Only a Soldier


See The Bold Soldier [Laws M27] (File: LM27)

Only Nineteen Years Old


DESCRIPTION: Singer fell in love with, and married, "a virgin only nineteen years old." Next morning she took off her paint and revealed her hump, wig, false leg and fingers. Before marrying, he says, examine your intended: she may be ninety.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: age courting marriage beauty disguise money humorous
FOUND IN: Ireland US(SW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 15, "Only Nineteen Years Old" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 36, pp. 197-199, "Oh! My! You're a Dandy for Nineteen Years Old" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4792
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "Only Nineteen Years Old" (on IRTLenihan01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Warranty Deed (The Wealthy Old Maid)" [Laws H24] and references there
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "Tom's sister Margaret used to sing this when she was home on holidays from America." - BS
File: RcOn19YO

Only Remembered


DESCRIPTION: "Up and away like the dews of the morning, Soaring from earth to its home in the sun, Thus would I pass from the earth and its toiling, Only remembered for what I have done." An exhortation to good works, with a promise of reward for those who do them
AUTHOR: Words: Dr. H. Bonar/Music: W. W. Bentley
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 627, "Only Remembered" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ONLYRMBR*
Roud #7557
NOTES: Although this song has been fairly popular with folk revival singers, it bears noting that it does not conform with the theology of any major branch of Christianity. Catholics and Orthodox believe in the salvific power of the church, as do (for the most part) Anglicans. Lutherans believe in justification by faith alone (Luther in fact declared the Letter of James "an epistle of straw" because it seemed to support salvation on the basis of works); the Reformed churches (e.g. Presbyterians) believe in predestination to grace.
Indeed, as it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you are being saved through faith... not because of works, lest someone should boast...."
The technical name for the heresy that men could accomplish their own salvation is Pelagianism, after its founder. Bettenson, p. 52, gives this capsule biography: "Pelagius was a British monk, probably of Irish origin. He came to Rome in 400 and was distressed at the low state of conduct there. Feeling that there was need of more moral effort, he was shocked by the prayer in S. Augustine's Confessions, 'Give what thou commandest and command what thou wilt.' His teachings seem to have aroused no stir until he went to Carthage after the sack of Rome in 410."
On p. 53, Bettenson quotes the key to Pelagius's doctrine: "Everything good and everything evil, in respect of which we are either worthy of praise or of blame, is done by us, not born with us." Thus Pelagius denied Original Sin, one of the key elements of orthodox Christian doctrine. (This is one of the reasons for the emphasis in many sects on the Virgin Birth, and the Catholic idea of the Immaculate Conception. It flows from the doctrine of Augustine, which was heavily based on the idea that men are born in sin. Jesus was free of this taint because was the son of a virgin herself born of a virgin; Christie-Murray, p. 88. Pelagius explicitly denied that human nature was inherently corrupt; Chadwick, p. 228.)
Qualben, p. 124, says, "Pelagian centered on the question: how is man saved? Three general anwers were given. Pelagius ascribed the chief merits of conversin to man. Augustine gave God all the glory and made freedom the result of divine grace. The Semi-Pelagians co-ordinated the human will and the divine grace as factors in the work of salvation.
Boer, p. 161, has perhaps the best one-sentence summary of Pelagianism: "[Pelagius] taught that God gave to every man the *possibility* of living a sinless life."
According to O'Grady, p. 113, he "abjured" the title of monk, and held that anyone could be a teacher -- thus in effect anticipating Luther. He also anticipated Luther in claiming there was no difference in kind between priest and laity. Is it any wonder the clerical hierarchy sought to control him?
Pelagianism was formally condemned by the third council of Ephesus in 431 (Qualben, p. 125), even before Pelagius died (Qualben, p. 124, estimates his dates as 370-440). By then, he had done quite a job of producing controversy in the Larin church, with various popes and councils condemning or condoning him (Christie-Murray, pp. 90-91; Chadwick, pp. 196-198). Making matters worse is the fact that Pelagius's chief disciple Celestius settled at Carthage (Chadwick, p. 227), very near Augustine's home of Hippo. The need to respond to these two gave rise to many of Augustine's most fervent writings, in which he declared man utterly degenerate and gave forth (e.g.) the view that unbaptized infants are automatically damned.
Pelagius had no desire to create such conflict in the church, and a slightly more Pelagian doctrine might have been accepted in the West had the matter not caused so much controversy that the Imperial government exiled Pelagius (Chadwick, pp. 229-232). As O'Grady says on p. 112, "The Pelagian dispute did not arouse such fierce antagonisms among the people as did the disputes in the Eastern Empire." But because Pelagianism was forced from the field, Augustine's views became Catholic doctrine -- and, because the doctrine is so radical, has left many people semi-Pelagian to this day (as this song attests). Christie-Murray, p. 95, notes a trace of Pelagianism in most of the Puritan sects.
Unlike most other early heresies, such as Arianism, Monophysitism, and Gnosticism, Pelagianism did not result in the formation of a separate church. I can't help but wonder if this isn't a major reason why it so readily re-emerges today. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: R627

Onward Christian Soldiers


DESCRIPTION: "Onward, Christian Soldier, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before." The Christian "army" is urged forward, bypassing temporary earthly structures for the eternal kingdom of God
AUTHOR: Words: Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) / Music: Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900)
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (Church Times)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 352, "Onward Christian Soldiers" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 416-417, "Onward, Christian Soldiers"
DT, ONCHRST*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp. 80-81, "Onward, Christian Soldiers" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Haydn Quartet, "Onward Christian Soldiers" (Victor 521, 1901)
Old Southern Sacred Singers, "Onward Christian Soldiers" (Brunswick 166, 1927)
SAME TUNE:
Onward, Christian Bedbugs (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 105)
NOTES: Yes, the Sabine Baring-Gould who wrote this is the same fellow as collected English folksongs. And whose descendents are responsible for the Annotated Mother Goose cited frequently in this index. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1864, and produced quite a bit of Christian poetry and analysis, though this hymn is nearly the only part to have achieved any popularity. - RBW
File: FSWB352A

Onward, The


DESCRIPTION: The Onward and her crew from Troon to Larne was bound"; she tries to reach Lamlash for shelter in a storm. "Between Dromore and the Ailsa Craig The Onward she went down... unseen all from the shore; no rescue life could save."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1943 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, p. 90, "The Onward" (1 text)
NOTES: Ranson: "'The Onward' was wrecked off the Ayrshire coast of Scotland in 1881."
Troon is on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland; Larne is across the North Channel on the coast of County Antrim. - BS
File: Ran090

Oor Cat's Deid


DESCRIPTION: "Whirry, whirra, the cat she's deid, And whirry, whirra, there's a sod on her heid, And in a wee hole we'll bury them a', And for wee puss we'll sing for a'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: lullaby death burial animal
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H40b, p. 17, "A Child's Lullaby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13025
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lingle Lingle Lang Tang (Our Cat's Dead)"
File: HHH040b

Oor Dochter Jean


DESCRIPTION: "Oor dochter Jean cam hame yestreen, Wi' rosy cheeks an' lauchin' e'en." Asked where she has been, she replies, "Wi' Fermer Joe o Auchinglen." There is a ring on her finger. Fermer Joe arrives to ask her hand; all happily agree
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage farming
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ord, pp. 49-50, "Oor Dochter Jean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3789
File: Ord049

Oor Fairm Toon


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the goings on "at oor fairm toon." The fee'd help are strange but the kitchie lass is a beauty. Work starts early and food is meager. There's a new "thrashin' mull." "We'll shortly hae the plooin' deen"
AUTHOR: Mr Laird (source: Greig)
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming work food nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #92, pp. 2-3, "Oor Fairm Toon" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 403, "Oor Fairm Toon" (2 texts)
Roud #5411
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Oor Kailyard" (tune, per Greig)
File: GrD3403

Oor Jock Cam Hame


DESCRIPTION: Jock comes home distracted but says he'll be better. He says that on the way home he met his Peggie. Then he put sugar in his egg, salt in his tea, used knife and fork to eat his brose, and cleared his nose with a spoon.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Jock comes home from work with a white face. The singer asks him what is the matter. Jock says he'd be better soon. The singer tells him supper and tea would do him good. Jock says that on the way home he met his Peggie. Then he put sugar in his egg, salt in his tea, used knife and fork to eat his brose [oatmeal and boiling water], and cleared his nose with a spoon. The singer is amazed.
KEYWORDS: love food humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1705, "Oor Jock Cam Hame" (1 text)
Roud #13524
File: GrD81705

Oor Little Pigs


See The Old Sow (File: Br3178)

Oor Treasures


DESCRIPTION: The singer and Willie have been married fourteen years. "We were rich in ane anither though richt scant in warld's gear." "Wid ye like tae see our treasures" -- she names and describes their children -- which God will "guide and shield forever"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: marriage nonballad children
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 1073, "Oor Treasures" (1 text)
Roud #6741
File: Grd1073

Oor Wee Little Tottum


See Toddlin' But and Toddlin' Ben (The Wee Little Totum) (File: Ord137)

Oot spak' the auld guidwife


See Sandy's the Laddie That I'm Gaun Wi' (File: GrD4749)

Open Book, The


DESCRIPTION: "You've been tamped full of shit about cowboys; they are known as a romantic breed...." The reciter proceeds to dispel these myths, talking about cowboys' sexual exploits, their local peculiarities, and their folly
AUTHOR: Curley Fletcher
EARLIEST DATE: 1985 (Logson)
KEYWORDS: cowboy recitation nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Logsdon 16, pp. 108-117, "The Open Book" (2 very long texts, one Fletcher's original bad-language version, the other his later cleaned-up text)
Roud #10092
File: Logs016

Open the Door


See A Rap At The Door (File: GrD4780)

Opeongo Line, The


DESCRIPTION: "On the Opeongo Line I drove a span of bays One summer once upon a time For Hoolihan and Hayes. Now that the bays are dead and gone And grim old age is mine... Ay, dreaming, dreaming, I go teaming On the Opeongo Line."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: travel logger
FOUND IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-Lumbering #65, "The Opeongo Line," (1 fragment)
Roud #4565
File: FowL65

Opossum, The


See Kemo Kimo (File: R282)

Opsang for Jonas Anton Hjelm


DESCRIPTION: Norwegian shanty. "Hurrah for Jonas Aston Hjelm, He was for Norway, helmet and spear, till at last he celebrated peace." Other versions are general sailing rhymes with a choruses of "Sing salio!" or "Sing sailor-O!" or "Singsalli-joh!"
AUTHOR: Henrik Wergelands
EARLIEST DATE: 1839
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty
FOUND IN: Norway
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 558-559, "Opsang for Jonas Anton Hjelm" (4 texts-Norwegian & English, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sing Salio
Siste Reis
NOTES: Jonas Anton Hjelm was a Norwegian laywer who was instrumental in the fight for national control while Norway was under Swedish rule (1814-1905). In particular he argued in 1834 that the Act of Union provided that a Norwegian minister had to be present whenever the Swedish ministers discussed Norwegian affairs. Edvard Greig also wrote a piece called "Sailor's Song - Hurrah For Jonas Anton Hjelm," but the melody bears no resemblance to the tune given in Hugill.
Hugill speculated that Wergelands may have based his poem on an earlier shanty (though the poem predates any available shanty collection). The possible earlier version Hugill gave was spoken from the view of a ship -- "The Resolution was a demon, and the name I got at baptism...." - SL
File: Hugi558

Oran Do Cheap Breatainn (Cape Breton is the Land of My Love)


DESCRIPTION: Gaelic. Now I live in the mountains but I am singing about "the land of the glens": birds, cows, thoughts of winter "the time for weddings and milling frolics" and people I knew in my youth who have died.
AUTHOR: Dan Alex McDonald (per MRHCreighton)
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage lyric nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 184-185, "Oran Do Cheap Breatainn" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
John Ranny McReigen, "Oran Do Cheap Breatainn" (on MRHCreighton)
NOTES: The description is based on the translation of Creighton/MacLeod 17 in Gaelic Songs in Nova Scotia. - BS
File: CrMa184

Oran Na Caillich (Our Auld Wife)


DESCRIPTION: Scottish Gaelic. My wife is dour, sour, and the devil's own. I must have been bewitched to be drawn to her. She's so ugly. I have to drink to stand it.
AUTHOR: Allan McDougall [Ailean Dall] (1750-1829)
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage drink humorous wife
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 793-794, "Oran Na Caillich" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Peacock notes that this "is called a milling song ... used to accompany the work of shrinking wool homespun. The wet cloth is alternately kneaded and pounded on a large table by several people either seated or standing. A leader sings the verses, and everyone comes in on the chorus." "Milling wool" and "waulking tweed" is the same process. For a note on the process and the songs see "Waulking" by Craig Cockburn at the Silicon Glen site.
The description is based on a translation by Malcolm MacFarlane available in the hard-cover edition of The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Highlands ed Alfred Moffat (Bayley & Ferguson, London & Glasgow, ca 1908), pp. 76-77. This song is not in the soft-cover edition issued ca. 1960. - BS
File: Pea793

Orange and Blue


DESCRIPTION: "When Brethren are met in orders so grand, What a beautiful sight for to view." Singer describes his induction, in code. But, "what a shameful disgrace on a lodge it doth bring To see Brethren each other subdue." Join "in defence of the Orange and Blue"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: ritual religious
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 34, "Orange and Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Grand Templar's Song" (Masonic symbolism) and references there
NOTES: OrangeLark: "Another much used song which has the effect of stirring the blood of those who sing it."
"Orange and blue were William III's colours, and they are still borne by the Orange lodges of Ireland, by which means they have become strongly associated with an anti-catholic spirit" (source: "Party Colours" quoted from Chambers' Journal in Littell's Living Age (Boston, 1873 ("Digitized by Google")), Fifth Series, Vol. I, p. 819).
"The cause it is good, and the men they are true, And the green shall outlive both the Orange and Blue!" (source: Samuel Lover, editor, Lyrics of Ireland (London, 1858 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 284, "When Erin First Rose"). - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: OrLa034

Orange and Blue (I), The


See Green Grows the Laurel (Green Grow the Lilacs) (File: R061)

Orange and Blue (II), The


See The Nobleman's Wedding (The Faultless Bride; The Love Token) [Laws P31] (File: LP31)

Orange and Green


DESCRIPTION: "The night was falling dreary in merry Bandon town...." To an Orangeman's door comes a Green, pursued by an angry crowd. The Orangeman shelters him -- then learns he has killed his son. He still does not retaliate Years later, they meet in peace
AUTHOR: Gerald Griffin (1803-1840)
EARLIEST DATE: 1850 (David Charles Bell, _The Modern Reader and Speaker_)
KEYWORDS: Ireland political murder promise reprieve reunion
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, pp. 41-43, "Orange and Green" (1 text)
Roud #9556
NOTES: Given that Dean's seems to be the only traditional text of this, and that I have found no sign of sheet music, I suspect this is actually a recitation rather than a song. I also suspect Dean took it from a literary source. Finally, I have to suspect its inclusion was inspired by the horrid Irish troubles that were taking place at the time Dean was assembling his book: The conflict of Orange and Green was at its worst, because by this time England would probably have walked away from Ireland -- except that the Orangement of Ulster wanted no part of an independent Ireland.
Gerald Griffin had an interesting career: Born in Ireland, the ninth son of a brewer, his family moved to America to escape poverty (so it's just possible that he would have heard the story of Duncan Campbell which this so resembles). He spent time as a journalist in Lonon, and finally ended up teaching in Ireland for the Society of Christian Brothers. His posthumous collected works occupied eight volumes, though most of his works have fallen into obscurity. (Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, which is as close to comprehensive as any literary reference I've seen, doesn't even mention him.) He did produce a version of "Eileen Aroon," reportedly taken from the Gaelic (see the Notes to that song); also, his novel The Collegians (1829) was made into a play, Colleen Bawn. Patrick C. Power A Literary History of Ireland, Mercier, 1969, calls it "a very good novel" but says that after that he "never again wrote anything as good." - RBW
File: Dean040

Orange Blossom


See Rosey Apple Lemon and Pear (File: MSNR071)

Orange Lark, The


DESCRIPTION: The lark "is true Orange bird" who cheered William on July first and "sang him an Orange hymn." The nightingale sings sweetly but the lark's song comes "from the soldier's drum." The eagle is too aristocratic; the lark's "is the song of the free"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: Ireland patriotic bird
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 40, "The Orange Lark" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: OrLa040

Orange Lily-o, The


DESCRIPTION: Did you go to the flower show? The prize is won by the Orange Lily. "The Viceroy there was so debonair ... And Lady Clarke" approached Ireland's Orange Lily.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1895 (Graham)
KEYWORDS: Ireland flowers political
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
OLochlainn 70, "The Orange Lily-o" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, p. 116, "The Orange Lily-O" (1 text)
Graham, p. 7, "The Orange Lily, O!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3003
NOTES: Georges Denis Zimmermann, Songs of Irish Rebellion , 2nd ed. (2002), p. 303: "The great emblem of the [Orangemen], the Orange lily, is celebrated like the shamrock in nationalist songs. [Fn.45 'The Orange Lily O!' in The Protestant or True Blue, pp. 45-46, and in every Orange song book thereafter.]"
What message is hidden here?
OLochlainn: "I heard an older and more pungent ballad but could not find it printed. All I remember is 'D'ye think I would let, a -- Fenian -- Destroy one flower of the Lily O?"
The "Songs Collected by Donagh MacDonagh" site has two versions. The first version is, essentially, the same as OLochlainn 70. A long description of version 2, as far as I can state it is:
At the show Lady Clarke approaches the lily. The viceroy is reluctant to give it the prize. Sir Charley is also unhappy but "horse master Billy" laughs to think his ex should be bothered by the lily. "With moistened eyes" the Viceroy gives the prize to the lily. "Toast the health of Billy" who won "on Boyne's red shore The Royal Orange Lily O!"
Which Viceroy and Lady Clarke? Who are Sir Charley and horse master Billy? And what is the Royal Orange Lily? And do these versions all refer to the same "flower show?"
The following notes, quoted with permission, are from John Moulden, researcher at the "Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change" at National University of Ireland, Galway whose subject is "the printed ballad in Ireland":
"I take it that it is a satire concerning the reluctance of one of the Lords Lieutenant of Ireland (aka the Viceroy) to award first prize at a flower show to an Orange Lily. The distaste of the Victorian establishment for the Orange Order was much the same as today.
"The Orange Lily was a symbol of the Royal House of Orange, official or not, but clearly adopted as such in Ireland.
"Specifics are a bit more difficult - the likelihood is that Lady Clarke was Olivia Owenson, sister of Lady Morgan; c. 1785-1845, and that therefore the Viceroy in question was one of: [See Wikipedia for the list of the 16 Viceroys from Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke: 27 April 1801 to William Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury: 17 July 1844] but obviously after Lady Clarke's marriage and probably after 1819 when she had a very poor play acted in Dublin.
"Horse Master Billy may refer to the equestrian statue of William of Orange which stood in St. Stephen's Green in Dublin until being blown up in the (I THINK) 1830s.
"There is of course a possibility that the song refers to an event other than a flower show, such as a parade of ladies.
"The Chief Secretaries at the same times were: [a list of 22 between 1798 and 1845, including a number of "Sirs" and a number of "Charles"--Charles Abbot 1801-1802, Charles Long 1805-1806 and Charles Grant 1818-1821] but there are no Sir Charleys among them."
The last verse from Graham may refer to King William: "Then come, brave boys, and share her joys, and toast the health of Willy, O! Who bravely wore, on Boyne's red shore, the Royal Orange Lily, O!" That is reminiscent of the last verse sometimes sung to "The Aughalee Heroes": "And when that we landed in Aughalee, Our brandy in gallons did shine, The toast we often repeated Was to William that crossed the Boyne." - BS
File: OLoc070

Orange Maid of Sligo, The


DESCRIPTION: A tiny boat is driven by wind onto the shore of the Bay of Sligo. "At the bow there sat a girl... the 'Orange Maid of Sligo.'" An Orange youth sees an orange lily on the water and gives it to her. They marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: marriage sea ship shore flowers Ireland patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Morton-Ulster 34, "The Orange Maid of Sligo" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ORGSLIG*
Roud #2910
NOTES: The "aisling" is common on the Green side of the Irish conflict. Here the Orange Maid stands for Orange Ireland and the Orange Lily is its symbol. See the discussion of "aisling" in the notes to "Eileen McMahon." "The Orange Lily was a symbol of the Royal House of Orange, official or not, but clearly adopted as such in Ireland." (source: John Moulden; for the full note see "The Orange Lily-o"). - BS
File: MorU034

Orange Riots in Belfast, The


DESCRIPTION: "Emancipation first tortured them [Orangemen] sore But O'Connell's procession it grieved them far more," so they took it as an excuse to burn Dan's effigy and "to murder and tear Saint Malachy's Chapel." They should consider their own July 12 parading.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1989 (Leyden); 19C (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(270))
KEYWORDS: violence Ireland political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 8-23, 1864 - Belfast riots about Dublin Daniel O'Connell statue (source: Leyden).
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 42, "The Orange Riots in Belfast" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(270), "The Orange Riots in Belfast" ("Rejoice sons of Erin all over the land"), unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle of the Navvies" (subject)
NOTES: Leyden: "The protagonists in these disturbances were the Protestants of Sandy Row and the Catholics of the nearby Pound area (now the Divis Flats area)." The Catholic navvies were "engaged in the excavation of the New Docks." "Never before had there been rioting on such a scale with widespread shooting, intimidation and looting of gunsmiths, resulting in death, injury and destruction."
The conflict began when the foundation stone for a statue of Daniel O'Connell was laid in Dublin. That evening Sandy Row Protestants burned an effigy of O'Connell in Belfast. St Malachy's Chapel was the meeting place for Catholic navvies reacting to the effigy burning. Following an attack by the navvies on Brown Square School, Protestants "headed for St. Malachy's to seek revenge." (source: Leyden) For notes on Daniel O'Connell see "Erin's Green Shore [Laws Q27]."
See the notes to "The Boys of Sandy Row" for comments on sectarian riots earlier and later in the same Belfast area. - BS
File: Leyd042

Orange Yeomanry of '98, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer's father fought with the Orange Yeomanry in 1798. The Orange peasant and artisan imitate "the gallant Orange Yeomanry." The Orangeman "relies upon his Bible and his gun." Preferring peace, the Orangeman would fight if necessary
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1882 (_The History of Orangeism_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion nonballad patriotic political derivative
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1798 - Irish rebellion against British rule
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 137, "The Orange Yeomanry of '98" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Memory of the Dead" (lyrics)
NOTES: One verse
"Who fears to speak of Ninety-Eight?"
This was the silly note
Of one who was afraid to put
His name to what he wrote;
The reference is to John Kells Ingram's "The Memory of the Dead," which begins "Who fears to speak of Ninety-Eight?" The point is that Ingram's song was published anonymously. "The Orange Yeomanry of '98" was also published anonymously before Ingram openly acknowledged authorship of "Memory of the Dead." (source: Moylan) - BS
And, of course, this well sums up the attitude of groups such as the Orange Order, which eventually led to partition -- and the Troubles. - RBW
File: Moyl137

Orangeman's Apology, The


DESCRIPTION: "I am a loyal Orangeman, in this I take delight, Though long before I firmly swore to those who did unite." Green being out of date, the singer calls the Pope a hog and swears what he's told. "For it's my rule, and I'm no fool, who's miller, I'll be dog"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1809 (Cox's _Irish Magazine_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: Ireland humorous nonballad political
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 49, "The Orangeman's Apology for Quitting the Croppies and Turning Loyalist" (1 text)
File: Moyl049

Oranges and Lemons


DESCRIPTION: "Oranges and lemons, Say the bells of St. Clement's. You owe me five farthings.... When will you pay me? Say the bells of Old Bailey...." "I'm sure I don't know, Says the great bell of Bow." A threat (to chop off a head) may follow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1744(Tom Thumb's Pretty Song Book, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: money playparty
FOUND IN: Britain(England(All)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Opie-Oxford2 392, "Oranges and lemons" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #640, pp. 253-254, "(Gay go up and gay go down)" (a conflate version probably containing material not relevant to the song)
DT, ORANGLEM
Roud #13190
NOTES: Opie-Oxford2: "Whether or not the terminating lines ['... Here comes a chopper to chop off your head'] have special significance, they do not appear in the song's earliest recording (c.1744)" - BS
Whatever the significance of the song, it appears to have inspired a lot of descendants (several of which are quoted by the Opies). Many folkies will know Idris Davies's "Bells of Rhymney," set to music by Pete Seeger. Eleanor Farjeon (of "Morning Has Broken") fame also used it as a starting point for a song about a memorial for World War I soldiers called "The Children's Bells": "Where are your Orangers? Where are your Lemons? What, are you silent now, Bells of St. Clement's?" For the full text, with background, see Walter de la Mare, Come Hither, revised edition, 1928; #184, "The Children's Bells." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BGMG640

Ordeal of Andrew Rose, The


See Andrew Rose (File: Pea825)

Ore Knob


DESCRIPTION: "Come, blooming youth in the midst of day And see how soon some pass away." Just before their shift ended, two miners, Sherley and Smith, die in a rockfall. The singer quotes the New Testament and says that it is all God's plan
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: mining disaster religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 211, "The Ore Knob" (1 text)
Roud #6556
NOTES: The editors of the Brown collection are unable to link this to any actual event, though it appears to be based on reality. The song probably would have been more successful if it weren't so sickeningly blatant. - RBW
File: BrII211

Organ Grinder, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer in successive stanzas has sex with his girl friend in various places, each more outlandish than the last.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous sex
FOUND IN: US(MA,So,SW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cray, pp. 341-344, "The Organ Grinder" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, p. 369-370, "My Little Organ Grinder" (1 text, 1 tune); II, pp. 592-594, "My Little Organ Grinder" (2 texts)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Horny Kebri-O" (form)
File: EM341

Orkney New Year's Eve Carol


See Queen Mary's Men (New Year's Eve Carol) (File: MSNR200)

Orkney Style of Courtship, The


DESCRIPTION: Recitation: Speaker says that the Orkney style of courship looks odd from outside, but "let them court the way they choose." Others may sit around to court; he prefers to court by jumping in bed with the girl; it saves time after a long day at work.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
LONG DESCRIPTION: Recitation: Speaker says that the Orkney style of courship looks odd from outside, but he says to "let them court the way they choose." He says that those who like to court in an armchair after the old folks have gone to sleep are free to do so, but he himself prefers to remove his boots and coat and jump into bed with the girl. He explains that this saves time after a long day at work.
KEYWORDS: courting sex family nonballad recitation
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
Roud #3087
RECORDINGS:
John Findlater, "The Orkney Style of Courtship" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
NOTES: And I'm sure it does. - PJS
File: RcTOSOC

Orphan Girl (II), The


See The Orphan (File: Beld278)

Orphan Girl (III), The


DESCRIPTION: The ship Orphan Girl, out of London for Liverpool "with her cargo of cement," is "stranded on a place called Sea-field shore...; four of her crew were saved." A heroic boy is lost, the captain is cowardly, "but we may blame the Coast-guards."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct 22, 1881: "... schooner Orphan Girl ... wrecked at Ballymoney"; the crew were rescued. (source: Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 45)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, pp. 64-65, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Alfred D. Snow" (tune)
NOTES: Ranson: Tune is "Alfred D. Snow" on p. 116. - BS
File: Ran064

Orphan Girl, The (The Orphan Child)


DESCRIPTION: The orphan girl at the rich man's door cries, "No home." Ragged, hungry, and cold, she begs for help, but the rich man turns her away. In the night she freezes to death, "but her soul has gone to a home above where there's room and bread for the poor"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1894 (inscription in a book currently [2010] in the possession of Kirsten Wagmeister)
KEYWORDS: poverty orphan rejection death
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Belden, pp. 277-278, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text plus an excerpt from another, 1 tune)
Randolph 725, "The Orphan Child" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BrownII 148, "The Orphan Girl" (3 texts plus mention of 11 more)
Chappell-FSRA 117, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text)
Brewster 63, "The Orphan Girl" (3 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 1 more, 1 tune)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 177-178, "Orphan Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 106-107, "The Little Orphan Girl" (1 text)
Cambiaire, pp. 26-27, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 124-125, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 364-366, "The Little Orphan Girl" (2 texts; 2 tunes on p. 454)
Sandburg, pp. 316-319, "Mag's Song" (2 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
JHCox 153, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, p. 368, "The Coal Miner's Child" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 481, "The Orphan Girl" (source notes only)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 25, #5 (1977), pp, 26-27, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text, 1 tune, the Buell Kazee version)
ST R725 (Partial)
Roud #457
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Orphan Child" (OKeh 7006, 1924)
Buell Kazee, "The Orphan Girl" (Brunswick 211, 1928; Supertone S-2045, 1930; on KMM)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "The Orphan Girl" (Vocalion 5369, 1929)
Len Nash & his Country Boys, "The Orphan Girl" (Brunswick 387, 1929)
Riley Puckett, "The Orphan Girl" (Columbia 15050-D, 1926; rec. 1925)
Ernest Stoneman, "The Orphan Girl" (OKeh 45044, 1926) (Edison 52077/Edison [BA CYL] 5367, 1927)
NOTES: Stephen Foster wrote a piece, "No Home, No Home" (1862), but this song is much more detailed and does not resemble Foster's.
The Darling text, "The Coal Miner's Child," has been localized to mining conditions without in any way distancing it from the other versions of this song. This adapted version, however, bears a special resemblance to "The Miner's Doom" [Laws Q36]. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R725

Orphan Gypsy Girl, The


See The Gypsy Maid (The Gypsy's Wedding Day) [Laws O4] (File: LO04)

Orphan, The


DESCRIPTION: "Will you hear my mournful story? All my friends are dead and gone. Father is no more, nor mother; I'm an orphan left alone." The singer recalls mother's death, and her dying injunction to obey the Bible. She visits the graveyard, and hopes to join mother
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: orphan mother death burial mourning
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Belden, pp. 278-279, "The Orphan" (2 texts)
BrownII 152, "The Orphan" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Fuson, p. 147, "The Orphan Girl" (1 text)
ST Beld278 (Partial)
Roud #4193
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fisherman's Girl" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Orphan Girl
File: Beld278

Orphan's Lament (Two Little Children, Left Jim and I Alone)


DESCRIPTION: "Two little children, a boy and a girl, Sat by the old church door." The ragged, dirty children tell of their poverty: "Papa was lost out on sea long ago... Mama's in heaven, angels took her away." They are too young to work. They die before morning
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: orphan death
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
BrownII 150, "Two Little Children" (1 text plus mention of 3 more)
Cambiaire, p. 32, "Two Little Children" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 126-127, "Two Little Orphans" (1 text)
DT, ORPHNLAM
Roud #458
RECORDINGS:
Betty Garland, "Two Little Orphans (or Left Jim and I Alone)" (on BGarland01)
Ernest V. Stoneman and the Dixie Mountaineers, "Two Little Orphans -- Our Mama's In Heaven" (Edison 51935, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5338, 1927); "Two Little Orphans" (OKeh, unissued, 1927); Ernest V. Stoneman and His Blue Ridge Cornshuckers, "The Two Little Orphans" (Victor 21648)
Arthur Tanner, "Two Little Children" (Columbia 15180-D, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Row Us Over the Tide" (subject)
cf. "I Saw the Pale Moon Shining on Mother's White Tombstone" (subject)
File: BrII150

Ot Azoy Neyt A Shnayder (Weary Days Are a Tailor's)


DESCRIPTION: Yiddish: The immigrant singer tells of the hard work and long hours in a sweatshop: "From dawn till dusk he sews away." "Hunger and pain are all he knows." He thanks the union for better conditions
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes foreigner labor-movement nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 286-287, "Ot Azoy Neyt A Shnayder (Weary Days Are a Tailor's)" (2 texts (English & Yiddish), 1 tune)
File: SBoA286

Ot Kraya i Do Kraya (From Frontier to Frontier)


DESCRIPTION: Russian: The listeners across the land are called upon to take up rifles to defend their homeland. They are urged to fight "for country and for freedom." They are warned to be ready for danger and sorrow, and are asked to fight to the end.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940s (recording, Paul Robeson)
KEYWORDS: war political nonballad patriotic foreignlanguage
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 22, 1941 - German troops invade the Soviet Union without warning
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 356-357, "Ot Kraya i Do Kraya (From Frontier to Frontier)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
From Border To Border
NOTES: When the Germans first invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Stalin appealed to the people to save the Communist state. As propaganda, it failed miserably.
Eventually the Soviets started appealing to the people to save Holy Mother Russia. Songs like this were emblems of that appeal. Combined with widespread (and true) reports of Nazi atrocities against Slavs (whom Hitler regarded as only marginally human), Stalin eventually built up enough patriotic fervor to allow the nation to survive. - RBW
File: SBoA356

Other Bright Shore, The


DESCRIPTION: "I have a mother gone to glory (or: ...mother over yonder) (x3), On (that) other (bright) shore." Similarly with father, sister, etc. "Some bright day we'll go and meet them...." "Won't that be a happy meeting..." etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious death reunion family
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
BrownIII 539, "John Saw de Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand" (1 text, perhaps not this song but too close to separate (it starts "John saw the Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand" and has the chorus "I can't stay away," but the rest appears to be this); also 576, "Gwine Down Jordan" (1 text, also possibly separate as it has the chorus, "I'me gwine down Jordan, hallelo," but the verses seem to belong here); also 648, "We Have Loved Ones Over Yonder" (1 text, which appears to be exactly this song except that it uses the phrase "over yonders ocean" rather than "on the other bright shore")
Chappell-FSRA 90, "Over Yonders Ocean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 611, "On That Other Bright Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 47, "I've Got a Mother Gone to Glory" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thomas-Makin', pp. 217-218, "Oh, Brother Will You Meet Me?" (1 text, 1 tune, in which all meet "On Canaan's happy shores.")
Lomax-ABFS, p. 572, "The Other Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, p. 170, "Over Yonders Ocean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4213
RECORDINGS:
Rev. Howard Finster, "Some Have Fathers Over Yonder" (on FolkVisions2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hear the Lambs a-Cryin'" (words)
cf. "Departed Loved Ones" (theme)
cf. "I Have a Father Gone to Glory (I Am Alone in this World)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Roud lumps this with "Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children, The Promised Land)," which seems a bit strong. But there is no denying that this is a song with a great willingness to transfer verses; it's possible that some of the items listed here actually derived from other songs. - RBW
File: R611

Other Shore, The


See The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)

Other Side of Jordan


See Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel (II) (File: CSW188)

Other Side of Jordan, The


See Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel (File: R305)

Otterburn


See Lady Jean (File: GrD1027)

Otto Wood the Bandit


DESCRIPTION: Otto Wood has a quarrel with and kills a pawnshop clerk. Sheriff arrests him; he's imprisoned. He breaks out but is recaptured (and shot). In another break, he's shot dead. Chorus: "Otto Wood why didn't you run/When the sheriff pulled out that 44 gun?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (recording, Slim Smith)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Otto Wood has a quarrel with a pawnshop clerk and pistol-whips (shoots?) him to death. Sheriff arrests him; he's sentenced to the penitentiary. He breaks out but is recaptured (and shot in the process). In another break, he's shot dead. "He loved the women and he hated the law/Just wouldn't take nobody's jaw." Chorus: "Otto Wood why didn't you run/When the sheriff pulled out that 44 gun?"
KEYWORDS: captivity crime murder law manhunt prison punishment trial escape death police prisoner
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, OTTOWOOD*
Roud #11543
RECORDINGS:
[Walter "Kid" Smith & the] Carolina Buddies, "Otto Wood the Bandit" (Columbia 15652-D, 1931; on RoughWays2)
Slim Smith [pseud. for Bernard Smith], "Otto Wood the Bandit" (Victor 23526, 1931)
NOTES: Otto Wood was a local boy in the same area of North Carolina as Charlie Poole's band; the song tells his story pretty accurately.
Pity there isn't a keyword "ineptitude." - PJS
File: DTottowo

Ou Som Souroucou


DESCRIPTION: Creole French. "Ou Som Souroucou, qui ca ou gagnien, gagnien pou' bpi' do l'eau?" Ou Som Souroucou, asked why he drinks so much water, replies that he has eaten corn and has to drink.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Peterson, "Creole Songs from New Orleans")
KEYWORDS: drink foreignlanguage nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, p. 222, " Ou Som Souroucou" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LxA222

Oughta Come on the River


DESCRIPTION: "Oughta come on the river Long time ago, I don't know partner, Say, you oughta know, You'd catch plenty trouble Everywhere you go." The Captain threatens the members of the gang. The singer dreams of freedom
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: work chaingang freedom
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, p. 103, (no title) (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ain't No More Cane on this Brazos"
NOTES: There are many, many elements of "Ain't No More Cane on this Brazos/Go Down, Old Hannah" in this piece -- but it appears to be different. Assuming Courlander didn't cut something essential, anyway. - RBW
File: CNFM103

Oul Bog Hole, The


See The Ould Bog Hole (File: FVS290)

Oul' Dunloy


DESCRIPTION: The singer reports being sick of the city, and wishes he were back in Dunloy. The city is loud and strange, and the people look unhealthy. He misses his neighbors, who made life a joy. The corncrake cries, "Come back, come back to Dunloy."
AUTHOR: Andrew Doey
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: homesickness
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H498, pp. 211-212, "Oul' Dunloy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH498

Oul' Rigadoo, The


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

Ould Bog Hole, The


DESCRIPTION: "O, the pigs are in the mire and the cow is at the grass And a man without a woman is no better than an ass." The singer courts Judy; she calls him a rake; he says he will be reform and hopes for as many children as there are "days in Lent." She consents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford); broadside Harding B 20(293) appears to be nineteenth century
KEYWORDS: love courting humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 290-292, "The Ould Bog Hole" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 743, "The Old Bog Hole," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "The Old Bog Hole" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
O'Conor, p. 65, "The Old Bog Hole" (1 text)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 36-37, "The Ould Bog Hole" (1 text)
Roud #6128
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(293), "Old Bog Hole", T. Taylor (London), 1859-1899; also Harding B 26(489), "Ould Bog Hole"; Harding B 17(228b), "Oul' Bog Hole"
Murray, Mu23-y1:013, "The Oul Bog Hole", J Bristow (Glasgow), 19C; also Mu23-y1:036, Mu23-y1:037, "The Oul' Bog Hole," James Lindsay, 19C [not the same as the preceding]
NLScotland, LC.Fol.187.A.2(067), "The Oul' Bog Hole," unknown, c. 1860
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Zip Coon" (tune)
File: FVS290

Ould Father Dan


DESCRIPTION: "I once knew a dodger, whose name was Father Dan ... to purgatory he's gone long ago." "The Repealers of their cash were shorn And Repeal with Dan sent below." "There is no more rent for ould Father Dan, He is gone where the rest all will go"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: death Ireland humorous political
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 28, "Ould Father Dan" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Grand Conversation on O'Connell Arose" (subject) and references there
NOTES: OrangeLark: "The song celebrates the death of Daniel O'Connell, leader of the mid-19th century movement aimed at breaking Ireland's integral union with Britain. The Repeal movement was financed with money raised from the Roman Catholic masses. The song points to the irony of a popular leader whose income derived from these collections and from the rents of his tenants." - BS
By the looks of it, this is a parody of "Uncle Ned." A vicious one, obviously. But probably produced almost the moment Stephen Foster's song came out; Daniel O'Connell died in 1847, and "Uncle Ned" was copyrighted 1848.
Incidentally, this is an illustration of how violently biased Irish Protestantism could be. I am not Catholic, and I find very many Irish nationalists to be utterly ridiculous -- but O'Connell sought only civil rights for the people, and did not believe in violence, and did not want separation from the British crown. It's hard to see how anyone even vaguely rational could condemn him. - RBW
File: OrLa028

Ould Heelball You're Boozing Again


DESCRIPTION: The singer, McShaw, is "a decent shoemaker ... but I've lately took on to the booze," as his friends comment at every chance. He was once well-to-do but now his wagon wheel is broken, his horses sold, and his wife has taken his watch and chain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: drink hardtimes nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Ulster 48, "Ould Heelball You're Boozing Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2915
File: MorU048

Ould Ireland, You're My Darlin'


DESCRIPTION: "Ould Ireland, you're my jewel sure." The singer blesses "each manly son... But hang the knave and dastard slave So base as to deny thee." He pledges "a love that ne'er can perish."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1865 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 18(388))
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 126, "Ould Ireland, You're My Darlin'" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(388), "Ould Ireland You're My Darlin'", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 18(388): 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: OCon126

Ould Lammas Fair, The


DESCRIPTION: "At the Ould Lammas Fair in Ballycastle long ago, I met a little colleen who set my heart aglow." He recalls the girl even while looking at the lasses of Flanders. Now he is glad to be at home with her, playing the fiddle and recalling the fair
AUTHOR: John Henry Macaulay
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting fiddle reunion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H101, pp. 275-276, "The Ould Lammas Fair" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9051
NOTES: The reference to courting Flemish girls could date this to several wars, but the reference to "resting from the war," and the fact that the soldiers spent much time there, clearly implies a World War I date. As one would expect of a song composed during Sam Henry's collecting days. - RBW
File: HHH101

Ould Leather Breeches, The


See The Old Leather Breeches (File: MCB232)

Ould Man of Killyburn Brae, The


See The Farmer's Curst Wife [Child 278] (File: C278)

Ould Orange Flute, The


See The Old Orange Flute (File: Hodg216)

Ould Piper, The


DESCRIPTION: An old Irish piper, who played before Moses, can only play one tune. He dies and goes to Hell The devil puts him in the frying pan; "This is another ould piper I've found/Put him down with the rest for to play." (For a chorus, the singer imitates pipes.)
AUTHOR: Carl Hardebeck
EARLIEST DATE: c.1912 (OLochlainn-More learned from the author)
KEYWORDS: death music Hell Devil
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 70, "The Piper Who Played Before Moses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3091
RECORDINGS:
Frank McPeake, "The Ould Piper" (on FSB3)
File: RcTOlPi

Ould Plaid Shawl, The


DESCRIPTION: "Not far from old Kinvara in the merry month of May ... came ... a little Irish cailin in an ould plaid shawl" A man "enchanted with her beauty" greets her. She "shyly passed me by" He can't forget her. "I'll seek her all through Galway and ... Clare"
AUTHOR: Francis A. Fahy
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: love separation beauty courting
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 106, "The Ould Plaid Shawl" (1 text)
Roud #6351
NOTES: According to the Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco) site, an arrangement by W.B. Haynes was published in London in 1896 - BS
File: GrMa106

Our Brave Scotch Lads


DESCRIPTION: "Scotch soldiers true, wi' bonnets blue ... They made the Russians rue, man, The bold attack which they did make On Balaklava's plain." Many died in the Crimea "the Sultan for to save." "They made the heart o' Menschikoff To sink on Alma's heights"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: war death Russia
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 157, "Menschikoff" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #5827
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(41), "Our Brave Scotch Lads" ("Scotch soldiers true, wi' bonnets blue"), J. Lindsay (Glasgow), 1851-1910
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Scots Soldiers True" (shares first verse lines)
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: "The fragment relates to the Crimean War. Prince Menshikov was the Russian Commander-in-Chief."
GreigDuncan1 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian 2806 c.14(41) is the basis for the description. - BS
For background on Menshikov/Menschikov/Menschikoff, and the Battle of Alma, see the notes to "The Heights of Alma (I)" [Laws J10].
This sounds to me as if it is built on the framework of "Tranent Muir." But that's just a feeling. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1157

Our British Troops


See The Dying British Sergeant (File: Wa010)

Our Captain Calls


See Our Captain Calls All Hands (Fighting for Strangers) (File: Pea416)

Our Captain Calls All Hands (Fighting for Strangers)


DESCRIPTION: "Our Captain called all hands and away tomorrow, Leaving those girls behind." She says "What makes you go abroad fighting for strangers?" Stay here "free from all danger." He leaves. In grief "she fell like one a-dying."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1832 (Journal of the Bengal)
KEYWORDS: grief love request rejection war parting death family lover separation
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond)) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 34, "Our Captain Calls" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 416-417, "All Hands Away Tomorrow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 99-100, "The Captain Calls All Hands" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #602
RECORDINGS:
Pop Maynard, "Our Captain Calls All Hands" (on Voice01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(636), "The Distressed Maid" ("Our captain calls all hands away to morrow"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also 2806 c.18(93)[a few illegible lines], Firth c.12(210), Harding B 25(525), "The Distressed Maid"; Firth c.12(208)[illegible lines], "The Distress'd Maid"
NOTES: This is not "The Bold Privateer." [I agree, and so does Roud, though Huntington implies that they are the same. - RBW]
Vaughan Williams used the tune to set the words of John Bunyan's hymn starting "He who would valiant be 'gainst all disaster" (see Southern Life(UK) Sussex villages site for Monk's Gate). - BS
The title "Fighting for Stranger" is not, to my knowledge, found in tradition, but since that is the title Steeleye Span used, in what is probably the best-known recording, I've listed it here. - RBW
File: Pea416

Our Cheerful Voices (Separation)


DESCRIPTION: "Our cheerful voices let us raise, And sing a parting song, Although, dear friends, I'm with you now. I can't be with you long." The singer hopes to meet friends again, wishes the Lord would come, and hopes to be taken away by the last Trump
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Granville Gadsey)
KEYWORDS: religious death
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 204-205, "Our Cheerful Voice" (1 text)
Roud #13951
NOTES: This piece is titles "Parting Friends" in the Sacred Harp, but is not to be confused with "Farewell My Friends (Parting Friends; I'm Bound for Canaan)." - RBW
File: MHAp204

Our Cherries


DESCRIPTION: An allegory. The fine cherries [of true religion] are guarded from birds and infidels by a finely woven net. Some would propose to loosen the net. The result would be that birds, Methodists, and Baptists would get the fruit -- an unacceptable result
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: religious political
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Eddy 141, "Our Cherries" (1 text)
ST E141 (Full)
Roud #4449
NOTES: Eddy, following Tolman, regards this as a bit of theological satire. I wonder if it's not a bit more complicated -- "Testy" is presumably the Test Act -- a law passed in Britain in 1673, requiring public officeholders to demonstrate a commitment to Anglicanism. The Act was repealed in 1829. The reference to Methodists implies a date not much before that. Perhaps this piece was involved (as a broadside?) in the efforts to repeal the Acts.
The reference to "Arian's flock" is, I presume, an error, referring to the Arian heresy (which held that God the Son was inferior to God the Father). The founder of this group was, however, Arius, not Arian. - RBW
File: E141

Our Father's Gone to View That Land


See My Father's Gone to View That Land (File: Fus209)

Our Fathers They'll Be There


DESCRIPTION: "Our fathers, our fathers they'll be there, Yes, our fathers they'll be there, When we all meet around God's bright throne. What a meeting, what a meeting that will be... When we all meet...." Similarly with mothers, brothers, sisters
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 627, "Our Fathers They'll Be There" (1 text)
Roud #11928
File: Br3627

Our Feet's Cauld


DESCRIPTION: "My feet's cauld, my shoon's thin; Gie's my cakes and let me rin!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1832 (Chambers)
KEYWORDS: request food begging nonballad clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
GreigDuncan3 640, "Our Feet's Cauld" (1 short text)
ADDITIONAL: R[obert] Chambers, editor, The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with The Calendar (London, 1832 ("Digitized by Google")),Vol. II, p. 788, ("My feet's cauld, my shoon's thin")
J. Christie in Scottish Notes and Queries (Aberdeen, 1888 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. I, No. 10, March 1888, p. 163, "[Query ]81. New Year Rhymes" ("Here comes in a guid new year") (1 text with 5 verses, 1 tune) [I consider this "Get Up Goodwife and Shake Your Feathers"; the last verse is the "my feet's cauld" couplet.
John Muir, "Notes on Ayrshire Folk-Lore" in [John Bulloch?, editor,] Scottish Notes and Queries (Aberdeen, 1895 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. VIII, No. 3, August 1894, p. 40, ("My feet's cauld, my shin's thin")
R.C. Maclagan, "Additions to _The Games of Argyleshire_" in Folk-Lore, (London, 1905 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol. XVI, pp. 215-216 ("This night is called Hogmanay") (1 text: four verse epilogue to "The New-Year Mummer's Tale of Golishan" "'as it used to be said, sung, and acted all over Scotland, from Cheviot to Cape Wraith,' ... as communicated to the _Scotsman_ of 31st Dec, 1902.")
E.F. Coote Lake, "Folk Life and Traditions" in Folklore, Vol. LXVII, No. 1 (Mar 1956 (available online by JSTOR)), p. 45 ("Ma feet's cauld, ma shane's thin") (1 text: two lines)
Roud #5886
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Get Up Goodwife and Shake Your Feathers" (text) and references there
NOTES: The current description is all of the Chambers entry.
Chambers presentation argues for keeping "shake your feathers" and "my feet's cauld" as separate entries. He lists "shake your feathers" and, as a different entry, the "get up, goodwife, and binna sweir" verse from MacLagan, and then introduces the "my feet's cauld" couplet as "the most favorite of all ... more to the point than any of the foregoing." Of the reports I have seen, only Christie and MacLagan have "my feet's cauld" in a combination with other verses.
MacLagan's example combines "shake your feathers" and "our feet's cauld" in a different way than Christie's text. The first verse is an introduction to the holiday and a "bless the master" verse. Then comes another "get up, guid wife" ("get up, guid wife, and binna sweir") that is usually reported as a separate rhyme, and concluding with "shake your feathers" and "our feet's cauld." Possibly, the formality of the mummer's play made combining usually independent verses attractive.
Muir points out that another rhyme, current among children waiting outside school on cold winter mornings -- "Master, master, let me in, My feet's cauld, my shin's din, If ye dinna let me in I'll be frozen to the shin" is similar but that the Hogmanay couplet is :much smarter, more laconic, and more to the point." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD3640

Our Fifer Boy


See The Dying Fifer (File: BrII227)

Our Fleet


See The Dying British Sergeant (File: Wa010)

Our Goodman


See Four Nights Drunk [Child 274] (File: C274)

Our Gudeman


See Four Nights Drunk [Child 274] (File: C274)

Our Island Home


DESCRIPTION: "Then here's to ... Prince Edward Island, Sweet garden of sunshine, ... our beautiful Isle in the sea." The singer has "roamed far and wide over mountains and prairies" but prefers the people, the land and the beauty of "our Island"
AUTHOR: Father Mathias Smith
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: home lyric nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 117-118, "Our Island Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12461
File: Dib117

Our Island Is Covered with Fog


DESCRIPTION: Spring. Snow melts. Frantic activities start now "our island is covered with fog": trouting, gunning, chopping; people and animals are rushing around
AUTHOR: Chris Cobb
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: fishing hunting humorous nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 89-90, "Our Island Is Covered with Fog" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Peacock: "The island referred to in the song is Fogo Island off Newfoundland's northeast coast." - BS
File: Pea089

Our Jack's Come Home Today


DESCRIPTION: Jack, (after many years at sea), is coming home (in some versions, "blind drunk"). Everyone rejoices at the sailor's return. His sweetheart, it is reported, "ne'er despaired, Though all hope within her died," but now the two will be married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: sailor separation return reunion marriage
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doerflinger, pp. 169-170, "Our Jack's Come Home Today" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1983
File: Doe169

Our Lady of Knock


DESCRIPTION: An apparition in the church of Knock in County Mayo: Saint Joseph, Mary, and Saint John appear to a few. Now "hundreds come from far and near Our Lady's help to seek ... deaf and dumb ... born blind" and are cured. The three are asked to intercede
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: healing Bible religious
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 21, 1879 - "15 people, from the village of Knock, witnessed an apparition of Our Lady, St Joseph and St John the Evangelist at the South gable of Knock Parish Church." (source: Museums of Mayo site, Knock Folk Museum)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 11, "Our Lady of Knock" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 78, "The Lady of Knock" (1 text)
Roud #9759
NOTES: For more information see The Apparition at Knock 1879 at Museums of Mayo site, Knock Folk Museum.
Apparently broadside Bodleian, Harding B 26(692), "A new song on the wonderful apparitions, of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and St. John, in Knock Chapel County Mayo" ("Attend you faithful christians give ear to what I say," J.F. Nugent and Co. (Dublin), n.d.) is this song but I could not download and verify it. - BS
File: OLcM011

Our Orange Flags May Gang to Rags


DESCRIPTION: The singer overhears two Orangemen. One would rather die than surrender. He fears emancipation since "popish Dan ... Again has won the Clare election" and Peel and Wellington have joined O'Connell. Their Orange flags and drums must be put away.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: Ireland political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1829 - Irish Catholic Emancipation Act passes supported by Daniel O'Connell and the Catholic Association
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 691, "Our Orange Flags May Gang to Rags" (1 text)
Roud #6113
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Not a Word of 'No Surrender'" (subject and some lines) and references there
NOTES: For a reference to the Orange Drum see "You Ribbonmen of Ireland."
The speaker is talking to "dear Billy lad." GreigDuncan3 notes comments in the text that would make "Billy lad" be William the 4th [reigned 1830-1837]. - BS
Daniel O'Connell (for whom see, e.g., "Daniel O'Connell (I)" and the myriad cross-references there) had obtained Catholic Emancipation in 1829, in the reign of George IV. But William IV succeeded soon after, and in effect had the task of implementing it. It was hardly to his liking; he was an old man when he came to the throne (born 1765), and -- like most of the Hannoverians -- stubborn without being very bright.
According to Philip Ziegler, King William IV, Cassell, 1971, p. 241, William was hardly happy at his role in the reorganization of Ireland. He rejoiced when O'Connell was arrested in 1831, and was unhappy when O'Connell was acquitted. In 1833, when the Whigs in parliament proposed to reform the official Church of Ireland (to which tithes were paid by the people even though the vast majority were Catholics rather than Anglicans), William was again unhappy (Zieger, p. 242). It was a period of much trouble between a King with conservative inclinations and a series of parliaments with many Whigs and few MPs who were entirely in support of the government. As a result, Williams tossed out most of the cabinet in 1834, but found he could not govern with Tories alone. It was a difficult time in Westminster -- which was, indirectly, good for the Irish and O'Connell, because the English couldn't come up with a concerted plan for halting O'Connell's plans for liberalization.
Of course, that which was good for the Irish as a whole was bad, or at least was seen as bad, for the Orangemen. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3691

Our Ship Sails Ready to Bear Away


DESCRIPTION: The singer's ship prepares to sail. He bids Nora farewell and hopes to meet again. He thinks of all the places in Ireland he will miss: Dublin's hills, Killiney's mount, Wicklow, Avoca's Vale, Delgany, Bray,... and knows he'll remember Ireland.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond03); 19C (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 26(164))
KEYWORDS: love emigration farewell sea ship Ireland nonballad home
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #2995
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Our Ship Sails Ready to Bear Away" (on IRRCinnamond03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(567), "The Emigrants Farewell to his Country" ("Our ship is ready to beare away"), P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Remember Me" (shares opening verses)
NOTES: Wright-Irish (Irish Emigrant Ballads and Songs) pp. 111, 170-173, has two versions of "Our Ship Sails Ready to Sail Away" and one of "Remember Me" and considers them to be variants of the same song. His longest version of "Our Ship ..." and his "Remember Me" share three verses almost exactly; "Our Ship ..." adds six 4-line verses and "Remember Me" adds five 4-line verses and, in these lines, the songs share no lines. "Our Ship ..." is a farewell to Nora, and besides to Dublin, Delgany and Wicklow; "Remember Me" is a farewell to old Ireland boys, and besides to Killarney. My inclination is to keep them as two separate songs. - BS
File: RcOSSRBA

Our Ship She Is Lying in Harbour


DESCRIPTION: The impressed singer, his ship ready to sail, hopes his girl will be safe. The girl laments the departed youth; the father is glad her is gone. Her love returns after seven years. The father offers her money not to marry him, but they are married anyway
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: sailor love separation pressgang father
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 124-125, "Our Ship She Is Lying in Harbour" ( text)
Roud #1011
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lowlands of Holland" (lyrics)
NOTES: There are several songs on this theme, but this doesn't quite seem to match any of them. Several early verses are found, almost verbatim, near the END of some texts of "The Lowlands of Holland." It's almost as if someone took the end of that song as the starting-off point for this. - RBW
File: SWMS124

Our Street Car


DESCRIPTION: In abysmal verse, the singer points out, "Let moderns preach, 'We need more street' With themes and schemes -- ah! scorner." The singer would rather praise "Our street car! Ours to honor." The singer describes its virtues and mourns its passing
AUTHOR: Lucie Mullan
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: technology nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 248-249, "Our Street Car" (1 text)
NOTES: Thomas implies that the author sang this piece, but I find it hard to believe this mess could fit a regular tune. - RBW
File: ThBa248

Our Wedding Day


See She Moved Through the Fair (Our Wedding Day) (File: K165)

Out and In at the Windows


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

Out In the Moonlight (I Will Love Thee Always)


DESCRIPTION: The young man bids the girl goodbye in the moonlight, promising, "I will love you always... Through life and death I'm faithful to thee." Returning home (a year) later, he finds her married to another. He leaves a note and shoots himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Rutherford & Burnett)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage separation betrayal suicide
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 803, "Out in the Moonlight" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #3445
RECORDINGS:
Burnett & Rutherford, "Under the Pale Moonlight" (Challenge 420, 1928; on BurnRuth01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Skon Jungfrun Hon Gangar Sig Till Sogsta Berg (The Pretty Maid Climbs the Highest Mountain)" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Forsaken Love
NOTES: The Burnett & Rutherford version of this differs so strongly from the versions in Randolph (lacking, e.g., the suicide ending; also, the the girl is not yet married when he returns home) that I was sorely tempted to classify it as a separate song. The essential plot is the same, however, and some of the words, and I know of no other versions of the recorded song. So they stay together. - RBW
File: R803

Out of the Wilderness


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

Out of the Window


See She Moved Through the Fair (Our Wedding Day) (File: K165)

Out on the Lone Star Cow Trail


DESCRIPTION: Singer, a cowboy, meets a comrade and kills him although "he was dear to me." The judge sends him to prison. He asks listener to tell mother and sweetheart that he's in the "dark city jail"; his sweeheart should bail him out. Chorus: "Hoo-hoo-hooo-oo-oo"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (recording, Dick Devall)
KEYWORDS: captivity violence crime murder prison punishment trial friend lover cowboy judge
FOUND IN: US(So)
RECORDINGS:
Dick Devall, "Out on the Lone Star Cow Trail" (Timely Tunes [Victor] C-1563, 1931; on MakeMe, WhenIWas1)
NOTES: This should not be confused with "Lone Star Trail." - PJS
File: RcOotLSC

Out on the Silvery Tide


See The Silvery Tide [Laws O37] (File: LO37)

Out to Dark Harbour


DESCRIPTION: "Now boys I'll tell you it's a wonderful time Out to Dark Harbour in the old summer time." The singer picks dulse and sells it at Eastport.
AUTHOR: John Guptill (of Grand Manan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Creighton-SNewBrunswick)
KEYWORDS: sea commerce nonballad food
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 117, "Out to Dark Harbour" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB117 (Partial)
Roud #2785
NOTES: Creighton-SNewBrunswick: "Dulse is an edible seaweed that grows in profusion on Grand Manan, and it is of such a high quality that it is shipped to world markets."
Grand Manan is an island at the southernmost end of New Brunswick, south east of Eastport, Maine. - BS
File: CrSNB117

Outharbour Planter, The


DESCRIPTION: The narrator lights his pipe and extols the virtues of the "outharbour planter." This apparently dead breed of men was not well refined but had many virtues of industry and honesty.
AUTHOR: M. A. Devine
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: recitation virtue
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 136, "The Outharbor Planter" (1 text)
Doyle2, p. 78, "The Outharbour Planter" (1 text)
Roud #6354
NOTES: A typical song about the archetypal hardy Newfoundlander. The dictionary defines a "planter" as a person who settles or colonizes a new area. I believe that this is the closest definition here because the "outharbour" is probably synonymous with "outport" which is a very small settlement far away from cities. They are probably leaders of a kind because there are some references in the song being made to his selling and providing people with food and clothes and using his house as a meeting hall. - SH
File: Doy78

Outlandish Knight, The


See Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)

Outlaw Dunny


DESCRIPTION: The cook's rattling arouses Dunny, and he and the rest of the herd take off. By the time the poet catches them, breakfast is cold. The boss then orders the poet to ride Dunny. He makes the attempt, but naturally is thrown. He quits on the spot
AUTHOR: Jim McElroy
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: horse cowboy recitation work
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 75, "Outlaw Dunny" (1 text)
File: Ohr075

Outlaw Murray, The [Child 305]


DESCRIPTION: The King of Scotland demands that the outlaw pay him homage for his holdings in Ettrick Forest. Murray refuses; he won the land by his own valor. The King calls up his forces to attack Murray. A compromise is reached; Murray becomes sheriff of Ettrick
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1791 (Glenriddell mss.)
KEYWORDS: outlaw royalty bargaining reprieve
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 305, "The Outlaw Murray" (3 texts)
OBB 84, "The Outlaw Murray" (1 text)
Roud #3296
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Ward and the Rainbow" [Child 287] (theme)
File: C305

Outlaw of Loch Lene, The


DESCRIPTION: The outlaw lives in the wood. "All the wealth that I sought, one fair kind glance from my love." His lover lives down by the lake. He remembers when his lover swam Loch Lene to find him. He imagines them alone, "far off on the deep"
AUTHOR: unknown (translated by J. J. Callanan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (Sparling)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad lover outlaw separation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
OLochlainn-More 55, "The Outlaw of Loch Lene" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 228, 496, "Outlaw of Loch Lene"
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), p. 42, "The Outlaw of Loch Lene" (1 text)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #365, "The Outlaw of Loch Lene" (1 text)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "One of J.J.[Jeremiah Joseph] Callanan's [1795-1839] best translations of Gaelic songs." - BS
There is a certain amount of confusion about this author. Most sources list his name as James Joseph Callanan, but he is also sometimes listed under the name "Jeremiah" (and, yes, it is known that it is the same guy). Most sources agree that he was born in 1795, but his death date seemingly varies; Hoagland and MacDonagh/Robinson give 1829. He wrote some poetry of his own, but is probably best known for his translations from Gaelic. Works of his found in this index include "The Convict of Clonmel," "The Outlaw of Loch Lene," "Sweet Avondu," "The Virgin Mary's Bank," "Gougane Barra," and a translation of "Drimindown." - RBW
File: OLcM055

Outward and Homeward Bound


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Verses enumerate the ports to be visited and the girls being left behind. The singer says the purser will supply their needs, and looks forward to returning home after (three) years. Chorus: "We're outward bound, Hurrah, we're outward bound."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (L.A. Smith, _Music of the Waters_)
KEYWORDS: shanty farewell travel
FOUND IN: Britain US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Harlow, pp. 136-139, "Outward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 541-543, "Outward and Homeward Bound" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 387-389]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 147-148, "Homeward Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #927
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Get Up, Jack! John, Sit Down!" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Homeward Bound
NOTES: Most if not all versions of this share a verse with "Get Up, Jack! John, Sit Down!Ó; at one time I lumped Shay's version with that song. We've now split them, but it seems clear there is some sort of borrowing going on. Given that "Get Up, Jack! John, Sit Down!" is apparently a composed song, the best bet may be that that is a rewrite of this. - RBW
File: Hugi541

Ouzel, The


DESCRIPTION: Ouzel sails from Dublin for Tripoli. "Somewhere down by Algiers, on the coast of Barbary, The Ringsend sailors fought and failed against black piracy." Years later they escape, take over Ouzel again, and return to Ireland with pirate gold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: sea ship captivity slavery pirate escape
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1695 - Ouzel sails from Dublin for Smyrna but is not heard from until she returns five years later (see Notes)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, pp. 113-114, "The Ouzel" (1 text)
NOTES: "The crew said the ship had been captured by Algerian pirates who used it to terrorise the Mediterranean seas, although it was rumored in some quarters that Captain Massey might have been indulging in a spot of piracy himself!! The offic[i]al story went on to relate how the Irish crew, who had been spared, managed to escape from captivity and regained control of the ship and the pirate's booty" (source: site of The Ouzel Galley Society on IrishShips)
Irish Architecture Online site: "Ringsend is named from the Gaelic Roinn Aun, meaning Sea Point. In the 17th century it took over from Dalkey as Dublin's main port." - BS
File: Ran113

Ovaltine


See Uncle Joe and Aunty Mabel (File: EM374)

Over Hills and Mountains


DESCRIPTION: "Mony's the hill and valley that's atween my love and me Likewise the Sea in full flowing tide." The singer thinks and dreams about being with his "sweet bride." If he were emperor he'd "throw down the crown and go and beg with thee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: love separation nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1544, "Over Hills and Mountains" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #12959
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Belfast Beauty" (theme: singer would give up the crown or great wealth he doesn't have for love) and references there
cf. "The Braes o' Abernethy" (theme: singer would give up the crown or great wealth he doesn't have for love)
cf. "Limerick is Beautiful" (theme: singer would give up the crown or great wealth he doesn't have for love)
NOTES: There's Many a Mile
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81544

Over the Garden Wall


DESCRIPTION: The young couple court "over the garden wall": "Over the garden wall, The sweetest girl of all, I'll never forget those eyes of jet, You may bet I'll never forget, Over the garden wall."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1937 (recording, Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND IN: US(MW,So) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 867, "Over the Garden Wall" (1 text)
Roud #3765
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "Over the Garden Wall" (Montgomery Ward M-7354. c. 1937)
NOTES: A piece by this name was published by G. Fox-Hunter in 1879. - RBW
File: R867

Over the Hills at the Poorhouse


DESCRIPTION: "Over the hills at the poorhouse In the twilight so dim and so gray, A woman is quiely lying, Breathing her life away." She "blesses" her children while whining that they never listen; when she is buried, the children find excuses not to attend
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: mother death burial hardheartedness children rejection
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, pp. 280-281, "Over the Hills at the Poorhouse" (1 text)
Roud #5496
NOTES: Belden notes that there is a poem by Will Carleton with a similar title and theme, but regards them as separate (the Carleton piece, which is 22 stanzas long, begins "Over the hill to the poor-house I'm trudgin' my weary way -- I, a woman of seventy, and only a trifle gray..."), and also (correctly) treats a piece in Brown and Dean (given here as "Over the Hills to the Poor-House") as separate. One rather hopes so; this strikes me as just another "young folks these days are so..." potboiler. - RBW
File: Beld280

Over the Hills So Far Away


DESCRIPTION: "Possum ran from under the barn, Fiddle bow under his arm, The only tune that be could play Was Over the hills so far away." (x3) "The old cow died in the forks of the branch, Over the hills so far away; Possum had a regular dance, Over the hills...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal music dancing
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 165, "Over the Hills So Far Away" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "O'er the Hills and Far Away (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES: Almost certainly derived as some degree from "O'er the Hills and Far Away (I)," but since the outcome is an animal song, I classify this separately. - RBW
File: Br3165

Over the Hills to the Poor-House


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, yes, it is true they have driven Their father so helpless and old; Oh, God! may their crime be forgiven For driving him out in the cold." The father, "helpless and feeble," recalls his love for wife and children, and sadly sets out for the poorhouse
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: home betrayal children father poverty age
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownII 171, "Over the Hills to the Poor-House" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 121-122, "Over the Hills to the Poorhouse" (1 text)
Roud #5496
RECORDINGS:
Bert Peck, "Over the Hills to the Poor House" (Brunswick 522, c. 1930)
Peg Moreland, "Over the Hills to the Poorhouse" (Victor 21548, 1928)
NOTES: Belden notes that there is a poem by Will Carleton with a similar title and theme, but regards them as separate, and also (correctly) treats this piece as different the Missouri text ("Over the Hills at the Poorhouse") he himself printed. - RBW
File: BrII171

Over the Hills to the Poorhouse


See Over the Hills to the Poor-House (File: BrII171)

Over the Mountain (I) (Allanah Is Waiting for Me)


DESCRIPTION: "I'm always light-hearted and easy, Not a care in this world have I." The singer is joyful because he is so close to his love, even though she is over the (mountain/ocean). He is preparing for a reunion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean); Caleb Johnson Burton apparently had a version in 1908
KEYWORDS: love home nonballad reunion
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, p. 75, "Allanah Is Waiting For Me" (1 text)
Roud #7450
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Ila, My Darling
NOTES: This is an extremely mysterious song, because the versions are so diverse. The earliest version I've found was in an online manuscript of songs sung by Agnes Amelia Ransom Burton in 1957; the document claims she learned it in 1908 from her husband Caleb Johnson Burton. In that version, it's "Ila, My Darling," and it looks like an Irish emigration song, with the guy leaving the girl behind. Then comes Dean's text, in which the girl is "Eileen" (yes, the girl is "Allanah" in the title, but she's "Eileen" in the text. Wilgus thought the title an error); it's interesting to note that Dean knew many Irish and stage-Irish songs. Then Uncle Dave Macon had at it, and you can imagine the shape it was in after that!
Roud lumps this with Randolph's text "My Little One's Waiting for Me." There are a few similar words, but I don't see it. - RBW
File: R850A

Over the Mountain (II)


See When the Boys Go A-Courting (Over the Mountain, Poll and Sal) (File: SWMS312)

Over the River and Through the Woods


DESCRIPTION: "Over the river and through the woods To Grandmother's house we go." The family travels (by horse) to Grandmother's (for Thanksgiving)
AUTHOR: Words: Lydia Marie Child
EARLIEST DATE: 1978
KEYWORDS: nonballad food family
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 278, "Over the River and Through the Woods" (1 text,)
NOTES: Obviously primarily a popular song, sustained by recordings and print versions, and with no relevance outside the U.S. But the fact that it has been sung by so many families in cars implies that it is at least a marginal folk song. - RBW
File: PHCFS278

Over the River Charlie


See Weevily Wheat (File: R520)

Over the River to Charlie


See Weevily Wheat (File: R520)

Over the River to Feed My Sheep


See Weevily Wheat (File: R520)

Over the Road I'm Bound


See Down the Road (I) (File: CSW208)

Over the Sea to Skye


See Skye Boat Song (Over the Sea to Skye) (File: Brew79)

Over The Water and Over the Lea


See Weevily Wheat (File: R520)

Over the Water to Charlie


DESCRIPTION: "Come boat me o'er, come row me o'er, Come boat me o'er to Charlie." "We'll o'er the water, we'll o'er the sea, We'll o'er the water to Charlie." The singer tells her love for Charlie, laments his exile, says she would bear her sons again to die for him
AUTHOR: Robert Burns?
EARLIEST DATE: 1788 (Scots Musical Museum #187)
KEYWORDS: love Jacobites separation exile ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1720-1788 - Life of Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie"
1745-1746 - '45 Jacobite rebellion led by Bonnie Prince Charlie
Apr 16, 1746 - Battle of Culloden. The Jacobite rebellion is crushed, most of the Highlanders slain, and Charlie forced to flee for his life.
Jun 28-29, 1746 - Aided by Flora MacDonald, and dressed as her maidservant, Charles flees from North Uist to Skye in the Hebrides.
Sep 20, 1746 - Charles finally escapes to France
FOUND IN: US(NE) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Hogg2 38, "O'er the Water to Charlie" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 135, "O'er the Water to Charlie" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
GreigDuncan8 1733, "Owre the Water to Torry" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 262-263, "Over the Water to Charlie" (1 short text, 1 tune, with one verse of this and two of the "Charlie" verses of "Weevily Wheat")
DT CHARLOVER* CHARLOV2*
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #211,, pp. 319-320, "O'er the Water to Charlie" (1 text, from 1788)
Roud #729
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 26, "O'er the Water to Charlie" ("Come boat me o'er, come row me o'er"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Quaker's Wife" (tune, per GreigDuncan8)
NOTES: Roud lumps this (and several other Bonnie Prince Charlie songs) with the "Weevily Wheat" family. Certainly Linscott's version is really just a "Weevily Wheat" variant which has swallowed a fragment of this song. But "Weevily Wheat" is a dancetune that mentions "Charlie" (not necessarily Charles Edward Stuart) incidentally, while this is a sure Jacobite song. As such, I separate them.
Just how much this piece owes to Burns is unknown to me; he surely had a hand in it, but it's interesting to note that there is a verse out there which he did not publish. - RBW
Hogg2: "I do not know if the last two stanzas have ever before been printed, though they have often been sung." His final verse, "I ance had sons, but now hae nane; I bred them toiling sairly; And I wad bear them a' again, And lose them a' for Charlie," is not in the Burns version. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Lins262

Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the praties they grow small, Over there... Oh the praties they grow small, But we eat them tops and all...." Stories of the Irish potato famine. Localized versions preserve the theme of poverty but apply it to local conditions and places
AUTHOR: A. P. Graves?
EARLIEST DATE: 1895 ("In Old New England"); tune registered 1844
KEYWORDS: hardtimes farming food poverty starvation
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1847/8 - Greatest of several Irish potato famines
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Hudson 90, pp. 216-217, "Over There" (1 short text, with one humorous and one straight verse)
Shellans, pp. 14-15, "Romance" (1 text, 1 tune -- a strange piece with two verses of this song and three of some sort of courting song; there is probably a separate song mixed in there somewhere)
Scott-BoA, pp. 148-149, "The Praties They Grow Small" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 532-533, "Over There" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 30-31, "Over There" (1 text, 1 tune)
PGalvin, p. 44, "The Famine Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 24, "Over There" (1 text, 1 tune, with ordinary and parody verses)
Silber-FSWB, p. 119, "The Praties" (1 text)
DT, OVRTHERE* PRATSMALL*
Roud #4455
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Emigrant's Farewell to Donegal" (subject: The potato famines)
cf. "Skibereen" (subject: The potato famines)
cf. "The Rotten Potatoes" (subject: The potato famines)
cf. "Did You Ever See the Divil?" (subject: The potato famines)
cf. "In Kansas" (tune & meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "Down on the Pichelo Farm" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 16, fn. 7, writing in 1966: "Many recent anthologies quote wrongly as a song of the famine period 'Over Here' ('Oh, the praties they are small...'). The air was learnt in South America and does not sound Irish; the words were written by A.P. Graves, (see Miss H. Galwey Old Irish Croonauns, p. 16). It was first printed in 1897, in Graves Irish Folk Songs, pp. 76-77." - BS
I would note that, though it was not written during the blight, it is certainly about the Irish dependence on the potato.
There is no clear dividing line between this and "In Kansas"; there are versions of this piece that are short enough and vile enough to belong with either. But, as often happens, we must classify them separately because the extremes are so distinct.
It is rather shocking to observe that Spaeth (who prints a rather corrupt version and remarks that "[t]he original words are silly enough to suit the most up-to-date interpreter") did not realize that this song connects with the poverty of the potato blight era.
The first of the blights occurred in 1845; the blight continued to strike for the next three years; not until 1849 was there a decent crop, by which time Ireland's population, which exceeded eight million before the blight (twice the current total!), had fallen to about six million; in very round numbers, a million had died and a million had emigrated.
The blight was a fungus, arrived from America, which caused potatoes to wither almost instantly.
To make matters worse, potatoes were the chief crop of Ireland. There were many reasons for this, including the fact that potatoes were easy to grow. But the basic reason was British rules. The Irish had been forced almost entirely onto small holdings, usually of five acres or less (according Edwards, p. 182, in 1841, over 80% of Irish farm families had property of 15 acres or less; 45% had five acres or less). Few families could feed themselves on such small fields using other crops. And if they had enough property to improve things, the British landlords took the excess in rent. So the Irish grew potatoes, and when the crop failed, they starved.
It didn't help that Ireland was among the most overpopulated countries in Europe. I read somewhere that there were over 300 people per arable acre *even in the countryside*. I wish I'd noted the source -- but if we divide the number of acres of land devoted to agriculture in the late twentieth century by the 1845 population, we still get about eight people per arable acre. Edwards, p. 179, notes that, in County Mayo in 1841, there were 475 people per square mile, and only 36% of the land was arable, meaning that in that county, there were 1300 people per square mile of arable land! If British pressure forced the Irish into smallholdings, it was overpopulation which made them microscopic.
And the Irish were true peasants -- among the last in western Europe. Where English tenants by now were growing food for market, the Irish were growing for subsistence, paying their rent with labor and eating every morsel they could scrape from the soil. It wasn't even a money economy -- "by the 1840s, [the potato] had become the sole diet for three million..." (Fry/Fry, p. 228). When the crop failed, they starved. No other outcome was possible. It was a Malthusian result, pure and simple.
The failure of 1845 did not bring utter destruction because the British government of Sir Robert Peel sprang into action to relieve the distress. By 1846, however, Peel's government had fallen, and his successors let the Irish starve. It may have been "laissez faire" (though we note that, while the government didn't send food, it did pass coercive acts to repress riots; as usual "laissez faire" really meant "help the rich and stick the poor"); it may have been deliberate genocide -- whatever it was, it resulted in permanent alienation of the Irish.
It will tell you something about the landlords of the time that Ireland was exporting food all through the blight -- Daniel O'Connell pointed out to the English Parliament that exports of many agricultural commodities from Ireland to Britain actually *increased* in 1845 (Kee, p. 247). Ireland at this time had, in effect, two economies, the Landlord class (not all of them Protestant, though a lot were) and the Tenants (all Catholic). The landlords had not interest in feeding the tenants; that, after all, didn't bring in any cash. "[H]ad all food been kept in the country, and home-grown grain and provisions been on sale, had private enterprise succeeded in functioning and supplies of cheap food been freely available, the Irish people would have been little better off. They were penniless; even if food had been abundant, they could not have bought it" (Woodham-Smith, p. 121).
Little wonder that it came to be called "The Great Hunger."
Woodham-Smith, pp. 404-405, notes that there were future failures: A bad round of blight in 1852, a worse famine in 1879. "When Irish people refer to 'the famine,' however, they mean the years of concentrated disaster in which blight first appeared, and in rapid succession the partial failure of 1845 was followed by the total failure of 1846 and the second total failure of 1848. The history of what then occurred is deeply engraved in the memory of the Irish race" (Woodham-Smith, p. 405).
"The famine ravaged Ireland from 1845 to 1848. That is a minuscule part of the 8,000 or so years of Ireland's history which are treated in this book. Yet it was probably the most cataclysmic event in that long period, and its effects are still with the Irish in Ireland and with people of Irish descent in many parts of the world" (Fry/Fry, p. 227).
The famine, and a cholera epidemic in 1849, was devastating. Fry/fry, p. 233, estimate the population of Ireland in 1845 as eight and a half million, and think it was down to six and a quarter million in 1850, due to starvation and emigration. Some sources make the casualties even higher. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: SBoA148

Over Yonder's A Park


See The Corpus Christi Carol (File: L691)

Over Yonders Ocean


See The Other Bright Shore (File: R611)

Overgate, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a lass at the Overgate; she eats as much as an elephant, then invites him to her bed. A policeman pushes him downstairs. He complains that he's lost his valuables; she retorts that she's lost her maidenhead "and that's a damn sight worse."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (recording, Belle Stewart)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a lass at the Overgate (Dundee market) and takes her to a restaurant, where she eats as much as an elephant, then invites him to her house for the night. When he arrives, a policeman gives him a "whirly-jig" and pushes him downstairs. He complains that he's lost his waistcoat, watch and purse; she retorts that she's lost her maidenhead "and that's a damn sight worse." He envisions going home to Auchtermuchty and vows he'll never forget Dundee
KEYWORDS: sex robbery food humorous police warning money drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kennedy 187, "The Overgate" (1 text plus another in the appendix, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 47, "The Overgate" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OVERGATE* OVERGAT2*
Roud #866
RECORDINGS:
Belle Stewart, "The Overgate" (on Voice20)
Belle Stewart & Hamish Henderson, "The Overgate" (on FSB2CD)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Seventeen Come Sunday" (tune, plot), plus all the other "seduced and robbed" songs
cf. "The Shift and the Apron"
NOTES: Kennedy says that this may be based on "As I Roved Out" (his version of "Seventeen Come Sunday"). This is a bit strong; Kennedy has lumped obvious "Seventeen Come Sunday" variants under "The Overgate." But cross-fertilization certainly took place; the two share tunes, choruses, and theme. There are hints of elements from other songs of this type as well. - RBW
Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 20" - 15.1.04: "The song 'A Waukrife Minnie,' which Burns sent to the Scots Musical Museum (1790) would seem to be an antecedent of the song." That may be true of "Seventeen Come Sunday" [Laws O17], but I think that's as close as it comes. - BS
I've lumped two versions together here; in one (Belle Stewart's) the young man is chased out by a policeman, while in the other (Jeannie Robertson's) he hides his money but awakens in an alley. Still essentially the same story. - PJS
File: K187

Overlanders, The


See Queensland Overlanders (File: FaE164)

Overtures from Richmond


DESCRIPTION: "'Well, Uncle Sam,' says Jefferson D., Lilliburlero, old Uncle Sam, You'll have to join my Confed'racy...." The Confederates make demands for money, recognition, slavery, absolute power, and rewritten histories. Uncle Sam rejects the terms
AUTHOR: Words: Francis J. Child
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political parody nonballad derivative
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-CivWar, pp. 46-47, "Overtures from Richmond" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lilliburlero" (structure, tune)
File: SCW46

Oville


DESCRIPTION: The singer's heart returns constantly to "Altmover's Fairy Glen and the cot where I was born." He recalls all the sights near Oville. Though others would differ, he will prefer visiting the Doo-an Rocks and other sites near home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H666, p. 170, "Oville" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13485
File: J666

Owen Rooney's Lamentation


DESCRIPTION: Rooney of Innismore, Fermanagh near Lough Erne, joins a fight and stands with the Catholics. Six of the opponents fall. Rooney is taken prisoner, tried and convicted; "my wife and children it grieved ... To see me transported at the age of fifty-three"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: violence transportation trial death Ireland political lament
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 34, "Owen Rooney's Lamentation" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Battle That Was Fought in the North" (subject: "party fights")
cf. "The Lamentation of James O'Sullivan" (subject: "party fights")
cf. "The Noble Blue Ribbon Boys" (subject: Ulster quarrels)
NOTES: Zimmermann: "This ballad is probably connected with the 'party fights' in County Fermanagh in July 1829." Zimmermann cites a report describing the "battle of Mackeen," July 13, 1829, following an Orange celebration of the Battle of the Boyne. "Several Orangemen were killed. A Rooney was among the nineteen Catholics deported after the trial." - BS
File: Zimm034

Owen Trainor


DESCRIPTION: Owen Trainor and two friends hire a boat that capsizes in a gale. Trainor dies after telling his friends to tell his sweetheart and comrades his dying thoughts. An Indian in a canoe rescues his friends.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck farewell rescue Indians(Am.)
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 65-68, "Owen Trainor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12465
NOTES: Dibblee/Dibblee: "Owen Trainor worked in the Post Office in Charlottetown. The drowning occurred before 1900." - BS
File: Dib065

Owenreagh


DESCRIPTION: The singer, wandering by Owenreagh, recalls all the "comrades long absent from home." He admits that the land is barren and money hard to come by. He wishes them back; he stayed, and the land is beautiful, and money is fleeting. Perhaps they will return
AUTHOR: George Barnett
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration home
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H542, p. 217, "Owenreagh" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH542

Owenreigh's Banks


DESCRIPTION: The singer, bound for America, bids farewell to Glenrannel, his friends, and his sweetheart most of all. His one true fear is leaving her, and having "the ties of love... rend in twain." He bids his friends drink, and promises to remain affectionate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H100b, p. 193, "Glenrannel's Plains" (1 text); H225, pp. 196-197, "Owenreagh's Banks"
Roud #13550
NOTES: The editors of the Henry collection do not seem to have noticed that these two texts are the same song. But they have the same plot, and very many of the same lyrics; only the place has changed. I chose the "Owenreagh" title because it is the version with a tune. - RBW
File: HHH100b

Owl and the Mice, The


DESCRIPTION: "The owl and the mice lived up in the barn, A dinky dinky doo dum dow; The owl eat(s) mice and the mice eat corn." The song of the owl causes the mice to come out and listen; the owl swoops down and eats them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (collected by John Daniel Vass)
KEYWORDS: animal bird trick music food
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shellans, pp. 78-79, The Owl and the Mice"" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7339
NOTES: One of the few folk song I've heard with an almost "ecological" theme. Sadly, it is very rare; Shellans claims to have found another version, but I have been unable to verify this.
It is ironic to note that, of the two creatures in the song, it is not owls but mice that 'sing" (at an inaudibly high pitch, to be sure). Owl calls are in general quite unmusical. And, according to several bird guides (Peterson, National Geographic), the only American owl even faintly likely to roost in a barn is (logically enough) the Barn Owl, found throughout the southern United States. Roger Tory Peterson (Brids of Eastern and Central North America, fifth edition, 2002, p. 204) describes its voice as a "shrill rasping hiss or snore, kschhh or shiiish." Not the sort of thing that would lure *me* out of my nice safe hole. - RBW
File: Shel078

Owre Don, owre Dee


See Blawin' Willie Buck's Horn (File: GrD81640)

Owre the Hills and Far Awa'


DESCRIPTION: The singer is sad that the wind has blown his plaid away. It was his sheet that protected him from wind and wet. "It's nae the plaid that I lament, But ochone, alas, my love was in't"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: courting sex parting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1408, "Owre the Hills and Far Awa'" (1 text)
Roud #7260
File: GrD71408

Owre the Water to Torry


See Over the Water to Charlie (File: Lins262)

Ox Driving Song


DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of the hardships of ox-driving in the winter -- an occupation he intends to quit. "It would make any tender-hearted person weep To see my oxen pull and slip." "When I get home I'll have my revenge, I'll land my family among my friends."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: work cowboy animal
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 13, "Ox Driving Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 125, "The Ox-Driver" (1 text)
DT, OXDRIVE
Roud #3584
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Ox Driver's Song" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07a)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Whipped My Horse" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Perhaps it's hearing the Burl Ives version too many times, but this sounds recently composed to me. - PJS
Every version I've seen seems to go back to the same Lomax field recording. Possibly the informant had worked on it?
Roud for some reason lumps this with Belden's piece "The Waggoners." The only thing they have in common that I can see is that both involve travel. - RBW
File: FCW013

Ox-Driver, The


See Ox Driving Song (File: FCW013)

Ox-Eyed Man, The


See The Hog-Eye Man (I) (File: RL401)

Oxeborough Banks (Maids of Australia)


DESCRIPTION: The singer settles under a tree to watch the girls bathe. One catches his eye -- and he hers. She calls him to rescue her from sinking. (He then "entered the bush of Australia.") Nine months later she bears a son whose dad "nowhere could be found"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (recording, Harry Cox)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction pregnancy abandonment river sex
FOUND IN: Australia Britain(England(Lond)) Canada(Newf) US(SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 44-45, "Maids of Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 269-270, "Maids of Australia" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 276-277, "The Gay Maid of Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 183, "The Maid of Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 27, pp. 163-166, "The Banks of My Native Australia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1872
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox, "The Maid of Australia" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
Unidentified Mississippi singers "The Fair Maids of Australia" (AFS 15014 A3, 1930s)
NOTES: The Hawkesbury River reaches the sea north of Sydney at Broken Bay, NSW. - PJS
File: FaE044

Oxen Song, The


DESCRIPTION: "Come all you bold ox teamsters, Wherever you may be...." "It's of a bold ox teamster, His name I'll tell to you, His name was Johnny Carpenter, He pulled the oxen through." Despite his prowess, the oxen wear out and the trips go slowly
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Linscott)
KEYWORDS: logger work animal moniker
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Linscott, pp. 263-267, "The Oxen Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, OXENDRV*
Roud #3751
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Linscott mentions a claim that this was by Larry Gorman -- but, frankly, Gorman's songs tend to be better than this; the song really doesn't go anywhere. - RBW
File: Lins263

Oxford City [Laws P30]


DESCRIPTION: A servant asks a lady to wed; she put him off on the grounds that they are too young. When he sees her dancing with someone else, he poisons her wine. Feeling ill, she asks him to take her home. He reveals that both have drunk poison; they die together
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (JFSS)
KEYWORDS: courting death poison murder wine suicide
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE) Britain(Scotland,England(All)) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Laws P30, "Oxford City"
Greig #137, pp. 2-3, "In Oxford Town" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 210, "In Oxford Town" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 83, "Oxford City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 212-213, "Poison in a Glass of Wine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 329, "Poison in a Glass of Wine" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 74, "Oxford City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 18, "Oxford City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 92-93, "In Oxford City" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 54, "The Jealous Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 508, OXFJEAL*
Roud #218
RECORDINGS:
Bill Bundy, "Poison in a Glass of Wine" (Unissued test pressing, 1928; on KMM)
Mary Doran, "Oxford City" (on FSB7)
Louie Fuller, "Young Maria" (on Voice13)
Roscoe Holcomb, "True Love" (on Holcomb-Ward1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Little Glass of Wine" (on NLCR06)
Stanley Brothers, "The Little Glass of Wine" (Rich-R-Tone 423, rec. c. late 1947) (Columbia 20590, 1949) (Rich-R-Tone 1056 [as "Little Glass of Wine"], rec. 1952)
Joseph Taylor, "Worcester City" (on Voice03)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Jealous Lover
Jealousy
File: LP30

Oxford Girl, The


See The Wexford (Oxford, Knoxville, Noel) Girl [Laws P35] (File: LP35)

Oxfordshire Captain, The


See A Gentleman of Exeter (The Perjured Maid) [Laws P32] (File: LP32)

Oyster Girl, The [Laws Q13]


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets an oyster girl and proposes that they take a room at the inn to discuss the sale. When they arrive, she picks his pocket and jumps out the window. He is left with a kettle of oysters and a bill to pay
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904
KEYWORDS: courting robbery trick seduction
FOUND IN: US(SE) Britain(England(South,North),Scotland(Aber),Wales) Ireland
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws Q13, "The Oyster Girl"
Greig #96, pp. 2-3, "The Girl and the Oysters" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 304, "Oysters" (12 texts, 10 tunes)
SHenry H725, p. 278, "The Basket of Oysters" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 234, "The Oyster Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 48, "The Oyster Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 48, "The Oyster Girl" (1 text)
DT 524, OYSTRGAL*
Roud #875
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Quare Bungo Rye" (mysterious--read female--"box" motif)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Creel and the Oysters
File: LQ13

Oyster Shell Bonnets and Chignons (The Dandy Chignon)


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the "queer fashion" of the (bonnet and) chignon. He tells how all the women are trying them out. Some even buy two; others get them made from odd materials. He clearly thinks the old ways (sunbonnets, etc.) were better
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: hair nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H227, p. 47, "The Dandy Chignon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13359
File: HHH227

Oysters, The


See The Oyster Girl [Laws Q13] (File: LQ13)

P. T. Barnum's Show


See At Barnum's Show (File: R450)

P'tit rocher, de la haute montagne


See Petit Rocher (File: FMB034)

Pace-Egging Song, The


DESCRIPTION: We have come pace-egging; give us eggs and beer and we'll not come till next year. A British tar who served with Nelson has returned to England pace-egging. A lady has run from her country and is here to collect eggs in a basket and drink neat gin.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1893 (Broadwood)
KEYWORDS: Easter drink nonballad religious
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, PACEEGG*
Roud #614
RECORDINGS:
Emma Vickers, "The Pace-Egging Song" (on Voice16)
NOTES: Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 16" - 13.9.02: "Pace-Egging customs were once common throughout north-west England (the word Pace, meaning Peace, may be derived from the French word Pasque, which means Easter) and this song is used as an introduction to an accompanied Mummer's Play." - BS
(ates's derivation of "pace" is oversimplified. Most agree that "pace" is from Middle English "paschal" -- which does clearly derive from either a late Latin or an early French root. But it's not a word for "peace"; it's derived ultimately from the Greek root underlying "passion." The Latin word "pascha," according to FreundEtAl, p. 1311, is exclusively derived from Greek "pascha," and is used solely in Christian contexts, seemingly first by Tertullian in the third century, for the Passover; it is also used in the Latin translation of 1 Corinathians 5:7.
Nonetheless the idea of "peace" may be mixed in somehow. The Latin for peace is "pax," and one of the most familiar of all Latin liturgical phrases is surely "pace [pronounced, in Church Latin, 'pach-ay'] vobiscum," "peace to you."
Of course, none of this has anything to do with the actual custom of pace-egging.
Simpson/Roud, p. 105, note that eggs could not be eaten by Catholics during Lent, so eggs laid in that time were preserved for Easter. "In norhtern England they were called 'pace eggs,' 'peace eggs,' or 'paste eggs', corruptions of pasche, the Latin-based medieval word for Easter, here confused with pax='peace'." Hazlitt, p. 478, calls them "pasch eggs," although without adding anything except a citation of another book.
It should be pointed out that the Easter Bunny is a much newer phenomenon; rabbits were not introduced into England until the thirteenth century.
Egg customs are also late; although many cultures associated eggs with life (Jones-Larousse, pp. 159-160), they are rarely mentioned in the Bible, and in the early Old Testament period, there seem to have been no domesticated egg-laying fowl, although an egg eventually became part of the Jewish Seder celebration (InterpretersDict, volume 2, p. 38). In the New Testament, the word is used only in Luke 11:12, and in a saying of Jesus, not referring to an actual egg.
Depending on the version, quite a few characters show up to beg for their eggs and beer, starting with Lord Horatio Nelson himself. For Nelson, see e.g. "Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar (Brave Nelson)" [Laws J17], which in some ways is similar to this in structure. We also meet (Vice Admiral) Lord (Cuthbert) Collingwood, Nelson's second-in-command at Trafalgar, and sundry anonymous sailors who arelisted as serving under Nelson. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: RcPaceEg

Pack Up Your Troubles


See Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag (File: SBoA334)

Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag


DESCRIPTION: "Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag And smile, smile, smile! While you've a Lucifer to light your fag, Smile, boys, that's the style; What's the use of worrying, It never was worthwhile; So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag...."
AUTHOR: W: "George Asaf" (George Henry Powell) / Music: Felix Powell
EARLIEST DATE: 1915
KEYWORDS: nonballad war
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scott-BoA, p. 334, "Pack Up Your Troubles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 419, "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag"
File: SBoA334

Package of Old Love Letters, A


See Little Rosewood Casket (File: R763)

Packington's Pound


DESCRIPTION: Dance tune, with no real lyrics of its own, but used as a platform for a great variety of broadsides.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1596 (Barley's "New Book of Tablature")
KEYWORDS: nonballad dancetune
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 259-260, "Packington's Pound" (1 tune)
SAME TUNE:
Well worth[y] Predecessors, and Fathers by name/Pitties Lamentation (BBI ZN2781)
Come listen a while and a Story you'll hear/The Murtherer Justly Condemned.. May, 1697 (BBI ZN629)
When England half Ruin'd had cause to be sad/Romes Beargarden (BBI ZN2836)
Poor England thy sorrows this many a year/England's Mercies (BBI ZN2214)
Come, John, sit thee down, I have somewhat to say/An Amorous Dialogue between John and his Mistress (BBI ZN616)
Come young men and listen to what I'le you show/A good wife is a portion every day (BBI ZN710)
All Company-keepers come hear what I say/Two-penny-worth of Wit for a Penny (BBI ZN61)
Come listen a while though the weather be cold/Blanket Fair (BBI ZN636)
I am a young blade that had money good store/The World turn'd up-side down (BBI ZN1231)
All you that have stock, and are mad for a peace/The French Preliminaries (BBI ZN136)
Let England rejoyce with heart and with voice/A New Protestant Ballad.. Reign of King William (BBI ZN1641)
Hold up thy head England, and now shew thy face/Englands Joy in a Lawful Triumph [on proclaiming Charles II King] (BBI ZN1158)
You Sabbath-day Tiplers, pray do not repine/A Caveat for Tiplers (BBI ZN3103)
There was an old Knight liv'd in Sommersetshire/The Bountiful Knight of Sommersetshire (BBI ZN2555)
A chimney-man lately in London did dwell/Chimney-man's Lamentation (BBI ZN486)
This nation long time hath been plagued with old rats/Come Buy a Mouse Trap/ [by Humphrey Crouch] (BBI ZN2582)
A new calculation of late has been given/A New Copy of Verses, of Monsieurs Boating (BBI ZN1875)
By Brittains true Monarchs, Great William and Mary/The Proclamation For a General Fast in the Nation (BBI ZN457)
Ye Sages of London, of states high and low/City Justice (BBI ZN2986)
Your scandalous lies I with patience have read/An Answer to the Packet of Advice (BBI ZN3223)
Good people come hither come listen awhile/The Brickmaker's Lamentation from Newgate (BBI ZN1049)
You free-men, and masters, and 'prentices mourn/London's Lamentation (BBI ZN3245)
Ye Whigs and Dissenters I charge ye, attend/The Whigs Hard Heart for the Cause of the Hard Frost (BBI ZN2987)
This Winter was sharp, it did plainly appear/London's Wonder [frost ending Feb. 4 1685] (BBI ZN2585)
Bold Titus he walkt about Westminster-Hall/Perjury Punished (BBI ZN411)
Come listen ye Whigs, to my pitiful moan/The Salamanca Doctor's Farewell (BBI ZN658)
Let England Rejoyce and all sorrows expell/The Princely Triumph..Birth of the Young Prince of Wales (BBI ZN1639)
The world is orerun with enormous abuse/Fayre Warning (BBI ZN2966)
Though the town does abound so with plots and with shams/The Protestant Cuckold [Ben. Harris and wife Ruth] (BBI ZN2599)
Now let us all true Protestants ever Rejoyce/...Prince of Orange's March (BBI ZN1932)
London now smiles to see Oxford in tears/Oxford in Mourning for the Loss of the Parliament (BBI ZN1703)
The manifold changes that have hap'ned of late/The High Court of Justice [trial of Regicides] (BBI ZN1748)
You Millers, and Taylors, & Weavers each one/The Crafty Maid of the West..Miller.. trapan'd (BBI ZN3071)
As through the City I passed of late/The Sorrowful Complaint of Conscience and Plain-Dealing (BBI ZN314)
The weather is clear, which was late over cast/Holland turn'd to Tinder..Third Great Royal Victory [Naval battle, July 25-6, 1666] (BBI ZN2760)
Let England, and Jreland, and Scotland rejoyce/The Royal Victory [over Dutch fleet, June 2, 3, 1665] (BBI ZN1636) (With the title "The Royal Victory" in C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , p. 58)
Lift up thy head England & lay by thy mourning/The Triumph of four Nations;.. [peace of Breda] (BBI ZN1690)
Of all the rich pleasures that ever was seen/Joyfull News to the Nation..[Crowning of] Charles the II. on the 23. of April (BBI ZN2094)
Adiew vain delights, and bewitch us no more/Robbery Rewarded.. Five Notorious High-way-men's Exploits (BBI ZN15)
Come hither good fellows and hear what I say/A Groatsworth of Good Counsel for a Penny, Or The Bad Husbands Repentance (BBI ZN595)
Of late I did walk in a pleasant fair day/The Constant Couple, Or, The Glory of True Love (BBI ZN2110)
The Jenny a small Picaroon in the Park/The City Caper; Or, The Whetstone-Park Privateer (BBI ZN1541)
Forbear your vile plotting/The Plotter Executed (BBI ZN906)
All young men and maidens, come listen a while/The merry Pastime of the Spring (BBI ZN161)
Good people attend now, and I will declare/Mans Amazement..Thomas Cox.. (BBI ZN1045)
When all hearts did yield unto Cupid as King/Pyramus and Thisbie (BBI ZN2815)
You Bartholomew tapsters I first do advise/A Description of Bartholomew-Fair (BBI ZN2991)
Come all you brave Sea-men of Courage so free/News from the coast of Spain (BBI ZN524)
Let all loyal subjects look well to their wits/Treason Rewarded at Tiburn.. executed [24th of January, 1679] (BBI ZN1619)
Fairest and dearest to thee I am bound/The Dying Lovers Reprieve (BBI ZN848)
For certain and sure, this Girl will go mad/The Young-Man's Answer to the Politick-Maids Device (BBI ZN903)
Farewel, worldly pleasures and fading delight/Sir Thomas Armstrong's Farewell [executed June 20, 1684] (BBI ZN888)
Come, all loyal lovers, so courteous and free/Love and Constancy (BBI ZN503)
You bonny boon blades that are company keepers/The bad husband's Information of ill Husbandry (BBI ZN2998)
Good fellows come hither, 'tis to you I speak/The Alewives Invitation to Married-Men, and Batchelors (BBI ZN1005)
My dearest come hither and listen tome [sic]/The merry Discourse between two Lovers (BBI ZN1799)
Come all loyal Subjects of every degree/Good News for the Nation..[new parliament] (BBI ZN506)
Company of Gossips that love strong bub/The Merry Gossips Vindication (BBI ZN712)
Alas my dear husband, what is your intent/A Looking glass for all Good-fellows; or, The Provident Wives Directions (BBI ZN45)
Come all loyal subjects I pray you draw near/ Great Britains Joy (BBI ZN505)
A curse on blind Cupid his name I do hate/A Westminster Wedding, Or, A Whore-master Buried Alive (BBI ZN738)
Captain Harman, or, News from the Coast of Spain ("Come, all you brave seamen of courage so free") (C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , p. 83)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Digby's Farewell
NOTES: Folklore has it that a fellow named Packington, in the reign of Elizabeth I, bet that he could swim the length of the Thames. But Elizabeth forbade the attempt, and Packington forfeited his pound. I have no way to verify this; I heard it on a classical music station.
This *tune* is almost certainly traditional, though the words have not endured. Included in the Index for the many broadsides set to its melody (see the Same Tune list). - RBW
File: ChWI259

Paddle the Road with Me


DESCRIPTION: A rambler invites a girl to marry him and join him on the road. The girl is not thrilled; winter is coming and her father has another husband in mind. The rambler declares that her fiance is worthless; the two set out happily on their rambles
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting rambling marriage
FOUND IN: US(MA) Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Greig #48, p. 1, "To Pad the Road" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 875, "Pad the Road" (6 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord, pp. 78-79, "To Pad the Road wi' Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 32, "Paddle the Road with Me"
SHenry H18a, pp. 358-359, "Will Ye Pad the Road wi' Me?"; H 564, pp. 344-345, "The Banks of Mourne Shore" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the second placing more emphasis than usual on the rejection; the girl never agrees to go with the man)
ST Wa032 (Full)
Roud #4599
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Weaver and the Tailor" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Pad the Road wi' Me
File: Wa032

Paddle Your Own Canoe


DESCRIPTION: "I've traveled about a bit in my time And of troubles I've seen a few, But I found it better in every clime To paddle my own canoe." The singer advises loving one's neighbor, not being downhearted, and remaining as independent as possible
AUTHOR: Probably Harry Clifton
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2905))
KEYWORDS: nonballad work
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan3 663, "Paddle Your Own Canoe" (1 text)
BrownIII 55, "Paddle Your Own Canoe" (1 text)
Roud #6093
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2905), "Paddle Your Own Canoe" ("I've travelled about a bit, in my time"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 26(492), Harding B 18(580), Firth b.34(222), "Paddle Your Own Canoe"
LOCSinging, sb30426b, "Paddle Your Own Canoe," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Bill Ryan Left Terry Behind" (tune)
NOTES: GreigDuncan3: "Cf. Paddle Your Own Canoe written and sung by Harry Clifton (Hopwood and Crew, London, c. 1890)" -- but note earlier broadsides. - BS
For background on Harry Clifton (1824-1872), see the notes to "The Good Ship Kangaroo." Although the broadsides likely predate the first official publication of this song, Clifton's authorship seems likely - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb30426b: H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Be3055

Paddy and the Gauger


See Pat and the Gauger (File: CrSNB078)

Paddy and the Whale


DESCRIPTION: "Paddy O'Brien left Ireland in glee He had a strong notion old England to see." A whale attacks the ship, swallows him, and vomits him six months later. "The next time he wishes old England to see It will be when the railroad runs over the sea"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: travel escape drink England Ireland humorous whale
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 67, "Paddy and the Whale" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PADWHAL*
Roud #6342
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jack Was Every Inch a Sailor" (theme)
NOTES: Obviously a variant of the Jonah legend, this seems to be found only in Canada. Although no one seems to have traced it, I suspect stage-Irish origin. - RBW
File: GrMa067

Paddy Backwards


DESCRIPTION: Singer rides to market on a cow, which dirties his clothes and shoes. He looks up the magistrate, asking if he knows the place; when he arrives, he sees nothing but a thousand potatoes growing on a pear tree. Chorus: "Sing down, all you paddies, lay down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1921 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: travel nonsense paradox animal
FOUND IN: Britain(England) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 110, "Paddy Backwards" (1 text)
Leach-Labrador 110, "Paddy Backwards" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 82, "Paddy Backwards" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp.140-141, "Paddy Backwards" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 119, "Paddy Backwards" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PADBCKWD*
Roud #1687
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nottamun Town (Nottingham Fair)" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "The Seven Wonders" (theme)
cf. "The Lofty Giant (Song of Marvels)" (theme)
cf. "Paddy's Ramble to London" (theme and some couplets)
cf. "Limerick Races" (theme)
cf. "Shon M'Nab" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
All You Paddies Lay Down
NOTES: MacColl & Seeger lump this and other "marvels" songs with "Nottamun Town," but as the tunes, structures wonders cited are different I prefer to keep them separate. - PJS
This is another "Oh, dear." Looking at the version in the Digital Tradition, the plot is quite distinct from what is listed here, and it shares lyrics and a metrical pattern with "Nottamun Town" -- so much so that I almost filed *it* with Nottamun Town and called the MacColl/Seeger text a separate piece. Definitely a case of continuous texts, but with divergent extremes. - RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield says "this is a variant of 'Paddy's Ramble to London' a favorite slip and broadside song of the first half of the nineteenth century."
Leach-Labrador agrees with Greenleaf/Mansfield in that "an English broadside, 'Paddy's Ramble to London,' early nineteenth century, is probably the ancestor of this and of the various songs found in America with titles like 'Nottingham Fair,' 'Nottamun Torn.' It was a popular minstrel song.
If you follow this through the Bodleian archives, be careful not to be misled by broadsides with similar titles like "Paddy's Ramble THROUGH London" or "Paddy's VISIT to London" which are among the many country-bumpkin-comes-to-town-and-reveals-how-foolish-things-are-in-the-city broadsides. Bodleian includes "Paddy's Ramble to London" printed at Seven Dials between 1802 and 1844, shelfmark 2806 c.18(233). You can see a similar text as "Paddy's Ramble"["Says Paddy in Ireland no longer I'll stay"] printed in London between 1802 and 1819, shelfmark Harding B 16(198a).
Here is a Long Description of "Paddy's Ramble to London":
This is addressed to tars looking for a fight between wars, without swords or guns but arms "to kill all our friends that will do no harm."
Paddy has too much money and so can't pay his debts and decides to go to London, pass for a Lord, with his head under his arm, his wig and broad sword.
[The third and fourth verse are a clear source for Paddy Backwards]: He leaves Dublin for Manchester "next Michael last" where "My horse standing still throw'd me down in the dirt Daubed my Body and bruised my shirt, I being of good courage I mounted again, My ten toes I tripp'd over the plain, Where my knapsack and all I throw'd to the ground And away then I steer'd to fair London town"
At London "not a soul could I see" because the crowd was so thick so I stood still but my feet were worn and shoes were lame.
I choked on the dust in the day-long rain, had a quart "to drive gladness away" and since I had no money to pay with I took a coach and walked away.
[Lines from the next two verses also survive in Paddy Backwards]:"As I was a going through St. Jame's Park, In the middle of winter when noon it was dark, I met three making of hay in the middle of winter, One Midsummer's Day. To find out the place I was sad at a loss, When shutting my eyes on safe Charing Cross Where the King set on horseback all on the cold stone There was thousands all round him but troth never a one."
I'll play cards at the Ball and court a rich Lady worth nothing. At the marriage drum will ring, bells beat and fiddle sing.
I'll marry a Blackamoor Lady, the "fairest of creatures" and buy her a silver cup of horn.
Since I favor splitting "Paddy's Ramble to London" from "Paddy Backwards" I think it pays to compare the two more precisely. Among the four Newfoundland texts, the version of "Paddy Backwards" that is closest to the "Paddy's Ramble to London" broadside is on the MacEdward Leach and the Songs of Atlantic Canada site. The broadside has 20 couplets and the site has 14. They share five. The five couplets shared are the only ones found in Greenleaf/Mansfield (3 couplets out of 12), Leach text A (4 out of 13 1/2) and Leach text B (3 1/2 out of 8). - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: McCST119

Paddy Carey


DESCRIPTION: Recruiting Sergeant Snapp meets Paddy Carey, a great favorite with the women. He enlists Paddy for a shilling "while Pat was coaxing duck-legged Mary." At that ugly widow Leary gives Paddy money for a ring. He outfits himself as a captain and leaves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1813 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(232a))
KEYWORDS: courting army recruiting money humorous rake
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 20, "Paddy Carey" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(232a), "Paddy Carey" ("'Twas at the town of neat Clogheon"), J. Evans (London), 1780-1812; also 2806 c.15(294), Harding B 11(2906), Harding B 12(71), Harding B 11(2907), Harding B 28(23), Harding B 25(1445), "Paddy Carey"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Limerick Races" (mentions this song)
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 17(232a) is used as the basis for the description since O'Conor ends his song before widow Leary comes on the scene. - BS
It should be noted that this song was printed at a time when commission by purchase was still the norm in the British army; the practice was not abolished until 1871. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: OCon020A

Paddy Darry


DESCRIPTION: "Paddy Darry lived in Clary, Had a girl in Biddy Town, Her tongue was slit with the sierel larry, But she sang to Paddy a golden rune. Hey eye for the sierel-larry... Oh what's the use of going fast? He's sure to meet me on the way."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: courting
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 293, "Paddy Darry" (1 text)
Roud #7952
NOTES: This is perhaps the least-documented piece in all of Belden. He didn't take down the date or the tune, it's only a fragment, and neither he nor I knows another version of it. - RBW
File: Beld293

Paddy Doyle (I)


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "We'll pay Paddy Doyle for his boots." The boots may be referred to as stolen, or Paddy's boarding house may be described
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909
KEYWORDS: shanty clothes poverty
FOUND IN: US(MA) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 10, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 43, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, p. 32, "Paddy Doyle and His Boots" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 330-334, "Paddy Doyle's Boots" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 247-249]
Sharp-EFC, XXXVIII, p. 43, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H53c, p. 96, "Paddy Doyle' (1 text, 1 tune, a tiny fragment)
Smith/Hatt, p. 28, "We'll Pay Paddy Doyle For His Boots" (1 fragment)
Bone, p. 47, "Paddy Doyle" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 31, "Paddy Doyle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PADDOYLE
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). A fragment of "Paddy Doyle" is in Part 4, 8/4/1917.
Roud #4695
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Paddy Doyle's Boots" (on IRClancyMakem02)
Richard Maitland, "Paddy Doyle" (AFS, 1939; on LC26)
NOTES: According to Doerflinger, Doyle was a boarding master. (A boarding master took in sailors and found them jobs at sea in return for a cut of their pay. In return, he was to provide them with necessary equipment such as boots; for background on the, see the notes to "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7].) Boarding masters expected to take a large profit, but apparently Doyle was more rapacious than most. - RBW
File: Doe010

Paddy Doyle (II)


See Doran's Ass [Laws Q19] (File: LQ19)

Paddy Magee's Dream


DESCRIPTION: An Englishman, Scotchman, and Irishman meet and pool their resources to buy a loaf. The loaf will go to the one who has the grandest dream. The Englishman and Scotchman have grand dreams but the Irishman dreamt he was hungry, woke and ate the loaf.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2917))
KEYWORDS: wager dream food humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, p. 99, "Paddy Magee's Dream" (1 text)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 72, "Johnny Bull, Irishman, and Scotchman" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST OCon099 (Partial)
Roud #3272
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2917), "Paddy Magee's Dream" , W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also Harding B 11(2918), "Paddy Magee" ("John Bull he was an Englishman, he went on the tramp one day") or "The Three Dreams"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John Bull Lives In England" (theme of national comparison)
File: OCon099

Paddy Malone


DESCRIPTION: "Oh! My name is Paddy Malone, or 'twas so in Tipperary," but he chose to emigrate to Australia and now regrets it: He lost his master's sheep, was kicked by his bullock team; he will now head to town to try something safer
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Paterson, _Old Bush Songs_)
KEYWORDS: Australia emigration animal humorous
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 97-101, "Paddy Malone" (1 text)
Roud #9111
File: PFS097

Paddy on the Railway


DESCRIPTION: "Paddy on the railway, Picking up stones; Along came an engine And broke Paddy's bones." "O, said Paddy, That's not fair. O, said the engineman, You shouldna have been there."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (Opie)
KEYWORDS: train injury
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 151, "(Paddy on the railway)" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Iona and Peter Opie, _Children's Games in Street and Playground_, oxford, 1969, 1984, p. 37, "(Paddy on the Railway)"
Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #46, "(Piggy on the Railway)" (1 text)
Roud #13611
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Teddy on the Railway
NOTES: The Opies is Children's Games classify this among the counting rhymes. It doesn't sound like it to me, but certainly it is primarily a children's rhyme. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MSNR151

Paddy on the Turnpike


DESCRIPTION: Floating verses about Paddy's difficulties as he travels: "I'm just Paddy on the turnpike, I'll just be on my way, I'll just paddle down the turnpike To pass the time away." He describes his travels, admits he has no wife, and laments growing old
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: floatingverses rambling age
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 43, "Paddy on the Turnpike" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Not to be confused with the fiddle tune of the same name. Ohrlin's version, as the notes admit, consists mostly of floating verses; I don't know if a coherent version exists. - RBW
File: Ohr043

Paddy Ryan


DESCRIPTION: "Way up in old Calgary over the line There came an old cowboy, his name was Pat Ryan. He looked at the cowboys a-workin' the chutes, 'Boys, watch these spurs on the heels of my boots.'" "Old Thief Duncan looks up and he squalls, 'Watch this boy....'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1896 - Birth of Pat Ryan
FOUND IN: Canada
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 34, "Paddy Ryan" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr034

Paddy Sheahan


See Patrick Sheehan [Laws J11] (File: LJ11)

Paddy Stole the Rope


See How Paddy Stole the Rope (File: OCon068)

Paddy West


DESCRIPTION: The singer stops at Paddy West's (boarding)-house. Paddy offers him a (bad) meal and induces him to go to sea. Paddy assures the recruit is qualified by sending him three times "around the horn" of a cow and having him furl the royal of the window blind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: sailor humorous shanghaiing
FOUND IN: US(MA) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 113-114, "Paddy West" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 335-336, "Paddy West" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 250-251]
DT, PADWEST*
Roud #3092
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw)" (tune)
cf. "Tramps and Hawkers" (tune)
NOTES: Hugill claimed Paddy West was a real person, living probably on Great Howard Street in Liverpool. But he offers no further details. For the not-very-savory history of boarding masters in general, see the notes to "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7].
How much difference Paddy West's attempts to varnish his recruits made is far from clear. Richard Henry Dana Jr., who sailed in this period, wrote in the second paragraph of chapter one of Two Years Before the Mast, "The change from the tight dress coat, silk cap, and kid gloves of an undergraduate at Cambridge, to the loose duck trowsers, checked shirt, and tarpaulin hat of the sailor... was soon made, and I supposed myself to be looking as salt as Neptune himself. But it is impossible to deceive the practiced eye in these matters... I was, no doubt, known for a landsman by every man on board as soon as I hove in sight. A sailor has a peculiar cut to his clothes, and a way of wearing them which a green hand can never get.... Besides the points in my dress which were out of the way, doubtless my complexion and hands were enough to distinguish me from the regular salt, who, with a sunburnt cheek, wide step, and rolling gain, swings his bronzed and toughened hands athwartships, half open, as though just ready to grasp a rope." - RBW
File: Doe113

Paddy Whack


DESCRIPTION: Paddy Whack boasts of his Irish ancestry, his schooling (especially in fisticuffs), and his skill in war
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: Ireland
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Eddy 153, (first of several "Fragments of Irish Songs")
ST E153A (Full)
Roud #5353
File: E153A

Paddy Works on the Erie


See Paddy Works on the Railway (File: LxU076)

Paddy Works on the Railway


DESCRIPTION: Paddy describes the working conditions on the railway: "In (1841), I put me corderoy britches on... to work upon the (railway)." He recalls the hard work, courting and losing a wife, and the drink he uses to relieve his burdens
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg); there is a clear reference from 1864 in a manuscript from the clipper _Young Australia_
KEYWORDS: railroading work marriage death drink hardtimes
FOUND IN: US Britain(England)
REFERENCES (16 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 547-552, "Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text plus extended excerpts to illustrate variations in the song and a broadside print of "Mick Upon the Railroad," 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 356-357, "Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 107-108, "Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow pp. 139-141, "Oh, Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 155-156, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, version "E" of "Roll the Cotton Down"); pp. 337-338, "Paddy Works on the Railway," "Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 252-253]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 77-78, "Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacColl-Shuttle, pp. 20-21, "Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" (1 conflated text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 76, "Paddy Works On the Erie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 20-22, "Paddy Works on the Erie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 438, "Paddy Works on the Erie" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 43, "Fillimeeooreay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 42-43, "Pat Works on the Railway" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, p. 330, "Pat Works on the Railway" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 101 "Pat Works On The Railway" (1 text)
DT, PADRAIL1*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Paddy on the Railway" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #208
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Paddy Works on the Railway" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bluestone Quarries" (tune & meter)
cf. "The Shaver" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The American Railway
NOTES: Greenway prints a three-verse version ending with complaints about the company store. It is not clear whether this is a parody or a natural addition -- or whether the Sandburg/Lomax versions have cleaned this up.
There is a broadside, NLScotland LC.Fol.178.A.2(086), entitled "Paddy on the Railway," beginning "A Paddy once in Greenock town, For Glasgow city he was bound." The chorus is "Engine, boiler, water tight, Driving in with all his might, Upon my soul it was a sight To see the Greenock railway." This may well be related; I wouldn't consider it the same song. Cohen thinks there is "no relation."
Cohen also discusses the origin of this song, observing that it has two basic forms, which might be distinguished by their choruses -- the one more common in old versions being "I'm weary of the railway, Poor Paddy works on the railway"; the other, which is the one they taught us in grade school, is "Fil-i-me-oo-ri-ee-ri-ay" or some such noise. Cohen hints darkly about the fact that the earliest source of the second tune is a Lomax book, and I can offer no contrary evidence. There is also evidence of mixng of versions; Cohen notes the similarity of these several Lomax verses to the undated broadside "Mick Upon the Railroad."
Shay describes his version as a capstan chantey. The only support for this is the last of his nine verses, in which the singer goes to work for the Black Ball Line in 1849 ("and that's the end of my monkeyshine"). It is clear that the song functioned as a shanty of some sort, though, given the number of sea song collections in which it is found.
- RBW
File: LxU076

Paddy, Get Back


DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with long chorus, "Paddy, get back, Take in the slack, Heave away your capstan," etc. The song details how the poor boy has to go to sea to earn money, then suffers at the hands of weather, mate, and a long voyage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898
KEYWORDS: shanty poverty sailor abuse
FOUND IN: US(MA) Canada(Mar) Britain(England(Lond))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 54-55, "Paddy, Get Back" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 121-122, "Paddy Get Back" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 321-327, "Paddy Lay Back" (3 texts, 3 tunes with variants) [AbEd, pp. 241-244]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 68-70, "Paddy Get Back" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 42-43, "Lay Out, Tack Sheets and Haul" (1 text)
DT, PADLAYBK
Roud #653
RECORDINGS:
George Ling, "On Board the Leicester Castle" (on Voice02)
Richard Maitland, "Paddy, Get Back" (AFS, 1939; on LC26)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Liverpool Song" (form, lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Mainsail Haul
The Liverpool Song
Valparaiso Round the Horn
File: Doe054

Paddy, Lay Back


See Paddy, Get Back (File: Doe054)

Paddy, the Cockney and the Ass


DESCRIPTION: Pat Molloy meets a cockney and his ass in London. Forced to speak to the ass, Pat puts a pebble in its ear. Enraged, it upsets the cockney's cart. Taken in, Pat says he told the ass that the Irish had rid themselves of the landlords. Charges dismissed
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Pat Molloy from County Clare goes to London and meets a Cockney with a cart and donkey. The Cockney won't let Pat pass until he speaks to the donkey. While speaking he puts a pebble in the ass's ear. The ass, mad, upsets the Cockney's cart. The Cockney has the peelers take Pat in. The magistrate asks Pat what he told the ass to make him mad. He says he told the ass that the Irish had rid themselves of all the landlords. The magistrate laughs and dismisses Pat.
KEYWORDS: England Ireland humorous animal
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 18, "Paddy, the Cockney and the Ass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3078
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Pat Molloy and the Cockney
Paddy and the Ass
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "The slightly 'stagy' language used in the ballad might be an indication -- by no means an infallible one -- that the song originated in America." - BS
File: RcPaCoAs

Paddy's Advice


DESCRIPTION: Paddy is advised "let men of all creeds and professions agree ... How easy old Erin we'd free." If you stand alone, the preachers will fleece you, you must pay landlords just to dig your land. "The system must fall ... if ye stick to each other"
AUTHOR: James Hope (1764-1847) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1887 (Madden's _Literary Remains of the United Irishmen of 1798_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 41, "Paddy's Advice" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Moyl041

Paddy's Curiosity Shop


DESCRIPTION: "Did you hear tell of Paddy's Museum?" It is filled with antiquities. Barnum's cannot compare. It has Adam's "mattock and spade," "King David's ould breeches,"... "I'll give you the second edition Some night when you drop in again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging sb30404a)
KEYWORDS: humorous talltale Bible
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 145, "Paddy's Curiosity Shop" (1 text)
Roud #15372
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(694), "Pat's Curiosity Shop", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as LOCSinging sb30404a]
LOCSinging, sb30404a, "Pat's Curiosity Shop", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(694)]
NOTES: Broadsides LOCSinging sb30404a and Bodleian Harding B 18(694): 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: OCon145

Paddy's Green Country


See The Town of Antrim (File: HHH632)

Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore


DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of setting sail from (Londonderry), bound for America. He looks long on the beloved Irish coast he is leaving. A hard voyage brings him to America, where he and his friends say farewell. (He hopes to return home and marry his girl)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration parting ship separation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SHenry H192, pp. 101-102, "The Shamrock Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ranson, p. 55, "The Shamrock Shore" (1 text)
McBride 62, "The Shamrock Shore" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PADDYGRN* PADDYGR2*
Roud #1419
File: HHH192

Paddy's Land


DESCRIPTION: The singer travels from Ireland to Scotland. He sees and falls in love with a beautiful girl. She asks him if he is Scottish. He tells her no, and asks if she will go to Ireland with him. She apparently refuses, for he returns to Ireland alone
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting rejection foreigner beauty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H473, pp. 354-355, "Paddy's Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6876
File: HHH473

Paddy's Land (II)


DESCRIPTION: The singer is asked by a damsel "for a verse or two in praise of Paddy's land." He sings about pure air, pretty girls. The Irish are noble people driven from home by the failure of trade. Trade has now returned. He toasts Wellington, Duncan, and Jervis.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1820 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(233b))
KEYWORDS: emigration commerce Ireland
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1745, "Paddy's Land" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #12987
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(233b), "Paddy's Land" ("One evening all alone as I sat in my easy chair"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1819; also Harding B 25(1453), Harding B 16(197b), "Paddy's Land"
NOTES: GreigDuncan8 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian Harding B 17(233b) is the basis for the description.
For more on trade problems at the end of the Napoleonic Wars see "The Ports Are Open."
Of the heroes toasted at the end of the song: Jervis is probably John Jervis, First Lord of the Admiralty (1735-1823) (source: Wikipedia article John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent); Duncan is probably Admiral Adam Duncan (1731-1804) who defeated the Dutch fleet at Camperdown in 1797 (source: Wikipedia article Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown).
The woman at the beginning of the song is familiar from the Aisling style of Irish poem [see "Granuaile"]; it would be unusual in that kind of poem for her to drop out of the text as she does in this song. - BS
Unusual, certainly, but it makes sense for a song that praises Wellington, Duncan, and Jervis to drop references to Granuaile, who stood for Irish independence. Wellington, Duncan, and Jervis were *British* heroes, implying that this is a song by a pro-Union, probably Protestant, Irishman. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1745

Paddy's Panacea


DESCRIPTION: Poteen is "the best thing in nature For sinking your sorrows and raising your joys." It cures cramp, colic and spleen, calms a baby when mixed in milk, sooths a mind at school, makes the dumb talk, the lame walk, and helped Brunel dig the Thames tunnel.
AUTHOR: Joseph Lunn (1784-1863) (source: O'Conor)
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous nonballad technology
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 3, "Paddy's Panacea" (1 text, 1 tune)
OConor, pp. 155-156, "Paddy's Panacea" (1 text)
Roud #3079
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "Paddy's Panacea" (on Voice13) (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: Marc Isambard Brunel began construction of the Thames Tunnel in 1825. The tunnel was completed in 1842 and opened in 1843. (source: Thames Tunnel at the Wikipedia site. - BS
File: RcPadPan

Paddy's Pastoral Rhapsody


DESCRIPTION: Pat asks Molly to marry. She says he is too young and too poor. He says "wealth is an invitation The wise should never mintion." Sparrows, bees and roses, he says, get by without wealth. He drinks to her "for when I'm drunk I think I'm rich"
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.28(6a/b) view 7 of 8)
KEYWORDS: poverty courting rejection drink
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 38, "Paddy's Pastoral Rhapsody" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(6a/b) view 7 of 8, "Paddy's Pastoral Rhapsody", R. March & Co (London), 1877-1884
NOTES: Broadside Firth b.28(6a/b): "Sung by the Author in his Irish Evenings"; the broadside does not state who that Author might be but the Bartleby Great Books Online site quotes The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907-21).Volume XIV. The Victorian Age, Part Two. IX. Anglo-Irish Literature to attribute this to Samuel Lover (and quote the verse O'Conor omits, to boot). This broadside has a final verse omitted by O'Conor. The broadside is used for the Description (I guess "the Author" should know). - BS
File: OCon038

Paddy's Ramble to London


DESCRIPTION: Paddy has too much money and so can't pay his debts and goes to London to pass for a Lord. He has strange, often paradoxical adventures. Finally he decides to marry a Blackamoor Lady, the "fairest of creatures" and buy her a silver cup of horn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.18(233))
KEYWORDS: travel nonsense paradox animal
FOUND IN:
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.18(233), "Paddy's Ramble to London" ("Come listen awhile you frolicksome tars"), J. Pitts (London), 1802-1844
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Donald's Visit to Glasgow" (theme: country folk in town)
cf. "Paddy's Voyage to Glasgow" (theme: country folk in town)
cf. "Paddy Backwards" and references there
cf. "Nottamun Town (Nottingham Fair)" (theme)
cf. "The Seven Wonders" (theme)
cf. "The Lofty Giant (Song of Marvels)" (theme)
cf. "Limerick Races" (theme)
cf. "Shon M'Nab" (theme)
NOTES: One verse of Bodleian 2806 c.18(233) is close to Opie-Oxford2 93, "As I was going by Charing Cross" (earliest date in Opie is 1808).
Paddy's Ramble to London: "To find out the place I was sad at a loss, When shutting my eyes on safe Charing Cross. Where the King set on horseback all on the cold stone There was thousands all round him but truth never a one."
Opie-Oxford2 93: "As I was going by Charing Cross, I saw a black man upon a black horse; They told me it was King Charles the First Oh dear, my heart was ready to burst!"
Opie explains that "in 1675 the statue of Charles I, which had originally been erected in King Street (and may today be seen at the top of Whitehall), was re-erected on the site of the old Charing Cross ...."
On the same subject see broadside Bodleian, Antiq. c. E.9(97), "A dialogue between the old black horse at Charing cross, and the new one, with a figure on it in H--er square ," unknown, c.1702 - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BdBPRtL

Paddy's Voyage to Glasgow


DESCRIPTION: Paddy goes to Scotland for the harvest. He takes the steamboat from Belfast to Glasgow and does not understand paying fare. He is confused by the town and a public show, cannot sleep for the drunk telling the hour, and is happy to leave for the Lothians
AUTHOR: John Milne (source: broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3605))
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: travel humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 293, "Paddy in Glasgow" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #5859
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3605) View 2 of 2, "Paddy's Voyage to Glasgow" ("When I took a notion from home for to stray"), unknown, no date ["Songs and poems by John Milne"]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paddy's Ramble to London" (theme: country folk in town)
cf. "Donald's Visit to Glasgow" (theme: country folk in town)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Broomielaw
NOTES: Paddy is illiterate ("I never was learned my name for to spell"). He does not understand what he sees. The show he visits seems to him real: he first sees "wild beasts, few of them were tame, The nobles of Scotland came there to see them, Young Bonapart I on him did stare, I wondered what brought him from Germany there"; he is prevented by "a man with a red neck" from shaking hands with Bonapart.
Broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3605) is the basis for the description. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD2293

Padstow May Day Song


DESCRIPTION: Ritual song, for a hobby-horse, in English or Cornish: "Unite and unite, and let us all unite"..."Rise up, Mrs. __ and gold be your ring/And give to us a cup of ale the merrier we shall sing"..."Where are these young men that now here should dance..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1860 (Baring Gould MS)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Ritual song, accompanying antics of a hobby-horse; sung in English or Cornish: "Unite and unite, and let us all unite"..."Rise up, Mrs. __ and gold be your ring/And give to us a cup of ale the merrier we shall sing"..."Where are these young men that now here should dance?/Some they are in England and some they are in France"..."Now we fare you well and we bid you all good cheer/We'll call no more unto your house before another year"
KEYWORDS: ritual drink foreignlanguage moniker nonballad animal horse
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,North))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kennedy 86, "Can Cala Me [May Day Song]" (1 text, 1 tune; the notes give a related text and a version of "The Old May Song")
DT, CORMMAY
ADDITIONAL: Bob Stewart, _Where Is Saint George? Pagan Imagery in English Folksong_, revised edition, Blandford, 1988, pp. 129-131, "The Padstow May Song" (1 text, divided into "Night Song," "Day Song," and "Dirge")
Roud #305
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ribbon Hobby Horse Team, "May Day Song" (on FSB9)
People of Padstow, "Padstow May Day Song" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Old May Song
Cornish May Carol
NOTES: Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. - PJS
Some versions of this ask, "O where is Saint George" or equivalent. (The answer being, "He's out in his longboat, all on the salt sea, O.") It's an interesting question: As Stewart notes (p. 62), George was not a natural English saint; Edward the Confessor was long considered England's natural saint -- and in Northumbria, Saint Cuthbert was long revered. Saint Dunstan was also popular. Stewart notes that various authors date George's adoption as England's Patron at diverse times from 1220 to 1415.
Stewart also notes that the Catholic church in 1969 effectively de-sanctified George, demoting him to local status only. This is frankly logical, since the records of works, and even of his existence, are slight. Chadwick, p. 155, thinks "the" Saint George is George of Lydda, a soldier -- but also thinks that his history has been mixed up with that of the Arian Bishop George of Alexandria (martyred 360), and that much of the tale of Saint George comes from the martyrdom of this heretic! Benet, p.970, declares this to have been disproved, however, and the revised fourth edition of Benet, which shortens the entry on George (p. 393) does not even mention it.
OxfordCompanion, p. 412, says that George was martyred at Lydda in Palestine in the fourth century, with the first signs of reverence in the sixth century. It suggests that the story of George and the Dragon is "a reminiscence of Perseus and Theseus." It adds that George was the patron of the Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III in 1348. This doubtless helped make him popular in England.
Stewart, p. 63, is of the opinion that George is based on a pagan deity. This is perhaps an elaboration of the link to Perseus. But on p. 68, Stewart rings in fertility deities such as the Green Man. This is somewhat more logical than the other -- the Greek name "George" means "farmer." So he is associated with agriculture -- but hardly as a fertility deity!
Benet, p. 970, calls George a soldier in Diocletian's army, killed in 304. The revised edition eliminates this statement. The explanation of George and the Dragon also changes; the first edition, pp. 970-971, links it to various tales of Christian heroes slaying dragons, including the account in the Revelation to John of the Dragon (Greek drakon) who contests with God in chapter 12 and after, and who is cast out of heaven by Michael in 12:7. The revised edition, while mentioning this, also brings in (Perseus and) Andromeda.
Finally, both editions of Benet mention that the Red Cross Knight in Spenser's Fairie Queene is Saint George.
Adding all this up, I wonder if the reference in this song is not to Saint George the (mostly fictional) saint but to Saint George's Banner, one of the naval flags. This would explain why Saint George was "out in his longboat." Although Stewart has an explanation for that, too -- or, rather, two of them. On p. 66, he thinks Saint George is to be identified with the brother in the bottomless boat of "Edward" [Child 13]. On p. 67, he suggests that the bottomless boat that we have no actual reason to believe Saint George is in is in fact a sacrifice to the mother deep. I leave it to you to decide how to apply Occam's Razor to that.... Somewhat more likely is Kennedy's suggestion that it is associated with St. George's Well near Padstow. RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: K086

Page's Train Run So Fast


See Cotton-Eyed Joe (File: LxA262)

Paid O'Donoghue


DESCRIPTION: Anti-rebel forces range through Meath. Young Currogha smith Paid O'Donoghue forges rebel pike-heads. He is betrayed, taken and forced, before execution, to shoe the yeoman captain's horse. He kills the captain with his hammer and escapes on the horse
AUTHOR: Patrick Archer (1861-1919) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion betrayal escape death recitation horse
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1798 - Irish rebellion against British rule
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 59, "Paid O'Donoghue" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Moyl059

Painful Plough, The


DESCRIPTION: "Come all you jolly plowmen, of courage stout and bold... To crown them with contentment, behold the painful plow." The gardener and plowman discuss the antiquity of their profession. The plowman wins the argument because the plow makes all else possible
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Harding B 11(2936))
KEYWORDS: farming worker
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #66, p. 1, "The Painful Plough" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 448, "The Painful Plough" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, pp. 222-223, "The Painful Plough" (1 text)
Roud #355
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2936), "The Painful Plough" ("Come all you jolly ploughmen of courage stout and bold"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Johnson Ballads 2086, Harding B 20(127), 2806 c.17(325), Firth b.26(485), Harding B 11(2935), "[The] Painful Plough"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Irish Boy" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Plough
The Ploughman and the Gardener
NOTES: Greig: "The expression 'painful plough' is very interesting, as illustrating how tradition may retain a word even after its original meaning has become obsolete and liable to be misunderstood. 'Painful' here means painstaking or laborious." - BS
This sounds reasonable -- but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Note that one stanza of this song claims that "Adam was a plowman when plowing first begun." This is not scriptural; on the face of it, Adam was a hunter/gatherer. Cain is correctly identified as a farmer (Genesis 4:2). But Genesis 3:17 declares, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." This is right after God declares that Eve shall suffer misery in childbirth. Sounds pretty painful to me (and most modern translations use the word "pain" or "painful" somewhere in Genesis 3:16-17, though the King James Version does not).
The exploits of Samson are in Judges 13-16. Solomon's wisdom is mentioned, e.g., in 1 Kings 3:12 (though in fact 1 Kings devotes more space to his folly than his wisdom). David's slaying of "his ten thousands" is mentioned first in 1 Samuel 18:7.
The exploits of Alexander the Great are not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, though there are several mentions in the Greek Old Testament; in any case, he was well-known to tradition. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Ord222

Pains in My Fingers


DESCRIPTION: "Pains in my fingers, Pains in my toes; I sent for Doctor Brody To know what to do." Cho: "Sick him, Bobby, hoo-hoo, Sick him, Bobby, hoo! Oh, pore Mary Jane, He'll never come here no more." Other verses float
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: doctor injury animal floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 167-168, "Pains In My Fingers" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Raccoon" (floating verses)
File: ScaNF168

Pains o' Love, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer is wounded by love and tortured "like to a salamander." He will wander aimlessly until "the maid whom I adore ... grants me my designing"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: courting love nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 935, "The Pains o' Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6750
NOTES: My guess is that the torture "like to a salamander" is a reference to the mythical fire-breathing salamander. The torture is a heart on fire, or being burned. It all seems much too flowery for a folk song, whatever the author meant. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD5935

Paisley Officer, The (India's Burning Sands) [Laws N2]


DESCRIPTION: Henry, an officer from Paisley, meets and falls in love with Mary. His regiment having been called to India, (they are married and) she dresses as a soldier to accompany him. He is fatally injured; she is killed caring for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Gray, plus Gardner/Chickering, who also mention a manuscript copy dated 1884); there are sundry 19C broadsides
KEYWORDS: courting marriage cross-dressing soldier death battle India
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Laws N2, "The Paisley Officer (India's Burning Sands)"
GreigDuncan1 185, "The Paisley Officer" (2 texts)
Doerflinger, pp. 308-310, "The Paisley Officer" (2 texts, 1 tune)
SHenry H120, pp. 332-333, "Blythe and Bonny Scotland/India's Burning Sands" (1 text, 1 tune, composite)
McBride, pp. 65,75, "The Paisley Officer" (1 text)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 192-193, "The Paisley Officer" (2 texts)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 158-159, "The Paisley Officer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 51, "Bonny Scotland" (2 texts)
Ives-NewBrunswick, pp. 153-157, "The Paisley Officer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 86, "The Village Pride" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Gray, pp. 85-87, "In Blithe and Bonnie Fair Scotland" (1 text)
DT 438, PAISLYOF
Roud #550
RECORDINGS:
Sara Cleveland, "In Bonny Scotland" (on SCleveland01)
Warde Ford, "India's Burning Sands" [fragment] (AFS 4199Bx1, 1938; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(234a), "The Paisley Officer," Sanderson (Edinburgh), 1830-1910; also 2806 c.14(124), "The Paisley Officer"
NLScotland, L.C.178.A.2(198), "The Paisley Officer," unknown, c.1840; also L.C.178.A.2(198); RB.m.169(070), "The Paisley Officer"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Fare Thee Well, My Dearest Dear"
cf. "The Fair Town of Greenock" (theme)
cf. "The Lad in the Scotch Brigade (The Banks of the Clyde)" (theme)
NOTES: The description of this song at the Bodleian site associates this with the Sepoy Rebellion (1857-1858) -- but note that the National Library of Scotland broadsides probably predate this. - BS, RBW
For notes on legitimate historical examples of women serving in the military in disguise, see the notes to "The Soldier Maid." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LN02

Pakenham


DESCRIPTION: "Come, Packingham, and have a cup, Perhaps the last you will ever sup." The singer taunts the British soldiers coming to the battle of New Orleans
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: battle death soldier
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulsed Pakenham's force; the British commander is killed in the battle.
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, pp. 298-299, "The Hunters of Kentucky" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 1 tune, but the "A" fragment and part of "C" is "Pakenham")
Roud #2211
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hunters of Kentucky" [Laws A25] (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Battle of New Orleans" [Laws A7] (subject)
cf. "Molly Put the Kettle On (Polly Put the Kettle On)" (form)
NOTES: Belden observes that the fragment he lists as "A" of "The Hunters of Kentucky," and several lines of the last stanza of his "C" text, do not appear to be part of "The Hunters." (And I heartily agree, though Roud lumps them.) And they *do* appear to be the same song. Belden therefore speculates that they are fragments of some lost song.
He appears to be right. Indeed, the chorus of the "A" fragment ("Jackson, put the kettle on, Coffee, blow the fire strong, Carroll, hands the cups around, The strangers must have tea") makes it nearly certain that it was built around "Molly Put the Kettle On." Whether it was truly traditional must wait on other information.
Jackson is of course Andrew Jackson, and "Packingham" is Pakenham, the British commander. "Coffee" is not the drink but John Coffee, Jackson's second in command in the Creek War (for background, see "Andrew Jackson's Raid"); Carroll is William Carroll (1788-1844), Jackson's successor in command of the Tennessee militia and later governor of that state. - RBW
File: Beld298

Palace Grand


See Lady Mary (The Sad Song) (File: R698)

Pale Ring, The


See Hind Horn [Child 17] (File: C017)

Pale Was Her Face, She Hung Over My Shoulder


DESCRIPTION: The singer leaves Eldring and goes to war. The war ends and he had "escaped from the slaughter" but he returns home to find she had died of grief.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love return war separation death
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1242, "Pale Was Her Face, She Hung Over My Shoulder" (1 text)
Roud #6783
File: GrD61242

Pale WIldwood Flower, The


See Wildwood Flower (File: JRSF248)

Palms of Victory (Deliverance Will Come)


DESCRIPTION: "I saw a wayward traveller in tattered garments clad... His back was heavy laden, his strength was almost gone, He shouted as he journeyed, 'Deliverance will come!" Whatever the trouble, the traveller's refrain is the same.
AUTHOR: Rev. John B. Matthias
EARLIEST DATE: 1836 (original composition)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Randolph 626, "Palms of Victory' (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 437-438, "Palms of Victory" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 626)
Warner 92, "Palms of Victory" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PALMSVIC
Roud #3540
RECORDINGS:
Linzy Hicks, "Palms of Victory" (on USWarnerColl01)
Homer Rodeheaver, "Palms of Victory" (Rainbow 1118, c. 1925)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Honest Farmer" (form)
File: R626

Pandora, The


DESCRIPTION: The Pandora "went down in Youghal Bay." On November 18 she sailed from Nova Scotia and, after seven days of heavy seas, sank after striking a rock. Captain Hardcastle "ordered out the longboat in hopes to reach the land" but many "perished in the deep"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1943 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck sailor
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, p. 11, "The Pandora" (1 text)
NOTES: Youghal Bay is in County Cork. Ranson: "'The Pandora' was a Wexford vessel ... homeward bound with timber."
The only Pandora listed by Bourke is a Wexford brig that sank December 15, 1848 (see Bourke in Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast v1, p. 100)- BS
A more famous Pandora, an English warship sent out in late 1790 to search for the mutinous crew of the Bounty. On August, 1791 it struck a reef near the ill-fated island of Vanikoro and sank with large loss of life. Clearly not the inspiration of this song, but it might have added to the aura of ill fate about the name Pandora. There was also an 18-gun warship Pandora, wrecked February 13, 1811 off Jutland. - RBW
File: Ran011

Panic is On, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer says the country is falling apart; no one can get work; landlords are raising rents; women are selling fruit, booze, or "everything they can." I things don't change "there'll be some stealin' done." Cho: "Doggone...I mean the panic is on."
AUTHOR: Probably Hezekiah Jenkins
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (recording, Vic Collins [Hezekiah Jenkins])
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer says the country is falling apart; no one can get work, folks are homeless and walking the streets; landlords are raising rents and evicting those who can't pay; to support their men, women are selling fruit, booze, or "everything they can." Singer has pawned everything but his gun; if things don't change "there'll be some stealin' done." Chorus: "Doggone...I mean the panic is on."
KEYWORDS: poverty crime robbery unemployment hardtimes nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, PANICON
Roud #15867
RECORDINGS:
Vic Collins [pseud. for Hezekiah Jenkins], "The Panic is On" (Columbia 14585-D, 1931)
NOTES: The Great Depression is usually considered to have begun with the crash of the stock market in 1929; however, conditions in rural areas had been depressed for several years before then. - PJS
File: DTpanico

Papa, Papa, Build Me a Boat


See The Sailor Boy (I) [Laws K12] (File: LK12)

Papa's Billy Goat


See Bill Grogan's Goat (File: SRW141)

Papa's Going to Buy Me a Mockingbird


See Hush, Little Baby (File: SBoA164)

Paper of Pins, (The)


See The Keys of Canterbury (File: R354)

Papir Iz Doch Vays (Silver Is the Daylight)


DESCRIPTION: Yiddish: Daylight is silver, the sea is blue, and the singer's new love is bright. He hopes she will stay with him forever. None is as fair as she. He is tormented by love; all he wants is to be with her. If he is, any hut is a palace
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950
KEYWORDS: love courting colors foreignlanguage
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 292-293, "Papir Iz Doch Vays (Silver Is the Daylight)" (2 texts (1 English, 1 Yiddish), 1 tune)
File: SBoA292

Par Derrier' Chez Mon Pere (The Prince's Three Daughters)


DESCRIPTION: French. Behind my father's house is an apple tree, Under it sleep the prince's three daughters. Their lovers are in battle; "If they win, they'll have our love so sweet...if they win or lose, they'll have our love forever"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (BerryVin) (15th century?)
LONG DESCRIPTION: French. Behind my father's house is an apple tree, "Vole, mon coeur, vole (Fly, my heart, fly)". Under the tree sleep the prince's three daughters; the youngest wakens and tells the others that day is breaking. "Tis but a star in heaven .. a star to light love's way." One says that their lovers are in battle; "If they win, they'll have our love so sweet...if they win or lose, they'll have our love forever"
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage love army battle war lover soldier
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Que) France
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BerryVin, p. 38, "Par derrier' chez mon pere (The Prince's Three Daughters)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
NOTES: BerryVin dates the song to the 15th century, but without documentation. They note that, in addition to Indiana, the song was popular in French-speaking areas of southern Illinois and Missouri. - PJS
I must say that the context does not sound fifteenth century to me. If it were, the war would probably be the Hundred Years' War, and there should be something about the English enemy. But that's not proof. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BerV038

Parcel from a Lady, The (Under Her Apron)


DESCRIPTION: Singer is hailed by a lady who asks him to hold her parcel while she finds her sister. He holds the parcel until his arms grow tired. He sets it down; it emits a squall; he finds a baby. He advises young men never to take a parcel from a lady
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (recorded from Frank Hillier)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, walking down the strand, is hailed by a lady who asks him to hold her parcel while she goes to find her sister. He agrees, and holds the parcel until his arms grow tired. He then sets it down, and it emits a squall; he opens the parcel, and finds a baby. He advises young men never to take a parcel from a lady, or they might find themselves with an unwanted child
KEYWORDS: request warning abandonment humorous baby
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 328, "The Parcel from a Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #898
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Basket of Eggs" (plot) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rolled in her Apron
She roun't in her apron
NOTES: While the plot is certainly similar to those of "The Basket of Eggs" and "Quare Bungo Rye", this song does not share any lyrics with them (except, of course, for the word "baby"). - PJS
File: K328

Pardon Came Too Late, The


DESCRIPTION: "A fair-haired boy in a foreign land at sunrise was to die." The solder is captured while trying to desert. The pardon does not arrive in time to save him. After his death, his comrades learn that he had been trying to return to his dying mother
AUTHOR: Paul Dresser (1857-1906)
EARLIEST DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: death execution mother desertion soldier
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 709, "The Pardon Came Too Late" (1 text)
Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 233-235, "The Pardon Came Too Late" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 311-312, "The Pardon Came Too Late" (1 text)
ST R709 (Full)
Roud #7375
RECORDINGS:
Vel Veteran [pseud. for either Arthur Fields, Vernon Dalhart or Irving Kaufman] "The Pardon Came Too Late" (Grey Gull 4237, 1928)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(123), "The Pardon Came Too Late," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1880-1900
NOTES: For the story of Paul Dresser, see the notes to "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away." - RBW
File: R709

Parents, Warning


See The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)

Parish of Dunboe, The


See The Banished Lover (The Parish of Dunboe) (File: HHH023)

Parish of Dunkeld, The


See O What a Parish (The Parish of Dunkeld) (File: FVS217)

Parish of Inch, The


DESCRIPTION: On St Patrick's day the Teagues assembled at Downpatrick fair: "Protestant traitors with papists united Unfurled their green banners at Ballynahinch" and were confronted by the members of Four Hundred and Thirty, "the True Blues of the Parish of Inch"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political religious
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 22, "The Parish of Inch" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "Dictionary definition for 'Taig': Taig n. In Northern Ireland, a Protestant epithet for a Roman Catholic. Formerly, any Irishman. Also Teague." (source: Double-Tongued Word Wrester site.) "Lilliburlero" begins "Ho brother Teague, Dost hear de decree."
[The spelling "Teague" seems generally to be preferred; I suspect "Taig" is a result of local pronunciation. Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, fifth edition, gives alternate spellings "Teg" and "Teigue," and derives it from the Irish surname "Tadhg," pronounced "Teeg." As "Teg," it appears in the anthology "Merry Drollery" in 1661; it is also used by Swift. Listed as archaic since 1879, but still used in Ulster as late as 1904. - RBW]
OrangeLark: "Inch had L.O.L. 430 and the song compares its gallant members with the bad Protestants 'who would change their faith for a British half-crown.' On a certain St Patrick's Day they proved their loyalty and dependability to the distress of their enemies."
For "True Blue" Masonic Lodges see Notes to "Derry Walls Away." - BS
File: OrLa022

Park in Portadown, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a woman who knows him by name. He asks her to walk with him in the park in Portadown. She refuses; she is waiting for her cousin James McKeown. He receives a letter from his "dear" as Mrs James McKeown. Beware of girls willing to spark.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: courting lie rejection warning
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Ulster 18, "The Park in Portadown" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2892
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Watercresses" (theme: the married woman pretending to be single)
NOTES: Morton-Ulster: "Portadown ... is a market town just below Lough Neagh." - BS
File: MorU018

Parks o' Keltie, The


DESCRIPTION: Despite her mother's warnings a Perthshire maid walks in Keltie's parks. The Laird of Keltie rapes her. Her father sees the rape and threatens to "forfeit" the parks if not paid "her portion." The laird marries her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: marriage rape father mother nobility
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1487, "The Parks o' Keltie" (11 texts, 6 tunes)
Roud #3861
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Doyle" (tune, per GreigDuncan7)
cf. "The Dainty Doonby" (theme of a laird raping a girl then marrying her)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Laird o' Geldie
The Bonnie Lands o' Keltie
The Bonnie Woods o' Keldie O
File: GrD71487

Parody on Jock o' Hazeldean


DESCRIPTION: Wealthy Episcopalian Geordie would marry a Presbyterian lady who weeps to think of leaving Manse o' Deer. "The day was fixed the feast was spread ... But the bride she wisna seen Wi' a drunken pedlar she's awa To the jile at Aiberdeen"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: courting wedding escape parody
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 1030, "Parody on Jock o' Hazeldean" (1 text)
Roud #6722
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John of Hazelgreen" [Child 293] (basis for parody)
NOTES: The mention that Geordie is Episcopalian while his intended is Presbyterian is interesting. The strongest conflict between Anglicans and Presbyterians was in the early seventeenth century, when Charles I and Archbishop Laud were trying to impose bishops on Congregational Scotland. That of course resulted in the rise of the Solemn League and Covenant -- and a lot of Anglo-Scottish conflict. But that was before Scott (re)wrote "Jock of Hazeldean." Perhaps the mention of Geordie as an Episcopalian is just to emphasize how Anglicized he was. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD51030

Parrot Song, The


See Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight [Child 4] (File: C004)

Parsley Vine, The


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

Parson and the Clerk, The


DESCRIPTION: Parson preaches against sin; clerk wants to do it. Parson denounces coveting gold, saying it's his fate to be well-paid. Clerk says, "Give it to me." Parson deplores boys kissing hussies; clerk says "I've done it myself and they're fond of it too." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1949 (recorded from Phil Tanner)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Parson preaches against various sins; clerk says he wants to do them. Parson denounces coveting gold, saying it's his fate to be well-paid. Clerk says, "Give it to me." He tells those sinned against to turn the other cheek; clerk says, "I'll break his nose." Parson deplores young boys kissing hussies; clerk says "I've done it myself and they're fond of it too." Parson preaches temperance; clerk says "I am awfully dry."
KEYWORDS: virtue courting sin drink dialog humorous religious clergy worker
FOUND IN: Britain(Wales)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 235, "The Parson and the Clerk" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1154
RECORDINGS:
Phil Tanner, "The Parson and the Clerk" (on FSB10)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Soldier and the Sailor" (theme)
cf. "The Mare and the Foal" (theme)
NOTES: Verse 6 of this song runs, "I bid you work and pray, And don't do all your parson does, But do as your parson say." Compare Matthew 23:3 -- "Do and obey what [the scribes and Pharisees] tell you, but not what they do, for they preach but do not practice."
It will presumably be obvious that "clerk" is pronounced "clark." - RBW
File: K235

Parson Brown's Sheep


DESCRIPTION: A boy sings truly that his father killed the minister's wether. The minister hears the song and offers a reward to sing the song in church. The boy sings that he saw the minister in bed with his mother. The minister runs away. The family eats the wether.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging sb30381a) [but notice that the earliest date on the sequel (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(82) is before 1867]
LONG DESCRIPTION: A family had nothing to eat for Christmas and followed the son's plan to lure and kill the minister's fat wether. Alone in the wood the boy sang about the deed. The minister heard the song and offered the poor boy a reward to sing that song in church. At Christmas service the minister promised the full congregation that a boy would come and sing a true song. The boy sang that he saw the minister in bed with his mother [Are we to assume that the minister's objective had been to eliminate the father's competition by having him hanged?]. (In other versions, the minister is in bed with "Molly" or some other girl.) The minister ran away with the boy running after claiming his reward [but, though he sang a true song, it was not the song contracted; we do not hear that he collected]. The family ate the wether.
KEYWORDS: adultery accusation promise theft trick food hardtimes humorous sheep family clergy
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 309, "The Minister's Wedder" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #2498
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2955), "Parson Brown's Sheep" ("Not long ago in our town"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 11(2952), "Parson Browns' Sheep"; Johnson Ballads 2743, "Parson Brown"
LOCSinging, sb30381a, "Old Parson Brown," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Minister and His Wether
The Parson's Fat Wedder
NOTES: The LOCSinging and Bodleian broadsides tell the story, alternating verse and prose, with many more details but sharing no lines with GreigDuncan2 texts. In these the boy explains that the father is old and out of work; the parson sets the dog on the boy when he asks for help; the part about the parson overhearing the first song agrees well enough; the parson pledges to the congregation the truth of what is about to be heard ("it's of a most notorious and outrageous crime as ever was committed, and ought to be severely punished, and every word that he says is as true as the gospel I am now preaching"); the new song is not about the parson and mother but rather about the parson "Romping Molly on the hay." The GreigDuncan2 texts seem to be a badly remembered retelling of "Parson Brown's Sheep," which seems to me a stage piece.
There is a sequel broadside as well for "Parson Brown's Sheep." See Bodleian, Harding B 11(82), "Encore Verses" or "The Answer to Parson Brown's Sheep" ("My thanks accept kind friends"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Bodleian, 2806 c.16(241), "Encore Verses" or "The Answer to Parson Brown's Sheep"; Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 678, "Second edition of Parson Brown's Sheep" [Parson Brown arranges that the boy marry Molly, upon whom the Parson has bestowed a dowery of three hundred golden sovreigns. They live happily ever after. Like the original, this piece alternates recitation and verse.]
H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD2309

Parson Upon Dorothy


See references under "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter" [Child 110] (File: C110)

Parson's Daughter Jean, The


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

Parting Friends


See Farewell My Friends (Parting Friends; I'm Bound for Canaan) (File: LxA564)

Parting Glass, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer has done some ills and foolish things, but never with ill purpose and only to himself. He misses his girl. He would spend money on good company if he had it. Conclusion: "So fill to me the parting glass, Goodnight and joy be with you all."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 c.15(114))
KEYWORDS: drink farewell nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Newf) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1531, "The Parting Glass" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
SHenry H769, p. 65, "The Parting Glass" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 69, "The Parting Glass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 573-574, "The Parting Glass" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PARTGLAS*
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, pp. 82-83, "The Parting Glass" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3004
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Parting Glass" (on IRClancyMakem01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.15(114), "The Parting Glass," J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin) , 1850-1899; also Harding B 26(498), Harding B 26(499), 2806 c.15(13), Harding B 19(89), "The Parting Glass"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Over the Hills to My Nanny, O" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian 2806 c.15(114), Bodleian 2806 c.15(13), Bodleian Harding B 19(89))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Good Nicht an' Joy Be Wi' You A'
NOTES: This song is lyric enough that it can import elements from almost anywhere; the Sam Henry version, for instance, starts with a verse best known from "The Barnyards o' Delgaty" ("I can drink and no be drunk..."), and also includes a bit of "My Dearest Dear." I suspect there are versions which elaborate on the girl the singer can't have. - RBW
An argument could easily be made that "Guid Nicht an' Joy Be Wi' You A'" and "The Parting Glass" are the same song. Two verses often show up in both songs: "All the money e'er I had, I spent it in good company, And all the harm that e'er I did, I hope excused I will be, And what I've done for want of wit, to my memory I cann't recall, So fill us up a parting glass -- good night and joy be with you all," and "If I had money for to spend, And leisure time to set a while, There is a fair maid in this town, that surely has me heart beguile: Her rosy cheeks - and her ruby lips I own she has my heart enthrall'd; Then fill to me the parting glass, Good night - and joy be with you all." The difference is in the remaining verses. "The Parting Glass" is concerned with a lover missed; "Guid Night, and Joy Be With You all" is about leaving a party, or emigrating, or dying, and leaving good friends behind.
Description from Peacock's version: She hopes he won't go far away. He intends to leave her "when and where all stormy winds blow." She dreams he has been "pressed ... gone on board ... to serve his royal majesty." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: HHH769

Parting Lovers, The


See Farewell, Sweetheart (The Parting Lovers) (File: R756)

Parting of Burns and Highland Mary, The


See Burns and His Highland Mary [Laws O34] (File: LO34)

Parting Words


DESCRIPTION: "When the parting words were spoken And I told him he was free... I am free, oh, free again...." She has seen him with another; accuses him of falsehood, says she will be true; he wipes away a tear, murmuring, "Life is nothing more to me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love courting betrayal floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 160, "Parting Words" (1 text)
Roud #6576
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (plot)
cf. "Ella Lea" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Thou Hast Learned to Love Another" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Faded Flowers" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: A rather confused piece; the overall plot is very much like "Farewell He," but with the strange report of his despair at the end. Many of the lyrics float; see the cross-references. - RBW
File: BrII160

Partizaner Lid (The Partisan)


DESCRIPTION: Yiddish: The guerrilla is advised to use (her) weapon well. A girl is going on her first raid. She kills an enemy soldier, and his vehicle crashes. She rejoices in her success in "a struggle all must share"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: war battle death rebellion foreignlanguage
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 360-361, "Partizaner Lid (The Partisan)" (2 texts (1 English, 1 Yiddish), 1 tune)
NOTES: World War II saw more partisan activity than any previous war, mostly because the Nazis so cruelly oppressed their victims. Perhaps the largest guerrilla forces were raised in Poland, where Jews were plentiful and even the Christians were treated as animals.
Toward the end of the war, as the Russians approached Warsaw, the Polish resistance arose and recaptured the city. This was the greatest accomplishment of the partisans in the entire war.
Sadly, at that very moment the Russians stopped their advance. Stalin said his armies needed to regroup. In fact, he was allowing the Nazis the chance to crush the Warsaw uprising so he wouldn't have to do it himself.
The Nazis did their part, then the Russians moved in. Tens of thousands of Poles had died for nothing. - RBW
File: SBoA360

Party in Alpena, The


See Way Down Near Alpena (File: Be039)

Pass Around the Bottle (As We Go Marching Home)


DESCRIPTION: "Pass around the bottle and we'll all take a drink (x2) As we go marching home." "Pull out the stopper and fill it up again." "Hang John Brown on a sour apple tree." "Grasshopper sitting on a sweet potato vine." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers)
KEYWORDS: drink floatingverses Civilwar execution drink nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 34, "Pass Around the Bottle" (1 text)
Roud #7858
RECORDINGS:
Al Bernard, "Pass Around the Bottle" (Van Dyke 5115, c. 1930)
Georgia Yellow Hammers, "Pass Around the Bottle" (Victor 20550, 1927; Montgomery Ward M-8054, 1939)
Sim Harris, "Pass Around the Bottle" (Oriole 916, 1927)
North Carolina Hawaiians, "Pass Around the Bottle" (OKeh 45405, 1930; rec. 1928)
Ernest Stoneman, "Pass Around the Bottle" (Banner 2157/Domino 3985/Regal 8346/Homestead 16490 [as by Sim Harris], c. 1929/Oriole 916 [as by Harris]/Challenge 665/Conqueror 7064/Conqueror 7755, 1931/Paramount 3021/Broadway 8054, c. 1930; rec. 1927) Pathe 32278/Perfect 12357/Cameo 8217/Romeo 597/Lincoln 2882, 1927); "Hang John Brown" (on Stonemans01); (Edison, unissued, 1927)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Pass Around the Bottle and We'll All Take a Drink" (Columbia 15074-D, 1926)
Walter Williams, "Pass Around the Bottle" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Marching On" (lyrics)
cf. "John Brown's Body" (tune & meter) and references there
NOTES: Since this is almost entirely floating verses, with a floating chorus, it probably is actually a version of something else. But without a tune, we can't really tell what.
Paul Stamler tells me that Gid Tanner recorded this to the tune of "John Brown's Body." However, this does not fit the text printed by Brown (which is only three lines long rather than four). - RBW
File: Br3034

Pass the Drunkard By


See Short Life of Trouble (File: RcSLOT)

Pass Under the Rod


DESCRIPTION: The singer variously sees "a young bride in her beauty and pride," a "young mother in tenderness band," and parents falling victim to "idolatrous love," but a Healer came to rescue them, saying "I love thee, I love thee, pass under the rod."
AUTHOR: Mrs. M. S. B. Dana (?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Heart Throbs)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 650, "Pass Under the Rod" (2 texts)
Roud #7571
NOTES: As best I can tell, the phrase "pass under the rod" is an allusion to the King James Version text of Ezekiel 20:37, which refers to bringing transgressors back into the covenant. Leviticus 27:32 uses the same phrase (referring to the holy tithes of animals), but this strikes me as even more of a stretch. - RBW
File: R650

Passant par Paris (Passing through Paris)


DESCRIPTION: French capstan song. Singer is passing through Paris, when he's told that someone is courting his girl. He says he doesn't care, anyone can have her, and goes on to list all the other good things that he has/had.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Hayet, _Chansons de bord_)
LONG DESCRIPTION: French capstan song. Singer is passing through Paris, when he's told that someone is courting his girl. He says he doesn't care, anyone can have her, and goes on to list all the other good things that he has/had. Sung as a typical French call & response form where the first line of a verse is a repeat of the last line of the previous verse, with choruses interspersed. Chorus of this song is "Bon! bon! bon! Le bon vin m'endort, l'amour me reveille / Good! good! good! The good wine makes me sleep, but love wakes me up."
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage shanty love bragging
FOUND IN: France
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 414-416, "Passant par Paris" (2 texts-French & English, 1 tune)
File: Hugi414

Pastoral Elegy


DESCRIPTION: "What sorrowful sounds do I hear Move slowly along in the gale?... Sweet Coroden's notes are all o'er, How lonely he sleeps in the clay." Caroline describes the flowers by his grave and plans to haunt the woods "Since Coroden hears me no more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1835 (Missouri Harmony)
KEYWORDS: death burial rambling
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
LPound-ABS, 95, pp. 203-204, "Pastoral Elegy" (1 text)
Roud #4662
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Corydon and Phoebe" (theme)
NOTES: This is clearly a folk remnant of the many Corydon-and-Phyllis/Phyllida/Chloris pastoral romances so common in the broadsides. I have not been able to find a broadside source, but this is nearly the only traditional survival of one of these pieces. (I thought the only one until Paul Stamler pointed out "Corydon and Phoebe.")
For which we should all be heartily thankful.
The song does appear, under the "Pastoral Elegy" title, in the 1835 edition of the "Missouri Harmony," and this, or some equivalent version, is probably ancestral to the text Pound collected. - RBW
File: LPnd203

Pastures of Plenty


DESCRIPTION: "It's a mighty hard road that my poor hands has hoed." The singer describes the hard work in the fields and the life of the (migrant) field worker. The singer promises to fight if need be, "'Cause my Pastures of Plenty must always be free."
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST DATE: 1953
KEYWORDS: work farming travel migrant freedom nonballad derivative
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greenway-AFP, pp. 293-294, "Pastures of Plenty" (1 text)
DT, PASTPLEN
Roud #16377
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie, "Pastures of Plenty" (on AmHist2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pretty Polly (II)" (tune)
File: Grnw293

Pat and the Gauger


DESCRIPTION: Paddy lands with a 6-gallon whisky keg. A gauger asks to see his permit. Says Pat, "It's unconvenient to show it." The gauger takes the "smuggled" keg and sweats lugging it toward Customs House. At his own house Pat shows the permit and takes the keg
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous trick work
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1747, "Paddy and the Gauger" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 78, "Pat and the Gauger" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrSNB078 (Partial)
Roud #2765
NOTES: I repeat Bob Waltz's comment from "The Gauger": It appears, in this case, that "gauger" is used in its sense of "revenue officer," though the secondary sense of one who is very aware of his own interests also fits. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: CrSNB078

Pat Brady


DESCRIPTION: Pat Brady's father is taken prisoner and hanged without any crime. Pat vows revenge. He takes part in the rebellion at Gorey, Wicklow, New Ross, and Vinegar Hill, is taken in Rathangan, and condemned to hang for high treason.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(15))
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death execution Ireland lament patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1798 - the Irish Rebellion
June 4 - Wexford rebels capture Gorey (which loyalists had abandoned a week earlier)
June 5, 1798 - The Wexford rebels attack the small garrison (about 1400 men, many militia) at New Ross, but are repelled
June 9, 1798 - Battle of Arklow. Father John Murphy tries to fight his way into Wicklow, but fails and suffers heavy casualties
June 21, 1798 - The rebel stronghold a Vinegar Hill is taken, and the Wexford rebellion effectively ended
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn 53A, "The Lamentations of Patrick Brady" or "The Heroes of Ninety-Eight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 67, "The Lamentation of Patrick Brady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3071
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(15), "Pat Brady" ("Ye true born heroes, I hope you will lend an ear"), W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also 2806 b.10(13), "Pat Brady"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banishment of Patrick Brady" (theme)
cf. "Boulavogue" (historical setting)
cf. "Father Murphy (I)" (subject of Father Murphy) and references there
File: OLoc053A

Pat Malloy [Laws Q24]


DESCRIPTION: Pat, the singer, reports that his mother (burdened with thirteen children) at last had to send him out to fend for himself. He visits England and America, sending his earnings home. Finally he prepares to return to Ireland and his sweetheart Molly
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1865 (broadside, LOCSinging sb40549a)
KEYWORDS: mother emigration love return Ireland
FOUND IN: US(SE) Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws Q24, "Pat Malloy"
O'Conor, p. 116, "Pat Malloy" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 333-335, "Pat Malloy" (1 text; tue on pp. 447-448)
DT 533, PATMOLOY
Roud #8809
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.9(28), "Pat Molloy," W.S. Fortey (London), 1858-1885; also 2806 b.11(24), "Pat Molloy!"; 2806 c.8(191), Johnson Ballads 3061, "Pat Malloy"
LOCSinging, sb40549a, "Pat Malloy," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Return of Pat Molloy" (character of Pat Malloy/Molloy)
NOTES: Laws calls this "Pat Malloy," which we follow, but the name "Pat Molloy" is at least as common -- and it seems to have been the basis for the (probable) sequel "Return of Pat Molloy." Laws mentions a sequel, "Molly's Welcone to Pat Malloy." I haven't yet found a copy of this, so I don't know if it is the same as the other sequel, "Return of Pat Molloy." - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb40549a: 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: LQ24

Pat Malone


See The Irish Wake [Laws Q18] (File: LQ18)

Pat Malone Forgot that He Was Dead


See The Irish Wake [Laws Q18] (File: LQ18)

Pat Malony's Family


DESCRIPTION: Mike Malony marries Molly Higgins. "She'd as many relations as fishes in the sea, They ate me out of house and home." The family, including the "seventeen hundred babies... grandmothers and mothers-in-law" are numbered and named.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: marriage humorous food clothes ordeal family moniker
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor p. 128, "Pat Malony's Family" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Poor Hard-Working Man" (theme)
File: OCon128

Pat Murphy


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

Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade


DESCRIPTION: "Said Pat to his mother, "It looks strange to see, Brothers fighting in such a queer manner." But Pat joins the Union army. He goes to battle still singing, but is shot and dies "far from the land of shillelagh."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1865 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 31(118))
KEYWORDS: Civilwar death battle foreigner
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Silber-CivWar, p. 22-23, "Pat Murphy of the Irish Brigade" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SHILLELA
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 23, #3 (1974), p. 18, "Pat Murphy" (1 text, 1 tune, based primarily on the early broadsides)
Roud #11630
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 31(118), "Pat Murphy of Meagher's Brigade", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
LOCSinging, sb30412b, "Pat Murphy of Meagher's Brigade", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "By the Hush" (subject)
SAME TUNE:
Think of Your Head in the Morning (per broadsides LOCSinging sb30412b and Bodleian Harding B 31(118))
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Song of the Splintered Shillelagh
NOTES: In at least one sense, this song is quite accurate historically. The Army of the Potomac's famous "Irish Brigade" (63 NY, 69 NY, 88 NY; 28 Mass and 116 PA added later) had the highest casualty rate of any unit in the army in the early years of the war. By Gettysburg, the brigade had only 600 men (out of over 4000 originally enrolled), and the three New York regiments had fewer than a hundred men a piece -- a casualty rate in excess of 90%. - RBW
Broadsides LOCSinging sb30412b and Bodleian Harding B 31(118) are duplicates.
Broadsides LOCSinging sb30412b and Bodleian Harding B 31(118): H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: SCW22

Pat O'Brien [Laws P39]


DESCRIPTION: Pat asks Nancy to meet him. Having decided not to marry her, he stabs her. Her ghost tells her mother of the crime. Her body is found and Pat arrested. The ghost keeps appearing to him, finally inducing him to confess. He is hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: murder ghost execution gallows-confession
FOUND IN: US(NE) Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Laws P39, "Pat O'Brien"
GreigDuncan2 203, "Pat O'Brien" (1 text)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 10, "Pat O'Brien" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 516, PATOBRI
Roud #1919
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter (The Gosport Tragedy; Pretty Polly) [Laws P36A/B]" (theme)
NOTES: "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" is just the first similar ballad that came to mind. As Munnelly notes, "it is a classic of the type of murder ballads which eminated from the popular broadsheet presses of the 19th century." Munnelly also remarks on the "popularity of this song in oral tradition." I don't have a broadside example yet. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LP39

Pat O'Donnell


DESCRIPTION: Pat O'Donnell, "a deathly foe to traitors," sails from Ireland for Capetown on the Melrose. The informer James Kerry is also on board. Pat kills Kerry in a gunfight and is convicted of murder, though he claims self defence.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1883 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: emigration murder trial Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 6, 1882 - Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish and the Under Secretary Thomas Henry Burke are murdered by a group calling themselves "The Invincible Society."
January 1883 - twenty seven men are arrested.
James Carey, one of the leaders in the murders, turns Queen's evidence.
Six men are condemned to death, four are executed (Joseph Brady is hanged May 14, 1883; Daniel Curley is hanged on May 18, 1883), others are "sentenced to penal servitude," and Carey is freed and goes to South Africa.
July 29, 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell kills Carey on board the _Melrose Castle_ sailing from Cape Town to Durban.
Dec 1883 - Patrick O'Donnell is convicted of the murder of James Carey and executed in London (per Leach-Labrador)
(Source for The Phoenix Park murders: primarily Zimmermann, pp. 62, 63, 281-286)
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar, Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Leach-Labrador 42, "Pat O'Donnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Manny/Wilson 86, "Patrick O'Donnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 44A, "Pat O Donnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 86, "Patrick O'Donnell" (1 text)
Morton-Maguire 54, pp. 150-151,176, "Pat O'Donnell" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST LLab042 (Partial)
Roud #2794
RECORDINGS:
Marie Hare, "Patrick O'Donnell" (on MRMHare01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Phoenix Park Tragedy" (subject: the Phoenix Park murders) and references there
NOTES: Zimmermann p. 62: "The Phoenix Park murders and their judicial sequels struck the popular imagination and were a gold-mine for ballad-writers: some thirty songs were issued on this subject, which was the last great cause to be so extensively commented upon in broadside ballads." - BS
File: LLab042

Pat O'Hara


DESCRIPTION: "I am an Irish boy, and my heart is full of joy... I'm the rattling, rowling, teasing Pat O'Hara." The girls are always chasing Pat. He loves Ireland "tho' the times have changed this while in dear ould Erin's isle, And many have had to wander"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.16(216))
KEYWORDS: bragging courting Ireland nonballad rake
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, pp. 20-21, "Pat O'Hara" (1 text)
Roud #9697
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.16(216), "Pat O'Hara", T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also Firth c.26(194), "Pat O'Hara"
File: OCon020B

Pat O'Reilly


DESCRIPTION: Pat O'Reilly intends to go to America, make a fortune, and return to Tyrone. Pat promises to marry Ann McCormick when he returns. She has him arrested and lies at the trial. He is condemned to "die on the gallows tree"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: courting accusation lie death lover trial execution emigration
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Peacock, pp. 159-160, "Pat O'Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor p. 35, "Patrick Reilly" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 7-8, "Patrick Riley" (1 text)
Roud #5494
File: Pea159

Pat of Mullingar


DESCRIPTION: "They may talk of Flying Childers" and other fast horses but none compares to the filly that drags Pat Mulingar's jaunting car. She won cups but "lost an eye at Limerick and an ear at Waterloo... She's gentle as the dove sirs, her speed you can't deny"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 15(234b))
KEYWORDS: racing horse
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 18, 1815 - Battle of Waterloo
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, p. 10, "Pat of Mullingar" (1 text)
OLochlainn 90, "Pat of Mullingar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3067
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 15(234b), "Pat of Mullingar", J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1858-1861; also 2806 c.15(130), Harding B 11(2967), 2806 b.11(121), "Pat of Mullingar"; Harding B 26(503), Harding B 19(91), "Pat of Mullinger"
NOTES: Flying Childers, born in 1714, "is considered the first truly great racehorse in the history of the Thoroughbred." (source: Thoroughbred Heritage site) - BS
File: OCon010

Pat Reilly


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

Pat Works on the Railway


See Paddy Works on the Railway (File: LxU076)

Pat-a-Cake


DESCRIPTION: "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man! So I will, master, as fast as I can: Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T [or B], Put in the oven for Tommy [baby] and me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1698 (Tom D'Urfey's _The Campaigners_, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad baby
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Greig #2, pp. 2-3, "Pat-a-cake" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan8 1693, "Pat-a-Cake" (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 396, "Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker's Man" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #600, p. 239, "(Patty Cake, Patty Cake)"
ADDITIONAL: James Orchard Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (London, 1843 ("Digitized by Google")),#285 p. 161, ("Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man")
Roud #6486
NOTES: The version I learned of this has a different second line than the version in most of the sources cited: "Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker's man, Bake me a cake as fast as you can...."
According to the Baring-Goulds, a Patty Cake or pat-a-cake is a small cake with currants. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81693

Pat's Wedding


DESCRIPTION: "O come in, man, and let's hear your cracks; I heard ye was o'er at the wedding O aye, man, indeed I was that, And I lent them a hand at the bedding." The singer describes Pat, "a comical body"; Rob, "the greedy hash"; etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: wedding food nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gardner/Chickering 166, "Pat's Wedding" (1 expurgated text)
ST GC166 (Partial)
Roud #3705
NOTES: This may well be a fragment of some sort of song such as "The Blythesome Bridal," about an uproarious wedding. But it appears a bit fragmentary, and the omission of a verse at the end doesn't help. I file it separately until something clearly related shows up, and so does Roud. - RBW
File: GC166

Patie's Waddin'


See Patie's Wadding (Petie's Wedding) (File: HHH200)

Patie's Wadding (Petie's Wedding)


DESCRIPTION: Petie comes to Meg to ask if she will marry. She consents but directs him to her father. Petie asks her father, pointing out that he has relatively little. The father consents to the wedding, and to pay for the feast
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: wedding father food
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan3 616, "Patie's Wedding" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
SHenry H200, pp. 470-471, "Petie Cam' ower the Glen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5514
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Patie Cam' Doon the Glen
NOTES: One has to wonder what is going on beneath the surface here -- the father seems awfully eager to get rid of his daughter.... - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: HHH200

Patie's Wedding


See Patie's Wadding (Petie's Wedding) (File: HHH200)

Patie's Wedding (II)


DESCRIPTION: The singer tells of attending Patie's wedding. There was lots of food but the singer sat next to a glutton. They had to give the fiddler a toddy so he could play. Everyone danced until "they'd a' got their fill," then "repaired to the beddin'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: wedding dancing drink fiddle food music nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #151, p. 2, "Patie's Weddin'" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 607, "The Wedding" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #2620
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 and Greig suggest that Stokoe/Reay, pp. 24-26, "The Skipper's Wedding" may be this song. I see no relationship between these songs (no shared lines, for example) except the subject: a wedding with lots of food. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3607

Patrick O'Donnell


See Pat O'Donnell (File: LLab042)

Patrick O'Neal


DESCRIPTION: Patrick goes to visit a cousin, and -- being mistaken for a sailor in disguise -- is taken by a press gang. Aboard ship, he proves utterly inept and meets many surprises. His ship defeats a Frenchman in battle. With peace, Patrick gets to go home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1829 (Northern Minstrel)
KEYWORDS: ship pressgang sailor humorous escape
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H552, pp. 102-103, "Patrick O'Neal" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST, PATNEAL
Roud #13368
File: HHH552

Patrick Reilly


See Pat O'Reilly (File: Pea159)

Patrick Riley


See Pat O'Reilly (File: Pea159)

Patrick Sheehan [Laws J11]


DESCRIPTION: Patrick and his family are forced from their home by the landlord. His mother dies in the poorhouse. Patrick has little choice but to join the British army. He is blinded at Sevastopol, and ends as a wandering beggar
AUTHOR: Charles Joseph Kickham ("Darby Ryan, Junior") (1828-1882)
EARLIEST DATE: 1857 ("First printed in The Kilkenny Journal, 7th October, 1857," according to Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: war death family father begging injury
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1853-1856 - Crimean War (Britain and France actively at war with Russia 1854-1855)
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE) Australia Ireland
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws J11, "Patrick Sheehan"
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 88-89, "Paddy Sheahan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 63, "Patrick Sheehan" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 39, "Patrick Sheehan" (2 texts, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 72, "Patrick Sheehan" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 115-117, "Patrick Sheehan" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 3-4, "Patrick Sheehan" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 481, "Patrick Sheehan" (source notes only)
DT 750, PATSHEEN*
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 214-216, 502, "Patrick Sheehan"
Roud #983
RECORDINGS:
Vincie Boyle, "Patrick Sheehan" (on IRClare01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(48), "Patrick Shean" or "The Glen of Aherloe," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 b.10(204), Firth c.14(124), "Patrick Shean" or "The Glen of Aherloe"; 2806 c.8(300), "Patrick Sheehan" or "The Glen of Aherlow"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lovely Jamie" (plot)
NOTES: The author attribution to Charles Kickham is from the Bodleian broadsides cited.
Yates, Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Notes - Volume 8" - 1.3.03, re "The Glen of Atherlow" instrumental: "Text written by Charles Joseph Kickham (1828 - 1882), who based it on a true story of one Patrick Sheehan who was blinded at Sebastopol. Sheehan was later jailed for begging in Grafton Street, Dublin, his British army pension having expired after six months. Kickham's poem was first published in 1857."
Zimmermann: "On 28th September, 1857, The Freeman's Journal published the following information: 'A young man named Patrick Sheehan was brought up in custody of Police-constable Lynam, charged with causing an obstruction to the thoroughfare in Grafton-street. The constable stated that the prisoner was loitering in Grafton-street for the purpose of begging, having a placard on his breast setting forth that he had served in the Crimea in the 55th regiment; that he had lost his sight in the trenches before Sebastopol, and that he was discharged on a pension of six pence per day for nine months; and that this period being now expired, he was now obliged to have recourse to begging to support himself. A Crimean medal was found on his person... The prisoner was committed for seven days for begging.'"
Notes to IRClare01: "The ballad was soon to be heard in the streets all over Ireland, and was thought to have shamed the government into enquiring about the ex-soldier, to whom a life pension of a shilling a day was granted." - BS
Kickham's most important work is generally considered to be the novel Knocknagow. His dates seem to have caused some uncertainty; Laws quotes Barry to the effect that he was born in 1826; earlier editions of the Index quoted a birthdate of 1825, on what basis I no longer recall. But the majority of my references give his birth date as 1828.
Kickham had seemed destined for a career as a doctor when a shooting accident left him half-blind, almost deaf, and badly disfigured. He nonetheless became a successful author and poet -- and a vigorous nationalist, strongly attacking the Catholic church for its passivity in the quest for Irish independence.
By 1848, he was involved in nationalist causes. In 1861, he joined the Fenian Brotherhood, which evolved into the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Around 1873, he became president of the IRB's Supreme Council, holding the post until his death and rebuilding it after the debacle of the Fenian Rebellion.
It will be evident that his personal experiences contributed at least somewhat to the content of this song, though Kickham's family was sufficiently well-off that there was never any threat of him being forced from his home.
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 159-160, prints a piece, "The Immortal Kickham Is No More." There is no evidence that it's traditional, but it shows his historical importance. - RBW
File: LJ11

Patrick Spencer


See Sir Patrick Spens [Child 58] (File: C058)

Patriot Mother, The


DESCRIPTION: "'Come tell us the name of the rebelly crew Who lifted the pike on the Curragh with you.'" The captured rebel's mother tells the young man that she would rather see him dead than turn traitor. He holds fast and is hanged
AUTHOR: Mary Eva Kelly (1826-1910) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (Sparling)
KEYWORDS: prisoner mother children Ireland patriotic execution
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
PGalvin, pp. 85-86, "The Patriot Mother" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 54, "The Patriot Mother" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 393-394, "The Patriot Mother"
NOTES: Sparling, re Eva Mary Kelly (p. 502): "One of the poetesses of the Nation." Sparling does not credit her with "The Patriot Mother." - BS
File: PGa085

Patriot Queen, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer meets a beautiful woman who identifies herself as Ireland. "The bigoted tyrant I'll humble" "I have noble fine brave men ... Preparing to fight for my name; I have noble O'Connell my leader, And millions of heroes at home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: first half 19C (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: beauty Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 26, "The Patriot Queen" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow"("Cailin deas cruidhte na mbo") (tune, Zimmermann)
cf. "Erin's Green Shore" [Laws Q27] (theme: beautiful woman to rally Erin)
File: Zimm026

Pattonia, the Pride of the Plains [Laws B12]


DESCRIPTION: Rangers at a frontier post are hard-pressed by Indians. The commander sends the singer to get help. His swift horse Pattonia carries him through to safety, even though an arrow has pinned his foot to the stirrup
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931
KEYWORDS: horse injury Indians(Am.)
FOUND IN: US(So,SW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws B12, "Pattonia, the Pride of the Plains"
Randolph 207, "Pattonia, the Pride of the Plains" (1 text)
Larkin, pp. 116-118, "Plantonio" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 67, "Pattonio" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 23, "Platonia" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 708, PATTONIO
Roud #3236
NOTES: As far as I know, no one knows the source of this ballad, and the author is unknown.
There is, however, a fairly close historical parallel told of none other than Wild Bill Hickok. Bill O'Neal, Encyclopedia of Western Gunfighters, pp. 135-136 (entry on James Butler Hickok), notes that, in 1868, Hickok was part of a party surrounded by Cheyennes in Colorado. Hickok was chosen to ride forth seeking rescue. He made it through the lines -- in the process suffering a foot wound. - RBW
File: LB12

Patty Cake


See Pat-a-Cake (File: GrD81693)

Patty the Piper


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets Pat Murphy the piper: "the sweet music he blew 'Twould have melted the heart of a stone." The singer followed Murphy for five years. Drunk, the piper "fell from a bridge ... dead as a nail in a door" The singer now plays Murphy's pipes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: drowning death drink music travel
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1260, "Patty the Piper" (1 text)
Roud #6792
File: GrD61260

Pattycake, Pattycake, Baker's Man


See Pat-a-Cake (File: GrD81693)

Paul Bunyan


DESCRIPTION: Recitation. Singer works Paul Bunyan's camp, where everything is done on a grand scale (e.g. the pancakes are turned with a sidehill plow). Bunyan, needing a river to run his logs, has his huge ox plow the Big Manistee. Bunyan retires when the ox dies.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering humorous recitation talltale logger
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 96, "Paul Bunyan" (1 text)
Roud #8874
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Round River Drive" (subject)
cf. "Paul Bunyan's Big Ox" (subject)
NOTES: Paul Bunyan is sometimes derided as a phony folk-hero, and he's certainly been heavily commercialized, but Beck makes clear that these were genuine folk tales.- PJS
This is a complicated question, and I will admit to having doubts -- including questions about Beck's credibility, because he seems to be the only person who actually collected Bunyan poems, and he has no fewer than five different recitations.
The first certain reference to Paul Bunyan is unquestionably literary. Risjord, p. 143, reports that "Paul Bunyan was popularized by a Detroit, Michigan, journalist, James McGillivray, who wrote a story for the Detroit News-Tribune on July 24, 1910 about a heroic lumberjack of immense size and strength." Similarly, Wyman,. p. 4, says that "The name on Bunyan appears for the first time in 1910 in the Detroit Evening News,, in the poem 'Round River Drive' by James McGillivray. [A full text of this, allegedly from oral tradition, occurs on pp. 77-80 of Gard/Sorden.] Four years later Douglas McMallock rewrote the McGillivray story for the American Lumberman." A series of pamphlets and books followed in the 1920s, the most notable being Paul Bunyan by James Stevens (yes, "The Frozen Logger" author James Stevens), and eventually a Minnesota lumber company picked him up as a mascot.
There seems to be no evidence whatsoever that any of these stories were collected from loggers or based on lumbermen's tales, except for what Stevens states in his preface. In his second edition, Stevens, p. ix, states, "The Paul Bunyan legend had its origin in the Papineau rebellion of 1837. This was a revolt of the French-Canadians against their young English queen. [Victoria, who ascended in 1837.] ... Among [the rebels] was a mighty-muscled, bellicose, bearded giant named Paul Bunyan.... [He] raged among the Queen's troops like Sampson among the Philistines."
Bunyan, of course, is not a French name, but Havinghurt, p. 236, says that he was originally "Paul Bonhomme of the Two Mountain Country," and claims the stories were first told in the New Brunswick area. He cites no sources.
The Papineau rebellions were real; Louis J. Papineau struggled for decades to improve the political position of the residents of Quebec. Brebner/Masters, p. 220, notes that there had been bad harvests in 1836 and 1837, and the combination of hunger and rejection of their political demands led to uprisings. But Brebner adds that the "half-dozen skirmishes and pitched battles of November and December were pitiable, tragic affairs in which half-armed farmers faced regulars backed by artillery, and, after their defeats, saw their villages and farmsteads looted and burned by uncontrollable, vengeful volunteers."
There is no mention at all of a second Sampson.
Stevens, interestingly, admits that he got most of his stories from Louis Letourneau and his family, who came from Washington state (Stevens, p. x). There seem to be no evidence of a heroic figure in the records of eastern lumber camps.
I find it interesting to note that Carl Sandburg, in one of his letters (Sandburg/Mitgang, pp. 245-246), seems to be offering Stevens a tale (presumably about Paul Bunyan) which he made up himself -- an implication that Sandburg considered Bunyan mostly fake.
Garrison, p. 163, repeats a different story: "Nobody really knows for sure where Paul Bunyan came from or when. It's possible that French-Canadian fur trappers and traders of the Northwest told the earliest of all Paul Bunyan stories. They tried to resist when their territory was invaded by woodsmen who cut the trees that shelered the animals. Telling about Paul Bunyan and Babe helped them work off some of their frustration. This theory is buttressed by the fact that Bon Jean, meaning 'brave John,' was often slurred so that it sounded a lot like Boneyaahn. Boneyaahn gradually became Bonikon and then Bunyon and eventually Bunyan, some scholars think." (Though no one seems ever to have seen the intervening forms.)
Gard/Sorden, pp. 70-71, seem to think Paul came from Wisconsin: "Professor Raney of Appleton says that the lumber camps of Wisconsin helped create an entire cycle of native American folklore. Paul Bunyan, the hero, was a mythical lumber operator who, according to Gene Shephard[,] had his camp about forty miles west of Rhinelander, Wisconsin.... After his work in Wisconsin was done, Paul Bunyan logged in the Dakotas (witness their present treeless condition) and in the Pacific Northwest." They go one to give "Paul Bunyan's Wisconsin Natural History," full of creates like "axehandle hounds," "hodags" (one of the few to be heard of outside the Bunyan stories, in my experience), giant "moskittos," and "hoop snakes," whose venom was so strong that it even made axe handles swell up.
Wyman -- also of Wisconson -- mentions that some of the people he talked to knew of a "big man" named "Joe Mouffreau." Stevens, p. xi, says that the name (which he spells Muphraw) is a variant of Murphy, and claims that he worked in Quebec some time after 1875. Stevens admits that the two legends may have combined, but claims that Paul Bunyan stories were in circulation by 1860. On p. xvii, he states that "I must have known some [of the Bunyan stories] before 1910, but it was not until then that I heard a gifted and experienced bunkhouse bard give a genuine Paul Bunyan service."
One wonders who this bard might have been. I find it highly interesting that Rickaby has no songs about Paul Bunyan. Neither does Doerflinger. Nor Fowke. Nute, p. 45, declares that the voyageurs "loved to pull the long bow [i.e. tell tall tales], especially about their own exploits, and though Paul Bunyan seems to be a very modern mythological hero of uncertain parentage, his prototype was every voyageur's conception of himself."
Stevens, in the revised introduction to his second edition (p. xvi), acknowledges that the Paul Bunyan stories have come under attack, listing Stuart Sherman and Ben Botkin as those doubting their veracity. But he denies that the attacks have been successful.
Agnes M. Larson, in surveying lumbermen for a history of white pine logging published in the 1940s, found that none of them knew about Paul (Lass, p. 183). Similarly, Wyman apparently had students look for traces of Paul Bunyan among loggers. and found some who thought they had heard of him in lumber camps, but many more claimed never to have heard of him there.
Blegen's massive tome, written by Minnesota's best historian who was also something of a folklorist, says on page 335, "Paul Bunyan has been presented as a myth, a folk tale, drawn from oral tradition in the lumber camps.... The stories have had wide circulation.... But there is scarcely a shred of evidence that the lumberjacks were familiar with Paul Bunyan, told stories about him, or indeed had ever heard of him.... The present author interviewed a lumberjack of rich experience in the 1920s, Wright T. Orcutt, who had written about lumberjacks and woods lore, and he had never heard a Bunyan story in the woods. And the Forest History Society in its far-ranging investigations of the sources for woods history has unearthed no evidence that Paul Bunyan was the subject of bunkhouse tales."
Jamie Moreira reports that Sandy Ives found no Paul Bunyan tales at all among his New England informants. He also reports on a student collector who had the same experience.
Richard M. Dorson had a very critical appraisal of the legends in his book American Folklore; he includes Paul Bunyan as one of his key examples of "fakelore." Duncan Emrich, Folklore on the American Land, p. ix, says explicitly that the stories of Paul Bunyan "are not folktales."
A pretty massive collection of authorities; I would be loathe to argue with them.
On the other hand, Bunyan's place in Minnesota's urban folklore seems clear -- you can hear screams all the way to Saint Paul any time anyone messes with a Paul Bunyan monument. The first one seems to have been put up in 1937 (Lass, p. 182).
Hardin,p. 296, says "The legends of Paul Bunyan are widely distributed throughout the lumber camps of the North," and claims to have assembled a batch of materials from 1916 -- though the book seems to use only one source, which looks secondary to me.
Havinghurst declares on p. 237 that "By 1870 [Bunyan] was a full-fledged diety, and in the next fifty years his fame completed its spread across the continent. Paul Bunyan became the logger's god from Maine to Oregon." Once again he supplies no source for this information.
Beck, collecting primarily in Michigan, gathered enough material to make a Paul Bunyan book, and to have some material left over for other collections. (In this context, it's interesting to note that Gardner and Chickering, who gathered much Michigan logging material, do not seem to have found any Paul Bunyan material.)
Norm Cohen cites the following from Leach's Standard Dictionary of Folklore: "As far as can be determined, the legend originated in Canada during the [nineteenth] century, and was considerably amplified as it spread west and south with the lumber industry, centering in the Lake states and the Northwest. In the course of his migration Paul Bunyan incorporated elements of local heroes like Jigger Jones (Johnson), Joe Mufraw, and Jean Frechette, whom he supplanted."
Cohen himself concluded, "He first appeared in print in stories published by James MacGillivray in 1910, but oral tales from lumbermen in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the Northwest circulated considerably earlier.... Paul was first introduced to a general audience by W.B. Laughead, a Minnesota advertising man, in a series of pamphlets (1914-44) used to publicize the products of the Red River Lumber Company.... James Stevens, also a lumber publicist, mixed tradition and invention in his version of the story, Paul Bunyan(1925). Along the way, the Bunyan stories took on the character of lying contests -- who could tell the biggest whopper about the good-natured Paul."
Cohen adds, in a message to the Ballad-L mailing list, "In a letter to Louise Pound (SFQ 7) Laughead states that he began with what he 'remembered from Minnesota logging camps (1900-1908)...then picked up odds and ends from letters received....'"
Although, as noted above, Edith Fowke found no Bunyan songs, Jamie Moreira points to her published report, "In Defence of Paul Bunyan" (New York Folklore 5, 1979, 43-52), which says that there were nineteenth century folktales about him.
Jonathan Lighter reports a speculation of Gershon Legman that Bunyan began as a figure of erotic folklore (which obviously would explain why he wasn't cited in the earlier collections). Legman on p. 227 of The Horn Book says that Bunyan was "an upstart in folklore, but folklore nevertheless" (though without explaining or justifying the statement).
I guess I'll have to leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Be096

Paul Bunyan's Big Ox


DESCRIPTION: Recitation aboutPaul Bunyan's giant blue ox ("...every day for dinner/He would eat a ton of hay"; "This big blue ox weighed fourteen tons/And every time he'd bawl/The earth would shake... timber it would fall." The ox dies by breaking its neck
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: recitation talltale animal death
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 97, "Paul Bunyan's Big Ox" (1 text)
Roud #4069
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Round River Drive" (subject)
cf. "Paul Bunyan" (subject)
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
NOTES: This recitation is item dC48 in Laws's Appendix II. For background (or, rather, speculation) about Paul Bunyan, see the notes to "Paul Bunyan." - RBW
File: Be097

Paul Jones


See Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4] (File: LA04)

Paul Jones the Pirate


See Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4] (File: LA04)

Paul Jones, the Privateer [Laws A3]


DESCRIPTION: John Paul Jones's American ship outruns a British man-of-war. Most of the ballad is devoted to describing the way the ship sails.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909
KEYWORDS: sea navy ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1777 - The "Ranger" is commissioned
1778 - The "Ranger" outruns the British ship
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE), Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws A3, "Paul Jones, the Privateer"
Doerflinger, pp. 131-133, "The Stately Southerner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 126-127, "The Stately Southerner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 177-184, "The Yankee Man-Of-War" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 267-268, "The Stately Southerner" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Rickaby 44, "Paul Jones, the Privateer" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Ranson, pp. 82-85, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 153-157, "The Yankee Man-of-War" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 157-158, "The Stately Southerner" (1 text)
DT 360, STATESTH
Roud #625
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paul Jones's Victory" [Laws A4] (subject of John Paul Jones)
cf. "The Yankee Man-of-War (III)" (subject of John Paul Jones)
NOTES: Although much is made of Jones's escape in this song, it really was not exceptional. The Ranger was a small commerce-raider, designed to be fast (and, according to Fletcher Pratt, The Compact History of the United States Navy, was also quite new, which would also tend to make her faster); heavy men-of-war were much slower, as they had to carry much more weight.
According to John Fitzhugh Millar and Gregory Irons (illustrtor), Ships of the American Revolution (Bellerophon, 1988), entry on the Ranger, the ship was an 18-gun corvette built at Portsmouth in 1777 and named after "the skillful riflemen who had played a crucial role in the great American victory at Saratoga." It adds that the ship was regarded as "exceptionally fast but 'over-hatted' (she had more sail area than was considered safe to carry)." Howard I. Chapelle, The History of American Sailing Ships, Norton, 1935, p. 59, confirms this: "[T]he Ranger was the most famous [of three sloop-ships built at this time[; she was built at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1777. William Hackett seems to have been her designed, and his cousin, James K. Hackett of Portsmouth, the builder."
It is ironic to note that the Ranger (no longer commanded by Jones, of course) was captured by the British in 1780 at the fall of Charleston, and ended its career as HMS Halifax (and was quickly found unsuitable for British use; she was sold in 1781).
For a biography of Jones (who is the "stately southerner" of Doerflinger's ballad; the title does not refer to the ship, as the Ranger sailed out of New England), see the entry on "Paul Jones's Victory" [Laws A4]. - RBW
File: LA03

Paul Jones's Victory [Laws A4]


DESCRIPTION: John Paul Jones's [Bonhomme] Richard encounters two British ships. Despite being outgunned, Jones manages to capture the larger of the British ships.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 247)
KEYWORDS: navy war ship battle
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sept 23, 1779 - Battle between the Bonhomme Richard (40 guns) and the British Serapis (44 guns) and Scarborough (20 guns)
FOUND IN: US(MA,SE) Britain(England) Canada(Mar) Ireland
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Laws A4, "Paul Jones's Victory"
BrownII 220, "Paul Jones" (2 texts)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 225-226, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 78, "Paul Jones" (2 texts)
Ranson, p. 51, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 24, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, p. 713, "Paul Jones' (1 text)
Friedman, p. 290, "Paul Jones" (1 text)
FSCatskills 8, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 153, "Paul Jones" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 81-83, "Paul Jones's Victory (Poor Richard and the Serapis and Alliance" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logan, pp. 32-38, "Paul Jones (Paul Jones the Pirate)" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 233, (third of four "Fragments from Maryland") (1 fragment, consisting solely of the words "Paul Jones had a frigate"; I file it here because it looks more like this than the other John Paul Jones songs)
DT 359, PAULJONE PAULJON2
ADDITIONAL: Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 259, "Paul Jones" (1 text)
ST LA04 (Full)
Roud #967
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 247, "Paul Jones" ("An American frigate, call'd the Richard by name"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Johnson Ballads 2804, Harding B 11(2974), Harding B 11(1906), Firth c.13(59), Firth b.26(273), Harding B 11(4314), Firth b.25(275), Harding B 11(2973), "Paul Jones"; Firth c.13(55), "Paul Jones the Pirate"
LOCSinging, as110810, "Paul Jones' Victory," Leonard Deming (Boston), 19C; also as111860, "Paul Jones"
Murray, Mu23-y1:061, "Paul Jones," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paul Jones, the Privateer" [Laws A3] (subject of John Paul Jones)
cf. "The Yankee Man-of-War (III)" (subject of John Paul Jones)
NOTES: The following biography has been heavily revised from that in earlier versions of the Ballad Index. I no longer know what references I originally consulted. I do know that Samuel Eliot Morison accuses earlier biographers of simply forging large parts of the Jones story, which makes me feel a little better.
John Paul Jones (1747-1792) was born in Scotland with the name John Paul (Morison, pp. 1, 3). The fourth of five children (Cordingpy, p. 193), he went to sea at age 13 (Morison, p. 9), initially serving aboard merchant ships (Morison, p. 10), including time aboard a slaver (Morison, p. 13).
In 1768, John Paul saw both the master and mate of his ship die of fever. The only man aboard who could navigate, he brought the ship home and was given command of the John (Morison, pp. 13-14). He was 21. He served well in this role for five years (Morison, p. 20).
Then he killed one of his sailors.
It wasnÕt the first time he had been charged with brutality. In the course of a voyage in 1769-1770, Jones had had a sailor named Mungo Maxwell brutally flogged (Morison, p. 17). There had been some doubt about who was at fault in the Maxwell case; there was no question about this one. Calling at Tobago, John Paul had refused to pay his men an advance on their wages (which, we note, they had already earned, but which were not due until the ship returned to Britain). Several men apparently wanted to desert. John Paul stopped the mutiny by killing "the ringleader" (Morison, pp. 22-23). Legally, he was in the right, and would presumably have been cleared in court (Cordingly, p. 193) -- but it was definitely not a smart thing to do.
It is not clear what happened next, but somehow John Paul ended up in the colonies and started calling himself by the surname "Jones" rather than his birth name of "Paul" (Morison, pp. 23-24).
When war broke out with Great Britain, Paul Jones joined the navy, apparently being the senior lieutenant in the entire service (Morison, p. 29). (We should probably add that "lieutenant" was, in effect, a higher rank then than now -- the approved ranks were captain, lieutenant, master, and midshipman. Thus a lieutenant was the equivalent of a "commander" today, ranked high enough to command a sloop or even a small frigate though not a ship of the line.)
Not that the continental navy was a very impressive service at first; Pratt, p. 11, reports that ÒAt the time the troubles broke out in Boston in 1775, there were not a few officers of the Royal Navy who came from the colonies, but... these officers stayed with the flag rather than join persons in revolt against due authority. A few men were available for the Continental Navy who had served with the Royal Navy earlier in their careers, but only one man is reported to have left the King's service to join the colonists in revolt, and his name has not survived."
The appointment process didn't help. According to Bryant, p. 79, "Never was the creation of a corps of naval officers handled with more regard for the political weight each aspirant carried; the commissions were frankly awarded on the basis of political expediency, and little regard for the appointees' abilities as leaders and marines." Pratt, p. 24, comments that the initial naval commands "were distributed on the combined principles of geography and nepotism, modified by political maneuver." Of the first batch of officers in the United States Navy, Bryant apparently considers Jones to be the only "happy choice," but such were this politics of the time that he would soon be known as the "North Carolina Captain."
He was first appointed to the Alfred, of 20 guns, as first lieutenant (Cordingly, p. 194), although the Alfred, called the first ship in the Continental Navy "was regarded as a dull sailer, and was almost useless as a warship." The British would capture the converted merchantman later in the war (Millar). Jones, however, was long gone, having served on several ships in 1775-1776 (Cordingly, p. 194).
In 1777, Jones was given command of the ship Ranger (Cordingly., p. 195), which he sailed with some success (see "Paul Jones, the Privateer" [Laws A3]). This was all the more impressive because, according to Bryant, p. 96, he had only one set of sails (and only one cask of rum, if you can believe that). But -- in one of those typically idiotic acts of the American congress -- he was deprived of command and put on the beach. (On the other hand, Pratt, p. 44, reports that he kicked one of his junior officers in the pants, which is hardly the way to win friends and influence people.)
He seems to have already been a romantic figure; at least, Cordingly, p. 195, claims he had an affair with a rich Frenchwoman while the Ranger was being repaired, and on p. 198 mentions other woman sniffing after him.
He (or, rather, the French) finally scrounged up the Bonhomme Richard, a converted merchant ship with forty guns so badly worn as to be rather dangerous. Bryant calls her a "floating antique with a castellated poop," and says that the former Duc de Durac was "worm-eaten, crank, her old timbers exuding a heardy aroma of arrack, cloves, and tea" -- a reminder of her days trading to the East Indies (Bryant, p. 97). Hendrickson, p. 189, declares that "Some of her timbers were rotten, and many of her 40 guns were condemned."
Paul Jones sailed her anyway, with a scrounged-up crew (Pratt reports that only 79 of his initial crew of 227 were Americans; Hendrickson, p. 189, says that the others consisted of 174 French and 59 British), naming her Bonhomme Richard after Benjamin Franklin's French rendering of ÒPoor RichardÓ (Paine, p. 67). and an assortment of five even more ill-favored consorts (Marrin, p. 168).
Even though two of his ships had to return to France, Jones commanded a squadron of four ships, 124 guns, at the time of this battle (the whole flotilla financed by the French), although only the Bonhomme Richard was completely engaged in the fight; his second-in-command, the French officer Pierre Landais, refused to take part. (Some even accuse him of firing on Jones, e.g. Cordingly, p. 197).
Jones won the battle by using his marines: He lashed his ship to the big 44-gun Serapis, and -- having made his famous remark "I have just begun to fight" when called upon to surrender -- continued the struggle until the British gave up. (The alternate version of JonesÕs line, which frankly sounds more likely, is "I'll sink, but IÕm damned if I'll strike" [i.e. surrender]; Paine, p. 68).
The Richard had, however, been reduced to a sinking condition (among other things, several of those worn guns had blown up -- on only their second salvo, according to Paine, p. 68), and only vigorous work at the pumps kept her afloat long enough to take the Serapis. Indeed, Jones would never have been able to board had not the Serapis been so mis-handled as to bump into the Richard (Marrin, p. 172).
This time, Jones's brutality paid off: Some of his men, with their guns silenced, the ship full of holes, the deck falling in, had tried to surrender. Jones knocked one of them unconscious and kept up the fight. You could make the case that he won because his men were too afraid to give in.
In any case, he succeeded only because of the British attitude toward prizes. Had the British navy paid sailors decently, and had a doctrine of just *sinking* the enemy, rather than capturing them, the Serapis would have won the fight and John Paul Jones would be a guy who sank with his ship. The Richard proved past saving and went down on September 24; had Jones not won, he would have been either a prisoner (possibly even regarded as a deserter, given that he was Scottish) or dead.
Plenty of his men were already dead. Paine, p. 68, says that 140 of his 322 crewmen were killed or mortally wounded. And the Serapis was damaged enough that Jones could not even reach France; he had to hole up in the Netherlands (Cordingly, p. 197).
(I can't help but think how much this sounds like it could have inspired the Stan Rogers song "Barrett's Privateers," only Rogers gave it the ending it deserved.)
Even this noteworthy success didn't got Paul Jones the influence he wanted; when the new ship America was finished, the command did not go to Jones (Cordingly, p.199). This marked the functional end of his career in the American navy. He wanted, and did not get, an admiral's commission (it would not be until the end of the Civil War that the American navy started commissioning admirals), so he went to Russia (Cordingly, p. 200). Then, in 1789, he was charged with having sexual relations with a ten-year-old.. Even in Tsarist Russia, that was enough to cause him to leave the country (Cordingly, pp. 200-201). He died in 1789, at the age of 45, having been driven out of two countries and having abandoned the third.
In recent years, some attempts have been made to find the wreck of the Bonhomme Richard. As far as I have heard, the attempts have failed.
Laws classified this as an American song, and it probably was so in origin -- but it will be seen that it was found in British and Scottish broadsides at least. - RBW
In the Bodleian broadsides, the frigate is named Percy, Rachel or Richard. The opposing ship, if named, is Caraphus, Ceraphus or Percy. - BS
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: LA04

Paul Venerez


See Bill Vanero (Paul Venerez) [Laws B6] (File: LB06)

Paul's Steeple


See references under The Husbandman and the Servingman (File: K226)

Paw-Paw Patch, The


DESCRIPTION: Playparty, with lyrics such as "Where oh where is pretty little (Susie/Liza/Nellie) (x3)? Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch." "Pickin' up paw-paws, puttin' 'em in her pockets." "Come along, boys, and let's go see her...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Wolford)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad courting
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 553, "Paw-Paw Peeling" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 46, "The Paw-Paw Patch" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 391, "Paw-Paw Patch" (1 text)
Roud #5038
RECORDINGS:
Group of children, "The Paw Paw Patch" (on JThomas01)
Pete Seeger, "Paw Paw Patch" (on PeteSeeger22)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children)" (tune & meter)
cf. "Going to Boston" (lyrics)
File: R553

Pawkie Adam Glen


DESCRIPTION: "Pawkie Adam Glen, piper o' the clachan When he stoited ben, sairly was he pechin'." Old Adam goes out seeking a wife, settling on "auntie Madie." After a cheerful dance, "Madge is hect to Adam Glen, And sune we'll hae a weddin'."
AUTHOR: Alexander Laing ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: courting age dancing wedding
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 300-301, "Pawkie Adam Glen" (1 text)
Roud #13101
NOTES: According to Ford, piper Adam Glen died in battle in 1715 at age ninety, having taken his seventh wife (who was half his age) some months previously. Believe that if you will. - RBW
File: FVS300

Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud


DESCRIPTION: "As I gae'd up Hawick Loan... 'Twas there I heard an auld yaud Gie mony a heavy grane... 'I'm Pawkie Patterson's auld yaud, See how they're guidin' mie.'" The aged horse describes its hard and bitter life, and leaves its body parts to various people
AUTHOR: George Ballantyne ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: horse age death lastwill hardtimes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 311-313, "Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud" (1 text, 1 tune)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 52-53, "Robin Spraggon's Auld Grey Mare" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FVS311 (Partial)
Roud #3063
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Poor Old Horse (III)" (theme)
cf. "Mon Cher Voisin (My Dear Neighbor)" (theme)
File: FVS311

Pay Day at Coal Creek


DESCRIPTION: "Pay day, O pay day, O pay day, Pay day at Coal Creek tomorrow." "Bye bye, good woman, I'm gone." "You gonna miss me when I'm gone" "She's a rider, but she'll leave that rail sometime." "Pay day won't come no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928
KEYWORDS: work mining separation
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 146, "Pay Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 126, "Pay Day At Coal Creek" (1 text)
DT, PAYDAYCC
Roud #6685
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Pay Day at Coal Creek" (on SeegerTerry)
Pete Steele, "Last Payday at Coal Creek" (on PSteele01); "Pay Day at Coal Creek" (AFS, 1938; on LC02, KMM)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Coal Creek Troubles" (subject)
NOTES: While this has turned into a nonballad, it seems to have started off as an account of a bitter strike. - PJS
(For details, see the notes to "Coal Creek Troubles.") - RBW
File: LoF146

Pay Me My Money Down


DESCRIPTION: "Pay me, O pay me, Pay me my money down... Pay me or go to jail. Pay me, mister stevedore.... You pay me, you owe me...." Almost anything may be included, but all on the theme that the boss has hired the worker and should pay him for his labor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1944
KEYWORDS: work money nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 279, "Pay Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 501-503, "Pay Me My Money Down" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 370-371]
Silber-FSWB, p. 83, "Pay Me My Money Down" (1 text)
DT, PAYMONEY* PAYMONY2
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf."Tie-Tamping Chant" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Darlin' (I)" (floating lyrics)
File: LoF279

Pea Ridge Battle, The [Laws A12b]


See Laws A12, "The Battle of Elkhorn Tavern" (File: LA12)

Peace, Be Still


See A Little Ship Was on the Sea (File: GrD81756)

Peacock that Lived in the Land of King George, The


See Hornet and the Peacock, The (File: E107)

Pearl Bryan (I) [Laws F2]


DESCRIPTION: Pearl Bryan runs away to meet her lover Jackson, who, helped by Walling, takes her to Kentucky and decapitates her. Her body is discovered the next day. (The fate of the murderers may then be described)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Brewster)
KEYWORDS: elopement murder
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 1, 1896 - Discovery of the headless body of Pearl Bryan, killed along with her unborn child by Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling, near Fort Thomas, Kentucky
Mar 20, 1897 - Execution of Jackson and Walling
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws F2, "Pearl Bryan I"
Brewster 61, "Pearl Bryan" (3 texts plus an excerpt and mention of 3 more; 1 tune; the "A" and "B" texts and the "F" fragment and tune are this piece; the "C" text is Laws F1B)
Leach, pp. 789-790, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text)
Burt, p. 31, "(Pearl Bryan)" (1 short text)
Friedman, p. 209, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 199-200, "Pearl Bryan" (1 text plus a fragment)
DT 751, PERLBRY1
Roud #2212
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C]" [Laws F1], particularly the "B" subgroup of Pearl Bryan ballads
cf. "Pearl Bryan III" [Laws F3]
cf. "Pearl Bryan IV"
NOTES: Cox gives significant details about the history behind this song. Pearl Bryan was probably murdered on January 31, the day before the discovery of her body. Jackson and Walling were "young doctors" to whom Miss Bryan had appealed for medical help. Her body was recognized based on her feet (she is said to have been "web-footed"); her head was not recovered. A third man, surnamed Woods, was regarded as a possible co-conspirator, but not convicted.
To tell this song from the other Pearl Bryan ballads, consider this first stanza (from Leach):
Now, ladies, if you'll listen, a story I'll relate
What happened near Fort Thomas in the old Kentucky state.
'Twas late in January this awful deed was done
By Jackson and by Walling; how cold their blood did run! - RBW
File: LF02

Pearl Bryan (II)


See Jealous Lover, The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C] (File: LF01)

Pearl Bryan (III) [Laws F3]


DESCRIPTION: Pearl Bryan appeals to Jackson for help; he is not interested and, with (Alonzo) Walling, cuts off her head and abandons the body
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: murder abandonment
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 1, 1896 - Discovery of the headless body of Pearl Bryan, killed along with her unborn child by Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling, near Fort Thomas, Kentucky
Mar 20, 1897 - Execution of Jackson and Walling
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws F3, "Pearl Bryan III"
Eddy 105, "A Fatal Acquaintance" (2 texts, but Laws considers only the B text part of this ballad; the A text may belong with Pearl Bryan II)
DT 755, PERLBRY3
Roud #2213
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C]" [Laws F1], particularly the "B" subgroup of Pearl Bryan ballads
cf. "Pearl Bryan I" [Laws F2]
cf. "Pearl Bryan IV"
NOTES: To tell this song from the other Pearl Bryan ballads, consider this first stanza (from Eddy):
In Greencastle lived a maiden
She was known the wide world o'er;
She was murdered by Scott Jackson
Whom she fondly did adore.
Comparison with Eddy's other text (which also lacks a melody) would seem to imply that the two could be one -- but Laws separates them, so the Index does the same. - RBW
File: LF03

Pearl Bryan (IV)


DESCRIPTION: A girl of Greencastle, Indiana loves a young man. (She becomes pregnant?, and) begs him to make good the wrong he has done her. He refuses and plans to depart. She follows him. He kills her. Young girls are warned by the example of Pearl Bryan
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: love murder abandonment
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Feb 1, 1896 - Discovery of the headless body of Pearl Bryan, killed along with her unborn child by Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling, near Fort Thomas, Kentucky
Mar 20, 1897 - Execution of Jackson and Walling
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Eddy 105, "A Fatal Acquaintance" (2 texts, but Laws assigns the B text to "Pearl Bryan III")
ST E105 (Full)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jealous Lover (I), The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C]" [Laws F1], particularly the "B" subgroup of Pearl Bryan ballads
cf. "Pearl Bryan I" [Laws F2]
cf. "Pearl Bryan III" [Laws F3]
NOTES: This song is item dF51 in Laws's Appendix II.
To tell this song from the other Peal Bryan ballads, consider this first stanza (from Eddy):
In Greencastle, Indiana, a fair young maiden dwelled
Beneath a mother's loving care, a father's lavish wealth,
A mother's pride, a father's joy, by many friends esteemed,
From out her young handsome face the pure innocence gleamed.
Comparison with Eddy's other text (which also lacks a melody) would seem to imply that the two could be one -- but Laws separates them, so the Index does the same. - RBW
File: E105

Pearl Bryant


See Jealous Lover, The (Florella, Floella) (Pearl Bryan II) (Nell Cropsey II) [Laws F1A, B, C] (File: LF01)

Peasant's Bride, The (Thady and I)


DESCRIPTION: "I was a simple country girl." She loves Thady: "with hook or scythe, with plow or spade, He'd beat ten men together" They marry and many nobles "would gladly give a crown of gold To be like me and Thady."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol II)
KEYWORDS: poverty love marriage
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, pp. 120,123, "The Peasant's Bride" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol II, p. 84, "The Peasant's Bride"
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(9a/b) view 7 of 8, "Thady and I", R. March & Co (London), 1877-1884
File: OCon120

Peaslee's Lumber Crew


DESCRIPTION: The various characters on Peaslee's lumber crew are described.
AUTHOR: Fred Walker
EARLIEST DATE: 1888
KEYWORDS: lumbering work humorous logger moniker nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 68, "Peaslee's Lumber Crew" (1 text)
Roud #8842
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hall's Lumber Crew" (very similar structure)
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme) and references there
NOTES: The "moniker song" consists mostly of listing the names of one's compatriots, and perhaps telling humorous vignettes about each; it's common among lumberjacks, hoboes, and probably other groups. Sometimes, as with this song and "Hall's Lumber Crew", it's clear the singer is plugging names and descriptions into a generic structure. - PJS
File: Be068

Pecos Punchers, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes his appearance ("I wear the high heels, also the white hat"), talks of the work of a cowboy, and lists the outfits he worked for. He decides to "go east like Wild Bill and there play the tough" -- but keep his saddle for use hereafter
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: cowboy work
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 112, "The Pecos Punchers" (1 text)
Roud #8047
File: FCW112

Pecos Queen, The


See Pecos River Queen (File: TF20)

Pecos River Queen


DESCRIPTION: "Where the Pecos river winds and turns its journey to the sea... Dwells fair young Patty Moorhead the Pecos River Queen." Patty's amazing skills are described. At last she "rode her horse... a lover's heart to test." "But the puncher wouldn't follow...."
AUTHOR: N. Howard Thorp
EARLIEST DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: cowboy love courting
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Thorp/Fife XX, pp. 244-246 (39-40), "Pecos River Queen" (1 text)
Saffel-CowboyP, p. 206, "The Pecos Queen" (1 text)
Roud #8048
NOTES: Like that other Thorp composition, "Chopo," there is no evidence that this piece ever actually entered oral tradition. Lomax printed it in "Cowboy Songs," but there is every reason to think he was lifting material off Thorp. - RBW
File: TF20

Pecos Stream, The


See A Cowboy's Life (File: LoF187)

Peculiar Sermon for Shanty Boys, A


See Tobacco's But an Indian Weed (File: Log262)

Peddler and his Wife, The [Laws F24]


DESCRIPTION: An old peddler and his wife are riding in their wagon on a fine day when they are ambushed, robbed, and murdered
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (recording, Appalachian Vagabond [Hayes Shephard])
KEYWORDS: murder robbery commerce
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws F24, "The Peddler and his Wife"
Fuson, pp. 116-117, "The Peddler and His Wife" (1 text)
Cambiaire, p. 9, "The Peddlar and His Wife" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 70, pp. 166-167, "The Irish Peddler" (1 text)
DT 762, PEDDWIFE
Roud #2262
RECORDINGS:
Appalachian Vagabond [pseud. for Hayes Shephard], "Peddlar and his Wife" (Vocalion 5450, rec. 1930)
James Howard, "The Peddler and his Wife" (AFS, 1937; on KMM)
File: LF24

Pedlar (I), The


DESCRIPTION: "The pedlar ca'd in by the house o' Glenneuk" and begins bargaining -- for his goods and the hosts' daughters. Although the parents discourage it, one daughter is interested. She departs with him; they are married; he proves very successful in business
AUTHOR: William Watt
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: love courting rambling money elopement
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #96, pp. 1-2, "The House o' Glenneuk" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 280, "The Pedlar and his Pack" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 126-128, "The Pedlar" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 140-142, "The Pedlar" (1 text)
Roud #5552
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:081 "The Pedlar," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Jolly Beggar" [Child 279] and references there
cf. "Come Under My Plaidie" (tune, according to GreigDuncan2)
File: FVS126

Pedlar (II), The


See The Proud Pedlar (File: GrD265)

Pedlar and his Pack, The


See The Pedlar (I) (File: FVS126)

Peeler and the Goat, The


DESCRIPTION: The Peelers meet a goat and plan to jail him for being on the road. The goat says that he is honorable if houseless and that the road is his home. He expects to be acquitted. He says the peelers are drunk and could be bought for more poteen.
AUTHOR: Jeremiah O'Ryan ("Darby Ryan") (Source: Zimmermann)
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1830 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: prison drink humorous political animal police
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
OLochlainn 74, "The Peeler and the Goat" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 45, "The Peeler and the Goat" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, PEELERGT*
Roud #1458
RECORDINGS:
Martin Reidy, "Peeler and the Goat" (on IRClare01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(510), "The Original Peeler and the Goat," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 b.9(266), "The Peeler and the Goat"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sow's Triumph Over the Peelers" (theme)
cf. "The Cavan Buck" (tune)
NOTES: Sir Robert Peel established the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1812 and its success led, in 1829, to the Metropolitan Police Act for London. Originally the term "Peeler" applied to the London constabulary. (source: Sir Robert "Bobby" Peel (1788-1850) at Historic UK site.)
In this song the term is applied to the Bansha police in Bansha, County Tipperary.
Martin Reidy's tune on IRClare01 is the one used for "The Recruiting Sergeant" (on Robin Hall and Jimmy MacGregor, "Two Heids are Better than Yin!," Monitor MF 365 (1962)) - BS
File: OLOc074
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