Lost John


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

Lost Johnny


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, I wonder where my lost Johnny's gone (x3), Oh, he's gone to that new railroad, (x2)" "Go make me a pallet on your floor, Believe I will eat morphine and die." "I'll go if I have to ride the rail To the road where my Johnny is."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: railroading floatingverses suicide drugs
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, pp. 151, "Lost Johnny" (1 text)
ST Fus151 (Partial)
Roud #16412
NOTES: Obviously a composite of floating elements. But it has so many floating elements that it can't really be associated with a particular song! - RBW
File: Fus151

Lost Johnny Doyle, The


See Johnny Doyle [Laws M2] (File: LM02)

Lost Lady Found, The [Laws Q31]


DESCRIPTION: A young lady is carried off by gypsies. Her uncle, who is her guardian, is convicted of murdering her. Her lover follows her to Dublin and tells her of her uncle's plight. They return to England, and the uncle's life is saved
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1833 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 5)
KEYWORDS: shanghaiing Gypsy trial reprieve abduction
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(England(South,West)) US(MA,NE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws Q31, "The Lost Lady Found"
FSCatskills 63, "The Lost Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 347, "The Lost Lady Found" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 24, "The Lost Lady Found" (1 text)
DT 539, LOSTLADY
ADDITIONAL: Tim Coughlan, Now Shoon the Romano Gillie, (Cardiff,2001), pp. 432-433, ("'Tis of a young damsel, that was left all alone") [English text reported by Broadwood, _Old English Songs_ (1843)]
Roud #901
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 5, "The Lost Lady Found," T. Batchelar (London) , 1828-1832; also 2806 c.17(241), Harding B 15(177b), 2806 c.16(128), Harding B 11(3803), Firth b.26(375), Firth b.34(114), Firth c.18(167), Harding B 11(2222), Harding B 11(266), "[The] Lost Lady Found"; Harding B 11(1445), "The Gypsies" or "The Lost Lady Found"
NOTES: In reply to the charge of abduction in this piece, Kennedy writes, "While it is quite likely that some ladies of quality... did run off with the gipsies, it is not proven that abductions of 'giorgio' women ever occurred. As to the charge that gipsies are child stealers, they usually have too many children of their own to bother about increasing their problems." - RBW
See Tim Coughlan, Now Shoon the Romano Gillie, (Cardiff,2001), #163, pp. 416-421, "A Puv Pordo o' Romni Chels" [Romani-English version from Sampson, "English Gypsy songs and rhymes" (1891)] made by Lias Robinson from an English text also reproduced from Sampson. Coughlan prints another English text from an Irish Traveller. Coughlan believes #164, pp. 421-437, "So Did You Muk My Curi Old Dai" [Romani-English fragment from Thompson, "Anglo-Romani songs" (1909)] also belongs here. His commentary on #164 includes a Welsh Gypsy text and English translation, a Romani text and translation, and Woodie Guthrie's "Gypsy Davy." - BS
File: LQ31

Lost Miners, The


DESCRIPTION: "Six miners went into the mountains To hunt for precious gold; It was the middle of winter, The weather was dreadful cold. Six miners went into the mountains, They had nor food nor shack -- Six miners went into the mountains But only one came back."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: mining murder death food cannibalism gold
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1873-1874 - The disappearance of the Packer party
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, p. 231, "The Lost Miners" (1 fragment)
NOTES: Burt believes this item to be about Alferd Packer (she spells it "Alfred," but my sources indicate that "Alferd" is correct). In 1873, Packer and five others went out. In the bitter winter that followed, all save Packer died, and it was later learned that Packer had eaten their bodies. He was generally thought to have murdered them as well, and died in prison in 1907. - RBW
File: Burt231

Lost on Lake Michigan


DESCRIPTION: "Come all brother sailors, I hop you'll draw nigh, For to hear of your shipmates, it will cause you to cry." John Gallagher sails to Traverse City despite his mother's dream warning and fiancee's fears. He heads home in a storm, but the boat Lookout sinks
AUTHOR: Dan Malloy
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (collected from John Malloy by Walton)
KEYWORDS: ship sailor death dream warning love
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 172-174, "Lost on Lake Michigan" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
John W. Green, "The Gallagher Boys" (1938; on WaltonSailors)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gallant Tommy Boyle" (subject)
File: WGM172

Lost on the Lady Elgin


DESCRIPTION: "Up from the poor man's cottage, forth from the mansion's door ... Cometh a voice of mourning, a sad and solemn wail, Lost on the Lady Elgin... Numbered in that three hundred Who failed to reach the shore." The many mourners are briefly mentioned
AUTHOR: Henry Clay Work?
EARLIEST DATE: 1861 (copyright by H. M. Higgins)
KEYWORDS: ship wreck disaster death orphan family
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1860 - The Lady Elgin, an excursion boat on Lake Michigan, collides with a steamer and sinks
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 692, "Lost on the Lady Elgin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 453-455, "Lost on the Lady Elgin" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 692)
LPound-ABS, 60, pp. 134-135, "The Lady Elgin" (1 text)
BrownII 214, "Lost on the Lady Elgin" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 61-62, "Lost on the Lady Elgin" (1 text)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 199-202, "Lost on the Lady Elgin" (1 text, 1 tune, with no evidence that it was taken from tradition)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 480, "Lady Elgin" (source notes only)
DT, LDYELGN*
ADDITIONAL: Robert E. Gard and L. G. Sorden, _Wisconsin Lore: Antics and Anecdotes of Wisconsin People and Places_, Wisconsin House, 1962, p. 28, "Lady Elgin" (1 text, presumably from Wisconsin although no source is listed)
Roud #3688
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Titanic (IV - 'Lost on the Great Titanic')" (tune)
NOTES: Cohen, Pound, and McNeil credit this to Henry Clay Work, though the disaster came before his songwriting career took off. Other sources do not seem aware of this attribution. I have not seen the sheet music. Walton/Grimm/Murdock reports that Work first published it in a newspaper.
Varhola, p. 58, describe the ship as follows: "[The] Lady Elgin [was] a double-decked wooden side-wheel steamer owned by Gordon S. Hubbard & Co. that had been built nine years earlier in Buffalo, New York.... One of the largest steamers on the Great Lakes, the luxurious Lady Elgin was an impressive 252 feet long, nearly 34 feet wide, and had a draft of just over 14 feet, and her 54-inch-cylinder, 11-foot-stroke steam engine powered a pair of 32-foot paddle wheels. Operated by a crew of forty-three, she was equipped to carry two hundred passengers in her cabins, another hundred on her decks, and up to eight hundred tons of freight in her holds."
Constructed in 1851 (Shelak, p. 86), Thompson, p. 146, says that she was originally built for Canada's Grand Trunk Railway, and intended to sail from Buffalo to Chicago (entirely under steam, if the drawing on p. 149 of Thompson is accurate; she carried no sail). Although designed for passengers, she also carried a lot of freight for the Grand Trunk (Bourrie,p. 92). In 1856, when the Grand Trunk between Toronto and Sarnia was completed, she shifted to a Chicago-to-Lake-Superior route. She was successful enough that she came to be called "The Queen of the Lakes." But Bourrie, pp. 92-93, also notes that she had an amazing series of groundings and other misadventures in this period, one of which nearly caused her to be written off. Shelak, p. 87, mentions a grounding and a fire, and says that she was considered a bad insurance risk as a result.
Apparently the passengers who booked the Lady Elgin were mostly Irish, from Wisconsin and Illinois. Their story was peculiar. Thompson, p. 147, explains that the governor of Wisconsin at the time was threatening to take the state out of the Union if the federal government didn't do something about slavery. One of the state's militia units was an Irish outfit commanded by Garrett Barry. Barry declared that he would stick with the Union no matter what Wisconsin did, and the Wisconin government ordered his unit demobilized (Bourrie, p. 94).
The unit wanted to stick together. So they chartered a trip from Milwaukee to Chicago on the Lady Elgin to raise money to purchase new weapons. The company and the paying passengers would go to Chicago on September 7, 1860, hold a parade, and come back.
The ship's captain was Jack Wilson, who was distinguished enough that he had been allowed to lead the first ship ever to travel the Soo Canal (between Lake Superior and the lower great lakes) in 1855 (Ratigan, p. 43). He apparently did not like the weather on the night of the return voyage (Thompson, p. 148). But he was finally convinced to put out from the shore.
Then, on the night of September 8, the storm struck,
It was a bad night for visibility. And the schooner Augusta, 129 feet long, carrying pine logs, had no running lights (Ritchie, p. 112; he calls the ship Augusta of Oswego. Shelak, p. 87, says that there is dispute about the running lights but notes that she was "carrying nearly full sail despite the weather." Apparently her cargo of logs was shifting and she was in danger of capsizing). Augusta's lookout allegedly saw the Lady Elgin twenty minutes before the collision, but she did not change course (Ratigan, pp. 44-45; Thompson, p. 148, explains this on the basis that the mate on watch could not tell the Lady Elgin's course and had been too busy taking in sail to worry about his own; Bourrie, p. 96, explains it as the result of an illegal maneuver which went wrong). The smaller ship's bow went right into the Lady Elgin's. side.
The high waves parted the two ships quickly (Thompson, p. 150), and although the Augusta remained seaworthy, she had sustained enough damage that her captain headed for port without making any attempt at rescuing the victims on the Lady Elgin. (He would later claim that he thought he had struck only a glancing blow; damage to his own ship was slight -- Thompson, p. 150. Shelak, p. 88. also reports a claim that the Lady Elgin refused assistance. This strikes me as most improbable -- not only was the damage immediately evident to the passengers, but the boats separated before there was time for the Captain to learn what had happened).
The Lady Elgin herself tried to head for shore, but she was nine miles off the coast, with one of her paddlwheels wrecked (Bourrie, p. 96), and it was soon clear that she would sink before she could reach the land, despite frantic attempts to lighten her, shift her cargo,and patch the hole (Bourrie,p. 98).
And, according to Thompson, p. 149, she had only four lifeboats -- and those lacked oars! (Thompson, p. 151. Shelak, p. 88, gives a slightly different story: The first boat to be lowered was supposed to inspect the damage, but the oars were forgotten and the boat torn away by the waves).
Captain Wilson managed to get most of the passengers onto improvised rafts, but in the storm, many of them broke up and most of those aboard, including Wilson, were lost (though Shelak, p. 90, says that he made it to shore, then went back into the water to try to rescue others and was lost; his body was finally found on the far side of Lake Michigan. Barry, the militia unit commander, was also killed (Bourrie, p. 106). To make matters worse, the shores of the Lake were very steep here, creating a strong undertow. Passengers would often find themselves very close to shore, only to be sucked back into the water (Bourrie, p. 100; Shelak, p. 89).
Reportedly the ship's upper works exploded as she went down -- probably due to compressed air rather than a boiler explosion. The boat sank within about twenty minutes of being hit.
There was one noteworthy deed of heroism: A university student named Edward Spencer swam out more than a dozen times to save fifteen or more passengers -- about a sixth of the total (Ratigan, pp. 47-48; Bourrie, p. 101, says that the deed crippled him for life). Others on the shore, however, robbed the dead bodies (Thompson, p. 153)
No knows how exactly how many were aboard, or how high the casualties were. According to Hudson/Nicholls, p. 85, the collision killed 287 of 385 passengers on the Lady Elgin. Ratigan says that 297 were killed. As of the time he wrote, it was the second-highest loss of life from a great lakes disaster. Thompson, p. 153, notes that estimates of the number of survivors range from 98 to 155, and the casualties from 279 to 350. Shelak, p. 89, says there were some 400 passengers on board and cites the 297 figure for casualties. Ritchie, p. 112, says 287 were lost and fewer than 100 survived. Varhola, p. 59, has the highest number of all, claiming that between 600 and 700 people were on board. He says that 160 survived, and 200 bodies washed ashore. Bourrie, p. 100, gives similar numbers.
The Augusta became so infamous that she had to be renamed Colonel Cook and transferred from service on the lakes to work on the Atlantic (Ratigan, pp. 48-49; Shelak, p. 90). Her captain was placed on trial, but it was found that he had conformed to the very weak regulations of the time (Ritchie, p. 112).
According to Walton/Grimm/Murdock, many of the Augusta's former crew, including the captain, were lost four years later when the the ship they were then sailing, the Mojave, sank without a trace in good weather.
The one good thing to come out of the disaster was that an inquiry was held (Thompson, pp. 153-154), which assigned portions of the blame to both ships (e.g. the Lady Elgin had no watertight compartments, and did not yield to the smaller ship, while the mate of the Augusta was too slow to inform his captain of the other ship's presence), but the primary blame was with the existing navigation laws. The Lady Elgin disaster was largely responsible for the 1864 passage of America's first navigation law (Thompson, pp. 154-155)
Shelak, p. 92, notes that portions of the wreck were found in 1989, and became the subject of protracted litigation. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: R692

Lost River Desert


See The Red River Valley (File: R730)

Lost Soul, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer says sinners at judgment will hear their fate and say, "I'm paying now the penalty/That the unredeemed must ever pay... For alas I'm doomed." The sinner will say that if he could go back, he'd fight for his Saviour's cause, but he can't
AUTHOR: L. V. Jones
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 ("Glad News")
KEYWORDS: sin death religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Watson family, "The Lost Soul" (on Watson01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wicked Polly" [Laws H6] (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lost Soul's Lament
NOTES: D. K. Wilgus, in his comments on Watson01, notes (speaking of this song and "When I Die"): "The Watson family apparently sang these songs directly from a song book, but I have been unable to locate them in any source available to me, despite the conviction that I have met them before." He may have been remembering "Glad News." - PJS
File: RcTLoSou

Lost Youth, The


See Death is a Melancholy Call [Laws H5] (File: LH05)

Lothian Hairst, The


DESCRIPTION: "On August twelfth from Aberdeen We sailed upon the Prince... Our harvest to commence." The crew works in Lothian for William Mathieson and his foreman Logan. They find no chance for sport under Logan, and happily depart when the harvest is done
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work hardtimes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #3, p. 3, "The Lothian Hairst" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 404, "The Lothian Hairst" (9 texts, 6 tunes)
Ord, p. 264, "The Lothian Hairst" (1 text)
DT, LOTHARST*
Roud #2165
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(122), "The Lothian Hairst," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1890
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Louden Hairst
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "This is a real bothy song, and is said to have been written about sixty years ago by a Highland lassie, one of a band of Deeside harvesters to the Lothians...." quoting Ord, "Byways of Scottish Song" in The Weekly Welcome, 1907. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Ord264

Lots of Fish in Bonavist' Harbour (Feller from Fortune)


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, there's lots of fish in Bonavist' Harbour, lots of fish right in around here. Boys and girls are fishing together...." The folk of the town are described: Uncle George, who tore out his britches; Sally, who has a baby without a father; etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: nonballad dancing fishing sex childbirth bastard father lover
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 122-124, "Lots of Fish in Bonavist' Harbour" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 37, "Feller From Fortune" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 53-54, "Feller From Fortune" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 23, "Feller from Fortune" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 53, "Feller from Fortune" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FJ122 (Partial)
Roud #4427
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Bonavist Harbour" (on NFOBlondahl04,NFOBlondahl05)
Ken Peacock, "Lots of Fish in Bonavist' Harbour" (on NFKPeacock)
File: FJ122

Loudon Hill, or, Drumclog [Child 205]


DESCRIPTION: Claverse prepares for battle at Loudon Hill. His cornet would avoid battle; the enemy are too mighty to attack. Claverse calls him a coward and leads the attack himself, but his forces are defeated and chased from the field
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Scott)
KEYWORDS: battle nobility cowardice
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 1, 1679 - Battle of Drumclog. Covenanters defeat the army of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 205, "Loudon Hill, or, Drumclog" (1 text)
DT, LOUDNHIL*
Roud #4018
NOTES: The "Claverse" of Child's text is, of course, Claverhouse (James Graham of Claverhouse, First Viscount Dundee, c. 1649-1689, known as "Bonnie Dundee" and killed at Killiecrankie; see the entry on "Killy Kranky" for details of that battle).
Drumclog was not, in terms of size, much of a battle (historians have been known to call it "the 'battle' of Drumclog," because the forces were so small). After the restoration, Charles II had appointed James Sharp as Archbishop of Saint Andrews. Bishops were anathema to Presbyterians anyway, and Sharp was unusually obnoxious in his persecutions. He was ambushed and killed on May 3, 1679.
It wasn't really a rebellion, but Claverhouse treated it as if it were, and rode against the "rebels." They were only a few hundred ill-armed men, but Claverhouse had only a handful of troops, who eventually fled.
The success of the Covenanters at Drumclog did not last long; indeed, it helped induce their next defeat. The victory caused many more men to flow to the cause, but they were utterly disorganized. This rabble was defeated at Bothwell Bridge in the same year (see Child 206, "Bothwell Bridge")
There were actually two battles known as Loudon (Loudun) Hill. The first was fought in 1307 between the forces of England and of Robert the Bruce. Magnus Magnusson's Scotland: The Story of a Nation (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000), pp. 172-173, describes how the Earl of Pembroke challenged Bruce to come out and fight. Bruce did so -- but arranged the battle so that Pembroke's forces charged over a series of hidden trenches. The horsemen went down, and were slaughtered by the Scottish spearmen, with Pembroke fleeing with the rearguard. It was the first real success of Bruce's rebellion (though it probably would not have been enough had not the English King Edward I, "The Hammer of the Scots," died soon after.) It will be obvious that this song refers to the second Battle of Loudon Hill, usually called "Drumclog" to prevent confusion. - RBW
File: C205

Lough Erin's Shore


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

Lough Erne Shore


DESCRIPTION: Singer meets "a wonderful dame" on Lough Erne shore. As she is leaving he asks to go home with her. She says she will not "yield to men's pleasure." He says "I'll make you a lady of honor, if with me this night you'll come home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (IRTunneyFamily01)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection rake
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 115-116, "Lough Erne Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBoyle 14, "Lough Erne Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3476
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "Lough Erne's Shore" (on IRTunneyFamily01); "Lough Erne Shore" (on IRPTunney02)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lough Erin Shore
Loch Erin's Shore
NOTES: OBoyle classifies this as a reverdie. For more about reverdie vs aisling see "Ar Eirinn Ni Neosfainn Ce hi (For Ireland I Will Not Tell Whom She Is)."
As in "Sheila Nee Iyer" and "The Colleen Rue," there is no resolution for the Tunney-StoneFiddle version. Is there a broadside that ends the story one way or the other?
Lough Erne is in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. - BS
File: TSF115

Lough Ooney


DESCRIPTION: Murray was a friend "'til our great Irish nation" and the aged, poor, and sick. He and his friend McManus sail their pleasure boat on Lough Ooney in spite of threat of a storm. The boat sinks. Both swin towards shore but are drowned by high waves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Morton-Maguire)
KEYWORDS: drowning storm wreck
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Maguire 24, pp. 58-60,113,166, "Lough Ooney" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2927
RECORDINGS:
Big John Maguire, "Lough Ooney" (on IRHardySons)
NOTES: Morton-Maguire has no information about the event. Lough Ooney is in County Monaghan. - BS
File: MoMa024

Loughrey's Bull


DESCRIPTION: Cruel John Loughrey's bull attacks him for evicting tenants. He promises he will never evict anyone again. The bull kills him anyway, saying "if I was a landlord I'd treat the tenants fair." Nobody mourns the loss. Tenants should feed that bull well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: murder funeral farming humorous talltale animal landlord
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 50, "Loughrey's Bull" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: McBride: "This song recalls the death of a local landlord." - BS
There is an interesting symbolism, however -- though in reverse: Usually it is the bull (John Bull) which is harming Ireland. But there is a certain sense to this if one takes it in the context of the Land League and the Tenant Rights Movement -- an attempt to get the English law (often represented by a bull) to give tenants fair treatment. Could this have been a tale of John Bull's government actually enforcing its laws against a landlord? - RBW
File: McB1050

Louie Sands and Jim McGee


DESCRIPTION: Shanty: "Who feeds us beans? Who feeds us tea?/Louie Sands and Jim McGee/Who thinks that meat's a luxury?/Louie... We make the big trees fall ker-splash... Offers more examples of Sands & McGee's penury, usually with beans as the motif.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Shanty (from lumberjacks, not sailors): "Who feeds us beans? Who feeds us tea?/Louie Sands and Jim McGee/Who thinks that meat's a luxury?/Louie Sands and Jim McGee/We make the big trees fall ker-splash/And hit the ground an awful smash/And for the logs who gets the cash?/Louie Sands and Jim McGee". Other verses offer more examples of Sands & McGee's penury, usually with beans as the motif.
KEYWORDS: shanty lumbering work logger greed food nonballad worksong
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 19, "Louie Sands and Jim McGee" (1 text)
Roud #6521
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Beulah Land" (tune)
NOTES: One of the few worksongs I've seen from European-Americans who weren't sailors. - PJS
File: Be019

Louis Collins


DESCRIPTION: Ms. Collins weeps to see son Louis leave home; he is shot to death in a gunfight. All the young women put on red clothing in mourning; he is buried in the new graveyard. Chorus: "Angels laid him away/Laid him six feet under the clay/Angels laid him away"
AUTHOR: probably Mississippi John Hurt
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recorded, Mississippi John Hurt)
KEYWORDS: grief fight violence parting crime murder clothes burial death mourning mother
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Mississippi John Hurt, "Louis Collins" (OKeh 8724, 1929; rec. 1928; on MJHurt01, MJHurt02) (on MJHurt03)
File: RcLouCol

Louisiana Earthquake, The


DESCRIPTION: On a Sunday night, God sets the earth shaking. Singer stands expecting "louder clouds of thunder." In the morning "the elements were darkened"; six month pass, but the earth continues to shake; Christians fear, while "sinnersÕ hearts were aching"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (recording, Stella Walsh Gilbert)
KEYWORDS: disaster religious gods
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 16, 1811: Series of earthquakes begins, centered on New Madrid, Missouri
Feb 7, 1812: Worst shock of earthquake series
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Stella Walsh Gilbert, "The Louisiana Earthquake" (on Ashley02)
NOTES: The song's reference to the area as "Louisiana" suggests that it was composed shortly after the events; while the region was part of the giant Louisiana Purchase, it became known as Missouri Territory within a year or two after the earthquake. At the time of the quakes, New Madrid was the second largest settlement in the area, after St. Louis.
The earthquakes of 1811-1813 affected an area of a million square miles, and included the most severe shocks ever recorded in North America; the worst were felt as far away as Washington, DC, New Orleans, and northern Canada. The course of the Mississippi River was affected (and with it the boundaries of several states); islands and lakes vanished and new ones were formed; the river was observed to flow backward for a time. Remarkably, there were very few fatalities. After two years the shocks diminished, but small aftershocks were common in the area for nine years or more. The New Madrid Fault is still active, and shakes the region every few years; New Madrid residents sell T-shirts reading, "It's Our Fault." - PJS
File: RcLouEar

Louisiana Girls


See Buffalo Gals (File: R535)

Louisiana Lowlands


DESCRIPTION: Pompey Snow has "a good stiff glass of rum. So they buried him in the lowlands ...." "The fire bells are ringing boys, ... The steamer she is left behind ... so they ...." "This little boy had an augu-er that bored two holes at once ... so they ...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-Nova Scotia), from a copy c.1883 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: nonballad parody humorous derivative floatingverses
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-NovaScotia 129, "Louisiana Lowlands" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS129 (Full)
Roud #1830
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Golden Vanity" [Child 286] (chorus and verse beginning "Some were playing cards and some were playing dice" base for parody)
cf. "A Boy He Had an Auger" (another parody of "The Golden Vanity" verse beginning "Some were playing cards and some were playing dice")
cf. "The Fire-Bells are Ringing!" (see notes)
cf. "In the Louisiana Lowlands" (see notes)
NOTES: Creighton-NovaScotia may be all floating verses and fragments.
Its first verse, chorus and tunes are derived from the anonymous 1859 minstrel song "In the Louisiana Lowlands" which has nothing but form and, vaguely, melody to relate it to the "Golden Vanity"(see Public Domain Music site Music from 1800-1860). [It also reminds me a bit of songs like "Uncle Ned" and "Pompey Squash." - RBW]
[The third verse,] "Some were playing cards .." is either from "The Golden Vanity" or some other parody. The [second] verse beginning "The fire-bells are ringing, boys, there is a fire in town" ... is suggested by "The Fire-Bells are Ringing!" (1877) by Henry Clay Work (Source: Public Domain Music site Henry Clay Work (1832-1884))
The "original" "Louisiana Lowlands" air may be found at: LOCSheet, sm1881 03225, "Then Sing Louisiana Lowlands," unknown (New Orleans), 1881 (tune)
If "The Fire-Bells are Ringing!" or "In the Louisiana Lowlands" are ever reported in tradition they should be treated as separate songs from this one. - BS
File: CrNS129

Louisville Burglar, The


See The Boston Burglar [LawsL16] (File: LL16)

Loupy Lou


See Looby Lou (File: R554)

Lousy Miner, The


DESCRIPTION: "It's four long years since I reached this land In search of gold among the rocks and sand, And yet I'm poor, when the truth is told... I'm a lousy miner In search of shining gold." Tells how the miner lives hard while his girlfriend forgets him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Put's Original California Songster)
KEYWORDS: mining work separation gold
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Sandburg, p. 107, "(The Lousy Miner)" (1 text found under "Sweet Betsy from Pike")
Lomax-FSNA 175, "The Lousy Miner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 863-864, "Lousy Miner" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LOUSMINR
Roud #4755
File: San107

Lovana


DESCRIPTION: "I once knew a cot, It was humble as could be" around which birds sang and where Lovana lived. The singer describes her beauty as she bathes in the stream. He wishes he were a fish by her boat, or the wind in her hair, or otherwise near her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love courting bird rejection
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Belden, pp. 223-224, "Lovana" (1 text, from a very poor transcription)
Dean, p. 3, "Luluanna" (1 text)
Roud #4649
File: Beld223

Love (I)


DESCRIPTION: "There is true love and false love," and so on, "but I always like to hear of love that ends in matrimony." If you love a lady offer her your hand.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: love marriage nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 929, "Love" (2 texts)
Roud #6745
File: GrD5929

Love (II)


See Waly Waly (The Water is Wide) (File: K149)

Love and Whisky


DESCRIPTION: "Love and whisky both, Rejoice an honest fellow." If love leaves a jealous pang or whisky a headache "take another sup" as cure. "May the smiles of love Cheer our lads so clever; And, with whisky, boys, We'll drink King George for ever"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: love drink nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 73-74, "Love and Whisky" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bobbin Joan" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSong: "The most popular song of the heyday of Irish Volunteerism [beginning 1780] and which song continued a general favourite until the dissolution of the Irish Yeomanry Corps [started to decline about 1812 according to "County Armagh Yeomanry Corps" by Samuel Lutton at the Craigavon Historical Society site]."
File: CkPS073

Love at First Sight


DESCRIPTION: "I went to Ed Haley's, the day it was bright, I met with a woman I loved at first sight." The singer and his love discuss their histories; they agree to marry and live a happy life; she is very good at housework
AUTHOR: James W. Day ("Jilson Setters")
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 183-184, "Love at First Sight (1 text)
NOTES: According to Thomas, Setters wrote this to help one Tom Willie in his courting: Willie pretended it was his composition rather than by Setters. It seems likely enough; it's not exactly great art. (And, if I were Mrs. Willie, I'd be less than complimented... but then, I'm a modern male, not an early-twentieth-century female). - RBW
File: ThBa183

Love at the Brig o' Don


DESCRIPTION: Bessy jilts Jock (they had planned to wed) for a barber. Jock is saved from drowning after jumping off Brig o' Don, runs off "an' wis never mair heard o'" The barber leaves Bessy after their ugly baby is born.
AUTHOR: Alexander Robb (1781-1859) (source: GreigDuncan6)
EARLIEST DATE: 1824 (George Smith's _Douglas Travestie_, according to GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity sex childbirth humorous baby abandonment suicide river
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1208, "Love at the Brig o' Don" (1 text)
Roud #6796
ALTERNATE TITLES:
My Auld Lucky-dady's Tale
File: GrD61208

Love Gregory


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

Love Has Brought Me to Despair [Laws P25]


DESCRIPTION: The singer hears a girl telling of the grief her false love has left her. She seeks a flower in the meadow to ease her mind; none meet her needs. She makes a bed of flowers, asks for a marble stone on her grave and a turtle dove at her breast, and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: death separation flowers grief
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW) Britain(England(North,South),(Scotland(Aber)))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws P25, "Love Has Brought Me to Despair"
GreigDuncan6 1170, "In Halifax Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brewster 58, "Love Has Brought Me to Despair" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 116, p. 176, "The Auxville Love" (1 text)
JHCox 144, "Love Has Brought Me To Despair" (1 text)
DT 824, LOVDISPR*
Roud #60
RECORDINGS:
Berzilla Wallin, "Love Has Brought Me To Despair" (on OldLove)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24]
cf. "Tavern in the Town"
NOTES: This song has close ties with "Tavern in the Town," often sharing stanzas and, of course, a similarity of plot. Roud, in fact, lumps them (which seems a bit excessive to me). This may help explain why Laws failed to note either the Combs or the Cox version. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LP25

Love in a Tub (The Merchant Outwitted) [Laws N25]


DESCRIPTION: A vintner needs the consent of his sweetheart's rich father to obtain a dowry. The girl hides in one of her father's wine casks, and the vintner offers to buy its contents. The merchant agrees -- only to have his daughter revealed. He blesses the marriage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (chapbook by James Magee)
KEYWORDS: marriage courting trick hiding wine
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws N25, "Love in a Tub (The Merchant Outwitted)"
Belden, pp. 233-234, "Love in the Tub" (1 text)
DT 454, LOVETUB
Roud #556
NOTES: In 1664, Sir George Etherege produced a play called "The Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub." The plot is unrelated, and Etherege never produced anything else of even this minimal degree of note. - RBW
File: LN25

Love is Lovely


See Waly Waly (The Water is Wide) AND Carrickfergus (File: K149)

Love is Pleasin' (II)


See Waly Waly (The Water is Wide); also Fair and Tender Ladies AND Love is Teasing (File: K149)

Love is Pleasing (I)


See Love is Teasing (File: Rits024)

Love is Teasing


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, love is teasing and love is pleasing, And love is a pleasure when first it's new, But as it grows older, it grows the colder...." Lyric piece about the dangers of love: The singer gave up family and home, (and now has a baby without a father)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love abandonment baby nonballad home floatingverses
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1166, "Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny" (1 fragment, 2 tunes)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 24, "Oh, Love Is Teasin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 70, "Love is Pleasin'" (1 text, 1 tune, of four verses, two of which might go here, one belongs with "Fair and Tender Ladies," and the fourth could be from several sources; it could be a "Waly Waly" variant)
Roud #1049
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Waly Waly (The Water is Wide)" and references there
NOTES: This probably originated as a "Waly Waly" variant, and it can be very hard to tell whether a fragment belongs with one or the other (note the Lomax "Love is Pleasin'" text, which suffers from the additional handicap of being in a Lomax publication; I gave up and listed it both places). I finally decided that there are enough songs which don't say "Waly waly" or "The water is wide" to split then.
It does leave an interesting genealogical question, though: You could produce "Waly Waly" by combining this with "Jamie Douglas," or you could start with "Waly Waly" and have this split off while a few verses floated into the longer ballad. Or it could just all float.
Moral of the story: Be sure to check entries under both songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Rits024

Love It Is a Dizziness


DESCRIPTION: Singer complains that love "winna lat a puir body gang about their business." "I drill the land that I should plow" and other foolish things. Love makes him more drunk than whiskey. "I first grew dizzy then gid daft and noo I'll dee for Peggy"
AUTHOR: James Hogg (source: Chambers and Whitelaw)
EARLIEST DATE: 1829 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: courting love nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan5 934, "Love It Is a Dizziness" (7 texts, 6 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol I, pp. 152-153, "Love's Like a Dizziness"
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 122, "Love It Is a Dizziness"
Roud #6744
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy's Wedding" (tune, per GreigDuncan5 and Whitelaw)
NOTES: Apparently, Whitelaw has his text from Hogg (1770-1836). That text says "Were Peggy's love to hire the job and save my heart frae breakin O I'd ... gang an spear for Mungo Park through Africa sae dreary O." That would date the text to between 1795 and 1806. "In 1795 the Association appointed Mungo Park [1771-1806] to explore the course of the River Niger" (source: "Biography: Mungo Park" at About: African History site).
Chambers has as Hogg's tune an earlier version of "Love's Like a Dizziness." - BS
According to Fleming, p. 15, Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society, in 1799 proposed an exploration of the Niger. Nothing came of it at the time, but Banks also headed the African Association, which sent out various exploratory parties.
Mungo Park had led an expedition to the East Indies which had gathered useful scientific data from 1792 to 1794 (Brumwell/Speck, p. 283). This brought him to the attention of Banks and his colleagues. He was the leader of the first expedition to the Niger to actually get there and back: "Then came Mungo Park, an intrepid Scot who was to become a legend in the annals of exploration. He went out twice, in 1795 and then in 1805. His first journey was under the auspices of the African Association and was funded accordingly: he was given two days' provisions. He did, however, reach the Niger after many vicissitudes..." (Fleming, p. 16).
"Many visissitudes" is an understatement; he was robbed of all his possessions, and also was imprisoned for a time, according to Kunitz/Haycraft, p. 393. But his journal -- the oly book he ever wrote -- became quite popular, and he met Sir Walter Scott. It was almost a decade before anyone found funding for a second trip, however.
Park's "second [expedition] was sponsored by the government... and saw him leading a band of fourty-four British redcoats to find the rest of the river. One by one the soldiers died. By the time Park reached the Niger at the town of Bussa only five of his original contingent were alive. Then, on some undetermined date in 1805, he was attacked on the river and the entire expedition was wiped out. As soon as the disaster became common knowledge, Park was revered as a hero" (Fleming, pp. 16-17).
The diseases which had killed so many of Park's men continued to be a problem for many years. In 1827, Park's son tried again to explore the Niger and complete his father's expedition. He too died of disease (Kunitz/Haycraft, p. 393). - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: GrD5934

Love Johnnie


See Johnie Scot [Child 99] (File: C099)

Love Laughs at Locksmiths


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

Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)


DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives after a long journey, and appeals to the girl: "It rains, it blows, it hails, it snows ... love let me in." At first she turns him away because she is home alone. She changes her mind, takes him to bed and he marries her the next day.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Purslow)
KEYWORDS: love marriage sex nightvisit
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan5 983, "Forty Long Miles" (1 text)
Kennedy 90, "Glaw, Keser, Ergh Ow-cul Yma [It Rains, It Hails and Snows and Blows]" (1 text + Cornish translation, 1 tune, which shares elements of this song and "Let Me In This Ae Nicht")
Leach-Labrador 48, "Love, Let Me In" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, FORTYLNG*
Roud #608
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)" (plot)
cf. "Let Me In This Ae Nicht" (plot)
File: LLab048

Love Me or No


DESCRIPTION: "[I] will sing you a song, the best in my heart, For you know very well I have a sweetheart... But if he won't love me, kind sir, won't you?" If one lad proves false, she'll happily turn to another; "I don't care a straw whether you love me or no."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: courting farewell abandonment
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 493, "Love Me or No" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (subject) and references there
File: Beld493

Love O'God Razor


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

Love Somebody, Yes I Do


DESCRIPTION: "Love somebody, yes I do (x3), Love somebody, but I won't tell who. Love somebody, yes I do (x3), And I hope somebody loves me too." "...Love somebody, yes I do, 'Tween sixteen and twenty-two."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (recording, Sid Harkreader)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 140-141, "Love Somebody, Yes I Do" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Chase, p. 206, "I Love Somebody, Yes I Do" (1 tune, presumably this piece)
Silber-FSWB, p. 141, "Love Somebody, Yes I Do" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Barefoot Boys ,"I Love Somebody" (OKeh 45217, 1928)
Crook Brothers String Band, "Love Somebody" (Victor V-40099, 1929)
Sid Harkreader, "Love Somebody" (Vocalion 14887, 1924)
Land Norris, "I Love Somebody" (OKeh 45033, c. 1926; rec. 1925; on CrowTold02)

CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Soldier's Joy" (tune)
File: San140

Love Token, The


See A Seaman and His Love (The Welcome Sailor) [Laws N29] (File: LN29)

Love Will Find Out the Way


DESCRIPTION: "Over the mountains and under the waves, Over the fountains and under the graves... Love will find the way." A catalog of the paths love follows, and a praise of its overwhelming power
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1794 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 205-207, "Love Will Find Out the Way" (1 text)
Percy/Wheatley III, pp. 232-234, "Love Will Find Out the Way" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 189-190, "Love Will Find Out the Way" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #13167
File: FVS205

Love Willie


See Fair Janet [Child 64] (File: C064)

Love-of-God Shave, The (Lather and Shave) [Laws Q15]


DESCRIPTION: Paddy asks the barber for a shave on credit. The barber is prepared; he has a razor just for such people. The injured Paddy flees the shop. Some time later, he hears a jackass bray near the shop and assumes someone else asked for a love-of-God shave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1858
KEYWORDS: humorous animal trick
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Australia
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws Q15, "The Love-of-God Shave (Lather and Shave)"
Belden, pp. 249-251, "The Monkey Turned Barber" (3 texts, but only B2 is the piece; A and B1 are "The Monkey Turned Barber")
Warner 178, "Lather and Shave" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 120, "Lather and Shave" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 136, "Love O'God Razor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 211-212, "The Love-of-God Shave" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 227, "The Irish Barber" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 83, "Lather and Shave" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 483, "The Trust Shave" (source notes only)
DT 526, LOVEGOD
Roud #571
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(197), "Lather Em, Shave Em," John Ross (Newcastle), 1847-1852; also Harding B 11(1927), "Lather 'Em, Shave 'Em"; Harding B 11(2085), Harding B 11(2632), "Lather-Em, Shave-Em"; Firth c.26(49), Harding B 11(1867), Harding B 11(1868), Harding B 11(2633), "[A] Love of God Shave" ; Firth b.27(285), "The Love o' Good Shave"
LOCSinging, sb20272b, "Lather and Shave," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also as202090, "Lather and Shave"
Murray, Mu23-y1:067, "Lather 'Em, Shave 'Em," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(082), "A Love of God Shave," unknown, c.1870
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Firth b.27(285) is hard to read but has the tune as something like "Flare Up Neddy."
Broadside LOCSinging sb20272b: H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: LQ15

Love's Adieu


DESCRIPTION: "The e'e o' the dawn, Eliza, Blinks over the dark, green sea... Yet still my dowie heart lingers To catch one sweet throb mair." The singer says they have been blessed, but he must go (for no explained reason); he promises to remember and return
AUTHOR: Joseph Grant
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord); Grant died 1835
KEYWORDS: love courting separation
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, pp. 43-44, "Love's Adieu" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3788
File: Ord043

Love's Parting


See The Faithful Rambler (Jamie and Mary, Love's Parting) (File: HHH825)

Love's Young Dream


DESCRIPTION: "Oh! the days are gone ... When my dream of life, from morn till night, Was love" First love "'twas light, that ne'er can shine again On life's dull stream!"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3385))
KEYWORDS: love lyric nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 110, "Love's Young Dream" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3385), "Love's Young Dream", J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
NOTES: Not one of Moore's more successful pieces; Granger's Index to Poetry lists only two anthologies containing it, and there seem to be few traditional collections. - RBW
File: OCon110

Loved by a Man


DESCRIPTION: There was a rich young girl courted by an Irish lad who "has left her and gone far away" Her beauty has faded; "see what it comes to [to] be loved by a man." If he returns "she'll crown him with joy." She is "bound in love-chains and can never be free"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection separation beauty floatingverses nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 37, "Loved by a Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5232
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs)" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This song has floating lines rather floating verses such as "Her cheeks they were once like the bud of a rose, But now they're as pale as the lily that grows." - BS
File: RcLoBaMa

Lovely Ann


DESCRIPTION: The singer's friends take him to Belfast to sail to America on the Union and leave Ann behind. The ship hits a rock off Rathlin in a storm. All passengers reach shore in boats. He decides to stay home with Ann rather than try to sail to America again.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1826 (chapbook by James Smyth, Belfast, according to Leyden)
KEYWORDS: emigration reunion separation sea ship storm wreck America
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 26, 1822 - The _Union_ out of Belfast, bound for St Andrews, New Brunswick, is wrecked on Rathlin Island. The passengers were rescued and returned to Belfast (source: Leyden).
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #108, pp. 2-3, "Sweet Charming Ann" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 24, "Sweet Charming Ann" (1 text)
Leyden 34, "Lovely Ann" (1 text)
Logan, pp. 56-58, "Lament for the Loss of the Ship Union" (1 text)
Roud #5804
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 5, "Lovely Ann ("When I was young and in my prime"), T. Batchelar (London), 1828-1832; also Harding B 11(2221), Harding B 11(2222), "Lovely Ann"; Harding B 11(4087), "Lovely Anne"
Murray, Mu23-y1:032, "Lovely Ann," James Lindsay Junr(Glasgow), 19C
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Loss of the Ship Union
NOTES: Bourke in Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast v2, p. 17 lists this as an 1822 wreck without further details; his source is Tommy Cecil, The Harsh Winds of Rathlin. Leyden has details from the News Letter and notes that "many of the details in the song contradict those reported in the News Letter." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Leyd034

Lovely Annie


DESCRIPTION: Annie promisedsto be true but while the singer is in "the North Highlands to work by the day" she marries someone else. He would have preferred transportation. His "mind turns to madness since Annie's away" His master threatens to send him to Bedlam.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation betrayal madness
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 163-164, "Lovely Annie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5331
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "False Mallie" (theme: a man driven "mad" by a woman's infidelity)
cf. "The Green Bushes, The [Laws P2]," particularly the "Nut Bushes" version (theme: a man driven "mad" by a woman's infidelity)
File: TSF164

Lovely Annie (I)


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

Lovely Annie (II)


See Polly Oliver (Pretty Polly) [Laws N14] (File: LN14)

Lovely Annie (III)


See The Last Letter (File: GrMa101)

Lovely Armoy


DESCRIPTION: The singer is preparing to leave Armoy. He recalls all the pleasures and beauties of home. He describes his sad farewell from the girl he loves. Now in Belfast, he can write no more, as he must board the ship
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration separation parting
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H9, p. 186, "Lovely Armoy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13541
File: HHH009

Lovely Banks of Boyne, The [Laws P22]


DESCRIPTION: The singer is courted by Jimmie, who wins his way into her heart and her bed but then abandons her. She hears that he is married to a rich lady in London. She must remain in Dublin, far from her love and her home by the Boyne
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(316))
KEYWORDS: seduction separation betrayal
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws P22, "The Lovely Banks of the Boyne"
Morton-Ulster 17, "The Banks of the Boyne" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 160, "The Lovely Banks of Boyne" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 104-105, "The Banks of Boyne" (1 text)
DT 504, LOVLBOYN
Roud #995
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(316), "Poor Flora on the Banks of Boyne," H. Such (London), 1863-1885
NOTES: The following broadsides could not be read and verified: Bodleian, Harding B 11(3079), "Poor Flora on the Banks of the Boyne," J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; Bodleian, Harding B 11(3078), "Poor Flora on the Banks of the Boyne," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844 - BS
File: LP22

Lovely Banks of Mourne, The


DESCRIPTION: A farmer's son sees a girl bathing by the banks of the Mourne. He hides behind a bush to watch. At last she sees him and flees. He pursues, and offers her his hand and produce. She consents to marry. The singer will not reveal her name
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting clothes marriage
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H595, p.468 , "The Lovely Banks of Mourne" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9454
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Baffled Knight" [Child 112] (subject)
NOTES: Sort of a "Clear Away the Morning Dew" with the ending reversed. It's not nearly as much fun, though, which doubtless explains its limited currency. - RBW
File: HHH595

Lovely Banna Strand


DESCRIPTION: A German ship is bringing 20,000 rifles for the Irish rebels, but the car which was to meet the Germans crashes. The rifles are not delivered, and Sir Roger Casement, who planned the affair, is hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Galvin)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion execution injury wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1916 - The Casement affair (also the Easter Rising)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 45, "Lonely Banna Strand" (1 text, 1 tune)
PGalvin, pp. 57-58, "Lovely Banna Strand" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5234
NOTES: During the bloody stalemate of 1915-1917, both sides in the First World War sought ways out of the dilemma. Britain tried "peripheral strategies" (her reward being the Gallipoli campaign); Germany dabbled with submarine warfare.
The Casement Affair was another of these sideshows. Ireland wanted freedom (they had been granted Home Rule in 1914, but the war and the disturbances halted its implementation; that plus the absence of many loyalists in the trenches caused a slow but steady increase among forces devoted to rebellion in Ireland); the Germans wanted to distract the British. It was an ideal match.
Roger Casement (1864-1916) was a Protestant who was knighted for his investigations into European cruelty in Africa. Despite this, he became an Irish patriot in the decade before World War One. One might almost think this disturbed his reason.
In 1914, Casement went to Germany and negotiated a "treaty." Among its other provisions, it offered to form Irish prisoners of war into an "Irish Brigade" to fight for Germany. (It turned out to be more of an Irish Platoon; a total of 55 soldiers chose to join it; Kee II,, pp. 246-250.) In exchange, Germany would recognize Ireland. It would also, "[i]n the event of a German naval victory affording a means of reaching the coast of Ireland," send forces to Ireland.
Of course, the British navy was much larger than the German, and the Germans never won their victory. They only made one attempt -- at Jutland -- and while more British than German ships went down there, it was a clear British strategic victory. The German navy acted like a whipped cur for the rest of the war, and the sailors actually revolted rather than go to sea in 1918.
In 1916, Casement was still in Germany, being ignored by all parties. Indeed, he had spent time in a sanatorium (Kee II, p. 264), and plans were made to retire him to America. Then came the news of the Easter Rising. Germany decided to give this some very elementary support -- a tramp steamer carrying 20,000 rifles captured from the Russians (and probably not in very good condition), with minimal ammunition and a handful of machine guns.
Casement was horrified at this pinch-penny scheme; it was too little too late. No troops were to be sent, only the weapons. His protests achieved one thing: He was sent along with the arms. On April 9, 1916, the weapons set sail on the Aud (also known, to the Germans at least, as the Libau; Kee II, p. 266), a ship so cheap that she did not have a radio; she was disguised as a Norwegian freighter. Casement was to come on a submarine.
The Irish never made contact with the Aud; the ship showed up in Tralee Bay, but no one was expecting her until later. She waited a day for someone to meet her, was ignored, and left. Eventually the British (who knew many details of the plot) found the ship. Ordered to head for Queenstown, the Aud's captain blew her up before she arrived in harbor (April 22).
Casement had set out by submarine on April 12. Somehow the sub (U19) and the Aud failed to make contact. So the boat's captain put Casement ashore at Banna Strand. He was captured on Good Friday and recognized; on April 22 -- the same day the Aud was blown up -- he was sent to London. He was hanged for treason on August 3, 1916.
The Casement affair incidentally put another nail in the coffin of the Easter Rebellion. The rebels desperately needed weapons, and Casement failed to deliver. What's more, the rebels were only a minority even within the Irish Volunteer movement -- and the official and public leader of the Volunteers, Eoin MacNeill, didn't like the idea. He was left out of the initial planning, told only at the last minute, and convinced to go along with the help of forged documents. (MacNeill was something of a figurehead; Foy/Barton, p. 5, note that he was a university professor with the moderate leanings one would expect of such a man; Bulmer Hobson -- himself too moderate for the fire-eaters -- found him as someone who looked respectable. MacNeill never did really control the Volunteers -- but a lot of the moderate Volunteers thought he did, which would lead to much confusion in 1916.)
When the Casement affair came out, MacNeill went all out to stop the Rebellion. It didn't stop the Dublin rebels -- but it kept the rest of the country quiet. Rather than helping rebellion, Casement's cloak-and-dagger-and-puffery operation hurt it (Kee II, p. 262).
Casement's death, however, proved very valuable to the rebel cause. After a series of quick executions following the Easter Rising, the British govenment halted the shootings and simply imprisoned the surviving rebels. But Casement was treated as a separate case. He was tried and convicted, and the British parliament saw no reason to halt his execution, which took place on August 3. The British also released his diary; this seemed to show that he was homosexual (though charges were made that the references were interpolations). In any case, his death seemed to confirm that the British still were abusing the Irish. (See Kee III, pp. 12-14). - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: PGa057

Lovely Caroline


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

Lovely Georgie


See Geordie [Child 209] (File: C209)

Lovely Glenshesk (I)


DESCRIPTION: The singer has been "forced to my pen To write down the praises of the top of the glen." He tells of the birds and the hills of his home in Glenshesk, which he must leave tomorrow. His family has been there for generations; he grieves to depart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home rambling
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H544, pp. 165-166, "Lovely Glenshesk (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13476
NOTES: The singer claims his family has been present in Glenshesk since the Battle of Orra. All I've been able to learn about this battle is that it took place in the sixteenth century. - RBW
File: HHH544

Lovely Glenshesk (II)


DESCRIPTION: "This evening I take my departure from the lovely town where I was bred"; he is bidding farewell to friends and relatives. Having come of age, he must go to "a far foreign land." He describes the temptations faced by humanity, and hopes to avoid them
AUTHOR: John McCormick (?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection; tune collected 1905?)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H28a, pp. 194-195, "Lovely Glenshesk (IIa)"; H547, pp. 195-196, "In Praise of the Glen" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Tunney-SongsThunder, pp. 175-176, "Lovely Glenshesk" (1 text)
Roud #5281
NOTES: The Biblical allusion, "The Israelites they were in bondage and they murmured at their going away," actually refers to a multitude of troubles during the Exodus; whenever the Israelites faced problems, or just decided they were tired of something, they "murmured" and talked about going back to Egypt.
A handful of examples: Exodus 14:10ff. (the people are afraid when pursued by Pharaoh); Exodus 16:2ff. (the people demand meat); Exodus 17:2ff. (the people want water); Numbers 11:4ff. (more demands for meat).
The story of the serpent tempting Eve is found in Genesis 3. - RBW
File: HHH028a

Lovely Irish Maid, The


DESCRIPTION: Two lovers talk on Blackwater-side. He says "when I'm in Americay I'll be true to my Irish maid." She says "in Americay some pretty girls you will see." She says many who have crossed the Atlantic are drowned so "stay on shore." We assume he leaves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting parting dialog lover emigration
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 551-552, "The Lovely Irish Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
OCanainn, pp. 80-81, "Blackwater Side" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6319
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Down By Blackwaterside" (plot, lyrics)
NOTES: Kennedy lumps this with "Down By Blackwaterside," and I have to admit that there are strong points of contact, both lyric and in plot. This song, however, appears to take a slightly different direction, so I have, with much hesitation, split them. - RBW
The OCanainn text adds a verse to Peacock and ends "I'll stay at home and I'll not roam from my lovely Irish Maid." - BS
File: Pea551

Lovely Jamie


DESCRIPTION: Brothers Jamie and Darby sell their peat and drink away the proceeds. They enlist in the army and are sent to the Crimea. At Sevastopol, Jamie loses his legs. The rest of the song wonders how the family will survive with him crippled
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: war soldier drink injury disability
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1853-1856 - Crimean War (Britain and France actively at war with Russia 1854-1855)
Nov 5, 1854 - Battle of Inkerman clears the way for the siege of Sevastopol (the city fell in the fall of 1855)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H618, pp. 85-86, "Lovely Jamie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9045
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Patrick Sheehan" [Laws J11] (plot)
cf. "Mrs. McGrath" (plot)
File: HHH618

Lovely Jane from Enniskea


DESCRIPTION: Willy Bell meets Jane McCann. Neither recognizes the other. He asks her to marry but she is still waiting for Willy after ten years. He shows her the ring she had given him before he left for America. She welcomes him home. They marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Morton-Maguire)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation marriage America Ireland ring reunion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Maguire 5, pp. 9,101,157, "Lovely Jane from Enniskea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2901
RECORDINGS:
John Maguire, "Lovely Jane from Enniskea" (on IRJMaguire01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rocks of Bawn" (tune)
NOTES: Morton-Maguire: "The tune is the same as is generally used for 'The Rocks of Bawn' and also used for 'The Maid of Magheracloon'." Morton speculates that the Enniskea of the song is in Co. Louth. - BS
File: MoMa005

Lovely Jimmy


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

Lovely Joan


DESCRIPTION: Young man, out riding, comes upon Joan. He offers her a ring/purse of gold in return for a roll in the hay; she says the ring is more use to her than 20 maidenheads. She takes the ring, then hops on his horse and rides off to her true love's gate.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909
KEYWORDS: virtue seduction bargaining trick virginity
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Sharp-100E 57, "Sweet Lovely Joan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 64, "Lovely Joan" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SWTJOAN SWTLJOAN* SWTJOAN4*
Roud #592
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Maid and the Horse" (plot)
cf. "The Broomfield Hill" (Child 43) and references there
NOTES: Damn fool. -PJS
In Sharp's bowdlerized version, the young man asks Joan to marry him and says that the purse of gold is worth more than twenty husbands! - (PJS)
File: ShH57

Lovely Johnny


See Johnny, Lovely Johnny (File: RcJoLoJo)

Lovely Katie of Liskehaun


DESCRIPTION: The singer loves "lovely Katie of Liskehaun" from afar; she is "far superior in wealth." If Paris had seen her he would have chosen her over Helen. He leaves at summer end but he'll be back to "make application to my sweet young Katie"
AUTHOR: C.T. Ahern (per broadside Bodleian 2806 c.8(271))
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 26(383))
KEYWORDS: love beauty money travel
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn 99, "Lovely Katie of Liskehaun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3048
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(383), "Lovely Katey of Liskehan," P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.8(271), "Lovely Katty of Liscahah"; Harding B 26(384), "Lovely Keaty of Liskehan"
LOCSinging, as108160, "Lovely Katey of Liskehan," P. Brereton (Dublin), 19C
NOTES: In the nitpicky footnotes department, Paris (son of Priam) didn't exactly "pick" Helen of Troy. At the Judgment of Paris, he was to choose the fairest goddess among Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera. All offered him bribes, and Aphrodite's bribe was the hand of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. Paris left Oenone, the wife he had actually chosen, went off to gather in Helen, and -- well, you know the rest. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as108160 appears to be the same as Bodleian Harding B 26(383) printed by P. Brereton (Dublin). - BS
File: OLoc099

Lovely Katie-o


DESCRIPTION: Katie agrees to marry the singer but marries Mike Whelan instead
AUTHOR: Mark Walker
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity marriage
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 69, "Lovely Katie-o" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LeBe069

Lovely Lowland Maid, The


DESCRIPTION: Mary Ann sends her sailor away "because he looked so poor." She invites him in when he shows her "a purse of gold" Now he rejects her. She and another suitor kill the sailor for his gold. There is a witness. Both are condemned to die.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: greed infidelity warning betrayal murder poverty money trial punishment sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 620-621, "The Lovely Lowland Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea620 (Partial)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Cruel Lowland Maid
The Little Lowland Maid
NOTES: The Lesley Nelson-Burns site Folk Music of England Scotland Ireland, Wales & America collection includes a text named The Little Lowland Maid with a note that "This appeared on a broadside entitled The Cruel Lowland Maid that was printed by Ryle." - BS
File: Pea620

Lovely Mallie


See Yowe Lamb, The (Ca' the Yowes; Lovely Molly) (File: K124)

Lovely Mary Ann


See Blooming Mary Ann (File: Peac505)

Lovely Mary Donnelly


DESCRIPTION: "O lovely Mary Donnelly, my joy, my only best, If fifty girls were round you, I'd love you still the best." He describes her face and hair. He falls in love with her at a dance. She has many sweethearts. He is poor and has no hope of winning her.
AUTHOR: William Allingham (1824-1889) (source: OLochlainn-More)
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (Sparling); 1887? (_Irish Songs and Poems_?, suggested by OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: love beauty dancing nonballad hair poverty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 53, "Lovely Mary Donnelly" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 247-248, 495, "Lovely Mary Donnelly"
NOTES: William Allingham is known primarily for one piece, "The Fairies" ("Up the eairy mountain, Down the rushy glen"). Nonetheless he was a fairly major poet in his day; Patrick C. Power, A Literary History of Ireland, p. 159, writes "William Allingham was coeval also with the 'lost generation' [apparently the famine era] but he survived until 1888. He dispersed his talents imitating English poets such as Tennyson and his poetry is tinged with... pre-Raphaelitism.... Nevertheless, he wrote some ballads in the country style and poems inspired by his native Ballyshannon in County Donegal.... It appears that Allingham allowed himself to feel apart from the traditions of his native country...." - RBW
File: OLcM053

Lovely Molly (I)


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

Lovely Molly (II)


See Yowe Lamb, The (Ca' the Yowes; Lovely Molly) (File: K124)

Lovely Molly (III)


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

Lovely Nancy (I) [Laws N33]


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a girl and asks her what she is doing so far from home. She says she is seeking her love, gone these three years. He takes out his half of their broken ring and agrees to marry her and stay at home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (Creighton/Senior)
KEYWORDS: separation brokentoken marriage
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws N33, "Lovely Nancy I"
Creighton/Senior, pp. 187-188, "Lovely Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 746, LOVNANC2*
Roud #1449
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
File: LN33

Lovely Nancy (II)


See Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy (File: E153D)

Lovely Nancy (III)


See Cupid's Garden (Covent Garden I; Lovely Nancy III) (File: SWMS090)

Lovely Nancy (IV)


DESCRIPTION: In this confused song, the singer courts a girl, who accuses him of not loving her. He claims he courted her only in jest. As he leaves her, she "hopes you and I will be judged on one day." If he survives his voyage, he hopes to return and ease her pain
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting abandonment separation floatingverses
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H637, p. 385, "Lovely Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #443
NOTES: This partakes of so many songs it's almost impossible to list them. The first verse is "When first into this country"; the last is "The Diamonds of Derry" or something similar. In between, we see lines or themes from "The Blacksmith," "The Wagoner's Lad," and any number of other betrayed love songs. There are also a few catch phrases from other "Lovely Nancy" songs. But I can't see that the result qualifies as a version of any of these myriad sources.
The notes in Sam Henry posit a link to Laws H12, "The Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter," with which Roud lumps the song. Belden also alludes to the link, but says (correctly, in my view) that they are simply pieces on a similar theme. - RBW
File: HHH637

Lovely Nancy (V)


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

Lovely Nancy (VI)


DESCRIPTION: The singer courts Nancy. She and her mother reject me. Nancy marries "a boasty captain." He meet her walking in the fields; she bows her head and turns away. She knows she would have been happier with him. Young girls don't "throw your first love away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage rejection warning mother
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, p. 477, "Lovely Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9792
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of Sweet Primroses" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Floating lines shared with The Banks of Sweet Primroses: Come all young girls I pray take warning, Don't ever throw your first love away, For there's many a dark and cloudy morning Brings forth a pleasant sunshiny day." - BS
File: Pea477

Lovely Nancy (VII)


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

Lovely Nancy from England (I)


See Pretty Nancy of London (Jolly Sailors Bold) (File: R078)

Lovely Nancy from England (II)


See Pretty Nancy of London (Jolly Sailors Bold) (File: LP05)

Lovely Newfoundlander, The


DESCRIPTION: "You may sing of maids of many lands," but none beats the Newfoundlander. Her form is perfect, she is sweet, lovely, can row a boat, catch a fish, garden, "her brain is sharp as needles," she knows when and when not to talk, can sing and dance, etc.
AUTHOR: Chris Cobb
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: beauty dancing flowers lyric nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 370-371, "The Lovely Newfoundlander" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9788
File: Pea370

Lovely Ohio, The


DESCRIPTION: The listeners are urged to emigrate to Ohio. The delights of the country are described: fish in the river, good cropland, sugar cane, no Indians. Both men and women are encouraged to come
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: emigration home nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 39, "The Lovely Ohio" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 563, "We'll Hunt the Buffalo!" (1 text, 1 tune, with the chorus of "Shoot the Buffalo" and lyrics from "The Lovely Ohio")
BrownIII 77, "Shoot the Buffalo" (1 text, called "Ohio" by the informant and clearly this piece rather than "Shoot the Buffalo," though the two do mix)
DT, OHIOBNKS*
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Banks of the Pleasant Ohio
File: LoF039

Lovely Polly


See I've Travelled This Country (Last Friday Evening) (File: Beld194)

Lovely Sally (You Broken-Hearted Heroes)


DESCRIPTION: Jamie, a militiaman, is being sent overseas. Sally comes with him to Belfast, and cries at their parting. She left her parents for him; how can she go back? Jamie's father promises to care for her. The song concludes with a wish for all militiamen
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: soldier separation father mother home abandonment war
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
SHenry H549, pp. 81-82, "You Broken-Hearted Heroes" ; H 724, pp. 82-83, "Lovely Sally" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 111, "The Spanish Shore" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Moylan 178, "The Spanish Volunteer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9046 and 2784
NOTES: Sam Henry's two texts of this song are very similar though not identical; the same simply cannot be said of the two tunes. The first, said by Sean O'Boyle to be "The Winding Banks of Erne," is in G major and 6/8 time -- and takes shoehorning to fit the text. The second, though listed as being in G, looks to be in E minor, and is in 4/4. It fits the song much better, as well. The third tune, Creighton's, is in 4/4, but not identical to the Henry tune, though much of that may be the way Angelo Dornan ornamented it. It's clearly in G, though.
The two Irish versions do not say where the battle took place. In Angelo Dornan's Canadian fragment, though, the battle is located on the Spanish shore. Could this be a localized version? If so, then Ben Schwartz (based solely on Creighton; we had not at the time noticed that this was the same song as the Irish version) suggests this localization:
"My guess is that this refers to Irish participation on the Cristino side of the First Carlist [or Seven Years] War (for example, with the British Auxiliary Legion 1835-1837 (7th Irish Light Infantry, 9th Irish, 10th Munster Light Infantry, 2nd Lancers Queen's Own Irish) as at San Sebastian 5 May 1836 (source} Stephen Thomas's site re Military History and Wargaming)"
The above suggestion makes sense, though the possibility also exists that it's from Wellington's Peninsular campaign, or the various conflicts over Gibraltar and Minorca. We probably won't know for certain unless a more explicit text shows up. - RBW, BS
Moylan makes this a reference to the Peninsular War (1808-1814). It might refer to Irish participation on the Cristino [supporting Queen Christina] side in the First Carlist War (for example, with the British Auxiliary Legion 1835-1837 (7th Irish Light Infantry, 9th Irish, 10th Munster Light Infantry, 2nd Lancers Queen's Own Irish) as at San Sebastian 5 May 1836 (source} Stephen Thomas's site re Military History and Wargaming)
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, "Armagh Volunteer" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)).
Harte's final verse is substantially the same as the Creighton-SNewBrunswick 111 fragment.
Harte, like Moylan, has this refer to the Peninsular War. "It is significant that the 'volunteer' in the song says that 'He was for ced to take the bounty and then to sail awa.'" - BS
File: HHH549

Lovely Susan


See The British Man-of-War (File: FSC013)

Lovely Willie [Laws M35]


DESCRIPTION: A girl with many rich suitors is in love with Willie. The speaks of running away with him. Her father overhears and stabs Willie to death. At Willie's burial the girl openly rejects her father, vowing to spend the rest of her life in exile or die for love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: murder courting father elopement
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE,So) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Laws M35, "Lovely Willie"
Randolph 113, "Lovely William" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 30, "Lovely Willie's Sweetheart" (1 text)
SHenry H587, p. 433, "Sweet William" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 138, "Lovely Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 55, "Lovely Willie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 456-457, "Green Grow the Laurels" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 66, "The Father in Ambush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 19, "Lovely Jimmy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 107, "Lovely Jimmy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 71, "Green Grow the Rushes" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 436, LOVLYWLL LOVJAMIE
Roud #1913
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "Lovely Willie" (on IRPTunney02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low" [Laws M34] (plot)
cf. "The Green Brier Shore (II)" (lyrics)
cf. "The Lover's Curse (Kellswater)" (themes)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lovely Jamie
Willy
NOTES: The last verse of Peacock starts "Oh green grow the laurels and the tops of them small But love is a phantom will conquer us all," which is the form that resembles the beginning of the last verse of "Nancy from London"; that ends the similarity. - BS
This fragment also ends the Manny/Wilson version (and gives it its title); evidently that was a Canadian adaption.
There is at least one documented instance of this happening in Ireland: In 1798, just before the Rebellion, Lord Kingston was on trial for the murder of his daughter's seducer. - RBW
File: LM35

Lovely Willie's Sweetheart


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

Lovely Youth Called James McKee, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer loves wonderful James McKee. "I'm now despised, that once was prized, by him that I still adore." They had planned their wedding. "Him for to blame 'twould be a shame, 'twas these false maids led him astray." Warning: "tell your minds to none"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Hayward-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: courting love rejection warning
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 91-92, "The Lovely Youth Called James McKee" (1 text)
Roud #6540
File: HayU091

Lover and His Lass, A


See It Was a Lover and His Lass (File: FSWB155B)

Lover's Curse, The (Kellswater)


DESCRIPTION: The girl tells how she will curse any woman who courts Willie. Her father gives her two choices: Send Willie away or see him die. When she scorns the choices, he imprisons her. Willie promises he will not leave Ireland without her. The father relents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (JIFSS)
KEYWORDS: love separation father hardheartedness poverty courting marriage violence travel death sailor
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SHenry H695, pp. 442-443, "Kellswater" (1 text, 1 tune); also at least portions of H112, p. 288, "A Sweetheart's Appeal to Her Lover/Oh, It's down Where the Water Runs Muddy" (1 text, 1 tune, compiled from three different versions. I rather doubt the three versions were the same song, but at least part of it appears to go here)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 70, "On Board the Gallee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 45, "Jimmy and I Will Get Married" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, KELLWATR KELLSWTR
Roud #916
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy Heffernan, "In Bristol There Lived a Fair Maiden" (on Ontario1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Edwin (Edmund, Edward) in the Lowlands Low" [Laws M34] (theme)
cf. "Lovely Willie" [Laws M35] (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bonnie Kellswater
NOTES: The first few versions I met of this all seemed to start with the line, "Here's a health unto bonnie Kellswater," which seems to be the Irish form of the song. By far the larger fraction of the collections, however, seem to be from Canada, mostly from Fowke. Paul Stamler gives this description of the songs of this type:
A lady of [Bristol/London] is courted by sailor Jimmy, but her father opposes the match. She promises her father that, should she marry, it would be to an equal; he tells her that he's pleased, for he's found her a good match. She confesses that she loves Jimmy, and writes him a letter. They sneak up the stairs, but her father confronts them, holding a "fusee." He tells the daughter to choose between Jimmy's leaving or being shot; she tells him she'd rather see him sail than have innocent blood shed. The father relents and allows the marriage. - RBW/PJS
Edith Fowke notes that she was unable to find this ballad in any British or North American collection; neither was I. Plenty of father-opposes-match, of course, but none with precisely this story, never mind this ending. Fowke notes, "The reference to a 'loaded fusee' suggests a 17th-century origin, for according to the Oxford Dictionary, the term 'fusee' was used for a light musket or firelock between 1661 and 1680." Jim Heffernan, of Peterborough, Ont., learned the ballad from Jim Doherty, an older man who learned it from his mother. Her parents came from Ireland in the 1830s; therefore Fowke suspects an Irish origin for the song. - PJS
The Sam Henry version of this is very confused in viewpoint, with parts spoken by an outside observer and (seemingly) both the girl and the boy. One suspects some imported material. The plot seems undamaged by this. - RBW
File: HHH442

Lover's Ghost (I), The


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

Lover's Ghost (II), The


See The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248] (File: C248)

Lover's Lament (II), The


See Charming Beauty Bright [Laws M3] (File: LM03)

Lover's Lament (III), The


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

Lover's Lament for her Sailor, The


See I Never Will Marry [Laws K17] (File: LK17)

Lover's Lament, The


See My Dearest Dear (File: SKE40)

Lover's Resolution


DESCRIPTION: Singer's lover slights her "because I have not riches to disguise his poverty" If she were queen of England she'd resign the crown for him. She would travel with him "from seaport town to town," but he has left.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: poverty love rejection floatingverses nonballad
FOUND IN:
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.13(299), "The Lover's Resolution ("Love it is a killing thing, I've heard the people say"), T. Wilson (Whitehaven), n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Girl" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Bonny Tavern Green" (lyrics)
NOTES: The description is from broadside Bodleian Firth c.13(299)
Floating verses: from "The Irish Girl": "Oh, love it is a killing thing, I hear the people say." The queen of England line ("Was I queen of England, as queen Anne was before") is shared with "Bonny Tavern Green." There are lines that seem like floaters but are not lines I know. For example, "O was my love a red rose growing on yon Castle wall, And I myself a drop of dew all on the leaves would fall." - BS
File: BrdLoRes

Lover's Return (I), The


See The Last Farewell (The Lover's Return) (File: R761)

Lover's Return (II), The


See The Banks of Claudy [Laws N40] (File: LN40)

Lover's Return (III), The


DESCRIPTION: Mostly floating verses: "If I had listened to mother, I would not a-been here today." "Let him go, let him go, God bless him, He's mine where ever he may be." "I have a ship out on the ocean." At the end, "My own sweet Robert" arrives from over the sea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: love separation return reunion floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 111, "The Lover's Return" (1 text)
Roud #16411
NOTES: There may be a line or two in this song not paralleled elsewhere. There may not, too. But the combination is unique: The first verse and the "Let him go" chorus imply a betrayal song, the second verse is the floating "I have a ship on the ocean... but before my true love would suffer"; the last verse is closest to unique as it involves the man's return. - RBW
File: Fus111

Lover's Trial, The


DESCRIPTION: A listener hears a man and woman talking about marriage. She rejects him because she loves another who is "far away on the foaming ocean." He leaves and the listener reveals himself as her long lost lover.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting reunion separation dialog flowers
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 553-554, "The Lover's Trial" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea553 (Partial)
Roud #9794
NOTES: Peacock discusses the "fertility symbolism of the garden" and [observes] that "each flower of the garden has its own meaning." - BS
For a catalog of some of the sundry flower symbols, see the notes to "The Broken-Hearted Gardener." - RBW
File: Pea553

Lovers Parted


DESCRIPTION: To the tune of "The Ship That Never Returned": Two lovers quarrel as he prepares to seek his fortune. Both regret the quarrel, but they are never reunited. Listeners are warned against quarreling
AUTHOR: Music by Henry Clay Work
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love separation farewell warning travel
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 215, "The Ship That Never Returned" (1 text, filed as "a" under the parodies, plus mention of 1 more)
Roud #6552
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ship that Never Returned" [Laws D27] (tune, lyrics) and references there
File: BrII215A

Lovers' Farewell (I)


DESCRIPTION: The girl laments that her love came and bade her farewell, then went to war in the Low Country. He fought, and none knew where he fell. Now "he may sleep in an open grave, But I will wake on my pallet of grief...."
AUTHOR: unknown ("collected" by John Jacob Niles)
EARLIEST DATE: 1961
KEYWORDS: parting death separation grief war
FOUND IN: US(SE?)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Niles 17A, "Lover's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune, dubiously labelled as Child 26)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Three Ravens [Child 26]" (lyrics)
cf. "The Highland Widow's Lament" (plot)
NOTES: Niles lists this piece as a form of "The Three Ravens," on the basis of a few lyric similarities ("evensong"; "No man knows that he lies there / But his horse and his hound and his lady Mary"; "Oh, he may sleep in an open grave / Where raven fly and flutter"). The plot, however, is completely different, and reminds me more of "The Highland Widow's Lament," which tells of a soldier dying in the Low Country (on behalf of Bonnie Prince Charlie). The piece is quite beautiful, but one can only suspect John Jacob Niles's hand in it. - RBW
File: Niles71A

Lovers' Quarrel (I), The


See The Courting Case (File: R361)

Lovers' Quarrel (II), The


See The Keys of Canterbury (File: R354)

Lovers' Tasks, The


See The Elfin Knight [Child 2] (File: C002)

Lovewell's Fight (I)


DESCRIPTION: Captain Lovewell and his men set out to attack the Indians. They find and kill one, only to find their baggage plundered and the Indians planning an ambush. Lovewell is killed, and many others, but at last the Europeans reach their destination
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1824 (Farmer and Moore, according to Gray); there is a mention of a 1725 broadside that is probably this
KEYWORDS: battle Indians(Am.)
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 9, 1725 - Battle between Captain Lovewell and the Indians at Pigwacket (near Fryeburg, Maine)
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Gray, pp. 127-133, "Lovewell's Fight, I" (1 text, from a broadside)
Leach, pp. 714-716, "Lovewell's Fight" (1 text)
Roud #4026
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lovewell's Fight (II)" (subject)
NOTES: Lest the Indians be blamed for this battle, it should be noted that Lovewell and his men were scalphunters -- receiving one hundred pounds for each trophy they brought in.
Although the conflict doubtless worsened relations between Colonists and Indians, it seems to have had little real effect on history. I checked five histories of the period, and only one mentioned it: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., editor, The Almanac of American History, revised edition, Putnam, 1993 (I use the 1993 Barnes & Noble edition), pp. 79-80, notes that Lovewell's men brought home ten scalps -- the first known instance of Europeans scalping Indians. Schlesinger, however, dates the attack to April 20, 1725, and places it near Wakefield, New Hampshire, not Pigwacket, Maine. The dating in the Historical References is based on the song itself (Gray's version says that Lovewell's men encountered their first Indian on May 8 near Pigwacket).
This song is item dA27 in Laws's Appendix II.
To tell it from "Lovewell's Fight (II)," consider this first half-stanza:
Of worthy Captain Lovewell,
I purpose now to sing,
How valiantly he served
His country and his King. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: L714

Lovewell's Fight (II)


DESCRIPTION: Lovewell and fifty men set out from Dunstable. Other members of the party include Farwell, Harwood, Wyman, and Chaplain Frye. They kill an Indian, then are ambushed by 80 others. The deaths of several are described. Old men remember the fight sadly.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1824 (Farmer and Moore, according to Gray)
KEYWORDS: battle Indians(Am.) clergy
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, pp. 134-139, "Lovewell's Fight, II" (1 text, from a broadside)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lovewell's Fight (I)" (subject)
NOTES: Lest the Indians be blamed for this battle, it should be noted that Lovewell and his men were scalphunters -- receiving one hundred pounds for each trophy they brought in. For background, see the notes to "Lovewell's Fight (I)."
Although neither Lovewell song is very good, this one is particularly overwrought. To tell it from "Lovewell's Fight (I)," consider this first stanza:
What time the noble Lovewell came,
With fifty men from Dunstable,
The cruel Pequa'rt tribe to tame,
With arms and bloodshed terrible.. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Gray134

Lovin' Babe


See Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor (File: Handy190)

Lovin' Nancy (II)


See If I Were a Fisher (File: HHH709)

Loving Girl, The


DESCRIPTION: "Adieu, my lovin' girl, adieu, It wounds my heart to part with you, The time has come for me to go, Therefore your mind I wish to know." He recalls that "you loved me first," but she has lost interest; he wishes her well and sadly departs
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love separation parting infidelity
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 732, "The Loving Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LOVNGIRL*
Roud #7393
File: R732

Loving Hannah


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

Loving Henry


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

Loving Nancy (I)


See The Wagoner's Lad (File: R740)

Loving Nancy (II)


See Nancy (II) (The Rambling Beauty) [Laws P12] (File: LP12)

Loving Reilly


See William Riley's Courtship [Laws M9] (File: LM09)

Low Back Car, The


DESCRIPTION: "When first I saw sweet Peggy... A low-backed car she drove." "The man at the turnpike bar" was too stunned by her appearance to collect the toll. Men are knocked down by her glance. The singer imagines driving in the low-backed car to be married.
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1853 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 26(397))
KEYWORDS: beauty nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, pp. 87-88, "The Low Back Car" (1 text)
Roud #6954
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(397), "The Low-Backed Car", J. Moore (Belfast) , 1846-1852; also Johnson Ballads 1101, "The Low Back'd Car"; Harding B 11(2253), Harding B 20(148), "The Low Back Car"; Harding B 11(2254), Firth b.26(233), 2806 b.11(253), "The Low-Back Car"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(122b), "The Low-Backed Car," Poet's Box (Glasgow?), 1878
NOTES: Note that there is no connection, save the title, between this and the song we have indexed as "The Low-Backed Car."
The tune to this is said to be "The Jolly Ploughboy," but since there are several songs with that approximate title, it isn't much help. - RBW
File: OCon087

Low Down in the Broom


DESCRIPTION: "My daddy is a canker'd carle, He'll ne'er twine wi' his gear," the girl admits as she wishes to be with her lad. She details all the ways her family reigns her in. But she meets her love beneath the broom, and at last they escape and live happily
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1804 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: love courting family elopement
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 234-236, "Low Down in the Broom" (1 text)
Ord, p. 161, "Low Down in the Broom" (1 text)
Roud #1644
NOTES: Said to be the tune Burns used for "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose."
Ford's version of this is distinctly longer than the versions in Ord and the Scots Musical Museum; it starts with several stanzas about how Jenny and "Pate" meet, whereas the SMM text simply outlines how difficult the girl's parents are. It is not clear which form is older; Ford had it from a chapbook. - RBW
File: FVS234

Low Down the Chariot and Let Me Ride


See Let Me Ride (File: Wa170)

Low-Backed Car, The


DESCRIPTION: "It's onward we travel through life's weary journey Our thoughts oft returns to the bright days of yore, To the scenes of our childhood" in and around St John's. Some day good times will return and we will go back to "be happy by the old low-backed car"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: homesickness emigration hardtimes lament lyric
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 120, "The Low-Backed Car" (1 text)
Roud #17751
NOTES: Greenleaf/Mansfield notes that "This is a song about a boy who grew up in St John's but was forced to leave Newfoundland when economic conditions prevented him from getting a living there ... The low-backed car marked a street in St John's" - BS
Note that there is no connection, save the title, between this and the song we have indexed as "The Low Back Car." - RBW
File: GrMa120

Lowell Factory Girl, The


See No More Shall I Work in the Factory (File: Grnw122)

Lower the Boat Down


DESCRIPTION: Halyard shanty. "There's only one thing grieves me. Ch: Oh, lower the boat down! It's my poor wife and baby, Ch: Oh, lower the boat down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong separation
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Colcord, p. 63, "Lower the Boat Down" (1 single-verse fragment)
Hugill, p. 158-159, "Lower the Boat Down" (1 fragment, quoted from Colcord)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll the Cotton Down" (similar tune)
File: Colc063

Lowland Lass, The


See The Highland Lad and Lawland Lass (File: GrD1123)

Lowland Lassie, Wilt Thou Go


See O Row Thee in my Highland Plaid (File: GrD4865)

Lowlands (My Lowlands Away)


DESCRIPTION: Sometimes a ballad: The singer is at sea when his love comes to him in a dream. She is dressed in white, and he realizes that his love is dead. Other times a lyric, in which the sailor talks about his travels, his ship, low pay, and/or a bad captain
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1870
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor sea love death dream ghost
FOUND IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 80-82, "Lowlands" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 124-126, "Lowlands" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 100-101, "Lowlands" (2 texts, 2 tunes; the first is the dead lover version, the second the "Dollar and a half" version)
Harlow pp. 127-128 "Lowlands" (1 text, 1 tune, a "Dollar and a half" version")
Hugill, pp. 65-70 "Lowlands Away," "Lowlands or My Dollar An' A Half A Day" (4 texts, 2 tunes -- three dead lover versions, one Dollar and a half" version) [AbEd, pp. 61-64]
Sharp-EFC, XVIII, p. 21, "Lowlands Away" (1 text, 1 tune, a"Dollar and a half" version)
Mackenzie 109, "A Dollar and a Half a Day" (1 text)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 43-44, "Lowlands" (1 text, 1 tune); pp. 46-47, "Lowlands, II" (1 text); p. 47, "Lowlands, III" (1 fragment)
PBB 100, "Lowlands Away" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 43, "Lowlands" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H469, p. 144, "My Lowlands, Away" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 89, "Lowlands" (1 text)
DT, LOWLNDS LOWLND2 LOWLND3
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Johnny Boker" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917. "Lowlands" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #681
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "Lowlands Low" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
Anne Briggs, "Lowlands" (on Briggs1, Briggs3)
NOTES: This tune pattern ("Lowlands, lowlands away, my John...," with final line either "My lowlands away" or "My dollar and a half a day") has been used for at least three separate plots (which have perhaps cross-fertilized a bit): A dead sailor, a dead sailor's girl, and a more lyric piece about the bad conditions sailors face, the latter often having the "dollar and a half" refrain.
Shay, who apparently regards the dead sailor version as original, thinks this lyric item a much-decayed version of "The Lowlands of Holland." This is certainly possible, especially thematically, but there is a lot of evolution along the way....
Bone comments on this subject, "'Lowlands' is a very old song. There are many versions, but it seems to me that the lament in the air establishes it as an adaption of some old ballad....
"I have heard it sung on many occasions -- as a capstan shanty -- and always there were the three standard lines, repeated, as verses, 'I dreamt a dream the other night.' ... 'I dreamt I saw my own true love.' ... 'And then I knew my love was dead.' With these the chantyman felt that he had held to tradition and then warranted in his own right to hawk his own wares.'"
Hugill adds that it was "never too popular, as it was too difficult to sing properly" -- which strikes me as true; it feels more like a ballad than a shanty. Most shanties have a very regular rhythm; this has very little.
Hugill thinks the "'dead lover' theme definitely originated in Scotland or the North of England" (which again feels right, not that that's proof). But he also thinks the tune as "a negro touch about it." That part I'm not so sure about. He adds that it is "the only chanty in which Sailor John allowed 'sob-stuff,'" which he again takes as evidence that it was not originally a shanty or even a sea-song. - RBW
File: PBB100

Lowlands Low (I), The


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

Lowlands Low (II), The


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

Lowlands Low (III)


DESCRIPTION: Halyard shanty. "Our packet is the Island Lass, Low-lands, low-lands, low-lands, low! There's a nigger howlin' at the main top mast, Low-lands, low-lands, low-lands, low!" Verses mostly complaints and rhymes about sailing.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty work
FOUND IN: West Indies
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hugill, pp. 70-71, "Lowlands Low" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEb, pp. 64-65]
Sharp-EFC, XXIX, p. 34, "Lowlands Low" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8286
NOTES: Hugill says this is from ships the West Indian trade (sugar and rum), many of which had "chequerboard" crews, i.e. one watch white and one watch coloured. - SL
File: Hugi070

Lowlands O, The


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

Lowlands of Holland, The


DESCRIPTION: A young couple are parted (when the young man is taken away to sea). While in service, he is drowned. The girl vows she will not dress in fine clothes nor seek another man until the day she dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1760
KEYWORDS: recruiting death parting pressgang separation ship marines
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,Lond),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,NE,So) Canada(Newf) Ireland Australia
REFERENCES (24 citations):
Bronson (92), 22 versions
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 55-57, "The Lowlands of Holland" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
SharpAp 26, "The Lowlands of Holland" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #12}
Greig #83, pp. 1-2, "The Rocks of Giberaltar," Greig #135, p. 2, "The Lowlands o' Holland" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan6 1116, "The Lowlands of Holland," GreigDuncan6 1118, "The Rocks of Gibraltar," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "The Lowlands of Holland" (6 texts plus a single verse on p. 546, 2 tune)
Sharp-100E 23, "The Low, Low Lands of Holland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 83, "The Lily of Arkansas" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 72-74, "The Lily of Arkansas" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 83A)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 45-46, "The Lawlands o' Holland" (1 text)
Gray, pp. 88-89, "The Lowlands Low" (1 text, slightly damaged)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 113-114, "The Lowlands of Holland" (1 text)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 179, "The Lowlands of Holland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logan, pp. 22-25, "The Lowlands of Holland" (2 texts)
OBB 160, "The Lowlands o' Holland" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 132, p. 150, "The Soldier Bride's Lament" (1 text)
SHenry H180, pp. 149-150, "Holland Is a Fine Place" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 54-55, "The Lowlands of Holland" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 328-332, "The Lowlands of Holland (Scottish Version)"; "The Lowlands of Holland (English Version)"; "The Rocks of Gibraltar" (3 texts)
MacSeegTrav 12, "Lowlands of Holland" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 7A, "The Lowlands of Holland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 48, pp. 140-141,174, "The Rocks of Giberaltar" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT (92), LOWHOLLD* LOWHOLL2* LOWHOLL3* LOWHOLL4 LOWHOLL5 LOWHOLL6 LOWHOLL7* LOWHOLL8
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 213, "(The Lily of Arkansas)" (1 fragment)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #377, "The Lawlands o' Holland" (1 text)
ST R083 (Full)
Roud #484
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "The Lowlands of Holland" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
Paddy Tunney, "The Lowlands of Holland" (on IRPTunney01) (on Voice02)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(68b), "The Rocks of Bonnie Gibraltar ," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890; also RB.m.143(121) "The Lowlands of Holland," Poet's Box (Dundee), c.1890
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bonny Bee Hom" [Child 92] (given as an appendix to that ballad)
cf. "All Things Are Quite Silent" (theme)
cf. "The British Man-of-War" (tune)
cf. "Our Ship She Is Lying in Harbour" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lily of Arkansas
NOTES: "The Lowlands of Holland" is frequently connected to "Bonny Bee Hom" (Child 92), a link dating back to Child (who printed four stanzas of Herd's text). The matter has been much studied, without clear conclusion. It might be noted, however, that "Bonny Bee Hom" involves a magic device (the stone that tells the lover whether his sweetheart is true), a theme not found in "The Lowlands of Holland."
It will also be obvious that "The Lowlands of Holland" has been enduringly popular, whereas "Bonny Bee Hom" has had very little currency in tradition. - RBW
Roud assigns #2174 to "The Rocks of Gibraltar." Aside from the location being changed from "The Lowlands of Holland" there's hardly anything to distinguish between the two songs. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R083

Lowrie (The Adventures of Larry McFlynn)


DESCRIPTION: Dubliner Lowrie enlists in ignorance. Sentenced to be whipped on his bare skin he puts a bear skin on his back. He drinks his kit empty and stuffs a young cat in his knapsack. The captain recognizes a hopeless case and makes Lowrie his personal servant.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1843 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(14))
KEYWORDS: army ordeal humorous soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 81, "Lowrie" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5772
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(14), "The Adventures of Larry M'Flinn ("In the year eighteen hundred and thirty and three"), W. and T. Fordyce (Newcastle), 1832-1842; also Harding B 11(17), Johnson Ballads 456, "Adventures of Lary O'Flinn"
NOTES: GreigDuncan1 and broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(14) intersperse verses and spoken story line. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1081

Loyal Lovers, The


DESCRIPTION: Two lovers court in secret for two years. When her parents learn it they and some of her friends on him "laid a' the blame." He feels he must leave: "love winna lat me stay." He claims he will be true. "Long courting is as bad a thing, as any man can do"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: courting separation father friend mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1119, "The Loyal Lovers" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6850
NOTES: A few lines float from "The Wars of Germany" [Laws N7]: "And now he is sailing upon the sea, with a sad and troubled mind For the leaving of his countrie and his own dear love behind." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61119

Loyal Song Against Home Rule, A


DESCRIPTION: "I'm an Irishman born in loyal Belfast." Ireland "would be ruined for ever if Home Rule was passed." Gladstone "has got no idea of the blood it would spill ... don't let old Gladstone get you in a snare ... It's time long ago he was upon the shelf"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1893 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 100, "A New Loyal Song Against Home Rule" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Home Rule for Ireland" (subject: the quest for Home Rule)
cf. "The Union We'll Maintain" (subject: opposition to Home Rule)
NOTES: William Ewart Gladstone became British prime minister in 1868 and supported Home Rule for Ireland. He introduced his first Home Rule Bill, which was defeated, in 1885. His second Home Rule Bill was defeated in 1893. (source: "Home Rule" on the Irelandseye site) - BS
Gradually during the nineteenth century, the restrictions on Catholics in Ireland were lifted. But the memory remained -- and most of the land was still in Protestant hands.
Gladstone devoted much of his energy as Prime Minister to improving conditions in Ireland, disestablishing the Church (see, e.g., "The Downfall of Heresy") and granting increased tenant rights (see especially "The Bold Tenant Farmer," though the need for land reform inspired many songs).
Gladstone apparently thought initially that ordinary reforms would be enough to satisfy Ireland (see "Home Rule for Ireland"; also Kee, p. 58: Gladstone seems at first to have imagined that he could solve the problem of Ireland forever by two measures: first, By disestablishing the Irish Protestant Church and, second, legislating to compensate a tenant financially on conviction).
The success of the Land League and the rise of Charles Stewart Parnell eventually forced him to see otherwise (for Parnell, see e.g. "The Blackbird of Avondale (The Arrest of Parnell)"; also "We Won't Let Our Leader Run Down").
For most of the nineteenth century, the Irish had given their support primarily to the Liberals, who were more sympathetic to their cause. But Parnell, who by 1882 was the dominant force in Irish politics, wasn't willing to settle for that. In 1885, he urged his supporters to vote Conservative just to try to shake things up.
The result as an election in which the Liberals held 335 seats in parliament, the Conservatives 249 -- and Parnell controlled 86 seats and the balance of power (Kee, p. 89).
Prime Minister Gladstone tried to improve the situation with his proposal for Home Rule (partial internal autonomy for Ireland). Gladstone's 1886 Home Rule proposal was limited -- the British would still control foreign and trade policy, for instance. But internal affairs would largely be in Irish hands. Curtis, p. 380, notes that Gladstone's "portrait as 'the Friend of Ireland' adorned thousands of peasant homes."
Unfortunately, his own party was not united on the issue. A handful of members openly went over to the Conservatives; a larger block, headed by Joseph Chamberlain, remained devoted to other liberal reforms, but simply would not support Home Rule (see Kee, pp. 89-90; Massie, pp. 235-238).
The government fell, and Home Rule was shelved for seven years.
The second attempt was no more successful. According to Kee, p. 124, the 1893 Home Rule bill "occupied more parliamentary time than any other bill in the history of the century." You have to wonder why the Ulster Unionists -- who, as we shall see, went into conniptions -- were so worried; some wit quipped that Gladstone had no more power to pass Home Rule (through the Lords) than he did to install waterworks on the moon. The Lords not only rejected it, they rejected it 419-41 (Curtis, p. 386; Kee, p. 125).
That was about the end for Gladstone. It wasn't good for the Liberals, either; for fifteen years Parliament was split into four groups: Conservatives, classic Liberals, Liberal Unionists (Chamberlainites), and the residual Parnellites (now led by John Redmond insofar as they had a leader (OxfordComp, p. 475); in the election of 1892, nearly 90% of the Irish MPs claimed to be anti-Parnellite, but that faded over time. As Curtis says, p. 389, "After Parnell there could not fail to be a dull epoch for Ireland. His party was split and John Redmond took the place of the dead chief, but Tim Healy, William O'Brien and John Dillon were rivals rather than lieutenants, and it was 1900 before even the seeming of unity was restored). For the most part, the British government suffered gridlock, though the Chamberlainites occasionally managed to extract liberal reforms from the Conservatives. But there was no possibility of serious legislation for Ireland. The Conservatives were in almost complete control from 1886 to 1906 (Curtis, p. 386).
Still, Home Rule naturally concerned the Irish Protestants, who would inevitably find Catholics in charge of a Home Rule Ireland. In most of Ireland, they were too few to really resist. But in Ulster, or at least in parts of it, they were the majority. And they didn't want the Catholics doing unto them as they had done unto the Catholics. (They knew what it was like: Unlike the Anglicans in the rest of Ireland, the Ulstermen *had* been subjected to religious persecution -- see Kee, pp. 96-97.)
So the Presbyterians strenuously opposed Home Rule. The old Orange Society, which had been banned in 1836, was revived in 1845 in Enniskillen (Kee, p. 100), and a Protestant Defence Association came into being in 1867-1868 (Kee, p. 101-102) in response to the Land League and the British government's relatively mild reaction (Kee, p. 103). By 1884, Kee reports that 20,000 Orangemen were demonstrating on the anniversary of the Boyne.
If Zimmermann's 1893 date for this song is reliable, the probable inspiration for this song (apart from Gladstone's 1893 attempt at a Home Rule bill) was the great Ulster Unionist Convention of 1892 (Kee, p. 122); some 12,000 were said to have attended; they passed resolutions which stated that Ulster was an integral part of the United Kingdom, rejected an Irish parliament, and declared against Home Rule. One speaker declared that Ulster would defend itself if threatened with rule from Dublin.
Finally, in 1904, came the foundation of the Ulster Unionist Council (OxfordComp, p. 562, which notes that it was intended as "a unifying organization for northern uiononists. Ironically, it helped divide the national Unioninist movement; as Townshend notes, p. 32, Unionists in southern Ireland were a small enough minority that their only hope was to retain Union. The Ulster Unionists had a fallback position: Partition. The two groups thus ended up pursuing different ends.)
Even before the founding of the UUC, the Unionists had had a spokesman in Edward Carson (1854-1935). He was denouncing Home Rule in the government by the 1890s, and helped along the split in the Liberal Party that made Home Rule impossible. Eventually he managed to take Ulster out of Ireland. The irony in this is that he wasn't an Ulsterman -- and on issues other than Union, he was even relatively liberal (Kee, p. 169-170). But he openly declared that would support anarchy rather than Home Rule (O'Connor, p. 45).
By 1911, Ulstermen were rallying and marching -- with compliant Justices of the Peace being more than willing to grant them permits to drill (Kee, p. 171; Townshend, p. 35). Nearly 450,000 would sign a "Solemn League and Covenant" to oppose Home Rule, some with their own blood (Kee, p. 180). 20,000 signed on the first day alone (O'Conor, p. 46). They were pledged to "Stand by one another in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament and in the even of such a Parliament being forced upon us, we further solemnly pledge ourseves to refuse to recognize its authority" (O'Connor, pp. 45-46).
Starting in 1913, the Ulster Unionist Council formed a provisional government (O'Connor, p. 46) and started raising a private army which woul eventually reach 100,000 men (Kee, p. 182; O'Connor, p. 46, credits them with 50,000 men withing three months of their foundation), though at first few had weapons (Townshend, p. 33); they practiced with wooden mock-ups. They would raise a million-pound insurance fund (Townshend, p. 42).
Members of the British government called it treason (O'Connor, p. 46). That didn't even slow them down.
Home Rule finally came back in 1910, long after Gladstone was dead. The Liberal government of H. H. Asquith, which needed the Irish votes controlled by Redmond (Dangerfield, pp. 52-53), passed Home Rule -- only to have the Lords block it again.
Asquith finally hit upon the radical solution of limiting the veto power of the House of Lords -- in effect setting up a system where the Lords could block a measure for two years, but have to give in if the Commons kept passing it. Asquith won a narrow parliamentary victory on this point (for an intensely detailed description of how all this came about, see Massie, pp. 640-662 -- the chapter entited "The Budget and the House of Lords"; for something shorter, see the notes to "My Father's a Hedger and Ditcher (Nobody Coming to Marry Me)").
With the Lords rendered relatively powerless, a preliminary Home Rule bill eventually passed in 1913 (see Cronin, pp. 177-179). But English opinion had not really been tested on the matter (Kee, p. 176, notes that "Only some 94 of the 272 successful Liberal candidates... had actually mentioned Home Rule at all in their election addresses" -- and that the Prime Minister was one of the many cabinet officials who did not mention the subject).
Worse, the army was not prepared to enforce the law; a number of officers resigned rather than prepare to suppress Ulster loyalists -- the so-called "Curragh Mutiny" (Kee, p. 192). In trying to calm the mutiny, the British government made it effectively impossible to control Ulster loyalists. Indeed, future Conservative prime minister Andrew Bonar Law stood with Carson at a rally against Home Rule in Belfast (O'Connor, p. 45)
Chandler/Beckett, p. 210, sums up the situation this way: "After indicating that sixty officers of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade at the Curragh would prefer dismissal to being ordered north, Brigadier-General Hubert Gough received a written a written assurance from the Cabinet, amended into more precise language by Sir John French, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. When the government promptly repudiated any notion of a private bargain with a few officers, the signatories of the document -- Franch, Sir J. S. Ewart, the Adjutant-General, and J. E. B. Sealy, the Secretary of State for War, proffered their resignations. More of an 'incident' than a mutiny (no orders were actually disobeyed), the Curragh affair damaged personal relatinships within the army and bequeathed a legacy between the military and political leaders."
Then came World War I, which caused the law to be suspended (the Home Rule bill had been unravelling over the Ulster problem anyway). Kee reports that Prime Minister Asquith, after consultation with the main parties, "agreed... that Home Rule should become law and be placed on the statute book, but simultaneously with a Suspensory Act which would prevent it coming into force until a new Amending Bill could be introduced" (which, in practice, meant "until after the War").
Still, the bill formally passed and gained the King's assent in 1914. There was celebration in the streets of Ireland (Kee, p. 222)
And then came the Easter Rising of 1916 -- something that real Home Rule might have prevented (Townshend, p. 30, believes that the passage of full home rule, including Ulster, would have turned many Irish nationalists, including rebellion leader Paidraig Pearse and perhaps Sinn Fein founder Arthur Griffith, away from rebellion. O'Connor, p. 41, makes the same argument, noting that Pearse gave a speech, in Irish, applauding Home Rule when it came. I have to add, though, that Pearse in the same speech rejected the notion of even nominal obedience to the crown.)
But the rebellion meant that Home Rule never did really come into effect -- in part because of British brutality in the aftermath of the Easter Rising, and partly because Ulster simply wouldn't accept it. Plus, of course, many of the more moderate Irish had joined the British army during the war, and had died in droves in Flanders. The more militant nationalists had refused to serve. Thus, after the war, nationalist feeling was much stronger, and pro-British Irishmen fewer. Plus John Redmond, the man who had fought -- and compromised -- to win Home Rule had died in 1918 (OxfordComp, p. 475, thinks the crisis hastened his death; he was only 62), leaving Sinn Fein as the strongest political element.
When the pressure on Britain became intolerable, they gave Ireland the Free State and Partition rather than Home Rule in its initial form. In some ways, the Free State *was* Home Rule -- but it felt different, and opened the door for Eamon de Valera to make separation (and partition) complete.
We should note incidentally that the Orangemen did not really represent any particular segment of society; theirs was the minority no matter how you sliced the demographics. In the parliamentary election after Gladstone's Home Rule attempt, they lost even in Ulster (Kee, p. 106, reports that they won 16 seats, to 17 for their opponents). In Ulster as a whole, the population is said to have been 52% Protestant, 49% Catholic -- but a large share of those Protestants were Anglican, whereas the Orangemen were Presbyterian. Thus Catholics were the plurality in the nine counties of Ulster (three of which, to be sure, would end up in Ireland rather than Northern Ireland). And the Ulstermen didn't represent the majority of Ireland's Protestants, either; although Anglicans were everywhere else a small minority, there were enough of them scattered around the country that they as a group outnumbered the Ulster Presbyterians.
For more on how all this played out, see especially the notes to "The Irish Free State." - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Zimm100

Lubin's Rural Cot


DESCRIPTION: "Returning homeward o'er the plain Upon a market day, A sudden storm of wind and rain O'ertook me on the way." The singer shelters in Lubin's rural cot, where he entertains her delightfully. He offers marriage; she happily accepts
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford); 19C (broadside, NLScotland L.C.Fol.178.A.2(196))
KEYWORDS: home courting marriage storm
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 178-180, "Lubin's Rural Cot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #114, pp. 1-2, "Lubin's Rural Cot" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 955, "Lubin's Rural Cot" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6263
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(505), "Lubin's Rural Cot ("Returning home, across the plain"), E. Keys (Devonport), no date
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(196), "Lubin's Rural Cot" ("Returning homewards o'er the plain"), unknown, c.1840
NOTES: Why do I suspect there is more going on here than meets the eye? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FVS178

Lucindy, Won't You Marry Me


DESCRIPTION: "Lucindy, won't you marry me, Won't you marry me in the mornin'? If you'll marry me your mother'll Cook a shine-eyed-hen."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food courting marriage
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 6, "Lucindy, Won't You Marry Me" (1 fragment)
Roud #7854
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Richard (Irchard) of Taunton Dean" (theme)
File: Br3006

Luck Went With the Sealers Since Brave Colloway Led the Strike, The


See notes under The Sealer's Strike of 1902 (The Sealers Gained the Strike) (File: RySm064)

Lucky Elopement, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer drinks. He courts a girl whose mother calls him a drunkard. He elopes with the daughter to London where they are found and sent to Carrick Jail. At his trial for theft the daughter attests to his virtues, he is acquitted and they marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1867 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(96))
KEYWORDS: elopement marriage trial drink mother
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn 43, "The Lucky Elopement" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2559
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(96), "Luckey Elopement," P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867
LOCSinging, as108270, "Luckey Elopement," P. Brereton (Dublin), 19C
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as108270 appears to be the same as Bodleian 2806 b.9(96) printed by P. Brereton (Dublin). - BS
File: OLoc043

Lucky Escape, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer, born a plowman, meets a "Carsindo" who convinces him to go to sea. After a dreadful time aboard ship, he goes home and is told that his family has met disaster. When he declares that he will roam no more, he is told that all is well at home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: ship sailor farming separation home reunion reprieve
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Arnett, pp. 20-22, "The Lucky Escape" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1446
File: Arn020

Lucy and Colin


See Colin and Lucy (File: GC478b)

Lucy Locket


See Hunt the Squirrel (File: BAF806)

Lucy Locket (I)


DESCRIPTION: "Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it; Not a penny was there in it, Only ribbon round it."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Opie-Oxford2; they cite versions going back to 1842, but given the confusing history of the piece, this must be treated with caution)
KEYWORDS: clothes money playparty
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Linscott, pp. 37-38, "Lucy Locket" (1 text, 1 tune, which has the "I Wrote a Letter" verse, the "Little dog" verse, and the "Lucy Locket" verse but which is said by Linscott to use the "Hunt the Squirrel" game)
Opie-Oxford2 306, "London Bridge is broken down" (4 texts)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hunt the Squirrel" (lyrics)
NOTES: Much ink has been expended trying to link this to specific historical personages -- e.g. Linscott claims Lucy and Kitty were "celebrated courtesans of the court of Charles II." The Opies, however, declare that all such links are speculative.
I have not encountered this verse in isolation as a song (as opposed to a rhyme), but since it floated into Linscott's version of "Hunt the Squirrel," I list it here as a piece that is sometimes sung. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: OpOx312

Lucy Long (I)


DESCRIPTION: "If I had a scolding wife, As sure as you are born, I'd take her down to New Orleans And trade her off for corn."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: apparently 1854, when a "Lucy Long" tune was cited in Put's Golden Songster
KEYWORDS: wife shrewishness
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 279, "If I Had a Scolding Wife" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
BrownII 200, "If I Had a Scolding Wife" (1 fragment)
BrownIII 415, "Lynchburg Town" (3 texts plus 2 fragments, 2 excerpts, and mention of 2 more, all with the "Lynchburg Town" chorus, but "A" and "B" have verses from "Raccoon" and "Possum Up a Gum Stump and "D" and "E" are partly "If I Had a Scolding Wife" ("Lucy Long (I)"); only "C" seems to be truly "Lynchburg Town")
Roud #7413
NOTES: Randolph and Brown both report this as a fragment of "Lucy Long," and I file it as such. It is interesting to note that both have the *same* single-stanza fragment; it seems likely enough that that one verse circulates on its own -- perhaps as the only traditional part of the song. - RBW
File: R279

Lucy Long (II)


DESCRIPTION: "One night when the moon was beaming, I strayed with my Lucy Long." The singer describes the beauties of their evening walk. He asks her to marry; she blushes, hesitates, and consents.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph); a "Lucy Long" tune was cited in 1854 in Put's Golden Songster
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 780, "Lucy Long" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7413
File: R780

Lucy Long (III)


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: ""Why don't you try for to ring Miss Lucy Long?" Verses involve meeting Miss Lucy, making various attempts at seduction, and being rejected. A frequent first line is "Was you ever on the Brumalow/Brumielaw?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1796-1853 (Broadsides); 1926 (Terry)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor seduction rejection
FOUND IN: West Indies Britain
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hugill, p. 396, "Miss Lucy Long" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 301]
Sharp-EFC, XXII, p. 25, "Lucy Long" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8285
NOTES: There are several versions of this in the Bodleian Broadside collection, though they lack the shanty's chorus lines. [These should perhaps be filed under Lucy Long (II).- RBW] Hugill says that Miss Lucy Long is a girl that often appears in Negro songs. - SL
File: Hugi396

Lucy's Flittin'


DESCRIPTION: Lucy's term was over and she "left her auld master and neebours sae dear." "I'm jist like the lammie that loses its mither." She and Jamie love each other but he only gives her a ribbon when they part. They won't meet again.
AUTHOR: William Laidlaw (1780-1845) (source: Ford)
EARLIEST DATE: 1810 (James Hogg's _The Forest Minstrel_, according to Ford and GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: loneliness love parting servant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1248, "Lucy's Flittin'" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Ford, editor, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland [first series] (Paisley,1899), pp. 170-172, "Lucy's Flittin'"
Roud #2641
NOTES: Ford: "This deeply pathetic ballad has so much of the country air about it that it has maintained its immense popularity almost entirely among the rural population."
From Peter A Hall, "Farm Life and the Farm Songs," pp. xxi-xxxi in GreigDuncan3: "The time between hirings was, in the mid nineteenth century North-East, predominantly six months ['terms'] and the hiring was generally called feeing." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61248

Ludlow Massacre, The


DESCRIPTION: Faced with a strike, the mine owners drive the workers from their (company-owned) homes. The National Guard moves in and kills thirteen children by fires and guns. Since President and Governor cannot not stop the guard, fighting continues
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (recording, Woody Guthrie)
KEYWORDS: mining strike violence death labor-movement
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 1913 - Beginning of the strike by coal workers against John D. Rockefeller's Colorado Iron and Fuel Co.
April 1914 - A state militia company (actually composed of company thugs) attacks the Ludlow colony of strikers using machine guns and coal oil. 21 people die, including two women and thirteen children; three strikers are taken and murdered. Eventually federal troops are called in
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 279-281, "The Ludlow Massacre" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 152-154, "Ludlow Massacre" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 134, "The Ludlow Massacre" (1 text)
DT, LUDLWMAS*
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie, "Ludlow Massacre" (Asch 360, 1945; on on AmHist2, Struggle2)
File: SBoA279

Luir A Chodla (Put the Old Man to Sleep)


DESCRIPTION: Gaelic: Luir a chodla, cuir a chodla, cuir a chodla, an sean-cluine, luira chodle, nigh a chosa agus bog deoch do'r tsean duine. English: Put to sleep (x2) put to sleep the old man. Put him to sleep, wash his feet, and draw a drink for the old man
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: age nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-FSNA 191, "Put the Old Man to Sleep" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Lomax claims this is a Gaelic version of "Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)." The evidence is thin. - RBW
File: LoF191

Luke and Mullen


DESCRIPTION: Sam Mullen goes looking for Luke; Luke says he doesn't want trouble, but Mullen picks a fight until Luke shoots him. Cho: "Wake up, Sam Mullen, put on your shoes/Get ready to catch ol' Luke before he leave this town/For Luke done laid Mullen body down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (recording, Horace Sprott)
KEYWORDS: fight violence murder death
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Horace Sprott, "Luke and Mullen" (on MuSouth02)
NOTES: That the song continues in tradition is doubtful, but Horace Sprott said he learned it from a fellow packinghouse worker, so it was part of oral tradition at one time. - PJS
File: RcLukMul

Lukey's Boat


DESCRIPTION: A song describing Lukey and his boat. The boat is "painted green... the finest boat you've ever seen," etc. Lukey observes that his wife is dead, but "I don't care; I'll get another in the fall of the year."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: ship humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 126, "Lukey's Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 46-47, "Lukey's Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 71, "Lukey's Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, p. 40, "Lukey's Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, pp. 44-45, "Lukey's Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 127, "Loakie's Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FJ046 (Partial)
Roud #1828
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Lukey's Boat" (on NFOBlondahl05)
NOTES: [According to Blondahl, Doyle attributes this to] Mr Roberts, and others, Mrs Ira Yates, Mr Andrew Young, Twillingate, 1929. - BS
Creighton's informants say that the subject of the song lived in Lunenburg. - RBW
File: FJ046

Lula Gal


See The Jawbone Song AND Crawdad, etc. (File: R259)

Lula Viers [Laws F10]


DESCRIPTION: John Coyer weighs his fiancee Lula Viers down with metal and throws her into the river. The body is not discovered for several months. Coyer is arrested, but is handed over to the army before going on trial
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: murder river
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct 1917 - Murder of Lula Viers by John Coyer. Viers was pregnant by Coyer, and he apparently preferred murder to marriage
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws F10, "Lula Viers" (sample text in NAB, pp. 62-64)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 144-146, "Lula Vires" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 79-81, "Lula Viers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 203-204, "Lula Viers" (1 text)
DT 804, LULAVIER
Roud #1933
NOTES: Laws was able to verify the basic facts of this ballad from the records of Floyd County, Kentucky (learning in the process that she was pregnant); see his notes in NAB, p. 65. - RBW
File: LF10

Lula Vires


See Lula Viers [Laws F10] (File: LF10)

Lula Wall


See Lulu Walls (File: R383)

Lulie


See Shout Lula (File: RcShLulu)

Lullaby


See Hush, Little Baby (File: SBoA164)

Lullaby for a Sailor's Child


DESCRIPTION: "Roar, roar, thunder of the sea, Wild waves breaking on the sandy bar, And my true love is sailing, sailing far For his rosy little boy and Shena." The singer bids the child sleep, and wishes a blessing on her sailor far away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: lullaby sailor separation nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H517, p. 7, "Lullaby for a Sailor's Child" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH517

Lully, Lullay, Lully, Lullay


See The Corpus Christi Carol (File: L691)

Lulu (I)


See My Lulu (File: San378)

Lulu (II)


DESCRIPTION: Composite of verses about Lulu and mountain life, e.g. "Lulu, get your hair cut Just like mine." "I went a fishin' an' fished for shad, First I caught was my old dad." "I'll give you a nickel, An' I'll give you a dime To see little Lulu Cut her shine"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (JAFL 22)
KEYWORDS: courting fishing nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 183, "Lulu" (1 text, clearly composed of parts of different songs as some stanzas are twice the length of others)
Roud #4202
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shad" (floating verse)
NOTES: This might be connected in some way with "My Lulu." But the Brown and Sandburg versions have only the woman's name in common, so I've separated them. - RBW
File: Br3183

Lulu Walls


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes "that aggravating beauty, Lulu Walls." She has stolen his heart and left him in "sad misery." He plans to offer to wed, but knows she will turn him down. If she were his, he would surround her with walls so no one else would see her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Walter Morris)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 383, "Lulu Walls" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 37-38, "Lula Wall" (1 text)
DT, LULUWALL*
Roud #3338
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "Lulu Walls" (Victor V-40126, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4437, 1934) (Romeo 06-05-53, 1936)
A'nt Idy Harper & the Coon Creek Girls, "Lulu Wall" (Conqueror 9065 [as Coon Creek Girls]/Vocalion 04203, 1938)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Lulu Wall" (Brunswick 229/Vocalion 5252, 1928)
Walter Morris, "Lulu Walsh" (Columbia 15115-D, 1927)
Marvin Williams, "Lula Wall" (OKeh 45467, 1930)
NOTES: Recorded by the Carter Family, and credited to A. P. Carter -- but given that the song was in circulation in the Ozarks in 1928 (Randolph), and in the Appalachians in 1933 (Henry), it seems a fair bet that the song predates the Carters. Though it is quite likely that the Carters rewrote it. - RBW
The Ozark folks may well have learned the song from the Morris recording. - PJS
And ditto Frank W. Anderson, who was Henry's informant, and so on. I wonder if Morris wrote it? It doesn't sound very traditional to me. - RBW
File: R383

Luluanna


See Lovana (File: Beld223)

Lumber Camp Song, The


DESCRIPTION: A song describing life in the lumber camp. The shanty boys are men of all places and occupations. Most of the song is devoted to details of meals, smoking in the evening, and sleep. Details of the song vary widely
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1896 (Delaney's Song Book #13)
KEYWORDS: logger separation lumbering moniker
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 210-211, "The Lumber Camp Song" (1 text)
Rickaby 14, "Jim Porter's Shanty Song" (2 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 104, "The Shanty Boys" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 141-143, "The Shanty Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 72-73, "The Lumber Camp Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 159, "The Lumber Camp Song" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 750-751, "Hurling Down the Pine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #5, "The Lumbercamp Song" (4 short texts, tune referenced); #7, "Hurry Up, Harry" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 38-39, "Shanty Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 2, "Cutting Down the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck 11, "The Shanty Boys in the Pine" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT, CUTPINES*
ST Doe210 (Full)
Roud #667
RECORDINGS:
Emery DeNoyer, "Shantyman's Life" (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jim, the Carter Lad" (lyrics)
cf. "The Herring Gibbers" (theme, tune)
cf. "Turner's Camp on the Chippewa" [Laws C23] (theme)
cf. "Falling of the Pine" (theme)
cf. "Johnny Carroll's Camp" (theme)
cf. "Dans Les Chantiers (The Winter Camp)" (theme)
cf. "The Winter of '73 (McCullam Camp)" (theme)
cf. "Burns's Log Camp" (theme)
cf. "Bunkhouse Ballad" (theme)
cf. "Winter Desires" (theme)
cf. "Hall's Lumber Crew" (theme)
cf. "Peaslee's Lumber Crew" (structure)
cf. "Dempsey's Lumber-Camp Song" (theme)
cf. "Trimble's Crew" (theme, tune)
cf. "Poupore's Shanty Crew" (theme, tune)
cf. "The Oxen Song" (theme)
cf. "The Boys at Ninety-Five" (theme)
cf. "The Fisherman Yankee Brown" (tune)
NOTES: Fowke states that this is derived from "Jim the Carter Lad." That they have shared verses is undeniable. I'm not quite as sure that this is a direct descendant.
Fowke lists her unique text "Hurry Up, Harry" as a separate song, and Roud surprisingly consents (#4363) -- but it has the same form and many of the same lyrics as this piece; the only substantial difference is the addition of the chorus "So it's hurry up, Harry, and Tom or Dick or Joe.... (and even that shows up in the verses of some versions such as Gardner/Chickering and Cazden et al). I'd still call it the same song, at least until someone finds a version other than LaRena Clark's.
Gray, p. xvii, states that the song "originated about 1847 near Muskegon, Michigan." He offers no evidence for this assertion. - RBW
Peacock: "For a marine variant with the same tune see... The Herring Gibbers, [which could be] the original version. However, considering the fact that the lumbering version has been traced back at least a hundred years I am inclined to give it priority" - BS
Much of logging camp routine was determined by the climate and seasons. It was easier to cut trees when the sap was not running, so the camps were active during the winter; this also let them run the logs downstream in the spring when the water levels were higher. This had the final benefit that it let some of the loggers farm during the summer. But it did mean that life in camp was rather limited in its possibilities. - RBW
File: Doe210

Lumber Wagon Blues


DESCRIPTION: "Some women have their troubles, The men have theirs likewise, Compare the two with agony." A mlliner's daughter loves a shanty-boy. "The shanty boy... measures Susie's waist" but dislikes her makeup. He declares he has learned to cook for himself
AUTHOR: George Nye (Georgiana Keopcke), according to Gard/Sorden
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (The Knapsack magazine, April 1929 issue, according to Gard/Sorden)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection humorous
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Robert E. Gard and L. G. Sorden, _Wisconsin Lore: Antics and Anecdotes of Wisconsin People and Places_, Wisconsin House, 1962, pp. 107-108, "Lumber Wagon Blues" (1 text, with no evidence that the song went into tradition)
File: GaSo107

Lumbering Boy


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

Lumbering Boys, The


See The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)

Lumberjack, The


DESCRIPTION: Recitation; the speaker praises the character of lumberjacks, despite their rough-hewn ways.
AUTHOR: Probably Marion Ellsworth
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering work nonballad recitation logger
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 98, "The Lumberjack" (1 text)
Roud #8879
NOTES: This, like the other pieces probably written by Ellsworth, does not seem to have entered oral tradition. - PJS
File: Be098

Lumberjack's Revival


See Silver Jack [Laws C24] (File: LC24)

Lumberman in Town, The


DESCRIPTION: "When the lumberman comes down, Ev'ry pocket bears a crown, And he wanders, some pretty girl to find." He stays at a fine inn till his money is gone, whereupon he regretfully returns to the woods. (When he is old, he marries a young girl who mocks him)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (Gray)
KEYWORDS: logger work drink marriage age
FOUND IN: US(NE) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Gray, pp. 58-59, "The Lumberman in Town" (1 text)
Lomax-FSUSA 51, "The Lumberman in Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #44, "When the Shantyboy Comes Down" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 28, "When the Shantyboy Comes Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LxU051 (Partial)
Roud #4374
File: LxU051

Lumberman's Alphabet, The


See The Logger's Alphabet (File: Doe207)

Lumberman's Drinking Song


DESCRIPTION: "'Tis when we do go into the woods, Drink round, brave boys! (x2)... 'Tis when we go... Jolly brave boys are we. 'Tis when we go... We look for timber, and that which is good." The woodsmen chop, the haulers haul -- and the merchants sell to the loggers
AUTHOR: John S. Springer? (source: Gray)
EARLIEST DATE: 1851 (Springer, _Forest Life and Forest Trees_)
KEYWORDS: logger lumbering work drink commerce river
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, pp. 15-17, "Drinking Song" (1 text)
Roud #15000
File: Gray015

Lumberman's Life, The


See The Shantyman's Life (I) (File: Doe211)

Lupe


See Charlotte the Harlot (III) (File: EM169B)

Lurgan Braes


DESCRIPTION: An apprentice boy left Portadown for Woodside on the Kelvin River. He thought of the girl he left behind near Lurgan Braes. He swore he would remain true to her. If he returns he will call on her: "if she is dead, or if she is wed, I'm at my Liberty"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1860 (broadside, NLScotland APS.4.86.6)
KEYWORDS: courting love promise separation travel Ireland Scotland floatingverses nonballad apprentice
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #72, p. 2, "Lurgan Braes" (1 text)
GreigDuncan8 1909, "Lurgan Braes" (1 text)
Roud #6273
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(76), "Lurgan Braes" ("The summer time being in its prime"), J. Lindsay (Glasgow), 1851-1910
Murray, Mu23-y1:034, "Lurgan Braes," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
NLScotland, APS.4.86.6, "Lurgan Braes" ("The Summer time being in its prime"), J. Lindsay (Glasgow), 1852-1859
NOTES: Greig: "'Lurgan Braes' is one of those songs which are compounded of several ditties and sorely lack unity and clear meaning."
In spite of Greig's comment there are few actual floating verses ("rocks melt with the sun," for example) but more floating ideas.
Specifically, [the singer] left Portadown in County Armagh. Woodside is on the Kelvin River, near Glasgow. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Grd81909

Lurgan Town (I)


DESCRIPTION: The singer steps up to a girl and tries to court her. She says she is pledged to Jamie. He says Jamie died in China, and shows the (broken) ring he gave her. She laments, and curses her parents who exiled him. He reveals that he is Jamie; they get married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation reunion brokentoken exile soldier
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H563, p. 316, "Lurgan Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6871
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. esp. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
cf. "A Bonnie Laddie, But Far Awa (theme: parents drive lover away)
File: HHH563

Lurgan Town (II)


DESCRIPTION: Catholic Inspector Hancock has changed Lurgan. You'd be jailed two days for singing an Orange song. He keeps the Fenian meetings safe. The police come to our dance and dance the girls to Garryowen. He breaks up an Orange demonstration on July 12.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: discrimination Ireland political police dancing
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 54, "Lurgan Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
OrangeLark 21, "Lurgan Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6870
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "The ballad was occasioned by the unpopular appointment of a Catholic Inspector of Police in Lurgan, Co. Armagh."
July 12 celebrates the Battle of the Boyne, 1690. When Hancock breaks up the demonstration, says the song, "We turned, shook hands, all we could do Was say 'Boys remember the Boyne water!'" - BS
File: OLcM054

Lurgy Stream, The (The Lurgan/Leargaidh Stream)


DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives in the country and sees a beautiful woman by the (Lurgy) stream. He asks her to marry him and come across the seas. She turns him down. He promises to be true, and tries again. She rejects him again. He mopes and leaves home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H65a, pp. 293-294, "Alt[i]mover Stream" (1 text, 1 tune); H229a+b, p. 360-361, "The Lurgan Stream" (2 texts, 1 tune. The two texts are probably different redactions of the same original)
McBride 52, "The Lurgy Stream" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6881 and 6889
RECORDINGS:
Mary Anne Connelly, "Lurgan Stream" (on Voice15, IRHardySons)
NOTES: McBride: "This is another Donegal song, popular in many parts of Ireland, especially the northern parts. Versions of this song were made famous in the earlier half of this century through recordings made in America by people like John McGettigan. Old 78 rpm records were sent home to the kinfolk by emigrants." - BS
File: HHH229

Lusitania, The


DESCRIPTION: Lusitania sails from New York for Ireland. "Three thousand souls she had on board ... Until those cruel German dogs, for her they lay unseen, And shattered her to fragments with their cursed submarine" Vanderbilt gives his life-belt to a mother.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship wreck sailor war
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 7, 1915: "At lunchtime ... a torpedo from U-20 struck the _Lusitania_. A further explosion rent the ship and she sank in two hours with the loss of 1200 lives" (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, pp. 117-118)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ranson, p. 76, "The Lusitania" (1 text)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 2, "The Lusitania" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7349
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "The Lusitania" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: The Lusitania's tragic story tells a great deal about the peculiar circumstances of the early twentieth century. The British, though long known for their merchant fleet, were losing the edge in passenger service, especially high-speed passenger service; the German lines NDL and HAPAG were taking over the market (Ramsey, pp. 5-8). Britain had only three companies competing in this market, Inman, White Star, and Cunard. Inman had sold out in the late nineteenth century, and J. P. Morgan by the early twentieth century owned the remnants of Inman and was controlling the White Star Line (Brinnin, p. 325; Ramsey, p. 12); Brinnin, p. 328, and Barczewski, p. 260, note that he was sniffing after Cunard as well, hoping to create a dominating transatlantic cartel.
To top it all off, the German lines were in alliance with their government (Ramsey, p. 10) and had a working arrangement with Morgan (Brinnin, pp. 325-327).
Cunard had long built its reputation on an amazing safety record (no passengers lost, *ever*; see Brinnin, pp. 272, 275, etc.; Preston, p. 62), but now, seeing its position drastically affected, it had little choice but to get into the alliance game itself. Dangling the threat of a Morgan takeover, they negotiated with the British government (Brinnin, pp. 328-331), and came away with a big subsidy in return for rights to requisition Cunard ships in event of war. The first ships to come under this arrangement were the Caronia and Carmania -- but the real prize, for Cunard, was an agreement to build two fast liners that could be requisitioned and converted to auxiliary cruisers. These were the Lusitania and her sister the Mauretania.
It was a difficult task to design such ships; PeekeEtAl, p. 4, notes that the designers were called upon to combine "the bottom third of the latest Admiralty design for a heavy cruiser [with] the top two-thirds of a super-liner." It didn't work; they ended up having to widen the beam (and, as we shall see, the result still wasn't as stable as a slower ship).
There were other interesting "naval" touches -- e.g. the equipment on her bridge was similar to that used on navy ships rather than civilian vessels, to make it easier for naval crewmen to use her should she be taken over (PeekeEtAl, p. 23).
When she was launched in 1907, the 30,396 ton Lusitania was the largest ship afloat, capable of over 26 knots for brief spells (Ramsey, p. 24). She soon won the Blue Riband for fastest transatlantic crossing, making the trip in less than five days and averaging almost 24 knots for the entire trip (Ramsey, pp. 27-28). She thus became the first-ever "four day ship" (Brinnin, p. 342). The only ship to compete with her in speed was her sister Mauretania, which proved to be ever so slightly faster and in fact held the Blue Riband for an incredible 22 years (Brinnin, p. 344). Mauretania also managed the incredible feat of completing all her crossings over a long period in a time that varied by only about ten minutes (Brinnin, p. 345).
(We should note that a misconception found in many histories is false. The Lusitania and Mauretania were *not* the fastest ships in the world -- contrary even to an assertion made by Lusitania's crew to her passengers in 1915; see Simpson, p. 112. The sisters were the fastest *liners*, but by 1915, there were all sorts of ships capable of catching her. Taking the data in Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I, the 1912 battlecruiser Tiger could reach 28 knots, the 1913 light cruisers of the Aurora class averaged about 28, and the 1911 "K" class destroyers hit 31 knots. Even the battleships of the Queen Elizabeth class could reach 24-25 knots. And ships with an even higher turn of speed were produced during the war. Germany had no Queen Elizabeths, but they had battlecruisers and destroyers that could catch Lusitania and Mauretania. It's just that their submarines couldn't. Nor would any knowledgeable person have denied the existence of faster ships; even her builders at the time of her launching claimed only that he could move "at a speed only previously accomplished by a torpedo boat destroyer"; PeekeEtAl, p. 16).
Apart from being fast, the sisters was also allowed passengers luxuries never before seen (and not to be matched until White Star produced the Olympic and Titanic four years later). They used electricity for many functions previously done by hand or hydraulically, and their cabins were half again as large as previous liners (Brinnin, p. 342). As designed, the Lusitania had four boiler rooms and capacity for 552 first class passengers, 460 second class, 1186 third class, and 827 crew (Ramsey, p. 25).
There were a few glitches in the basic design. As originally built, Lusitania vibrated so badly at high speed that she had to be taken in for a major refit (Ballard, p. 22; Preston, p. 62). The repairs succeeded, for the most part, but they perhaps indicated some structural problems -- PeekeEtAl, pp. 25-26, says that the problem was the lack of decent reduction gearing to allow fast-running turbines to drive the screw propellers (which operate better at a lower rotation rate) at a reasonable speed. Other than that, the ship performed better than expectations in every regard.
Reading PeekEtAl, though, I can't help but note how much time she spent in the dock, getting new screws, having her turbine blades repaired, or having the structure reworked -- just generally being fiddled with. Not the best testimony to her strength of design.
Despite her design problems, Lusitania was in many ways a stronger ship than her slightly later contemporary, the Titanic; Titanic had only 16 watertight cells, Lusitania 34 (Ballard, p. 23). Unlike Titanic, she was pretty close to iceberg-proof.
But, of course, she never ran into an iceberg. The surprise was that she proved so vulnerable to man-made attack. This was a at least partly due to the many demands placed on her design. A 1907 heavy cruiser had a displacement in the 14,000 ton range. Lusitania was over twice that. Which meant a lot of boilers, which had to run most of the width of the ship, as did the coal bunkers. The boiler rooms and bunkers were so large that, if flooded, they would cost the ship most of its buoyancy. The only solution was "longitudinal bulkheads" -- that is, instead of a full honeycomb, with from one to three bulkheads along the length of the ship and assorted bulkheads across the width, in the area of the boilers and bunkers, the rooms took up nearly the whole width of the ship, with only small compartments to the port and starboard sides for additional protection (PeekeEtAl, pp. 6-7). The arrangement really was iceberg-proof -- but if, somehow, one of those longitudinal bulkheads was breached, it meant that the ship would lose power and also would run the risk of sinking. If hit just wrong, so that two such bulkheads were breached, she would almost certainly sink.
And there was more. To keep the ship moving at full speed required huge amounts of coal. And the only place to put it, given that the rest of the ship was spoken for, was in the longitudinal bunkers. Which meant cutting doors in the wall. And it turns out that they were almost impossible to close, once opened, because of all the coal and coal dust in them. This wasn't considered a major concern at the time; the designers had thought of icebergs, and plunging shellfire -- but not torpedo hits below the waterline (PeekeEtAl, p. 7).
It's also worth noting that Lusitania wasn't really suited to be a warship, despite the gun mountings built into her original design (which were actually fitted at a refit in 1913; PeekeEtAl, p. 37); to achieve her high speed, she was very long and lean. This meant that she (and Mauretania as well) was not particularly stable; in heavy weather, the bow could pitch wildly into the air, then bury itself in the seas; she was a very "wet" ship (Barczewski, p. 261). This would have made her a poor gun platform; battleships in particular tend to be very broad of beam, to help keep the guns on target. Indeed, the Admiralty soon after the start of the War refitted the Carmania as an auxiliary cruiser, and she succeeded in sinking a German refitted liner, the Cap Trafalgar -- but the experiment showed how ineffective the Carmania was as a warship (Brinnin, pp. 407-409, tells of the battle, which resulted in severe damage to the Carmania as well; both ships needed dozen of hits to sink their opponents. Brinnin, p. 410, calls it a "Gilbert and Sullivan gunfight.").
This should probably have been obvious all along. Most converted liners -- "auxiliary cruisers" -- were armed with guns in the four inch to six inch range, with no more than twelve fitted, and obviously none of them centerline mounted. This meant that most liners would have offensive power somewhere between a destroyer and a weak light cruiser (and without a destroyer's antisubmarine weapons). But the liner needed at least as many men as a light cruiser, was slower than some cruisers and all destroyers, and burned more coal. Armed merchant cruisers weren't useful offensive weapons. The Admiralty largely abandoned the idea of arming the luxury liners; they just weren't effective enough for the task (Preston, p. 386).
The plans for the Lusitania apparently specified a dozen six inch guns (Ramsey, p. 188). The Lusitania would have been in the light cruiser range, but unarmored and making a much bigger target. Nor would there have been a good place for a gun platform to centrally direct the guns.
That didn't mean the Admiralty wouldn't use the liners, though. Britain had a lot of soldiers to move, and a lot of freight to haul, and liners were excellent for the first function and could be refitted to do the latter also. Lusitania would be one of the ships so modified.
It's at this point that things get a little murky. That Lusitania underwent a refit is certain. But many claims have been made about what was done during the refit. Simpson, pp. 27-28, claims that she actually was given guns at this time during a dockyard stay beginning August 8 (pretty amazing, given that the war had started only four days earlier).
But even Simpson allows that she never sailed as an auxiliary cruiser (p. 37), and seems to admit that she never went out armed. A member of the expedition of John Light, who dived to the ship in the 1960s, thought he saw guns (O'Sullivan, p. 36) -- but he worked in very bad conditions, in which mistakes were quite possible (Preston, pp. 386-387); O'Sullivan admits that "to date nothing has been found to substantiate his claims." The passengers' accounts uniformly denied seeing weapons (Preston, p. 387), even though at least one specifically searched for them (Preston, pp. 133). A few paranoids have suggested that she carried guns in her holds which could be put into the gun rings when needed -- but this is simply ridiculous; you don't take 6" guns and casually haul them up an elevator and drop them in a gun mounting. And even if you did, the guns would need to be calibrated (Ramsey, p. 188).
Ramsey, pp. 186-192, documents how the story that she was armed arose, but also shows why it is false. Even if you doubt the British records, Ballard's exploration (much more thorough than Light's) would have shown guns on her decks, and evidence of secondary explosions from her shells, and it showed neither.
So what was the Admiralty doing to Lusitania during the refit? Primarily converting her to carry more cargo. They opened out some passenger space for storage and other purposes (Ramsey, p. 36; PeekeEtAl, p. 43), incidentally affecting her stability somewhat and worsening that pesky vibration (Ramsey, p. 39; Simpson, p. 45). It also caused significant inconvenience for the passengers. But the navy left her in merchant service, though it began to control her route, schedule, and loading (Preston, p. 64; PeekeEtAl, p. 43).
This was actually against Cunard's wishes. With the war on, transatlantic traffic fell dramatically. Lusitania didn't have enough passengers to make a profit (PeekeEtAl, p. 43, estimates a two thousand pound loss per trip), but the admiralty wouldn't let her change her schedule; they wanted her bringing supplies. The government's only promises were to continue the subsidy to the ships, to pay for cargo space, and to insure the ship (Simpson, p. 38). The admiralty would determine her course and sailing time.
It was a recipe for big losses. The only answer Cunard could find was to close down one of her four boiler rooms (to save coal; Ballard, pp. 30-31, and also to reduce the number of stokers needed; Simpson, p. 85). The shut-down of the boilers allowed her to roughly break even despite the reduced passenger load, but it also reduced her speed significantly (to about 21 knots; PeekeEtAl, p. 44) -- and all that time spent fiddling around also reduced her efficiency and caused some of her equipment to deteriorate (Ramsey. p. 51).
Therre does not seem to have been any fear at the time that a submarine would attack her; the Germans did not start unrestricted submarine warfare until later, and in any case, no submarine had sunk a ship moving faster than 14 knots (Preston, p. 93), and she would still easily exceed that. There had been a story that, early in the war, she was chased by a German cruiser -- a story which Simpson accepts. But PeekeEtAl, p. 42, shows that this simply did not happen.
The war didn't just cause the Lusitania to change what she carried and how she sailed. It also cost her most of her more experienced crew; the sailors ended up in the navy and some of the stewards and such were in the army. Their replacements were inexperienced (Simpson, p. 102, says that she managed to find only 41 able seamen for the last trip, though she was supposed to have at least 77), and such crew as could be found had a significant tendency to desert upon reaching New York (Ballard, p. 59). Some spoke poor English, and few knew their way around the ship.
It was not a good combination should there be an emergency. And as for lowering the boats -- well, unlike the Titanic three years earlier, they had boat drills, but a passenger reported that they involved only two boats, and even those were not actually lowered (Ballard, p. 63; Preston, p. 131, and PeekeEtAl, p. 58, describe a few crew members simply climbing into a selected boat and then getting out -- PeekeEtAl, pp. 58-59 argues that this was about all that could have been done, since the boats could not be lowered while the ship was moving, but surely the passengers could at least have been shown how to board). Obviously the crew and passengers would not be ready in the event of disaster. (Simpson, p. 102, is of the opinion that the crew simply lied about her disaster preparedness; PeekeEtAl, p. 59, thinks the boat drills were solely to reassure the passengers.)
Topping it all off, Lusitania's schedule was reduced to one round trip per month, making it harder for the crew to become accustomed to their tasks (Ballard, p. 208).
During the war, the ship continued to run primarily passengers, but she did carry some war-related cargo on her final voyages. (The British naturally concealed some of this until after the war, contributing to Simpson's air of paranoia.) O'Sullivan, p. 117, notes that under American law "no vessel could legally sail with any explosives likely to endanger the health or lives of passengers or the safety of the vessel."
The question, of course, is whether her cargo did in fact violate the American rules. It appears, contrary to O'Sullivan, that it did not. Just what she was carrying on her last trip is slightly uncertain; some of it was munitions -- some four million rifle cartridges (Hoehling, p. 96,calls them practice cartridges, but mot sources seem to think they were for ordinary military use) and 5000 3-inch shells (Ramsey, p. 56). Ballard, p. 27, notes that these were considered legitimate items to transport on a passenger liner even in wartime, since they were not explosive (cf. O'Sullivan, p. 133; Preston, pp. 368-369, which has some of the court evidence on the matter). Brinnin, p. 422, observes that the shell casings were not loaded with explosives (they were "filled," i.e. the shrapnel had been loaded -- but shrapnel is not itself explosive; O'Sullivan, pp. 131-132. The actual charges would be installed in England).
This has actually been verified; a handful of unfilled fuses have been brought up from the wreck (Preston, p. 389), and the measurement of the weight of the shells shows they were unfilled (Preston, p. 390).
Simpson observes that the British were playing a bit fast and loose with cargo manifests at the time. In effect, they submitted one well in advance with her "standard" cargo, then another with last-minute changes. Not too surprisingly, most of the last-minute changes involved perishable items like food -- given Britain's need for foodstuffs, the local buyers would naturally take whatever they could lay their hands on and find space for in the cargo holds (which had to be loaded very carefully, since the ship wasn't really designed for cargo-hauling and didn't have elevators or passages designed for freight). But it would presumably have been easy to slip in some contraband with the last-minute items.
A suspicious mind could have a field day with this. Simpson makes a great deal about 3863 large boxes of cheese (p. 105), which PeekeEtAl, p. 100, notes was unrefrigerated (though a cargo hold near the bottom of a ship in the North Atlantic needn't have been too hot, we should note. Cheese might well survive. There was, hwoever, also butter listed in the shipment, which sounds pretty strange). Stranger still was something listed on her cargo manifest as 205 barrels of oysters, which would certainly go bad before they could be distributed (Ramsey, p. 57). The obvious assumption was that they were actually military materials. The flip side is, even if those oysters were actually explosives (say), 205 barrels of explosives weren't going to change the outcome of the war. Others have questioned a consignment of furs -- but in fact some of the furs floated to shore after the wreck (Preston, p. 390).
The German government issued warnings in 1915 threatening unrestricted submarine attacks on "civilian" shipping sailing too close to the British Isles; one such message was published in a newspaper just as the Lusitania started her final run (Ramsey, p. 53; Ballard, p. 31, and Preston, p. 91, print a copy of the ad). Supposedly some of the passengers also received warnings, but these had an air of the crank about them (Ballard, p. 32; PeekeEtAl,p. 53, says that it was newspapermen seeking a story, not Germans, who sent them). Few changed their plans. Simpson, p. 114, claims there was a melancholy air about the passengers as they went aboard, but cites no source for this claim.
After all, the Lusitania, even with her speed reduced, was faster than any German submarine (her new cruising speed was about 18 knots, and she could still hit 21 in a pinch -- twice the speed of a submerged submarine, and at least five knots faster than a submarine on the surface), so no attempt was made to give her an escort (Paine, p. 311. Preston, p. 399, notes that there had been an attempt to give her an escort on a previous trip -- and, given the need for radio silence, the escort had never found her; cf. Ramsey, p. 245). Indeed, had she been given a naval escort, it would have made her a legitimate target in any reckoning.
On May 1, 1915 Lusitania sailed from New York with nearly two thousand people on board. This was by no means a full load; she had only 291 passengers in first class (53% of capacity); there were 601 second class passengers (31% over capacity). Steerage was almost empty, with only 31% of berths filled: 373 out of 1186 possible (Ballard, p. 37). Nonetheless, it was the largest load of passengers she had had on the eastbound route since the start of the war (Preston, pp. 102-103). For some reason, the number of children was unusually high (Preston, p. 128).
To make things doubly unfortunate, the Germans had sent a number of submarines to the area where she was sailing; this, ironically, was in response to British disinformation: To mask the invasion of the Dardanelles, the British were trying to give the impression they would launch an amphibious assault on Germany. The Germans took the bait and sent submarines to try to interfere (Preston, p. 163).
On May 6, Lusitania entered Germany's declared "war zone." The claims that she made no attempts to avoid her fate are, however, false; Ballard, p. 72, notes that she extinguished her lights at night, closed several watertight doors -- and swung out her boats, just in case (cf. PeekeEtAl, p. 62).
On the other hand, no orders were given to shut the portholes; many of them were apparently left open, and they probably caused the ship to flood even faster than she otherwise would have, and increased the list that was to make it so hard to lower the boats (Preston, p. 368).
And she did receive some warnings of submarines (PeekeEtAl, p. 63). It's just that they didn't describe how severe the danger was (fully 23 ships in the area had been sunk since Lusitania left New York, including several sunk by Lusitania's nemesis U-20; O'Sullivan, pp. 85-88, though this report is marred, e.g., by calling H. M. S. Juno a "battle cruiser"; Juno was a light cruiser from the 1890s, meaning that, rather than being one of the fanciest and newest ships in the fleet, she was a piece a junk the British would have been better off without. It's like calling a Yugo a Mercedes). The commander in Queenstown (Cobh), in fact, issued a specific advisory that a U-boat was operating off the south Irish coast (Preston, p. 166), and a specific order was given to make sure the Lusitania was warned (Preston, p. 179; Hoehling, p. 100).
Other ships were warned in detail and redirected; Lusitania was not (O'Sullivan, p. 87). Of course, Lusitania was not expected to be anywhere near the Old Head of Kinsale at that time. Except -- she was.
In the absence of detailed knowledge of conditions in the area, Captain Turner chose to sail past Ireland at 18 knots; Lusitania was big enough that he needed the right tide or a pilot to enter Liverpool, and he didn't want to have to sit around outside the bar, where he would be an even better U-boat target (Ballard, p. 78; Preston, p. 326). So he ignored what were claimed to be standing orders to proceed at full speed near harbors, to sail away from headlands, and to zigzag in the war zone (Ballard, p. 79), later claiming (probably with some truth) that the rules had not been made sufficiently clear. According to PeekeEtAl, pp. 83-84, while en route, he also was wirelessed a secret order to head to Queenstown (a fact which never came out during the inquiries, because it was secret -- according to PeekeEtAl, it was also hidden by the removal of the relevant page from the Admiralty's signal log.
It was unfortunate that the Lusitania had encountered a lot of fog in the days before she reached the Irish coast (PeekeEtAl, pp. 67-68; Hoehling, p. 100). That left her dependent on dead reckoning. And the ship, when it left the fog, proved to be slightly off its dead reckoning position. Captain Turner, when he spotted Ireland, of course realized where he was (it was hard to mistake the Old Head of Kinsale, especially as it was marked by a lighthouse with a distinctive white-and-black paint job; PeekeEtAl, p. 70) -- but for some reason he ordered what is known as a "four point fix" to determine his exact location. That meant he had to sail a straight course for some 20 minutes while the fix was being taken (Preston, p. 185, with details on the fog spread over the preceding pages).
Ramsey, p.162, notes that "other captains had testified that an accurate position could be obtained by taking cross bearings in only three minutes." On pp. 284-285, he notes that it was usually accurate to within a mile, with current and wind being the main things which affected its accuracy. It was used in circumstances when only one landmark with a known location could be seen.
I can't help but note that the Lusitania was 787 feet long. If accurate bearings were taken simultaneously from bow and stern, and the angles compared, there would have been a significant difference -- on the order of a degree if the estimated distance from the coast was correct. So, given proper equipment and crew, even the three minute course was not needed. If navigators hadn't developed the trig tables to perform that particular calculation, it was time they did so! The four point fix was surely the greatest gift Turner could possibly have given to an attacking vessel; what was he afraid of -- that Ireland had moved overnight? I have seen dozens of excuses for Turner, most of them valid -- but nothing can excuse the four point fix when the ship's position was adequately known.
Early in the afternoon of May 7, off the Kinsale coast not far from Queenstown, while taking the four point fix, Lusitania encountered the U-20 under KapitanLeutenant (Lt. Commander) Walter Schwieger. By this time, the weather was clear and bright (Ramsay, p. 223), so the German had no trouble tracking the liner.
Schwieger had already had several run-ins with British merchant ships, and was low on torpedoes; he fired only one (some sources, including Marshall, p. 166, says there were two; it appears this was based on the first British investigation, for which see O'Sullivan, p. 122; this claimed two torpedo hits, one forward and one aft. This was presumably inspired by the fact witnesses agreed there were two explosions; cf. Ramsey, p. 269. The claim of two torpedoes was at various times affirmed but and retracted by Captain Turner -- Ramsey, p. 274; Preston, pp. 325, 402. Preston seems to think this was because Cunard wanted there to have been two torpedoes, presumably so they wouldn't look so bad, and the Admiralty also wanted two, because it would spare them having to explain a secondary explosion. A few passengers went so far as to claim three torpedoes; Preston, pp. 368, 402. The British investigation, of course, had no access to the German records showing only one torpedo -- the intelligence service may have known, but it wasn't talking -- so it may have seemed logical to assume two explosions meant two hits. It was nonetheless wrong).
In a major stroke of luck, that one torpedo hit Lusitania squarely, and exploded properly (many German torpedoes at this time were duds -- Preston, p. 165, says that 60% misfired in one way or another), and caused a secondary explosion. The ship instantly started listing, and sank within 20 minutes (Paine, p. 311), relieving Schwieger of the need to decide whether to fire another torpedo (Ballard, p. 90). Indeed, he found the sight "too horrible to watch" (Brinnin, p. 420).
There has been much argument over whether the sinking was justified. Some, like Simpson, seem to think it entirely justified. Others think it a pure atrocity. The truth is surely somewhere in between: The ship *was* carrying military materials, and the Germans probably knew that -- though the submarine commander didn't; he supposedly didn't even know it was the Lusitania at the time he fired -- but the ship was neither armed nor armored, and it could have been given proper notice and sunk after the boats were off. Indeed, it would have been more reasonable to stop her: She was clearly a target worth sinking, just based on her size, but the chances of one torpedo sinking such a big ship would ordinarily be small even if the torpedo hit -- and it would have been easier to hit her were she standing still. By stopping her, the crew of U-20 would have been much more certain to put her under, *plus* there would have been no risk to innocent lives. (Sez I. But back to our story....)
The speed with which the ship sank turned what could have been a relatively minor incident into a disaster. The crew began evacuating almost at once -- but it took time to round up the passengers and lower the boats. This was all the more problematic because the ship was listing so heavily; within minutes, it was difficult to walk or even stay balanced. It was also hard to lower the boats and keep passengers in them (Simpson, p. 22, claims that a list of five degrees -- which could be caused by only one compartment flooding -- would makes half her boats inoperable, and Preston, pp. 132-133, reports that Cunard had refused to install better davits when they upgraded her lifeboats after the Titanic sinking).
Plus Turner apparently wouldn't let the boats be lowered until several minutes after it was clear Lusitania was sinking (Preston, p. 215). His argument was that the ship was moving too fast to allow the boats to enter the water safely. This was obviously true for a few minutes, though the ship surely slowed rapidly. By the time he allowed the boats to go, the list was so severe that the portside boats could not be lowered without hitting the hull, at minimum damaging them and dumping passengers (PeekeEtAl, pp. 76-77, cites an example where a ship's officer was responsible for the carnage); many could not be launched at all (Preston, pp. 218, 220). Those on the starboard side, by contrast, swung far away from the ship and were difficult to enter (Preston, p. 219). In the end, only six boats made it to the water intact (PeekeEtAl, p. 78).
Many passengers never even made it to the deck; the ship's electrical system failed only minutes after the explosion (Ballard, p. 99; Preston, p. 209, says it took only four minutes for the power to go out as the boilers lost steam.PeekeEtAl, p. 74, attributes the quick failure to a decision by Captain Turner to order "full astern" to stop the ship -- an order caused the piping to blow off an end cap, probably because it caused certain damaged-and-not-easily-repaired valves to fail), so many below decks would have had no lights to guide them upward.
Worse, it took time for rescue to come. Although the authorities responded quickly, the ships they sent out were slow, and none had a wireless (Preston, p. 260). The Juno, which despite its age was the largest and fastest ship available, was called back as it would have made too vulnerable a U-boat target. (PeekeEtAl, p. 79. There had earlier been talk of sending her out as an escort, but she was withdrawn for the same reason; PeekeEtAl, pp. 59-60.) The decision not to send her probably added hundreds to the casualty list.
There were 764 survivors (Paine, p. 311; Ramsey, p. 94 says they consisted of 474 passengers and 290 crew). There were about 1200 casualties, though the number is slightly uncertain (Brinnin, p. 417, says it took months even to come up with a number). According to Keegan, p. 265; also Paine, p. 311, a total of 1201 lives were lost. On the other hand Marshall, p, 166, Barczewski, p. 289, Brinnin, p. 417, and O'Sullivan, p. 27 say that 1198 people were killed, which is also the figure we find if we subtract 764 from the 1962 people Ramsey claims were on board (p. 94). Simpson, p. 1, prefers the figure 1201, explaining on p. 9 that the figure of 1198 excludes three stowaways (!) not on the official passenger list; similarly Preston, p. 303, and PeekeEtAl, p. 80. (The stowaways were thought to be German spies; PeekeEtAl, p. 55, tells of the capture of their cameras and reports, which were probably preserved though no one seems aware of what they revealsed). Ballard, p. 13, says that 1195 died.
Preston, p. 303, breaks this down: 785 of 1257 registered passengers were lost, and 413 out of 702 crew. She says 94 of 129 children were killed, including fully 35 of 39 infants (cf. PeekeEtAl, p. 80). Ramsey, p. 100, notes that Liverpool suffered particularly heavily, since it was Liverpool's home port. (There were riots throughout Britain, but those in Liverpool were among the worst; Ramsey, p. 102).
Most sources seem to agree that 128 of the victims were Americans (Ballard, p. 13, says there were 123 Americans; O'Sullivan, p. 89 gives the number as 140 but on p. 107 says there were 127 Americans), producing a diplomatic crisis (Preston, p. 311, talks of how the description "Hun" for the Germans became common at this time). Although the uproar did not at the time lead to war, Germany was forced for a time to back off from unrestricted submarine warfare.
The Vanderbilt of the song is Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, who died on the Lusitania (though he wasn't one of the more famous Vanderbilts; his wealth was primarily inherited; Ballard, p. 32). According to Ramsey, p. 85, he did indeed give his lifebelt to a female passenger, Alice Middleton. (Though, in the salt water off Ireland, the real threat was not drowning but hypothermia -- the water temperature was about 53F/11C; Preston, p. 249 -- or being washed away from land. And a person with no training in water might drown despite the fact that his body would float.) Ballard, p. 116, reports that Vanderbilt made no effort to save himself (he could not swim); his body was never found.
Indeed, Brinnin, p. 425, says some 900 bodies were not recovered; either they were swept out to sea or they went down to the ship. Sadly, as with the Titanic disaster, there are reports of passengers already in boats refusing to help those who were not (Preston, p. 250).
Brinnin's comment (p. 421) may help explain the notoriety of what happened: "Dresden, Hiroshima, Biafra, My Lai [to which we might now add Armenia, Bosnia, 9/11, Iraq, Darfur....] -- after [these and] all the other names and instances of the murderous course of the middle years of the twentiety century, it is all but impossible to recapture, even to understand, the sense of outrage, 'the universal shout of execration,' generated by the sinking of the Lusitania."
There was of course an inquiry held after the sinking, but it being wartime, very little was done to punish Cunard or the captain and crew for sloppiness; instead, the blame was placed squarely on the Germans. Lusitania became just another atrocity story, used to inflame American opinion against Germany, causing the Germans to temporarily abandon unrestricted submarine warfare.
It is interesting to observe that, although the Germans briefly celebrated the sinking of the Lusitania, they later quieted down. And, when it came time to publish the U-20's war log, skipper Schwieger signed off on every page except for May 7 (Preston, p. 314). There is also evidence that the record was fiddled with and even "humanized" (Preston, pp. 416-418; she calls the record "institutional afterthoughts"). Sadly, we do not know what Schwieger originally wrote; the original log has perished, and we have only the official transcription. Plus he died in the course of the war; the U-20 was later sunk (with the wreck being discovered in 1984; Hoehling, p. 119), and Schwieger died in the U-88 in 1917.
O'Sullivan's chapter on the aftermath of the sinking is entitled "The Sham Tribunals." A sham they obviously were in that it was certain the Germans would be blamed for sinking the ship (though it can hardly be denied that they did so!). But they could at least have sought to find out what else went wrong -- and they didn't. O'Sullivan accuses the Admiralty of suppressing evidence (pp. 118-121), offering several particulars but not documenting any of them -- but it must be confessed that the tribunal, at least in its open sessions, skipped over a lot of important material. And the Admiralty made sure that certain information was not revealed in open court (Preston, p. 320) -- though this is hardly surprising in a period of wartime secrecy.
They were a sham in another sense, too, in that one of the parties tried to fix the outcome. It seems certain that the Admiralty was out to "get" Captain Turner. O'Sullivan accuses the Admiralty of making Turner the scapegoat; p. 115. Preston, pp. 316-319, 325-327, 403, documents the case the Admiralty built against Turner, sometimes on flimsy evidence; she notes on p. 405 that he probably did not recieve some of the orders allegedly sent to him. Even the pro-British Ramsey notes that the Admiralty, not Cunard, was getting most of the blame in the press (Ramsey, p. 113), so the officers were determined to find someone else to suffer the odium.
PeekeEtAl, p. 82, say explicitly, "Reading the collective correspondence in its original, unedited state would have made it abundanrly clear to anyone that Captain Turner... had followed his Admiralty instructions to the letter. This is why Oliver and Webb were now busily 'tailoring' the Admiralty signals register...."
In fact, PeekeEtAl, p. 84, says that Turner was shown the evidence against him, which made it clear that it was being faked -- and yet Turner somehow didn't do anything to protest or correct the record. According to PeekeEtAl, p. 88-89, Turner was saved only because there were two different editions of the evidence against Turner (Ramsey, p. 148), and when Lord Mersey discovered this, he realized what was going on and effectively halted the hearings. And since there was a government change at this time, the Admiralty was shaken up and no longer needed a scapegoat as much, so they let things drop.
Mersey's conclusion was that Turner may have ignored Admiralty advice, but he consistently obeyed his actual orders (PeekeEtAl, p. 90).
Mersey retired as Receiver of Wrecks shortly thereafter, and preserved the documents needed to show what happened.
The tribunal's final conclusion was all of two paragraphs long, "placing the entire blame for the disaster on Germany" (Ramsey, p. 154), with a ten-page addendum exonerating everybody in sight (Preston, p. 330).
In defence of Captain Turner, we should probably note that, although very experienced overall, and a former captain of the Lusitania, he had little wartime experience on the refitted Lusitania; her previous captain, David Dow, had had something of a breakdown shortly before the final voyage (Preston, p. 110; PeekeEtAl, p. 48). Turner in fact sent a number of letters complaining of the Lusitania's state, and saying he would not sail her again unless the problems were repaired.
On the other hand, these problems do not appear to have contributed to her demise (except perhaps for a minor problem with her ballasting). And Turner had told a reporter before the sailing, "It's the best joke I've heard in many days, this talk of torpedoing theLusitania" (Preston, p. 108). He may have simply been trying to calm nervous potential passengers -- but it sounds like complacency. Especially since he generally disliked having anything to do with the passengers, whom he once called "bloody monkeys" (Preston, p. 108). In fact, Turner requested the services of an assistant in this regard; he was assigned Staff Captain John Anderson to deal with the passengers (PeekeEtAl, pp. 50-51).
Even if we accept that Turner followed his orders exactly, there is still the idiocy of the four point fix. And it also came out during the investigations that Turner had not ordered the passengers to learn how to put on their life belts. And the belts had to be fitted properly to work -- and, with many of the passengers being non-English speakers, it proved impossible to instruct them at the last moment (Preston, pp. 206-207, describes some of the problems it caused. Several passengers would die from wearing the belts wrong), nor he had ordered them to wear them, or even keep them close at hand, in the danger zone (Ballard, p. 132). Many would die because they could not find their belts.
And, of course, Turner had not ordered adequate boat drills (Ballard, p. 135; Preston, p. 325, in fact reports that Turner said in open court that his crew was not proficient in handling boats, to which he added a grumble about the crews available in 1915 compared to those in his youth. PeekeEtAl, p. 57, tells of him challenging his officers to tie a knot he had learned to tie aboard a sailing vessel in his youth. All of them being trained for steam, only one knew how. Turner really does sound like he was still living in the nineteenth century). Nor had the ship's daily newsletter told the passengers anything useful (Preston, p. 183).
Preston, p. 406, notes that the passengers would have taken ill to boat drills and lifebelt practice -- even though the lifebelts were a new, tricky model that even many experienced travelers would not have known how to use. That the passengers would have resented the drills is likely enough. I can't see how this justifies not having them, though.
I can't help but think, reading Captain Turner's responses at the inquiries, that he sounds like a senile old man. Preston notes that his answers were monosyllables, and that "He seemed anxious and, on occasion, confused" (Pretson, p. 326). Admittedly he had just lost his ship, which might account for his befuddled state (Preston suggests post-traumatic stress, and the description in PeekeEtAl, p. 79, certainly sounds like it) -- but his behavior *before* the sinking, if not befuddled, is certainly inexplicable.
Presumably Turner could no more believed that the Germans would attack without warning than could the passengers. He was, more or less, exonerated (Preston, p. 404).
To put this in perspective: A similar tribunal, under the same man (Lord Mersey) had earlier investigated the Titanic sinking, and had exonerated Captain Smith of sailing too fast in an ice zone.
My personal verdict on Turner would have to be, Not guilty of malice or criminal intent, but much, much too casual. In light of that, the failure of Lord Mersey's tribunal to blame anyone but the Germans may have been unfortunate, since Captain Turner was given another ship -- which also ended up being torpedoed and sunk (Ballard, p. 137). Turner again survived, but apparently that finally caused authorities to put him on the beach.
Captain Turner retired from the sea in 1919 and died in 1933 at the age of 76. His marriage had ended decades earlier, and he became a near-recluse (Preston, p. 431). Reportedly he claimed that he had not been given a "fair deal" (Preston, p. 432), claiming e.g. that he had never been instructed to zigzag.
Few of my sources really talk about theeffects of zigzagging (probably because the authors are not mathematicians) -- e.g. Ramsey, in discussing it on pp. 224-225, merely says that it was costly, since it used more fuel, and would be uncomfortable for the passengers.
This is certainly true is the ship had gone through the sorts of sudden turns, of up to ninety degrees, recommended by the Admiralty for navy ships. But smaller turns would not be so bad. And they might well have saved the ship.
There is much we don't know about the geometry of the Lusitania and the U-20. Schweiger (quoted by Ramsey, p. 81, and implicitly by Preston, p. 191) estimated the distance at 700 meters. If anything, he probably estimated low, since the Lusitania was bsurely igger than he expected. Nonetheless, PeekeEtAl, p. 72, give the distance as 550 meters. The Lusitania was moving at 18 knots, or about 9 meters per second. I've seen estimates that place the torpedo's speed as high as 38 knots, or 20 m/sec, but fromeverything else I've read, a speed more on the order of 18 m/sec is more likely. That means the approximate time from firing to impact was about 40 seconds.
The best guess is that Schweiger's torpedo hit somewhere around the boundary between #1 and #2 boiler rooms. Both flooded, which wasenough to sink the ship.
If the Lusitania had changed course by 15 degrees at the moment the torpedo was fired -- a course that surely would not have caused the passengers too much discomfort -- the hit would have been about 15 meters further forward, taking out #1 boiler room but possibly reducing the damage to #2 enough that the ship, even if she sank, would at least have gone down more slowly, allowing better evacuation. Had Lusitania turned 30 degrees at the time the torpedo was fired, the hit would have been 50 meters forward, and she might have been saved, since only boiler room #1 would have been threatened. Had Lusitania turned 45 degrees, the strike would have been 110 meters forward, and she certainly would have lived; she might not even have been hit. Even if she had started a hard turn just 15 seconds before impact, she probably would have taken the impact only to boiler room 1, and she would have slowed down more rapidly, reducing the water inflow slightly and also making evacuation safer. Thus the straight course of the four point fix was a major cause of the disaster.
I would add that, though Turner was certainly guilty of taking the four point fix, which was the final cause of the disaster, he was not the first cause. The Admiralty certainly bears blame on several grounds. (Hardly a surprise, given its disastrous disorganization; there really was no central coordinating authority short of the First Sea Lord, who simply could not do everything; Ramsey, pp. 233, 250-251, etc.) The information sent to the Lusitania and to Turner was probably inadequate. But the real problem was their penny-pinching and limitations of the Lusitania's schedule. The crew's desperate lack of experience was largely due to this niggling. Had they paid enough, they could either have sailed the ship more regularly, allowing the crew to gain experience -- or they could have kept the crew on duty while the Lusitania sat in port, allowing them to practice with the boats. This was something Cunard could not afford to do on its own.
The bad crew also may have contributed to actual torpedo hit. We know that a watchman, Leslie Morton, saw the torpedo long before it hit (Ramsey, p. 82, etc.). Had he not been an untrained nitwit who failed to pass the message to the bridge, the ship would have had a few more seconds to avoid the torpedo -- which, as the geometry shows, might have saved boiler room #2 and the ship. But Morton was an untrained 18-year-old who hesitated, shouted a message into the communicator, and ran off to find his brother without even making sure his message was heard. Best guess is that it wasn't.
On the other hand, the Admiralty can hardly be faulted for failing to provide a destroyer to escort her. Destroyers were in short supply, and at this time, destroyers did not have sonar or radar or any other means of detecting submarines except to see them or their torpedoes. Even in World War II, when sonar was universal and radar coming into use, destroyers didn't keep U-boats from sinking the vessels they escorted; they just made them more miserable afterward. There is little reason to think an escort would have saved Lusitania.
There would later be an American court case (Preston, pp. 366-370); this didn't really bring out much in the way of new facts, but it supported the claim that the Lusitania was not an actual warship: the plaintiffs admitted that the ship was not armed, that she was not carrying Canadian troops (something alleged because of the curious coincidence that a lot of the passengers listed Canadian addresses; Ramsey, p. 195), and some lesser points supporting the contention that she was not a legitimate target.
Unlike the other great disaster of the period, Lusitania's transatlantic rival the Titanic, the Lusitania went down in relatively shallow waters, and the wreck was visited as early as the 1930s. But it wasn't until the late twentieth century that Ballard really investigated the wreck with adequate equipment.
The question of why she sank has long been a topic of controversy: What caused the second explosion, which most passengers thought the larger of the two?
Many have speculated that it was in fact an explosion of war materials she had secretly taken aboard (Ballard, p. 14; Preston, p. 448). Against this is Captain Turner's testimony; he said that there was no cargo near the area where (he thought) the torpedo hit. Ballard's exploration also argues against this; he notes on p. 151 that there was only one hole in her hull. The second explosion, then, did not do further damage to the exterior, but damaged the interior and destroyed her watertight integrity.
It is Ballard's belief, based on the opening in the hull and the distribution of coal around her grave, that the second explosion was caused by coal dust: Since the ship was nearing her destination, her bunkers were relatively empty, except for dust. The torpedo sent the dust up into the air, and then sparked it, and the explosion of all the coal was what brought the ship down (Ballard, p. 195).
PeekeEtAl, p. 93, argue that Ballard's exploration did not turn up facts sufficient to justify his conclusions, and Ramsey, pp. 209-210, also doubts this, on the grounds that no similar instances of coal dust explosions are recorded. The latter strikes me as weak -- it is true that there are no verified instances of coal dust explosions on shipboard, but coal dust most definitely explodes (ask any coal miner!) Until World War I, there were no coal-carrying ships torpedoed, and few of the ships torpedoed in that war were examined as closely as the Lusitania, and by World War II, most ships were fueled by oil, not coal. So the lack of verified coal dust explosions proves very little.
O'Sullivan, pp. 134-136, holds out for an explosion caused by powdered aluminum (which can attract oxygen from water, causing the leftover hydrogen to burn. Powdered aluminum in fact is used in fireworks, with an oxidizer, to produce the very fast-burning "salutes," which are responsible for the loudest banging noises). There was aluminum in the cargo -- a lot of it -- though it, unlike the coal, was carefully packaged. And aluminum, even if powdered (as O'Sullivan says it was, though he as usual does not cite a source) is certainly a legitimate cargo.
Ramsey, p. 209, offers strong evidence that aluminum was not the cause -- while fine-ground aluminum can produce an explosive flash, coarser particles are more likely to simply burn, and 1915 aluminum powder was not very finely ground.
Another possibility is that her boilers blew up (Preston, pp. 451-452) -- not an unusual occurence in ships of this period; it was part of what had caused the Atlantic tragedy forty-odd years earlier. But there wasn't much time for that to happen.
After examining all of these theories, and noting their weaknesses, Preston, pp. 452-454, argues for a failure of her steam lines -- or even a series of failures, perhaps accounting for the quick failure of the electrical system and the fact that the second explosion seemed to be heard everywhere; it may have been several explosions.
Under any of these theories, it is an "industrial accident" (O'Sullivan, p. 137).
Arguing against this are PeakeEtAl, p. 103, who suggest that the torpedo hit was in the vicinity of the ammunition the ship carried, and that the ammo caused the second explosion, blowing out many bulkheads. Sadly, because the ship settled on its starboard side, we cannot entirely disprove this (if we could see the hole of the explosion, we could observe whether the metal is twisted inward or outward), but unless there were hidden munitions, I frankly don't see how enough explosive could go up at any given moment to cause damage exceeding that of the torpedo hit.
Preston, p. 443, notes that the corridors in passenger liners were often smaller than in other ships, meaning that the pressure wave from the explosion(s) could not dissipate as easily as in a cargo ship. This would have increased the damage in the area of the torpedo hit. Her ultimate conclusion is that the torpedo hit in just about the worst possible spot, and the Lusitania simply wasn't designed to take that sort of damage.
Ramsey says explicitly (p. 206), "Although earlier authors have generally ascribedLusitania's loss to the second explosion, current opinion suggests convincingly that the effect on the liner's stability resulting from the impact of Schweiger's torpedo was by itself sufficiently lethal to secure her destruction." (This because so much water would enter the starboard side that she could not stay on an even keel; Ramsey, p. 208.) He also suggest that there was a leak in a steam pipe somewhere, leading to rapid loss of boiler pressure (pp. 209-211), aggravated by mishandling of the situation (pp. 212-213). This would not have sunk the ship (the torpedo leak did that), but it was responsible for the rapid loss of power and propulsion.
Reading all the arguments, I am inclined to think we will never know with certainty what happened. or what caused the second explosion, though I too incline toward the "industrial accident" belief; contrary to the claims by Simpson and his followers, the evidence for a large ammunition explosion seems weak.
Apart from causing a diplomatic incident, there was one other effect of the sinking: The Admiralty gave in to the economics of the situation. For the remainder of the war, there was no British passenger service on the Atlantic (Brinnin, p. 426).
An interesting side note is that the Titanic, three years before, inspired almost too many songs to count. The Lusitania seems to have inspired just this one, and it not particularly well-known. Why? It can't be just the war, since the Lusitania got plenty of coverage. Maybe it's that the disaster couldn't so easily be blamed on "the hand of God." Though, in fact, the fault in both cases was largely "the hand of complacency."
Because the Lusitania is in shallow water (a depth of only 312 feet, according to Preston, p. 372, with parts of the hull 82 feet higher), the wreck has been visited many times. The first was in 1935, but the equipment of the time was so bad that the diver actually thought the ship was resting on its port side; explorations since have shown that it lies on its starboard side (Preston, p. 373). In the 1960s, the aforementioned John Light and colleagues tried to explore using newer technologies; this is the group that thought they saw guns (but Preston, p. 373, notes that this was still the era of nitrogen/oxygen mixes; the divers suffered from cold and nitrogen narcosis). They did not produce usable film of the weapons. (We might add that the problems Light had pretty well demolish the theory that the British could have disarmed the wreck, and the hull was intact enough that the Admiralty could hardly have depth-charged it, as is claimed, e.g., by PeekeEtAl, p. 91.) Light hopes to eventually publish, but all that came of his work was Simpson's volume, which Light himself disputed (Preston, p. 374).
A few artifacts were brought up by a 1982 television expedition (Preston, pp. 374-375); interestingly, these did not sell well at auction. Ballard took his turn in 1993, and produced the first good documentation of the wreck. A team of free divers working in 1994 largely reaffirmed his conclusions (Preston, pp. 376-377), and also discovered the annunciator which relayed speed and drive instructions to the engine room. This showed the ship still in forward drive -- contrary to what Turner said he ordered. Of course, since the engines failed within minutes, it hardly matters. But it makes you wonder what else Turner got wrong.
A curiosity about the whole story is the way the Lusitania legend still grips people. The Titanic fascinates people, but there is little real controversy about the history (yes, Hollywood distorted the story, but that's Hollywood). But the Lusitania continues to inspire polemics and conspiracy theories -- a common one is that the Churchill and/or Fisher (the men most responsible for naval policy) sent out the Lusitania as live bait in an attempt to get the Americans involved in the war. This is patently absurd -- not because Churchill or Fisher were above such things (in fact, Churchill hinted at the idea of live bait in a letter -- PeekeEtAl, p. 47), but because it just wasn't likely to work. The Lusitania was faster than any ship sunk by submarines to date; she also had good underwater protection that would make her hard to sink. And, if the Admiralty wanted her sunk, would they have put aboard such war materials as they did put aboard?
Preston, pp. 395-396, also makes the argument that the British in 1915 did not want the Americans in the war; they would be too likely to meddle with the peace.
Such logic does not stop the polemicists. Both Simpson's and O'Sullivan's books both strike me as screeds intended to place as much blame as is possible on the British authorities. (O'Sullivan's in fact seems almost to be the work of two authors -- half the time he's going straight after the Admiralty; the other half, he calms down and tries to be objective. Was there a hidden ghost writer who only did half the book?) The reason defeats me -- whatever their faults, those men are long dead, and their policies dead with them.
And the need for polemic produced books that are clearly bad. Simpson's book is littered with small errors of fact -- e.g. he can't even spell "blue riband," consistently calling it "blue ribbon" (O'Sullivan, p. 17, and Preston, p. 374, observe that Simpson was criticized even by John Light, whose research originally inspired what was to have been a collaboration). But O'Sullivan is in no position to talk, his unfootnoted work has its own set of substantial errors, some of which distort the whole history of World War I.
The question of "a legitimate target" is still argued today; Preston, e.g. has a chapter with that title, noting that, within days of the tragedy, a coroner in Ireland offered the verdict "wilful murder." We must remember, as the American judge later wrote, that the incident must be judged in light of the knowledge of the time (Preston, p. 383). (Which is surprisingly easy to do, given that the British Admiralty is still concealing records, either by refusing to release them or by blanking out pages, and some of the papers Simpson claims to have seen have now vanished; Preston, p. 384).
Preston, p. 393, probably has the best last word: "The truth was that no government, British, German, or American, was entirely free of blame for the situation leading up to the attack. Nor, in its wake, was any government hesitant to twist the facts, or use the disaster, to its own political ends."
On pp. 424-426, Preston makes another point: Two weeks before the Lusitania was sunk, the Germans had launched the first gas attack. A few weeks afterward saw the first bombing of civilians from the air. Germany, for a short time, backed away from unrestricted submarine warfare (a mistake, in Preston's view, and I think she's right: Once Germany started, they would have been better off to keep it up). But Germany did not back away from gas, or bombings, and it built the "Big Berthas" to shell Paris. The age of limited, civilized warfare was over.
I would add only one more thing: whoever was "to blame" for the Lusitania tragedy, many hundreds of complete innocents perished needlessly. In this regard, the song knows what the true issue was, and the polemicists do not. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Ran076

Lydia Pinkham


DESCRIPTION: A bawdy and scatological testimonial in multiple stanzas for the restorative powers of Mrs. Pinkham's patent medicine for women.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: bawdy scatological sex drugs
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph-Legman I, p. 485-489, "Lydia Pinkham" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 210, "Lydia Pinkham" (1 text, 1 tune, expurgated)
DT, LYDIAPNK
Roud #8368
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Will Sing of My Redeemer" (tune)
NOTES: This is sung to the Protestant hymn tune "I Will Sing of My Redeemer," Legman notes in his extensive annotations in Randolph-Legman I. - EC
Unlike most patent remedies found in the nineteenth century, Lydia Pinkham's concoction was not originally designed simply to lure the public. Joe Schwartz, That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles, ECW press, 2002, pp. 218-222, reports that she was originally just a schoolteacher who devised a vegetable brew to deal with "female complaints." It was not until her husband lost his money in the Panic of 1873 that Lydia (1819-1883) started trying to sell the glop. Her entry in the Concise Dictionary of American Biography says that she made it available to the public in 1875. She was successful enough to become the first millionairess in America.
Schwartz lists the compound's ingredients as licorice, chamomile. pleurisy root, Jamaica dogwood, life plant, dandelion root, and black cohosh. Plus, of course, alcohol. Interestingly, there is some evidence that black cohosh actually can ease some of the symptoms associated with menopause. But the main "active ingredient" was doubtless the booze.
Schwartz notes that "Lydia Pinkham's" is actually still sold. But it's been reformulated, and is now apparently mostly a vitamin mix. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RL485

Lydia Sherman


DESCRIPTION: "Lydia Sherman is plagued with rats, Lydia has no faith in cats, So Lydia buys some arsenic, And then her husband he gets sick, And then her husband, he does die...." Her children follow, and eventually Lydia ends up in prison.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder poison humorous children mother father husband wife
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 1864 - Death of Edward Struck, first husband of Lydia Sherman (she eventually had three)
August 1864 - Deaths of George and Ann Eliza, Lydia's children
May 16, 1878 - Lydia Sherman dies in prison in Wethersfield, Connecticut
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, p. 5, "Lydia Sherman" (1 text)
NOTES: I would love to see a contemporary newspaper account of this trial.
Burt doesn't claim this as a traditional song; it was in a notebook of her mother's, probably from a contemporary publication.
It should perhaps be noted that fatal overdoses of arsenic are not always the result of deliberate poisoning. Emsley, pp. 40-46, notes various common uses of arsenic, including pigments and even a commercial remedy, "Dr. Fowler's Solution."
According to Henderson, p. 284, "[arsenic] was a commonly administered medicine in the nineteenth century in the form of arsenious acid, which was prescribed for a great variety of diseases, such as headaches, ulcers, gout, chorea, syphilis, even cancer. Used in a popular patent medicine called "Fowler's Solution," it was a well-known remedy for fever and various skin diseases. It would have been a standard part of any sizeable medical kit."
MacInnis, p. 99, says that Fowler's Solution contained 1% potassium arsenite (K3AsO4), and that it was used to deal with fevers as a substitute for quinine, which was difficult to consume because it is so bitter. MacInnis, p. 100, says that women drank it for their complexions -- while also rubbing it into their hair to kill pests. (You'd think that would be a hint.) Timbrell, p. 224, reports that it gave the skin a "milk rose" hue.
Also, it is possible to build up arsenic tolerance (Timbrell, p. 225), so if Lydia were tolerant (as she might have been, had she been using arsenic-based cosmetics), she might have accidentally poisoned her family while surviving herself. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Burt005

Lying Song, The


See Little Brown Dog (File: VWL101)

Lyke-Wake Dirge, The


DESCRIPTION: A warning to those not yet dead. Those who gave to the poor shall receive as they have given; those who have not will pay the penalty. "This ae nicht, this ae nicht, ilka nicht and alle -- Fire and sleet and candlelicht, and Christ receive thy soule"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: death funeral lament religious Hell
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
OBB 33, "A Lyke-Wake Dirge" (1 text)
DT, LYKEDIRG
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #278, "A Lyke-Wake Dirge" (1 text)
Roud #8194
NOTES: De la Mare quotes Sidgwick to the effect that sleet means not falling water but salt (the token of eternal life) -- or perhaps is an error for "fleet."
Malcolm Douglas gave the following information about the tune to the Ballad-L list in 2008 (slightly edited, mostly for formatting reasons):
"The tune Hans Fried got from Peggy Richards [which was recorded by the Young Tradition[ was written by Sir Harold Boulton, and first appeared in his Songs of the North(Vol I, c.1885) set to the text (slightly edited) from Scott. It had changed a bit in detail by the time it got to The Young Tradition, but not fundamentally. Songs of the North was immensely popular (at least 23 editions) and there would seem to be a decent chance that Peggy Richards (described as 'old') had learned it at school, or directly from print.
"It is *just* possible that a tune that may perhaps have been traditionally associated with the text survives. A song ('The Silkstone Disaster', written by Rowland Kellett) appeared in 'English Dance and Song' (XXXIII No 2 Summer 1971), set to a tune described as 'The Yorkshire Lyke-Wake'. Kellett noted that it was played as a funeral march in the Yorkshire Dales, but didn't say where, when or from whom he had got it. It bears no resemblance to Boulton's melody, but the words would fit.
"Some years later, the same tune (though slightly variant and in a different key) turned up in Blowzabella's tunebook 'Encyclopedia Blowzabellica'. There, it was titled 'Lyke Wake Dirge' and described as 'traditional' (but with a query if I remember correctly). No source was identified, and it's unclear whether the change of name is significant or not." - RBW
File: OBB033

Lynchburg Town


DESCRIPTION: Usually a comic song about a farmer's troubles with wife, horse, merchants, prices, machinery, and anything else that comes along. Chorus: "I'm going down to town, I'm going down to town, I'm going down to Lynchburg town, toting my tobaccer down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: farming humorous wife
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
BrownIII 415, "Lynchburg Town" (3 texts plus 2 fragments, 2 excerpts, and mention of 2 more, all with the "Lynchburg Town" chorus, but "A" and "B" have verses from "Raccoon" and "Possum Up a Gum Stump and "D" and "E" are partly "If I Had a Scolding Wife" ("Lucy Long (I)"); only "C" seems to be truly "Lynchburg Town"); also 480, "Hard Times" (1 text, massively composite: Chorus from "Lynchburg Town" and verses from "Old Bee Makes the Honey Comb" and the "White Folks Go to College" version of "Hard to Be a Nigger")
Warner 181, "Lynchburg Town" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 145, "Goin' Down to Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 192, "Hawkie Is a Schemin' Bird" (1 text, with the "Hawkie" first stanza, a chorus from "Lynchburg Town," and verses such as "Went up on a mountain To give my horn a blow" and "Climbed up on a mountain... To sweeten Liza Jane")
Lomax-FSNA 260, "Lynchburg Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LYNCHBRG*
Roud #3444
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Highballers, "Going Down to Lynchburg Town" (Columbia 15096-D, 1926)
The Highlanders [Lonnie Austin, Roy Harvey, Charlie Poole, Odell Smith, Lucy Terry], "Lynchburg Town" [instrmental] (Paramount 3171, 1929) [May also have been issued under Poole's name with the same record number]
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, "Lynchburg Town" (Brunswick, unissued, 1928)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lebeck Town
File: Wa181

Lyttle Musgrave


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

M. and I. Goo-goo Eyes, The


DESCRIPTION: Recitation about logging life, with musical chorus, "Just because that jack makes goo-goo eyes, They piled them logs clear up into the skies." The singer discusses what happens when the train comes to collect the logs
AUTHOR: Ed Springstad
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: logger work train recitation
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Rickaby 25, "The M. and I. Goo-goo Eyes" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Even Rickaby, who prints this piece, says of it, "Here lies the Song of the White Pine woods, sans originality, sans meaning, sans everything." Which about sums it up. Rickaby's final comment is, "This is Arkansaw Springstad's own work, composed at the time when Just because She made those Goo-goo Eyes was popular. He could sing only the chorus for me, and could not recall quite all of the final stanza. Perhaps it is just as well."
"Just Because She Made dem Goo-goo Eyes," by John Queen and Hughie Cannon, came out in 1900, if I read Spaeth correctly. - RBW
File: Rick101

M'Dermott's Farewell


DESCRIPTION: A young man on the Limeric city quay is bound for America. "For want of wages and employment, home and country I must flee." He thinks of his parents and sweetheart left behind. He hopes "fortune [will] smile upon me" so he can return.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: poverty emigration farewell America Ireland nonballad family
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 79, "M'Dermott's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: OLcM079

M'Ginty's Meal and Ale


See M'Ginty's Meal-an-Ale (File: DBuch72)

M'Ginty's Meal-an-Ale


DESCRIPTION: A pig escapes and wreaks havoc. Chorus: "They war howlin' in the kitchen like a caravan o' tinkies, An' some wis playin' ping-pong... Up the howe or doon the howe there never wis sic jinkies As M'Ginty's meal-an-ale far the pig gaed there tae see."
AUTHOR: George Bruce Thomson
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: animal humorous game
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan3 630, "McGinty's Meal-an-Ale" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DBuchan 72, "M'Ginty's Meal-an-Ale" (1 text)
DT, MEALNALE*
Roud #2518
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Roxburgh Castle" (tune)
cf. "Sheelicks" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
M'Ginty's Meal and Ale
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Balmannocks (630) is at coordinate (h0-1,v6-7) on that map [roughly 20 miles W of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: DBuch72

M'Pherson the Drover


See MacPherson the Drover (File: GrD4768)

M'Pherson's Farewell


See MacPherson's Lament (File: K348)

Ma Brune (My Dark-Haired One)


DESCRIPTION: French. Singer tells of his love for the dark-haired girl. He tells her that if she ever doubts his love, "Ask the echoes ... Ask brooks and rivers and the rocks". He asks the birds to join him in singing of his great love.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (BerryVin)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad bird
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BerryVin, p. 40, "Ma Brune (My Dark-Haired One)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
NOTES: If my lover spent his time singing to brooks, rocks and birds, I'd probably be off with a sailor at the first oppostunity. - PJS
On the other hand, it probably pays better than singing for actual people at folk clubs. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BerV040

Ma Grun War 'n Gelynen


See The Holly Bears a Berry (File: K091)

Ma Petite Marguerite (My Little Marguerite)


DESCRIPTION: French. The singer say, Little Marguerite, I am leaving to sail on the waves around the world but I will love you until I die. She says she will cry a thousand tears waiting for his return; all is useless; she would prefer them both lost at the same time.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage courting separation dialog love
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, p. 558, "Ma Petite Marguerite" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea558

Mac and Shanahan


DESCRIPTION: Miko Mac and Shanahan are tracked to Newtown by bloodhounds and taken by Black and Tans. They refused to give their comrades' names. They are executed by shooting "in the Ennis Road." The pride of West Clare, they are buried in Doonbeg.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1974 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion execution manhunt burial patriotic IRA
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1920-1921 - The Black and Tan War
Dec 22, 1920 - Commandant Willie Shanahan of the West Clare Brigade of Republican Police and Captain Michael McNamara of Doonbeg Company IRA are executed by the Black and Tans (source: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan).
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 25, "Mac and Shanahan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5221
RECORDINGS:
Nora Cleary, "Mac and Shanahan" (on IRClare01)
Tom Lenihan, "Mac and Shanahan" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: "The Black and Tans" (for which see "The Bold Black and Tan") were a special English constabulary recruited to quell Irish violence. They failed, and in fact contributed to the brutality.
It will tell you something of the violence of the period that none of the six histories I checked (including three devoted specifically to this period, one of which is largely a catalog of atrocities) mentions any of these events. - RBW
File: RcMacASh

Mac's and the O's, The


DESCRIPTION: "When Ireland was founded by the Mac's and the O's, I never could learn..." but the singer lists all the various great family names of Ireland. Some specific names are mentioned, but most are simply references to clans
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: nonballad wordplay Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H484, p. 176, "The Mac's and the O's" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 79, "The Mac's and the O's" (1 text)
Roud #4812
NOTES: Even when a specific character is named in this song, it is often a legendary figure such as Finn MacCool. A handful, however, are historical, such as Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone, whose name is naturally connected with O'Donnell (for these two, see the notes to "O'Donell Abou").
The final stanza refers to women, and most of these, interestingly, are women of song, e.g. Eileen Aroon and Kathleen Mavourneen. - RBW
File: HHH484

MacAfee's Confession


See McAfee's Confession [Laws F13] (File: LF13)

MacDonald of the Isles


DESCRIPTION: MacDonald courts Peggy, a lowland lady. He tells her that if she'd go with him he'd marry her. She agrees. As they ride "there was nothing there fittin for a lady." She becomes pregnant. At home he has a coach prepared to "go ... and see your daddy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
LONG DESCRIPTION: MacDonald says, "first when I cam to Kilboggie's Toon" courting Peggy "she lay in her bed till her breakfast was ready." She tells her mother that she would leave her silk gowns to go with her Highland laddie. He tells her that if she'd go with him he'd marry her and she'd be "a Highland chieftain's lady" She agrees. They ride with her in disguise, as his sister, or Lowland Kate, or Lowland Jinny. As they ride "there was nothing there fittin for a lady." She becomes pregnant. She recalls what she has left behind "in my father's ha'" He assures her that when they reach his home she'll be a lady. When they do arrive he has a coach and six prepared to "go once more and see your daddy"
KEYWORDS: elopement marriage sex return disguises pregnancy mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 851, "MacDonald of the Isles" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #95
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Glasgow Peggy" [Child 228] (tune and general plot)
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 quoting Duncan: "It is not easy to settle the exact relation between this ballad and [GreigDuncan4 [850], Child 228] 'Glasgow Peggy'; but that there is a connection is clear enough. The plot and development of the story are the same; the names of Peggy and Macdonald are in both; some stanzas in the later part of this ballad are either modelled on 'Glasgow Peggy' or taken from it (9,10,13,14); and, to complete the connection, the tune is the same. Yet the greater part of the fifteen stanzas are quite different in matter from any version of 'Glasgow Peggy', and the name Kilboggie or Kilbagie is not found in any form of it." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4851

MacDonald's Camp


DESCRIPTION: "One evening last fall when we felt well inclined, We hired with D. A. MacDonald to work at the pine." MacDonald pushes so hard that "He brought bread seven miles and he got it there hot." The loggers are described, and Caldwell called "no use at all."
AUTHOR: reportedly Jack Caldwell
EARLIEST DATE: 1963 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: work logger lumbering moniker
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-Lumbering #17, "MacDonald's Camp" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4469
File: FowL17

MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe) [Laws N39]


DESCRIPTION: The singer tries to woo a woman of Glencoe, but she says she is loyal to MacDonald, gone to war these ten years. He suggests that MacDonald may have forgotten her; she says she will remain single even so. He then reveals himself as MacDonald
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1835 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 1641)
KEYWORDS: courting disguise separation reunion
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(MW,So) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland Australia
REFERENCES (23 citations):
Laws N39, "MacDonald's Return to Glencoe (The Pride of Glencoe)"
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 247-248, "Donald and Glencoe" (1 text)
Greig #55, p. 1, "Glencoe" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 1044, "The Pride of Glencoe" (16 texts plus a single verse on p. 631, 17 tunes)
Ord, pp. 65-66, "Donald's Return to Glencoe" (1 text, tune referenced)
Randolph 126, "MacDonald's Return to Glencoe" (1 fragment)
FSCatskills 25, "Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 87, "The Pride of Glencoe" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 86, "Glencoe" (1 text)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 67-69, "The Pride of Glencoe" (1 text)
Peacock, p. 579, "The Pride of Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 60, "The Pride of Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 35, "The Pride of Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 129, "Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 56, "The Pride of Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 70-72, "Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 68, "The Pride of Glencoe" (1 text)
O'Conor, p. 136, "McDonald's Return to Glenco" (1 text)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 52-53, "Donald of Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H655, p. 319, "The Pride of Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 113-115, "The Banks of Glenco" (2 texts, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 28, "The Lass o' Glencoe" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 464, PRIGLENC*
Roud #515
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 1641, "Donald's Return to Glencoe," G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also 2806 c.14(133)[many illegible words], Firth c.17(300)[some illegible words], Harding B 11(932), Firth c.14(158), Firth c.14(160), Harding B 19(109), 2806 c.18(89), Harding B 16(324a), Firth b.26(11)[a few illegible words], Firth b.25(226), Firth b.27(454), Harding B 16(323b), 2806 c.15(174), "Donald's Return to Glencoe"; Firth b.27(462), "Donand's Return to Glencoe" ["Donald" in the text]
LOCSinging, as202320, "Mc'Donald's Return to Glenco," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also sb30347b, "Mc'Donald's Return to Glenco"
Murray, Mu23-y4:036, "Donald's Return to Glencoe," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(206), "Donald's Return to Glencoe," unknown, c. 1840; also L.C.Fol.70(73a), "Donald's Return to Glencoe," James Lindsay (Glasgow), c. 1875
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John (George) Riley (I)" [Laws N36] and references there
cf. "The Silk Merchant's Daughter (I) [Laws N10]" (tune)
cf. "The Lass o Glencoe" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
The Silk Merchant's Daughter [Laws N10] (File: LN10)
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging as202320: H. De Marsans dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LN39

MacFarlan' o' the Sprotts


DESCRIPTION: The singer courts Susy but their fathers cannot agree. He sends Macfarlan' as a middleman to negotiate for him. Macfarlan' is an ugly stupid oaf but Susy's father tells him to speak for himself. Susy and Macfarlan' marry. Moral: Never trust a middleman
AUTHOR: George B Thomson (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage bargaining humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #145, p. 1, "MacFarlan o' the Sprotts" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1221, "MacFarlan' o' the Sprotts" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6314
File: GrD61221

Machine-Guns They Rattle


DESCRIPTION: "Machine-guns they rattle, Jack Johnsons they roar, I don't want to fight With these Fritz any more. Take me over the sea, Where the Germans they can't get at me, Oh, my, I don't want to die, I want to go home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: war cowardice homesickness
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 143-144, "Machine-Guns They Rattle" (2 texts, 1 tune)
NOTES: Although this piece is probably a parody, Meredith and Anderson report a shearer's parody of it. - RBW
File: MA143

Machiner's Song, The


See The Threshing Machine (I) (File: K231)

Mack McDonald


See Casey Jones (I) [Laws G1] (File: LG01)

Mack's Blues


DESCRIPTION: "Say, I told the Captain, he don't worry me, Got a hundred and twenty-nine summers, partner, never will go free." The singer complains of hard work and getting up so early, calls for water, works with mules, wishes for mercy, and tells of prison life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (collected from Mack Maze by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 81-82, "Mack's Blues" (2 texts, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is an amazing demonstration of the fluidity of prison moans (this is properly not a blues; the form is wrong). *Both* of Jackson's versions come from Mack Maze, but while they have the same tune, only one verse is common. Maze's first text is apparently a mule song; the second has a large dose of "Easy Rider" material. I could make a strong case for splitting them, but it is not likely that we will find an exact match for either one elsewere. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM081

MacPherson the Drover


DESCRIPTION: Peggy's father would have her follow McPherson the drover. she agrees but thinks about all the men "for me hae gane stark" she might have had. But if Harry Mitchell, "my love just now," proves true she'll "look owre my nose at the drover"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage farming father
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #156, p. 2, "M'Pherson the Drover" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan4 768, "MacPherson the Drover" (4 texts plus two verses on pp. 537-538, 1 tune)
Roud #6185
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Quaker's Wife" (tune, per Greig)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jeannie, My Dear
NOTES: Greig: "[According to Rev. George Williams this song] was written about an irregular marriage in 1793, and is supposed to have been the work of John Adam, son of the Rev. Francis Adam, Cushnie." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4768

MacPherson's Farewell


See MacPherson's Lament (File: K348)

MacPherson's Lament


DESCRIPTION: MacPherson tells how a woman betrayed him to the Laird o' Grant. He challenges all to a duel in defense of his honor. He breaks his fiddle, "the only friend I hae," rather than see it in bad hands. A rider is coming to reprieve him, so he is hanged early
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #114)
KEYWORDS: execution betrayal reprieve fiddle outlaw
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 16, 1700 - Execution of James MacPherson
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (9 citations):
GreigDuncan3 697, "MacPherson's Rant" (6 texts, 6 tunes)
Kennedy 348, "MacPherson's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 443, "M'Pherson's Farewell" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 88, "Macpherson's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 163-169, "Mary Hamilton" (2 texts plus a fragment, with the "C" fragment containing parts of "MacPherson's Lament"; 3 tunes; the tune for the "MacPherson" portion is not given)
Silber-FSWB, p. 205, "MacPherson's Farewell" (1 text)
DT, MACPHER* MACPHER2* MCPHERST
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #196,, pp. 306-307, "McPherson's Farewell" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1788)
Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol I, pp. 83-85, "MacPherson's Farewell"
ST K348 (Full)
Roud #2160
RECORDINGS:
Jimmy MacBeath, "MacPherson's Lament" (on Lomax43, LomaxCD1743)
Davie Stewart, "MacPherson's Rant" (on Voice08)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "MacPherson's Rant" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
MacPherson
NOTES: Legends about MacPherson's death are many. The basic one has it that he played this tune before his death and offered the fiddle to anyone who could play it back for him. None could, so he broke the fiddle rather than leave it in incompetent hands. The (ruins of) the instrument are now said to be in the MacPherson clan museum in Inverness-shire.
That MacPherson was a freebooter seems almost certain -- but only spite could have hung him for his deeds; most of Scotland was the same way!
The earliest reported version of this piece seems to have been Burns's, but (given the variations), it seems certain that several traditional forms are older. - RBW
Chambers: "The old ballad, for which Burns substituted the above beautiful verses, is given in continuation, from Herd's Collection of Scottish Songs [1776]."
If there's an argument to be made for lumping "MacPherson's Lament" and "MacPherson's Rant" it might be GreigDuncan3 697A and 697B, which mix verses of both. I think splitting them is the way to go. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: K348

MacPherson's Rant


DESCRIPTION: "I've spent my time in rioting, Debauch'd my health and strength... But now, alas! at length, I'm brought to punishment direct." MacPherson laments that he is to be hanged, blames the Laird of Grant and Peter Brown, and tells people to live well
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1829 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: punishment execution betrayal outlaw
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 16, 1700 - Execution of James MacPherson
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ord, pp. 444-445, "M'Pherson's Farewell" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1339, "I spent my time in rioting, debauch'd my health and stength" (?)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol I, pp. 85-87, "MacPherson's Rant"
Roud #2160
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "MacPherson's Lament" (subject)
NOTES: Often treated (e.g. by Roud) as a variant of the now-better-known "MacPherson's Lament," the two have so little in common that it seems certain that the two are separate. There is, at the very least, a great deal of editing (by Burns?) separating the two.
This piece, which can be told from the other by the first line in the description, is much poorer poetry; nonetheless, it is generally held to be older. I doubt it's traditional by origin; it reads like a moralizing broadside. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Ord444

MacTavish is Dead


See McTavish is Dead (File: PHCFS122)

Mad Maudlin


See Tom a Bedlam (Bedlam Boys) (File: Log172)

Mad Trapper of Rat River, The


DESCRIPTION: The Mounties learn that a trapper has gone mad; he shoots one and flees. During the manhunt, he kills another Mountie, then a third, but is surrounded and shot dead. Credit is given to the Mounties: "They always get their man"
AUTHOR: Probably Wilf Carter
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1934 (recording, Wilf Carter)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Two Indians report to the Mounties that a trapper has gone mad; the Mounties visit him, but he shoots one and flees. A manhunt ensues; in the process, he kills another Mountie, backtracks and escapes. Eventually he kills a third, but is surrounded and shot dead. Credit is given to the Mounties: "They always get their man"
KEYWORDS: madness fight violence crime murder death police
FOUND IN: Canada(West)
RECORDINGS:
Wilf Carter, "The Capture of Albert Johnson" (Bluebird [Canada] B-4966, c. 1934)
Stanley G. Triggs, "The Mad Trapper of Rat River" (on Triggs1)
NOTES: Trapper Albert Johnson was hunted and killed by Mounties (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in the 1930s.
Triggs reports this ballad as widespread in western Canada "from the Rockies to the coast." - PJS
File: RcTMTORR

Madam, I Have Come A-Courting


See The Quaker's Courtship (File: R362)

Madam, Madam, You Came Courting


DESCRIPTION: When the girl comes courting the boy agrees to "entertain you If you will not call me names." She spurns his wealth: "All I want is a fancy man." He says she can look to the trees to keep her warm "when nights are cold and frosty"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 121, "Madam, Madam, You Came Courting" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #542
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wheel of Fortune" (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) (theme)
NOTES: Creighton-Maritime: "Although a different song, this is very like 'The Quaker's Courtship'"; Creighton's song is "Wheel of Fortune" with roles reversed. Nevertheless, though I find no lines shared with that group of songs it is close enough that it may belong there. - BS
Roud, indeed, lumps them -- but logic says that this is rewritten, and hence should be split. - RBW
File: CrMa121

Madam, Will You Walk


See The Keys of Canterbury (File: R354)

Mademoiselle from Armentieres


DESCRIPTION: The mademoiselle "hasn't been kissed [or other appropriate verb] for forty years." The soldiers complain about her or cajole her to do their laundry; they complain about their superiors (and their relations with the lady?) and grouse about army life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919
KEYWORDS: bawdy soldier humorous nonballad
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1914-1918 - First World War, during which this ballad clearly arose
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 513-515, "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 440-442, "Hinky Dinky, Parlee-Voo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 331-333, "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 38, "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 557-560, "Hinky Dinky Parley-Voo?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 152-153, "Hinky Dinky Parlay-Voo!" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHJohnson, pp. 110-111, "Hinky Dinky" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 277, "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 344-345, "Madamoiselle from Armentieres"
Roud #4703
RECORDINGS:
Benny Bell, "Hinky Dinkey Polly Voo" (Cocktail Party Songs 101, n.d.)
Bell Record Quartet, "Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous" (Bell 285, 1924 - but it's possible this is Benny Bell's post-WWII recording for his similarly-named label)
Broadway Quartet, "Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous" (Banner 1382/Regal 9678, 1924)
Jan Garber & his Orch. "Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo" (Victor 19405, 1924)
Happiness Boys [Billy Jones & Ernest Hare] "Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo" (Columbia 132-D, 1924)
Lawrence Loy & Wilbur Waite, "Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous" (Columbia 20638, 1949)
[Billy] Murray and [Ed] Smalle, "Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo" (Victor 19388, 1924)
Sweet Violet Boys, "Hinky Dinky Parley Voo, Part 1/Part 2" (Vocalion 03281, 1936; this number was also used for Part 1 only, with the reverse side another song; Part 1 is also on Conqueror 9067, 1938; Columbia 20283/Columbia 37704, 1947. Part 2 was also issued as, "Hinky Dinky Parley Voo #2", Vocalion 03327, 1936; Columbia 20284/Columbia 37705, 1947)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (approximate tune)
cf. "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (approximate tune)
cf. "Johnny, Fill Up the Bowl" (approximate tune)
cf. "Snapoo" (approximate tune; theme)
cf. "The Little Red Train" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
What's Become Of Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous? (What Has Become of Hinky Dinky Parlez Voo?) (Al Bernard & J. Robinson, Cameo 572, 1924; Carl Fenton & his Orch., Brunswick 2618, 1924; Billy Jones, Vocalion 14817, 1924); Billy Jones & Ernest Hare, OKeh 40128, 1924)
NOTES: Both plot and tune of this song show a relationship with "Snapoo" (indeed, they sometimes mix, and Roud lumps them); it is reasonable to ask which came first and which influenced the other. As both appear at about the same time, however, it is effectively impossible to settle the matter.
Fuld has extensive notes about the origin of this song, with some interesting folkloric twists; the legends, while possible, are not convincing. - RBW
File: RL513

Mag's Song


See The Orphan Girl (The Orphan Child) (File: R725)

Magdalen Green, The


See Down By the Magdalen Green (File: MorU016)

Magdalene's Lament, The


DESCRIPTION: "As I cam in by Tanzie's wood... Four-and-twenty o' Geordie's men Kiss'd me against my will." The girl recalls flirting happily in a tavern, "But now I'm in the correction-house And whipped to my turn." She hopes to be released and marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: seduction sex prison abuse whore
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kinloch-BBook III, pp. 12-13, "The Magdalene's Lament" (1 text)
Roud #8153
NOTES: Traditional? I don't know. Kinloch of course does not list sources.
The term "Magdalene" for a reformed prostitute is of course a reference to the Biblical Mary Magdalene ("maudlin"). But while Mary of Magdala was a follower of Jesus, from whom he "cast seven demons" (Mark 16:9), there is no reason to think she had formerly been a prostitute; Luke 7:37-50 describes a reformed prostitute wiping Jesus's feet with her hair, but never calls her Mary. John 12:1-8 has Mary wipe his feet -- but this is Mary of Bethany, not Mary of Magdala!
Not that this matters; while Kinloch calls the song "The Magdalene's Lament," the word "magdalene" is not used in the song. - RBW.
File: KinBB03

Magelhan


DESCRIPTION: German shanty. Original was a capstan (gangspill) shanty. The Magelhan/Magellan is the name of the ship. The verses (or at least the translation) are mostly good natured complaints about work and the captain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Baltzer's _Knurrhahn_ (reprint))
KEYWORDS: shanty foreignlanguage ship
FOUND IN: Germany
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 191-192, "Magelhan" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rolling Home" (adaptation of text)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Magellan
NOTES: Hugill included this with the versions of "Rolling Home" stating that this was the original shanty from which the German version of "Rolling Home" was derived. - SL
File: Hugi191

Maggie C, The


DESCRIPTION: Maggie C is "built by George E Saville a man of high degree." Nevertheless, she is unstable. Everyone laughs at the effort to get to the dock. The owner says "It's that blooming Saville's fault" but Saville claims "No better boat's afloat"
AUTHOR: Victor La Pierre, Annandale, P.E.I.
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: ship humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 47-48, "The Maggie C" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12471
File: Dib047

Maggie Goddon


See Peggy Gordon (File: Gil127)

Maggie Gordon (I)


DESCRIPTION: "Fause Maggie Gordon she's made my life a burden." The singer has been jilted and wishes he'd never been born, has no heart to live, but is unwilling to die.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: love rejection
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1899, "Maggie Gordon" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #13237
File: GrD81899

Maggie Gordon (II)


See Peggy Gordon (File: Gil127)

Maggie Howie


DESCRIPTION: Michael Lee tells of courting Maggie Howie of Napanee; she wore his ring, but refused to marry him; her parents disapprove. He kills her with an axe, flees to the woods, is captured and jailed. He states his guilt and his readiness to be tried and hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1957 (recording, Mrs. Tom Sullivan)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage rejection violence crime execution murder punishment death family lover prisoner
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
c. 1887: Maggie Howie murdered by Michael Lee
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
Roud #3838
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. Tom Sullivan, "Maggie Howie" (on Ontario1)
NOTES: Despite the last verse of the song, Michael Lee was not hanged, but instead found to be criminally insane, and confined in a special wing of Kingston Penitentiary until his death. Maggie Howie's ghost is said to haunt the offices of the local newspaper, which stands on the spot where the murder occurred. - PJS
File: RcMagHow

Maggie Hunter, The


DESCRIPTION: The Maggie Hunter leaves Oswego bound for Toronto, but runs into a gale. Various crew members do their best, but the ship is lost, with only bits recovered. Six months later, the cook's body is found. Listeners are told to remember whenever a storm blows
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (collected from William Head by Walton)
KEYWORDS: corpse death drowning ship disaster storm wreck moniker cook sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 194-196, "Loss of the Maggie Hunter" (1 text, heavily composite)
Roud #3841
RECORDINGS:
C. H. J. Snider, "The 'Maggie Hunter'" (on GreatLakes1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Persian's Crew" (subject, tune)
NOTES: Snider said he learned the song in July of 1947. Fowke reports that it was widespread in the Prince Edward County area (where the cook's body came ashore) in the 1880s, but has not been reported elsewhere. - PJS
This seems to be true. Walton's version is based on material from six different informants, all from Ontario (towns Picton, Port Credit, Bront, and Hillier)
The history of the ship itself is more uncertain. Fowke's notes apparently caused Paul Stamler to write this historicaly reference: "Oct. 13, 1876 -- telegram to ship's owner announces the coming ashore of the Maggie Hunter's cabin work (acc." Walton/Grimm/Murdock, though, report that it was in the "early 1880s" that the Maggie Hunter sailed from Oswego to Toronto with a load of coal and was lost.
I checked four references on Great Lakes shipping; none of them mention the Maggie Hunter. None of the four are comprehensive, but one tried to be, and all tend to emphasize "good stories." it seems the story of the Maggie Hunter is known primarily from this song, not from historical records. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: RcTMagHu

Maggie Lauder


DESCRIPTION: Maggie meets a piper, Rab the Ranter, and encourages him to strike up a tune while she dances. He does, and she praises his work; he says, "It's worth my while to play indeed When I hae sic a dancer." She encourages him to ask for her if he comes again
AUTHOR: Francis Sempill? (c. 1616-1682)
EARLIEST DATE: 1794 (Ritson); reportedly written 1642
KEYWORDS: music dancing
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
Roud #5625
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:002, "Maggie Lauder," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
NLScotland, S.302.b.2(094), "Maggie Lauder," Simms and McIntyre (Belfast), probably 1825; also APS.3.84.2, "Maggy Lawder," Charles Pigott (London), after 1825 (with many distortions in the lyrics)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Northumberland Bagpipes" (theme)
cf. "Cripple Kirsty" (parody)
SAME TUNE:
Cripple Kirsty (File: GrD3556)
Cornwallis Burgoyned (broadside of 1781; see Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 25)
The Joyful Widower (Scots Musical Museum, #98)
NOTES: One can only suspect that more than piping and dancing lies behind this song. This, indeed, may explain its rarity in the older collections; it sounds like a hidden story of something extremely indelicate. (The National Library of Scotland site, in fact, claims that Maggie ended up pregnant. The NLScotland broadsides do not show this, however.)
Habbie Simpson, to whom Rab the Ranter is compared, was a historical person, living in Kilbarchan (near Paisley) in the late sixteenth century; it may be significant that the father of Francis Sempill, Robert Sempill (c. 1595-c. 1665; not to be confused with another Scots poet named Robert Sempill, 1530?-1595), composed Simpson's elegy, The Life and Death of the Piper of Kilbarchan, or the Epitaph of Habbie Simpson (c. 1640).
There is a broadside text (not a song) about Simpson at NLScotland L.C.1270(019), "Habbie Simpson and his Wife," unknown, c. 1845.
I don't know if Maggie and Rab are historical. - RBW
File: NSMagLau

Maggie Mac


See The Cumberland [Laws A26] (File: LA26)

Maggie Mackay


DESCRIPTION: The singer falls in love with Maggie Mackay at a fair. They go drinking but, when drinking is finished, she says she must go home with her mother. Later that night he sees her drinking with Davie McLean. He won't take girls drinking again.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: courting lie drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1510, "Maggie Mackay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7171
NOTES: I don't understand the last line here which is apparently meant as a humorous conclusion. At an examination on theological knowledge the singer "set mysel doon in great fear" and the minister asked, "What the name the first woman did wear Losht I stammer't oot 'Maggie Mackay.'" I guess he is hearing "lush" or "lushed" but what is the minister asking? - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71510

Maggie May


DESCRIPTION: The sailor returns home and soon falls in with Maggie May. She takes him to her room, gets him drunk, and walks off with his money (and clothes). Maggie is arrested and transported to Australia
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1906 (recording, John W. Myers)
KEYWORDS: whore robbery sailor transportation
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West)) Australia
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Hugill, pp. 404-408, "Maggie May" (4 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 307-311]
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 30-31, "Maggie May" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manifold-PASB, pp. 6-7, "Maggie May" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MAGGIMAY*
Roud #1757
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "Maggie May" (on LastDays)
J. W. Myers, "Goodbye Maggie May" (Oxford 11582, c. 1906)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gold Watch" [Laws K41] (plot) and references there
File: FaE030

Maggie of Coleraine


DESCRIPTION: The singer praises Coleraine; it is the home of beautiful Maggie. He recalls meeting her by the Bann, and the various places he courted her. He hopes he will soon be able to meet her again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H657, p. 242, "Maggie of Coleraine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9480
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Teddy O'Neill" (tune)
File: HHH657

Maggie Was a Lady


See Frankie and Albert [Laws I3] (File: LI03)

Maggie, The


See The Wreck of the Maggie (File: LLab080)

Maggie's Secret


DESCRIPTION: "Oh! many a time I am sad at heart." Boys come to court Maggie "but I tell them they needn't come wooing to me." Her secret is that she loves a sailor: "my heart is over the sea." His mother guesses her secret and approves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 15(180a))
KEYWORDS: courting love separation mother sailor
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, pp. 143-144, "Maggie's Secret" (1 text)
Roud #12886
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 15(180a), "Maggie's Secret", H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 11(1663), Firth b.26(257), "Maggie's Secret"
File: OCon143B

Magherafelt Hiring Fair


See Tam Buie (Tam Bo, Magherafelt Hiring Fair) (File: HHH748)

Magic Glass, The


DESCRIPTION: "I went one night with a high-priced thirst to loaf in a booze bazaar." The singer, glancing at himself in the mirror, sees a "cringing bum" -- then looks again and it's gone. The bartender says that the "Magic Glass" lets men see what they might become
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: drink warning
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, p. 130, "The Magic Glass" (1 text)
Roud #9586
NOTES: Dean's version ends with the bartender explaining the Magic Glass -- but one has to suspect that the full song goes on to have the singer swear off drinking. Though what *I'd* like is to know why a bartender would be so foolish as to install a glass that would scare off his customers. Obviously some people would approve -- but those people aren't going to become bartenders! - RBW
File: Dean130A

Magilligan


DESCRIPTION: The singer praises Mary and their beautiful home country of Magilligan. He recalls carving their names in a bench, and drinking together. They watch a ship sail away, but again agree never to leave Magilligan
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love home emigration
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H52a, pp. 244-245, "Magilligan" (1 text, 1 tune, the latter derived from O'Neill on the basis of Henry's statement that the tune is "The Wearing of the Green")
Roud #2965
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune) and references there
File: HHH052a

Magpie's Nest, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer praises his love, saying if he was a king he would make her queen and set her down in the "magpie's nest" -- a cottage alongside the River Shannon. He says he's never seen anyone more lovely than "the little Irish fairy in the magpie's nest."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (recorded from Aunt Jane Kelly)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer praises his love, saying if he was a king he would make her queen and set her down in the "magpie's nest" -- a cottage alongside the River Shannon. He says he's never seen anyone more lovely than "the little Irish fairy in the magpie's nest." Chorus: "Shiddly-idle-daddle-diddle-dadle-diddle-didle-dum/I would l'ave you down to rest in the magpie's nest"
KEYWORDS: love beauty dancetune lyric nonballad lover
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 182, "The Magpie's Nest" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2127
RECORDINGS:
Aunt Jane Kelly "The Magpie's Nest" (on FSB1, FSB2CD)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cuckoo's Nest (I)" (tune)
cf. "The Cuckoo's Nest (II)" (tune)
cf. "Around the Hills of Clare" (tune)
cf. "Heather Down the Moor (Among the Heather; Down the Moor)" (lyrics)
NOTES: This shares the tune and structure with both versions of "The Cuckoo's Nest," the latter of which sometimes incorporate "dowdling" (mouth music) as here. However, "The Cuckoo's Nest" is almost inevitably bawdy or erotic, while "The Magpie's Nest" is invariably clean, so I split them. For completeness, though, better check them out. - PJS
File: K182

Maguire's Brae


DESCRIPTION: "Have you ever stood on the Carn street.. And viewed those hills with their limpid rills..." The singer has traveled widely, but never seen a place so fair. "Though here today in the U. S.A. I toil on a foreign strand," he wishes he were still at home
AUTHOR: Words: James O'Kane
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration homesickness
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H747, pp. 214-215, "Maguire's Brae" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Scarborough Settler's Lament" (theme) and references there
File: HHH747

Maid and the Horse, The


DESCRIPTION: A maid walking in the cold meets three men riding. She tells one that she craves the thing that "sits between your two legs" to make her warm. He gets off his horse. She gets on his horse and rides off. He goes after her until she threatens to shoot him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(83))
KEYWORDS: sex escape trick bawdy horse rake
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 214-215, "The Maid and the Horse" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Roud #1624
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(83), "The Crafty Maid" ("Come listen awhile and I will sing you a song"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Johnson Ballads 323, Harding B 25(441), "The Crafty Maid's Policy"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lovely Joan" (plot)
cf. "The Broomfield Hill" [Child 43] and references there
NOTES: There is another broadside at Bodleian as "The Crafty Maid" [Come all you lads and lasses ..."] in which a farmer's daughter is hiding a rabbit between her legs to keep it warm and a lord "buys that between her legs"; unsatisfied with the rabbit he takes her to a justice who resolves the dispute in favor of the farmer's daughter.
There is yet another broadside at Bodleian as "The Frolicsome Maiden or The Gentleman Outwitted" which combines both Crafty Maid stories: it is a cold morning; she does offer to go with him in exchange for what is between his legs; he is unsatisfied by the outcome and takes her to a justice who rules in her favor.
Roud seems to consider these all as #1624.
Cf. "Handsome Shone the Dairymaid" [Crawfurd 115] (theme) in E. B. Lyle Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs (The Scottish Text Society, Edinburgh, 1996) which is similar to "Lovely Joan." - BS
File: Pea214

Maid and the Magpie, The


DESCRIPTION: The sailor goes to sea, leaving his girl and the magpie. The girl spends time with the parson, and tells the bird she prefers him. The lonely sailor hurries home; the bird reveals the truth. Neither sailor nor parson want the girl thereafter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: bird infidelity sailor clergy humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond)) Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 44-45, "The Maid and the Magpie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1532
RECORDINGS:
Cyril Poacher, "The Maid and the Magpie" (on Voice06)
NOTES: I have not found a broadside but evidence that there is one is that there is a broadside parody: Bodleian, Harding B 11(2273), "The Maid and the Dustman. A popular parody on the 'Maid & magpie'" ("Once there was a maid who was thought very shy"), unknown, n.d. The parody description: The maid's lover is a tailor; she said they'd marry when he "signed the pledge again." She "hook'd it with the dustman" when her pa goes to church. The girl talks all day to the dustman [instead of the magpie]. When the tailor is asleep the girl goes to the dustman but they are interrupted by her mother. The tailor gets drunk and returns home to find the girl gone. He complains to her parents [instead of the magpie] who tell him about the dustman. The take her to court and she puts the blame on the dustman, who disappears; the bird reveals the truth. Neither tailor nor dustman want the girl thereafter "and she's got no one to cuddle, so she sleeps by herself." - BS
File: MA044

Maid and the Palmer, The [Child 21]


DESCRIPTION: A woman comes to a well, where she meets a man who asks of her a drink. She says she can offer him none because her leman/husband is away. The man tells her that she has no leman, and goes on to tell of her sins and assigns a punishment
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious adultery
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Child 21, "The Maid and the Palmer" (2 texts)
Bronson's (21 in addenda), "The Maid and the Palmer" (2 versions in addenda)
Leach, pp. 106-107, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text)
OBB 99, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text)
PBB 3, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text)
TBB 37, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text)
Niles 15, "The Maid and the Palmer" (1 text, which Niles identifies with Child 21, but the fragment is so short that it could equally be part of Child 20)
DT 21, MAIDPALM MAIDPAL2*
ST C021 (Full)
Roud #2335
RECORDINGS:
John Reilly, "The Well Below the Valley" (on Voice03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" (subject)
cf. "See the Woman at the Well" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Samaritan Woman
The Well Below the Valley
Jesus Met the Woman at the Well (?)
Seven Years
NOTES: For the story of Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, see John 4:5-26.
The second part of the song, in which the woman is given a penance in the form of a series of transformations, has no parallel in the Biblical story, although such transformations are attested elsewhere -- notably in "The Cruel Mother" [Child 20]. In fact, I wonder if the ending of this song in the Percy text might not be taken from Child 20. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C021

Maid and the Robber, The


See The Undaunted Female (The Box Upon Her Head; The Staffordshire Maid; The Maid and the Robber) [Laws L3] (File: LL03)

Maid and the Squire, The


DESCRIPTION: A dialog between a maid and a young squire. He proposes, She ridicules him. In leaving he asks that she remember him "if ever ye in love be wounded." She replies, "If ever I in love be wounded Remember sir, I'll send you word"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
LONG DESCRIPTION: The singer is approached by a young man who asks her to marry. She tells him to find someone else. He says he is 22 and has never mentioned love to another woman. She recommends he take another ten years to marry. He says if all women treat him this way he may be forty and not married. She says young men brag about how easy it is to win women's hearts. He says he is leaving and asks if he might call on her again. She says he can do as he wishes. He says "if ever ye in love be wounded Remember him that ye did despise." She replies, "If ever I in love be wounded Remember sir, I'll send you word"
KEYWORDS: courting rejection dialog
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #100, p. 2, "The Maid and the Young Squire" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 810, "The Maid and the Squire" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #5068
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Just As I Walked Out One Morning
File: GrD4810

Maid and the Young Squire, The


See The Maid and the Squire (File: GrD4810)

Maid Freed from the Gallows, The [Child 95]


DESCRIPTION: A (woman) is about to be hanged. If she could pay her fee, she would be freed. One by one, father, brother, (and other family members) come to see her hanged, refusing to ransom her. Then her sweetheart arrives to rescue her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1770 (Percy collection, according to Child)
KEYWORDS: execution love rescue
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland,England(North,South,West)) US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So,SW) Bahamas Jamaica
REFERENCES (45 citations):
Child 95, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (11 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #5}
Bronson 95, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (68 versions+2 in addenda, but the last four main entries are "Gallows" [Laws L11], and some of the fragments may be also)
GreigDuncan2 248, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 fragment)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 206-213, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts plus assorted folktale versions)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 15-41, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (8 texts plus a fragment, 8 tunes, but of the texts, only "A," "B1," and "B2" are 'The Maid Freed" [Child 95]; the remaining six are "Gallows" [Laws L11]
Belden, pp. 66-67, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #54}
Randolph 24, "Hold Your Hands, Old Man" (5 texts plus a fragment, 4 tunes) {A=Bronson's #41, D=#61, E=#12, F=#50}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 45-47, "Hold Your Hands, Old Man" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 24E) {Bronson's #12}
Eddy 18, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (2 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #28}
Gardner/Chickering 50, "The Golden Ball" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #22}
Davis-Ballads 95, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (24 texts plus a fragment, 5 tunes plus a variant entitles "Maid Freed from the Gallows," "The Hangerman's Tree, or Freed from the Gallos," "The Maid Saved," "Hangsman"; 9 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #9, #26, #42, #46, #40}
Davis-More 29, pp. 221-228, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (3 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes; the two longest texts, AA and DD, both contain floating material, in the case of "D" probably from "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum)" [Laws H2])
BrownII 30, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts, 5 excerpts, 1 fragment, plus mention of two more, as well as one mixed text, M, probably a combination of this with "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum)" [Laws H2])
Chappell-FSRA 15, "Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #34}
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 35-42, (no general title; one version is listed as "Hangman, Slack on the Line") (3 texts plus 3 excerpts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #10}
Hudson 17, pp. 111-114, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more; the "D" text is mixed with floating verses from prison songs)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 284, (no title) (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 196-200, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (2 texts plus an excerpt, with local titles "The Hangman's Son" and "Hangman, Hold Your Rope"; 2 tunes on pp. 408-409) {Bronson's #37, #38}
Brewster 17, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 295-300, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts)
Wyman-Brockway I, p. 44, "The Hangman's Song" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #35}
Fuson, pp. 113-114, "The Hangman's Song" (1 text, with an introductory verse related to "In the Pines," ending "I have done no hanging crime")
Cambiaire, pp. 15-16, "The Hangman's Song" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 131, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts)
Warner 105, "Hang Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 86-87, "Jimmy Loud"; pp. 88-90, "Hangman" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
SharpAp 28, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (11 texts, most of which appear to be fragments though it's often hard to tell with this song, 11 tunes){Bronson's #30, #33, #9, #42, #6, #25, #58, #31, #39, #32, #15}
Sharp-100E 17, "The Briery Bush" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #49}
Niles 39, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 14, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #30}
Sandburg, p. 72, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #23}; p. 385, "Hangman" (1 short text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #64}
Scott-BoA, pp. 14-15, "The Sycamore Tree"; pp. 207-208, "Hangman, Slack on the Line" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 282-383, "Prickle-holly Bush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 139-141, "[Hangman, Slack Up Your Rope]" (2 texts, 2 tunes) {second tune is Bronson's #36, with differences}
Ritchie-Southern, p. 27, "The Hangman Song" (1 text, 1 tune) {approximately Bronson's #36, but Bronson's transcription, from recording, is noticeably different}
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 822-824, "The Hangman's Tree" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #23}
TBB 5, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows (The Hangman's Tree)" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 13, pp. 31-33, "The Hangman's Song" (1 text)
JHCox 18, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (7 texts)
JHCoxIIA, #9, pp. 38-39, "Slack Your Rope" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #27}
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 41-42 "Hangman, Hangman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 74, "The Highwayman" (1 text, with a significant mixture of unrelated material from songs such as "The Roving Gambler"); p. 80, "Hangman, Hangman, Slack the Rope" (1 text, a fairly normal American variant)
Darling-NAS, pp. 69-71, "The Hangman"; "Gallows Pole" (2 texts, the first "modernized" by Darling)
Silber-FSWB, p. 211, "The Gallows Pole" (1 text)
DT 95, HANGMN1* HANGMAN2*
Roud #144
RECORDINGS:
James "Iron Head" Baker, "Young Maid Saved from the Gallows" (AFS 204 A2, 1934)
Bentley Ball, "Gallows Tree" (Columbia A3084, 1920)
Roy Harvey, Jess Johnston & the West Virginia Ramblers, "John Hardy Blues" (Champion 16281, 1931; on StuffDreams1) [see NOTES]
Fred Hewett, "The Prickle Holly-Bush" (on Voice03)
Harry Jackson, "The Hangman's Song" (on HJackson1) (in this version the true love pays the hangman to ensure that the hanging will take place)
Lead Belly, "The Gallis Pole" (Musicraft 227, rec. 1939)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Prickly Bush" (on ESFB1, ESFB2)
Walter Lucas & the people of Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, "The Prickle Holly Bush" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741) {Bronson's #20}
[Asa] Martin & [Bob] Roberts, "Hang Down Your Head and Cry" (Conqueror 8207, 1933) [see NOTES]
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "The Highwayman" (a heavily modified version; Columbia 15160-D, 1926; on CPoole03); "Hangman, Hangman, Slack the Rope" (a more normal version; Columbia 15385-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Almeda Riddle, "Hangman Tree" (on LomaxCD1705)
Jean Ritchie, "Hangman" (on JRitchie01) {Bronson's #36?}
Julia Scaddon, "The Prickelly Bush [The Pricketty Bush]" (on FSB4, FSBBAL1)
Sarah Anne Tuck, "The Pricketty Bush (The Maid Freed from the Gallows)" (on FSBBAL1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gallows" [Laws L11] (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Golden Ball
The Prickilie Bush
The Gallows Pole
Granny and the Golden Ball
NOTES: This very popular ballad is identical in plot with "Gallows" [Laws L11], and lumping editors will lump them; individual collections should be checked carefully.
Scarborough notes that southern Blacks turned this song into drama -- in a rather depressing way: The magical ball could be used to turn a Black girl into a pretty White. - RBW
The Martin & Roberts recording is a weird mishmosh: one verse that sounds like it's from the "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home" family, one from this song, and one more or less from "Roving Gambler." I put it here because that middle verse is most explicitly from here, whereas the others are vaguer.
The Roy Harvey, recording, meanwhile, is equally weird; the tune is from "John Hardy," all right, but the lyrics are "Maid Freed from the Gallows." Don't ask me what's going on. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C095

Maid from the Carn Brae, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the other girls described in songs -- the girl in the Galway shawl, the girl from the County, Down, etc. -- but "she was queen alone, The maid from the Carn Brae." No amount of searching will reveal another such girl
AUTHOR: James O'Kane
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: beauty music
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H704, p. 241, "The Maid from the Carn Brae" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9478
NOTES: Curiously, the singer in this song makes no attempt to court the girl; he just describes her as irresistable. - RBW
File: HHH704

Maid from the County Tyrone, The


DESCRIPTION: Far from the city live Michael Murphy and his beautiful daughter. The singer praises her beauty at great length, and desires to wed her though she is only a farmer's daughter. If she agrees to marry, he will cease rambling and live in the country with her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty home
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H528, p. 246, "The Maid from the County Tyrone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13335
File: HHH528

Maid from Tidehead, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer hears a young lumberjack tell how "I long once again for the Maid from Tidehead." He describes their parting and decides to return to Restigouche: "No more will I roam from the Maid of Tidehead"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Manny/Wilson)
KEYWORDS: love separation logger reunion
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Manny/Wilson 31, "The Maid from Tidehead" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST MaWi031 (Partial)
Roud #9187
NOTES: The Restigouche River is in the central Miramichi area of New Brunswick. Tide Head is on that river near Chaleur Bay. - BS.
File: MaWi031

Maid Gaed to the Mill, The


DESCRIPTION: "The maid's gaed to the mill by night, sae wanton... That she should hae her corn ground, mill and multure free." The miller's man obliges her. When she has a child "Her mother baid her cast it oot." "Her faither baid her keep it in," and she does.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: sex childbirth bastard mother father miller money
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
DT, MAIDMILL*
GreigDuncan7 1436, "The Miller and the Maid" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 39, #4 (1995), p, 38, "The Maid Gaed Tae the Mill" (1 text, 1 tune, Ewan MacColl's version, supposedly from his father)
David Herd, editor, Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc. (Edinburgh, 1870 (reprint of 1776)), Vol II, pp. 148-149, "The Maid Gaed to the Mill"
Roud #2575
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "The Maid Gaed to the Mill" (on SCMacCollSeeger01)
File: RcTMGTTM

Maid Gathering Mushrooms, The


See Gathering Mushrooms (File: RcTGMus)

Maid I Am In Love, A


See The Maid in Sorrow (Short Jacket) [Laws N12] (File: LN12)

Maid I Left Behind, The


See The Girl I Left Behind [Laws P1A/B] (File: LP01)

Maid in Bedlam, A


DESCRIPTION: The singer hears a woman in Bedlam lamenting. She went mad when friends sent her lover away. In some versions, she reproaches him with this but continues to love him. In others, he returns and rescues her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1787 (Scots Musical Museum)
KEYWORDS: madness betrayal love rescue
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber))) US(MW)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Greig #99, p. 1, "The Maid in Bedlam" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1079, "The Maid in Bedlam" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp-100E 41, "Bedlam" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logan, pp. 187-188, "Bedlam City, or The Maiden's Lamentation" (1 text, part of the longer entry "Tom a Bedlam")
Gardner/Chickering 65, "A Maid in Bedlam" (1 text, very possibly from print)
BBI, ZN670, "Come maidens all and pity me"; ZN3182, "Young maidens all, pray pity me, and think of my extremity"
ST ShH41 (Partial)
Roud #605
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Through Moorfields" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(602), "The Fair Maid in Bedlam" ("It was down in Moorfields, as I walked one day"), J. Marshall (Newcastle), 1810-1831; also Harding B 22(65), "The Distracted Maiden"; Firth c.18(138), Firth c.12(229), "Nancy's Complaint in Bedlam"; Firth b.26(457), Harding B 11(1116), "The Fair Maid in Bedlam"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Tom a Bedlam (Bedlam Boys)" (theme)
cf. "Gramachree" (tune)
cf. "William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial)" [Laws M10] (theme of a maid in Bedlam)
NOTES: Bethlehem Hospital ("Bedlam") was the first hospital in London for patients with mental illnesses. It was for men, I believe; Magdalene Hospital ("Maudlin"), established somewhat later, was for women. - PJS
Roud has at least three numbers meeting the general description for "A Maid In Bedlam" (Roud #605). The #605 broadsides are listed above. Their description is: The singer, wlking in Moorfields, hears an inmate girl complain that her parents had her apprentice lover sent to sea which "has distracted my brain." The sailor returns and bribes the porter and rescues her. They marry and he gives the "unworthy parents" a tongue-lashing.
Roud #575 is represented by the following broadsides. Their description is: The singer hears "a Maid in Bedlam" rattling her chains and complaining that her lover's parents had him sent to sea. She prays that if she die she might claim "a guardian angel's charge, around my Love to fly" She tells what she would do were she a flower garland, nightingale, or eagle, to be with her lover.
Bodleian, Harding B 14(34), "The Maid in Bedlam" ("One morning, very early, one morning in the spring"), Fowler (Salisbury), 1770-1800; also Firth c.18(139), "The Maid of Bedlam"
Roud #968 is represented by the following broadsides. Their description is: The singer hears an inmate maiden complain that Billy is her love and they are separated by her parents. She thinks of flying to his side and seeing him die on the battlefield. She sees him coming "in the cloud With guardian angels standing round him"
Bodleian, Harding B 28(92), "Bedlam City" ("Down by the side of Bedlam city"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Firth c.18(140)[some lines illegible], 2806 c.18(197)[only the first verse and chorus are legible], Harding B 28(273), Harding B 25(155), 2806 c.17(26), Firth c.19(186), "Bedlam City"
The following broadside, only slightly modified from the Roud #968 broadsides above, has been, according to its printer, "altered from the vulgar ballad."
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 26, "Bedlam City" ("Down by Bedlam I walk'd one ev'ning"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838
There are at least three similar broadsides not yet assigned a Roud number.
In one "Amelia's Complaint": Amelia's is in chains because her father sent her sailor away where, she thinks, he was slain. Her mind wanders as she cannot make ouut what approaches. She prays to die.
Bodleian, Harding B 25(43), "Amelia's Complaint, in Bedlam for the Loss of her Sailor" ("Young women with attention listen to what I mention"), G. Pigott (London) , n.d.
In another "Amelia's Complaint": Amelia's lover is imprest to fight in the war She prays that the war will end. If he is slain she'll be undone forever. She'll be true."
Bodleian, Harding B 25(41), "Amelia's Complaint for the Loss of Young Edward" ("Young lovers all awhile attend")[some words illegible], J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840
In "Pity a Maiden": "They" have imprest Billy and sent him over the sea. If he returns she will be free of Bedlam and her chains. She thinks of being with Billy and sends him a letter by a friend saying that she hopes they will meet again.
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(246), "Pity a Maiden" ("Pity an innocent maiden in Bedlam I lay confin'd"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819
Opie-Oxford2: "In 1675 the Old Bethlem Hospital was moved to Moorfields" - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: ShH41

Maid in Sorrow, The (Short Jacket) [Laws N12]


DESCRIPTION: A girl dresses as a sailor and goes to sea to seek her true love. The captain finds her attractive and wishes she were a girl. She puts him off, pointing out that there are handsome girls ashore. Only as she is leaving the ship does she reveal her sex
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: cross-dressing ship sea
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws N12, "The Maid in Sorrow (Short Jacket)"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 46, "Short Jacket" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 327-328, "Blue Jacket and White Trousers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 78, "A Maid I Am In Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 1, "Cabin Boy"; 48, "Cabin Boy" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 164, "The Maid in Sorrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 444, SHORTJKT* SHORTJK2*
Roud #231
RECORDINGS:
A. L. Lloyd, "Short Jacket and White Trousers" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd3)
Mrs. Stan Marshall, "Maid I Am in Love" (on MRHCreighton)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
A Maid That's Deep in Love
File: LN12

Maid of Aghadowey, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls his time by the Banks of the Ban, where he met a beautiful girl. Her parents are "dead against me," but he begs her to be true to him, and says that he would give her all his riches if he had any
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation father mother
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H673, p. 429, "The Maid of Aghadowey" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7958
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of the Bann (I)" [Laws O2] (plot)
NOTES: This song is similar in plot to Laws O2, "The Banks of the Bann," and also takes place by the Bann. Some have tentatively equated the songs. But songs of parents opposing lovers are common, and songs set by the Bann are common; there is no reason there shouldn't be two such. There is no lyrical similarity that I can see. Different songs, in my book. - RBW
File: HHH673

Maid of Altaveedan, The


DESCRIPTION: "I met her on the brow of Altaveedon Hill, The lambs were calling after her to stay there." He describes the hills and her, saying "There's a head of gold far lovelier than yon hill." Her beauty has enraptured the singer; he will wander no more
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H603, p. 239, "The Maid of Altaveedan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9474
File: HHH603

Maid of Altibrine, The


See The Holly Bough/The Maid of Altibrine (File: HHH111)

Maid of Amsterdam, The


See A-Rovin' (File: EM064)

Maid of Australia, The


See Oxeborough Banks (Maids of Australia) (File: FaE044)

Maid of Ballydoo, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a maid. He asks if she were Helen, or Aurora, or "Flo the queen of May." He takes her to Hilltown and gets her drunk so that "she soon forgot the vows she made." He recalls now "when I first composed these verses" sitting at his loom.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (OBoyle)
KEYWORDS: seduction weaving drink
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OBoyle 15, "The Maid of Ballydoo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3477
NOTES: O Boyle: "Ballydoo is a small townland between Hilltown and Mayobridge [in County Down]...." - BS
I have a recording of this made by David Hammond and released on "Irish Folk Songs: The Clancy Brothers, David Hammond and Families" (Excelsior/Madacy, 1994). Most of the material on this disc was previously released in 1959, but I cannot verify that this song was, so I am forced to use O Boyle as the earliest date. - RBW
File: OBoy015

Maid of Ballyhaunis, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer courts Mary, saying that her beauty has ensnared him. He begs her to love him, but notes that his father has told him they may not marry. He asks her to come away with him "to the land of ships," where they will be happy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1831 (Hardiman _Irish Minstrelsy,_ according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: love courting father
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
SHenry H483, p. 427, "The Maid of Ballyhaunis" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 45, "Mary of Ballyhaunis" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 157, "Maid of Ballyhaunis" (1 text)
Roud #7960
NOTES: This strikes me as far too intricate to be a genuine traditional song; the evidence strongly implies that it originated in a broadside. - RBW
File: HHH483

Maid of Ballymore, The


DESCRIPTION: Markie Bawn loves the heiress "maid of Ballymore." If he wants to marry, she says, he must have her parents' consent. He puts on his shoes, has her mother's consent, and they marry. "A happier couple were never saw before"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (recording, Mary Ann Carolan)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage mother
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #2991
RECORDINGS:
Mary Ann Carolan, "The Maid of Ballymore" (on Voice06)
NOTES: Ballymore is in County Kerry. - BS
File: RcMaiBal

Maid of Belfast Town, The


DESCRIPTION: "In Belfast town of high renown, There lives a comely maid." The singer approaches her and asks her to come away with him. She rejects him because of a vow made seven years before. Now, "each night I dream, rave and complain" because she refused him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1826 (according to Leyden)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection separation
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 26, "The Maid of Belfast Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(1193)[some words in last verse illegible], "The Maid of Belfast" ("In Belfast town of high renown there l[i]ves a comely maid"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Harding B 11(2279), "The Maid of Belfast"; Harding B 11(337), "The Belfast Maid"
NOTES: Among other classic [Roman] references here: "Diana fair cannot compare, Or Venus from the tide, Or Dido sure that virgin pure, That for Aeneas died ...." See the notes to "Sheila Nee Iyer" for some traits of the "hedge school master" school of Irish ballad writing. - BS
Someday, someone should do a study on why Diana (Greek Artemis) became so noted for beauty in British tales (see, e.g., "The an-Yard Side" [Laws M28], "The Beaver Brig," and "The Fair of Balamina"). She was not one of the three goddesses who competed for the title of "the Fairest" in the Judgment of Paris. that was contested between Hera (Roman Juno), Aphrodite (Roman Venus), and Athena (Roman Minerva). That contest of course was won by Aphrodite, leading to the Trojan War.
Not every account says that Aphrodite was born of the sea-foam; Homer simply calls her the daughter of Zeus and Dione. But Hesiod tells of her birth from the sea-foam after the gonads of Ouranos were cast into the ocean after his castration by his son Chronos (Hesiod, Theogony, lines 185-195); indeed, the name "Aphrodite" is in these lines falsely equated with Greek "aphros," "foam."
Aphrodite was of course the mother of Aeneas, which lead smoothly into the story of the latter, and his betrayal of Dido, which is a major theme of Virgil's Aeneid, which I would assume is the major source for most of the material here. - RBW
File: Leyd026

Maid of Bonnie Strathyre, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer wants nothing better "than to herd the fine cattle on bonnie Strathyre" with "Mary, the pride of Strathyre." He dances with Mary, and Flora with Colin. Others can go to the lowlands, or soldier far away, but he'll stay home with Mary
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: love farming dancing Scotland nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 53, "The Maid of Bonnie Strathyre" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: McBride: "The song originates in the beautiful vale of Strathyre in Perthshire.... It would seem to be a very localised ballad and it must have been imported by migratory workers who traversed between Insihowen and Scotland." - BS
File: McB053

Maid of Bunclody, and the Lad She Loves So Dear, The


See The Streams of Bunclody (File: BroaTSoB)

Maid of Burndennet, The


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, fair (are the) vales of (my) own native soil," particularly Burndennet, where a beautiful girl lives. The singer praises her beauty and describes their courting. Though their rivals sneer, their love will emerge victorious
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H96a+b, pp. 230-231, "The Maid of Burndennett" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #7982
NOTES: Curiously, although Sam Henry lists only one source for this song, he preserved two texts -- each of four verses, but only two and a half verses in common, with a different order, and with substantial differences even in the common material. The differences are just what one would expect from oral tradition -- but with only one listed source, and no other versions known, one must suspect editorial tampering. - RBW
File: HHH096

Maid of Carrowclare, The


See Killyclare (Carrowclare; The Maid of Carrowclare) (File: HHH298)

Maid of Castle Craigh, The


DESCRIPTION: When the singer left Ireland to fight in the wars he had loved his "Maid of Castle Craigh" but thought she did not love him. Somehow, in the three years passed, he learned "that I had won thy gentle heart." The war is over and he has returned to her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)d
KEYWORDS: love war separation return Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 72, "The Maid of Castlecraig" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 146, "The Maid of Castle Craigh" (1 text)
File: OLcM072

Maid of Colehill, The


See The Flower of Corby Mill (File: HHH612)

Maid of Craigienorn, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer praises the Maid of Craigienorn, whom he sees as he rambles. He begs her to come away. She refuses; she has another love and will not leave her parents. He says her love has abandoned her. The ending is confused
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection abandonment beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H500, pp. 359-360, "The Maid of Craigienorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6880
NOTES: The first several stanzas of this are your standard guy-sees-girl/guy-hits-on-girl/girl-says-leave-me-alone ballad. Then we get a John Riley-like scene in which he says her love has abandoned her. (And how, given that the singer has never seen her before, does he know?) Then there seems to be a section from the woman's viewpoint, and another in which she is revealed as a Protestant, and another in which the singer complains about England's laws and wishes the couple happiness.
There seems little doubt that the ending of this song is confused. I would guess at least three other songs have contributed. But it's hard to identify them from the small fragments extant. - RBW
File: HHH359

Maid of Croaghmore, The


DESCRIPTION: The well-born young man falls in love with the maid of Croaghmore. He describes her beauty, says he would make her queen if he were king, and promises to serve for her hand as Jacob served Laban. Her parents say she is too young
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection father mother beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H522, pp. 355-356, "The Maid of Croaghmore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6878
NOTES: One wonders what was wrong with this wealthy young man, that the girl's parents refused to wed her to him (the song says she was nineteen, so hardly too young!).
The story of Jacob serving Laban for fourteen years to win the hands of Rachel and Leah is told in Genesis 29:15-30.
The song refers in the third verse to the Duke of Cumberland. Sam Henry explained that this was the same Duke of Cumberland (Williams Augustus, 1721-1765) who destroyed the Jacobite cause at Culloden. I can see no basis for this assertion. - RBW
File: HHH522

Maid of Culmore, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer praises the harbour and women of Culmore. He recalls the girl he loved, who cried bu "sailed down Lough Foyle and away from Culmore." He wishes a storm would bring her back. He will follow her and seek her in America
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation ship emigration
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H687, p. 302, "The Maids of Culmore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2493
File: HHH687

Maid of Don, The


See The Haughs o Newe (File: Ord193)

Maid of Dunmore, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a maid whose sweetheart is fighting the French with Nelson. He asks her to leave Dunmore and live with him in Ireland. She refuses. He "picked up my alls and left for Ireland, And left that fair maid in Dunmore"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: love sailor war separation courting rejection Ireland
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Manny/Wilson 83, "The Maid of Dunmore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 47-48, "The Lass of Dunmore" (1 text)
ST MaWi083 (Partial)
Roud #9177 and 3668
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lass of Dunmore
NOTES: This hits so many familiar themes that it sounds like it ought to be a version of something else (compare, e.g., "The Plains of Waterloo (I)" [Laws N32] and "The Banks of Clyde (I)") -- but I can't locate a true parallel. - RBW.
File: MaWi083

Maid of Dunysheil


DESCRIPTION: The singer praises Dunyshiel, "the place where my true love does dwell." He recalls meeting her at Rasharkin Fair. He must leave for Nova Scotia, but as long as he is away, "my heart shall be with the Maid of Dunyshiel."
AUTHOR: Paddy McGuckian
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting emigration separation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H530, p. 298, "The Maid of Dunyshiel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6894
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Flowery Vale (The Irish Girl's Lament)" [Laws O29] (plot) and references there
File: HHH530

Maid of Erin's Isle, The


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the sun does set down in the west when his daily journey's o'er.... With ruby wine I'll fill my glass... And I'll drink a health to my sweetheart, she's the maid of Erin's isle." He praises Mary's beauty, and vows to love her as long as he lives
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love beauty nonballad wine
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H57b, p. 228, "The Maid of Erin's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7978
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y4:002, "The Maid of Erin's Isle," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
File: HHH057b

Maid of Fainey, The


DESCRIPTION: "There was a maid of Fainey, of youth and beauty bright, Who had scores of sweethearts to court her day and night...." She loves her father's servant. They break a ring, then he flees. Her father threatens him. The end is confused
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: brokentoken courting love father separation
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 167-168, "The Maid of Fainey" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MAIDFAIN
Roud #3353
File: MA167

Maid of Faughan Vale, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a beautiful girl near Faughan Vale. He asks her about the road, and then admits to being besotted with her. She tells him she is engaged to another, and they will soon sail for America. He laments his fate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: beauty courting rejection emigration
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H167, p. 369, "The Maid of Faughan Vale" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6885
File: HHH167

Maid of Lismore, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer meets Kathy from Lismore, going to sell turkeys at Dungarvan. She pays for drinks. He claims to be rich. They sleep until the market closed. The price for turkeys falls. Now he claims poverty. She is ruined and would have him "hung or transported"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2283))
KEYWORDS: seduction lie drink commerce poverty bird food
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #9284
RECORDINGS:
Martin Reidy, "Lismore Turkeys" (on IRClare01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2283), "The Maid of Lismore" ("One day as I chanced to go roving"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 b.9(111), 2806 c.8(187), 2806 c.8(257)[some words illegible], 2806 c.15(12)[some words illegible], 2806 b.11(135), "The Maid of Lismore"
NOTES: The places mentioned -- Lismore, Dungarvin and Cappoquin (where they stopped) -- are in County Waterford. It's about three miles from Lismore to Cappoquin, and about 11 miles farther to Dungarvan. - BS
File: RcMaLism

Maid of Magheracloon, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer complains that the man who courted her on the hills of Magheraclon, "behind yon hawthorn tree," no longer courts her. "Oh he's not to blame, the fault's my own ... I gave my love to another young man." Now she is broken-hearted.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity rejection love
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Morton-Ulster 21, "The Maid of Magheracloon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Morton-Maguire 6, pp. 9,102,157, "The Maid of Magheracloon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2486
NOTES: Magheracloon is a parish in County Monaghan.
Morton-Maguire: "The song seems to be very well known in Co. Fermanagh." - BS
File: MorU021

Maid of Monterey, The


See Mustang Gray (The Maid of Monterey) (File: FT09)

Maid of Mourne Shore, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer ask is he will ever again see the region of Mourne. He goes to his sweetheart, and begs her to love him lest he go over the sea. She says she loves a sailor and will remain true to him. The singer sadly prepares to emigrate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love rejection sailor emigration
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H34b (+tune in H27a), pp. 371-372, "The Maid of Mourne Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MOURNESH*
Roud #2946
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Maids of Mourne Shore" (on IRRCinnamond03)
Martin Reidy, "Maid of Moorlough Shore" (on IRClare01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Foggy Dew" (II) (version on IRClare01) (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Banks of Moorlough Shore
The Moorlough Shore
The Mourne Shore
File: HHH034b

Maid of Mullaghmore, The


See The Shamrock Shore (The Maid of Mullaghmore) (File: HHH20a)

Maid of Newfoundland, The


DESCRIPTION: The beauties of the maid are compared with the flowers, jewels, women of other lands, etc. The singer tells us that he met her in Labrador and will go far away if he cannot have her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: love beauty exile
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 118, "The Maid of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 372-374, "The Maid of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, p. 21, "The Maid of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 71, "The Maid of Newfoundland" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MAIDNEWF
Roud #4412
RECORDINGS:
Anita Best and Pamela Morgan, "The Maid on the Shore" (on NFABestPMorgan01)
NOTES: The song has a formulaic introduction by the singer who evokes the Muses to help sing praises to his beloved. - SH
File: Doy21

Maid of Prairie Du Chien, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer bids farewell, noting "There's nothing doth my footsteps detain But the beautiful maid of Prairie du Chien." He offers marriage; she rejects him. He hopes she will turn to him "when lovers get scarce." He wishes he were a soldier far away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: love rejection
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 201, "The Maid of Prairie Du Chien" (1 text)
Roud #7947
NOTES: Belden notes, correctly, that Prairie du Chien is in southwestern Wisconsin, where the Wisconsin River joins the Upper Mississippi. But he fails to note that it was the site of Fort Crawford, founded in 1816, which at the time was the northwesternmost point of functional United States control of the Midwest (to be superseded in 1819 by the founding of Camp New Hope, which eventually was moved to the site of Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers).
If Belden's informant was correct about when he learned it, the song must have dated back to at least 1850 or so. In that case, it seems quite likely that the singer was intended to be a soldier at Fort Crawford; the girl may have been a local Indian, though by 1850 there were a fair number of Europeans in the area. - RBW
File: Beld201

Maid of Rygate, The


See The Highwayman Outwitted [Laws L2] (File: LL02)

Maid of Seventeen, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer steps up to a beautiful girl and says that she entices him. She answers that she is only seventeen, and knows nothing of courting. He offers her a lesson in the subject. She says he should not visit her; she will return in a week
AUTHOR: Hugh McWilliams (source: Moulden-McWilliams)
EARLIEST DATE: 1831 (according to Moulden-McWilliams)
KEYWORDS: love courting youth beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H144, p. 270, "The Maid of Seventeen" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: John Moulden, Songs of Hugh McWilliams, Schoolmaster, 1831 (Portrush,1993), p. 11, "The Maid of Seventeen"
Roud #2958
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Maid of Seventeen" (on IRRCinnamond02)
File: HHH144

Maid of Sweet Gartheen, The


See (File: HHH594)

Maid of Sweet Gartine, The


See (File: HHH594)

Maid of Sweet Gorteen, The


See The Maid of Sweet Gurteen (File: HHH594)

Maid of Sweet Gurteen, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer tells the praises of the beautiful Maid of Gorteen. His father opposes the match; she is only a serving girl. The father locks her up; when the singer still professes his love, he has the girl sent away. The ending is confused
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Harding B 11(2292))
KEYWORDS: love separation father beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
SHenry H594, p. 430, "The Maid of Sweet Gorteen" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 22, "The Maid of Sweet Gurteen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 375-376, "The Maid of Sweet Gartheen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 85, "The Maid of Sweet Gartine" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 31, "The Maid of Sweet Gorteen" (1 text)
ST HHH594 (Partial)
Roud #3025
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2292), "Maid of Sweet Gortein," H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also 2806 b.11(146), "Maid of Sweet Gortein"; 2806 b.11(271), Harding B 11(2721), "The Maid of Sweet Gorteen"; 2806 c.8(263), Harding B 11(2290), Harding B 11(2291), 2806 c.15(200)[many illegible words], 2806 b.9(277), 2806 b.9(234), Harding B 19(39), "The Maid of Sweet Gurteen"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Suffolk Miracle" [Child 272] (theme)
NOTES: Child would have liked this; the plot is "The Suffolk Miracle" ("The Holland Handkerchief"), minus that ghost he so despised. It's not clear how this song is supposed to end; the Sam Henry texts gives hints that the lovers would reunite, but they never do.
Peacock's version has a clear stopping point ("So now my song is ended"), but again, no resolution; it leaves the singer wandering, seemingly between England and Ireland, still coming back to where he found her. Similarly Manny/Wilson, save that he is in Florida. - RBW
File: HHH594
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