 1936)
File: Wa162

Lonesome Valley (II), The

DESCRIPTION: ""My brother, want to get religion? Go down in the lonesome valley (x4), To meet my Jesus there." "Oh, feed on milk and honey." "Oh, John he write the letter." "And Mary and Martha read 'em."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 5, "The Lonesome Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11858
NOTES: This should not be confused with "Lonesome Valley (I)"; they have nothing in common except those two words.
The phrase "lonesome valley," interestingly, never occurs in the King James Bible, though the phrase would easily be suggested by Psalm 23.
There are three epistles credited to John in the New Testament -- but not one of them actually says it is from John. The assignment of authorship is based on the fact that they definitely seem to be from the same "school," and probably the same author, as the fourth gospel. And the fourth gospel is attributed to the Beloved Disciple, and the BD was surely either Peter or James or John (the three disciples who made up Jesus's inner circle), and it can't be Peter because Peter talked to the BD, and it can't be James because he was executed early on, so presumably it was John.
Even if John did write the three letters, there is absolutely no reason to connect them with Mary and Martha, since Martha is mentioned only in Luke 10 and John 11-12. (In fact, the Gospel of John never mentions John the Disciple by name; every reference to John is to John the Baptist.) - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG005

Long and Wishing Eye, The

See Branded Lambs [Laws O9] (File: LO09)

Long Barney

DESCRIPTION: Biddy Trigg meets Long Barney at an Easter fair and falls in love with him. Darby O'Brian interrupts their drinking and kissing. He and Barney fight. Barney wins. Giddy from whisky and fight, he asks Biddy to marry. She accepted. They are happily married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.11(274)) [but see Note re 1855]
KEYWORDS: courting marriage fight drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1749, "Young Barney" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #13134
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(274), "Long Barney" ("Did you ever hear tell of long Barney)," H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Firth c.26(254), Harding B 11(2192), 2806 c.16*(7), 2806 c.16(152) , "Long Barney"
NOTES: GreigDuncan8 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian 2806 b.11(274) is the basis for the description.
An 1855 broadside, NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(128a), "Come Sit Thee Down," Poet's Box (Glasgow), lists "Young Barney" in the "list of newest songs." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1749

Long Cookstown

See Nancy Whiskey (File: K279)

Long Eddy Waltz

DESCRIPTION: The singer climbs a tree, apparently to spy on lovers. His voyeurism is rewarded when a young couple appear under the tree. The man begs the girl to sleep with him. At some point, the spy lets out a whoop, and the lovers take flight
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (text supplied to Logsdon by Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: courting humorous request hiding sex
FOUND IN: US(MA,SW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
FSCatskills 132, "Long Eddy Waltz" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 43, pp. 222-223, "The Oaks of Jimderia" (1 text)
DT, LONGEDDY*
Roud #10100
NOTES: Logson connects this with "Walking in a Meadow Gren," found in the Percy Folio. I don't really see it. That is simply a song about a guy watching a couple go about their business. This piece, in both the New York and Arizona versions, has several distinct elements in addition to the voyeurism: The narrator in the tree, the crying out, and the lovers fleeing. They do differ in when the singer cried out -- but I suspect this is a deliberate clean-up of the Catskills variant.
There does not seem to be a generic title to this song, perhaps because it has so rarely been published. The "Long Eddy Waltz" title comes from Dick Edwards, the New York informant, and has no obvious relationship to the song (save that it is in triple meter). But it is the title which has been used in the Ballad Index for many years, so I am retaining it in the absence of a title with stronger claim. - RBW

File: FSC132

Long Gone

See Long John (Long Gone) (File: LoF287)

Long Hot Summer Days

See Old Rattler (File: CNFM104)

Long John (Long Gone)

DESCRIPTION: "It's-a Long John, He's long gone, Like a turkey through the corn, With his long clothes on, He's gone, gone." Long John escapes from prison, and uses sundry tricks to avoid capture. He intends to keep moving
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920 (print reproduced by Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: prison freedom escape floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 287, "Long John" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 75-79, "Long Gone" (1 extended text, 1 tune)
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 202-215, "Crooked-Footed John" (7 texts, 4 tunes; some of these sound like direct descendents of the commercial recordings, but others have been heavily adapted for prison life and may even incorporate other songs)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 102-103, "(Lost John)" (1 text); p. 261, "Long John" (1 tune, partial text)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 268, "Long Gone" (1 text, a reproduction of a printed version from 1920)
Handy/Silverman-Blues, pp. 200-202, "Long Gone" (1 text, 1 tune, heavily adapted)
Silber-FSWB, p. 68, "Long John" (1 text)
ST LoF287 (Full)
Roud #11520
RECORDINGS:
Allen Brothers, "Long Gone from Bowling Green" (Vocalion 02817, 1934)
Richard Brooks & Riley Puckett, "Long Gone" (Brunswick 273, 1928)
[Richard] Burnett & [Leonard] Rutherford, "Lost John" (Columbia 15122-D, 1927; rec. 1926; on BurnRuth01, KMM)
Ted Daffan's Texans, "Long John" (Columbia 20358, c. 1947; Columbia 37823, 1947; rec.1942)
Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "Lost John" (Decca 24216, 1947)
Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston & Sonny Terry, "Lost John" (on Struggle2)
Sam Hinton, "Long John" (ABC-Eagle ABC-230, 1950)
J. H. Howell's Carolina Hillbillies, "Lost John" (Bluebird B-7162, 1937)
Charlie Jackson, "Long Gone Lost John" (Paramount 12602, 1928; Broadway 5076 [as Charlie Carter], c. 1930)
Ray Logan, "Lost John Blues" (Paramount 12310, 1925)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Lost John Dean" (Brunswick 227/Vocalion 5246, 1928; on Times1 [as Bascom Lamar Lundsford])
Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Long John" (AFS 2644 A2, 1939)
Prison farm work group "Lost John" (on NPCWork, DownHome)
Oliver Sims, "Lost John" (Columbia 15103-D, 1926)
Southern Moonlight Entertainers [possibly pseud. for the Stripling Bros.] "Lost John" (Vocalion 5372/Vocalion 5460, c. 1930; rec. 1929)
Stripling Bros. "Lost John" (Vocalion 5441, c. 1930; rec. 1929)
Vernon Sutphin & J. C. Sutphin, "Lost John" (on Stonemans01)
Sonny Terry, "Lost John" [instrumental with whooping] (AFS, 1938; on LCTreas); "Lost John" (on Terry01, DownHome)
Texas state farm prisoners, "Lost John" (on NPCWork)
Merle Travis, "Lost John Boogie" (Capitol 1737, c. 1951)
Henry Whitter, "Lost John" (OKeh 40391, 1925)
Unknown artists, "Long Gone" (AFS CYL-7-2, 1933)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Rattler"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lost John
Long Gone from Kentucky
NOTES: The Lomaxes believe this to be based on the story (coming from W. C. Handy's book "Blues"; see page 215 in Handy/Silverman) of one Long John Green, who was known for his ability to move.
When the prison where Green was staying acquired a pack of bloodhounds, they allegedly decided to conduct a test by giving him a head start and then sending the hounds after him. But Green was too fast (he also managed to trick the hounds by catching one in a trap), and escaped them.
I have my doubts, though -- neither the Courlander text nor the Burnett & Rutherford recording shows the prison plot details found in the Lomax texts. I can't help but wonder if this might not be another Lomax retouch job, influenced perhaps by Handy's blues piece. - RBW
It's hard to tell pending full scrutiny of the field recordings, but it looks like the Lomaxes didn't mess with them as much as has been suggested. Some of the field recordings, at any rate, are as muddled as the Lomaxes' published versions. - PJS
And the versions in Jackson support this. Several of these versions involve a prisoner who had heels on the front of his shoes, fooling the pursuers. I am still inclined to suspect that several songs have been combined here (Jackson is of the opinion that it has swallowed a song beginning "This old tree..."). It's just that the combination probably predates the Lomaxes. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LoF287

Long Journey Home

See Two Dollar Bill (Long Journey Home) (File: CSW177)

Long Lankin

See Lamkin [Child 93] (File: C093)

Long Peggin' Awl, The

DESCRIPTION: A girl is berated by her mother for running away with a shoemaker. The girl retorts that the older woman did the same thing: "You followed old dad for his long peggin' awl"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925
KEYWORDS: bawdy mother elopement
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond)) US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 280-281, "The Long Peggin' Awl" (1 partial text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 181, "The Long Peggin' Awl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LNGPGAWL*
Roud #2126
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox "The Long Peggin' Awl" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Pegging Awl" (on BirdBush1, BirdBush2)
NOTES: Talk about lumping: Kennedy includes the Carolina Tar Heels' "Peg and Awl" as quoted by Lomax. I know both songs. No way. The phrase is common to them only because those two tools were found together in the kit of a shoemaker. - PJS
File: RL280

Long Shoreman's Strike, The

See Longshoreman's Strike (The Poor Man's Family) (File: FSC101)

Long Sought Home

See Jerusalem, My Happy Home (Long Sought Home) (File: NrecJMHH)

Long Summer Days

DESCRIPTION: Chantey/worksong: "The day is so long and the wages so small..." "Captain you gae launch this boat today..." "Take it now easy boys, cause the crawfish they're come now" Refrain: "Long summer day"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (recording, Frederick McQueen & group)
KEYWORDS: fishing ship work nonballad shanty worksong animal sailor
FOUND IN: Bahamas
RECORDINGS:
Frederick McQueen & group, "Long Summer Day" (on MuBahamas2)
NOTES: This may derive from the same roots as Randolph's "Rocky Road to Jordan (Long Summer Day)." But the uses of the song are different enough that I am (very tentatively) allowing them to stay separate; Randolph's is a singing game. - RBW
File: RcLoSuDa

Long Tail Blue

DESCRIPTION: The singer has "come to town to see you all... And sing a song not very long About my long tail blue." He is proud of having two coats, a jacket for everyday and the blue for Sunday. He advises others to acquire a similar coat and keep it well
AUTHOR: George Washington Dixon?
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Christy's Negro Songster); Dixon is said to have performed the piece in 1827
KEYWORDS: clothes courting
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 416, "My Long Tail Blue" (1 text)
Roud #1287
File: Br3416

Long the Days of Sorrow (All Around those Pretty Little Pinks)

DESCRIPTION: "We're marching round two pretty little pinks (x3), Long the days of sorrow." "Choose two in as we go round." "We've come in to marry you." "Tomorrow is the wedding night." "God Almighty bless them good old souls." "You rascal you, you told me a lie."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty lie courting marriage
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 589, "Long the Days of Sorrow" (1 text)
Roud #7675
File: R589

Long Time Ago (II)

DESCRIPTION: "Once there was a little kitty, White as the snow, She went out to hunt a mousie, Long time ago." The cat's appearance is described: Her black eyes spied the mouse, her paws caught it, her teeth bit it -- but the mouse escaped
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: animal hunting
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 306-307, "Long Time Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4577
File: LxA306

Long Time Ago (II), A

See A Hundred Years Ago (I) (File: San485)

Long Time Ago, A

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "[To me] way, hey, hey, yah... A long time ago." Texts vary; many have to do with the troubles of seagoing life; one complains about serving an a boat so old it "must have been the ark that Noah built..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor ship
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Bahamas
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 37-43, "A Long Time Ago" (6 texts, 4 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 68-69, "A Long Time Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 65-68, "A Long Time Ago" (1 text plus several fragments, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 60-62, "A Long Time Ago" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp.97-105, 156, 215, "A Long Time Ago," "Up, Up, My Boys, Up a Hill" (11 texts, 4 tunes. Version "C" is "In Frisco Bay", version "F" is
"A-Rovin'", version "G" is "A Hundred Years Ago." Other versions borrow heavily from "Roll the Cotton Down," Blow the Man Down" and "Blackball Line") [AbEd, pp. 88-94]
Sharp-EFC, XLIV, p. 49, "A Long Time Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 141-142, "A Long Time Ago" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 48, "A Long Time Ago" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 47, "Around Cape Horn" (1 short text to the same tune)
Lomax-FSNA 28, "A Long Time Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 306-207, "Long Time Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 312-313, "A Hundred Years" (1 text, with the phrase "A hundred years ago" replacing "A long time ago")
DT, (NOAHARK)
ST Doe037 (Full)
Roud #318
RECORDINGS:
Richard Maitland, "A Long Time Ago" (AFS, 1939; on LC27)
David Pryor et al: "Long Time Ago" (AAFS 505 B, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "In Frisco Bay (A Long Time Ago; Noah's Ark Shanty)" (lyrics)
cf. "Roll the Cotton Down" (tune, floating lyrics)
cf. "De Hoffnung" (tune)
cf. "Roll and Go" (refrain)
SAME TUNE:
De Hoffnung (File: Hugi104)
NOTES: In 1833 one T. Rice sang a minstrel song by this name in "The Ethiopian Opera," with the sheet music published by John Cole of Baltimore; that may well have been the ancestor of this shanty. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe037

Long Time Traveling

See When I Can Read My Titles Clear (Long Time Traveling) (File: DTlongti)

Long White Robe

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Can't you hand down that long white robe (x4)." Verses: "Old Satan thought he had me fast, Can't you hand... But I broke his chain and I come at last, Can't you...." "If I ever reach that mountain top... I pray to my Lord I may never stop."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious clothes nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 518, "Long White Robe" (1 text, with a "Cotton-Eyed Joe" verse)
Roud #11813
File: Br3518

Long-Line Skinner

DESCRIPTION: "I'm a long-line skinner And my home's out west. Lookin' for the woman... that'll love me best." The doctor says whiskey will kill him "but he don't say when." When it gets cold, he will go home; "I ain't skinning mules in the wintertime"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: work home drink
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 128, "Long-Line Skinner" (1 text)
File: FSWB128A

Long, Long Ago!

DESCRIPTION: "Tell me the tales that to me were so dear, Long long ago, long ago; Sing me the songs I delighted to hear... Now you are come my grief is removed...." The singer welcomes back (his?) long-lost love; he doubted her fidelity, but he rejoices to see her
AUTHOR: Thomas Haynes Bayly
EARLIEST DATE: 1844
KEYWORDS: love separation reunion
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 119-120, "Long, Long Ago!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 278-279, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 256, "Long, Long Ago" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 338, "Long, Long Ago!"
ST RJ19119 (Full)
Roud #4921
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:019, "Long, Long Ago," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(145), "Long, Long, Ago," unknown, c.1870
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gone Long Ago" (tune)
NOTES: Bayly made his name as a composer of sentimental tunes, but this is surely his best-known. The exact date of composition is unknown; the earliest dated printing is from 1844, but copies are known to have been in circulation when Bayly died in 1839. The best guess is that it originally appeared c. 1836.
The author's original title was "The Long Ago." - RBW
File: RJ19119

Longest Name Song

See Too Much of a Name (File: GrMa170)

Longest Train, The

See In the Pines (File: LoF290)

Longford Murder, The

See James MacDonald [Laws P38] (File: LP38)

Longford Murderer, The

See James MacDonald [Laws P38] (File: LP38)

Longing for the Spring

DESCRIPTION: "The hills are very bare and cold and lonely; I wonder what the future months will bring. The strike is on...." The singer expresses anger at the scabs and the police, wishes he could shoot them, and longs for easier weather
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: labor-movement hardtimes scab
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, p. 188, "(Longing for the Spring)" (1 text)
File: Burt188

Longshoreman's Strike (The Poor Man's Family)

DESCRIPTION: "I am a simple lab'ring man / And I work along the shores / For to keep the hungry wolves away / From the poor longshoreman's door." The singer demands fair pay for his work. He complains that foreigners get the jobs while local people starve
AUTHOR: Words: Edward Harrigan / Music: David Braham
EARLIEST DATE: 1875
KEYWORDS: strike foreigner poverty
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1875 - Longshoreman's strike that inspired this song. Most of the strikers were Irish immigrants
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
FSCatskills 377, "The Poor Man's Family" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 28, "Longshoreman's Strike" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 82-83, "Long Shoreman's Strike" (1 text)
Greenway-AFP, p. 236, "Longshoreman's Strike" (1 text)
ST FSC101 (Partial)
Roud #7461
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Last Winter Was a Hard One" (theme)
NOTES: For background on Harrigan and Braham, see the notes to "Babies on Our Block." - RBW
File: FSC101

'Longside of the Santa Fe Trail

See The Santa Fe Trail (File: Ohr085)

Longstone Lighthouse, The

See Grace Darling (I) (The Longstone Lighthouse) (File: Ran086)

Looby Lou

DESCRIPTION: "Here we go Looby Lou, Here we go Looby Lou, Here we go Looby Lou, Lou, Lou, All on a Saturday night." "I put my right hand in, I put my right hand out, I give my right hand shakey-shake-shake And I turn myself about."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Flanders/Brown)
KEYWORDS: dancing playparty
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(Ap,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Flanders/Brown, pp. 192-193, "Looby Low" (1 text)
Linscott, pp. 23-26, "I Put My Little Hand In" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 554, "Loupy Lou" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 157, "(Loop de Loo)" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #637, p. 252, "(Now we dance looby, looby, looby)"
Silber-FSWB, p. 387, "Her We Go Looby Loo" (1 text)
ST R554 (Partial)
Roud #5032
RECORDINGS:
Children of Lilly's Chapel School, "Loop de Loo (Loobie Loo)" (on NFMAla6, RingGames1)
Pete Seeger, "Here We Go Looby-Loo" (on PeteSeeger21)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Here We Go Looby Lou
Ugly Mug
Lubin
NOTES: This would seem to be the ancestor of the infamous Hokey-Pokey, perhaps urban America's only surviving singing game. But I don't know if the song was rewritten along the way.
Linscott reports the "Looby Loo" title as "a corruption of lupin,' the word for 'leaping,' for the game takes the form of animal antics."
Courlander, if I understand him correctly, explains it as a bathing game. Wonder how they recorded the motions in that case. - RBW
File: R554

Looby Low

See Looby Lou (File: R554)

Look at the Sun

DESCRIPTION: "Look at the sun, See how he run -- God Almighty'll catch you With your work undone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 229, (no title) (1 fragment)
File: ScNF229B

Look Before You Leap

See The Bald-Headed End of the Broom (File: FaE190)

Look Down

See Lonesome Road (File: San322)

Look How They Done My Lord

DESCRIPTION: Describes crucifixion of Jesus; he is whipped up to Calvary, where he "never [says] a mumbling word"; a thorny crown is placed on his brow and squashed down, and the blood comes streaming down. Refrain: "Good Lord I can't hold out no longer"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (recording, Vera Hall Ward & Dock Reed)
KEYWORDS: execution dying Easter Bible religious prisoner Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
Roud #10983
RECORDINGS:
Vera Hall Ward & Dock Reed, "Look How They Done My Lord" (on ReedWard01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "He Never Said a Mumbling Word" (verses)
NOTES: Several verses of this song are shared with "He Never Said a Mumbling Word". But the "One day when I was lost" refrain is absent, and the overall feeling is quite different, so I split them. Incidentally, I use the keyword, "Easter" although the song technically describes only the events of Good Friday, letting the single keyword sit in for all of the events. - PJS
File: RcLHTDML

Look Out Below

DESCRIPTION: A young man goes to Australia to escape poverty at home. He goes to work in the mines, and in time grows rich. He returns home and marries, but finds that he misses Australia. Back he goes, to resume the miner's life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1894 (The Queenslander)
KEYWORDS: mining emigration poverty Australia
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 92-93, "Look Out Below" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, p. 42, "Look Out Below!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 128-130, "Look Out Below" (1 text)
NOTES: Patterson/Fahey/Seal credit this to CharlesThatcher, but they do not state the source of this information. - RBW
File: FaE092

Look Where the Train Done Gone

DESCRIPTION: Floating-verse blues about trains and lost love: "Look where de train done gone (x3), Oh babe, Gone never to return." "I certainly been a friend to you." "If I'd a-listened to what Mama said." "Tomorrow's my trial day." "If I'd a-died when I was young."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: floatingverses love separation train
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 245-246, "Look Where de Train Done Gone" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: ScaNF245

Look Ye Down, Ye Powers Above

See Come Write Me Down (The Wedding Song) (File: K126)

Looked Down the Railroad Far As I Could See

DESCRIPTION: "Well, ah looked down de railroad fuh as I could see, Looked down dat railroad fuh as I could see, Saw mah gal a-wavin' back at me (x2)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: railroading separation
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 241, (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: This feels like a blues, but note that the one verse quoted by Scarborough has four lines, not three. - RBW
File: ScNF241

Lookin' for the Bully of the Town

See The Bully of the Town [Laws I14] (File: LI14)

Looking at the Comet

DESCRIPTION: She asks what he is doing: "Tell me this very moment." He says he "was gazing at the comet"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1861 (Poet's Box broadside "Looking at the Comet," according to GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: dialog
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1508, "The Comet" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7169
NOTES: The current description is based on the GreigDuncan7 fragment.
GreigDuncan7 quoting Duncan: "'The comet' was no doubt Donati's (1858)." - BS
According to Illingworth, p. 120, "Donati's comment (1858 VI)[:] A spectacular comet famous for its coma with muliple haloes: parabolic envelopes with vertices toward the sun and foci near the apparent nucleus."
In the table of comets on 284 of Lodders/Fegley. we find that comet Donati (C/1888 L1) approavhed to within .578 AU of the sun (about half earth's distance), and that it has a period of about about 1950 years. Thus the sighting in 1858 is the only one in the modern era.
Porter, p. 191, says that "Donati's comet, which was first cited on 2 June 1858, was notable for its great beauty. It had, in addition to its major 'tail,' two narrow extra tails. It even featured in William Dyce's painting 'Pegwell Bay.'"
Asimov, pp. 387-388, says that Giovanni Battista Donati (1826-1873), who spotted the comet, discovered five other comets in his life, none so spectacular as the comet of 1858. More important from a scientific standpoint, was his taking of spectra of a comet in 1864 as it neared the sun. This was an important step in determining the composition of comets.
Of course, there is no hint that this particular fellow was doing scientific research on the comet. But isn't it time we found a few folk songs for scientists? - RBW
Bibliography

Asimov: Isaac Asimov, Isaac Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, revised edition, 1972 (I use the 1976 Equinox edition)
Illingworth: Valerie Illingworth, The Facts of File Dictionary of Astronomy, third edition, Facts on File, 1994
Lodders/Fegley: Katharina Lodders and Bruce Fegley, Jr., The Planetary Scientist's Companion, Oxford, 1998
Porter: Roy Porter, consultant editor, The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists, second edition (first edition published in six volumes, 1983-1985, as The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists with volumes on Biologists, Chemists, Astronomers, Physicists, Engineers and Inventors, and Mathematicians), Oxford, 1994

Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71508

Looking for Poppies

DESCRIPTION: An old man meets a girl and asks where she is going. She says she is looking for poppies; he says it's the wrong place. She would hear the nightingale; the time is wrong. At last her young man shows up; the old man warns against such bird songs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love lie questions courting warning
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, pp. 252-253, "Looking for Poppies" (1 text)
Roud #7759
File: Beld252

Lookit Yonder

See The Old Gray Goose (I - Lookit Yonder) (File: FSC147)

Loop de Loo

See Looby Lou (File: R554)

Loose Every Sail to the Breeze

See Homeward Bound (II -- Loose Every Sail to the Breeze) (File: SWMS052)

Lora Williams

DESCRIPTION: ""Come all you fair and pretty damsels And listen while I now relate... And learn of Lora Williams fate." Lora sets out with a bucket for the spring, but, knowing she must swear against her lover, drowns herself instead
AUTHOR: "'Widder' Kizzie Talcott's Dan"?
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: love suicide drowning
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 140-143, "Lora Williams" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Fair and Tender Ladies" (tune)
NOTES: According to Thomas's informant (called by the absurd name in the author field), Lora Williams was a 16-year-old asked to swear out a warrant against her lover. She chose suicide instead. Folklore adds that her voice can still be heard at the rock where she drowned, begging her mother not to weep.
At no point is the nature of the lover's crime specified.
This is item dG35 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: ThBa140

Lord Arnold

See Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard [Child 81] (File: C081)

Lord Ateman

See Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)

Lord Bakeman

See Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)

Lord Barnard

See Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard [Child 81] (File: C081)

Lord Barnie

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

Lord Bateman

See Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)

Lord Bateman's Castle

See Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)

Lord Bayham

See Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)

Lord Beichan

See Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)

Lord Brechin

See Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)

Lord Burnett and Little Munsgrove

See Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard [Child 81] (File: C081)

Lord Cornwallis

DESCRIPTION: "In the year of '81, In Yorktown we capitulated ... We fought them four to one as long as we could stand." The captives are confined "like thieves in a dungeon" and hope for the war to end "to see ourselves at liberty"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Shield's _Songs and Ballads in use in the Province of Ulster...1845_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: captivity battle soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 15, 1781 - Cornwallis wins a pyrrhic victory at Guilford Courthouse (North Carolina) and decides to continue the campaign in Virginia rather than the Carolinas. He will command roughly 7500 men in Virginia
Aug 1, 1781- Cornwallis establishes his base at Yorktown, Virginia
Sep 5-13 - Naval battle of the Virginia Capes (also called the Naval Battle of Yorktown); the French fleet of de Grasse defeats and drives away the British fleet of Thomas Graves
Sep 28 - George Washington and Rochambeau begin the siege of Yorktown with about 15,00 men
Oct 19 - Cornwallis's surrender
Feb 27, 1783 - The British parliament authorizes peace negotiations
Feb 4, 1783 - Britain officially declares an end to hostilities with the colonies
Apr 15 - The Congress of the American Confederation ratifies the peace treaty with Britain
Sep 3 - The Treaty of Paris officially ends the Revolutionary War
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 7, "Lord Cornwallis" (1 text)
NOTES: Moylan: "This song deals with the aftermath of the battle of Yorktown on the 18th of October 1781, when the American rebel army of George Washington defeated the British under General Cornwallis, putting an end to the American War of Independence." - BS
This song, typically, is wrong on several counts: The British at Yorktown were outnumbered by only about two to one, and a large fraction of their enemies were raw troops. The British could certainly have held on -- had they had supplies. But de Grasse's naval victory (which was not very decisive, but it did drive off the English) sealed off the British army, which eventually had to give in.
Contrary to a lot of sources, this did not automatically mean an end to the war; Cornwallis's army represented only about a third of the British troops in North America, and Britain could have sent more. The next spring, indeed, Admiral Rodney took care of de Grasse, giving the British control of the seas again. But Parliament had had enough of paying for a war that seemed to promise nothing good, so they swallowed their pride and granted colonial independence. - RBW
File: Moyl007

Lord Cornwallis's Surrender

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you brave Americans, The truth to you I'll tell, 'Tis of a sad misfortune To Britain late befell." Cornwallis and his British troops, cut off by Washington on land and de Grasse by sea, are forced to surrender
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 19C (broadside, LOCSinging as108040)
KEYWORDS: war battle rebellion derivative
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct 19, 1781 - Cornwallis surrenders his forces at Yorktown to General Washington
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 88-90, "Lord Cornwallis's Surrender" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LRDCRNWL*
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as108040, "Lord Cornwallis's Surrender," unknown, 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The British Grenadiers" (tune) and references there
NOTES: The Revolutionary War in the north did not go well for Britain. Although their only severe defeat was at Saratoga, they were unable to capture and subdue the countryside.
The British command therefore decided to concentrate on the south in 1780. In that year, Charles Cornwallis (the second-in-command in America and the most aggressive of the British generals) was to invade the Carolinas and Virginia.
The results were typical of the Revolutionary War: Cornwallis won most of his engagements against the Colonials, but never managed to pin them down and suffered occasional losses at the hands of a rebellious countryside.
Then came disaster. Cornwallis was facing Washington at Yorktown with only a fraction of the British colonial army. Suddenly a French fleet led by Admiral de Grasse, which had been expected to attack New York, instead appeared outside Yorktown. De Grasse could not hope to hold off the British fleet forever, but he held on long enough. Cornwallis, surrounded and cut off from supplies, had to surrender.
It was the effective end of the Revolutionary War. The peace would not be signed until 1783, but the British no longer had the troops in North America to fight the rebels, and were unwilling to send more.
Among the other revolutionary figures mentioned in this song are:
Burgoyne -- John Burgoyne, who surrendered at Saratoga (see "The Fate of John Burgoyne").
Hessians -- German mercenaries employed by the British. They were generally despised -- though the British government's decision to use mercenaries was rather logical when you think about it; the British did not want to send disaffected Irish soldiers, or Scottish soldiers who might prove loyal to the Stuarts -- and if they used English soldiers, they might well desert in the Americas, where the people spoke English and there were many economic opportunities (see Stanley Weintraub, Iron Tears: America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire: 1775-1783, Free Press, 2005, pp. 42-44)
Greene -- Nathaniel Greene, who commanded a detached force in the Carolinas against Cornwallis. He was the best officer the Americans had at harassing the enemy. - RBW
File: SBoA088

Lord Daniel

See Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard [Child 81] (File: C081)

Lord Darnell

See Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard [Child 81] (File: C081)

Lord Delamere [Child 207]

DESCRIPTION: The king wants a new tax. Delamere asks for charge of all the poor of the land, to hang them; better they hang than starve. A lord says he deserves death, but Devonshire, fighting for Delamere, kills the lord and finds he is wearing the king's armor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Lyle)
KEYWORDS: royalty nobility trick money death accusation
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Child 207, "Lord Delamere" (4 texts)
Roud #88
NOTES: This sort of gesture of defiance (compare Swift's "A Modest Proposal") is much more common in story than truth; there is no reason to believe that the events here ever took place. Child gives what background there can be.
The one interesting point I observe is that the lords involved were mostly active at the time of the Glorious Revolution (1688) -- and, what's more, Lord Delamore (1652-1694) and William Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire (1641-1707; Duke of Devonshire from 1694) both gave open support to William of Orange. Delamere, in fact, went on to be one of the Lords of the Treasury.
Perhaps this originated as some sort of Williamite broadside? Or, perhaps, an attempt to save Devonshire from protests? (He is said to have been poor about paying tradesmen.) - RBW
File: C207

Lord Derwentwater [Child 208]

DESCRIPTION: The king sends (Derwentwater) a summons to London. His wife bids him make his will before going. As he goes along his way, ill portents greet him. Arriving in London, he is condemned to death. (He gives gifts to the poor and is executed)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1812 (Bell)
KEYWORDS: rebellion nobility execution lastwill
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1715 - the 1715 Jacobite rebellion
Sept. 1715 - Warrant issued for Derwentwater's arrest. He responds by openly going into revolt
Nov. 14, 1715 - Derwentwater and his comrades forced to surrender
Feb 24, 1716 - Execution of Derwentwater at the age of (probably) 26
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland) US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 208, "Lord Derwentwater" (10 texts)
Bronson 208, "Lord Derwentwater" (5 versions)
Leach, pp. 553-554, "Lord Derwentwater" (1 text)
Roud #89
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. G. A. Griffin, "The King's Love-Letter" (AFS, 1937; on LC58) {Bronson's #4a}
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sir Patrick Spens" [Child #58]
cf. "The Mother's Malison, or Clyde's Water" [Child 216]
cf. "Derwentwater's Farewell" (subject)
cf. "Derwentwater" (subject)
NOTES: Although based on a historical incident, this ballad is a rather curious amalgam of material from other pieces; the opening is straight from "Sir Patrick Spens" [Child #58],
while the incident of the nosebleed portending doom is found in "The Mother's Malison, or Clyde's Water" [Child 216]. The making of the will is harder to trace, but the idea is commonplace.
There is an obvious urge to confuse this with "Derwentwater's Farewell," by Robert Surtees, but Child explicitly and correctly denies this link.
Derwentwater seems by all accounts to have been popular, and other poems were written of his death. In this case, it would appear that an unknown poet (Surtees?) took pieces of older ballads to produce a song for the occasion.
The night of Derwentwater's execution witnessed a particularly bright aurora, and the aurora is sometimes called "Derwentwater's Lights" as a result. But this usage, like the ballad itself, seems to have faded out with time. - RBW
File: C208

Lord Derwentwater's Good-Night

See Derwentwater's Farewell (File: Sto004)

Lord Dillard and Lady Flora

See Lady Maisry [Child 65] (File: C065)

Lord Fife

DESCRIPTION: The singer praises Lord Fife: "every acre he does possess It's called the happy land." When tenants see hard times "Go home, he says, possess your place, I'll pay the rent mysel'." He toasts Lord Fife and "those who does not say Amen, Ashamed let them be"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: virtue farming nonballad landlord
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #147, p. 1, "Lord Fife"; Greig #160, p. 2, "Lord Fife" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan3 438, "Lord Fife" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5952
NOTES: Greig #149, p. 1: "Referring to 'Lord Fife,' ... Miss Bell Robertson is able to tell us that the peer alluded to was the Good Earl James, the grand-uncle of the Duke [GreigDuncan3: "Alexander William George (1849-1912), first Duke of Fife"] -- an ideal landlord and idolized by his tenants. This information is also given by Mr John Mowat ...."
GreigDuncan3: "This song concerns James, fourth Earl of Fife, who lived from 1776 to 1857." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3438

Lord Franklin

See Lady Franklin's Lament (The Sailor's Dream) [Laws K9] (File: LK09)

Lord Gregory

See The Lass of Roch Royal [Child 76] (File: C076)

Lord Henry and Lady Margaret

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

Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet [Child 66]

DESCRIPTION: Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet are (brothers/uncle and nephew). Lady Maisry loves and is pregnant by Chiel Wyet but Ingram woos her family and she is made to wed him. On the wedding night Chiel Wyet and Lord Ingram kill each other; Maisry goes mad.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1802/3 (ms)
KEYWORDS: family pregnancy marriage murder fight madness
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Child 66, "Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet" (5 texts)
Bronson 66, "Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet" (2 versions, both regarded by Bronson as dubious; neither has a text)
Leach, pp. 213-222, "Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet" (1 text, with a Danish text for comparison)
OBB 51, "Lord Ingram and Childe Vyet" (1 text)
DBuchan 30, "Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet" (1 text)
TBB 66, "Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet" (1 text)
DT 66, INGRWYLT*
Roud #46
NOTES: Bronson quotes two tunes for this piece, but admits they "may have no genuine right to this association. The sole connecting link, in the absence of words [neither tune has a text], is the title of the first tune, 'Lord Ingram.' But the tune suits ill with the metre of any known text...." - RBW
File: C066

Lord Kenneth and Fair Ellinour

See Molly Bawn (Shooting of His Dear) [Laws O36] (File: LO36)

Lord Levett

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

Lord Livingston [Child 262]

DESCRIPTION: Livingston and Seaton both desire the favors of a lady. The lady weds Livingston for her own reasons. Seaton demands a duel. The lady offers to fight him, but Livingston claims it is his right. He is killed. The lady dies of sorrow after seven years
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1878
KEYWORDS: courting love fight death grief mourning marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Child 262, "Lord Livingston" (1 text)
Roud #3909
File: C262

Lord Lovel [Child 75]

DESCRIPTION: (Lord Lovel) is setting out on a voyage. (Lady Nancy) begs him not to go, but he is determined. Soon after he reaches his destination, he misses Nancy and turns for home. He finds that she has died for love of him. He proceeds to do the same
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1770 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: separation love death travel
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Hebr),England(All)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (40 citations):
Child 75, "Lord Lovel" (11 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Bronson 75, "Lord Lovel" (71 versions+3 in addenda)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 139-148, "Lord Lovel" (3 texts plus 1 fragment, 2 tunes); p. 482 (additional notes) {Bronson's #36, #48}
Belden, pp. 52-54, "Lord Lovel" (1 text plus reference to 5 more; also texts of two Civil War parodies, the first of which, Ga, is "The New Ballad of Lord Lovell")
Randolph 17, "Lord Lovel" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #38}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 34-37, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 17A) {Bronson's #38}
Eddy 13, "Lord Lovel" (5 texts plus an excerpt, 4 tunes; the "E" text has its first line from "The New Ballad of Lord Lovell (Mansfield Lovell)" but is still this song) {Bronson's #30, #46, #59, #68}
Gardner/Chickering 6, "Lord Lovel" (1 text plus mention of 2 more, 1 tune) {Bronson's #63}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 215-216, "Lord Lovell" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #22}
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 148-173, "Lord Lovell" (12 texts plus a fragment, 5 tunes) {L=Bronson's #22}
Linscott, pp. 233-235, "Lord Lovell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 20, "Lord Lovel" (12 texts plus 3 fragments, of which "M" may not be this song; 4 tunes; 21 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #18, #9, #45, #5}
Davis-More 20, pp. 146-151, "Lord Lovel" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
BrownII 21, "Lord Lovel" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more)
Chappell-FSRA 11, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #62}
Hudson 12, pp. 90-91, "Lord Lovel" (1 text)
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 16-17, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 99-102, "Lord Lovell" (2 texts plus a fragment; 2 tunes on pp. 389-390) {Bronson's #8, #25}
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 55-56, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #14}
Brewster 12, "Lord Lovel" (7 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #58, #41}
SharpAp 21 "Lord Lovel" (3 texts plus 2 fragments, 5 tunes){Bronson's #33, #34, #6, #47, #7}
Sharp-100E 26, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #11}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 41-43, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #40, #39}
Leach, pp. 250-252, "Lord Lovel" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 97, "Lord Lovel" (2 texts, but the "B" text is "Abe Lincoln Stood at the White House Gate")
OBB 155, "Lord Lovell" (1 text)
FSCatskills 33, "In Search of Silver and Gold" (1 text, 1 tune -- a facsimile of an "improved" version by George K. Hamilton which provides a happy ending for the piece)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 93-95, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 30, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 70, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #12}
Lomax-FSNA 209, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 2, pp. 4-6, "Lord Lovel"; pp. 6-7, "Lord Lover" (2 texts)
JHCox 12, "Lord Lovel" (3 text plus mention of two more)
JHCoxIIA, #8A-C, pp. 32-37, "Lord Lovell," "Lord Lovell" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "C" text is "The New Ballad of Lord Lovell (Mansfield Lovell)") {Bronson's #61}
GreigDuncan6 1232, "Lord Lovel" (8 texts, 7 tunes) {A=Bronson's #3? (Bronson prints no text), B=#4, E=#31}
MacSeegTrav 9, "Lord Lovel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 38, "Lord Levett" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 44-46, "Lord Lovell" (1 text, plus texts of "Abe Lincoln Stood at the White House Gate" and "The New Ballad of Lord Lovell")
Silber-FSWB, p. 178, "Lord Lovel" (1 text)
DT 75, LORDLOVL
Roud #48
RECORDINGS:
Winifred Bundy, "Lord Lovel" (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
Nora Cleary, "Lord Levett" (on IRClare01)
Ethel Findlater, "Lord Lovel[l]" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
Tom Lenihan, "Lord Levett" (on IRTLenihan01)
Lucindia Perkins, "Lord Lovell" (on JThomas01)
Frank Proffitt, "Lord Lovel" (on FProffitt01)
Jean Ritchie, "Lord Lovel" (on JRitchie01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lily Lee" (plot)
cf. "Bright Phoebe" (plot)
cf. "Mother, Mother, Make My Bed" (floating verses)
cf. "Abe Lincoln Stood at the White House Gate" (lyrics, form)
cf. "The New Ballad of Lord Lovell (Mansfield Lovell)" (lyrics, form)
SAME TUNE:
Sam Cowell (BarryEckstormSmyth p. 147; cf. the notes to "Billy Barlow (II)")
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lord Lovinder
NOTES: Although Child treated this as an entirely serious ballad, Bronson calls it "too too insipid," and believes it survives only because of its tune.
Comic versions are common. Sandy Paton states that Child refused to print a comic text that came to his attention. Cazden et al state that "At least nine of the versions compiled by Bronson may be identified as comic [and we note that many others might be but are fragmentary]"; they find a comic version in America as early as 1836. Numerous other parodies, comic versions, and rewrites are also listed. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C075

Lord Lovell

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

Lord Lover

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

Lord Maxwell's Last Goodnight [Child 195]

DESCRIPTION: Lord Maxwell, having had his revenge on the Johnstones and soon to be executed for it, bids farewell to the places and people he has known
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1778 (Percy papers)
KEYWORDS: death execution revenge feud
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1608 - Murder of James Johnstone by Lord Maxwell
1613 - Execution of Maxwell for his crimes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 195, "Lord Maxwell's Last Goodnight" (2 texts)
Bronson 195, "Lord Maxwell's Last Goodnight" (4 versions)
Leach, pp. 533-535, "Lord Maxwell's Last Goodnight" (1 text)
OBB 151, "Lord Maxwell's Last Goodnight" (1 text)
Roud #4015
NOTES: The events which led up to the execution of Maxwell are typical of the sort of feuding in which Scottish nobles were constantly engaged, and are detailed by Child. Even for a last goodnight, this song is amazingly frugal of details; the texts in Child say nothing of what Maxwell did, nor even what his fate will be. I was tempted to give it the keyword "nonballad." - RBW
File: C195

Lord o' Aboyne, The

See The Earl of Aboyne [Child 235] (File: C235)

Lord of Lorn and the False Steward, The [Child 271]

DESCRIPTION: The Lord of Lorn, having done well in school, is sent to France to study. His steward abuses him, takes his possessions, and sets him to begging. Eventually the truth is revealed; the Lord regains his property and the Steward is executed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: apparently 1580 (stationer's register entry for "The Lord of Lorne")
KEYWORDS: nobility trick abuse begging help punishment execution
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 271, "The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward" (2 texts)
Bronson 271, comments only
OBB 76, "The Lord of Lorn" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1523, "It was a worthy Lord of Lorn"
ADDITIONAL: Leslie Shepard, _The Broadside Ballad_, Legacy Books, 1962, 1978, p. 138, "A pretty ballad of the Lord of LORN and the false Steward" (reproduction of a broadside with no imdication of source)
Roud #113
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Greensleeves" (tune)
NOTES: The broadside printing of a song with this title entered into the Stationer's Register in 1580 lists the tune as "Greensleeves." This is also the tune listed on the broadside in Shepard. Since the ballad has not been found in tradition, this remains unverified. In any case, given the apparent wild popularity of "Greensleeves" at the time this was published, it is quite possible the printer tried to take advantage of a tune not normal to the ballad ("Lorn" can be sung to "Greensleeves," but only with effort; it is not a good fit).
And what was a ballad about a Scottish lord doing being registered in England anyway?
The first verifiable text is from the Percy folio, though Bronson thinks, probably correctly, that it comes from a lost broadside.
Child makes a great deal of the romances analogous to this ballad, but does not seem to have noted the significance of the names and titles of the characters; I wonder if there might not be an allegory floating around somewhere in the background.
The story starts with Robert the Bruce (died 1329), the King of Scotland who won the Battle of Bannockburn and re-established Scottish independence. Bruce claimed the throne in 1306 after twenty years of confusion in Scotland (for background on this, see the notes to "Sir Patrick Spens" [Child 58] and "Gude Wallace" [Child 157]).
The Scots at the time Bruce claimed the throne were divided into at least four parties: Those who favored the English, those who favored the deposed king John Balliol, those who favored the Bruce -- and those who, while opposed to the English and not enthusiastic about Balliol, were absolutely opposed to the Bruce claims. This included the powerful family of the Comyns, whose leader the Red Comyn Bruce had just slain (Magnusson, p. 166).
Of these four factions, the pro-English party was weak simply because any party associated with the English King Edward I would naturally have had the the independence beaten out of it (Edward was an absolute autocrat), and the Balliol faction was weakened by the fact that their monarch was a rather weak man long gone from Scotland. The anti-Bruce faction, though, was strong, including the MacDougalls.
Dougall MacDougall, a supporter of the Comyns (there was a marriage alliance between the familes; Thomson, p. 8), had actually defeated and killed two of Robert Bruce's brothers (Magnusson, p. 171). John MacDougall, Lord of Lorn, twice fought against Robert Bruce (Magnusson, pp. 175-177). In 1308, Bruce drove John MacDougall into exile; his family did not return until 1330 (Thomson, p. 11). (It is perhaps little surprise, then, that the Campbell clan first comes to our attention at about this time as supporters of Bruce; Thomson, p. 10, notes that the second known head of the clan, Neil Campbell, married Bruce's sister Mary. Since the MacDougalls had probably been responsible for the death of his father Colin -- Thomson, p. 1 -- the alliance was a natural one.)
After the great Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, of course, Robert Bruce was too firmly established to be pushed aside; he was able to deprive the MacDougalls of much of their property (Prebble, p. 23, observes that Glencoe, later site of a famous massacre, went to the MacDonalds; for the Massacre of Glencoe, see the song of that title). But there was the matter of the succession after Robert Bruce died.
By his first wife, Isabella of Mar, Bruce had only one child, a daughter Marjory/Marjorie. Given her importance for the succession, she needed a husband who had power and respect, so she was married to Walter, the hereditary Steward of Scotland. They had a single child, Robert; the pregnant Marjorie fell from a horse in 1316 (Cook, pp. 107-109) and died giving birth (Magnusson, p. 192, says she died and the child was saved by Caesarian surgery). The boy Robert (died 1390) would eventually become Robert II and ancestor of the Stewarts.
By the time of Marjorie's death Robert the Bruce had remarried, to Elizabeth de Burgh. But she was in English custody from 1306 to 1314; by the time she and Bruce reunited, there was some concern about whether she was even still capable of having children (Magnusson, p. 192). It turned out she was; she bore two daughters, then at last twin sons, David and John (Magnusson, p. 193). John died young, but the living boy would be the future King David (Cook, p. 112). Unfortunately, it was nearly certain that he would be a minor when he came to the throne; although Robert Bruce was only in his fifties, he was also ill with a disease which was called (although almost certainly was not) leprosy.
Still, there was no question that David was Robert Bruce's heir, and he duly succeeded at the age of five -- though he would spend little of his life actively ruling Scotland. He began his reign as a minor, was sent to France for seven years (Mackie, p. 86); upon returning home, he went to war with England but was heavily defeated in 1346 at Neville's cross (Mackie, pp. 86-87). He was wounded and captured in the battle, and remained in English hands for eleven years (Magnusson, p. 204) apart from a little time on parole as he sought to raise a ransom (Magnusson, p. 205).
David was married even before he came to the throne, to Joanna "Make-Peace," the sister of Edward III of England (they had been wed the year before Robert Bruce died, when David was four and Joanna seven; Magnusson, p. 192).
This marriage, however, was childless and "apparently... loveless" (Ashley-Kings, p. 551); she apparently left Scotland, never to return, in 1357 (Boardman, p. 15). David would remarry after Joanna died in 1362, but his second wife (his former mistress, Margaret Drummond, who "was regarded by his nobles as in every way unworthy," according to Mackie, p. 88) could no more produce a child than did Joanna (odds are that the fault was David's, since she had had a son by her first husband; Magnusson, p. 106); they divorced in 1370 (Ashley-Kings, p. 551).
Boardman speculates that the divorce was perhaps an attack by David on the Stewarts, since Robert's son and heir John, the future Robert III, was married to a Drummond -- at David's insistence (Magnusson, p. 207). Ashley-Stuart insists that "Robert had been scrupulously faithful to [David]" (p. 27), but the King himself clearly did not think so.
David had seemed, toward the end, to be doing all he could to block the Stewart succession: Seeking a third wife (Magnusson, p. 308), plus supporting anti-Stewart nobles (Boardman, pp. 24-25). He had previously tried to bring in the English prince John of Gaunt as an heir in preference to the Stewart (Magnusson, p. 207). But he ran out of time. David died unexpectedly in 1371 while still in his forties.
And suddenly there was a succession question. Robert Steward was the obvious heir, since he was the son of the oldest of Robert Bruce's three daughters, but there were objections. He was eight years older than his nephew David (Boardman, p. 1), and by this time was starting to fail in health; he was known as "Auld Blearie" or "Old Bleary" for his reddened eyes (Fry/Fry, p. 90; Magnusson, pp. 213-214, blames this description on Froissart). Plus he was regarded by some as a traitor (Ashley-Kings, p. 553), or at least someone who was willing to allow the English to control David (Magnusson, p. 204). And he had proved himself to be no general (Ashley-Stuart, p. 28).
Eventually Robert II suffered a sort of palace coup which pushed him aside in favor of his son (Magnusson, p. 215). Yet that just made the problem worse, because his sons were of questionable legitimacy. Robert II had had to seek a papal legitimization of his children by Elizabeth Mure (Boardman, p. 8). It seems the two were cousins, and they had gotten together in ignorance of this (Mitchison, p. 59; Mackie, p. 94 says that the marriage was made "in good faith"); Mure may also have been previously contracted to another (Cook, p. 135). It may be, in addition, that they had not been formally married (Boardman, p. 8) -- all in all, a lot of barriers to the legitimacy of the children.
Robert had later taken a second wife, and had additional sons (Mitchison, p. 59), but were the first brood his legitimate heirs, or were the second bunch, or were they both illegitimate?
If Robert II's claim to the kingship were set aside, or that of his children, then the Stewarts were not the heirs of David; rather, the true heirs of Robert Bruce would be the offspring of his daughters by Elizabeth de Burgh. (Indeed,it appears that some regarded the sisters as David's heirs all along -- Boardman, p. 9. Was this perhaps because they were "born in the purple," after Robert Bruce became king?)
On this line of argument, David's heir was his full sister Margaret rather than the son of his half sister Marjorie; Margaret had a son John who, from the time of his birth in 1346, seems to have been regarded as David's heir (since the children of Robert Stewart were not legitimized by the Pope until later, and Margaret apparently died in bearing the boy). But John himself died in 1361 (Boardman, pp. 8-9).
Next in line would be the children of Margaret's younger sister Matilda, should she have any. And she did: A daughter Joanna, who married John, Lord of Lorn (Boardman, p. 2). As it turned out, Joanna and John had no children, and the Lord of Lorn (John MacDougal, the head of Clan Dougal) died in 1388 (Boardman, p. 182) -- but no one could have known that at the time David died.
What's more, the Lords of Lorn (Lorne) had been rivals of the ruling dynasty for many years; Robert the Bruce had attacked the Lorn holding of Dunstaffnage in 1309 (MacLean, p. 41)
There was most definitely rivalry between the branches of the Scottish royal family at this time; while Robert Stewart did manage to ascend as Robert II, Boardman (pp. 42-45) describes what sounds like an abortive coup attempt on behalf of a Douglas. And it apparently took some time before Robert II managed to gain the full support of the nobility. In this period, a claim on behalf of the Lorn faction might have caused a great deal of trouble.
The conclusion is clear: A partisan of the Lords of Lorn might well have called Robert II (or his son Robert III) a "false Steward"; what's more, the Stewarts would set aside the MacDougalls when they had the chance. John MacDougall of Lorn was succeeded as Lord of Lorn by John Steward of Innermeath (died 1421). - RBW
Bibliography

Ashley-Kings: Mike Ashley, British Kings and Queens, Barnes & Noble, 2002 (originally published as The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens, 1988)
Ashley-Stuart: Maurice Ashley, The House of Stuart, J. M. Dent, 1980
Boardman: Stephen Boardman, The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III, 1371-1406, Tuckwell Press, 1996
Cook: E. Thornton Cook, Their Majesties of Scotland, John Murray, 1928
Fry/Fry: Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, The History of Scotland, 1982 (I use the 1995 Barnes & Noble edition)
MacLean: Fitzroy Maclean, A Concise History of Scotland, Beekman House, 1970
Mackie: J. D. Mackie, A History of Scotland, Pelican, 1964
Magnusson: Magnus Magnusson, Scotland: The Story of a Nation, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000
Mitchison: Rosalind Mitchison, A History of Scotland, second edition, Methuen, 1982
Prebble: John Prebble, Glencoe, Martin Secker & Warburg, 1966 (I use the 1968 Penguin edition)
Thomson: Oliver Thomson, The Great Feud: The Campbells & The Macdonalds, Sutton Publishing, 2000.

Last updated in version 2.5
File: C271

Lord of Scotland, The

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

Lord Orland/Daniel's Wife

See Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard [Child 81] (File: C081)

Lord Randal [Child 12]

DESCRIPTION: (Lord Randall) comes home; his mother questions him about his day. He answers each question accurately but incompletely, concluding with a request to rest. At last he reveals that his sweetheart has poisoned him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1787
KEYWORDS: murder lover farewell lastwill food poison
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(All)) US(All) Ireland Canada(Mar,Que)
REFERENCES (49 citations):
Child 12, "Lord Randal" (21 texts, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #31, #33}
Bronson 12, "Lord Randal" (103 versions plus 9 in addenda)
Greig #112, pp. 1-2, "Lord Ronald" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 209, "Lord Ronald" (10 texts, 8 tunes) {A=Bronson's #85, B=#29, C=#34, E=#40, H=#43}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 46-72, "Lord Randall" (12 texts plus 3 fragments and 2 quotations from non-Maine sources, 6 tunes plus 1 unrelated item; the "N" text is a rewrite which ends with Randall's accidental death) {Bronson's #42, #37, #16, #72, #23, [], #11; Bronson's #70 is a tune for text "J," which is printed without a melody}
Flanders/Olney, pp. 37-39, "Jimmie Rendal"; pp. 200-201, "Lord Randall" (2 texts)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 197-198, "Mother, Make My Bed Soon" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #30}
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 175-207, "Lord Randall" (13 texts plus 6 fragments, 12 tunes) {H=Bronson's #30}
Linscott, pp. 191-193, "Dirante, My Son or Lord Randall" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #12}
Davis-Ballads 6, "Lord Randal" (15 texts [two of them in an appendix] plus a fragment; 4 tunes entitled "John Willow, My Son," "Johnny Rillus," Johnny Rilla," "Lord Randal"; 2 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #64, #28, (F version not reproduced), #58}
Belden, pp. 24-28, "Lord Randall" (5 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #41}
Randolph 5, "Johnny Randolph" (4 texts, 3 tunes) {A=Bronson's #21, B=#26, D=#96}
Eddy 5, "Lord Randal" (4 texts, 3 tunes) {Bronson's #73, #95, #94}
Gardner/Chickering 3, "The Cup of Cold Poison" (1 text)
Davis-More 7, pp. 51-60, "Lord Randal" (5 texts plus an excerpt, 3 tunes)
BrownII 6, "Lord Randall" (3 texts)
Chappell-FSRA 4, "Lorendo" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #8}
Hudson 4, pp. 69-70, "Lord Randall" (2 texts)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 178-180, "Lord Randall" (1 text, with local title "Randal, My Son")
Brewster 7, "Lord Randall" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 9-11, "Lord Randal" (2 texts plus 1 fragment, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #48, #86}
Leach, pp. 81-85, "Lord Randal" (4 texts)
OBB 66, "Lord Randal" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 178, "Lord Randall" (3 texts)
Warner 107, "Lord Randall"; 108, "Jimmy Ransome" (2 texts, 1 tune)
SharpAp 7 "Lord Randal" (13 texts, 13 tunes) {Bronson's #13, #14, #17, #74, #3, #56, #47, #53, #54, #49, #63, #68, #62}
Sharp-100E 18, "Lord Rendal" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #90}
Niles 9, "Lord Randall" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gummere, pp. 168+336-337, "Lord Randal" (1 text)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 7, "John Randolph (Lord Randal)" (1 text, 1 tune -- an expanded composite version) {Bronson's #53}
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 50-51, "Lord Randal" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 23-24, "Lord Ronald" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 34, "Lord Randal" (1 text)
JHCox 4, "Lord Randall" (6 texts plus mention of 6 more)
JHCoxIIA, #3, pp. 14-15, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #38}
Ord, pp. 458-459, "Lord Randal" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 1, p. 3, "Johnny Randall"; p. 4, "Jimmy Randolph" (2 texts)
MacSeegTrav 4, "Lord Randall" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Opie-Oxford2 44, "Where have you been today, Billy, my son" (3 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #287, pp. 167-168, "(Where have you been today, Billy, my son)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 199, "The Wee Croodin Doo" (1 text)
TBB 11, "Lord Randal" (1 text)
SHenry H814, p. 415, "Lord Ronald" (1 text, 1 tune, incorrectly labelled "Child 92")
Darling-NAS, pp. 43-44, "Lord Randall"; "Johnny Randall" (2 texts)
Silber-FSWB, p. 346, "Lord Randall" (1 text)
DT 12, LORDRAN1* LORDRNLD* EELHENRY* EELHENR2
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #352, p. 485, "Lord Ronald, my son--" (1 short text, 1 tune, from 1792)
Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 51-53, "The Croodin Doo" (1 tune)
Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 30-31, "Henry, My Son" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10
RECORDINGS:
Grace Carr, "Henry, My Son" (on Saskatch01)
Sara Cleveland, "My Bonny Bon Boy" (on SCleveland01)
Mary Delaney, "Buried in Kilkenny" (on Voice17)
Em & Doreen Elliott, "Henry, My Son" (on Elliotts01)
Pete Elliott, "Henry, My Son" (on Elliotts01)
Ewan MacColl, "Lord Randal" (on ESFB1, ESFB2)
John MacDonald, "Lord Ronald" (on Voice03)
Lawrence Older, "Johnny Randall" (on LOlder01)
Paddy Reilly, "Buried in Kilkenny" (on IRTravellers01)
Jean Ritchie, "Lord Randall" (on JRitchie02)
Jeannie Robertson, Elizabeth Cronin, Thomas Moran, Colm McDonough, Eirlys & Eddis Thomas [composite] "Lord Randal" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1) {cf. Bronson's #43.2 in addenda}
Pete Seeger, "Lord Randall" (on PeteSeeger25)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Billy Boy"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jimmy Randolph
Jimmy Randal
Bonnie Wee Croodlin Doo
Tiranti, My Love
Henry, My Son
Willie Ransom
Oh Mak' My Bed Easy
NOTES: A few versions, such as that recorded by Lawrence Older, make Randall's wife, rather than his sweetheart, his murderer. Wonder if she found out about that other girl he was fooling around with. - RBW
And in Grace Carr's version, it's his father who poisons him. It's worth noting that the title "Henry, My Son" almost inevitably denotes a parody version. - PJS
Chambers, referring to "The Croodin Doo": "the same as a ballad called Grandmother Addercook, which is popular in Germany." - BS
I've seen several sources (notably Davis) mention that John Randolph of Virginia knew the song which sometimes bears his name. The text Randolph cited appears, however, to have been "Wheel of Fortune" or something similar.
Barry et al claim "It is reasonably safe to assert that, of all the English ballads, 'Lord Randall' holds in the United States the leading position, as regards the extent of purely traditional currency. 'Barbara Allen' and 'Lord Thomas' are, no doubt, known to more folk-singers, yet it cannot be said that their popularity is due solely to tradition, since both have been many times reprinted in pocket songsters. On the other hand, we know of no American broadside or songster text of 'Lord Randall.'" - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C012

Lord Rendal

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

Lord Robert

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

Lord Ronald

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

Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie [Child 239]

DESCRIPTION: Jeanie Gordon loves (Auch)anachie, but her father would have her wed Lord Saltoun, who is old but wealthy. The wedding is carried out despite her wishes. She faints and dies. Auchanachie arrives the next day, learns of her death, and dies himself.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1824 (Maidment)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Jeanie Gordon loves (Auch)anachie, but her father would have her wed Lord Saltoun, who is old but wealthy. The wedding is carried out despite her wishes. The servants cut her out of her gown so that Saltoun may bed her. She faints and dies. Auchanachie arrives the next day, learns of her death, and dies himself.
KEYWORDS: wedding separation age love death
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 239, "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" (2 texts)
Bronson 239, "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" (1 version)
GreigDuncan5 1021, "Lord Salton and Auchanachie" (2 text plus 2 verses on p. 618, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 239-597, "Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie" (1 text)
DT 239, ANGORDON*
Roud #102
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Doyle [Laws M2]" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Annachie
Annachie Gordon
NOTES: Possibly related to the Swedish ballad "Stolt Ingrid [Proud Ingrid]"? - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C239

Lord Thomas and Fair Annet [Child 73]

DESCRIPTION: (Lord Thomas) asks his mother to help him decide between (Fair Annet) and the "Brown Girl." The mother prefers the wealthy Brown Girl. Thomas consents, inviting Annet to the wedding, where the jealous brown girl stabs her; (Thomas kills her and himself)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1677 (broadside, Bodleian Douce Ballads 1(120b))
KEYWORDS: marriage poverty death courting jealousy murder suicide wedding
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber),England(All)) US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,Ro,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (56 citations):
Child 73, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (10 texts)
Bronson 73, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (147 versions+4 in addenda, though 2 versions are relegated to an appendix for no evident reason; many of the other texts are also fragmentary and might belong elsewhere)
Greig #108, pp. 1-2, "Sweet Willie and Fair Annie"; Greig #124, pp. 1-2, "Sweet Willie and Fair Annie" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan2 212, "Sweet Willie and Fair Annie" (5 texts, 3 tunes) {A=Bronson's #142, C=#129}
Leather, pp. 200-202, "Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor" (1 slightly compoosite text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #39}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 128-134, "Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor" (2 texts plus 1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #110}
Percy/Wheatley III, pp. 82-85, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor"; pp. 234-238, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (2 texts)
Belden, pp. 37-48, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (3 full texts, fragments of 4 others, 1 tune, and listing of 5 unprinted versions) {Bronson's #109}
Randolph 15, "The Brown Girl" (8 texts plus 2 fragments, 5 tunes) {A=Bronson's #51, F=#147, G=#4, H=#124, J=#26}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 31-34, "The Brown Girl" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 15H) {Bronson's #124}
Eddy 11, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (2 texts plus 2 fragments, 1 tune) {Bronson's #140}
Flanders/Brown, pp. 209-213, "Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #97}
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 89-121, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (10 texts plus two fragments, 8 tunes) {A=Bronson's #97, F=#98}
Gardner/Chickering 4, "Lord Thomas" (1 text plus an excerpt, 2 tunes) {Bronson's #54, #100}
Davis-Ballads 18, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (17 texts plus a fragment, 7 tunes entitled "Lord Thomas and Fair Elenor," "Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor," "Fair Ellen," "Lord Thomas and the Brown Girl," "The Brown Girl, or Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender," "Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor," "Fair Ellender, or Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor"; 17 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #31, #81, #120, #36, #37, #60, #144}
Davis-More 18, pp. 123-137, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (6 texts plus some excerpts, 5 tunes)
BrownII 19, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (4 texts plus 6 excerpts and mention of 4 more)
Chappell-FSRA 9, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellen" (1 text)
Hudson 10, pp. 78-87, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (5 texts)
Fuson, pp. 49-51, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellendar" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 34-36, "Lord Thomas"; pp. 115-116, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 41-44, "The Brown Girl" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 105-114, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet," with individual titles "The Brown Girl," "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellen," "Lord Thomas,"Lord Thomas," "Fair Ellender," "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellendar" (5 texts plus a fragment; the "A" text has lost the ending; 4 tunes on pp. 391-393) {Bronson's #74, #14, #73, #57}
Brewster 10, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (6 text plus 2 fragments)
SharpAp 19 "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" (8 texts plus 20 fragments, 31 tunes){Sharp's A=Bronson's #103, Aa=#38, B=#,122 Bb=#35, C=#104, Cc=#32, D=#102, Dd=#6, E=#5, Ee=#71, F=#43, G=#101, H=#60, I=#96, J=#117, K=#119, L=#15, M=#145, N=#134, O=#133, P=#3, Q=#42, R=#127, S=#130, T=#46, U=#47, V=#72, W=#88, X=#89, Y=#92, Z=#91}
Sharp-100E 28, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #99}
Creighton/Senior, pp. 40-41, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #136}
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 9-10, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 4, "Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #34}
Greenleaf/Mansfield 8, "Lord Thomas" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 617-619, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Mackenzie 6, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" (1 text); "Lord Thomas" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #128}
Leach, pp. 239-246, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (3 texts plus a translated Danish text)
OBB 54, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 84, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (1 text)
Wyman-Brockway II, p. 14, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellendor (or, The Brown Bride)" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #132}
Warner 140, "Lord Thomas" (1 text+1 fragment, 2 tunes)
PBB 39, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 137-139, "Three Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Niles 28, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Gummere, pp. 231-235+353, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (1 text)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 15, "Lord Thomas and Fair Elinore" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version) {Bronson's #145}
Sandburg, pp. 156-157, "The Brown Girl or Fair Eleanor" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #85}
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 62-63, "Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #76}
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 17-20, "[Fair Ellender]" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #126; note that the tune is slightly different, and the text noticeably different, from the Ritchie-Southern version}
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 60-61, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender" (1 text, 1 tune) {note that the tune is slightly different, and the text noticeably different, from the Ritchie-SingFam version}
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 57, "Lord Thomas" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 122, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 12, pp. 27-31, "Lord Thomas" (1 text)
JHCox 10, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (9 texts plus mention of 2 more)
TBB 15, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 61-65, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" (1 text)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 46-47, "Three Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 222, "Fair Ellender" (1 text)
BBI, ZN173, "Amongst the Forresters of old"; ZN1719, "Lord Thomas he was a bold Forrester"
DT 73, BROWNGRL BRWNGRL2*
Roud #4
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellendar" (AAFS 33) {Bronson's #21, but as "The Brown Girl"}; "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender" (on Barker01)
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annie" (on SCMacCollSeeger01)
Jessie Murray, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellen (Lord Thomas and Fair Annet)" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
Jean Ritchie, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender" (on JRitchie01) {cf. Bronson's #126}
Ritchie Family, "Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender" (on Ritchie03) {cf. Bronson's #126}
Mike Seeger, "Lord Thomas" (on MSeeger01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 1(120b), "A Tragical Story of lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor" ("Lord Thomas he was a bold forrester"), F. Coles, T. Vere, J. Wright and J. Clarke (London), 1677; also Douce Ballads 3(58b), "A Tragical Ballad on the Unfortunate Love of Ld Thomas and Fair Eleanor"; Harding B 3(93), Douce Ballads 4(36), Harding B 3(94), Harding B 3(91), Harding B 3(92), Johnson Ballads 385, Johnson Ballads 386, Harding B 11(2208), "A Tragical Ballad of the Unfortunate Love's of Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor"; Harding B 11(2209), 2806 c.16(298), Harding B 37(38), "Lord Thomas and fair Eleanor"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Thomas o Yonderdale" [Child 253] (plot)
cf. "The Hunting of the Cheviot" [Child 162] (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lord Thomas and Fair Ellen
Thomas and Ellen
The Nut-Brown Maid
NOTES: According to Bertrand Bronson, this is second only to Barbara Allen in popularity among the Child ballads. He notes that the Scottish tunes, though they are few, seem related to "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight," also among the most popular of the ballads.
Grieg/Keith see this as much the same ballad as Child #74, and Bronson sees similarities in the tunes, but concludes that the melodies, like the texts, justify separating them. - RBW
[Lloyd dates this to no later than the] late 17th century (broadside in reign of Charles II).
[Silber & Silber mis-identify] this as Child 295, which is actually "Brown Girl (I)." - PJS
The broadside Lloyd mentions appears to be mentioned also by Belden; he believes that it is the ancestor of all American versions, plus most recent British versions. But he believes the original was Scottish, and preceded the broadside. - RBW
A number of the Bodleian broadsides have as subtitle "with the downfall of the brown girl." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C073

Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor

See Lord Thomas and Fair Annet [Child 73] (File: C073)

Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor

See Lord Thomas and Fair Annet [Child 73] (File: C073)

Lord Thomas and Fair Ellen

See Lord Thomas and Fair Annet [Child 73] (File: C073)

Lord Thomas and Fair Ellendar

See Lord Thomas and Fair Annet [Child 73] (File: C073)

Lord Thomas and Lady Margaret [Child 260]

DESCRIPTION: Thomas, goes hunting and is pursued by (Margaret), whom he cast aside. He orders that she be chased far from him. She takes refuge with and marries (someone). Later, Thomas arrives at her door as a beggar. She poisons him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1825
KEYWORDS: abandonment hunting punishment poison poverty begging
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 260, "Lord Thomas and Lady Margaret" (2 texts)
Bronson 260, "Lord Thomas and Lady Margaret" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 631-632, "Lord Thomas and Lady Margaret" (1 text)
Roud #109
File: C260

Lord Thomas of Winchbury

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

Lord Thomas of Winesberry

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

Lord Thomas Stuart [Child 259]

DESCRIPTION: Thomas Stuart gives his lady wide lands as a gift. She desires to see them. They ride out, but Thomas is stricken with pain. He bids her ride on; he himself returns home and dies. She dreams a dreadful dream, returns home, and realizes he is dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 824 (Maidment)
KEYWORDS: love home courting disease death dream
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 259, "Lord Thomas Stuart" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1233, "Lord Thomas Stuart" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 629-630, "Lord Thomas Stuart" (1 text)
Roud #4024
NOTES: GreigDuncan6 quoting Greig: "Origin unknown - first printed in [James Maidment,] A North Countrie Garland ?1835 [sic] [Edinburgh, 1824]." I don't understand the "?1835"; Child refers to the 1884 reprint of the 1824 edition. It is in A North Countrie Garland, ed James Maidment revised by Edmund Goldsmith, (Edinburgh,1891 reprint of 1824 edition), pp. 11-14. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C259

Lord Ullin's Daughter

DESCRIPTION: "A chieftain to the Highlands bound, Cries, 'Boatman, do not tarry!'" He and lord Ullin's Daughter are fleeing her father. The boatman fears the storm but takes them for the girl's sake. Lord Ullin finds his daughter dead in her lover's arms. He laments
AUTHOR: Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)
EARLIEST DATE: 1809 (Source: Benet)
KEYWORDS: love elopement river storm death grief father children
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: [No author listed], _The Household Treasury of English Song_, T. Nelson and Sons, 1872, pp. 164-166, "Lord Ullin's Daughter" (1 text)
Roud #3138
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Chieftain's Daughter" (plot)
NOTES: NewCentury, p. 199, says of Campbell that he was born July 1777 in Glasgow, died June 1844 in Boulougne. He briefly served as Lord Record of the University of Glasgow, and is buried in Wesminster Abbey. It lists as his major works "The Pleasures of Hope," "Gertrude of Wyoming," "Lochiel's Warning," "Hohenlindon," "Mariners of England," and "Battle of the Baltic."
Thomson, p. 125, says that "in the Napoleonic Wars the Campbells produced one of the most popular poets of his generation. Thomas Campbell (1777-1844) was the son of a Glasgow tobacco merchant and was born just one year after then trade collapsed when his father was already sixty-seven. After attending Glasgow University he had his first success with 'The Origins of Evil'. Then came 'Lord Ullin's Daughter' and the popular 'Pleasures of Hope,' though Campbell was at the time himself quite close to suicide. Later, he settled in Hamburg and Ratisbon, producing his war poems to suit the heroic mood of the time: 'Hohenlinden', 'Ye Mariners of England' and 'The Battle of the Baltic'. He was also a great supporter of Polish nationalism and when he was buried in Westminster Abbey a handful of earth from the Polish leader Kosciusko's grave was put into his."
The Household Treasury of English Song prints four other Campbell pieces, "Battle of the Baltic,: :Men of England," "Hohenlinden," and "To the Rainbow," and mentions two others, "The Pleasures of Hope" and "Gertrude of Wyoming." Benet calls "Gertrude of Wyoming" his most famous piece and also lists "Hohenlinden," "Lord Ullin's Daughter," and "The Battle of the Baltic." Granger's Index to Poetry lists some three dozen pieces but not "Gertrude of Wyoming."
Despite his great contemporary popularity, of the twentieth century anthologies I checked, none included more than two complete Campbell pieces, and several had none at all.
Of items in the Index, he is probably responsible for "The Exile of Erin (I)" and "The Wounded Hussar"; also (not in the index but well-known) "Ye Mariners of England." - 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)
NewCentury: Clarence L. Barnhart with William D. Haley, editors, The New Century Handbook of English Literature, revised edition, Meredith Publishing, 1967
Thomson: Oliver Thomson, The Great Feud: The Campbells & The Macdonalds, Sutton Publishing, 2000

Last updated in version 2.5
File: ADDLoUlD

Lord Valley

See Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard [Child 81] (File: C081)

Lord Waterford

See Lord Wathe'ford (File: OLcM060A)

Lord Wathe'ford

DESCRIPTION: Lord Wathe'ford is dead. "The tyrant" choked wells and evicted farmers. He'll not be with common sinners in Hell but will share a private grate with his father. In Hell he meets Queen Bess, and his bailiff, and the Devil himself who is happy to see him.
AUTHOR: Michael A. Moran? (source: OLochlainn-More)
EARLIEST DATE: c.1906 (ballad sheet, according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: death humorous political Devil Ireland Hell nobility landlord
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 60A, "Lord Wathe'ford" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 30-31, "Lord Waterford" (1 text)
Roud #6529
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shan Van Voght" (tune and repeated lines)
NOTES: This is a rather odd piece. Landlords in Ireland of course frequently evicted tenants, and they had a general policy of not improving properties; they wanted the Irish Catholic farmers too poor to represent a threat. But not in Waterford. One of the earliest areas of English settlement, it earned a great deal of Royal favor, was relatively prosperous, and was generally one of the most loyal areas of the country. Perhaps this is a reference to some of Lord Waterford's territories outside his home county? - RBW
File: OLcM060A

Lord Wetram

See Young Beichan [Child 53] (File: C053)

Lord William and Lady Margaret

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

Lord William, or, Lord Lundy [Child 254]

DESCRIPTION: (Lord William) and the bailiff's daughter fall in love (while studying abroad). Her father calls her home to marry a nobleman. She sends a message by bird to Willie. Willie arrives at the wedding, forcing the groom aside and marrying the girl himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Dixon)
KEYWORDS: love marriage nobility wedding violence father
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 254, "Lord William, or, Lord Lundy" (3 texts)
Bronson 254, "Lord William, or, Lord Lundy" (1 version)
Dixon IX, pp. 57-59, "Lord William" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 621-623, "Lord William, or, Lord Lundy" (1 text)
Roud #106
File: C254

Lord William's Death

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

Lord Willoughby

DESCRIPTION: "The fifteenth day of July... A famous fight in Flanders was foughten in the field... But the bravest man in battel Was brave Lord Willoughby." In a fierce contest with the Spanish, Willoughby's bravery encourages the English to victory
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy); tune known from 1603 (Robinson's "Schoole of Musick")
KEYWORDS: battle nobility soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1587 - Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby of Eresby, takes command of the English forces in the Netherlands
1601 - Death of Willoughby
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 238-241, "Brave Lord Willoughbey" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 152, "Lord Willoughby, or Lord Willoughby's March, or Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, ZN895, "The fifteenth day of July"
ST Perc2238 (Full)
SAME TUNE:
Give ear you lusty Gallants/A famous Sea-fight. Hollander..Spaniard..September 1639. (BBI ZN969)
Now comfortable Tydings is come unto England/Joyfull News for England [Peace.. April 6, 1654] (BBI ZN3422)
NOTES: This is probably just another broadside that "made it big" without entering oral tradition, but the number of references seemed sufficient for me to include it in the Index. (Note the regular use of the tune in broadsides).
Lord Willoughby was a famous swordsman, and performed well in the Netherlands, but this report of his exploits against the Spanish is certainly blown out of proportion.
The Willoughbys had a strong martial record. The first one I've heard of was a baron who helped lead an English army to France in 1423; he successfully commanded a wing of the army in the British victor at Cravant in that year (see Raymond Reagan Butler, Is Paris Lost? The English Occupation 1422-1436, Spellmount, 2003, pp. 23-24.) There was a later Willoughby who was governor of Barbados in the 1660s, but he died at sea in a hurricane during a war with the French. - RBW
File: Perc2238

Lord, I Never Will Come Back Here No Mo'

DESCRIPTION: "Some o' dese days about twelve o'clock, Dis old worl's a gwi' reel and rock. Lawd, I neber will come back here no more. No mo' my Lawd (x2), I neber come back here no mo'." "Way down about Arkansas, De niggers ain't a-arguin' a thing but wa'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922
KEYWORDS: religious war nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 349, "Lord, I Never Will Come Back Here No Mo'" (1 text)
Roud #11738
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (floating lyrics)
File: Br3349

Lord, Make Me More Holy

See Lord, Make Me More Patient (File: AWG052B)

Lord, Make Me More Patient

DESCRIPTION: "Lord, make me more patient (x3), Until we meet again. Patient, patient, patient, Until we meet again." Repeat with other virtues: "Lord, make me more holy...." "Make me more righteous." "More peaceful."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad virtue
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 52, "Lord, Make Me More Patient" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12012 and 12277
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lord, Make Me More Holy
Make Me More Holy
File: AWG052B

Lord, Remember Me

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Deat' he is a little man, And he goes from do' to do', He killed some souls and he wounded some...." "Do, Lord, remember me (x2), I cry to the Lord as the year roll around...." "I want to die like-a Jesus die, And he die with a free good will...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: death religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 12, "Lord, Remember Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 915-916, "Lord, Remember Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11849
RECORDINGS:
Jimmie Strothers & Joe Lee, "Do, Lord, Remember Me" (AFS 746 B2, 1936; on LC10)
NOTES: This should not be confused with "Do Lord, Remember Me," a separate song. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: BAF915

Lords of Creation, The

DESCRIPTION: "Ye lords of creation, me you are called, You think to rule the whole... Now did not Adam, the very first man, The very first woman obey?" Though men are stronger, women control them with smiles and tears, and always shall
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: feminist nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Belden, pp. 432-433, "The Lords of Creation" (1 text)
BrownIII 308, "The Lords of Creation" (1 text)
Roud #7837
NOTES: I've tagged this with the keyword "feminist," but I'm not sure it applies; the women do not earn control based on their skills but their wheedling.
The whole argument is Biblical (or at least part of the Protestant apocrypha, and included in an appendix to the Catholic bible): See the argument of Zerubbabel that "women are strongest" in 1 Esdras 3:12, 4:13-32.
The notes in Brown call it an "amusing quip." Which perhaps shows more mostly how humor depends on circumstances -- I find it degrading and disgusting. - RBW
File: Beld432

Lorena

DESCRIPTION: "The years creep slowly by, Lorena; The snow is on the grass again." The singer recalls his early years with Lorena, and remembers how much he loved her. He tells her that he still loves her as truly
AUTHOR: Words: H.D.L. Webster/Music: J.P. Webster
EARLIEST DATE: 1857
KEYWORDS: love age
FOUND IN: US(MA,So,SW)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Belden, p. 222, "Lorena" (1 text)
Randolph 757, "Lorena and Paul Vane" (2 texts, 2 tunes, of which the first is "Lorena' and the second "Lorena's Answer")
Logsdon 24, pp. 249-153, "Lorena" (1 text, 1 tune)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 122-125, "Lorena" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 58-59, "Lorena" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 90-91, "Lorena" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hill-CivWar, p. 228, "Lorena" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 255, "Lorena" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 481, "Lorena" (source notes only)
DT, LORENNA*
ST R757 (Full)
Roud #4246
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Mountain Singers, "Lorena" (Columbia 15550-D, 1930)
Smyth County Ramblers, "Way Down in Alabama" (Victor 40144, 1928; on LostProv1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lorena's Answer (Paul Vane)"
NOTES: The most popular sentimental song of the Civil War. Ironically, in the original Henry deLafayette Webster poem, the girl was Bertha.
To add to the name confusion, Logsdon reports that Henry Webster had been deeply in love with a girl named Ella. Family opposition prevented their marriage, but Webster was apparently still carrying a torch when he wrote this, though he changed the name to make it seem less personal.
But when Joseph Philbrick Webster (no relation to H. Webster) set the poem to music, he needed a three-syllable name, and so "Lorena" was born. The name is said to be a combination of "Bertha" and Edgar Allan Poe's "lost Lenore"; the name was not in use until the Websters produced their song.(Or so it is claimed. However, I note that both the mother and the sister of Alice Liddell were named Lorina, with an I; Lorina Liddell is thought to be the Lory in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. So "Lorena" wasn't so much a new name as a new spelling.) - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R757

Lorena Bold Crew, The

See The Bold Princess Royal [Laws K29] (File: LK29)

Lorena's Answer (Paul Vane)

DESCRIPTION: Lorena answers Paul that, though the years have passed and the winter come, "There's no snow upon the heart." She expects to meet him in heaven.
AUTHOR: Words: H.D.L. Webster/Music: J.P. Webster
EARLIEST DATE: 1863
KEYWORDS: love age
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 757, "Lorena and Paul Vane" (2 texts, 2 tunes, of which the first is "Lorena" and the second "Lorena's Answer")
Roud #4246
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lorena"
NOTES: The song "Lorena's Answer" was an attempt by Webster and Webster to cash in on the success of their earlier hit "Lorena." It didn't do nearly as well. The reason is probably obvious. If "Lorena" is saccharine, "Lorena's Answer" is sugar-coated extra-strength saccharine. It's more than I can take. - RBW
File: R757A

Lorendo

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

Loss of Seven Clergymen

DESCRIPTION: Concerning the death of seven priests, who are "drowned all in Nazen Lake." The seven relax by going fishing. A storm blows up. Although certain of the boat's crew survive, the priests -- three French and four Irish -- die
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: clergy death ship drowning storm
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H742, pp. 104-105, "Loss of Seven Clergymen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3570
File: HHH742

Loss of the "Ellen Munn," The

DESCRIPTION: On Christmas Day the Ellen Munn is on its way to Goose Bay for repairs when it sinks in the weak ice. The children are carried to dry ground. A salvage operation follows and the song ends with a warning about weak ice and sailing on Christmas Day.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: ship wreck disaster rescue
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Doyle2, p. 6, "The Loss of the 'Ellen Munn'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 10, "The Loss of the 'Ellen Munn'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 83-84, "The Loss of the Ellen Munn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4372
NOTES: King's Cove is in Bonavista Bay on the east coast of Newfoundland. I found a Newman's Cove instead of Newman's Sound as mentioned in the song in the same area. Goose Bay is in Labrador. - SH
File: Doy06

Loss of the Albion, The [Laws D2]

DESCRIPTION: The Albion [sailing from New York to Liverpool] is caught in a storm which washes captain and many hands overboard. The ship is finally wrecked upon the [Irish] rocks; only one man survives
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.17(236))
KEYWORDS: ship sea wreck death storm
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 22, 1822? - Wreck of the Albion
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE,SE) Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws D2, "The Loss of the Albion"
Ranson, p. 101, "The Loss of the Albion" (1 text)
Chappell-FSRA 30, "Loss of the Albion" (1 short text)
DT 609, ALBION LOSSALBN
Roud #2228
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.17(235), "The Loss of the Albion," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also 2806 c.17(236); c. 2806 c.17(237), R. Peach (Birmingham), 1855-1875
LOCSinging, as108080, "Loss of the Ship Albion", L. Deming (Boston), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cedar Grove" [Laws D18]
NOTES: The date of this event is somewhat uncertain. Eckstorm, cited by Laws, gives the date as April 22, 1822. Craig Brown, ed., The Illustrated History of Canada, states that a ship Albion was wrecked November 1819. (It also shows a poster advertising, in English and Welsh, for migrants to go to America. The name of the Albion has been crossed out and another name listed. Not the most encouraging advertising).
Plus Bennett Schwartz sent in this report, "April 1, 1822: '... wrecked about a mile west of the Old Head of Kinsale ... struck ... rocks under 60 foot cliffs'; at least one survivor (source: Bourke in Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast v2, p. 119; more details at v1, p. 116)."
In addition, Terence Grocott's Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Eras has a report from February 6, 1810, from the Shaw, which describes a ship Albion, sailing from New Brunswick, which had encountered a storm and lost her masts some stores; 10 of 13 crew apparently starved or died of dehydration.
There was also an Albion wrecked in 1797, though without loss of life.
Not a very well-omened ship name! - RBW
File: LD02

Loss of the Amphitrite, The [Laws K4]

DESCRIPTION: The Amphitrite leaves port, bound for Australia. Two days out she runs aground and sinks, killing all the passengers and most of the crew. The singer and two others survive by clinging to a spar (though one of them dies later)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cox; there are older, undated broadsides)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1833 - The Amphitrite, carrying female convicts to Australia, runs aground near Boulogne; only three sailors are saved
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws K4, "The Loss of the Amphitrite"
JHCox 87, "The Anford-Wright" (1 text)
DT 740, AMPHITRI
Roud #301
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 1947, "Loss of the Amphitrite," W & T Fordice (New astle), c. 1840; also Firth c.12(78), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; Firth c.13(277), J. Forth (Pocklington), no date; Johnson Ballads 1947, "Loss of the Amphitrite"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rounding the Horn" (subject)
NOTES: For an account of the accident see broadside NLScotland, F.3.a.13(126), "Horrible Shipwreck !," Menzies (Lawnmarket), 1833 ("Taken from this day's Observer. Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1st Sep. 1833"). - BS
Cox also gives a contemporary description of the storm in which the Amphitrite sank.
According to Hudson and Nicholls, Tragedy on the High Seas, much of the fault belongs to the captain. Undermanned, and overcrowded with 136 people aboard, she ran into a severe storm, and the captain ran her aground but would not let anyone take to the boats; she had convicts aboard and he didn't want them getting loose. The ship eventually broke up, and only three survived. - RBW
File: LK04

Loss of the Antelope, The

DESCRIPTION: The Antelope sails from Chicago; on the second day out a gale arises. The cook, in the fore-rigging, freezes to death; the ship springs a leak and is wrecked. The captain tries to save his brother, but drowns; all but the singer are lost
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (collected from various informants by Walton)
KEYWORDS: death drowning ship shore work disaster storm wreck brother cook sailor worker
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
c. 1870: Antelope wrecked on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, probably near Point Betsey?
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 202-205, "The Shores of Michigan (The Antelope)" (1 composite text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #3840
RECORDINGS:
C. H. J. Snider, "The Loss of the 'Antelope'" (on GreatLakes1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" [Laws C1] (tune)
NOTES: Identifying the ship in this song is tricky. The relevant section of Berman (p. 234) lists *no* ships named Antelope were wrecked on the Great Lakes!
In this case, Berman is certainly wrong, since Wolff lists two Antelopes lost on Lake Superior alone. In 1879, a tug with that name was wrecked, probably near Marquette (Wolff, p. 29). A better candidate for this song would be the 187 foot schooner Antelope, built in 1861. On October 7, 1897, while carrying coal from Sandusky to Ashland, Wisconsin, she started taking on water (the guess is the seams of the old ship started to come apart). It was clear she would not survive, so the Henry W. Sibley, which was towing her, took off her crew (Wolff, pp. 77-78).
Keller, p. 55, has a chapter entitled "Antelope: A Name With A Curse." He notes that Antelope was a popular ship name, and claims that 13 Antelopes worked the Lakes in the 1890s: "seven schooners, two propellors, one brig, one scow, and one tug" -- but goes on to note that all of them capsized, foundered, burned, or was stranded.
Keller, who quotes a fragment of this song, describes the same 1897 wreck cited by Wolff above. He notes that this Antelope was originally built as a steamer but later converted to a schooner (although she still had a smokestack even after her engine was removed!). This increased her cargo capacity, but it can't have strengthened her structure. Keller has a picture on p. 56; it shows a typical 1860s design. It looks as if she would be very inefficient under sail. Keller, p. 57, does note that, although there was no storm, October 7, 1897 had featured rather high seas, and that the Sibley had been towing her at twelve miles per hour -- a high speed for a schooner, particularly an old one. And it is perfectly possible that there would be icy water in the Apostle Islands in October (Keller, p. 21, shows her going down just east of Michigan Island, on the eastern edge of the Apostles, almost due northeast of Ashland, Wisconsin).
Ratigan, p. 235, quotes the same version of this song as Keller. This version seems to be set on Lake Superior (as opposed to Lake Michigan in the Snyder and Walton version). On p. 236 he says that of the 13 ships named Antelope on the Great Lakes, two of them (both schooners) were lost in 1894. He therefore thinks the song should be associated with one of the 1894 wrecks.
Walton/Grimm/Murdock adds even more to the confusion. Their version, extremely composite (at least four informants contributed parts) is clearly a Lake Michigan song (the ship sets out from Chicago). They do not try to locate the relevant Antelope. It appears to me that at least part of their version is based on "The Banks of Newfoundland (II)."
Yet one of their verses is quite similar to the Keller/Ratigan fragment. Walton/Grimm/Murdock even quotes that same text as a fragment of a different song from Lake Superior!
My best guess is that, if there are in fact two songs (one presumably set on Lake Superior and one on Lake Michigan), Walton accidentally combined verses from both. But I suspect that the Walton/Grimm/Murdock hypothesis is wrong; this is really one song, which was perhaps localized to various events. Whether it was inspired by an actual Antelope is questionable. (It is truly unfortunate that no one really tried to collect songs of Lake Superior sailor....)
One of Walton's informants claimed that his father, Thomas Peckham, wrote the song. I suspect that, as with so many traditional singers, this means "modified and perhaps wrote down."
In trying to untangle the confusion, I note that, while ice storms occur on all the Great Lakes, they are much more likely on Lake Superior than on Lake Michigan, making it a better candidate for the disaster. It is most unfortunate that we don't have more versions. - RBW
Bibliography

Berman: Bruce D. Berman, Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks, Mariner's Press, 1972
Keller: James M. Keller, The "Unholy Apostles: Shipwreck Tales of the Apostle Islands, 1984 (I use the 1989 Bookcrafters edition, which -- given the information on the spine and title page -- I suspect to be a private printing)
Ratigan: William Ratigan, Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals, revised edition, Eerdmans, 1977
Wolff: Julius F. Wolff Jr., Lake Superior Shipwrecks,Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., Duluth, 1990

Last updated in version 2.5
File: RcLoOTAn

Loss of the Atlantic (I), The

DESCRIPTION: "The loss of the Atlantic upon the ocean wave Where fully seven hundred souls met with a watery grave." Bound for New York, the captain "changed his course for Halifax which proved our overthrow.... she ran upon a rock"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: death drowning wreck storm
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 31/Apr 1, 1873 - wreck of the Atlantic
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 931-932, "The Loss of the Atlantic" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3822
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (II)
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (III)
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (IV)
cf. "Never Go Back on the Poor"
NOTES: "The Atlantic was a famous four-masted iron vessel of the White Star fleet wrecked off the coast of Nova Scotia on March 31 and April 1 of 1873....[T]he records show a loss of 535" (Peacock). The Northern Shipwrecks database says the passengers were immigrants and 981 people were on board. - BS
Paine, p. 43, notes that the Atlantic was still quite new at the time of her disaster (completed 1871). Ritchie, p. 15, says that she had four masts and four 150 horsepower engines, giving her a speed of 12 knots. She was originally intended to sail to Chile, but the new White Star Line abandoned the idea quickly, and she never sailed that route. The fatal voyage was only her nineteenth.
The Atlantic, according to Brinnin, p. 249, sailed from Liverpool to New York (via Queenstown) on March 20, 1873. He reports 942 people aboard (as we shall see, this figure is subject to question) and enough coal to last 15 days. She also reportedly had a "disorderly and infamous" crew and many officers who were not attentive to their tasks (Brinnin, p. 250). After 11 days of storms, her coal was almost used up, and she was an estimated 400 miles from New York. The distance to Halifax was less than half that.
There seems to be some dispute about the captain's name. Ritchie, p. 15, says he was James A. Williams, and that the fatal voyage was his second with the Atlantic. Paine calls him John A. Williams. Brinnin's index lists him as James Agnew Williams.
Whatever his Christian name, Paine reports that Captain Williams's decision to make for Halifax conformed to company regulations: The ship had burned too much coal to continue her run (Ritchie says she was down to 127 tones, and would need at least 130 to finish her voyage). Plus the barometer was falling.
But her navigation was imperfect; Ritchie thinks that, in the bad weather, Captain Williams misidentified a lighthouse and as a result misdirected the ship. He did not order the crew to take soundings. And, having set a course, he went to bed.
Because of the navigation error, the Atlantic, instead of reaching Halifax, hit the coast some 20 miles from that port.
The ship went aground around 3:00 a.m. on Marr's Island (Meagher's Head, on Point Prospect) east of Halifax. She began to settle, but the real disaster came when one of her boilers blew up, causing her to roll over, casting many into the sea, and sink unusually quickly (Ritchie, p. 15).
The crew began rescue operations, but these went slowly because little could be done except to haul passengers one at a time to a rock near the ship). Perhaps two hours later, a few small boats arrived. But there were still many passengers to be saved when more boilers blew up around 7:00 a.m. (Ritchie, p. 16).
About 250 people were saved -- all male and all but one an adult. The losses are somewhat uncertain; Paine lists as the extremes 454 lost out of 981 aboard to 560 of 931 aboard; Brinnin's figure is that 481 died. Ritchie, p. 15, also says that 481 died out of 931. Preston, p. 56, says that over 500 were lost in this first great tragedy of the steam liner trade.
Preston quotes a contemporary account: "A large mass of something drifted past the ship on the top of the waves, and then it was lost to view in the trough of the sea. As it passed by a moan -- it must have been a shriek but the tempest dulled the sound -- seemed to surge up from the mass, which extended over fifty yards of water: it was the women. The sea swept them out of the steerage, and with their children, to the number of 200 or 300, they drifted thus into eternity."
Captain Williams -- who had been asleep at the time of the wreck; he had given orders to be awakened, but the orders were not obeyed (Brinnin, p. 251) -- was found guilty of negligence, but his license was suspended for only two years based on his gallant conduct during the rescue operations (Brinnin, p. 253).
Incidentally, the Atlantic of 1873 should not be confused with another Atlantic, the Collins Line steamer launched in 1849. This ship had a major mechanical breakdown in 1851, and was for a time thought to have vanished, but made it home under sail after much delay (Brinnin, pp. 182-184). The second Atlantic was not exactly a replacement for the first, but the decommissioning of the earlier ship after the American Civil War made the name "available" for the new liner.
There was also a paddleboat named Atlantic which collided with the Ogdensburg on Lake Erie in 1852, and sank with the loss of some 250 lives (she was crowded with immigrants, and no one knows exactly how many died; for background, see Bourrie, pp. 77-83).
Despite this tragedy, the period after the sinking of the Atlantic was the glory time for the transatlantic steamers, and it was also a relatively safe period. There would not be another disaster for almost forty years, when a certain ship called the Titanic set out on her maiden run. She too, we note, was a White Star liner. - RBW
For two different 1873 broadsides on the same subject see:
Bodleian, Harding B 13(234), "Verses on the Wreck of the Atlantic" ("Oh, pray give attention and listen to me "), unknown, 1873 [text refers to the wreck as having occurred after "the steamer Atlantic ... left Liverpool upon the 20th ult"].
Bodleian, Firth c.26(289), "Lines on the loss of the 'Atlantic'" ("Oh! listen you wives and mothers"), unknown, 1873 [text refers to a "List of the passengers, from the Manchester Courier, April 4th, 1873"] - BS
Note that Roud lumps all the Atlantic songs, but their form shows that they are distinct. - RBW
Bibliography

Bourrie: Mark Bourrie, Many a Midnight Ship: True Stories of Great Lakes Shipwrecks, University of Michigan Press, 2005
Brinnin: John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic, 1986 (I use the 2000 Barnes & Noble edition)
Paine: Lincoln P. Paine, Ships of the World: An Historical Encylopedia, Houghton Mifflin, 1997
Preston: Diana Preston, Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy (Walker, 2002; I use the 2003 Berkley edition)
Ritchie: David Ritchie, Shipwrecks: An Encyclopedia of the World's Worst Disasters at Sea, 1996 (I use the 1999 Checkmark paperback edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Pea931

Loss of the Atlantic (II), The

DESCRIPTION: "Of the gallant ship Atlantic Wrecked on Nova Scotia's shore." "The captain... heeded not that rocky coast That he was drawing near"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: death drowning wreck storm
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 31/Apr 1, 1873 - wreck of the Atlantic
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 933-935, "The Loss of the Atlantic" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 88, "The Wreck of the Atlantic" (1 text)
Roud #3822
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (I)
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (III)
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (IV)
NOTES: For extensive historical notes on the Atlantic wreck, see the notes to "The Loss of the Atlantic" (I). - RBW
File: Pea933

Loss of the Atlantic (III), The

DESCRIPTION: Atlantic sails from Liverpool for Halifax with a crew of 60 and 900 passengers. It strikes a rock at night. The captain is faulted: "he cared not for our safety as you may plainly see He went to bed and left the ship to prove our destiny." All are lost
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 31/Apr 1, 1873 - wreck of the Atlantic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, pp. 88-89, "The Loss of the Atlantic" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3822
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (I)
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (II)
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (IV)
NOTES: For extensive historical notes on the Atlantic wreck, see the notes to "The Loss of the Atlantic" (I). Observe that there were in fact hundreds of survivors of the wreck. - RBW
File: Ran088

Loss of the Atlantic (IV), The

DESCRIPTION: Atlantic stops at Queenstown "to bring Erin's sons and daughters to wild Amerikay." One night "and they all in bed, When our gallant ship she struck a rock at a place called The Major's Head ... seven hundred souls were buried in the main"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Mar 31/Apr 1, 1873 - wreck of the Atlantic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, pp. 89-90, "The Loss of the Atlantic" (1 text)
Roud #3822
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (I)
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (II)
cf. "The Loss of the Atlantic" (III)
NOTES: For extensive historical notes on the Atlantic wreck, see the notes to "The Loss of the Atlantic" (I). Observe that this version exaggerates the losses. - RBW
File: Ran089

Loss of the Barbara and Ronnie, The

DESCRIPTION: "In the spring of fifty-one" Walter Bond commands the "Barbara Ann Ronney from Petites in Newfoundland." Sailing home near Christmas they are caught and sank with a crew of five sharemen when "on the eighteenth of December the winter hurricane blew"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: death drowning ship sea storm wreck moniker
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 937-938, "The Loss of the Barbara Ann Ronney" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9813
NOTES: The Barbara and Ronnie was missing and presumed sunk in Glace Bay in the Gulf of St Lawrence December 18, 1951 (Northern Shipwrecks Database). - BS
File: Pea937

Loss of the Barbara Ann Ronney, The

See The Loss of the Barbara and Ronnie (File: Pea937)

Loss of the Bruce, The

DESCRIPTION: "The Bruce was bound for Louisburg, the night being dark and drear ... Captain Drake stood on the bridge ... the Bruce with mail and passengers she ran upon a reef." All except "young Pike" are saved.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck rescue
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 939-940, "The Loss of the Bruce" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9937
NOTES: The Bruce was stranded on Port Nova Reef off Cape Breton Point and crushed in the ice on March 24, 1911 going from Port aux Basques, Newfoundland to Louisbourg Nova Scotia, A steamship ferry, it had 123 passengers (Northern Shipwrecks Database). - BS
File: Pea939

Loss of the Cedar Grove, The

See The Cedar Grove [Laws D18] (File: LD18)

Loss of the City of Green Bay

DESCRIPTION: "Since you ask Caruso for it, Friends and brothers, lend an ear." A schooner is wrecks almost within reach of shore. The sailors cry for help, and try to man the lifeboats, but they are too far away to reach in the storm
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1952 (Walton collection, from a scrapbook owned by Charles C. Allers)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck disaster
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, p. 127, "Loss of the City of Green Bay" (1 text)
NOTES: Although the text is entitled "Loss of the City of Green Bay," there is no indication whatsoever in the song of what ship is meant, except that she was sailing down from Escanaba and that "Caruso" was asked about the wreck.
Walton/Grimm/Murdock way that the City of Green Bay was lost October 3, 1887 near South Haven on Lake Michigan, with the loss of six of seven men aboard. Bruce D. Berman Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks, Mariner's Press, 1972, p. 239, gives the date as October 4 (i.e. the same night but after midnight) though the cause of the wreck is unknown.
We should note that there was a later City of Green Bay, this one a steamer built in 1880, which burned in 1909. But the song seems to refer to a sailing ship going aground. The only real question is whether the ship was indeed the City of Green Bay. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: WGM127

Loss of the City of Quebec, The

DESCRIPTION: "On the first day of April eighteen hundred and seventy two The City of Quebec leaved London with a choice of British crew." Seventeen are drowned in Newfoundland waters.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, p. 941, "The Loss of the City of Quebec" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #9936
NOTES: The City of Quebec was lost at Isle Aux Morts, May 8, 1871 en route from London (Northern Shipwrecks Database). Isle Aux Morts is about 12 miles east of Port Aux Basques at the southwest corner of Newfoundland. - BS
Ships named "City of (somewhere)," e.g. City of Glasgow, City of Philadelphia, were characteristic of the Inman Line, which came into being in 1850; according to John Malcolm Brinnin, The Sway of the Grand Saloon: A Social History of the North Atlantic (1986; I use the 2000 Barnes & Noble edition), p. 208, "by 1857 he was carrying one third of all individuals traveling across the ocean." I have not been able to determine whether City of Quebec was an Inman ship, but it seems likely -- and, frankly, looking at the stories in Brinnin and in Lincoln P. Paine's Ships of the World, they had a *terrible* safety record. - RBW
File: Pea941

Loss of the Danny Goodwin, The

DESCRIPTION: Captain LaFosse takes the schooner Danny Goodwin out from New Harbour. On December 6 the crew of six fisherman is lost in a storm.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: death drowning storm wreck
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 942-943, "The Loss of the Danny Goodwin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 26, "The Wreck of the Danny Goodwin" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The Danny Goodwin was lost December 6, 1926 at Rose Blanche Bank ("The Mystery of the M.V. Danny Goodwin" at the Rose Blanche Lighthouse site). Rose Blanche is about 27 miles east of Port aux Basques -- and about a mile west of Harbour Le Cou -- at the southwest corner of Newfoundland. - BS
File: Pea942

Loss of the Druid, The

DESCRIPTION: The Druid is "a schooner of fame" -- for the wrong reasons; "Jimmy Jackson, her owner, a miser was he, Too greedy to fit out his vessel for sea." A storm blows up, the mainmast is lost, the pumps don't work, and "the water she made was dreadful to see"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: ship storm wreck humorous
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1878 - Loss of the Druid while en route from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to the West Indies
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doerflinger, p. 195, "The Loss of the Druid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4082
NOTES: This song is item dD37 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Doe195

Loss of the Eliza, The (The Herons)

DESCRIPTION: The crew of the Eliza are cheerfully approaching home (?) when a sudden storm blows up. Driven before the storm, the ship is blown to pieces. The people ashore, including the sister of two of the sailors, await word, but the ship is never found
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952
KEYWORDS: sea ship disaster storm death
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 47-50, "The Loss of the Eliza (The Herons)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 944-947, "The Loss of the Eliza" (1 text, 2 tunes)
ST FJ047 (Partial)
Roud #4424
RECORDINGS:
Ken Peacock, "The Loss of the Eliza" (on NFKPeacock)
NOTES: Fowke writes, "No information is available about the loss of the Eliza, but the story is very similar to that of the Southern Cross which was lost in April, 1914, with one hundred and seventy men aboard." (It might be noted, however, that the ballad claims the Eliza sank in October.) - RBW
"It is... one of the very few native ballads carrying supernatural portents (the herons) in the manner of the older traditional ballads... the spectres... the herons... Death's Angel" (Peacock).
Many [ships named Eliza] lost but no record both in October and off Cape Race/St Mary's Bay; the route would seem to have started at St John's [near Fort Amherst]. The best bet may be March 18, 1862, crushed in the ice off Bay Bulls -- on the route just south of St John's -- en route to St Mary's Riverhead, owned by Welsh & Co at St Mary's Riverhead with a captain possible named Welsh [who, in the ballad, sees the failing ship] (Northern Shipwrecks Database) - BS
File: FJ047

Loss of the Gilbert Mollison, The

DESCRIPTION: "Another proud and gallant ship, Another noble crew, Have sunk beneath the angry waves...." No more will the vessel take to the waters. Some of the many sailors who have served on her are now dead. People at home wait and mourn
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (collected from Ben Peckham by Walton)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck separation death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
October 1873 - disappearance of the Gilbert Mollison
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 213-214, "The Loss of the Gilbert Mollison" (1 text)
NOTES: Ben Peckham, Walton's informant, had this in manuscript rather than learning it from tradition. I strongly suspect it was written as a poem, not a song; it just doesn't sound like something meant to be sung. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: WGM213

Loss of the Gilcher, The

DESCRIPTION: "On October 28, Oh how the wind did scream! The last time that the Gilcher and crew were ever seen." The ship vanishes on the way to Milkwaukee. The reason is unknown. A note claims she was caught in a storm off Manitou. All aboard are lost
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Collected from John E. Hayes by Walton)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck disaster death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct 28, 1892 (or thereabouts) - Sinking of the Gilcher
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 197-199, "The Loss of the Gilcher" (1 text)
NOTES: Although this song talks primarily about the Gilcher, it is really a tale of two ships -- and all of the sources I checked (Walton/Grimm/Murdock, Ratigan, Wolff, Shelak, and Thompson), agree on this.
The story begins with a boat called the Western Reserve, one of the first steel ships on the Great Lakes. (For what follows, except when another source is cited, see Thompson, pp. 218-225; there is a sketch of the boat on p. 213). Built in 1890, she was 300 feet long and the pride of the Minch family fleet. In the summer of 1892, she set out from Cleveland for Lake Superior. Having passed through the "Soo," a storm caught her in Whitefish Bay. On the night of August 30, a mast fell to the deck, the ship's plates developed large cracks, and within moments, she had broken in two (Wolff, p. 66). Apparently it was only about ten minutes from the time the cracks developed to the time she broke in two and went to the bottom (Ratigan, p. 253).
The crew took to the boats, but one of them overturned. The only other boat managed to rescue some of them, but it was too overloaded, and the storm too strong, for it to be steered. And it had no way of signalling other boats -- one went by in the night without spotting them (Wolff, p. 66). As they neared the beach, the boat capsized. Only a few of those aboard had life jackets, and only one man, wheelsman Harry Stewart, made it to the beach to tell the tale. 26 others were lost in the disaster (Shelak, p. 159).
The cause of the Western Reserve's loss was never determined, though many hypotheses were advanced. Many at the time suspected problems with the steel of the boat -- a genuine possibility if the weather had been colder, but it was August! Even the waters of Lake Superior are fairly warm by then. Others suspected design flaws, or improper loading (the latter, however, seems improbable, since Ratigan, p. 252, says she was mostly empty; according to Wolff, p. 66, she was on her way to Two Harbors, Minnesota to pick up iron ore.)
The worries about the Western Reserve did not cause the owners to do anything about her sister, the W. H. Gilcher. (Prior to the loss, the Western Reserve had made "several record-breaking hauls," according to Ratigan, p. 252. The ships were a point of pride; the Gilcher is said to have been the largest boat built in Cleveland to that time; Shelak, p. 158.) Although four months newer, the Gilcher was built to almost exactly the same design as the Western Reserve -- and was lost in the same year, on about October 28. This time, there were no survivors at all (Shelak, p. 159), so there was no clue whatsoever to what happened. It does appear that someone had tried to cut loose a lifeboat with an axe, implying extreme haste (Shelak, p. 159), but either the attempt failed or the boat was lost. It is believed there were 21 people on board when the Gilcher sank..
Ratigan, p. 12, has another speculation: That the Gilcher.collided with the Ostrich, also lost with all hands on or about the night of October 28, 1892. This speculation is also mentioned by Shelak. He says that wreckage was found on the Beaver Archipelago on Lake Michigan, though he does not mention the note later found allegedly from a Gilcher crewman.
Shelak, pp. 159-160, mentions a folktale calling the Gilcher a "Flying Dutchman," still seen in the area of Mackinac Island in a heavy fog.
Many at the time blamed the new-fangled steel construction (though of course steel vessels would in time prove to be very successful on the Lakes.) Wolff, p. 67, mentions that, in the aftermath of the loss of the Gilcher, new designs and stronger steel were specified for new steel ships; it would be more than seventy years until the next instance of a steel ship breaking up.
Ratigan, p. 11, quotes eight lines of text about the Gilcher, clearly the same poem as John Hayes's piece in Walton/Grimm/Murdock; unfortunately, he cites no source. - RBW
Bibliography

Ratigan: William Ratigan, Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Survivals, revised edition, Eerdmans, 1977
Shelak: Benjamin J. Shelak, Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan, Trails Books, 2003
Thompson: Mark L. Thompson, Graveyards of the Lakes, Wayne State University Press, 2000
Wolff: Julius F. Wolff Jr., Lake Superior Shipwrecks,Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., Duluth, 1990

Last updated in version 2.5
File: WGM197

Loss of the Jewel, The

DESCRIPTION: The Jewel sails from Tilt Cove on October 28 and runs into "a heavy gale." The crew is rescued by the Albatross bound to Philadelphia from Greenland.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: rescue sea ship storm wreck
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 948-949, "The Loss of the Jewel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9935
NOTES: Jewel (possibly Jewell) wrecked October 28, 1891 at Gull Island in Conception Bay, between Tilt Cove and St John's (Northern Shipwrecks Database). Peacock notes "there are two Tilt Coves in Newfoundland, both in the north in Notre Dame Bay." - BS
File: Pea948

Loss of the John Harvey, The

DESCRIPTION: The John Harvey sails from Gloucester for St Pierre in a hurricane and runs aground. Captain Kerley believes they will die. John Keeping ties a line around his waist and swims to shore; six of the crew are rescued. Keeping and one other died.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: rescue death sea ship storm wreck
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 950-951, "The Loss of the John Harvey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9934 and 3843
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Wreck of the John Harvey
The John Harvey
NOTES: [The] shipwreck [took place] January 10, 1912 in Gabarus Harbour, out of Boston bound for St Pierre & Miquelon; [the] Captain [was] George Kearley (Northern Shipwrecks Database) - BS
File: Pea950

Loss of the Jubal Cain, The

DESCRIPTION: "Twas of the schooner Jubal Cain Of which no doubt you've heard.... lost on Nova Scotia's shore, She had eight men on board." The cargo vessel leaves Halifax January 10 and after 16 days the owner gets a wire that the ship and all hands are lost at sea.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship wreck sailor
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 12, 1907 - The _Tubal Cain_ leaves Halifax for Grand Bank; it is lost in a storm, possibly on January 15
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 952-953, "The Loss of the Jubal Cain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9930
NOTES: The Northern Shipwrecks Database notes that there is a monument to the loss at Grand Bank. There was, and may be again. A sign at Fraser Park explaining the loss was put up in 1987 but has since blown down according to Robert Parsons' "NF Shipwrecks on the WEB" site in 2003 - BS
Although the ship is properly the Tubal Cain (a name derived from Genesis 4:22; Tubal-cain, a worker in brass and iron), the only known collection calls it the Jubal Cain (possibly by confusion with Tubal-cain's half-brother Jubal mentioned in Genesis 4:21), and I've followed that. - RBW
File: Pea952

Loss of the Lady of the Lake, The

DESCRIPTION: In 1833 the Lady of the Lake sails from Belfast for Newfoundland. After three weeks on a pleasant sea "the ice came down like mountains" The Captain and some sailors escape in a long boat. The singer os rescued by the Lima and returns to Liverpool.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: emigration rescue death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 11, 1833 - The _Lady of the Lake_ strikes an iceberg off Newfoundland and sinks, taking with her most of her passengers
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 35, "The Loss of the Lady of the Lake" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lady of the Lake (The Banks of Clyde II) [Laws N41]" (subject)
NOTES: Leyden: "Total saved 34; perished 197; total 234" with a list of those saved, including Captain Grant; the ballad claims the author to be survivor George Monaghan via the Lima, who is not on Leyden's list. Leyden's list has one person saved by the "Lima," 13 in the "Harvest Home," and twenty in the "Lady ..." long and stern boats.. - BS
Northern Shipwrecks Database has 18 left on Harvest Home -- abandoned after striking ice on May 9 -- rescued by Gypsey and transferred to Amazon - BS
Doerflinger, p. 301: �Bound from Belfast to Quebec, the ill fated emigrant ship struck the underwater tongue of an iceberg on May 11, 1833, south of Newfoundland. Her captain, mate, and some of the crew, with a few of the passengers, got clear of the sinking ship in the boats, leaving the rest of her 230 men, women, and children on board the hulk or struggling in the icy water. All but those in the captain's boat peridshed." - RBW
File: Leyd035

Loss of the Life-Boat Crew at Fethard

DESCRIPTION: The life-boat goes out on a stormy night to try to rescue a Norwegian crew. "Early on next morning the sorrowful news went round." Wives and children find "husbands and fathers lying dead" on the Fethard shore.
AUTHOR: John Butler, Tipperary
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor rescue
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 20-21, 1914 - The Mexico wreck
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, p. 104, "Loss of the Life-Boat Crew at Fethard" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Mexico" (subject) and references there
NOTES: February 20, 1914: "Nine members of the Fethard lifeboat were drowned when going to the assistance of the Norwegian steamer Mexico.... Eight of the Mexico's crew were saved by the five lifeboat survivors. All but one of the stranded survivors were saved with great difficulty the next day." (source: Bourke in Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast v1, pp. 52-53) - BS
We note that at least four poems were written about this disaster (see the cross-references); one suspects a campaign to raise money for someone's family. - RBW
File: Ran104

Loss of the London (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The London, bound for Australia with 239 on board, is caught in a storm in the Bay of Biscay. Captain Martin remains on board when a boat is lowered with nineteen men. The nineteen are rescued by a passing ship and taken to Plymouth Bay.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: drowning rescue sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 11, 1866 - "London bound for Melbourne, Australia, foundered on 11 January 1866 in severe English Channel gale with a loss of 220." (source: New Zealand Bound site)
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #61, pp. 1-2, "The Loss of the London"; Greig #63, p. 2 (2 texts)
GreigDuncan1 31, "The Loss of the London" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #1787
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the London (II)" (subject)
NOTES: Apparently broadside Bodleian, 2806 c.13(149), "The Wreck of the 'London'" ("You landsmen all come rist [sic] to me"), J. Lindsay (Glasgow), 1851-1910 is this song but I could not download and verify it. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1031

Loss of the London (II), The

DESCRIPTION: The "London" "pressed, through storm and rain ... with two hundred souls and more. The 'London' sank near a foreign shore" "The Captain said all hope was gone" Brooke "worked until all hope was gone, Then calmly paced the deck alone"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.12(117))
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 11, 1866 - "London bound for Melbourne, Australia, foundered on 11 January 1866 in severe English Channel gale with a loss of 220." (source: New Zealand Bound site)
FOUND IN:
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(117), "The Loss of the 'London'" ("The sea ran high, the winds were wild"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 11(2396), Harding B 13(241)[manually marked "1866," the date of the wreck], "The Loss of the 'London'"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the London (I)" (subject) and references there
NOTES: The description is based on broadside Bodleian Firth c.12(117).
Irish Shakespearean actor Gustavus Vaughan Brooke (1818-1866) stayed on deck to help those he could and refused to leave on the last lifeboat. (source: "s.s. London - founded in the English Channel 11 January 1866"; description of wreck by William Andrew Pearce on the New Zealand Bound site) - BS
File: BdLoLon1

Loss of the Maggie Hunter

See The Maggie Hunter (File: RcTMagHu)

Loss of the Maggie, The

DESCRIPTION: "Ye fishermen who know so well The dangers of the deep, Come listen to a dreadful tale And join your hearts to weep." The Maggie sails from Bonavista Bay and spies a steamer bearing down on her. The ship is wrecked 13 die as others watch
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1902 (Murphy, Songs and Ballads of Newfoundland, Ancient and Modern)
KEYWORDS: death ship crash wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 7, 1896 - The Maggie sinks after collision with the Tiber in St John's Harbour (source: Northern Shipwrecks DataBase)
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 41, "The Loss of the Maggie" (1 text)
ST RySm041 (Partial)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wreck of the Maggie" (subject)
NOTES: Although this piece is pretty definitely not traditional, the Maggie disaster did produce a genuine folk song, "The Wreck of the Maggie." - RBW
File: RySm041

Loss of the Philosophy

DESCRIPTION: Philosophy has a bad trip from St John to Havana. They make repairs at Havana. Nevertheless, they are cast away nearing home. Only five of seven make shore and two more die of cold. The survivors are rescued and return to Pope's Harbour.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship wreck sailor rescue
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-NovaScotia 128, "Loss of the Philosophy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS128 (Partial)
Roud #1829
NOTES: This song is item dD49 in Laws's Appendix II.
Creighton-NovaScotia: The singer says "This is a true story. Pope's Harbour is in Halifax County." Dates in the ballad -- which are not confirmed by Northern Shipwrecks Database -- have Philosophy leave St John for Havana on November 4 and the wreck takes place January 7. - BS
File: CrNS128

Loss of the Ramillies, The [Laws K1]

DESCRIPTION: A heavy storm dooms the Ramillies. The boatswain orders the crew to the lifeboats. Hundreds drown in the wreck; only three or four survive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: ship storm wreck death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 15, 1760 - Wreck of the Ramillies off the coast of Devonshire. Only 26 men survive
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws K1, "The Loss of the Ramillies"
GreigDuncan1 28, "The Ramillies" (2 texts)
Doerflinger, pp. 144-145, "The Ship Rambolee (The Loss of the 'Ramillies')" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 954-955, "The Loss of the Rammelly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 85, "The Old Ramillies" (1 text)
DT 554, RAMILLIE
Roud #523
RECORDINGS:
Jumbo Brightwell, "The Loss of 'The Ramilly'" (on Voice12)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fatal Ramilies" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Ramalie
The Ramilies
NOTES: Ramillies was the site of one of Marlborough's great victories (1706), and several ships were named after it, from this ship to an early twentieth century dreadnought.
This Ramillies had a peculiar history; it actually predates the battle bearing its name! In 1664, the Royal Katherine was built, an 84-gun ship. It was "rebuilt" in 1702 (a subterfuge used by the Royal Navy at the time: They built a new ship with some of the old timber). The rebuilt ship was renamed after the battle of Ramillies. (She would be rebuilt again in 1749.)
Half a century after the rebuilding and renaming, having been part of the fleet which failed to save Mallorca, Ramillies was wrecked off Bolt Head on her way to Plymouth. There are thought to have been 725 men aboard at the time, of whom only 26 survived. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LK01

Loss of the Regalis, The

See The Loss of the Regulus (File: Pea956)

Loss of the Regulus, The

DESCRIPTION: "While I'll explain ... How the Regalus she got lost in Petty Harbour bay." Regulus leaves Belle Isle [sic] and is disabled in a heavy breeze near Cape Race. The tug John Green attempts the rescue but the tow line parts. Captain Taylor and his crew drown.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: drowning ship sea storm wreck
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 956-957, "The Loss of the Regalis" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 74, "Wreck of the Regulus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6471
NOTES: [The] Regulus, en route to Sydney Nova Scotia from Wabana [Bell Island, not Belle Isle], [was] wrecked October 23, 1910, when the tow parted from the John Green (Northern Shipwrecks Database). - BS
File: Pea956

Loss of the Riseover, The

DESCRIPTION: "The Riseover left Northern Bay, with lumber she did sail" for St John's. They are forced to leave the ship by raft in a heavy storm. Nearing shore, the raft breaks in half and John Pomeroy and Sparks are lost.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 19, 1911 - Riseover wrecked on Muddy Shag Rock, per Newfoundland's Grand Banks Site
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 958-959, "The Loss of the Riseover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 94, "The Wreck of the Riseover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4408
NOTES: A detailed account of the Riseover wreck is included in Tales from the Kittiwake Coast by Robert E. Tulk, pp. 90-91 [available as a pdf file from the Canadian National Adult Database site.] - BS
File: Pea958

Loss of the Royal Charter, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of a shipwreck near Ireland. 400 passengers sail from Melbourne and are approaching home (and have already dropped off some passengers) when a storm hits. The singer describes the storm, the wreck, and the deaths
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: ship storm wreck disaster death
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H623, pp. 109-110, "The Loss of the Royal Charter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9040
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(95), "Loss of the Royal Charter," unknown, no date
NOTES: Curiously, this song is a first-person account of a passenger on the Charter, and yet it says that "all on board would meet a watery grave." - RBW
File: HHH623

Loss of the S. S. Algerine

DESCRIPTION: "Attention all ye sailor boys And hark to what I say And hear about the Algerine Was lost in Hudson Bay." The old sealing boat, loaded with Americans but with a Newfoundland crew, is destroyed by ice. The Neptune rescues the remaining crew
AUTHOR: Johnny Burke?
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (Burke's Ballads)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck rescue
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 92, "Loss of the S.S. Algerine" (1 text)
File: RySm092

Loss of the Sailor's Home, The

DESCRIPTION: Sailor's Home leaves Fortune Bay and picks up a load of coal in Sydney on Christmas Day. She sinks in a storm; three of the crew make land on the French island of Miquelon, find help, and recover.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: rescue drowning sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 31, 1890 - the Sailor's Home wrecked near St Pierre & Miquelon carrying coal from Sydney Nova Scotia to Fortune, Newfoundland (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 960-962, "The Loss of the Sailor's Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea960

Loss of the Savinto, The

DESCRIPTION: Two days out a storm drives Savinto against a rock. "The ship breaks up And all the crew... Look for a watery grave." Gormley gets to shore and brings help. The rescue ordeal is described in great detail. Eleven of twenty one are saved.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor rescue
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 6 or 7, 1906 - Barque Sovinto from Dalhousie, NS stranded at Priest Pond, PEI (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 52-55, "The Loss of the Savinto" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12467
File: Dib052

Loss of the Shamrock, The

DESCRIPTION: James Murray's mother asks him to delay sailing but he won't wait. He sails on Friday, September 18. The ship is seen on Saturday, then lost. Thomas Ridgeley might have saved two of those lost but he did not and is scorned for it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS:
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sep 19, 1846 - the Shamrock is lost in a gale off Cape St Mary's (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 963-964, "The Loss of the Shamrock" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9816
File: Pea963

Loss of the Snorre, The

DESCRIPTION: September 18 a storm in Bonavista Bay wrecks Harold F, Olive Branch, Planet, and Reliance. The Norwegian sloop Snorre bursts her chains and is swept away with two boys on board. Four men from Bonavista are named as saving four of the crew.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sep 8-9, 1907 - more than 58 ships are lost including Olive Branch, Planet, and Snorre (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 98, "The Loss of the Snorre" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Lehr/Best: "Two young Norwegian boys were drowned, and the four others on board were rescued through the bravery of J Louis Little, Robert Brown, James C Little, William Ford and Eli Paul, all men of Bonavista; they afterwards received recognition from the Carnegie Hero Commission." - BS
File: LeBe098

Loss of the Souvenir, The

DESCRIPTION: "Gone was summer with its sunshire, with its mild and favoring gales." Even in the harsh weather of autumn, sailors take to the Lakes. A storm blows up and the Souvenir is wrecked. One man is seen on the deck, but cannot be rescued; in all, seven die
AUTHOR: probably A. J. Woods
EARLIEST DATE: 1890 (Oceana County Pioneers)
KEYWORDS: ship storm death wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 1872 - The _Souvenir_ sets out from Pentwater, Michigan for Chicago
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 224-225, "The Loss of the Souvenir" (1 text)
NOTES: Although Walton/Grimm/Murdock throws this in with other disaster songs, there seems to be no evidence that it is traditional, or even a song; the text seems to be taken from print, and no informant mentioned it. Nor does the form look much like a traditional song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: WGM224

Loss of the Titanic, The (Titanic #13)

DESCRIPTION: "The beauty of the White Star Line, the Titanic, sailed the seas." Off Cape Race "she struck what's called a growler." "Captain Smith and his brave crew, they never left the deck But saved the helpless passengers and went down with the wreck."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 14/15, 1912 - Shortly before midnight, ship's time, the Titanic strikes an iceberg and begins to sink. Only 711 survivors are found of 2224 people believed to have been aboard.
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 965-966, "The Loss of the Titanic" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9940
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. all the other Titanic songs (plot)
NOTES: To give Captain Smith of the Titanic credit for saving the ship strikes me as a little much, since it appears that much of what went wrong was his fault. But the bravery of the crew cannot be denied. While the loss of life was very large, it was largest among the crew: According to Lincoln P. Paine's Ships of the World, 60% of the first class passengers survived. 42% of second class passengers survived, and 25% of steerage passengers -- but only 24% of the crew, even though many crew members were put aboard the ships boats simply to keep them afloat and steer them.
For an extensive history of the Titanic, with detailed examination of the truth (or lack thereof) of quotes in the Titanic songs, see the notes to "The Titanic (XV)" ("On the tenth day of April 1912") (Titanic #15) - RBW
File: Pea955

Lost Babe, The

DESCRIPTION: A child wanders away from its mother (or is sent to take its father his dinner) and is lost. Men of the community (or Egypt and foreign lands) search; the child is dead, and buzzards are picking out its eyes. The mother cries, "Lord, have mercy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: grief corpse death bird children mother
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SharpAp 129, "The Lost Babe" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #3636
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Children in the Wood (The Babes in the Woods)" (plot)
cf. "Three Lost Babes of Americay" (plot)
cf. "Penitent" (tune of Sharp's B version)
cf. "The Vulture (of the Alps)" (theme)
cf. "All the Pretty Little Horses" (theme of young one at the mercy of birds)
File: ShAp2129

Lost Babes of Halifax

See Meagher's Children [Laws G25] (File: LG25)

Lost Birdies, The

DESCRIPTION: Various birds (crow, robin) lay "but ae egg, she brought out ae bird, The bird it came out an' it flew awa', and she gaed a' day." The mothers look for their offspring and beg them come home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: bird separation lullaby
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H40c, p. 20, "The Lost Birdies/The Hobe and the Robin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13344
File: HHH040c

Lost Child, The

See The Little Lost Child (File: R728)

Lost Girl, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a girl who confesses to being lost and far from home. She has left her family to escape from the boys. She warns maidens against men
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: rambling lament floatingverses warning
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 60, "The Lost Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R060 (Partial)
Roud #272
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)" (theme)
NOTES: This is about half floating verses ("I'll build me a castle on youn mound so high," "Come all ye young maidens, take warning from me, Don't place your affections on a green willow tree"), and the final line of several stanzas ("Oh she says I'm a poor lost girl and a long ways from home"). Randolph lists many songs with similar elements, most of which I ended up filing under "The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)". But the whole seems to be unique. - RBW
File: R060

Lost Jimmie Whalen [Laws C8]

DESCRIPTION: A passerby hears a girl wailing for her lost Jimmie Whalen. He comes from the grave, and she begs him to stay. He cannot; death keeps them apart.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: death ghost lover
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Laws C8, "Lost Jimmie Whalen"
Rickaby 4, "The Lost Jimmie Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 726-727, "Lost Jimmie Whalen" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 445-446, "The Lost Jimmie Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 48, "Jimmie Whalen's Girl" (1 text)
Fowke-Lumbering #32, "Lost Jimmy Whelan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 26, "Lost Jimmy Whelan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 186-187, "Lost Jimmie Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 114-115, "Lost Jimmy Whalan" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Peacock, pp. 385-389, "Jimmy Whelan" (2 texts, 4 tunes)
Lehr/Best 61, "Jimmy Whelan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 35-37,249, "The Lost Jimmy Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 81, "The Lost Jimmie Whalen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 27-28, "Lost Jimmy Walen" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 602, JIMWHEL* JIMWHEL2*
Roud #2220
RECORDINGS:
Mrs John Coughlin, "The Lost Jimmy Whalen" (on MREIves01)
Mrs Mary Dumphy, "The Lost Jimmie Whalen" (on NFMLeach)
Ken Peacock, "Jimmy Whalen" (on NFKPeacock)
Art Thieme, "Lost Jimmy Whalen" (on Thieme05)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "James Whalen" [Laws C7] (subject)
File: LC08

Lost Jimmy Walen

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

Lost Jimmy Whalen, The

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

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Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane, The

Little Old Mud Cabin on the Hill, The

Little Old Sod Shanty in the West

Little Old Sod Shanty on My Claim, The

Little Page Boy, The

Little Piece of Whang, The

Little Pig, The

Little Pink

Little Plowing Boy, The

Little Poppa Rich

Little Red Caboose behind the Train (I), The

Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (II), The

Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (III), The

Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (IV), The

Little Red Caboose Behind the Train (V), The (The Hobo Tramp)

Little Red Fox, The

Little Red Train, The

Little Rosewood Casket

Little Sadie

Little Sally Racket

Little Sally Walker

Little Sally Waters

Little Saro Jane

Little Scotch Girl, The

Little Scotch-ee

Little Seaside Village, The

Little Shepherd, The

Little Shingle Mill, The

Little Ship Was on the Sea, A

Little Shoe Black, The

Little Soldier's Boy, The

Little Son Hugh

Little Sparrow

Little Streak o' Lean, A

Little Streams of Whisky

Little Swiler, The

Little Thatched Cabin, The

Little Vine-Clad Cottage, The

Little White Cat, The (An Caitin Ban)

Little White Robe

Little White Rose, The

Little Willie (I)

Little Willie (II)

Little Willie and Mary

Little Yorkshire Boy, The

Liverpool Dock

Liverpool Girls

Liverpool Judies, The (Row, Bullies, Row; Roll, Julia, Roll)

Liverpool Landlady, The

Liverpool Packet, The

Liverpool Pilot, The

Liverpool Song, The

Living on a Hill

Living on the Hallelujah Side

Liza Ann

Liza Anne

Liza Gray

Liza in the Summer Time

Liza Jane

Liza Jane (II)

Liza Lee

Lizie Lindsay [Child 226]

Lizie May

Lizie Wan [Child 51]

Lizzie Borden Songs

Lizzie Brown

Lizzie Laing Began the Play

Lizzie Lindsay

Lizzie Menzies

Lloyd George

Lo Que Digo

Load of Kail Plants, The

Loading Pulp at Georgetown

Loakie's Boat

Lobster, The

Loch Erin's Shore (II)

Loch Erne's Shore

Loch Lomond

Loch na Garr (Lachin Y Gair)

Loch o' Shilin, The