Railroad Bum, The

See Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum) [Laws H2] (File: LH02)

Railroad Cars are Coming, The

DESCRIPTION: "The great Pacific railway, For California hail! Bring on the locomotive, Lay down the iron rail; Across the rolling prairies By steam we're bound to go. The railroad cars are coming, humming, Through New Mexico." Even animals rejoice when the train comes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: railroading train nonballad animal
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, pp. 358-359, "The Railroad Cars are Coming" (1 short text, 1 tune)
ST San358 (Full)
Roud #10812
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Echo Canyon Song"
NOTES: The first Transcontinental Railroad in the Unitd States was the Central Pacific, completed in Utah in May 1860. This line went from Chicago to Omaha through Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada on its way to Sacramento and San Francisco.
But it cannot be the line referred to, since the song describes travelling through New Mexico.
Two major transcontinental lines went through the southern states. The Southern Pacific went from New Orleans though Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso to Los Angeles. This might be the reference, but this line barely touches New Mexico.
The Santa Fe railroad (or the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe) fits much better: Starting from Saint Louis as the Missouri Pacific, it passed through Kansas City and then headed west and south through Kansas, a corner of Colorado, and New Mexico, through Santa Fe and Albuquerque to Los Angeles.
The Santa Fe line makes sense in another way: It replaced the old Santa Fe trail, making its opening welcome even to the animals (since they didn't have to travel it). The line reached Santa Fe in 1880, meaning that its construction was still part of living memory when Sandburg was collecting songs. - RBW
File: San358

Railroad Corral, The

DESCRIPTION: "We're up in the morning ere breaking of day, The chuck wagon's busy, the flapjack's in play." The singer describes the hot, dusty, dirty work of the cowboy, and the long days and long trails. He rejoices to reach the end of the trip
AUTHOR: John Mills Hanson
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly)
KEYWORDS: cowboy travel work food
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 77, "The Railroad Corral" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 185, "The Railroad Corral" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 113, "The Railroad Corral" (1 text)
DT, RRCORRAL*
Roud #4636
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Irish Washerwoman" (tune)
File: LoF185

Railroad Daddy Blues

DESCRIPTION: "Every time I hear a freight train comin', Oh, I listen to the engine sob and moan. Lawd, Lawd, I've got them railroad daddy blues." The singer descries railroad life, wishes her daddy would come back, and rejoices when "my railroad daddy's home at last."
AUTHOR: Harve Burton?
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: train separation reunion
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', p. 259, "Railroad Daddy Blues" (1 text)
File: ThBa259

Railroad Dinah Gal

DESCRIPTION: "As I went down to Simon's mill, There I found a very steep hill, The steers began to bellow and balk, And I began to cuss and talk. Railroad Dinah Gal, I'm going' over the mountains." "Me and old Dinah killed a sheep, Give old Dinah the head and feet."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food animal railroading travel
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 493, "Railroad Dinah Gal" (1 short text)
Roud #11763
File: Br3493

Railroad Song

See The Dummy Line (II) (File: ScNS139A)

Railroad to Heaven, The

See The Road to Heaven (File: R600)

Railroadin' and Gamblin'

DESCRIPTION: Uncle Dave Macon surrealism. Singer has been in the state house and the court house; he is broke from gambling. Chorus: "Railroadin' and gamblin'/Pickin' up chips for mammy/Lawd, lawd, lawd/Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
LONG DESCRIPTION: More Uncle Dave Macon surrealism. Singer has been in the state house (prison?) and the court house, and is broke from gambling despite his mother's advice. "Lawd, that preacher got, ain't that a sin/Johnny get your whiskers cut, here comes the wind." Chorus: "Railroadin' and gamblin'/Pickin' up chips for mammy/Lawd, lawd, lawd/Take your feet out the sand, stick 'em in the mud." You figure it out.
KEYWORDS: prison gambling railroading nonballad nonsense
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Railroadin' and Gamblin'" (Bluebird 8325, 1940; on RoughWays2)
NOTES: Almost certainly of minstrel origin; a few lines are in dialect. While I use the keyword "nonsense," I suspect there was meaning in the song once. - PJS
File: RcUDRaG

Railroading on the Great Divide

DESCRIPTION: "Railroading on the Great Divide/Nothing around me but the Rockies and sky/There you'll find me as the years roll by...." Singer wanders the country before landing on the Great Divide, and tells of the rails and ties he has laid there.
AUTHOR: Sara Carter Bayes
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (record, A. P. Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: pride rambling travel railroading work nonballad worker
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 528-529, "Railroading on the Great Divide" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
A. P. Carter Family, "Railroading on the Great Divide" (Acme 992, 1952)
NOTES: Seldom cited, composed after World War II, but it has attained sufficient circulation in the revival that I index it. - PJS
This has been credited to Janette Carter, who recorded it in 1952 with her brother Joe and her parents A. P. Carter and Sara Carter Bayes; indeed, it was listed as by Janette in the earlier editions of this index. But Cohen corresponded with Sara Carter Bayes about the composition, so I'm following his lead.
This was recorded as part of a brief reunion of A. P. and Sara Carter (strictly musical, of course), which produced a handful of sides for the Acme label. The reunion cuts were not particularly successful (according to John Atkins, article "The Carter Family" in Bill C. Malone and Judith McCulloh, "Stars of Country Music," p. 110, Acme was a small label with no distribution channel and significant quality control problems; he also regards the instrumentation as weak in the absence of Maybelle).
A. P. kept at it with Acme until 1956, but with little reward; this was just about the only memorable product of the sessions. Had they tried the reunion a decade or so later, the folk boom might well have carried them to success -- but A. P. died in 1960. - RBW
File: RcROTGD

Railway Spiritualized, The

See The Road to Heaven (File: R600)

Rain and Snow

DESCRIPTION: Singer's wife gives him trouble, runs him "out in the cold rain and snow." She comes downstairs combing her hair, saying she'll no longer be mistreated; he kills her (, lays out the body, then trembles with cold fear)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: Early 1960s (recording, Obray Ramsay)
KEYWORDS: marriage violence crime murder corpse death wife
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
Roud #3634
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "Rain and Snow" (on Chandler01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nine Hundred Miles" (tune)
cf. "Reuben's Train" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Cold Rain and Snow
NOTES: The liner notes to Chandler's recording lump this with "Sporting Bachelors." I demur; that's a humorous cautionary tale, while this is a tragedy. - PJS
It seems to me I've heard this done with a somewhat humorous twist, but certainly it's a distinct song. - RBW
File: RcRaAnSn

Rain Come Wet Me

DESCRIPTION: "Rain come wet me, Sun come dry me, Stand back, white man, Don't come a-nigh me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: storm
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 490, "Rain Come Wet Me" (1 short text)
Roud #11605
File: Br3490

Rain Fall and Wet Becca Lawton

DESCRIPTION: "Rain fall and wet (Becca Lawton) (x2) Oh, brother, cry holy. Been back holy, I must come slowly, Oh, brother cry holy." ""Sun come and dry Becca Lawton." "Do, Becca Lawton, come to me yonder." "Say, brother Tony, what shall I do now?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen, Ware, Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 21, "Rain Fall and Wet Becca Lawton" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11973
NOTES: I have a funny feeling that, if we could actually go back and ask the composer about this, it would have something to do with Noah's flood. But it's only a feeling; neither the word "flood" nor the word "Noah" occurs in the Allen/Ware/Garrison version, and at least one of their informants claimed it had to do with a "prophetess" who baptized in the rain. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG021

Rain Rain the Wind Does Blow

See The Wind (Rain, Rain, the Wind Does Blow) (File: RcRRtWDB)

Rain, Rain My Savior

DESCRIPTION: "Takes a holy man to join us in the army of the Lord (x2), O rain, rain a rain, my savior, Rain, rain, the Lord sent it down, O rain, rain a rain my savior, Rain, rain, the Lord sent it down." "So glad I ever started in the army of the Lord...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Chappell)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Chappell-FSRA 89, "Rain, Rain My Savior" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16936
File: ChFRA089

Rain, Rain, Go Away

DESCRIPTION: "Rain, rain, go away, Come again some other day." Additional stanzas may have additional suggestions
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Opie & Opie); a probable ancestor quoted by Aubrey in 1687 and another by John Howell in 1659
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Opie-Oxford2 435, "Rain, rain, go away" (10 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #443, p. 205, "(Rain, rain, go away)"
ADDITIONAL: Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #161, "(Rain, rain, go way)" (1 text)
NOTES: My general assumption is that, if I learned something from other kids, with a tune, then it qualifies as "folk song." By that definition, this fits, silly as it is.
Aubrey's 1687 version, as quoted by the Baring-Goulds, is
Raine, raine, goe away,
Come again a Saterday.
Howell's version, quoted by the Opies, is
Raine, raine, go to Spain,
Faire weather come againe.
The Opies even quote a classical Greek text begging the sun to come out. However, it doesn't mention rain, and is surely unrelated. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BGMG443

Rainbow 'mid Life's Willows

See Locks and Bolts [Laws M13] (File: LM13)

Rainbow (I), The

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

Rainbow (II), The

See The Female Warrior (Pretty Polly) [Laws N4] (File: LN04)

Rainbow Willow

See Locks and Bolts [Laws M13] (File: LM13)

Raise 'Em Up Higher

DESCRIPTION: "Raise 'em up higher, higher, drop 'em down (c3), Never know the difference when the sun goes down." "Twenty-one hammers fallin' in a line (x3), Nobody's hammer, buddy, ring-a like mine." The singer hopes his girl hears him and talks of work
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (various recordings from prisoners made by Bruce Jackson)
KEYWORDS: prison hardtimes separation
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 275-280, "Raise 'Em Up Higher" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
NOTES: As with so much in Jackson, these songs are grouped rather arbitrarily, and some might perhaps be split off or lumped with other songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM275

Raise a Ruckus

DESCRIPTION: A slave is told by his mistress that he would be freed when she died. The promise is long in coming true, and at last the singer takes things in his own hand. Having set off (down?)river, he intends to "raise a ruckus tonight."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: slave freedom escape party
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
BrownIII 499, "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (2 texts plus 2 fragments; the "A" text, however, is "I'll Build Me a Boat")
Lomax-FSUSA 26, "Raise a Rukus" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 253-254, "Raise a Rukus Tonight" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 299, "Raise A Ruckus Tonight" (1 text)
Roud #10054
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Bowman & his Brothers, "Gonna Raise the Ruckus Tonight" (Columbia 15357-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Warren Caplinger, "G'wina Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (Vocalion 5222, c. 1928)
Cliff Carlisle, "Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (Decca 5774, 1939)
Bill Chitwood & his Georgia Mountaineers, "Raise Rough House Tonight" (OKeh 45236, 1928)
Hugh Cross & Riley Puckett, "Gonna Raise Ruckus Tonight" (Columbia 15455-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Folkmasters, "Raise a Rukus Tonight" (on Fmst01)
The Georgia Yellow Hammers, "Going To Raise A Ruckus Tonight" (Victor 20928, 1927)
Georgia Serenaders [pseud. for Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers], "Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (Supertone 9473, 1929) [this is probably the same as the Warren Caplinger recording listed above]
Mobile Strugglers, "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (on AmSkBa)
Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, "Raise Rukus Tonight" (Paramount 12032, 1923)
Pete Seeger, "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" (on PeteSeeger05)
Southern Quartet, "Gonna Raise Rukus Tonight" (Columbia 14048-D, 1924)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Marse John" (lyrics)
cf. "My Ole Mistus Promised Me" (lyrics)
cf. "Mourner, You Shall Be Free (Moanish Lady)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Hard Time in Old Virginnie" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I'll Build Me a Boat" (lyrics)
File: LxU026

Raise a Ruckus Tonight (I)

See Raise a Ruckus (File: LxU026)

Raise a Ruckus Tonight (II)

See I'll Build Me a Boat (File: Br3499)

Raise a Rukus

See Raise a Ruckus (File: LxU026)

Raise a Rukus Tonight

See Raise a Ruckus (File: LxU026)

Rake and Rambling Boy, The

See The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)

Rakes of Mallow, The

DESCRIPTION: "Beauing, belleing, dancing, drinking, Breaking windows, damning, sinking, Ever raking, never thinking, Live the rakes of Mallow." This self-centered life continues until "they get sober, take a wife, Ever after live in strife"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: drink party wine rake
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
O'Conor, p. 93, "The Rakes of Mallow" (1 text)
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 249-250, "The Rakes of Mallow" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 483-484, 514, "The Rakes of Mallow"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sandy Lent the Man His Mull" (tune, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
NOTES: Croker-PopularSongs: "In 1750, Dr Smith thus describes Mallow, which was then a very fashionable watering-place:'... Here is generally a resort of good company during the summer months, both for pleasure and the benefit of drinking the waters....'"
Sparling: "Eighteenth century. The 'Rakes' were the sons of the Protestant gentlemen who frequented the 'waters' of Mallow." - BS
Broadside Bodleian, Harding B 40(11), "The Rakes of Mallow" ("Beauing, belling dancing, drinking"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?), 1850-1899 could not be downloaded and verified. - BS
File: CrPS249

Rakes of Poverty, The

DESCRIPTION: Irish variant on "The Son of a Gambolier." The singer describes himself as "the rambling rakes of poverty... the son of a gambaleer." He likes drink, and lives shabbily, in used clothes and shoes. He wishes he had drink and sugar for all
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: drink rambling poverty
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H741, p. 50, "The Rakes of Poverty" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SONGAMB2*
Roud #2964
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as109580, "New Orleans Song of the Times" ("I am a rambling rake of poverty"), unknown, no date
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier (I)" (tune) and references there
NOTES: This is so close to "The Son of a Gambolier" that I'm tempted to list them as one song. But they're usually listed as separate, so here it stands. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: HHH741

Rakes of Stony Batter, The

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you roving blades, that ramble thro the City" our time is coming to have our way with women. Lots of sexual symbolism. "Come let us take a roam, up to Stony Batter, Keep your Wife at home, for humpers will be at her"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7); 19C (broadside, Holloway and Black))
KEYWORDS: bawdy nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1455, "Hey for Stoney Batter" (1 fragment)
Roud #7153
NOTES: GreigDuncan7 is a fragment; Holloway and Black, Later English Broadside Ballads (Volume 1) 99, pp. 223-225 is the basis for the description.
Holloway and Black: "Stony Batter is a quarter of Dublin." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71455

Raking of the Hay

See Tossing of the Hay (File: HHH635)

Rally Round the Flag

See The Battle Cry of Freedom (File: MA034)

Rally-Roh

DESCRIPTION: Gerry Foley's stormy adventure while hunting an otter bring him to the attention of a "big vessel" captain. The captain tries but fails to lure Gerry to sea and is scolded by Gerry's wife.
AUTHOR: George Curtin (source: OCanainn)
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Gerry Foley tried kill a "water dog" [otter], but it escaped into the river. Gerry built a boat, loaded his rifle, and chased after the otter. After three weeks rowing he survived a gale, headed back to town, but ran into a rock on his way home. A captain of "a big vessel,' having heard of the adventure, came to Gerry's home and offered Gerry money, land and mansion to go with him to sea. When Gerry refused the offer the captain took offense, saying "I came here for you all the ways from Kinsale, And allow me to tell you, I'm not going to fail" Gerry's wife Joan -- "as you know she is wicked and terrible bold" -- scolded the captain
KEYWORDS: river storm wreck talltale animal wife
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OCanainn, pp. 54-55,122, "Rally-Roh" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: OCanainn: "A typical composition of George Curtin who picked on a minor incident that happened to his neighbor Ger Foley. The hard facts of the case were that Ger spotted an otter in the river and tried to kill it. George heard of the incident and transformed the simple event into a saga ....."
This is a ballad in the not-exclusively-Irish tradition of river and canal boat tall tales like "The Clonmel Flood" and "The Wreck of the Gwendoline." In this case we are in on the ship-building phase as well as the sinking.
The sea captain had come all the way from Kinsale, about 14 miles as the gull flies, to recruit Gerry.
The title is from the chorus: "Rally-Roh Fal-de-dah Rally Roh fal-di-dee." - BS
File: OCan054

Rally, Boys, Rally

DESCRIPTION: "Lead your partner up and down, I thought I heard them say, Lead your partner... I thought I heard...." "Rally, boys, rally, I thought I heard them say...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: dancetune nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hudson 150, p. 295, "Rally, Boys, Rally" (1 short text)
Roud #4508
File: Hud150

Ram o' Bervie, The

See references under The Derby Ram (File: R106)

Ram o' Dirram, The

See The Derby Ram (File: R106)

Ram of Dalby, The

See references under The Derby Ram (File: R106)

Ram of Derby, The

See references under The Derby Ram (File: R106)

Ram of Diram, The

See references under The Derby Ram (File: R106)

Ram Song (I), The

See The Derby Ram (File: R106)

Ram Song (II), The

DESCRIPTION: Pius bought a small, thin ram from Jenny. The boys play cards for the ram "but playing cards for rams in Lent -- it was a mortal sin." The ram grows big and fat and is slaughtered "to pay the boys to plow up the old graveyard"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Dibblee/Dibblee)
KEYWORDS: cards humorous animal
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dibblee/Dibblee, p. 97, "The Ram Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12451
NOTES: Did something drop out of this song in which one of the gamblers dies? Until we find another version, we can hardly tell. - RBW
File: Dib097

Ramble Away

See Rambleaway (File: ShH31)

Rambleaway

DESCRIPTION: Young man meets young woman. He says he's known as "Rambleaway" (after his wandering habit). In some versions the last verse cautions girls about men like him; in others the woman slips away, and he rambles around searching for her in vain.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1891
KEYWORDS: courting rambling warning pregnancy
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,North),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1485, "Ramble Away" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 31, "Sweet Kitty" ; 75, "Brimbledon Fair, or, Young Ramble-Away" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 166, "Ramble-away" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RAMBLAWA
Roud #171
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Come All You Fair and Tender Girls" (theme)
cf. "When I Was Young (Don't Never Trust a Sailor)" (plot)
cf. "Yon Green Valley" (plot)
cf. "The Courting Coat" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Roving Shantyboy" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Derry Down Fair
Brimbledown Fair
Burlington Fair
Brocklesby Fair
File: ShH31

Rambler from Clare, The

DESCRIPTION: The rambler tells of beginning his career in the (County Tyrone), where (the women) first dubbed him the Rambler from Claire. Captured (by the English, he faces a stiff sentence) but escapes to America (and continues to pursue the women)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3218)); beginning 19C (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rambling emigration
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
OLochlainn-More 68, "The Rambler from Clare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 20, "The Rambler from Clare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 46, "The Rambler from Clare" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 59, "The Rambler from Claire" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RMBLCLAR*
Roud #1531
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3218), "The Rambler From Clare," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(3219), 2806 b.11(9), 2806 c.15(250), 2806 b.9(267)[some words illegible], Harding B 19(9)[some words illegible], Harding B 11(3217), Harding B 26(553), 2806 c.15(184), 2806 c.15(327), 2806 b.11(14), "The Rambler From Clare"
Murray, Mu23-y1:008, "The Rambler From Clair," unknown, 19C; also Mu23-y4:026, "Rambler From Clare"
NLScotland, RB.m.169(104), "The Rambler from Clair," Robert M'Intosh (address obliterated), c.1855
NOTES: In some texts, the rambler is an Irish rebel, and is forced to flee Ireland to escape prosecution. In others, he is a deserter from the English army. In many versions, however, he is just a young man out to have as much fun with the ladies as possible.
And yes, the Warners spell it "Claire." Maybe that's the girl he was dating. - RBW
File: Wa059

Rambler Song

DESCRIPTION: "He rambled across the seas, to see the firstline (front line?) French, And there were all the Kapps Sigs, a-gossiping in French; And what they had to say that day is more than I can tell, But they all did promise faithfully to give the Kaiser hell."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Dr. Finis K. Farr)
KEYWORDS: war travel France
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 250, "Rambler Song" (1 fragment)
NOTES: I suspect this is a World War I version of "The Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech" or a related song, but with only one stanza and no tune, I can't actually equate them. - RBW
File: MHAp250

Ramblin' Reckless Hobo

See Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum) [Laws H2] (File: LH02)

Rambling Beauty, The

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

Rambling Blues

See Rambling Round (File: CSW118)

Rambling Boy (I), The

See The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)

Rambling Boy (II)

See My Ramblin' Boy (File: FSWB061)

Rambling Boy (III), The

DESCRIPTION: Jack the sailor and his girl spend the night and stop in a Green Street tavern where he is beaten by "turks and heathens." He is taken and "transported for theivery" to Van Diemans Land. Now in "transport blue," he will write her a letter if she is true.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond03)
KEYWORDS: sex fight farewell theft transportation unemployment sailor
FOUND IN: Ireland
ST RcRCTRaY (Full)
Roud #3083
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Rambling Youth" (on IRRCinnamond03)
NOTES: The description is based on John Moulden's transcription from IRRCinnamond03 included in the Traditional Ballad Index Supplement.
There appear to be missing pieces to the story. The text says Jack "can find no employ" [is a robbery missing at this point?] and he "took ... flight" with his "darling"; after their night together "she proved my overthrow." Were the "turks [cruel men] and heathens" in the tavern police? - BS
More likely they are Catholics, I think. According to Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, a "Turk" was a gutter word for Irishmen. If "Turk" is used in that sense, it seems reasonable to assume that Jack is English, and Protestant, and is claiming to have been attacked by Irish Catholics. No doubt a convenient excuse.... - RBW
File: RcRCTRaY

Rambling Boys of Pleasure, The

See You Rambling Boys of Pleasure (Down by Sally's Garden) (File: FowM059)

Rambling Gambler, The

See The Wagoner's Lad (File: R740)

Rambling Miner, The

DESCRIPTION: "I'm only a rambling miner, I work where I like best, In the coal mines of Kentucky, Or the copper mines in the west." But wherever he goes, the singer is gambling his life in the mines. He says he is doing it "So that the women and kids may eat."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: mining rambling nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', p. 248, "The Rambling Miner" (1 text)
NOTES: It is rather unfortunate that Thomas did not preserve a tune for this piece. The first two stanzas appear to be built upon "The Roving Gambler," but the final two look like something else. - RBW
File: ThBa248A

Rambling Round

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes rambling around cities and towns, and his life as a migrant fruit picker. He wishes he could settle down, but "I am just a refugee/As I go rambling round, boys."
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST DATE: 1940s (recording, Woody Guthrie)
KEYWORDS: loneliness rambling work worker migrant
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 118, "Rambling Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GORAMB
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodnight, Irene" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rambling Round Your City
As I Go Rambling 'Round
NOTES: This song verges on the status of an autobiography of Woody Guthrie, and to the best of my knowledge has never been found in tradition. The tune is an adaption of Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter's "Goodnight Irene." - RBW
File: CSW118

Rambling Round Your City

See Rambling Round (File: CSW118)

Rambling Rover

See You Rambling Boys of Pleasure (Down by Sally's Garden) (File: FowM059)

Rambling Sailor, The

See The Rambling Soldier (File: ShH43)

Rambling Shoemaker, The

See James Ervin [Laws J15] (File: LJ15)

Rambling Soldier (I), The

DESCRIPTION: Soldier (sailor) describes the joys of rambling the countryside (of England): "I once was a seaman stout and bold, Ofttimes I plowed the ocean... For honor and promotion." In some versions he brags that he has a license to ramble, granted by the king.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Johnson Ballads 256)
KEYWORDS: rambling nonballad sailor soldier injury
FOUND IN: US(SE) Britain(England,Scotland(Aber)) Australia
REFERENCES (7 citations):
BrownIII 367, "The Jolly Soldier" (1 fragment plus mention of 1 more)
Sharp-100E 43, "The Rambling Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Butterworth/Dawney, p. 36, "The Rambling Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 174-175, "The Rambling Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan7 1477, "The Rovin' Sailor" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, p. 326, "Dicky Johnston, or, The Roving Sailor" (1 short text)
DT, RAMBSAIL* (RMBSAIL2*)
Roud #518
RECORDINGS:
Chris Willett, "The Rambling Sailor" (on Voice12)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 256, "The Rambling Sailor" ("I am a sailor stout and bold, long time I have ploughed the ocean"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth c.12(275), Johnson Ballads 1230, Harding B 11(1670), Firth b.25(378), Harding B 11(3226), Harding B 11(4288), Harding B 15(250b), Johnson Ballads 966, Johnson Ballads 559, Harding B 20(142), Firth b.34(302), "[The] Rambling Sailor"; Harding B 11(3228), "The Rambling Soldier" ("I am a soldier blithe and gay"), W. and T. Fordyce (Newcastle), 1832-1842; Firth b.26(329), Harding B 11(835), Harding B 16(221a), Harding B 11(3227), Harding B 15(251a), Harding B 15(251b), Harding B 15(252a), Harding B 20(143), Harding B 17(251a), "Rambling Soldier"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rambling Comber"
NOTES: Sharp notes that on the older broadsides, the rambler was a soldier; in the newer ones, he is a sailor. - PJS
Sharp may be right about which version is the older. The Bodleian broadsides give no clear-cut answer; however, Harding B 16(221a), "Rambling Soldier" lists the tune as "Rambling Sailor"; it also lists the author as John Morgan. - BS
In Brown's version (which is only two stanzas), it appears that he is a sailor who later enlists in the American Revolutionary army. This may be a rewrite, but the text it too short to be sure.
Ord's text says that the sailor has been granted a license to beg *because he has lost a limb.* Ordinarily I would consider this a significant enough distinction to split the songs, but the rest is the same; the lost limb appears (or fails to appear, perhaps) in only a single line. Perhaps a mixture with something like "The Forfar Soldier," or even a case of an injured veteran adopting the piece to his own case? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: ShH43

Rambling Soldier (II), The

See The Son of a Gambolier (I) (File: San044)

Rambling Suiler, The

See The Jolly Beggar [Child 279] (File: C279)

Rambling Young Fellow, A

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

Rambling, Gambling Man

See The Roving Gambler [Laws H4] (File: LH04)

Randal, My Son

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

Randy Dandy O

DESCRIPTION: Capstan or pumps shanty. Chorus: "Heave a pawl, o heave away. Way ay roll an' go. The anchor's on board an' the cable's all stored, timme rollockin' randy dandy o." Rhyming verses about sailing and women.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Robinson)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Colcord, p. 116, "Galloping Randy Dandy O!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 167-168, "Randy Dandy O" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 135]
DT, RANDDAND*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Galloping Randy Dandy O!" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #4702
NOTES: Hugill says that he and his sources cleaned this one up a good deal before printing. - SL
File: Hugi167

Randy Riley

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

Rang-a-Tang-Too, The

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

Range Rider's Appeal, A

See The Cowboy's Prayer (II) (File: Ohr077)

Ranger, The

See Bold Ranger, The (File: R076)

Ranger's Prayer

See The Dying Ranger [Laws A14] (File: LA14)

Rangey Ribs, The

DESCRIPTION: Patrick Cowley deals in cattle. He recalls the sickly scrawney "Rangey Ribs" Mickey Dubh sold to him as a thoroughbred. Pat couldn't sell him. His only use was to hang the wash. But when he died neighbors came to the burial from miles around
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1986 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: death commerce humorous animal
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 58, "The Rangey Ribs" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: McBride: "The song is well known in other parts of the country and has been recorded extensively in Co. Clare. Place names matter not. The song is part of the genre popular throughout the country in which broken down cattle are ridiculed." - BS
File: McB1058

Ranso Ray

See Ranzo Ray (File: Hugi247)

Ransum Scansum

DESCRIPTION: "Ransum scansum, through yonder, Bring me a gourd to drink water. Dis way out and t'other way in, In my lady's chamber, Dis way out and t'other way in, In my lady's chamber."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 131, "Ransum Scansum" (2 short texts, 1 tune; the second fragment has no title, but probably should be called "Aransom Shansom")
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Do, Do, Pity My Case" (lyrics) and references there
File: ScaNF131

Rantin Willie Mair's Wife

DESCRIPTION: "Rantin Willie Mair's wife's awa wi' young MacKeelikin." She would not have been so foolish, says the singer, if she had been beaten when they met.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: infidelity marriage violence nonballad abandonment
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1214, "Rantin Willie Mair's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6771
NOTES: GreigDuncan6: "Said to refer to a local person whose wife eloped with a military man, returned, and went away again." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61214

Rantin' Auld Maid, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer, "a rantin' old maid," goes to a singing class to catch a man. One asks her questions: which way do you go home; what's your lover like; what's your name; am I the lad you love? She answers each and says, at last, "ye've guessed richt noo"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: courting dialog oldmaid questions music
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1388, "The Rantin' Auld Maid" (1 text)
Roud #7247
File: GrD81388

Rantin' Laddie, The [Child 240]

DESCRIPTION: The lady has "played at the cards and the dice" with the rantin' laddie; now she has a child and is scorned. She sends a letter to the rantin' laddie -- who proves to be the Earl of Aboyne. He marries her and all are happy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage adultery bastard cards
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(NE)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Child 240, "The Rantin' Laddie" (4 texts)
Bronson 240, "The Rantin' Laddie" (6 versions+1 in addenda)
Greig #154, pp. 1-2, "The Rantin Laddie"; Greig #156, pp. 2-3, "The Rantin Laddie" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan5 976, "The Rantin Laddie" (5 texts plus two fragments from Greig on p. 604, 3 tunes)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 303-304, "The Rantin' Laddie" (1 fragment, 1 tune, a single "Rantin' Laddie" stanxa with a "hush-a-bye" chorus perhaps from the mother to her bastard baby) {Bronson's #6}
Leach, pp. 597-598, "The Rantin' Laddie" (2 texts)
Combs/Wilgus 35, pp. 127-128, "The Rantin Laddie" (1 text)
DBuchan 57, "The Rantin Laddie" (1 text)
DT 240, RANTNLAD*
Roud #103
RECORDINGS:
Willie Mathieson, "The Bonny Rantin' Laddie" [fragment] (on FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #5.1}
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Binorie" (tune, per GreigDuncan5)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Aboyne's Bonnie Lady
NOTES: The "rant" is a dance step, now found chiefly in Northumberland and surrounding areas. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C240

Rantin', Roarin', Drunk on the Way

DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of getting drunk with his friends (all of whom he names) on the way to the lumber camp at Upyongo. At the end of the season, at home, they reminisce about how they got "drunk on the way."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: drink moniker logger
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 65, "Rattlin', Roarin', Drunk on the Way" (1 text)
Roud #8845
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year" (lyrics)
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. - PJS
This particular song shares the general chorus with "How We Got Up to the Woods Last Year" (where it runs "Rant and roar and drunk on the way"), but the plots seem distinct enough that Roud and I both split them. - RBW
File: Be065

Ranting Highlandman, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a Highlandman whose appearance and smile "my favour wan." He asks that she marry and "wee'l big a cot an buy a stock an do the best that ere we can." She expects him to return "though all my kin should scauld an ban" and she'd go with him
AUTHOR: John Hamilton (1761-1814) (source: Whitelaw)
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting farming family
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 860, "The Rantin' Hielanman" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 110, "The Rantin' Hielanman"
Roud #6253
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Rantin' Highlandman
NOTES: GregDuncan4: "From Mary Duffus, servant, about 1852. Noted 1905." - BS
Apparently broadside Bodleian, 2806 c.11(21), "The Ranting Highlandman" ("Ae morn last owk, as I gaed out"), Sanderson (Edinburgh), 1830-1910 is this song but I could not download and verify it [though the words I could make out in the reduced image make the identity very likely]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4860

Ranting Roving Lad

See The White Cockade (File: R120)

Ranzo

See Reuben Ranzo (File: Doe023)

Ranzo Ray

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. First refrain "Ranzo, Ranzo, hurray, hurray" (or "away, away), second refrain usually "Hilo me Ranzo ray." Verses tell of destinations and cargos, i.e. "we're bound for Yokohammer, with a load o' grand pianners."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty ship commerce travel
FOUND IN: Britain US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Hugill, pp. 247-249, "Ranzo Ray" (3 texts, 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 179-182]
Sharp-EFC, XIX, p. 22, "The Bully Boat" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Ranso Ray" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #327
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Huckleberry Hunting" (similar refrain)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rando Ray
NOTES: Bone, in his notes to "Reuben Ranzo," was of the opinion that the word "Ranzo" somehow seemed to suit the action of hauling, which might explain its use in both this song and that. - RBW
File: Hugi247

Rap At The Door, A

DESCRIPTION: A rake visits a girl but his reputation as womanizer has preceded him. He gets no sympathy from her for a supposed injury. She says her parents would beat her if she introduced him. She will not be his next victim. He feels slighted but not heart-broken.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: courting dialog humorous nightvisit father mother rake
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Logan, pp. 363-364, "Indifference" or "A Rap at the Door" (1 text)
Greig #139, pp. 1-2, "Rap at the Door" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 780, "Open the Door" (3 fragments, 3 tunes)
Roud #6124
NOTES: Greig: "We have at one time or another got bits of this song along with a record of the tune; but in default of a complete copy we have fallen back on the version given in Logan's Pedlar's Pack of Ballads."
This ballad shares the text, but not the meaning, of the following lines with "A-Growing" [Laws O35]: "The trees are high, the leaves are green, The days are past that we have seen." In this song the woman sings these lines gleefully.
The insults to the rake in the text are not sufficiently hinted at in the description. For example, "O young man, I value you not, Altho' the hangman had your coat ... And yourself in a bottomless boat, With the Devil to row you ashore." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4780

Rap-Tap-Tap

See The Farm Servant (Rap-Tap-Tap) (File: DTraptap)

Rarden Wreck of 1893, The

DESCRIPTION: A train heads for Cincinnati, but the engineer dies at Rarden station after jumping from the train when he saw an open switch. The fireman is crushed in the wreck. Chorus: "Did he ever come back? No, he never came back. His fate was easily learned...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1993
KEYWORDS: train wreck disaster death
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Darling-NAS, p. 215, "The Rarden Wreck of 1893" (1 text, filed with "The Wreck of the Old 97")
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ship that Never Returned" [Laws D27] (tune & meter) and references there
cf. "The Wreck of Old 97" [Laws G2] (tune, theme)
cf. "The Train that Never Returned" (tune, theme)
File: DarNS215

Rare Clonmel

DESCRIPTION: The singer is leaving his home in Clonmel. He thinks of the places there he loved. "In ev'ry fight for Erin's right, Foul tyranny to quell, First in the field and last to yield Are the boys of Rare Clonmel!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: farewell home lyric nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 20B, "Rare Clonmel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9778
NOTES: Clonmel is on the river Suir, South Tipperary. OLochlainn-More has no information about the song. - BS
File: OLcM020B

Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215]

DESCRIPTION: Willie drowns in the (Yarrow). (Details of how and why vary greatly). His lover dreams a dream of woe. She sets out and finds Willie's body, and uses her hair to pull him from the water. In many accounts she (promises to) die for sorrow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1733
KEYWORDS: death mourning courting drowning
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber,Bord)) US(MW) Canada Ireland
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Child 215, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (9 texts)
Bronson 215, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (9 versions)
Dixon XII, pp. 66-67, "The Water o' Gamery" (1 text)
Greig #113, pp. 1-2, "Willie's Drowned in Gamerie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1227, "Willie's Lost at Gamery" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Eddy 22, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text, 1 tune, erroneously listed as Child 214) {Bronson's #4}
Leach, pp. 571-572, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 99, "The Braes o' Yarrow" (1 text which is mostly Child 214 but incorporates parts of Child 215)
Ord, pp. 454-455, "Willie's Drowned at Gamerie" (1 text)
Fowke/MacMillan 78, "Willie Drowned in Ero" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 93, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text)
PBB 62, "Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (1 text)
DT 215, YARROW2* YARROW3*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; notes to #425, "But think na' ye my heart was sair///?" (1 text)
Roud #206
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dowie Dens o' Yarrow" [Child 214]
cf. "Susan Strayed on the Briny Beach" [Laws K19] (plot)
cf. "Willie's Drowned in Gamerie" (story)
cf. "Willie Drowned in Yarrow" (story)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Willie's Rare
NOTES: Several scholars, among them Norman Cazden, have claimed that this song is the same as Child 214, "The Dowie Dens o Yarrow/The Braes o Yarrow." Certainly there has been exchange of verses. However, I (following Leach), would maintain that there is a difference: "The Dowie Dens" is about opposition to a marriage; "Willie Drowned" is about the loss of a love.
A brief summary of the whole discussion is found in Coffin's notes in Flanders-Ancient3. It's not clear what he believes, except that the two songs are a mess and quite mixed. Which can hardly be denied.
Palgrave's Golden Treasury includes a piece (item CLXIII) titled "The Braes of Yarrow," credited to J. Logan, which is clearly built upon this theme -- but it looks like a literary rewrite. Palgrave's next item (CLXIV), "Willy Drowned in Yarrow," is the real thing, though probably somewhat touched up by his (unnamed) source.
Child lists "Annan Water" as an appendix to this ballad, though it appears to me that, if it's related to any of the Child ballads, it's #216, "The Mother's Malison, or, Clyde's Water." - RBW
Greig: "These two ballads ['Willie's Drowned in Yarrow' from Whitelaw's text, and 'Willie's Drowned in Gamerie' from Buchan's text] have got mixed up to some extent; but they are in the main so different that it is not easy accounting for the connection." And there is also Greig #87 "Willie's Drowned in Gamerie," indexed by that name, of which Greig's correspondent says, "it can have no connection with the 'Willie's Drowned in Gamrie,' as given in Buchan's Ballads of the North, nor yet the Lovers who were drowned in Clyde's Waters.'" - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C215

Rare Willie's Drowned in Ero

See Rare Willie Drowned in Yarrow, or, The Water o Gamrie [Child 215] (File: C215)

Rarey's Hill

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

Rashie Moor, The

See The Rashy Muir (File: GrD61215)

Rashy Muir, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls making love in the hills one night and helping his sweetheart to dress. When they got to town "I saw another did my love attend". "Wid ye forsake a' yere former vows An break the heart o a lover true?" She would, maybe for money.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1894 (Murison collection, according to Lyle, _Fairies and Folk_)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity sex promise floatingverses
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #118, p. 2, "The Rashie Moor" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1215, "The Rashy Muir" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #6261
ALTERNATE TITLES:
O Will Ye Gang, Love, and Leave Me Noo?
Will Ye Gang, Love
NOTES: GreigDuncan6: "Noted by George F. Duncan from mother's singing in 1875."
The most common floating verse in the GreigDuncan6 texts is "I lent my back against an oak I thought it was a trusty tree But first it bowed an then it break And so has my false love to me." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61215

Raspberry Lane

See Rosemary Lane [Laws K43] (File: LK43)

Raspberry Tart, The

DESCRIPTION: "She was a raspberry tart In her little poke bonnet, With a great big bunch Of thing-a-mees upon it; With a pinafore dress That was just the thing And a little toy dog On the end of a string... Bow wow!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1982
KEYWORDS: nonballad dog clothes
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 29, "The Raspberry Tart" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Reportedly a fragment of a music hall song. - RBW
File: MCB029

Rat Coon, Rat Coon

DESCRIPTION: "Rat coon, rat coon, can you-all dance? No Why? Cause my tail's too short. Putty addy bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum. Putty addy bum-bum bum-bum bum.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914
KEYWORDS: animal nonsense
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 265, "Rat Coon, Rat Coon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7815
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Raccoon" (theme)
NOTES: This could, from its text, be a fragment of "Raccoon" (or almost anything else). But the metrical pattern is different, so -- given that Randolph offers only one verse -- I classify the two as separate. - RBW
File: R265

Ratcatcher's Daughter, The

DESCRIPTION: "Not long ago, in Vestminster," a beautiful ratcatcher's daugher is courted by many. She prefers a sand-seller. They plan to marry. She falls into the Thames and dies (of the foul water?). He kills himself. The inquest says she died of "too much vet."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1866 (Bodleian broadside Harding B 11(416), etc.)
KEYWORDS: love courting suicide death river humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Leslie Shepard, _The Broadside Ballad_, Legacy Books, 1962, 1978, p. 152, "The Ratcatcher's Daughter" (reproduction of a broadside page)
Roud #13883
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian,Harding B 11(416), "The Ratcatcher's Daughter" ("In Westminster, not long ago "), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Firth b.34(253)=Harding B 11(3233)=Harding B 15(252b)=Johnson Ballads 3320 ("Not long ago, in Vestministier"); Harding B 19(29); 2806 c.13(120); Harding B 11(415); Firth c.18(229); Harding B 11(3234); 2806 c.15(24); Firth c.18(228); Firth b.27(457/458)
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(081) , "The Rat-Catcher's Daughter," unknown, n.d.
File: BdRatDau

Ratcliffe Highway

DESCRIPTION: The sailor wanders down Ratcliffe Highway (and stops at an ale-house. What happens thereafter varies, e.g. he meets a girl, he fights with the landlady, etc.). After his business is done, he welcomes the chance to return to sea, even on a lousy old tub
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905
KEYWORDS: sailor courting whore fight
FOUND IN: US(MA) Britain
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 114-116, "As I Was A-Walking Down Ratcliffe Highway" (2 text, 2 tune)
Hugill, pp. 200-201, "Ratcliffe Highway" (1 text plus 3 fragments, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 155-157]
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 85, "Ratcliffe Highway" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RATCLIF* RATCLIF2*
Roud #598
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blow the Man Down" (floating lyrics; the songs often cross-fertilize)
cf. "The Deserter"
NOTES: Ratcliffe Highway is a road in London near Limehouse Reach. It ran near the docks of the British East India Company. Its was hardly the best part of town -- the "Ratcliffe Highway Murders" are mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet, and formed a backdrop for Thomas De Quincey's Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts.
David Cordingly, Women Sailors and Sailors' Women, Random House, 2001 (I use the undated, but later, paperback edition), p. 7, "This street lay to the north of the wharves on the riverfront at Wapping. It was described in 1600 by John Stow as 'a continual street, or filthy straight passage, with alleys of small tenements or cottages builded, inhabited by sailors and victuallers.' Most sailors... were looking for women and drink, and the establishments along the Ratcliffe Highway provided for their needs."
The area's reputation eventually became so bad that the road was renamed St. George's Street. - RBW
One version of "The Deserter" has the man recruited on Ratcliffe Highway, and that version is also known by the name of "Ratcliffe Highway." - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Doe114

Rathaspeck Boys, The

DESCRIPTION: Thomas Power and James Kehoe from Rathaspeck had "gained an honest livelihood by toiling on the land." They take a boat out in Wexford Harbour "to pass away their evening, engaged by line and hook." They can not swim and drown when their boat capsizes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947 (Ranson)
KEYWORDS: drowning sea ship storm wreck fishing
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ranson, pp. 68-69, "The Rathaspeck Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Ran068

Rathlin Song, A

DESCRIPTION: "Where the fulmar flies on Rathlin head O'er the lake on the cliff by the sea, My love and I, in days that are dead, Watched the white clouds floating free.... But my love flew away... And I sob like the mateless dove." She prays her love will return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H696, p. 290, "A Rathlin Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6893
File: HHH696

Ration Blues (I Wonder What's the Matter)

DESCRIPTION: "Well, I wonder what's the matter, What's the matter with Captain Mac, He done got mad.... I've got the ration blues...." The singer tells of being sent out to cut wood, and sugar, but the land apparently does not yield even when cleared
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (recorded from Jesse Hendricks by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: work prison hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, p. 85, "Ration Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Jackson, noting that the Texas prison system did not ration prisoners' food, speculates that the version he recorded from Jesse "G. I. Jazz" Hendricks comes from a popular song which he cannot locate.
However, I note another Texas prison song, "I Wonder What's the Matter," recorded by the Lomaxes in 1934. I incline to think that that may have been the origin of this song. Perhaps commodity rationing during World War II would have brought in the references to rationing? Prisoners, after all, would have a harder time swapping things, or buying them on the black market, than those outside, and so would be more affected by the restrictions. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM085

Rattle Snake (II)

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

Rattler

See Old Rattler (File: CNFM104)

Rattlesnake

DESCRIPTION: Various animals are asked about their characteristics, e.g. "Muskrat, muskrat, what makes you smell so bad? I've been in the bottom all my life Till I'm mortified in my head." "Rattlesnake, rattlesnake, what makes your teeth so white?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Land Norris)
KEYWORDS: animal questions dialog nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 83, "Rattlesnake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 394, "Muskrat" (1 text)
Roud #6395
RECORDINGS:
Land Norris, "Muskrat" (OKeh 40404, 1925)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mister Rabbit" (theme)
File: LoF083

Rattlesnake Song, The

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

Rattlin' Roarin' Willie

DESCRIPTION: Rattlin' Willie goes to the fair to sell his fiddle. Someone urges him, "O, Willie, come sell your fiddle... And buy a pint o wine!" He refuses; "The warl' would think I was mad." He plays in "guid company"; his wife(?) says "Ye're welcome hame to me."
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Scots Musical Museum, #194)
KEYWORDS: music commerce drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan4 776, "Rattlin Roarin Willie" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 91, "(Johnny, come lend me your fiddle)" (1 text, which appears to mix elements from "Rattlin' Roarin' Willie" with something rather like "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?")
DT, RTLNROAR
Roud #6192
NOTES: Like most Burns pieces, this has a traditional stub -- there is an item in Gammer Gurton's Garland,
John, come sell thy fiddle
And buy thy wife a gown.
No, I'll not sell my fiddle
For ne'er a wife in town.
(Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #91, p. 86; Opie-Oxford2 267, pp. 239-240)
The Baring-Goulds mention a note by Sir Walter Scott that Willie was a real fiddler who was tried and executed for murder. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: DTrtlnro

Rattling Bog, The

DESCRIPTION: Cumulative song about the "great chain of being." Sample: "On this branch there was a twig/Rare twig, a rattling twig/Twig on the branch and the branch on the tree and the tree in the bog/Bog down in the valley-o." Most versions complete a circle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1877 (Miss M. H. Mason, _Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs_)
KEYWORDS: ritual cumulative nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) Wales US(Ap,MW,SE,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Randolph 459, "The Green Grass Grew All Round" (1 text)
BrownIII 133, "The Pretty Pair Tree" (1 text)
Fuson, pp. 87-88, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (1 text)
SharpAp 206, "The Tree in the Wood" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Sharp-100E 98, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 58, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 258-260, "The Tree in the Bog" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Creighton-NovaScotia 92, "On This Hill" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 107, "The Stump" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 88, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 200, "The Tree in the Wood" (1 text)
Kennedy 96, "An Wedhen War An Vre (The Tree on the Hill)" (1 Cornish text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan8 1668, "There Was a Tree" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Greig #86, p. 2, ("In the Bogie there was a tree") (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 391, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (1 text)
DT, RATLNBOG*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 38, #4 (1994), p, 80, "Hi! Ho! The Rattling Bog" (1 text, 1 tune, indirectly from Seamus Ennis)
Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, p. 6, prints a Danish text, "Langt Udi Skoven," with a loose English translation, which is a similar cumulative song about a tree, but the idea is so simple that they might be independent
Roud #129
RECORDINGS:
Doney Hammontree, "The Tree in the Wood" (AFS; on LC12)
Mike Kent, "The Tree" (on NFMLeach)
Old King Cole, "And The Green Grass Grew All Around" (Edison 52310, 1928)
Premier Quartet, "And the Green Grass Grew All Around" (CYL: Edison [BA] 1808, n.d.)
Pete Seeger, "Green Grass Grows All Around" (on PeteSeeger20)
Uncle Don, "The Green Grass Grew All Around" (Conqueror 9013, 1938)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Derriere Chez Nous (Behind Our House)" (theme)
cf. "Little Bird" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Green Grass Growing All Around
The Endless Circle
There Was a Hill
The Tree and the Branch
NOTES: The Cornish words printed by Kennedy are by Talek, based on English texts with some Breton influence.
The "Rattling Bog" title is obviously rare, but I used it because it seemed the most popular pop folk title. I may have been wrong about that. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: ShH98

Rattling Railway Boy, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer left home at twenty two. He went from town to town working on the railroad with his "whole estate" in his handkercheif. His money went for drink. He met and married a girl but left her in May. She tells her baby "Your daddy's a Railway Boy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1986 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: marriage rambling abandonment railroading baby rake wife
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 59, "The Rattling Railway Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: McB1059

Raven and the Crow, The

DESCRIPTION: "The corbie with his roupie throat Cried frae the leafless tree... Come o'er the loch wi me!" The crow asks why he should come. He is told a farmer has plowed his field and seeded it; there is much corn to be had. The farmer shoots both birds
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: bird death food farming
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 34, "The Raven and the Crow" (1 text)
NOTES: I haven't met this elsewhere, but it feels enough like a traditional song that I'm indexing it. - RBW
File: MSNR034

Ravenal, The

DESCRIPTION: The trawler Ravenal, returning to St Pierre from the Grand Banks, is lost in a storm. "Wreckage was found on Lorie's shore. She may have struck a sunker, but such things we'll never know; We only know her eighteen men died in the waters cold"
AUTHOR: Isaac Harris
EARLIEST DATE: 1977 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: death sea ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 31, 1962 - Ravenal is "missing. Presumed iced up & capsized" (Northern Shipwrecks Database)
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 92, "The Ravenal" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Schooner Marion Rogers" (tune)
NOTES: Lories Beach is in Placentia Bay on the south Newfoundland coast.
Sunker: "A submerged rock over which the sea breaks, familiar form of SUNKEN ROCK, BREAKER, GROUNDER" (Source: Dictionary of Newfoundland English at site of Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage). - BS
File: LeBe092

Raz-Ma-Taz-A-Ma-Tee

See Three Dukes (File: R551)

Real Old Mountain Dew

See Good Old Mountain Dew (File: LxA180)

Reason I Stay on Job So Long

DESCRIPTION: "Reason I stay on job so long, Lawd, dey gimme flamdonies an' coffee strong." "Reason I love my captain so, 'Cause I ast him for a dollar, Lawd, he give me fo'." "Reason why I love Boleen, She keeps my house An' shanty clean." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: work
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 46-47, "Reason I Stay on Job So Long" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15568
File: LxA046

Reason Why, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer is picked up by a beautiful woman. She takes him to a house and then to bed: "You are the nicest boy I've seen today... I would love a jewelled ring." In the morning a man comes in and kicks him into the gutter. He pays and doesn't ask why
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1884 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3238))
KEYWORDS: love sex violence prison punishment trial beauty drink food wife children whore ring
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #1745
RECORDINGS:
Walter Pardon, "One Cold Morning in December" (on Voice15)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3238), "The Reason Why" ("One night in cold December, I've reason to remember"), H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Firth b.28(13), Firth c.17(151), 2806 c.15(284), 2806 c.15(284), "The Reason Why"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Annie of the Vale" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian Harding B 11(3238), 2806 c.15(284) and Firth b.28(13))
cf. "The Young Man Badly Walked" (plot)
NOTES: The description is based on Walter Pardon's version on Voice15.
The following description, based on broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3238), tells a story with a different ending: The singer was picked up by a beautiful woman. She took him in tow. He paid for brandy and oysters. A dandy kicked him into the gutter. The police took him to the station-house. Before a magistrate, his wife and children he is sentenced to 30 days.
Keywords combine both stories.
Walter Pardon's version has a simple chorus:
And she said, "Come, come along, old boy,
And don't look so bashful and shy
She really was a beauty. I thought it was my duty,
So I paid and never asked the reason why.
The broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3238) version has each "chorus" modified to advance the story. - BS
File: RcTReWhy

Rebel Acts of Hyde, The

DESCRIPTION: "It's now I will relate, Though in a broken way, How the rich in Hyde Did carry the poor away." The singer tells how the people of the deep south and the rich carried the area from the Union, alludes to its recapture, and says that some stayed true
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar political
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 281, "The Rebel Acts of Hyde" (1 text)
Roud #6644
NOTES: The secession crisis of 1860/1861 proceeded in two stages: The seven deep southern states seceeded before Fort Sumter. The border states (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina) stayed loyal until Lincoln called for troops after Sumter.
All four of the latter states had strong pockets of unionism. In Virginia, they were mostly in the western part of the commonwealth, and eventually gained their own state (West Virginia). The same might have happened in east Tennessee had Union troops been able to capture the area sooner. Arkansas unionism was mostly in the Ozarks, too remote for anyone to notice.
North Carolina was more complicated. It didn't have a concentrated Union area, so Union forces could not hold. But unionism was probably stronger in North Carolina than any other Confederate state, and not confined to the mountains as in Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
Hyde County and the town of Hatteras, the site of this song, are in fact on the eastern coast of North Carolina, Hyde County being on the north short of Pamlico Sound and Hatteras actually on the outer banks.
Hatteras itself was captured by Union forces on August 28-29, 1861, the first real amphibious operation of the war, and conquest of the Pamlico area continued from there. This song almost sounds like a local's protest of loyalty in an attempt to curry favor with the occupying authorities. - RBW
File: BrII281

Rebel Soldier, The

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses about this lonely soldier's life. "It's grapeshot and musket, And the cannons lumber loud. There's many a mangled body with blankets for a shroud." Characteristic line: "I am a rebel soldier and far from my home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar separation home
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Randolph 246, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 50, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune -- an abridged composite version)
JHCox 76, "The Rebel Soldier" (2 texts, but only the first belongs here; the second is The Sweet Sunny South (I) [Laws A23])
Hudson 117, pp. 258-259, "O Lillie, O Lillie," mostly "Rye Whiskey" but with some verses belonging here; also 116, p. 258, "I'll Eat When I'm Hungry" (1 fragment, a single stanza based on "Rye Whiskey" but probably belonging here: "I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry, If the Yankees don't kill me, I'll live till I die")
Brewster 91, "One Morning in May" (1 text, in which it is a "poor stranger" rather than a "rebel soldier" and with many floating lyrics)
SharpAp 157, "The Rebel Soldier, or The Poor Stranger" (7 texts, 7 tunes, but A and probably F are "The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)")
Sandburg, pp. 136-138, "One Morning in May" (2 text, 1 tune, but only the "B" text, "The Troubled Soldier," belongs here; "A" is "One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing)" [Laws P14])
Silber-CivWar, pp. 72-73, "The Rebel Soldier" (1 text, 1 tune)
Saffel-CowboyP, pp. 211-213, "Jack o' Diamonds" (1 text; this particular Lomax offering contains elements of "Jack o Diamonds/Rye Whisky," "The Wagoner's Lad," The Rebel Soldier," and others)
Roud #259
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Poor Stranger (Two Strangers in the Mountains Alone)" (meter, floating lyrics)
cf. "The Wagoner's Lad" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Jack of Diamonds" (floating lyrics)
cf. "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Blind Fiddler"
NOTES: Randolph's version is specific to the Missouri campaigns of General Sterling Price, but more generic versions of the song are abundant.
The first line, interestingly, seems to float; Sharp, Brewster, and Cox each have version from "One Morning In May" or the like (One morning, one morning, one morning in May, I heard a poor soldier lamenting and say"; another text (to the tune of "Rye Whisky") starts with lyrics from "Banks of the Nile" or something similar ("Oh Polly, oh Polly, it's for your sake alone"). - RBW
File: R246

Rebel's Escape, The [Laws A19]

DESCRIPTION: The soldier relates the tale of his desertion. In prison, he gets the guard drunk and sneaks off. He crosses a river on a raft. Reaching home, he wakes his wife and children, who give him a meal and advise him to "go to Dixie's land."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Thomas, "Devil's Ditties")
KEYWORDS: prisoner escape war abandonment Civilwar desertion
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws A19, "The Rebel's Escape"
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 534-535, "War Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 807, REBESCAP* WARSONG*
Roud #2207
NOTES: Desertion was a chronic problem during the Civil War (which is the probable, though not certain, source of this song). Both armies were subject to disease and deprivation (the Southern due to lack of resources, the Northern due to pure incompetence and stupidity). And neither had a real system of leave, or a way to bring soldiers back to the colors.
This song, therefore, probably does match the experience of a fair number of unenthusiastic soldiers (especially as the draft took effect in the North).
On the other hand, deserting to the South probably wasn't a good idea; it left the soldier's family without his paycheck, it would subject him to punishment after the South lost -- and quite possibly it would force him into the sourthern ranks, where conditions were even worse. The South was so short of soldiers and supplies that they eventually started demanding deserters join their army. - RBW
File: LA19

Rebellion of 1798, The

DESCRIPTION: Rebel exploits, poisonings and massacres are recounted, from Lord Edward Fitzgerald to Father Murphy, and their defeat at each turn by yeomen and Orangemen, in Kildare, Antrim, Ballynahinch, Wexford and Kilkenny. "Down, down, croppies lie down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1798 (_Falkener's Dublin Journal_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1798 - Irish rebellion against British rule (source: "1798 - Calendar of Events" at IrelandOn-Line site)
May 19, 1798 - Lord Edward Fitzgerald arrested
June 2-3, 1798 - Rebel defeat at Kilcock, Co. Kildare
June 7, 1798 - Rebel defeat at Antrim
June 13, 1798 - United Irishmen under Henry Monro defeated at Ballynahinch
June 21, 1798 - Government recaptures Wexford
July 2, 1798 - Father Murphy (1753-1798) captured, executed, and cremated.
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 50, "The Rebellion of 1798" (1 text)
NOTES: It may not be clear from my description that this ballad is against the rebellion. The tag line of each verse is the chorus of the Orange song "Croppies Lie Down." - BS
It sounds to me as if this might be a sort of an answer to "Croppies Lie Down (II)."
For the career of Edward Fitzgerald, see the notes to "Edward (III) (Edward Fitzgerald)." For Ballynahinch and Henry Monro(e) see "General Monroe." For Father Murphy, see especially "Father Murphy (I)."
File: Moyl050

Reborn Again

DESCRIPTION: "Reborn, soldier, going to reborn again, Oh, going to reborn again...." "Reborn again, reborn again, Oh, you can't get to till you're reborn again." "Paul, and Silas, dar in de jail... One watch while de other pray."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Bible floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 256-257, "Reborn Again" (1 text)
NOTES: The King James Bible refers to the need to be "born again" in John 3:3, 7 -- though most scholars now consider this a mistranslation. The same Greek word means "again" and "from above," and the structure of the passage makes it clear that this is deliberate wordplay: Jesus is saying "You must be born from above"; Nicodemus interprets it as "born again." (The Gospel of John uses this sort of wordplay frequently.) - RBW
File: ScNF256B

Recent Kanab Tragedy, The

DESCRIPTION: "In Kanab they will remember This Twenty-Fourth of July." "For two of the town's best men are lying In their coffins awaiting earth." "It happened because of hot anger -- A quarrel about their water right." Roundy kills Seegmiller, then kills himself
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder suicide family farming
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 23, 1899 - The Kanab murders
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 243-244, "(The Recent Kanab Tragedy)" (1 text)
NOTES: In Utah, water was (and is) a precious commodity; Burt explains that each farmer was given a certain period of time to use the water in irrigation ditches. The Roundy/Seegmiller quarrel arose when Roundy accused Seegmiller of withholding some of the water he was due. Roundy murdered Seegmiller, and took his own life when he heard that one of Seegmiller's hands was coming after him.
Burt believes her mother, who certainly transcribed the piece, might be the author. - RBW
File: Burt243

Recruited Collier, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer tells of her lover, a collier now in the army. She is terrified; he's looking forward to the adventure. She points out the coals her family burns, which his hands hewed. He bids her farewell, asking her not to forsake him; she says her life is over
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1957 (Pinto & Rodway, _The Common Muse_)
KEYWORDS: loneliness love army parting mining lover soldier worker trick drink recruiting
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, RECRUCOL*
Roud #3503
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs, "The Recruited Collier" (on IronMuse1, Briggs3)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jimmy's Enlisted
NOTES: In the versions of this song that I've heard, the collier took the shilling after a sergeant got him drunk.
According to Chandler/Beckett, p. 168, "In the view of contemporaries, prevailing methods of enlistment, in which liquor and deception played a prominent part, adversely affected the number and quality of recruits. Though the regular resort to 'seduction, debauchery, and fraud' was persistently criticized, the traditional methods of inveigling 'the foolish, the drunken, the ungodly, and the despairing' into the army were not abandoned until after 1867.
Haswell, p. 56, writes, "The politicians' dislike of the army ensured that the soldiers remained poorly treated and poorly paid. They had probably been induced to join up by unscrupulous recruiting sergeants who had filled them with drink until they had become too befuddled and confused to resist. Once recruited, they were decked out in clothes that were too elaborate and too tight for comfort, hopelessly impractical for the tasks given to them. Believed to be incapable of thinking for themselves [which to some extent was true, given the quality of the recruits], they were told nothing of their immediate future or of their commander's intentions. Several contemporary French military writers comment on the fact that, without officers to lead them, British soldiers, even in the middle of a battle, appeared to be lost.... It is hardly surprising that at the slightest opportunity they drank themselves into oblivion."
Pope, p. 118, speaking of the British army in the Napoleonic Wars: "Though its troops were the best (and most regularly paid) in Europe, the army attracted far fewer volunteers than the navy, partly because soldiers and marines were less well cared for, but also because they attracted none of the popular respect enjoyed by the sailors. Without the benefit of press gangs or conscription, regiments could only recruit from the very poorest sections of society, frequently resorting to sweeps of prisons and other illegal expedients." Even the regular pay was new; historically, Parliament had tended to under-pay its soldiers, going all the way back to the Commonwealth era.
This situation persisted for about two centuries, from the time Cromwell's New Model Army started to disintegrate (Haswell, p. 30) until the 1867 reforms. Little wonder Parliament had to pass a Mutiny Act every year from 1689 to 1879 (Haswell, p. 31).
Despite what the girl said, the recruit feels perhaps less enthusiastic than determined to make the best of it. He certainly had no chance of becoming a brigadier, but a grenadier was perhaps possible -- if he was tall enough. Grenadiers didn't get much in the way of rewards -- but, since they were more trusted, they might at least be safer from the lash.
Though the traditional texts seem most often to be known as "The Recruited Collier," two of the three texts cited in Grangers's Index to Poetry are filed under "Jimmy's Enlisted." There is no indication of authorship. - RBW
Bibliography

Chandler/Beckett: David Chandler, general editor; Ian Beckett, associate editor, The Oxford History of the British Army, 1994 (I use the 1996 Oxford paperback edition)
Haswell: Jock Haswell, The British Army: A Concise History, Thames and Hudson, 1975
Pope: Stephen Pope, Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars, Cassell, 1999 (I use the undated Facts on File hardcover edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: DTrecruc

Recruiting Sergeant, The

See Arthur McBride (File: PBB093)

Red and Green Signal Lights, The

See The Child of the Railroad Engineer (The Two Lanterns) (File: R685)

Red Apple Juice

See Sugar Baby (Red Rocking Chair; Red Apple Juice) (File: ADR82)

Red Bird

DESCRIPTION: "Red bird soon in the morning (x2), Red bird, red bird soon in the morning. (x2)" "What's the matter with the red bird soon in the morning?" "Cat got the red bird soon in the morning." "Hog got the red bird soon in the morning."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 405, "Red Bird" (1 text)
Roud #11682
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Red Bird" (on PeteSeeger21)
File: FSWB405

Red Cap's Hole

DESCRIPTION: Ships caught in a gale are too far out to make Avondale or Harbour Main and ride out the weather in Red Cap's Hole. "When news got to their native homes" the "gallant band marched down by land To help the toilers home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Blondahl)
KEYWORDS: help sea ship storm
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Blondahl, pp. 95-97, "Red Cap's Hole" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The only names I recognize here, Avondale and Harbour Main, are in Conception Bay. - BS
File: Blon095

Red Green

See Rocky Road (Green Green) (File: CNFM154)

Red Herring, The

DESCRIPTION: Song describes the uses made of various parts of the herring, e.g., "Herring's eyes, puddings and pies/Herring's head, loaves of bread."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 ("Cape Cod Dialect")
KEYWORDS: fishing ritual cumulative nonballad humorous animal
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,North,South)) Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 86-87, "The Red Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 296, "The Herring Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
MacSeegTrav 118, "The Jolly Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 578-579, "The Herring Song" (1 text)
Lehr/Best 50, "The Herring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #128
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Doughty, "Herrings' Heads" (on Voice07)
Mikeen McCarthy, "The Herring" (on Voice14)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sow Took the Measles"
cf. "The Mallard"
cf. "Alouette (I)"
cf. "The Farmer and the Crow"
cf. "The Derby Ram" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Herring's Head
The Herring's Heid
The Jovial Herring
The Jolly Red Herring
NOTES: This is essentially the same song as the American "Sow Took the Measles" [and Roud lumps them - RBW]; "The Farmer and the Crow" (also American, but also found in Sweden) marries this song to "The Carrion Crow." -PJS
Kennedy declares his "Herring Song" and "The Red Herring" to be the same. I'm not sure I agree; while the theme is the same, the lyrics and stanza form are different. But he's seen more versions than I have; I tentatively follow his lead. The danger, of course, is that Kennedy will lump anything with anything. - RBW
File: VWL086

Red Iron Ore [Laws D9]

DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells of a trip he took on the E.C. Roberts. They set out from Escanaba with a load of ore, and at last wind up in Cleveland. Life aboard an ore boat was not pleasant, but the sailor is proud of the good time the ship made
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: ship travel
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws D9, "Red Iron Ore"
Rickaby 45, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, pp. 12-14, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 119-122, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 176-178, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 477-479, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 63, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 183-184, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 95, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
DT 612, REDIRON*
Roud #2233
RECORDINGS:
Stanley Baby, "The 'E. C. Roberts'" (on GreatLakes1)
Harry Barney, "Red Iron Ore" (1938; on WaltonSailors; a fragment with a chorus probably from a "Sailor's Alphabet" song)
James Putnam, "Red Iron Ore" (1938; on WaltonSailors)
Art Thieme, "Red Iron Ore" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme06)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Iron Ore by 'Fifty-Four" (tune)
cf. "Joe Livermore" (form, tune)
NOTES: I have made several attempts to locate the E. C. Roberts, with partial success -- the Great Lakes has ships by that name, but I have yet to identify one which was an ore carrier. There was an E. C. Roberts sailing Lake Michigan in 1871; she lost her jib boom in a collision near Chicago that April. An E. C. Roberts also grounded in the lakes in 1865.
Possibly the same as the preceding, and surely the best candidate, is an E. C. Roberts mentioned on page 18 of Julius F. Wolff, Jr., Lake Superior Shipwrecks, (Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., Duluth, 1990). She was carrying ore in 1872 when she stopped at Marquette, Michigan. A major storm blew up, and because she was unloading coal, there was no way to get her moving quickly. She (and one other ship) had to be scuttled on September 18.
Curiously, Walton/Grimm/Murdok, p. 119, says that "The Roberts, 273 gross tones, was built in Cleveland in 1856 for Brown and Reddington of that city for the general carrying trade. It remained on the lakes for over half a century." One of Walton's infomants claimed to have sailed on her when she served as an ore carried. I wonder if this is the right boat, though, since a general carrier would not make an ideal ore boat. And not even Walton can identify this particular trip.
If we look for vessels named the Roberts but with variations in the initials, there was a boat the E. K. Roberts which sailed the Great Lakes in the late nineteenth century. According to Wes Oleszewski's Ghost Ships, Gales & Forgotten Tales: True Adventures on the Great Lakes (Avery Color Studios, 1995), p, 100, she was active at the time of the gale of November 10-11, 1883. I do find it noteworthy that a ship named the Escanaba was active at this time, hauling other ships around Mackinac. I would bet a great deal that it's the same Escanaba even if it isn't the same Roberts.
Google searches reveal the E. K. Roberts as a steamer launched commissioned in 1883; renamed City of Windsor in 1890 and Michipicoten in 1910, she burned in 1927; she was originally a fish tug but later carried passengers.
One of Walton's informants, J. Sylvester Ray, claimed that Billy Clark of Buffalo wrote the song, but a second informant, John W. Green, attributed it to Peter O'Donnell.
Walton lists this as second only to The Bigler in popularity with Great Lakes sailors.
The tune is a bit of a conundrum. Dean/Rickaby (whose version is reprinted by Lomax and Peters) and Sandburg use the Derry Down tune. The versions Walton collected do not have the Derry Down refrain, and are in major rather than minor; they seem to be based on "The Dreadnought" [Laws D13]. The by-blows listed in Walton ("Bound Away on the Twilight," "A Trip on the George C. Finney") seem to use the Dreadnought form. This is a matter which perhaps calls for further investigation. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LD09

Red is the Rose

DESCRIPTION: The singer praises his love; they have promised faithfulness. But "It's all for the loss of my bonnie (brown)-eyes lass I'm leaving my homeland forever." Chorus: "Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows... But my love is fairer than any."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1980 (Sing Out!)
KEYWORDS: love separation emigration flowers
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, REDROSE*REDROS2*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 28, #2 (1980), p, 22, "Red Is the Rose" (1 text plus a variant stanza, 1 tune, the Joe Heaney version, with the variants being from Sarah Makem)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Loch Lomond" (tune)
NOTES: Joe Heaney and Makem and Clancy both thought this older than "Loch Lomond," with which it shares a tune. While possible, I think this pretty unlikely. Obviously this is an emigration song, which hints at a nineteenth century date. Loch Lomond is probably eighteenth century. In terms of documented collections, "Loch Lomond" wins by about a century. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: So28n3a

Red Light Green Light

See Rocky Road (Green Green) (File: CNFM154)

Red Light Saloon, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer goes to (Bangor) on (July 4). (The train) being late, he is "forced" to visit the Red Light Saloon. Quickly recognized as a (logger/cowboy), liquor and women give him their attention. His "ellick" grows hard; he goe off with a five dollar girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: logger cowboy sex drink bawdy whore money
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) US(SW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 249-250, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 11, pp. 74-76, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REDLIGHT* REDLITE2*
Roud #9424
NOTES: In Logsdon's text, the singer ends up having sex with a five dollar whore. These days, that sounds cheap -- but Logsdon points out that that was a lot at the time apparently indicated in the song.
Doerflinger's and Logsdon's tets are so different that I thought about splitting the songs. But Doerflinger has only three verses; I suspect it has been shortened, either by Doerflinger or his informant. So I'm lumping them. - RBW
File: Doe249

Red Mantle, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer asks her husband for a red mantle to wear to the fair. He buys it; but when she arrives at the fair she discovers fashions have changed, and "green mantles carried the day." She tears the red mantle to shreds and goes home in tears
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1956 (NovaScotia1)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer tells her husband her desire: a red mantle to wear to the county fair. He replies that money is scarce, but he will do what he can. He buys it for her; she sets out for the fair, but when she arrives she discovers fashions have changed, and "green mantles carried the day." She tears the red mantle to shreds and goes home in tears.
KEYWORDS: pride poverty request clothes colors husband wife vanity
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 107, "The Red Mantle" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST RcTReMan (Partial)
Roud #2777
RECORDINGS:
Angelo Dornan, "The Red Mantle" (on NovaScotia1)
NOTES: Political allegory? Fashion statement? - PJS
It's too bad we don't have more versions, to give us a clue where the song came from. Angelo Dornan, I suspect, would have called it a statement on the fickleness of fashion and women's wants; his text seems to have no political statement as such. But if, as is sometimes true, green is the color of mourning, and red of course the color of war and British soldiers' uniforms, this could indeed be a report of a change from, say, pro-war to anti-war sentiment. - RBW
File: RcTReMan

Red Plaid Shawl, The

DESCRIPTION: "One summer's morning I took a ramble" and meet a girl in "a red plaid shawl." The singer wants a kiss; she wants a treat. He says he is a clerk. With his money spent, she knocks him out. When he wakes next morning his coat, chain and watch are gone.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: crime courting robbery clothes trick
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 84, "The Old Plaid Shawl" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(59), "The Red Plaid Shawl", unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 16(222b), Firth b.27(141), "The Red Plaid Shawl"
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 20(59) seems more complete than O'Conor and is the basis of the description. I use the Bodleian Harding B 20(59) title as Name to try to avoid confusion with Francis Fahy's "The Ould Plaid Shawl." - BS
File: OCon084

Red River Shore, The

See The New River Shore (The Green Brier Shore; The Red River Shore) [Laws M26] (File: LM26)

Red River Valley, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer and his love are parting (either may be singing, and either may be leaving). "Come and sit by my side [ere you leave me]; do not hasten to bid me adieu; just remember the Red River Valley, And the (sweetheart) who loved you so true..."
AUTHOR: original text ("The Bright Mohawk Valley") by James Kerrigan, 1896?
EARLIEST DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: separation river farewell
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,SE,So) Canada(West)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Randolph 730, "The Red River Valley" (2 texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
BrownIII 260, "Red River Valley" (1 text plus 2 excerpts and mention of 3 more)
Cambiaire, pp. 81-82, "Red River Valley" (1 text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 88-89, "The Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 52, "The Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 130-131, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 65, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 56, "Red River Valley" (3 texts, 1 tune; the first text is "Red River Valley" and the third is the variant "Lost River Desert"; the second is a variant of "Nobody's Darling on Earth"); also 102, "Red River Gal" (1 text, 1 tune, consisting of square dance instructions set to this rune)
Arnett, p. 124, "Red River Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 115, "Red River Valley" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 457, "Red River Valley"
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "Red River Valley" (source notes only)
DT, REDRIVAL*
Roud #756
RECORDINGS:
Gene Autry, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 20085/Columbia 37184, 1946)
Bascom & Blackwell, "Sherman Valley" (OKeh 45008, 1925)
Beverly Hillbillies, "Red River Valley" (Brunswick 421 [w. Tom & Ezra], 1930/Vocalion 03164, 1936)
Bud Billings Trio, "Red River Valley" (Victor V-40267, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4058, 1933) [Bud Billings is a pseudonym for Frank Luther; record may have been issued as by Bud Billings & Carson Robison]
Bob Brooks, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 15689-D, 1931)
[Bill] Childers & [?] White, "Red River Valley" (OKeh 45208, 1928)
Luther Clarke & the Blue Ridge Highballers, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Columbia 15069-D, 1926)
Ned Cobben, "Red River Valley" (Harmony 901-H, 1929)
Sid Harkreader, "Red River Valley" (Paramount 3141, 1928; Broadway 8202, c. 1930)
Kelly Harrell, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Victor 20527, 1926; on KHarrell01)
Hill Billies, "Red River Valley" (Regal Zonophone [UK] MR-1698, 1935)
Bradley Kincaid, "Red River Valley" (Champion 15710 [as Dan Hughey]/Supertone 9403, 1929; Champion 45098, c. 1935) (Vocalion 5476, c. 1930/Vocalion 04647, 1939) (Decca 5048, 1934)
Dr. Lloyd & Howard Maxey [Massey], "Bright Sherman Valley" (OKeh, unissued, 1927)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "Sherman Valley" (OKeh 45008, 1926)
Frank Luther & Zora Layman, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Decca 5028, 1934)
Harry "Mac" McClintock, "Red River Valley" (Victor 21421, 1928)
Lester McFarland & Robert A. Gardner, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Brunswick 169/Vocalion 5174, 1927; Supertone S-2031 [as Kentucky Mountain Boys], 1930)
Bill Mooney & his Cactus Twisters, "Red River Valley" (Imperial 1096, n.d. but post-World War II)
Holland Puckett, "The Bright Sherman Valley" (Challenge 329 [as by Harvey Watson]/Gennett 6433/Herwin 75562 [as by Robert Howell]/Silvertone 5064, 25064, 8153, 1927/Supertone 9254 [as by Si Puckett; issued 1929])
[Hugh Cross &] Riley Puckett, "Red River Valley" (Columbia 15206-D, 1927) (Bluebird B-8335/Montgomery Ward M-8481, 1940; rec. 1939)
Ranch Boys, "Red River Valley" (Decca 5045, 1934)
Goebel Reeves, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Melotone M-12186, 1931)
Texas Jim Robertson, "Red River Valley" (Victor 27552, 1941)
Carson Robison Trio, "Red River Valley" (Romeo 1233/Banner 0615/Perfect 12591/Jewel 5871/Conqueror 7492, 1930) (Clarion 5109-C, 1930) (Crown 3025, 1930)
Pete Seeger, "Red River Valley" (on PeteSeeger32)
Leo Soileau & his Four Aces, "Red River Valley" (Decca 5182, 1936; rec. 1935)
Carl T. Sprague, "Cowboy Love Song" (Victor 20067, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman and the Dixie Mountaineers, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Edison 51951, 1927) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5383, 1927)
Sunshine Sue w. Joe Maphis, "Red River Valley" (Astra 1215, n.d.)
Texas Drifter, "Bright Sherman Valley" (Melotone M-12186, 1931)
Art Thieme, "Red River Valley" [instrumental version] (on Thieme02)
Vagabonds, "Red River Valley" (Bluebird B-5297/Montgomery Ward M-4479, 1934)
Harvey Watson [pseud. for Riley Puckett], "The Bright Sherman Valley" (Challenge 329, 1927)
SAME TUNE:
When It's Hogcalling Time (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 158)
(Conqueror 8485, 1935; Perfect/Melotone 6-08-51, 1936; Conqueror 9512 [as Gene Autry Trio, "Answer to the Red River Valley"], 1940)
Hartman's Tennessee Ramblers, "New Red River Valley" (Bluebird B-6162, 1935' Bluebird B-8894 [as Tennessee Ramblers], 1941)
NOTES: The Fifes consider their "Little Darling" text ("Come sit by my side, little darling, Come lay your cool hand on my brow, And promise me that you will never Be nobody's darling but Mine") to be a Red River Valley variant. As, however, the chorus does not fit the "Red River Valley" tune, and the rest of the words go with this "Nobody's Darling on Earth," I classify it there.
Fuld reports a claim by Fowke that this song predates the Kerrigan text, and that the original was sung as early as 1869 in Canada, referring to the Red River of the North. I know of no supporting evidence for this claim. On the other hand, the song was recorded repeatedly in the early part of the twentieth century, with major variants in text and few versions mentioning the Mohawk Valley; this is certainly indirect evidence that the song is older than the Kerrigan version and originally referred to some other river, presumably either the northern or the southern Red.
The "Sherman Valley" variant is interesting, because there is no significant river by that name. There is a town called Sherman in Texas, though, not far south of the Red River (it's almost due north of Dallas). There is also a Sherman Peak in Colorado, southwest of Denver; it has no connection with the Red River that I can see. - RBW
File: R730

Red Rocking Chair

See Sugar Baby (Red Rocking Chair; Red Apple Juice) (File: ADR82)

Red Rocks of Bell Isle, The

DESCRIPTION: A Bell Island man is found wounded in a battle in which the Germans are defeated. He thinks of home and has a message to be carried to his mother and sweetheart at Wabana. "It's down with Adolph Hitler, God save our gracious King!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Lehr/Best)
KEYWORDS: war dying patriotic soldier
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lehr/Best 93, "The Red Rocks of Bell Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Wabana is on Bell Island in Conception Bay, not far from St John's. - BS
File: LeBe093

Red Rose Top, The

See The Seeds of Love (File: K167)

Red Rosy Bush

See Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove) (File: Wa097)

Red Sea

DESCRIPTION: "When Moses was leading the Israelites, Red Sea, Pharaoh tried to catch them just for spite, Red Sea. Oh, Pharaoh he got drowned...." The remaining verses are about Jesus and how he cares for and takes away the sins of the poor
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious disaster death
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 629, "Red Sea" (1 short text, with one stanza printed under #629 and the rest under #610!)
MWheeler, p. 70-71, "Red Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10021
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep" (lyrics)
NOTES: It's possible that this is a much-evolved version of "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep"; they have lyrics in common and are both about the Exodus (at least in their first verses). But they had separated enough that I would consider them separate songs.
It's worth noting that the Bible does not say that Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) -- though it doesn't say he wasn't, either. Exodus 14:27-28 reads "the Egyptians fled [into the sea], and YHWH scattered the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered Pharaoh's chariots and horesemen and all his army that had followed [the Israelites] into the sea; not one of them survived." - RBW
File: MWhee070

Red Wing (I)

DESCRIPTION: Red Wing, "a pretty little Indian maid," is in love with a brave, but he has died in battle. "Now the moon shines down on pretty Red Wing... So far beneath the stars her love is sleeping, While Red Wing's weeping her heart away."
AUTHOR: Kerry Mills and Thurland Chattaway
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) death battle
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 50, "Red Wing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 39, pp. 207-210, "Red Wing" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text is "Red Wing (I)" while the "B" text is one of the bawdy parodies)
DT, REDWNG*
Roud #4784
RECORDINGS:
George W. Ballard & chorus "Red Wing" (CYL: Everlasting 1150, n.d.)
Homer Christopher & Raney Van Vink, "Red Wing" (OKeh 45097, 1927)
Dudley & McDonough "Red Wing" (Victor 17233, 1912)
Redd Evans & his Billy Boys, "Red Wing" (OKeh 4836, 1923)
Fox Chasers, "Red Wing" (OKeh 45477, 1930)
Frankie & Johnny, "Red Wing" (Conqueror 7976, 1932)
Buell Kazee, "Red Wing" (Brunswick 210, 1928; Supertone S-2057, 1930 [as Buell Kazee & Sookie Hobbs])
Kendall & Kelly, "Red Wing" (Chamption 15582, 1928)
Fred Potter, "Red Wing, An Indian Fable" (CYL: Edison [BA] 541, n.d.)
Frederick H. Potter w. the New York Military Band, "Red Wing" (CYL: Edison [BA] 1543, c. 1912)
Riley Puckett, "Red Wing" (Columbia 15226-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
George Reneau, "Red Wing" (Vocalion 14896, 1924)
Walter Scanlan, "Red Wing" (Edison 52063, 1927)
[Frank] Stanley & [Henry] Burr "Red Wing" (Columbia 3681, 1907; Columbia A468, 1909) (CYL: Albany 1366, n.d.) (CYL: Columbia 33163, prob. 1907) (Standard 3681, n.d.)
Stone Mountain Entertainers [Blue Ridge Highballers], "Red Wing" (Broadway 8159, c. 1930; rec. 1927)
Floyd Thompson & his Hometowners "Red Wing" (Vocalion 5331, c. 1929)
Frank Welling & John McGhee "Red Wing" (Conqueror 7976, 1932)
Art Wenzel & his Ragtime Cowboys, "Red Wing" (Pan Am 027, n.d.)
Male duet, "Red Wing" (Busy Bee A-128, c. 1907)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Wing (II)"
cf. "Union Maid" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Red Wing (II) (File: EM214)
Union Maid (by Woody Guthrie) (Greenway-AFP, p. 300; Silber-FSWB, p. 132; DT, UNIONMD; recordings on on Almanac4, PeteSeeger01, PeteSeeger41, PeteSeeger48)
(Charlie Chaplin parody) (Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 211-212; see under "Red Wing (II"))
File: FCW050

Red Wing (II)

DESCRIPTION: Red Wing, the unafraid Indian maid, allows the cowboys intimacies, until she is made pregnant.
AUTHOR: original version by Kerry Mills and Thurland Chattaway
EARLIEST DATE: original version copyright 1907
KEYWORDS: bawdy parody whore childbirth Indians(Am.) derivative
FOUND IN: Australia US(MW,Ro,So,SW)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Cray, pp. 214-216, "Red Wing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 566-570, "Red Wing" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 212, "Redwings" (sic) (1 tune, which Meredith et al seem to associate with the bawdy version)
Logsdon 39, pp. 207-210, "Red Wing" (2 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text is "Red Wing (I)" while the "B" text is one of the bawdy parodies)
DT, REDWNG2*
Roud #4784
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Red Wing (I)"
NOTES: As with most bawdy parodies, there may be several elements combined here. Cray's version and most of Randolph's involve the Indian Maid quickly losing that distinction at the hand of cowboys. Meredith/Covell/Brown's fragment of text talks about the ragged clothes of Charlie Chaplin (presumably in his "Little Tramp" role). Logsdon's "B" text has the girl so "afraid some buckaroo would ram it up her flue" that "she crammed it full of sand" to make sure he would not "reach the promised land" -- but it has the Charlie Chaplin chorus. How these elements came to combine, or separate, would need a more detailed study than I am in position to give. - RBW
File: EM215

Red-Haired Man's Wife, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer asks his sweetheart, by letter and in person, to leave her husband. She had sworn fidelity but married the red-haired man instead. She will not "break the command" He offers a way out: "For the Patriarch David had a number of wives"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2188))
KEYWORDS: courting rejection wife husband marriage hair Bible
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
OLochlainn 97, "The Red-Haired Man's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REDWIFE
ADDITIONAL: Bell/O Conchubhair, Traditional Songs of the North of Ireland, pp. 60-62, "Bean an Fhir Rua" ("The Red-Haired Man's Wife") [Gaelic and English] (1 text, 1 tune)
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 232-233, "The Red Man's Wife" (1 text, translated by Douglas Hyde)
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 128-129, "The Red Man's Wife" (1 text, translated by Douglas Hyde)
Roud #3046
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2188), "The Red Haired Man's Wife," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844; also Firth b.25(347), Harding B 26(564), Firth c.18(83), "The Red Haired Man's Wife"; 2806 c.16(206), 2806 b.9(113), Harding B 25(1603)[some words illegible], "The Red Hair'd Man's Wife"
NOTES: According to Milner and Kaplan, A Bonny Bunch of Roses, this is based on a Gaelic song, Bean An Fhir Ruaidh.
The argument that the Patriarch David was repeatedly married has its problems. There is the nitpicky one that, based on the standard definition, he was not a Patriarch; they preceded the Judges, and David was after.
More to the point, while David had many wives, and they produced many sons, the sons fought over the inheritance; eventually the oldest three died at the hands of their relatives. Solomon, the survivor, also took many wives, but they "turned away his heart after other gods" (2 Kings 11:3). Indeed, when David died, one of the wives (Bathsheeba) manipulated David to put her son Solomon on the throne (1 Kings 1:11-40), even though he was to prove unfit for the job. So multiple wives seem to have been rather bad news.
Various others in the Bible had multiple wives, but the only significant patriarch to have multiple wives *simultaneously* was Jacob, who had two wives (Rachel and Leah) and two concubines, who collectively gave birth to the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
I know of no instance whatsoever of a wife in the Bible with multiple husbands. Unless you count the Woman of Samaria, anyway (John 4:16-19); Jesus said that she had had five husbands and was apparently cohabiting with a sixth man. But this was presumably sequential marriage -- and Jesus pretty clearly disapproved.
There is one interesting sidelight: Recent research seems to indicate that women are most likely to have affairs when they are at the most fertile time of their monthly cycle. The rest of the time, they aren't interested. This is unconscious; the women themselves are not aware of when they are fertile. It just seems to be the urge (found in many apparently monogamous creatures) for the female to get the best male genes. Maybe the singer showed up at the wrong time. Or maybe he was as genetically hopeless as the song makes him sound. - RBW
The song translated from Gaelic in Bell/O Conchubhair is quite different from the "Englished" version. Further, there is a story to be told that sets the stage: "Our song is no simple tale of lust. Fair lad and red-head were apprentices to the rich tailor. His only daughter and the fair lad were in love, betrothed to be married.... The foxy boy stole some silver knives of the tailor's and hid them in his rival's baggage [cf. Genesis 44]. Discovered. Three years in gaol. Came out to find his love married to the rogue." Now the song starts in either version; in the Gaelic he has no answer from her but the outcome is likely the same.
Hoagland's version follows the story told in Bell/O Conchubhair commentary. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: OLoc097

Red, White, and Blue

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

Red, White, and Red, The

DESCRIPTION: The Confederate soldiers proudly boast of their new flag, "The Red, White, and Red!" They promise the guard their land, and proclaim, "They never will subdue us, that you will see. While there's Davis, Bragg, Beauregard, Johnson, and Lee...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar patriotic bragging
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 10, 1861 - Battle of Big Bethel. Although trivial in size (some 6000 troops engaged, casualties totalling about 110), it was the first land battle of the war. Federal troops under Benjamin Butler ("Old Picayune," almost certainly the worst general of the war) were easily defeated by Confederates under John Bankhead Magruder
Nov. 8, 1861 - The Trent Affair (The Mason and Slidell Affair): The two Confederate diplomats are taken off the Trent by Captain Charles Wilkes of the San Jacinto in clear violation of the then-current international policy regarding neutral rights
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Warner 22, "The Red, White, and Red" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 223, "On the Plains of Manassas" (1 text, with a stray reference to Manassas but otherwise this song)
BrownIII 375, "The Red, White, and Red" (3 texts; the "A" text, with mentions of Mason and Slidell and Manassas, seems to be a later, expanded version)
ST Wa022 (Partial)
Roud #769
NOTES: This song is item dA36 in Laws's Appendix II.
Among the figures mentioned in this song are:
Magruder - John Bankhead Magruder, winner at Big Bethel, set aside after the Peninsula campaign
Old Picayune - Benjamin F. Butler, a complete military incompetent who always kept his job because of his Republican political connections. He seems to have been given his nickname after a (female) character in a minstrel song, Picayune Butler
Davis - Jefferson Davis, Confederate president (at this time still a provisional president)
Bragg - Braxton Bragg, at the time of Big Bethel a general commanding part of the southern coast. He later was appointed commander of the Army of Tennessee
Beauregard - P.G.T. Beauregard, who had directed the bombardment at Fort Sumter and later held field command at First Bull Run (though his later career was not overly successful)
Johnson - almost certainly an error, either for Albert Sidney Johnston (first commander of the Tennessee army, killed at Shiloh) or Joseph E. Johnston, who preceded Lee in command in northern Virginia and held a succession of later posts
Lee - Robert E. Lee (who did not achieve a significant command in the Confederate army until 1862)
Stonewall - Thomas "Stonewall": Jackson, at the time of Big Bethel commanding a small force near Harper's Ferry but destined to command a famous brigade at First Bull Run and, of course, become Lee's chief subordinate and a southern legend.
"The Mason and Slidell Affair": James Mason and John Slidell were Confederate diplomats who were bound for London and Paris, were on the British ship Trent when it was stopped by the U. S. S. San Jacinto commanded by Charles Wilkes. Wilkes took off the diplomats, prompting a furor. Washington eventually gave in to British and French pressure and sent Mason and Slidell on to their destinations.
McCulloch: Ben McCulloch, a general in the west, one of the co-commanders at Wilson's Creek, killed at Pea Ridge. Despite the song, he never gave evidence of enough competence to truly frighten the Yankees, and he never was sole commander at a major battle. - RBW
File: Wa022

Redbird and Jaybird

DESCRIPTION: "The jaybird sat on the redbird's nest. The redbird sat and mourned." Verses about the birds and their lives, with additional (floating?) material about partridges pulling a plow, a man riding a goose across a creek, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: bird courting
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 154, "Redbird and Jaybird" (2 texts; "A" appears to be mixed and "B" is a fragment)
NOTES: Although the older of Brown's two sources lists the redbird as sitting on the jaybird's nest, the newer version, in which the jaybird moves in on the cardinal, is almost certainly correct. Jays are related to crows, and will make off with other birds' eggs. - RBW
File: Br3154

Redemption Song, The

DESCRIPTION: Adam and Eve squander "the heritage of heaven." Christ confounds the sages in the temple, heals the sick, shares "the Pasch," is crucified, rises and "redeemed us all." "We're safe from Satan's wrath." "That will lead us home to Heaven and our Salvation"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: death religious Jesus Bible
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 47-48, "The Redemption Song" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bean Dubh an Ghleanna" (tune, according to Tunney-StoneFiddle)
File: TSF047

Redesdale and Wise William [Child 246]

DESCRIPTION: Redesdale tells William that he can win any woman's favor "wi ae blink o my ee." William bets his head against Redesdale's lands that Redesdale cannot win his sister. Redesdale courts the sister, fails to win her (though he burns down her house)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: courting sex gambling virtue wager
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 246, "Redesdale and Wise William" (3 texts)
Bronson 246, "Redesdale and Wise William" (1 version, properly associated with "Johnnie Cock")
Roud #243
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fiddler's Bitch" (plot)
cf. "The Twa Knights" (plot)
File: C246

Redwings

See Red Wing (II); also Red Wing (I) (File: EM214)

Reedy Lagoon, The

DESCRIPTION: "The sweet scented wattle sheds perfume around Delighting the bird and the bee, While I lie and take rest in my fern-covered nest." The rambler relaxes and thinks back on the friends and the girl he has left behind. He misses them, but cares little
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964
KEYWORDS: rambling Australia separation
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Manifold-PASB, pp. 144-145, "The Reedy Lagoon" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REEDYLAG*
File: PASB144

Reedy River

DESCRIPTION: "Ten miles down Reedy River, a pool of water lies, And all the year it mirrors the changes in the skies." The singer recalls riding with Mary Campbell to the pool. They build a homestead. But now "The wattle blossoms golden above my Mary's grave."
AUTHOR: Words: Henry Lawson (1867-1922) / Music: Chris Kempster
EARLIEST DATE: 1981 (recording, Bok/Trickett/Muir)
KEYWORDS: love courting river death burial racing farming
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, REEDYRIV
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 42, #1 (1997), p, 27, "Reedy River" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is pretty definitely not traditional, but now well enough known among folkies that I included this entry as a placeholder to say it's not traditional. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: DTreedri

Reeling Song

See Linktem Blue (Reeling Song) (File: FlBr034)

Reform and Whigs

DESCRIPTION: A wife complains of politics which has driven her husband "clean dementit." He has no time for work "to save us frae starvation" for worrying about the nation's problems. She begs him "Leave them wha can to mak' the laws ... lat the nation look to itsel"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: nonballad political husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 596, "Reform and Whigs" (1 text)
Roud #6046
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Quaker's Wife" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
File: GrD3596

Regimental Song

See Katie Cruel (The Leeboy's Lassie; I Know Where I'm Going) (File: SBoA050)

Regular Army-O, The

DESCRIPTION: The volunteer joined the army three years ago, and has been suffering every since under "Sergeant John McCafferty and Corporal Donahue" as well as "forty miles a day on beans and hay." Captured by Indians, the soldiers at last escape army life
AUTHOR: Harrington and Hart?
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: soldier army warning abuse
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Dean, p. 67, "The Regular Army, Oh" (1 text)
Lomax-FSNA 177, "The Regular Army-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, REGARMY*
Roud #4747
File: LoF177

Regular Army, Oh, The

See The Regular Army-O (File: LoF177)

Reid Hoose

DESCRIPTION: "Reid Hoose it is a fairm toon It stands upon a knowe Ye maybe ken the fairmer o't For he's a muckle yewe."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 362, "Reid Hoose" (1 fragment)
Roud #5905
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan3 fragment. - BS
I have a feeling this is built upon "The Earl of Errol" [Child 231] or one of its metrical offspring, but there is no evidence of this except the form of the GreigDuncan fragment. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3362

Reid's Express

DESCRIPTION: "You'll get on board of Reid's Express to travel the icy rail" to the station at Badger Brook and lumber "just like a slave... 'twill carry you to your grave." "When I gets home no more I'll roam and the lumbering woods I'll shun."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: lumbering hardtimes logger
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 757-758, "Reid's Express" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9800
NOTES: Badger Brook, later Badger, is not far from Bonavista Bay on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. - BS
File: Pea757

Reidh-chnoc Mna Sidhe (Dark Fairy Rath, The)

DESCRIPTION: The singer "in search of my love" meets her and is warned. "'Touch me not, and approach me not near; I belong to this Rath, and the Fairy host here.'" He tries to hold her but she disappears.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1884 (Mangan's translation _Poets and Poetry of Munster,_ according to OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: courting magic supernatural
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OLochlainn-More 43, "The Dark Fairy Rath" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "The original Gaelic of this song is attributed to George Roberts about whom, if he existed, nothing is known" (source: OLochlainn-More). - BS
In the earliest known phase of Irish mythology, the Sidhe (Aes Sidhe, the People of the Hills) were the remnants of the Tuatha De Danaan, who had been defeated and driven underground by the Celtic invaders. Later the name came to be used of any generic fairy or sprite -- but the first sense may have more meaning in context.
A rath was the Irish name for a fortification or earthwork. - RBW
File: OLcM043

Reilly the Fisherman

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

Reilly's Daughter

See O'Reilly's Daughter (File: EM101)

Reilly's Farewell

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

Reily's Jailed

See William (Willie) Riley (Riley's Trial) [Laws M10] (File: LM10)

Rejected Lover, The [Laws P10]

DESCRIPTION: The girl tells the singer not to return; she prefers freedom to marriage. She later changes her mind; he is no longer interested. She warns others against her mistake
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection loneliness
FOUND IN: Irelan US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws P10, "The Rejected Lover"
JHCoxIIB, #15, pp. 155-156, "You Can't Come Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 91, "Servant Man" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 145, "You Can't Come Again" (1 short text)
SharpAp 109, "The Rejected Lover" (10 texts, 10 tunes, but version "A" is actually a mishmosh of floaters including "Who will shoe..." and "A-roving on a winter's night...")
Darling-NAS, pp. 136-137, "The Rejected Lover" (1 text)
SHenry H589, p. 344, "The Rejected Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 495, REJCTLVR*
Roud #412
RECORDINGS:
Eddie and Gracie Butcher, "Don't Come Again" (on IREButcher01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nancy (I)" [Laws P11] (plot)
cf. "Nancy (II) [Laws P12] (theme)
cf. "The Slighted Suitor" (plot)
cf. "Braes of Strathblane" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Alexander
NOTES: The notes to Henry/Huntington/Herrmann question the connection between their "Rejected Lover" song and Laws P10. They have a point; there isn't much lyric similarity. The plots are alike, however, and the form -- and the two are so widely separated in space that great divergences are possible. Plus there are almost no other versions clearly associated with the Henry text. It seemed easier to lump them.
The Henry text contains several odd Biblical allusions. First, "I'll travel to Mount Nebo, where Moses viewed the Ark." This is patently absurd. Mount Nebo is in Moab, many hundreds of kilometres from Urartu (Ararat), the resting place of the Ark. What Moses saw from Mount Nebo was the future homeland of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 34:1-5).
Equally strange is the reference to Mount Ararat as the place "where Noah did embark." The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (plural! -- Genesis 8:4). But there is no reason to think he started there.
There are several mysteries about this song. Laws lists only the texts from Sharp, ignoring Brown and the various references there. The notes in Brown don't help; they link it with "The Lonesome (Stormy) Scenes of Winter" [Laws H12] -- which it may have influenced, but which is clearly not the same song.
Cox's and Fuson's versions seem to form a subgroup (which may even be an independent song which has mixed with this one), marked by the steady use of the title line "(You/I) (can't/need not) come again." Both versions, though rather defective, stress an exchange of letters (perhaps the young man has joined the army?); this may have been imported from "A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.)" [Laws P9]. - RBW
File: LP10

Relief of Derry, The

DESCRIPTION: "Dartmouth spreads her snow-white sail, Her purple pennant flying O: While we the gallant Browning hail, Who saved us all from dying" [Mountjoy] rams the blockade and seems stranded -- "we mourned our falling city" -- but "a favouring gale" frees it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (OrangeLark)
KEYWORDS: battle rescue death Ireland patriotic food
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jul 28, 1689 - Browning's ships break the 105 day seige of Derry (source: Kilpatrick [see Notes])
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OrangeLark 8, "The Relief of Derry" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shutting of the Gates of Derry" (subject: the siege of Derry) and references there
NOTES: On July 28, 1689 three ships -- Mountjoy, Dartmouth, and Phoenix -- on the Foyle broke the seige bringing food; captain of the Mountjoy was Michael Browning, who was killed in the battle. (source: Cecil Kilpatrick, "The Seige of Derry: A City of Refuge" at the Canada-Ulster Heritage site) - BS
File: OrLa008

Religion Is the Best of All

DESCRIPTION: "Oh it's come along fathers And don't you want to go, And join that happy company That's going on before." Chorus: "Religion is the best of all (x3), I feel it in my soul." Continues for mothers, brothers, sisters, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 656, "Religion Is the Best of All" (1 text)
Roud #7579
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Am Going to Heaven" (lyrics)
File: R656

Religion So Sweet (I)

DESCRIPTION: "O walk Jordan long road, And religion so sweet. O religion is good for anything, And religion so sweet." "Religion makes you happy." "O member, get religion." "O I gwine to meet my savior." "I seek my Lord and I find him."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 13, "Religion So Sweet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11847
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Religion So Sweet (II)" (lyrics)
File: AWG013A

Religion So Sweet (II)

DESCRIPTION: Baptizing song/sermon: "Let's go down to Jurdon (x2)... De ol' ribber Jurdon is mighty deep, but 'ligion is so sweet." The candidates are told of the benefits of baptism, told that Jesus requires it, and reminded of the "sweetness" of religion
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Lomax-ABFS)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 582-583, "'Ligion So Sweet" (1 text)
Roud #11061
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Religion So Sweet (I)" (lyrics)
File: LxA582

Religious Use of Taking Tobacco, A

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

Remember A, Remember B

DESCRIPTION: "Remember A, remember B, But first of all, remember me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 232, (third of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
NOTES: This sounds like something from a greeting card to me, but Henry presents it as a fragment of a song, so we index it. Even though the above sentence is longer than Henry's fragment.... - RBW
File: MHAp232E

Remember Me

DESCRIPTION: The singer's ship is ready to sail. He hopes his sweetheart and old Ireland boys will remember him. They spend the night drinking together and he sails away. He bids Killarney farewell. "Alas my friends I am away, Here's my hand but you have my heart"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 19C (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 26(567))
KEYWORDS: love emigration farewell sea ship Ireland nonballad friend drink
FOUND IN:
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(567), "Remember Me" ("Our ship is ready to sajl [sic] away"), P. Brereton (Dublin), c.1867; also 2806 c.8(216), 2806 b.9(3), 2806 c.8(290), "Remember Me"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Our Ship Sails Ready to Sail Away" (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: BdRemMeI

Remember Me Early

DESCRIPTION: "Remember me early, remember me late, Remember the night we swang on the garden gate."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Mrs. Henry C. Gray, or her maid)
KEYWORDS: nonballad courting
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 239, (no title) (1 short text)
File: MHAp239A

Remember the Barley Straw

See Davy Faa (Remember the Barley Straw) (File: K188)

Remember the Glories of Brian the Brave

DESCRIPTION: "Remember the glories of Brian the brave... To light us to victory yet." Tell the invading Danes that we prefer "to bleed for an age ... than to sleep but a moment in chains." Do not let those that died "upon Ossory's plain" have fallen in vain
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST DATE: 1846 (_Irish Melodies_ by Thomas Moore, according to Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: battle nonballad patriotic Ireland
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Apr 23, 1014 - Battle of Clontarf. Victory and death of Brian Boru
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, p. 48, "Brian the Brave" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859), Vol I, p. 111, "Brian the Brave"
Roud #12820
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 26(75), "Brian the Brave", The Poet's Box (Belfast), 1846-1852; also Harding B 15(33a), "Brian the Brave"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Brien the Brave
NOTES: Brian Boru (Bóruma), born c. 1042, became king of Munster after the murder of his brother Mathgamain in 976, and then set out to become High King of Ireland. By about 1002, he was recognized as such by most major Irish lords.
Although Brian's enemies are called Danes in the song, in fact they were Viking raiders allied with rebels from Leinster. The two sides met at the Battle of Clontarf, on Good Friday 1014, and Brian's Munster forces were victorious though he was slain. In practice, that was a defeat for Brian, since it ended the fragile Irish unity. The Vikings did go away, for the most part -- but that was more because Swein Forkbeard and his son Canute were conquering England than anything else. - RBW, (BS)
File: OCon048

Remember the Poor

DESCRIPTION: "Cold winter is coming with his keen cutting breath...." With the fields barren and the cold coming on, the listeners are urged to remember the poor. This is urged both because the listeners have something to spare and because it is the Christian thing
AUTHOR: Words: John Fielding / Music: H. T. Dyring (source: broadside LOCSheet, sm1877 01347)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1826 (broadside Harding B 11(843))
KEYWORDS: poverty help religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Warner 161, "The Snow Is on the Ground" (1 field text plus a songster version, 1 tune)
ST Wa161 (Partial)
Roud #1121
BROADSIDES:
Harding B 11(843), "Remember the Poor," Angus (Newcastle), 1774-1825
LOCSheet, sm1877 01347, "Always Remember the Poor", [publisher illegible] (Jersey City), 1877
Murray, Mu23-y1:079, "Remember the Pooor," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Cold Winter is Coming
File: Wa161

Remember the Poor Tramp Has to Live

DESCRIPTION: Singer, a tramp, tells how hard his life is, asks for understanding. Chorus ends "Remember that the poor tramp has to live"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Walter Morris)
KEYWORDS: poverty rambling begging hardtimes hobo
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 351-354, "The Poor Tramp Has to Live" (1 text plus a broadside print, 1 tune)
BrownIII 357, "The Tramp Song" (1 text, a noticeably defective transcription)
Roud #11720
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Singers, "The Tramp Song" (Columbia 15647-D, 1931; rec. 1930)
Dock Boggs, "Railroad Tramp" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
Walter Morris, "The Railroad Tramp" (Columbia 15101-D, 1926)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "The Poor Tramp Has to Live" (matrix GEX 493-A recorded 1927, released 1927-1928 as: Herwin 75535 [as by Stoneman], Gennett 6044 [as by Ernest V. Stoneman and his Graysen County Boys], Challenge 324/Challenge 398/Champion 15233 [all as by Uncle Jim Seaney], Challenge 244/Silvertone 5001/Silvertone 8155/Silvertone 25001/Supertone 9255 [all as by Uncle Ben Hawkins]); "The Poor Tramp" (Victor 20672, 1927); Ernest V. Stoneman and His Dixie Mountaineers, "Remember the Poor Tramp Has to Live" (Edison, unissued, 1928); Ernest Stoneman [and Eddie Stoneman], "Broke Down Section Hand" (Vocalion 02655, 1934)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Tramp (II)" (plot)
cf. "The Tramp's Story" (plot)
NOTES: Boggs states he learned the song from a recording in the late 1920s, but as he doesn't give a name or title I left initially Boggs' recording as the earliest verified to date.
The Walter Morris recording is placed here tentatively; if it can be verified as this song, it would constitute the earliest verified appearance. - PJS
(John Green of Tennessee, who had access to a copy, tells me that it is "The Poor Tramp," so the date has been updated.)
I don't know what Boggs's source was, but Ernest V. Stoneman and the Stoneman Family recorded this on several occasions, the first in 1927. It appears possible that the Brown version (which comes from a manuscript collection) predates this, but unfortunately this is one of the many undated items in the collection; we don't even know when Brown received the manuscript.
The first appearance of the song Cohen could find was a Wehman broadside, apparently in print by 1886; it lists Billy Kearney as the author, and the tune as "True As Steel." It is very different from the Stoneman text and doesn't even mention railroads. I'd call them recensionally different -- perhaps even separate songs -- and so leave the Stoneman recording as the earliest date, subject to Paul's caveat about the Morris recording. - RBW
File: RcRtPTHL

Remember Well and Don't Forget

DESCRIPTION: "Remember well and don't forget, You have a friend that loves you yet."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love friend
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 231, (first of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
File: MHAp231A

Reminiscences

See Titles of Songs (Song of Songs, Song of All Songs, Song of Song Titles) (File: R515)

Remon

DESCRIPTION: (Creole) French: "Mo parle Remon, Remon, Le parle Simon, Simon, Le parle Titine, Titine, Li tombe dans chagrin. O femme Romulus! O belle femme Romulus! O femme Romulus! O belle femme que ca voule mo faile!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 110, "Remon" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, p. 215, "Remon" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LxA215

Removal of Napoleon's Ashes, The

DESCRIPTION: At Waterloo Napoleon was forced to yield. Marie Louisa wept and cursed the gold that bribed "False Grouchy." A monument is erected in Paris "to contain the ashes of his heart, And every Frenchman that passes by respectfully a tribute pays"
AUTHOR: John Morgan (source: broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(116), Harding B 13(205), Harding B 11(3256), Curzon b.41(63) and Harding B 15(256a))
EARLIEST DATE: before 1856 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(116)); c.1845 (broadside NLScotland L.C.1270(016)) [see Notes]
KEYWORDS: battle separation betrayal France wife Napoleon
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
December 15, 1840 - Napoleon's ashes are returned to Les Invalides in Paris (source: "Hotel des Invalides" on Travel Channel site)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 206, "Napoleon Bonaparte" (2 texts, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(116), "Ashes of Napoleon," J. Cadman (Manchester), 1850-1855; also Harding B 15(256a), Firth b.34(197), "[The: Removal of Napoleon's Ashes"; Harding B 11(117), "The Ashes of Napoleon"; Harding B 13(205), Curzon b.41(63) [many words are difficult to read], Harding B 11(3256), "The Removal of Napoleon Buonaparte's Ashes"; Firth c.16(100), "Napoleon's Remains"; 2806 c.15(105), Harding B 19(14), "The Removal of the Remains of Napoleon, from St. Helena"
LOCSinging, as111620, "Removal of Napoleon's Ashes," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.1270(016), "The Ashes of Napoleon," James Kay (Glasgow), c.1845
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wheels of the World" (for the charge that Grouchy betrayed Napoleon)
cf. "Napoleon Bonaparte (III)" (for the charge that Grouchy betrayed Napoleon)
cf. "The Royal Eagle" (subject: Marie Louisa's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "The New Bunch of Loughero" (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
cf. "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)" (theme: Marie Louise's grief for Napoleon)
NOTES: The commentary for broadside NLScotland L.C.1270(016) states "James Kay worked in Glasgow as printer during the mid-1840s." - BS
Emmanuel Grouchy (1766-1847) commanded one of the wings of Napoleon's army in the Waterloo campaign, and his failure to arrive at Waterloo may have cost Napoleon the battle. The charge that he betrayed Napoleon occurs also in "Napoleon Bonaparte (III)" (see that song for a discussion) and in "The Wheels of the World," but there is no reason whatsoever to believe that it is true.
Although the conceit is common in folk song, there is even less reason to think that Marie Lousia of Austria grieved for him, since she became involved with other men before he was even dead. (See the notes to "Saint Helena (Boney on the Isle of St. Helena)"; also "The Royal Eagle" and "The New Bunch of Loughero") - RBW
File: Moyl206

Report on the Condition of Locomotive #7

DESCRIPTION: "Thunder Lake Lumber Company, Rhinelander, Wisconsin" has an englne so bad that "the cylinders are oval where they ought to be round." Heating her up meant "every seam leaked and at every spot." But "she's a d-- good engine for the shape she's in."
AUTHOR: attirbuted to "'George Smith,' Engineer"
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Gard/Sorden)
KEYWORDS: railroading humorous derivative
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Robert E. Gard and L. G. Sorden, _Wisconsin Lore: Antics and Anecdotes of Wisconsin People and Places_, Wisconsin House, 1962, pp. 90-91, "Report on the Condition of Locomotive #7" (1 text)
NOTES: Most of this can be sung to the tune of "Casey Jones," which I assume was the source. The first two lines, about the Thunder Lake company, may have been a patch-on to an earlier song (and might be the only contribution of the anonymous "George Smith" to whom Gard/Sodern attribute the piece). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GaSor089

Requiem for the Croppies

DESCRIPTION: "The pockets of our greatcoats full of barley," the croppies fought with pikes and would "stampede cattle into infantry." "Until, on Vinegar Hill, the fatal conclave.... And in August the barley grew up out of the grave"
AUTHOR: Seamus Heaney (1939-) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 2000 (Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle death burial
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 21, 1798 - The Wexford rebels are defeated at Vinegar Hill
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 141, "Requiem for the Croppies" (1 text)
File: Moyl141

Restless Dead, The

See The Unquiet Grave [Child 78] (File: C078)

Resurrected Sweetheart, The

See The Unquiet Grave [Child 78] (File: C078)

Resurrection Morn, The

DESCRIPTION: "O run, Mary, run, Hallelu, hallelu, O run, Mary, run, Hallelujah!" "It was early in the morning." "That she went to the sepulchre." "And the Lord he wasn't da." "But she see a man a-comin'." "And she thought he was the gardener...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus resurrection Easter Bible
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 54, "The Resurrection Morn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12014
NOTES: Tthis is a pretty close paraphrase of John 20:1-17, though interpreted in the light of the other gospels
* Mary (Magdalene) came to the tomb early on Sunday morning (John 20:1)
* The tomb was empty (John 20:2, though this does not use the word "empty"; as a matter of fact, none of the gospels use the word "empty" to describe the tomb!
* "She thought he was the gardener": John 20:15 (though John never says that Mary saw Jesus approach)
* "Oh touch me not": John 20:17
* "For I am not yet ascended": John 20:17
* "Tell to my disciples": John 20:17 again, though the word used in the Bible is not "disciples" but "brothers" (which, in Christian context, is probably to be read as "comrades, members of the Church"). The King James Bible translates this properly; the use of the word "disciples" is probably a memory of Matt 28:19 or some such
* "That the Lord is arisen": This is the one phrase in the song with no real ties to John; Jesus says in 20:17 that he is *ascending*, but that presumably means ascending to heaven.
* "So run, Mary, run": Mary runs to Peter and the Beloved Disciple in John 20:2; she does not run in 20:18, but merely comes/goes (same word in Greek). Close enough, though. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG054

Resurrection, The

See Free Salvation (The Resurrection) (File: FSC079)

Retour du Mari Soldat, Le

See Brave Marin (Brave Sailor) (File: LeBe013)

Retour du Marin, Le

See Brave Marin (Brave Sailor) (File: LeBe013)

Return of Charlie Horse, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer is spending an evening at Mahers and steps out for some air. Looking over Angel Pond, he sees the ghost of Charlie horse. When the mist closes in the singer loses sight of Charlie and goes back inside to tell the boys.
AUTHOR: Omar Blondahl
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Blondahl)
KEYWORDS: horse ghost
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Blondahl, pp. 20-21, "The Return of Charlie Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Concerning Charlie Horse" (tune, chorus, subject and references there)
File: Blon020

Return of Pat Molloy

DESCRIPTION: Molloy returns to Dublin after four years in America and is stopped by "a castle-hack" who accuses him of being a Fenian. He is, but he has returned with money to take Molly and his mother to America. He and Molly marry and all move to New York.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1879 (broadside, LOCSinging as111690)
KEYWORDS: marriage emigration return reunion America Ireland patriotic money
FOUND IN: Ireland
RECORDINGS:
Brigid Tunney, "Wee Paddy Molloy" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
Paddy Tunney, "Paddy Molloy" (on IRPTunney02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pat Malloy" [Laws Q24] (character of Pat Malloy/Molloy)
NOTES: Notes to IRPTunney02: "This is a song linked with the Fenian Rising of 1867. Many of the Fenians learned their soldiering in America during the Civil War and then returned to Ireland to fight their own battle."
Broadside LOCSinging as111690, which is longer than Paddy Tunney's version on IRPTunney02, is the basis for the description.
Broadside LOCSinging as111690: 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.
Broadside LOCSinging as111690 includes the note "Sung, with unbounded applause, by William H. Lindsey."- BS
Most scholars don't seem to link this to Laws Q24, "Pat Malloy," though Laws notes a sequel to that ballad, 'Molly's Welcome to Pat Malloy." But in Laws Q24, we learn that Pat is in love with Molly, that he goes to America, and that he returns home at the end. This is a clear sequel to those events -- possibly a political rewrite, given the mention of the Fenians.
The Fenians were an organization devoted to freeing Ireland. The organization was founded in 1858 by James Stephens, and quickly spread; the British government felt the need to suppress the group in 1865. Stephens and others were taken prisoner; although he escaped, it turned him cautious; he no longer had the nerve to take aggressive action. That pretty well killed the group as an active set of rebels; their attempt at an Irish rebellion failed in 1867. - RBW
File: RcRoPaMo

Returned Soldier, The

DESCRIPTION: French. A couple takes in a passer-by because their son is also a soldier. They worry about the boy. The passer-by reveals that he is their son
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage soldier separation reunion
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 517, "The Returned Soldier" (1 text, reportedly incomplete)
NOTES: Sort of a Riley ballad, only with the parents rather than the lover being the ones fooled. - RBW
File: Beld517A

Reuben and Rachel

DESCRIPTION: Rachel speculates to Reuben about "What a good world this would be If the men were all transported Far beyond the northern sea." Reuben, shocked, tries to fathom the idea; at last he offers marriage. Rachel accepts
AUTHOR: Words: Harry Birch / Music: William Gooch
EARLIEST DATE: 1871
KEYWORDS: dialog transportation courting love humorous marriage
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 180-183, "Reuben and Rachel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 460, "Reuben and Rachel"
Silber-FSWB, p. 345, "Reuben, Reuben" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 86, "Reuben, Reuben" (1 text)
DT, REUBRACH*
ST RJ19180 (Full)
Roud #15451
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Winnipeg Whore" (tune)
cf. "The Swede from North Dakota" (tune)
File: RJ19180

Reuben James

DESCRIPTION: Describes the sinking of the destroyer "Reuben James" by submarines off the coast of Iceland, the loss of 100 men [and the rescue of 44]. Chorus: "What were their names, tell me what were their names/Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?"
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie & Pete Seeger w. the Almanac Singers
EARLIEST DATE: November, 1941
KEYWORDS: battle navy war death rescue ship derivative
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Oct. 31, 1941 - U. S. destroyer Reuben James, an old 4-stacker, is the first American ship sunk in World War II.
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
PSeeger-AFB, p. 84, "Reuben James" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie, "Sinking of the Reuben James" (on AmHist2)
Pete Seeger, "Reuben James" (on PeteSeeger41)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Reuben James" (on SeegerTerry)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wildwood Flower" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Sinking of the Reuben James
NOTES: There is some dispute over the authorship of this song; most alumni of the Almanac Singers say that Guthrie wrote the verses, Seeger added the chorus, but Seeger insists that other members of the group also contributed lyrics. - PJS
The Reuben James was one of the the four-stack destroyers built by the U.S. Navy in the period 1917-1920, and was of the class that was "lent" to Britain, although Reuben James was not one of the ships transferred.
The ship was a member of the Clemson class (Bruce/Cogar, p. 306), which (according to Jane's, p. 144) were 310 feet long, 31 feet wide. Figures as to her displacement vary; Bruce/Cogar, p. 306, says 1190 tons; Paine, p. 430, 1090 tons; Jane's says the class was 1215 tons as designed. All sources agree she was completed in 1920, making her pretty old and tired by 1941. She was initially fitted with four 4" guns and four 21" torpedo tubes; her speed when new was 35 knots. She would of course have undergone some refits in the period between the two wars, and was almost certainly somewhat slower than her 1920 speed. She was named for the man who saved Stephen Decatur's life when both were serving on the Intrepid (Paine, p. 430).
In the period between the wars, she was frequently involved in United States interventions in Latin America (Paine, p. 430), then spent 1934-1939 in the Pacific before returning to duties in the Atlantic.
At the time of her sinking, she was commanded by Lt. Commander H. L. Edwards (Morison, p. 37). She was based at Hvalafjordur, Iceland, and she sank while escorting convoy HX-156 from Argentia, Newfoundland (Paine, p. 430).
It will be noted that the Reuben James was sunk five weeks *before* the United States officially joined the Second World War (Bruce/Cogar, p. 306). By this time, however, the U.S. Navy was unofficially escorting convoys to Britain. (Officially the navy was to take actions "short of war." But, as Morison observes on p.37, "'short of war' was not so very short for the Atlantic Fleet.") While U.S. ships normally did not sink submarines, they helped the British track them. What's more, the U.S.S. Greer had actually fired on a German submarine (U-652) on September 4 (Morison, p. 36). Thus German action against U.S. ships was not unjustified.
The Reuben James was not the first U.S. naval vessel to be attacked by the Germans in World War II. Apart from the incident between the Greer and U-652, the destroyer U.S.S. Kearny was damaged on October 17, and the oiler Salinas was torpedoed on October 30 (Morison, p. 37). When U-562 sank the Reuben James the next day (with a torpedo that blew up a magazine; Paine, p. 430), it was not really much of an escalation -- but it came as a shock to the American people.
Guthrie was correct in saying that 44 men were saved, but the ship's crew, according to Paine, p. 430, totaled 159 (a very full complement; the ships were designed for a crew of about 130), so casualties actually totaled 115.
The sinking of the Reuben James, we must emphasize, did *not* cause the U. S. to go to war (indeed, the U. S. didn't declare war on Germany; Germany declared war instead). Even if it had, Guthrie's confident prediction that American battleships would engage the Germans was short-sighted. Some people say falsely that battleships were useless in World War II -- but while they had their uses, fighting the German navy wasn't one of them. Battleships are useless against submarines, and at the time the Reuben James was sunk, there was not one American battleship fast enough to catch *any* of the handful of German surface ships. It wasn't until the 27.5 knot North Carolina finished fitting out some months later that the U. S. actually had a battleship "mighty" enough (read: fast enough) to fight even against German surface navy. The North Carolina was the first big ship of what Pratt, p. 218, calls the "Roosevelt Navy," which was already adding destroyers and cruisers to the fleet; had peace lasted, the Reuben James would probably have been retired in the next few years. The ironic bottom line: She was far more useful as a symbol of German aggression than as an actual warship.
Although the U. S. did eventually put fast battleships to sea, there was never a serious conflict between major units of the American and German navies. The Germans had only a handful of major warships: The battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gniesenau, the panzerschiff Deutschland/Lutzow, Graf Spee, and Admiral Scheer, and the heavy cruisers Admiral Hipper, Prinz Eugen, and Blucher. (Two other cruisers of this class, Seydlitz and Lutzow, were not completed and never served in the German navy; Paine, p. 66).
The British did most of the work of hunting them down. They sank the Bismark in 1941 before the Americans joined the war (Paine, p. 64). The British forced the Graf Spee to scuttle in 1939 (see "The Sinking of the Graf Spee").
The Tirpitz, Lutzow, and Admiral Scheer were destroyed by British aircraft (Paine, pp. 520, 314, 5). Gneisenau, mined and bombed by the British, was scuttled in 1945 (Paine, p. 211). A British fleet destroyed Scharnhorst in 1943 (Paine, pp. 463-464),
Of the cruisers, Hipper was sunk by British planes (Paine, p. 4), and Blucher was destroyed in the invasion of Norway (Paine, p. 66). Prinz Eugen was the only major German surface vessel to survive the war; it was used in the Bikini nuclear test, and eventually sank as a result of damage sustained (Paine, p. 407).
The last verse of this song as usually sung today ("Many years have passed...") was added by Fred Hellerman.
(And, sadly, we know the answer to Hellerman's question: The worst of men fight because it's an easy way to spread their genes.) - RBW
Bibliography

Bruce/Cogar: Anthony Bruce and William Cogar, An Encyclopedia of Naval History, 1998 (I use the 1999 Checkmark edition)
Jane's: Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I (1919; I use the 1990 Studio Editions reprint with modern foreword by Captain John Moore, RN)
Morison: Samuel Eliot Morison, The Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1963
Paine: Lincoln P. Paine, Ships of the World: An Historical Encylopedia, Houghton Mifflin, 1997
Pratt: Fletcher Pratt, A Compact History of the United States Navy, third edition revised by Hartley E. Howe, Hawthorn Books, 1967

Last updated in version 2.5
File: PSAFB084

Reuben Ranzo

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Ranzo, boys, Ranzo." Typically concerns the life of Reuben Ranzo, a landlubber who "was no sailor" but wound up aboard ship and had to learn fast -- or, perhaps, had enough schooling to turn to navigation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1882
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 23-25, "Reuben Ranzo" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdoch, pp. 63-64, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 54-56, "Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 70, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 89-91, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 240-244 "Reuben Ranzo" (2 texts & fragments, 1 tune - second text is in Swedish & English) [AbEd, pp. 175-178]
Sharp-EFC, XXXII, p. 37, "Poor Old Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 144-146, "Reuben Renzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 50-53, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 101, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
Botkin-NEFolklr, pp. 560-561, "Reuben Renzo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 313-314, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 83, "Reuben Ranzo" (1 text)
DT, RBNRANZO
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 "Reuben Ranso" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #3282
RECORDINGS:
Noble B. Brown, "Reuben Ranzo" (AFS, 1946; on LC26)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Brindisi Di Marinai' (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Brindisi Di Marinai (File: Hugi245)
NOTES: Linscott speculates that "Renzo" is a corruption of "Lorenzo," which is at least reasonable -- but then comments that "It is probable too that Lorenzo may be a mythical hero." For this supposition there is not a shred of evidence that I can find.
Hugill mentions the "Lorenzo" possibility, but notes that "Reuben" doesn't fit well in that case. He lists three other theories: That it refers to the Danish sailor Daniel Rantzau, that it was an Eastern European Jew with a name like Reuben Ronzoff, or that Reuben derives from the description "Rube" for an inexperienced hand. Evidemce is, of course, lacking.
The ending also varies; Terry mentions Ranzo marrying the Captain's daughter, or being thrown overboard (and having additional adventures undersea), and him being flogged as a thief.
Bone, who has the virtue of actually getting this from sailors, was "inclined to think that [Ranzo] was in the word alone," noting that the word somehow seems to suit the action of hauling. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe023

Reuben Renzo

See Reuben Ranzo (File: Doe023)

Reuben Wright and Phoebe Brown

DESCRIPTION: Phoebe loves Reuben; her parents disapprove, and Reuben doesn't think much of them either. They determine to marry; her father grabs a shotgun. He accidentally kills his daughter. Reuben kills the father -- and awakes from his terrible dream
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1896 (Phineas Garrett's "One Hundred Choice Selections")
LONG DESCRIPTION: Phoebe loves Reuben; her parents disapprove, and Reuben doesn't think much of them either. The young people determine to marry, and start for the parsonage in the rain, while her father grabs a shotgun. Instead of hitting Reuben, he kills his daughter. Reuben kills the father, tears his hair -- and awakes from his terrible dream
KEYWORDS: hardheartedness courting elopement love violence murder revenge death dream humorous recitation father children
FOUND IN: US(MW)
Roud #5414
RECORDINGS:
Hamilton Lobdell, "Reuben Wright and Phoebe Brown" (AFS, 1941; on LC55)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Young Sailor Bold (I) (The Rich Merchant's Daughter)" [Laws M19] (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Love, Murder, and Almost Matrimony
NOTES: Each verse has the third line recited as prose, rather than sung. - PJS
This reportedly originated in one of the Hamlin's Wizard Oil songsters. I can't find any references in Spaeth, but this really sounds like something Charlie Case might have written. - RBW
File: RcRWaPB

Reuben, Reuben

See Reuben and Rachel (File: RJ19180)

Reuben's Train

DESCRIPTION: Lyric piece about Reuben's train and travels. Versions vary widely; most contain a verse something like this: "Reuben had a train and he put it on the track, Hear the whistle blow a hundred miles."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Grayson & Whitter, as "Train 45")
KEYWORDS: train nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 503-517, "Reuben's Train/Train 45/900 Miles" (2 texts plus exceprts equivalent to about three more, 2 tunes; the first text is close to "Reuben's Train," the second to "Nine Hundred Miles," but the article is mostly devoted to showing how the two songs mix)
BrownIII 236, "Reuben's Train" (2 texts, with "A" being closer to "Nine Hundred Miles" than "B")
Warner 133, "Reuben's Train" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 302, "Reuben" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3423
RECORDINGS:
Emry Arthur, "Reuben Oh Reuben" (Paramount 3295, c. 1931; on BefBlues2)
Dock Boggs, "Ruben's Train" (on Boggs3, BoggsCD1)
Carolina Ramblers String Band, "Ruben's Train" (Banner 33085/Romeo 5345, 1934; Melotone M-13947, c. 1935)
Bill Cornett ,"Old Reuben" (on MMOKCD)
Elizabeth Cotten, "Ruben" (on Cotten02)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Train 45" (Victor 21189, 1928, rec. 1927, on GraysonWhitter01) (Gennett 6320, 1927/Champion 15447 [as by Norman Gayle], 1928)
Vester Jones, "Old Reuben" (on GraysonCarroll1)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers [or Wade Mainer], "Riding on Train Forty-Five" (Bluebird B-7298, 1937; Victor 27493, 1941)
Wade Mainer & the Sons of the Mountaineers, "Old Reuben" (Bluebird B-8990, 1941)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Riding on That Train 45" (on NLCR06, NLCRCD2)
Poplin Family, "Reuben" (on Poplin01)
Wade Ward, "Old Reuben" [instrumental] (on Holcomb-Ward1)
Doc Watson, "Old Ruben" (on Ashley02, WatsonAshley01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Nine Hundred Miles"
cf. "Rain and Snow"
SAME TUNE:
Jack O'Diamond Blues (recorded by Blind Lemon Jefferson)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Old Reuben
NOTES: I know two tunes for this piece. One resembles "Nine Hundred Miles" and "Rain and Snow"; these three songs seems to have cross-fertilized (so much so, in fact, that I literally cannot tell which one was the more direct ancestor of the Grayson & Whitter recording; I placed it there almost arbitrarily).
The other is that used by Frank Proffitt, who said of it, "This is one of the oldest simple banjo tunes.... It was generally the first tune learned, by playing two strings. There are about fifty different verses to this" (quoted by Warner).
G. B. Grayson is said to have turned "Reuben's Train" into "Train 45" -- but they are still so close that I think they can be considered one song. - RBW
File: Wa133

Revolutionary Tea [Laws A24]

DESCRIPTION: Mother Britain is angry that her daughter America will not pay the tea-tax. The mother sends the daughter a great deal of tea and demands she pay the tax (on pain of a beating); the daughter dumps the tea into the ocean
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: political rebellion commerce money patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec. 16, 1773 - Boston Tea Party. Americans protest the British tax on tea by dumping a shipload into Boston Harbor
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont) US(Ap)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws A24, "Revolutionary Tea"
JHCoxIIB, #25, pp. 188189, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 59-61, "The Rich Lady Over the Sea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 54-56, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 8-9, "Revolutionary Tea" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 368, REVTEA*
Roud #1934
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Granny Wales (Granny O'Whale, Granua Weal)" (subject: The Tea Tax)
NOTES: For background on the Tea Tax, see the notes to "Old Granny Wales (Granny O'Whale, Granua Weal)." - RBW
File: LA24

Reynardine [Laws P15]

DESCRIPTION: A lady meets Reynardine (the singer for most of the song). He courts her while bidding her not to reveal his name. He says he has a castle in the forest and that she can reach him by calling him. He then vanishes (?); she warns women against such rakes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Journal from the Sharon)
KEYWORDS: courting seduction supernatural warning betrayal
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(South)) Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Laws P15, "Rinordine"
Belden, pp. 286-288, "Rinordine" (2 texts plus excerpts from 1 more)
Randolph 99, "Rinordine" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 47, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 76, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering15 , Rinordine"" (1 confused text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 113, pp. 143-144, "Ryner Dyne" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 222-223, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 112-113, "Rinordine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 32, "Rinordine" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 138-139, "Reynardine" (1 text)
DT 341, REYNDINE* REYNDN2*
ST LP15 (Full)
Roud #397
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs "Reynardine" (on ESFB2, Briggs2, Briggs3)
A. L. Lloyd, "Reynardine" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd3)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.8(310), "Reynardine," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 c.8(253), "Reynardine"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shannon Side" (plot, lyrics)
cf. "The Mountains of Pomeroy" (subject)
NOTES: Although the name "Rinordine" is pretty definitely the older and more traditional, I've used the title "Reynardine" because that seems more common today.
Some have tried to connect this song in some way to the tale of the crafty Reynard the Fox. None of the links strike me as successful, though of course Bold Reynard may have influenced the shift from "Rinordine" to "Reynardine." - RBW
File: LP15

Rhyme of Old Steamboats

DESCRIPTION: Poem composed of the names of steamboats, rhymed with each other. Sample: "The Fred Wyerhauser and the Frontenac, The F. C. A. Denckmann and the Bella Mac, The Menomenee and the Louisville, The R. J. Wheeler and the Jessie Bill...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (The Burlington Post, according to Russell)
KEYWORDS: river recitation nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 586, "Rhyme of Old Steamboats" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Charles Edward Russell, _A-Rafting on the Mississip'_,, 1928 (republished 2001 by the University of Minnesota Press), pp. 345-346, "(no title)" (1 text)
Walter Havinghurst, _Upper Mississippi: A Wilderness Saga_, Farrar & Rinehart, 1937, 1944, pp, 247-248 "(no title)" (1 excerpt, presumably from Russell)
NOTES: It's not clear whether this was ever sung, or just recited. - NR
So much for the theory that people made better use of their time in the days before television.
According to Russell, a Mr. F. C. Ralphe of Hastings, Minnesota, found this among "old papers" and sent it to the Burlingon Post in 1927. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BMRF586

Rhynie

DESCRIPTION: Singer recalls his first job, working at (or for) Rhynie. The work is ill, the wages small, the rules onerous. The place is miserable, but he dare not leave before the season ends for fear of losing his fee. When it does end, he hits the road cheerfully
AUTHOR: John Riddel ? (source: Greig #9, p. 2)
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (Ford 1899 series)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes abuse farming worker
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 207-208, "Linten Lowrin" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 348, "Jock o' Rhynie" (7 texts, 3 tunes)
Ord, p. 268, "The Bogend Hairst" (1 text, a short version that might possibly be mixed with something else)
Roud #3090
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Rhynie" (on FSB3)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Barnyards of Delgaty" (tune, chorus, theme)
cf. "Linton Lowrie" (tune)
cf. "The Cockies of Bungaree" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rhynie's Jock
The Bonny Toon o' Huntly
NOTES: I'm sorely tempted to lump this with, "Barnyards of Delgaty" -- they share the same theme, tune and chorus, and are clearly closely related. But there's no overlap in the actual words, and the man from whom, "Rhynie" was collected, John Strachan, also sang a separate version of "Barnyards," so I split them. - PJS
Greig #9 quoting a correspondent Mrs Corbet: "... I may mention that 'Jock o' Rhynie' and 'Bogieside' are both by the same author [John Riddel, again according to Mrs. Corbet, in Greig #28], but am of the opinion that he was not the author of the 'Barnyards o' Delgaty,' but rather that the author of that song has borrowed a good many of the verses belonging to 'Jock o' Rhynie,' with a few alterations." GreigDuncan3 347 has more comments on the distinction between this song and "The Barnyards o' Delgaty" and, in GreigDuncan3 348, quotes Duncan's note to Greig agreeing that the songs are not the same.
GreigDuncan3: "Duncan wrote to Greig on 1 February 1908 saying: 'Your last correspondent's statements (and Mr Milne's [see note to [GreigDuncan3] 347 'The Barnyards o' Delgaty']) about the song beginning, 'In New Deer pairis,' etc. ending in 'jock o Rhynie' and being different from 'The Barnyards' agree with my own information."
GreigDuncan3: "Greig notes in Ob. 20 [I don't find it there] that the octogenerian William Forsyth told him 'that he remembers as a boy hearing his mother sing "Jock o' Rhynie." This would carry the song back say to 1830."
GreigDuncan3 has a map on p. xxxv, of "places mentioned in songs in volume 3" showing the song number as well as place name; Mains of Rhynie (348,349) is at coordinate (h2-3,v5) on that map [roughly 31 miles WNW of Aberdeen]. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: RcRhynie

Ribbon Blade, The

DESCRIPTION: Roman Catholic Mick Sheridan passes a parade of Yeomen. They surround him and Colston says "he commands the Ribbon Blades." They jail him in Ballina and, when bribery fails to convince him to "make discovery," hang him.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: Ireland execution prison political
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, p. 132, "The Ribbon Blade" (1 text)
NOTES: "Following an affray at Loughgall in Co. Armagh in 1795 the Orange Order was founded, while the Yeomen were also established in June 1796. These were made up mainly of men from the Orange Lodges." (source: The 1798 Rebellion on the Hogan Stand site)
Zimmermann p. 19: "In some parts of Ulster, Protestant and Catholic tenants were mingled and contended for the land; the peasantry was thus divided into two camps, each having its oath-bound association. This led to a sort of religious war. At the end of the eighteenth century the Catholic "Defenders" were opposed to the Protestant "Peep o'Day Boys" or "Orangemen." The "Defenders" were succeeded by the "Ribbonmen."
An example of the conflict is the "Battle of Crossgar," March 17, 1849 (source: 17 March 1849- Battle of Crossgar at the Orange Pages site).
Ballina is in County Mayo. - BS
For more on the Orange Order and its founding and the troubles it inspired, see e.g. the notes to "Dialogue Between Orange and Croppy, "The Grand Mystic Order' and"The Boys of Wexford," - RBW
File: TSF132

Rich Amerikay [Laws O19]

DESCRIPTION: A young farmer is leaving Ireland. His rich sweetheart urges him not to go to a foreign land, but Ireland is too impoverished for him. Seeing that she cannot change his mind, she at last decides to go with him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: poverty courting emigration
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) US(MA)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Laws O19, "Rich Amerikay"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 97, "Rich Amerikay" (1 text, 1 tune)
FSCatskills 27, "Wild Amerikay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1916
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Star of Donegal" (plot)
File: LO19

Rich and Rambling Boy, The

See The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)

Rich and Rare Were The Gems She Wore

DESCRIPTION: A knight meeting a beautiful lady wearing gems and a gold ring asks why she is not afraid to walk alone in Ireland. She answers: "No son of Erin will offer me harm; For tho' they love woman and golden store, Sir Knight! they love honor and virtue more!"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.28(6a/b) View 6 of 8)
KEYWORDS: virtue beauty gold Ireland patriotic knight
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 111, "Rich and Rare Were The Gems She Wore" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.28(6a/b) View 6 of 8, "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore", R. March & Co. (London), 1877-1884; also Firth b.26(338), "Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore"
NOTES: Not one of Moore's hits; Granger's Index to Poetry doesn't mention a single anthology containing the piece, and I know of no traditional collections. - RBW
File: OCon111

Rich Counsellor

See The Lawyer Outwitted [Laws N26] (File: LN26)

Rich Irish Lady, A (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.) [Laws P9]

DESCRIPTION: Sally at first scorns a suitor, then changes her mind and calls for him. She admits that she is dying for love of him. He informs her that he intends to dance on her grave. She takes three rings from her fingers for him to wear while dancing, then dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1808 (journal by Hannah Lowell of Plum Island, Massachusetts)
KEYWORDS: courting dying funeral revenge sailor
FOUND IN: US(Ap,NE,MW,SE,So) Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) Ireland Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (29 citations):
Laws P9, "A Rich Irish Lady (The Fair Damsel from London; Sally and Billy; The Sailor from Dover; Pretty Sally; etc.)"
Bronson 295, "The Brown Girl" (49 versions, but very many of these, #1, #3, #8, #13, #16, #17, (#19), #24, #25, #35, #36, #41, #44 are listed by Laws as "A Rich Irish Lady," as is #8 though it mixes with "The Death of Queen Jane"; #2, #5, #10, #15, #20, #21, #29, #32a/b, #34, #37, #38(a), #45, #47, #49 are apparently LP9 as well; #4, #6, #7, #11, #31, #38b, #39, #42 are fragments which appear more likely to be LP9; #14, #22, #23, #27 are fragments identified by Laws with LP9 though this cannot be proved; #9 (frim Baring-Gould) is definitely the Child version, and #33, #48 probably; #18 is a fragment that might be part of "Glenlogie"; #26, #28 have no text; #30, #40, #43 might be either)
Greig #79, p. 1, "The Sailor from Dover" (1 text)
GreigDuncan6 1219, "The Sailor from Dover," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "Waly, Waly, Gin Love Be Bonny" (11 texts, 6 tunes)
SharpAp 44, "The Brown Girl" (7 texts plus 4 fragments, 11 tunes, though the "D" fragment at least could be from "Glenlogie"; although listed as Child 295, every full text appears to be Laws P9; some of the fragments might be either) {Bronson's #17, #16, #14, #18, #42, [F not in Bronson], #36, #35, #41, #46, #22}
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 418-425, "Sally and Her True Love" (2 text plus 2 broadside versions, 3 tunes; the "A" text has an artificial happy ending carelessly grafted on) {Bronson's #1, #1, #19}
Belden, pp. 111-118, "A Brave Irish Lady" (5 rexts, 2 tunes; it appears that Laws does not consider one of these versions, probably version E, to be this song, but it certainly belongs to the same family)
Randolph 40, "Pretty Sally of London" (5 texts plus a fragment, 3 tunes; it is possible that the fragment is Child #295) {A=Bronson's #44, B=#24, F=#15}
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 104-107, "Pretty Sally of London" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 40F) {Bronson's #15}
BrownII 90, "A Brave Irish Lady" (3 texts)
Hudson 27, pp. 128-130, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts, listed as Child #295 but clearly this piece)
Davis-Ballads 50, "The Brown Girl" (8 texts plus 2 fragments, all versions of this rather than Child #295; 3 tunes, all entitled "The Brown Girl"; 1 more version mentioned in Appendix A) {Bronson's #42, #31, #23}
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 98, "There Was a Young Lady" (1 fragment; tune on p. 389) {Bronson's #38b}
Brewster 26, "The Brown Girl" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 244-2426, "The Fair Damsel from London" (1 text from the Green Mountain Songster)
Flanders-Ancient4, pp. 285-291, "The Irish Lady, or Sally from London" (2 texts, one of them being from the Green Mountain Songster; 1 tune, lacking lyrics but said to be this piece)
Gardner/Chickering 52, "Fair Lady of London" (1 text)
Niles 64, "The Brown Girl" (1 text, 1 tune, listed as Child 295)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 29, "Fair Sally (The Brown Girl)" (1 text, 1 tune -- a composite version) {Bronson's #1}
Karpeles-Newfoundland 24, "Pretty Sally" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
JHCox 114, "Pretty Sally" (4 texts plus mention of 2 more; Laws does not list the "B" text as belonging here, but it clearly does.)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 92, "The Sailor from Dover" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #10}
SHenry H72, pp. 374-375, "Am I the Doctor?" (1 text, 1 tune -- a version with the hatred toned down and with verses reminiscent of "Glenlogie")
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 111-112, "Pretty Sally" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 678-680, "The Brown Girl" (2 texts, but "B" is Laws P9)
Darling-NAS, pp. 135-136, "A Rich Irish Lady" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 146, "A Rich Irish Lady" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2324, "A seaman of Dover, sweet William by name"
DT (295), AMIDOCTR* BRNGIRL*
Roud #180
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "Sally" (on Cansler1)
Cas Wallin, "Fine Sally" (on OldLove) {cf. Bronson's #14}
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(284), "The Sailor from Dover" ("There was a young sailor, from Dover he came"), unknown, no date; Harding B 25(1689), "The Sailor from Sunderland"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Brown Girl (I)" [Child 295]
cf. "Glenlogie, or, Jean o Bethelnie" [Child 238] (lyrics in some texts)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The English Lady Gay
Fine Sally
NOTES: Considered by some to be a variant of "The Brown Girl" (Child #295). The plot is identical except that the male and female roles are reversed. Laws declares that the two should be considered separate but related ballads. This agrees with, e.g., Cohen, Cox, and Randolph, but disagrees with Pound, Sharp, Davis, Scarborough, Flanders (naturally; she's lumped more absurd things than this) and (tentatively) Hudson, as well as (implicitly) Bronson and Roud. - RBW
Some of the GreigDuncan6 texts and the Bodleian broadsides actually end happily by adding a last verse along these lines:
On hearing this the sailor began much to rue:
Said he, my dearest Sally, I've long admir'd you;
Then lay aside your grieving, for I will constant prove,
To-morrow we'll be married, and happy live, my love.
GreigDuncan6 deduces that Greig's text is a composite of GreigDuncan6 1219K and 1219J.
In "The Sailor from Sunderland," the sailor relents and the couple are married. - BS
I added "sailor" as a keyword because at least some versions have a sailor as a protagonist. -PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LP09

Rich Lady Gay, The

DESCRIPTION: "It was of a rich lady she had gold in store. She was loved by the rich and was good to the poor." She meets a ploughboy and gives him a letter. Later she proposes. He says she's "too good for a poor man's wife." They marry. She takes up house-keeping.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c.1975 (recording, Harry Upton)
KEYWORDS: love marriage farming money
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #1714
RECORDINGS:
Harry Upton, "The Rich Lady Gay" (on Voice05)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cupid the Plowboy" [Laws O7] (plot)
NOTES: Maybe this is related to "Cupid the Plowboy" [Laws O7]. Here is a comparison of Harry Upton's "Rich Lady Gay" on Voice05 with Greenleaf/Mansfield "Cupid the Plowboy [Laws O7]" 79, "The Plowboy" and broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(773) "Cupid, the Pretty Ploughboy":
** Rich Lady Gay:
A rich lady sees a plowboy in the fields and falls in love with him.
She tells him she has a letter for him. He reads it and says it must be for "some other much higher renowned."
Another day she meets him in the field but he says "you're too good to be a poor man's wife"
He admits he loves her.
She agrees to marry him.
They quickly go to church and are married.
She takes up housekeeping and they live happily.
** Cupid the Plowboy:
A rich lady sees a plowboy in the fields and falls in love with him.
She considers writing him a letter and thinks he'll think her bold; nevertheless, she will do it.
She rejects a wealthy suitor because she loves Cupid, who "has caused me all this pain."
He hears her complaint and says he loves her.
She agrees to marry him.
They quickly go to church and are married.
They have plenty of gold and "each other do adore."
So far I have found no broadside for "Rich Lady Gay." Apparently, neither has Steve Roud.
The motif of the rich woman enjoying wifely chores not common among the wealthy is also in "The Golden Glove" [Laws N20]. - BS
File: RcRiLaGa

Rich Lady over the Sea, The

See Revolutionary Tea [Laws A24] (File: LA24)

Rich Man and Lazarus, The

DESCRIPTION: "Come all thoughtless people by whom Adam came...." Listeners are reminded of Lazarus in heaven and the Rich Man in Hell. The song consists mostly of the lecture to the Rich Man which took place after he died.
AUTHOR: Edward B. Miller?
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad punishment Hell
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 55, "Dives and Lazarus" (1 text)
Roud #6567?
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dives and Lazarus" [Child 56] (subject) and references there
NOTES: Jesus's story of the rich man and Lazarus is found in Luke 16:19-31 (the Lazarus of John 11, 12 is unrelated).
It's worth remembering that this is not something that actually happened in the Bible; rather, it is a story Jesus told as a warning.
The status of this piece is extremely dubious; it was reportedly collected from the author. Our general policy is to exclude such songs. But the whole story comes at so many removes that we can't prove Miller's authorship (or even, I suspect, his existence).
I nonetheless incline to agree that the song is not traditional; it's too weak.
I don't know if this is the Ed Miller who is also credited with "The Triplett Tragedy," but time and place make it possible. - RBW
File: BrII055

Rich Man and the Poor Man, The

See Hi Ho Jerum (File: FSWB025)

Rich Man Rides on a Pullman Car

See She Gets There Just the Same (Jim Crow Car) (File: DarNS355)

Rich Man's Daughter, The

See Captain Wedderburn's Courtship [Child 46] (File: C046)

Rich Merchant (I), The

See Young Sailor Bold (I), The (The Rich Merchant's Daughter) [Laws M19] (File: LM19)

Rich Merchant (II), The

See William and Harriet [Laws M7] (File: LM07)

Rich Merchant and his Daughter, The

See Young Sailor Bold (I), The (The Rich Merchant's Daughter) [Laws M19] (File: LM19)

Rich Merchant in Galway, The

DESCRIPTION: The sorrowful singer says "My love is tall and handsome, well shaped in every limb." Her father, a rich Galway merchant, advertises her 1400 pound fortune and sends her love "to plough the ocean"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (IRRCinnamond02)
KEYWORDS: grief love separation sea father lover sailor
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #6999
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Rich Merchant in Galway" (on IRRCinnamond02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Disguised Sailor" (subject)
cf. "The Young Maid's Love" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
My Love is Tall and Handsome
NOTES: One factor distinguishing this ballad from other imprest-or-sent-away-lover ballads is that it is told by the woman. Cinnamond's version has only two verses but seems complete and, in any case, any additional verses do not seem likely to lead to a happy ending: "when I think of my darling boy my sorrows do renew." - BS
File: RcTRMiGa

Rich Merchant's Daughter (I), The

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

Rich Merchant's Daughter (II), The

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

Rich Nobleman's Daughter, A

See Caroline and Her Young Sailor Bold (Young Sailor Bold II) [Laws N17] (File: LN17)

Rich Old Farmer, The

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

Rich Old Lady, The

See Marrowbones [Laws Q2] (File: LQ02)

Rich Old Miser, A [Laws Q7]

DESCRIPTION: The singer has been courted by "a rich old miser" nearly four times her age. She marries him, but he becomes jealous without cause (and beat her). At last she retaliates by breaking a ladle over his head, teaching him to be civil
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Gardner/Chickering)
KEYWORDS: marriage age abuse punishment
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws Q7, "A Rich Old Miser"
Linscott, pp. 227-229, "The Ladle Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 46, "The Battle with the Ladle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 175, "A Rich Old Miser" (1 text plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
DT 521, LADLESNG
Roud #1004
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "In Duckworth Street There Lived a Dame" (theme of being hit over the head with cookware)
File: LQ07

Rich Rambler, The

See The Wild and Wicked Youth [Laws L12] (File: LL12)

Rich Ship Owner's Daughter, The

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

Rich Wedding Cake, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer is offered a piece of cake. In it are "insides of old concertinas," flute keys, trout hooks...." They "blow a spot off of the side" with a cannon. When he bites into it "my tooth crumbled off on a button Of a trouser rolled up on the waist."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: wedding food humorous talltale
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 92-93, "The Rich Wedding Cake" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6467
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Trinity Cake" (Theme: an inedible cake)
File: Pea092

Rich Widow, The

DESCRIPTION: "I am a rich widow, I live all alone, I have but one daughter And she is my own. Daughter, oh daughter, Go choose you a man, Choose you a good one, Or else choose none." (The widow marries off her daughter, says she's bound to obey, and wishes her well)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: courting mother children marriage playparty
FOUND IN: US(NE) Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Linscott, pp. 19-20, "I Am a Rich Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden 23, "Here's an Oul' Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13181
File: Lins019

Rich Young Farmer, The

See William Hall (The Brisk Young Farmer) [Laws N30] (File: LN30)

Richard (Irchard) of Taunton Dean

DESCRIPTION: Herchard/Irchard/Richard courts Miss Jane, saying, "I can reap and I can mow..." and earn his ninepence every day. She replies that she needs silks and satins. He perseveres, saying he has pigs and will inherit more if they marry; she consents
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 17(254a))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage bargaining farming
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 821, "The Minister's Daughter Jean" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Greig #163, p. 1, "The Minister's Daughter Jean," "The Parson's Daughter Jean" (2 texts)
ST RcIOTD (Full)
Roud #382
RECORDINGS:
Aunt Fanny Rumble, "Richard of Taunton Dean" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Tony Wales, "Richard of Taunton Dean" (on TWales1)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(254a), "Richard of Taunton Dean" ("Last new year's day, as I have heard"), T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(1343), "Richard of Taunton"; Harding B 25(1617), Harding B 17(253b), Harding B 11(3271), Harding B 25(1619)[mostly illegible], "Richard of Taunton Dean"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lucindy, Won't You Marry Me?"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
On New Year's Day
Dick of Taunton Dean
NOTES: Greig: "Version A ["The Minister's Daughter Jean"] retains the English style and language, while B ["The Parson's Daughter Jean"] shows the Scotticising process."
Without exception, the GreigDuncan4 and Bodleian texts have Richard rejected (broadside Bodleian Harding B 17(254a): "Dick's compliments were so polite, That all the family laughed outright; So when he had no more to say, He mounted old Dobbin and rode away"; GreigDuncan 821C ends "Your answer, Jean, is quite a treat I'm happy for once at my defeat If this be all you've got to say I'll bid you goodnight for I must away.")
From an undated flier "English Folk-Songs given by the London Glee Singers" [with words to the song]: "An old Somersetshire Folk-Song dating probably from 1716." From The Library of Congress American Memory Courtesy of the Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries. Search on the flier title as shown here. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: RcIOTD

Richard and I

DESCRIPTION: The singer loves poor Richard. Her parents will have him transported if she insists on marrying him. On "the day we had planned to wed" he is taken and sent to Van Dieman's land. She and her servant girl go to Van Dieman's land. She and Richard marry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: love marriage emigration reunion separation abduction transportation family
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 49, "Richard and I" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2279
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Erin's Lovely Home" [Laws M6] (theme) and references there
cf. "A Bonnie Laddie, But Far Awa (theme: parents drive lover away)
File: CrMa049

Richard of Taunton Dean

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

Richard's Lady

See Richie Story [Child 232] (File: C232)

Richardson's Farewell

DESCRIPTION: "Injured Boston now awake While I a true confession make...." The singer, called "the Informer," got a "wretch of wretches" with child, but the crime was blamed upon a Parson. The singer confesses to every other evil and bids farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: pregnancy crime punishment execution clergy betrayal
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 179-181, "(The LIFE and humble CONFESSION of Richardson the Informer" (1 text); also p. 182, (no title) (a fragment of another broadside about Richardson)
NOTES: This is one of those items that belongs in a bad songs contest. Ebenezer Richardson came to be known as "The Informer" during the 1760s as the American colonies tried to avoid British imports, and in the struggles of the time, Richardson accidentally shot and killed a boy named Christopher Sneider. Richardson was sentenced to death, but he eventually was pardoned.
The outraged populace could do nothing but pin every crime, natural and unnatural, on the fellow while dreaming of hanging him. This broadside is the result -- and it's as much a crime against humanity as anything Richardson ever did. - RBW
File: Burt179

Richie Story [Child 232]

DESCRIPTION: An Earl's daughter is courted by one or more noble lords, but loves none but her father's servant, Richie Story. He tries to dissuade her by pointing out his poverty. At last he gives in. She goes with him and is set to work in his household
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (Skene ms.)
KEYWORDS: nobility love poverty servant courting family elopement
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 232, "Richie Story" (9 texts, but the text in the appendix is "When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23])
Bronson 232, "Richie Story" (9 versions, but #9 is "When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23], and #7 and #8 may be as well)
Greig #95, p. 1, "Richie's Lady"; Greig #99, p. 1, "Richard's Lady" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan5 1051, "Richie Story" (7 texts plus a single verse on p. 633; 4 tunes plus two bars on p. 634)
Leach, pp. 592-593, "Richie Storie" (1 text)
DT 232, RICHILAD*
Roud #97
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23]
cf. "Matt Hyland" (plot)
cf. "The Kitchie-Boy" [Child 252] (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Castle Norrie
Campernaudie
NOTES: Child considers "The Duke of Athol" (="Huntingtower," Laws O23) to be a relative of this song, probably a rewrite. It should be noted, however, that the plots are by no means identical (and it appears that the influence, if any, goes the other way; "Huntingtower" ends with the revelation that the lover is rich, which feature Child considers an addition to "Richie Story"), and there is little lyrical similarity. - RBW
Greig: "In Sharpe's Ballad Book there is the following note on 'Richie Storie,' as he calls the ballad: - John, third Earl of Wigton, had six sons and three daughters. The second, Lady Lillias Fleming, was so indiscreet as to marry a footman, by whom she had issue. She and her husband assigned her position to Lieutenant Colonel John Fleming, who discharged her renunciation, dated in October, 1673."
Child's version F has Richie Storie reveal at the end that "Cumbernauld is mine" and his version G has the couple ride "to Ritchie's yetts." Child mentions, but does not print, a version in which "little she knew that her waiting-man was England's royal king." The royal disguise is in GreigDuncan 1051A and G [also Greig #99], "Richard's Lady." Greig -- in #99 -- says, "This version takes us into England, and gives us a royal hero -- doubtless Richard the Lion-Heart, whose romantic career would give a good opening for the balladist." - BS
Which has the minor problem that Richard was very possibly homosexual. This is a very vexed question, which I am postponing to an addendum. Even if Richard was entirely heterosexual, he wasn't really available as a marriage prospect anyway; he had been betrothed in his youth to Alais/Alice, of the French royal family, but finally blew her off twenty years after the betrothal, as he was setting out on the Crusade (Warren-Henry, p. 611, who thinks he did so just because he was stubborn. According to Gillingham, p. 160, Richard did this because Henry II had taken Alice as his mistress, but while Henry II was a fairly lusty liege, even Henry would surely have been cautious about the political consequences of such an act! Warren-John, p. 37, goes so far as to suggest that Alice's brother Philip Augustus actually made up the story to make Richard rebel against Henry II).
Richard did eventually wed Berengeria of Navarre -- without telling Alice's brother Philip Augustus until the last moment (McLynn, p. 129) -- but this may have been just a device to get his subjects off his back; they were bugging him about not having an heir as he went on crusade (McLynn, p. 130). This would fit with Owen's suggestion (p. 82) that Richard in effect just let his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine pick a wife for him. Even Gillingham's extremely laudatory biography, which denies Richard's homosexuality, admits that "The circumstances of their wedding were, to say the least, odd" (p. 139). In Gillingham's view (p. 140), Richard had been negotiating for Berengeria's hand for some time before the marriage -- but that makes him even more unavailable, because he was, in effect, engaged twice in 1189-1190.
What is certain is that Richard and Berengeria had no children, meaning that his brother John succeeded him when he died (Berengeria outlived Richard by three decades, but in his entire reign never visited England; Ashley, p. 527). Richard himself was in the country for only about six months in his ten year reign; the rest of the time, he was on crusade or fighting in France. What's more, according to OxfordCompanion, p. 803, he was only twice in England even before he became king. There simply was no *time* for him to be chasing girls. Nor did he speak English to enable him to talk to English girls.(OxfordCompanion, p. 803 -- although an Earl's daughter in Richard's time would probably speak Norman French just as Richard did).
Of course, if the Richard involved isn't Richard I, our problem becomes worse, because there were only two other English Kings named Richard. Richard II was married very early in life, and his first marriage with Anne of Bohemia was singularly -- almost unbelievably -- happy (Saul, p. 456). When Anne died while still in her twenties, Richard almost at once contracted a marriage to six-year-old Isabella of France (Saul, p. 457). There are no reports of illegitimate children. Richard II is, it seems to me, impossible as a subject of this ballad.
That leaves Richard III. He was, unquestionably, both fertile and heterosexual (since he left three children by two different mothers, and not even his enemies, who blackened his name in every way they could, accused him of homosexuality. Incest, yes, homosexuality, no). As a matter of fact, there is reason to think that his illegitimate daughter Katherine was fathered while he was "in hiding," since his older brother Edward IV had been temporarily deposed. There is also a curious incident in Richard's career in which he had to go dig up his future wife, Anne Neville, who had been hidden by her sister and brother-in-law. (For details on all this, see the notes to "The Babes in the Woods," which are so huge that I'm not going to repeat all the citations.) Both Richard's affair with the mother of Katherine and his search for his wife have points of contact with this story.
Plus, in a most interesting twist, Richard in the last years of the reign of King Edward IV spent most of his time handling affairs in the north of England. Ross -- who is not friendly to Richard -- declares on p. 44 that "Richard III is unique among medieval English kings in the extent of his connectins with the north of England. By 1483 he had come to know the region and its people more thoroughly than any of his predecessors.... His wife and future queen, Anne Nevill, was heiress to the great northern connections of her family, stretching back for more than a century.... Further, Edward IV had made Richard heir to the Nevill affinity through the systematic grants to him of land and office formerly held by [Anne's father Richard Neville, Earl of] Warwick. By 1483 he had become the dominant figure in England north of the Trent."
Kendall, who is pro-Richard, has a more than fifty page section in his biography which he titles "Lord of the North" (pp. 122-180). Specifically (Kendall, p. 125), Richard was in charge of the West Marches toward Scotland; the East and Middle Marches being the charge of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland (who was under Richard's authority but maintained his county's internal affairs). In other words, not only was Richard's power base in the north, but of the two northernmost counties, *he was in charge of Cumberland* (which is not Cumbernaud, but close), while the Earl of Northumberland ran Northumberland.
Dockray, pp. 112-113, catalogs grants made to Richard (at that time still Richard Duke of Gloucester) by his brother Edward IV. In 1471, he was given Penrith in Cumberland as well as properties in Yorkshire. In 1472, he was made Keeper of the Forests north of the Trent (giving authority in Cumberland). In 1475 he was made Sheriff of Cumberland for life. In 1478 he was Warden of the West Marches. In 1480, he was King's Lieutenant in all the north, and commissioner of array for Cumberland and other counties.
As Pollard puts it on p. 81, "[Richard's] achievement was recognized and rewarded in February 1483 by the creation for him of a county palatine comprising Cumberland and a large stretch of south-west Scotland which it was his declared intention to conquer." Thus we have a perfect fit of the surviving details: In Child's "F," we have Richie the ruler of "Cumbernaud," easily confused with Cumberland. In the unprinted Child text, he is King of England -- in other words, King Richard. And we know from history that Richard III, ruler of Cumberland, searched among servants to recover his future wife Anne Neville (Kendall, p. 126). If these portions of the ballad are original and integral, then the king almost has to be Richard III (who also has the advantage of being the most recent King Richard, and the one about whom a ballad most easily would survive).
What's more, Anne Neville had earlier been married to Edward, the Lancastrian Prince of Wales (Ross, p. 18), although the marriage pretty definitely was not consummated. And, since she had no brothers, she was half-heir, with her sister Isabel, of the richest property of England (her father, in addition to being Earl of Warwick by marriage, had been Earl of Salisbury by descent, and according to OxfordCompanion, p. 968, held two other earldoms as well). Once Isabel married the Duke of Clarence, Anne became the most eligible heiress in the country -- half the lords in England must have been sniffing after her, which again fits the story perfectly.
Except -- would anyone want to tell such a tale of a king who came to be portrayed as the worst monarch in English history? The villification was unfair, to be sure (even the anti-Richard Ross says on p. 228 that "No one familiar with the careers of King Louis XI of France, in Richard's own time, or Henry VIII of England, in his own country, would wish to cast any special slur on Richard, still less to select him as the exemplar of a tyrant") -- but so what? It's the reputation that matters in ballads.
Or was that why the name of Richard was cut out of most versions of the ballad?
Once again, however, we must add a caution -- and a complicated one. Most versions of the song in Child refer to the Earl of Wigton. Wigton was, for starters, a Scots earldom. But even if we ignore that, it did not exist at a time when there was a King Richard. Poking around on the Internet, it existed briefly from 1341-1372, when Edward III was King of England, after which the property went to the Douglases and the title in effect died. The title was revived by James VI and I, but this is after the death of Richard III. It was given to the Fleming family, who also held the lordships of Biggar and -- notably -- Cumbernault. So this almost has to be the family referred to in the song. And, indeed, Child quotes Hunter referring to an event of 1673 which almost has to be this incident.
Child's conclusion is that the story of the courtier being a King is an accretion, and this is likely true. But, given the excellent fit of the details to the real situation of Richard III, I think we must allow at leat the possibility that a portion of an earlier song about Richard III and Anne Neville came to be grafted on to a more recent song about the Flemings of Wigton.
ADDENDUM: Richard I's sexuality
For much of the Twentieth Century, it was generally accepted that Richard I was homosexual. The evidence is equivocal. There are tales of him wildly chasing women (McLynn, p. 93). He reportedly had an illegitimate son, Philip of Cognac (Ashley, p. 526), but that's nothing compared to his father's and brother's records of bastards. We don't even know who was the boy's mother; the evidence of his existence strikes me as inadequate to prove Richard was the father.
Markale, p. 58, says of this that "It was a certainty that Richard was capable procreating; he had a basted son from his youth, probably the result of a moment of straying, for he was staunchly homosexual" -- and adds that his mother did not want him to marry the French princess Alice because Eleanor knew the marriage would fail. (But I note that Markale is very much a scandal-monger.)
On the flip side, Richard did not marry until he was in his thirties, and other than the mother of Philip of Cognac, he had no known mistresses. Nor did he have any children by his wife Berengeria. This is one of the props of the claim that he was homosexual. The other, according to Gillingham, p. 161, is that a hermit once told him "Remember the destruction of Sodom and abstain from illicit acts." Richard later did a penance for those "illicit acts."
Gillingham goes on to vigorously deny that the Old Testament links the destruction of Sodom to homosexuality. He is right in the sense that there are many mentions outside the Pentateuch of the destruction of Sodom, and few of them make reference to that city's sexual practices. In Genesis 18:21, God merely refers to an "outcry" against Sodom and Gomorrah.
But we have only one explicit description of sin in Sodom, and the sin is unquestionably homosexuality (Genesis 19:5). What's more, the men of Sodom want to rape two angels/messengers of God who had been sent to investigate Sodom's crime (Genesis 19:1). This is the only sin the messengers could have witnessed directly. I could build a case that the crime of Sodom was not homosexuality but rather homosexual rape -- but that it involved homosexuality is pretty much beyond doubt. So, e.g., Owen, p. 91, is sure that the hermit charged Richard with homosexuality although he is not sure the charge is true.
Harvey, p. 65, notes that when he was in Sicily, on his way to the Crusade, Richard was given a penance for vice, which he suggests was also for homosexuality. All we can say about this is that it may be so but we can't prove it either way.
We also have a report that at one time he was pushed to go and live with his wife (Lofts, p. 39). But this doesn't automatically mean that he had rejected her, just that he liked to be where heads were being bashed.
I would add one other point, although it is pretty minor: When Richard went on crusade, he appointed as one of his justiciars William Longchamp, described by Gillingham, p. 218 as "small, ape-like and excessively fond of boys." (McLynn, p. 136, also mentions that Longchamp was "pilloried as a simian paedophile," although in his zeal to deny Richard's homosexuality, he also seems to deny Longchamp's.) Obviously a heterosexual king might appoint a homosexual bishop to a high post -- but it's probably more likely that a homosexual king would do so. Especially since Longchamp was anything but a good official; despite having a good income from his bishopric, he had sticky fingers, and was a nepotist, appointing relatives to many posts (McLynn, pp. 132-133)
And it's not absolutely clear, if Richard were homosexual, that we would have heard about it. The strong suggestion is that King William II Rufus was homosexual, but the chronicles don't says so. Edward II was accused of homosexuality, but even in his case, the word was rarely made explicit.
Gillingham, who sounds to me like a bit of a homophobe, loudly denies Richard's homosexuality on p. 162, and claims there were no references to it prior to 1948. OxfordCompanion, p. 804, accepts Gillingham's arguments. Harvey, p. 66, thinks Richard fell in love with Berengeria at first sight -- but while this obviously makes him heterosexual, it doesn't explain why he spent most of his life separated from her. McLynn, pp. 92-93, admits that there is some evidence for homosexuality, but denies the significance of most of it (certainly most of it is fairly ambiguous) and comes down hard against homosexuality. Ashley, p. 525, is wishy-washy.
Runciman, writing probably in the 1940s when such references could have resulted in censorship, goes out on a limb to say Richard's "own tastes did not lie in the direction of marriage." Warren-John, p. 43, says Eleanor "bullied" Richard into marrying Berengeria, and also says that John until then thought it "inevitable" that Richard would die childless -- implying that he never expected Richard to marry, or have children by his wife. Markale, p. 54, brands Richard homosexual without qualification and without seeing need even to justify the statement (but shows in other areas a tendency to accept scandalous gossip as true).
I have to say that none of the evidence, in either direction, is convincing. Most of the statements of Richard's carnal exploits could in fact refer to his men. But the only direct evidence of homosexuality is the hermit's claim, which might be false. So I don't think we can definitively say whether he was heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual -- or asexual. The one thing that seems clear is that he spent very little time actually courting women, which makes it difficult to see him as the hero of this ballad. As McLynn says on p. 52 (quoting Gerald of Wales), Richard "cared for no success that was not reached by a path cut by his own sword and stained with the blood of his adversaries." - RBW
Bibliography

Ashley: Mike Ashley, British Kings and Queens, Barnes & Noble, 2000 (originally published as The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens, 1998)
Dockray: Keith Dockray, Edward IV: A Source Book, Sutton, 1999
Gillingham: John Gillingham, Richard the Lionheart, Times Books, 1978
Harvey: John Harvey, The Plantagenets, 1948, 1959 (I use the 1979 Fontana paperback edition)
Kendall: Paul Murray Kendall, Richard the Third, 1955, 1956 (I use the undated but post-1975 Norton edition)
Lofts: Norah Lofts, Queens of England, Doubleday, 1977
Markale: Jean Markale (translated by Jon E. Graham), Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of the Troubadours (French title: La vie, la legende, l'influence d'Alienor), 1979, 2000; English edition, Inner Traditions, 2007
McLynn: Frank McLynn, Richard & John: Kings at War, Da Capo, 2007
Owen: D. D. R. Owen, Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen & Legend, Blackwell, 1993
OxfordCompanion: John Cannon, editor, The Oxford Companion to British History, Oxford, 1997
Pollard: A. J. Pollard, Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, 1991 (I use the 1997 Bramley Books edition)
Ross: Charles Ross, Richard III, University of California Press, 1981
Runciman: Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades, 1951 (I use the 1999 Cambridge paperback reprint)
Saul: Nigel Saul, Richard II (a volume in the Yale English Monarchs series), Yale, 1997
Warren-Henry: W. L. Warren, Henry II, 1973 (I use the 1977 University of California Press paperback edition)
Warren-John: W. L. Warren, King John, 1961 (I use the 1978 University of California paperback edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: C232

Richie's Lady

See Richie Story [Child 232] (File: C232)

Richmond Blues

See Baby, All Night Long (File: CSW172)

Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel

DESCRIPTION: Singer, ostensibly a soldier in the Union army, sings of the difficulties involved in attempting to capture Richmond, VA. The Union generals have all failed badly. The singer wonders who will try next, as the Confederates, "fight like the devil"
AUTHOR: Words: unknown/ Music: Daniel Emmett
EARLIEST DATE: 1863 (sheet music)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, ostensibly a soldier in the Union army, sings of the difficulties involved in attempting to capture Richmond, VA. McDowell is defeated by Stonewall Jackson, Fremont gets lost, Banks loses his supplies, the Galena, Monitor and Naugatuck are driven off, McClellan finds it hard going. Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclamation, Pope is defeated at the second battle of Manassas, and Burnside's men are slaughtered. The singer wonders who will try next, as the Confederates, "fight like the devil"
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar war derivative
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Thomas-Makin', p. 67, (no title) (1 short text, perhaps this though it refers to Jordan rather than Richmond; it looks like a mix of the original and the parody)
DT, RCHMNDHR*
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "Richmond is a Hard Road to Travel" (on NLCREP4)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as111720, "Richmond a Hard Road to Travel" or "The New Jordan," unknown, 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" (original song, tune)
SAME TUNE:
Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel (File: R305)
NOTES: This parody of Emmett's "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" was composed by an anonymous Confederate sympathizer, probably around 1864. - PJS
Actually, it was 1863. This is shown by the sheet music -- but also by the fact that the last battle mentioned is Fredericksburg (late 1862).
The verse which refers to McDowell is perhaps somewhat deceptive; McDowell was the first commander of what would later be the Army of the Potomac, and led it to defeat (over his protests) at First Bull Run/Manasses (July 21, 1861). The Confederates were commanded by Joseph E. Johnston, who arrived just before the battle with four brigades from the Shenandoah Valley, but the local commander was P.G.T. Beauregard, who usually gets most of the credit. (Though the real problem for the Unionists was that their troops were utterly raw.) Stonewall Jackson was only a brigade commander at Bull Run; his steadiness helped save the Confederates, but affected the overall battle only slightly.
"Wooley-Horse" Fremont and Nathaniel P. Banks commanded forces in the Shenandoah Valley in the Spring of 1862. Neither was competent, and there was no overall Valley strategy or commander, and as a result Stonewall Jackson was able to outmaneuver both (battles such as Kernstown, Mar. 23, 1862, though this was not part of the Valley Campaign proper, and a tactical defeat for the Confederates; McDowell, May 8, 1862; Front Royal, May 23; Winchester, May 25; Cross Keys/Port Republic, June 8-9).
Banks is called "Commissary Banks" because his supply wagons provided so much sustenance to Jackson's soldiers.
The verse about the 1862 campaign on the James River (mentioning the Galena, the Monitor, and the Naugatuck) also tells only part of the story -- omitting, e.g., the whole story of the blockade of Hampton Roads, including the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac/Virginia.
Drewry's Bluff was a high head above the James River below Richmond. It was the key position guarding Richmond against river assault. Union ships started in this direction early in the Peninsular Campaign, but no serious assaults could be contemplated until the waters of Hampton Roads were safe for Union vessels.
It was only after Norfolk was captured and the Merrimac scuttled (May 11) that the Federals were able to sail in force up the James River toward Richmond. The battle at Drewry's Bluff took place on May 15, 1862. The fleet included the new light ironclad Galena. (The Naugatuck was a non-ironclad, and of no particular account.) The Galena was anchored below the guns on the bluff -- but her armor plating was not up to the job, and she had to retire damaged after using up her ammunition. The problems with her armor proved so bad that it was later removed and she served the rest of the war as a wooden boat. James L. Nelson, Reign of Iron: The Story of the first Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merimack, Perennial, 2004, p.89, records an officer writing of her, "She is not shot-proof; ball came through, and many men were killed with fragments of her own iron."
The Monitor also tried to take part, but her turret-mounted guns could not elevate enough to hit the target. (The other ships also had trouble in this regard.)
Thus the real moral of this story was not that the Union ships were inferior (in fact, their performance was better than Confederate equivalents) but that seagoing vessels were not equipped to assault land targets well above river level.
The reference to McClellan and the Peninsula is a reference to the Peninsular Campaign of March-July 1862. McClellan took the Army of the Potomac by sea down to the "Peninsula" between the James and York rivers, and set it marching northwest to Richmond. He was delayed for a long time at Williamsburg, where he prepared a regular siege -- but the defender there was Magruder, not Longstreet.
The Peninsula Campaign ended when Robert E. Lee (newly appointed to command the Army of Northern Virginia) tricked McClellan to giving up the siege of Richmond in the Seven Days' Battles (June 25-July 1). It was here that Longstreet (then a senior division commander) and the Hills (A.P. Hill and D. H. Hill, also division commanders) first came to prominence.
Pope is John Pope, appointed to command large portions of McClellan's forces after the Peninsular campaign. He managed to produce an amazing amount of bombast about having his headquarters in the saddle and seeing the enemy's backs -- but had his forces enveloped and smashed at Second Bull Run (August 29-30, 1862). Pope was relieved and sent west.
The song omits the Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862), in which McClellan threw back Lee's ill-advised invasion of Maryland, returning to the plot at the Battle of Fredericksburg (December 12, 1862), at which the new Federal commander Ambrose Burnside threw pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River in order to attack Lee in a prepared defensive position. The result, unsurprisingly, was a slaugher.
The song concludes by asking who would be next; the answer was Joseph Hooker, who lost the Battle of Chancellorsville. He was succeeded by George Meade, who won Gettysburg and kept command of the Army of the Potomac until the end of the war. - RBW
File: RcRIHRTT

Richmond on the James

DESCRIPTION: The women mourn the fine men slain "On a blood-red field near Richmond, Richmond on the James." A soldier lies dying as his life-long comrade sadly watches. The dying man sends tokens to his family and sweetheart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar death farewell
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1862 - Peninsula Campaign. The Union army approaches Richmond for the first time, only to be repelled by Robert E. Lee in the Seven Days' Battles
1864-1865 - Grant's campaign against Petersburg and Richmond, eventually leading to the fall of the city
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Warner 64, "Richmond on the James" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RICHJAME*
Roud #4811
NOTES: The notes in Warner speculate that this is an offshoot of "The Dying Ranger" [Laws A14]. This is possible, but no more than that; songs like this are a dime a dozen.
File: Wa064

Riddle Song, The

See I Gave My Love a Cherry
(File: R123)

Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1]

DESCRIPTION: A knight arrives to court three sisters. The youngest goes to bed with him. He promises to marry her if she can answer his riddles. She does, and he either marries her or is revealed as the Devil.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1680 (broadside, Bodleian 4o Rawl. 566(193))
KEYWORDS: courting Devil riddle marriage family questions
FOUND IN: US(Ap,NE,SE) Britain(England(North,West),Scotland)
REFERENCES (23 citations):
Child 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (5 texts)
Bronson 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (7 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 429-430, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (scraps and notes only)
Flanders-Ancient1, pp. 45-50, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text plus two riddle fragments possibly associated with this, 1 tune); also pp. 299-315, "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship" (3 texts plus two fragments, 5 tunes; the "A" text and the F fragment and tune are mixed with "Riddles Wisely Expounded")
Leach, pp. 47-51, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (3 texts)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 116-118, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Davis-Ballads 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text; 1 tune entitled "The Devil's Nine Questions") {Bronson's #5}
Davis-More 1, pp. 1-7, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text plus an excerpt from another, 1 tune)
OBB 9, "The Riddling Knight" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 4, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (2 texts)
PBB 10, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
Niles 1, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (3 texts, 3 tunes, but only the first, "The Devil's Questions," is Child 1)
Lomax-FSNA 86, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 110-111, "The Devil's Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hodgart, p. 25 ,"Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 717, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 86-87, "The Devil's Nine Questions" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 80-81, "Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom" (1 tune, partial text)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 56-57, "Lay the Bent to the Bonnie Broom" (1 text, 1 tune) {cf. Bronson's #1 and its comments on Bruce/Stokoe}
Darling-NAS, pp. 18-19, "Riddles Wisely Expounded" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2508, "There was a Lady of the North-Country"
DT 1, JNFRGNTL BONBROMQ* DEVLNINE *
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #343, "There Was a Knight" (1 text)
ST C001 (Full)
Roud #161
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 4o Rawl. 566(193), "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded" or "The Maids Answer to the Knights Three Questions", F. Coles (London), 1674-1679; also Douce Ballads 2(168b), "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded" or "The Maids Answer to the Knights Questions"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Gave My Love a Cherry"
SAME TUNE:
"Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian 4o Rawl. 566(193) and Douce Ballads 2(168b) -- though that may be just the "tune name" for this song)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jennifer Gentle
There Was a Man Lived in the West
NOTES: This ballad is also, as "Sven Nordmand," found in Danish tradition.
"Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom", cited in Chappell/Wooldridge, should not be confused with the version of "The Twa Sisters" that uses those words as a refrain. - PJS
E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947, p. 153, cites this as one of the two oldest verifiable popular ballads in the Child canon ("Robin Hood and the Monk" being the other). Both are found in manuscripts believed to date from c. 1450. There are of course earlier pieces which have been claimed as ballads ("Judas," "St. Stephen and Herod," "Robin and Gandelyn"), but Chambers thinks the description misapplied in those cases. And certainly each of the three has un-ballad-like characteristics. Given that "Robin Hood and the Monk" [Child 119] appears never to have been found except in that one manuscript, "Riddles" is arguably the oldest ballad to have survived into the modern era of collecting.
The caution is that Chambers is lumping the dialog "Inter diabilus et Virgo" with this (see Chamber, p. 156). Given that that is mostly a riddle song, and our earliest riddle song is "I Gave My Love a Cherry" (sometimes lumped with "Captain Wedderburn's Courtship"), there is a real question of whether the two can be linked.. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C001

Riddling Knight, The

See Riddles Wisely Expounded [Child 1] (File: C001)

Ride Away to Aberdeen

DESCRIPTION: The old man rides "away to Aberdeen to buy fite breid" [white bread]. When he returns he finds the old woman dead. He hits her on the ear with his club: "rise ... an' ate yer fite breid"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: death food husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1690, "Ride, Horsie, Ride" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Walter Gregor, "Kilns, Mills, Millers, Mead and Bread" in Transactions of the Buchan Field Club 1892-1895 (Peterhead,n.d.), (30 Nov 1894), [Vol.III,] Bread and Games #4 pp. 157-159 (9 texts)
Roud #13034
NOTES: Gregor: "This amusement may be made for the child by the mother or nurse dandling the child on her knee in imitation o friding, or, if the child is old enough, it receives a staff or piece of stick, which it puts between its legs, and then moves about as if riding, and repeats the words itself." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81690

Ride Away, Ride Away, Johnny Shall Ride

See Go to Berwick, Johnny (File: MSNR009)

Ride in the Creel, The

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

Ridge-Running Roan, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer vows to tame a wild horse. After 17 days of pursuit the cowboy ropes him, discovering that at some point he'd been saddled and bridled, but was still wild. The horse eventually throws him and runs back to the ridges with all of his gear
AUTHOR: Curley Fletcher
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Curley Fletcher, "Songs of the Sage")
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer hears of a wild horse and vows to tame it. After 17 days of pursuit the horse quits the ridges for softer ground and the cowboy ropes him, discovering that at some point he'd been saddled and bridled, but was still wild. Mounting, "I thought I was up on the hurricane deck/Of an earthquake and cyclone a-havin' a wreck." The horse eventually throws him and runs back to the ridges with all of his gear
KEYWORDS: work animal horse cowboy worker
FOUND IN: US(Ro)
RECORDINGS:
Harry Jackson, "The Ridge-Running Roan" (on HJackson1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Strawberry Roan" (theme)
NOTES: There's clearly a relationship to "Strawberry Roan" (also by Fletcher), but the plots are different enough that I've split them. - PJS
File: RcTRiRuR

Ridin' in a Buggy

DESCRIPTION: "I'm ridin' in a buggy, O yes, O yes, It's a golden bright buggy... O Candy, Candy gal, Woncha hurry, Candy gal, Swing your partner, Candy gal... Now choose two partners... And I wants a good rappin'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: dancing courting nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-FSNA 262, "Ridin' in a Buggy" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: LoF262

Ridin' on de Cable Car

DESCRIPTION: "Come hurry to de wicket And get a first-class ticket Risin' on de cable car." The singer describes the rider's experiences: Paying six cents to be jammed in a crowd on a hot day, having someone step on your toe, being harangued by a politician
AUTHOR: H. O. Lawrence?
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: travel technology
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 509, "Ridin' on de Cable Car" (1 text)
Roud #7593
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Climbing up the Golden Stairs" (tune)
File: R509

Riding Boy from Powder River

DESCRIPTION: "Riding boy from Powder River Rides the broncs until they shiver, Rides the gals until they quiver, He's the riding boy!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse bawdy
FOUND IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin 39, "Riding Boy from Powder River" (1 fragmentary text, 1 tune)
File: Ohr039

Riding Down to Portsmouth

DESCRIPTION: A sailor falls in love with a pretty maid while "riding down to Portsmouth." After he promises to marry she sleeps with him and steals his gold watch and purse. He leaves the landlord his pony in pawn till he returns from the war.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 20(41))
KEYWORDS: sex theft whore sailor horse trick promise
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #1534
RECORDINGS:
Tom Willett, "Riding Down to Portsmouth" (on Voice02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 20(41), "Riding Down to Portsmouth," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 11(1453), "Riding Down to Portsmouth"
NOTES: Probably just as well that wedding didn't come off.... - RBW
File: RcRdDTPo

Riding Herd at Night

DESCRIPTION: "Riding herd at night, a lonely exile singing," the singer falls into waking dreams of "the cot where my love lies dreaming of me." Even as he drives herds in Wyoming (a job he never imagined), his thoughts are in Ireland. He recalls the holidays there
AUTHOR: John Henry Macaulay
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration cowboy work separation homesickness
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H588, pp. 220-221, "Riding Herd at Night" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Bet you never thought you would see an Irish cowboy song. - RBW
File: HHH588

Riding on a Donkey

See Hieland Laddie (File: Doe050)

Riding on That Train 45

See Reuben's Train (File: Wa133)

Riding on the Dummy

DESCRIPTION: "Of all the ways of travelling, by coach or carryall... the dummy beats them all." People step on each others' toes and bump into each other; people fall in each others' laps; etc. But the singer is happy "Riding on the dummy With the darling I adore."
AUTHOR: Words: Sam Booth/Music: Frederick G. Carnes
EARLIEST DATE: 1885 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: courting travel technology
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 511, "Riding on the Dummy" (1 text)
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 485-490, "On the Dummy Line" (about "The Dummy Line (II)," but it includes a cover of the sheet music to this piece)
Roud #7595
NOTES: Randolph reports, "The front part of the streetcars used in California in the early days was open and was called the dummy."
Randolph's text is a curious mixture of themes; the first two verses describe the dangers of riding the dummy; the chorus describes the sights seen from the train and the pleasure of riding with one's darling; the final verse describes the lovers' visit to a park. One suspects a composite text. - RBW
This should not be confused with "The Dummy Line." - PJS
File: R511

Riding on the Tramway

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a lady "looking out of a window at the New Tramway" The cost is only two pence. He gets on and sat next to her. He asks her to marry, she agrees, they marry and, he says, "we'll soon have fresh conductors on the New Tramway"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 19C (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.16(155))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage technology
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 15, "The New Tramway" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6988
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "The Horse Tramway" (on IRRCinnamond01) (fragment; only the chorus and one verse)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.16(155)[some words illegible] , "Riding on the Tramway" ("It was on one summer's evening, not very long ago"), T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also Firth c.26(5)[some words illegible] , "Riding on the Tramway"
NOTES: Leyden: The horse-drawn Belfast Tramway system was opened in 1872. Unlike the horse-omnibuses, it ran smoothly on a metal track. "A journey in such a horse tram was much smoother, faster and quieter than that in a horse-omnibus jolting its way through cobbled streets."
Broadside Bodleian Firth c.16(155): "sung with immense success by Hyram Travers." - BS
File: Leyd015

Riel's Song

DESCRIPTION: French: "Quand je partis ma chere Henriette, Tu n'avais pas encore quinze ans." The singer (Riel?) left home before Henrietta was fifteen. With the fighting over, he has come home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: family sister home separation return foreignlanguage
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1870 - Riel's uprising
FOUND IN: Canada
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 124-126, "Riel's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Chanson de la Grenouillere ('Song of Frog Plain,'Falcon's Song)" (subject)
cf. "Pork, Beans and Hard Tack" (subject)
cf. "The Toronto Volunteers" (subject)
cf. "Between the Forks and Carleton" (subject)
cf. "Chanson de Louis Riel" (subject)
NOTES: Tradition attributes this song to Louis Riel himself. Whether this is true we cannot tell, but the song fits the facts of Riel's life, and Riel is known to have written poetry.
Riel was born in 1844 to a Métis (French-Indian cross-breed) family. In the late 1860s, the new Dominion of Canada began to organize the Red River region. This organization would have broken up the farms and deprived the Métis of their livelihood.
When their protests failed, Riel led a group of Métis to organize a "Republic of the North-West," and set conditions for joining Canada. Unfortunately, Riel made the mistake of executing a man by the name of Thomas Scott. The government sent a force of 1200 men to clear up the situation. In August 1870, Riel fled to the United States and the rebellion ended.
Ironically, the Canadian government granted most of the rights Riel had demanded to the inhabitants of the hastily-reorganized Manitoba district.Riel was back in Canada by 1871, and earned the informal thanks of the government for helping repel a Fenian raid. But when he was elected to parliament in 1873 and 1874, he was not permitted to take his seat; from 1874 to 1879 he was under formal sentence of banishment. Riel spent the time teaching school in Montana, and for a while was confined to a mental hospital.
In July 1883 Riel returned to Manitoba to attend the wedding of his sister. But in 1884, at the request of the Métis of Saskatchewan (now being pushed out of that province as they had been pushed from Manitoba fifteen years earlier), he organized a second rebellion.
Although the Canadian army had trouble catching up with the Métis and their Indian allies, General Middleton fought skirmishes on April 24 and May 2, then defeated Riel at Batoche on May 12, 1885 when the entrenched Métis ran out of ammunition. After a trial which had something of the air of a circus (his attorneys claimed insanity; Riel himself said -- with some truth -- that he had only been responding to political necessity), Riel was hanged late in that year.
John MacDonald (1815-1891), the Canadian Premier, heard many appeals to commute Riel's sentence, but decided that Riel had to hang to keep Ontario happy. Quebec, however, was outraged, and some historians believe that the decline of the Conservative Party in Canada (until then the dominant political force) dates from Riel's hanging.
For songs about the second rebellion, see "Pork, Beans and Hard Tack," "The Toronto Volunteers," and "Between the Forks and Carleton."
Riel's career was poignant enough that it still inspires songs. Rather better than this, to my mind, is Bill Gallaher's "The Last Battle," recorded by Gordon Bok on "In the Kind Land." - RBW
File: FMB124

Rifle Boys, The

DESCRIPTION: A girl loves one of Lord Hopkin's grenadiers. Her mother asks how she will get by on so little pay. The girl is not deterred. Her mother would confine her. The drum major leads the grenadiers out of town, breaking every girl's heart
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1855 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 15(257b))
KEYWORDS: courting parting army clothes Scotland mother soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 89, "The Hopkin Boys" (7 texts, 6 tunes)
Roud #588
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 15(257b), "Rifle Boys" ("The rout has come this afternoon, that we must march to-morrow"), E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; also Firth c.14(191), Firth c.14(192), Firth c.14(193), Harding B 11(1940), Harding B 15(257a), Harding B 15(258a), Harding B 11(3861), "[The] Rifle Boys"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lord Hopkin
The Grenadiers are Marching
NOTES: GreigDuncan1: "The 'Hopkin' or 'Hopetoun' version of this song applies to the Hopetoun Fencibles (1793-8) who wore red coats with light grey-blue facings." In the texts, the uniform seems to be the main attraction. - BS
Though this raises a complication in the mention of rifles. It is no great surprise that the girls would be attracted to the grenadiers over other soldiers; grenadiers were specially selected, and were generally taller, stronger, and healthier than ordinary soldiers. But -- they didn't carry rifles!
Until the invention of the Minie bullet, and the adoption of rifle muskets which used it in the 1850s, almost all infantrymen used smoothbore muskets. There were a few riflemen associated with each army, but they were few -- it took about two minutes to load, aim, and fire a muzzle-loading rifle, meaning that a smoothbore could fire about five times as fast. So riflemen were specialists, and rare. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1089

Rifleman's Song at Bennington

DESCRIPTION: "Why come ye hither, redcoats? Your mind what madness fills?" The singer warns the British soldiers of danger in America. They are asked if there are no graves in Britain for them. He promises a quick death "If flint and trigger hold but true."
AUTHOR: Words: John Allison / Music traditional, set by John Allison
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: battle patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 16, 1777 - Battle of Bennington.
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Botkin-NEFolklore, pp. 543-544, "Rifleman's Song at Bennington" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 280, "The Riflemen At Bennington" (1 text)
DT, RIFLEBEN*
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Riflemen of Bennington" (on PeteSeeger32)
NOTES: Recorded by John and Lucy Allison. There is no reason to believe this song ever circulated in oral tradition.
The Battle of Bennington was part of John Burgoyne's campaign that ended at Saratoga. Burgoyne had a long supply train, and was forced to forage to supply his troops. He ordered Colonel Friedrich Baum to take about 650 men to raid the Colonial supply center at Bennington.
The colonial leader John Stark is believed to have had about 2000 men, although they were poorly organized (almost all were militia, which in the Revolutionary War translated as "individuals with guns who came and went as they pleased"). This large force surrounded Baum, who ignored them until fired upon, then fought until his ammunition gave out. He was killed as his men tried to cut their way out, and most of the remaining British forces surrendered.
This very nearly doomed Burgoyne's expedition. He could perhaps have retreated -- but that wasn't politically wise. So he sat, and starved, and eventually had to surrender. For further background, see the notes to "The Fate of John Burgoyne." - RBW
File: BNEF543

Riflemen at Bennington, The

See Rifleman's Song at Bennington (File: BNEF543)

Rifles, The

See Some Rival Has Stolen My True Love Away (The Rifles, The Merry King) (File: BuDa005)

Rigby Johnson Chandler

DESCRIPTION: Floating lyrics, united by the refrain "Rigby Johnson Chandler" or similar. Examples: Old man went out to plow And he hooked up a hog with a Jersey cow"; "Two old maids sitting in the sand"; "[My woman] went to the circus and ran off with the clown."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1969
KEYWORDS: nonsense nonballad drink oldmaid floatingverses chickens
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 10, "Rigby Johnson Chandler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11084
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Salty Dog" (floating lyrics)
File: FCW010

Rights of Man, The

DESCRIPTION: Shiel dreams of a meeting at Athlone. Granua says "Britannia No more shall rob you of the rights of man." A man from the sky brings a shamrock. Granua promised to free them before long. The meeting parts "in exultation" at daybreak as Shiel wakes
AUTHOR: Richard Lalor Shiel (1791-1851)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.10(214))
KEYWORDS: dream Ireland patriotic religious
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 18, "The Rights of Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(214), "Rights of Man" ("I speak in candour, one night in slumber"), H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also 2806 b.9(62), Firth b.26(432), "Rights of Man"
LOCSinging, as111750, "Rights of Man," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, RB.m.143(013), "Shiel's Rights of Man," unknown, c.1870
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Eileen McMahon" (aisling format)
cf. "Granuaile" (aisling format) and references there
NOTES: Sheil was Daniel O'Connell's chief assistant when O'Connell founded the Catholic Association in 1823. (source: "Roman Catholic Relief Bill" in The Catholic Encyclopedia at the New Advent site. Also see "Richard Lalor Sheil" at the same site.)
Broadsides LOCSinging as111750 and Bodleian 2806 b.9(62) appear to be duplicates.
Broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(013) commentary: "Granua (also spelt Grainne). The daughter of the mythical Irish warrior and folk hero, Finn McCool, Granua is also used as a symbol for Ireland - much like the figure of Britannia is employed as a symbol for Great Britain."
The man from heaven with the shamrock, "the three leaved plant ... it is three in one, To prove its unity in that community, That holds lenity the Rights of Man," could be Saint Patrick. Zimmermann p. 43: "According to a fairly recent legend, St. Patrick held a trefoil [shamrock] as an illustration of the Trinity. The plant had become a religious emblem and a badge of nationality about 1700. In 1778, the Cork Volunteers sang a song entitled 'The Shamrock Cockade', and by then the colour itself had acquired a political meaning."
Broadside LOCSinging as111750 is the basis for the description.
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Rights of Man" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
"Strongbow" is Richard de Clare (Richard FitzGilbert), one-time Earl of Pembroke (died 1176), who led the first English invasion of Ireland in 1170.
Tom Paine (1737-1809) published The Rights of Man in 1791-1792, and it was an inspiration to the more intellectual of the 1798 rebels; most histories of the period contain multiple references to his writing. It's ironic to note that Ireland's French allies would imprison Paine for a time during the the quasi-war with the United States -- and even more ironic that Paine's last major work before the 1798 was The Age of Reason, which attacked several important Catholic doctrines.
For a discussion of this type of song as a example of the genre known as the "aisling," see the notes to "Granuaile."
There is, of course, a fiddle tune, "The Rights of Man." There is no reason to think the two have anything to do with each other. - RBW
File: BrdTRoM

Rigs o' Gorrachree, The

DESCRIPTION: Near Gorrachree the singer overhears Sandy and a chambermaid. Sandy seduces her. She says, "My maidenhood has got a fright and gane awa frae me." He considers it a joke he's played on fairer maids. He "hunts the beggar wives and sets them agee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: seduction rake servant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1468, "The Rigs o' Gorrachree" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #7184
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Corachree
File: GrD71468

Rigs of London, The

See Up to the Rigs (File: K192)

Rigs of Rye, The

See Two Rigs of Rye [Laws O11] (File: LO11)

Rigs of the Times, The

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Honesty's all out of fashion; These are the rigs of the times...." Detailing all the sharp business practices of the day, e.g. the butcher who charges two shillings a pound "and thinks it no sin" -- while placing his thumb on the scale!
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes poverty lie money landlord
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond,South)) US(MA,MW,NW,SE,So) Canada(Newf) Australia
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Kennedy 237, "The Rigs of the Time" (1 text, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 433-434, "Song of the Times" (1 text)
BrownIII 332, "Hard Times" (2 texts plus a fragment and mention of 1 more)
Hudson 89, pp. 215-216, "Hard Times" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering ,184 ""Hard Times (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 332-334, "Hard Times" (1 text)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 14-16, "The Rigs of the Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 206-208, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune -- a Canadian adaptation created by William James Emberly in 1936 to describe conditions in the Great Depression)
Peacock, pp. 57-59, "Hard Times" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Fowke/MacMillan 17, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 183, "Hard Times" (1 text, the first six verses being "Courting the Widow's Daughter" and the last seven being a reduced version, minus the chorus, of "The Rigs of the Times")
Blondahl, pp. 13-14, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 28-29, "Hard, Hard Times" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIGSTIME*
Roud #876
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "Hard, Hard Times" (on NFOBlondahl01,NFOBlondahl02)
Ken Peacock, "Hard Times" (on NFKPeacock)
J. W. "Charger" Salmons & friends: "The Rigs of the Time" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
Pete Steele, "The Song of Hard Times" (on PSteele01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Don't Come to Michigan" (lyrics)
cf. "Old David Ward" (lyrics)
cf. "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" (subject)
cf. "The Steam Doctor" (lyrics)
cf. "Fine Times in Camp Number Three" (lyrics)
NOTES: Most scholars (e.g. Belden, Cox, Kennedy) assume that "The Rigs of the Times" (with chorus "Singing, Honesty's all out of fashion, These are the rigs of the times, times, me boys, These are the rigs of the times") is the same as "Hard Times" (with a short chorus such as "these times, these (hard/queer) times").
Personally, I'm not convinced, as the two seem to fall into very distinct groups. But because the equation is so common, I've followed it in the index. - RBW
Blondahl: "This ... was sent in by Paul Emberly, who informs that the lines were written by his late father." - BS
File: K237

Rigwoodie Carlin', The

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

Rigwuddy Carlin, The

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

Riley

DESCRIPTION: "Riley, Riley, where are you, Wo, Riley! Wo, ma-an!" "Riley's gone to Liverpool... Riley's gone an' I'm goin too." "Wish I were Cap'n Riley's son... I'd lay around and drink good rum." "Thought I heard my cap'n say... Tomorrow is our sailin' day."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935
KEYWORDS: sailor ship work drink travel
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-FSNA 278, "Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is a pastiche of verses from various songs, e.g. "Leave Her, Johnny," "Ginny's Gone to Ohio" (which also has some resemblance in the tune), etc. Lomax related it to "Stormalong" (a connection I don't see). You can probably find other relatives if you look hard enough. - RBW
File: LoF278

Riley Luffsey

DESCRIPTION: "O'Donald and Luffsey (first names Frank and Riley) And Wannigan, known as Dutch..." were true friends and "never too bashful to shoot." "The Marquis de Mores... had recently come from France"; Luffsey dies in a shootout; de Mores is acquitted
AUTHOR: Clell G. Cannon ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder foreigner trial accusation
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, pp. 238-239, "(Riley Luffsay)" (1 text)
NOTES: It's not as bad as that first line would make you think -- but it's close.
De Mores apparently was a French businessman who set up a cattle operation in North Dakota. It was a bit too big and bustling for the locals, who engaged in a certain amount of petty sabotage. De Mores perhaps fought back a little too vigorously. - RBW
File: Burt238

Riley to Ameriky

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

Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8]

DESCRIPTION: Riley and his sweetheart are forbidden by her father to marry. Aided by the girl's mother, Riley goes to America and buys a plot of land. He comes back; the two set out for America. Their ship is wrecked on the way. Before dying the girl blames her father
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: courting love mother father exile wreck death
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (21 citations):
Laws M8, "Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley)"
Greig #110, p. 2, "John Rylie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan1 22, "John Riley" (6 texts, 2 tunes)
SHenry H468, pp. 441-442, "John Reilly the Sailor Lad" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn-More 7, "Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 49, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text)
Warner 147, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 39, pp. 89-90, "Jack Riley" (1 text, containing only the beginning portion of the song)
Chappell-FSRA 37, "John Reilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 105-108, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 170-171, "Johnny Riley" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 102-103, "Young Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 60, "Johnny Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 90, "Riley to Ameriky" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 698-700, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 13, "John Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 45, "Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lehr/Best 84, "O'Reilly the Fisherman" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 67, "Will O'Riley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 43, "Reilly's Farewell" (1 text)
DT 463, RILYFRWL JREILLY4*
Roud #270
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Young Reilly the Fisherman" (on IRRCinnamond03)
Michael Flanagan, "O'Reilly to America" (on IRClare01)
Mrs. Edward Gallagher, "Young Riley" (on MRHCreighton)
Sarah Anne O'Neill, "John Reilly" (on Voice04)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 17(257b), "Riley the Fisherman," A. Ryle and Co. (London), 1845-1859; also Firth c.12(287), Firth b.26(209), Harding B 11(1864), Harding B 11(1865), Harding B 11(3286), "Riley the Fisherman"; 2806 c.16(201), "Riley's Farewell"
Murray, Mu23-y4:036, "John Riely," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(072), "John Reily," James Lindsay, Glasgow, c. 1870
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "William and Harriet" [Laws M7]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Riley the Fisherman
John Rally
Willie Riley
Reilly
NOTES: Not to be confused with the broken-token "John Riley." [Nor should the] "Young Riley" [versions] be confused with the "Young Riley" that's an alternate title to "O'Reilly from the County Leitrim." - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: LM08

Rineen Ambush, The

DESCRIPTION: The IRA ambush Black and Tan lorries in Rineen, County Clare. "The Black and Tans put up their hands and the peelers too likewise." "Gallant Irishmen together should unite ... And have another ambush soon to fight the Black and Tans!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1974 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion battle patriotic IRA
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1920-1921 - The Black and Tan War
Sep 22, 1920 - A partly successful ambush of Black and Tans by the Mid Clare Brigade of the IRA was followed by a successful retreat (source: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan).
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 26, "The Rineen Ambush" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5222
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "The Rineen Ambush" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "A large monument now stands at Rineen Cross in memory of that day's events and their appalling aftermath [reprisals by RIC and Black and Tans] which are still embedded deeply in the memory of the people of Clare.
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 RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary). - BS
The Black and Tans (for which see "The Bold Black and Tan") were a special English constabulary recruited to quell Irish violence. They failed, and in fact contributed to the brutality.
For one song about the aftermath to this event, see the notes to "Mac and Shanahan." It will tell you something of the violence of the period that none of the six histories I checked (including three devoted specifically to this period, one of which is largely a catalog of atrocities) mentions any of these events. - RBW
File: RcRinAmb

Ring a Ring o' Roses

See Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)

Ring Around o' Rosies

See Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)

Ring Around the Rosie

DESCRIPTION: Singing game, with lyrics something like "Ring around the rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes, ashes, We all fall down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1881 (Greenaway's _Mother Goose_, according to Baring-Gould-MotherGoose)
KEYWORDS: nonballad playparty
FOUND IN: US(MW,NE) Britain(England(All)) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Linscott, pp. 49-50, "Ring Around ' Rosies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 227, "Ring Around the Rosy" (1 text, tune referenced)
SHenry H48c, pp. 10-11, "Ring a Ring o' Roses" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 443, "Ring-a-ring o' roses" (4 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #639, p. 253, "(Ring-a-ring-a-roses)"
ST PHCF227a (Full)
Roud #7925
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Ring Around the Rosie" (on PeteSeeger33, PeteSeegerCD03)
NOTES: The words cited here are the ones I learned (I don't remember playing the game, but I've heard the song), and Pankake's text is almost identical. Presumably this is the form most common in the American Midwest. Newell, however, cites older (and presumably more original) forms, and Gomme offers a variety with quite diverse refrains.
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose notes that some have connected this to the Great Plague. But they also observe that this is a very weak link, denied by most who have seriously studied the matter. The Opies merely state that it goes back the *time* of the plague -- and offer no direct proof even of that. The Opies also cite some possible non-English parallels; those which are in languages I can read do not strike me as truly parallel.
John Kelly, The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time, Harper Collins, 2005, pp. 20-21, has more explanation than most. According to him, the "ashes, ashes" of the third line are a reference to the bruiseline purple blotches which appeared on the bodies of some victims. These were known as "God's tokens" because they indicated that the sufferer was soon to die. He does, however, point out that this symptom is very rarely observed in modern plague. So this is a pretty weak link. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: PHCF227a

Ring is Round, The

DESCRIPTION: "The ring is round -- the bed is square You and I would make a pair"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: courting nonballad ring
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1834, "The Ring is Round" (1 short text)
Roud #13601
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 text.
GreigDuncan8: apparently a verse for a valentine or album. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD1834

Ring My Mother Wore, The

DESCRIPTION: "This earth has many treasures rare In gems and golden ore, My heart hath one more treasure rare, The ring my mother wore." The child received it from the mother's dying hand, and will treasure it always
AUTHOR: Louis Della?
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Randolph); copyrighted 1860
KEYWORDS: mother death ring
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 699, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 474-475, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 699)
Roud #7372
RECORDINGS:
[Roy Harvey and the] West Virginia Ramblers, "The Ring My Mother Wore" (Champion 16456, 1931)
File: R699

Ring the Bell, Watchman

DESCRIPTION: "High in the belfry the old sexton stands, Grasping the rope in his thin bony hands." He waits until he hears: "Ring the bell, watchman! ring! ring! ring! Yes, yes! the good news is now on the wing... Glorious and blessed tidings. Ring, ring the bell!"
AUTHOR: Henry Clay Work
EARLIEST DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 113-114, "Ring the Bell, Watchman" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RINGBELL*
Roud #13630
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Click Go the Shears" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Click Go the Shears (File: MA024)
Oh Molly Reilly (Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 159)
Palmer's Suits (Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 180)
NOTES: Like many Henry Clay Work songs, the lyrics to this were too vague to gain much hold in tradition, but the tune too good to ignore. There is a sailing parody, "Strike the Bell, Second Mate"; in Australia, it produced the well-known "Click Go the Shears." - RBW
File: DTringbe

Ring-a-ring o' Roses

See Ring Around the Rosie (File: PHCF227a)

Ring-Dang-Doo (I), The

DESCRIPTION: A young woman lets a lad ride her "ring dang doo," is kicked out of her house by her father for losing her maidenhead, and takes up prostitution. In some versions she gives her customers a social disease; in others her career ends when she dies of the pox
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous disease sex whore
FOUND IN: Australia Canada Britain(England) US(Ap,MA,MW,Ro,So,SW), West Indies
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cray, pp. 182-186, "The Ring-Dang-Doo" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 147-151, "The Rang-a-Tang-Too" (4 texts, 2 tunes)
Logsdon 51, pp. 240-244, "London Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1880
RECORDINGS:
Anonymous singers "The Ring-A-Rang-A-Roo" [fragment] (on Unexp1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rackyman Doo (Ring-Dang-Doo (II))" (euphemism)
NOTES: The first version in Randolph-Legman I (p. 147) is to the unrecognized melody of "The Irish Washerwoman," the second to "The Arkansas Traveler." - EC
File: EM182A

Rinky Dinky Di-Lo

DESCRIPTION: A man loses his "leg," shot off by his mother-in-law; the doctor makes a wooden replacement; but the man cannot wear a spur on it; and things in the family go from bad to worse.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy injury doctor family
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 358-360, "Rinky Dinky Di-Lo" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: This is one of a group of "mal-mariee" songs and ballads, Legman notes in Randolph-Legman I, similar to "I Wish I Was Single Again," "Devilish Mary," etc. - EC
File: RL358

Rinordine

See Reynardine [Laws P15] (File: LP15)

Rio Grande

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "[Heave] away, Rio... And we're bound for the Rio Grande." Most versions revolve about a sailor preparing to leave port, and the girl (or girls) he is about to leave behind (with or without regret)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor parting
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Canada(Mar) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 64-66, "Rio Grande" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 34-36 "Rio Grande" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 114-115, "The Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 86-87, "Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 111-112, "Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 87-96, "Rio Grande" (8 texts plus several fragments, 2 tunes; the 5th text is a Norwegian version, "Opsang for 'Preciosa'") [AbEd, pp. 80-87]
Sharp-EFC, XXI, p.24, "Rio Grand" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 146-148, "Rio Grande" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 21-23, "Away, Rio!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 488-489, "The Rio Grande" (1 text+floating verses, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 20, "Bound to Rio" (1 text)
Mackenzie 104, "The Rio Grande" (2 texts, 2 tunes); "I'm Bound For the Rio Grande" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 93, "Rio Grande" (1 text)
DT, RIOGRAN
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Rio Grande" is in Part 2, 7/21/1917.
Roud #317
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers, "Away, Rio" (General 5017A, 1941; on Almanac02, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Fishermen's Group, Cadgwith, "Rio Grande" (on LastDays)
Joseph Hyson, "Rio Grande" (on NovaScotia1)
Minster Singers, "Rio Grande" [medley w. "Blow the Man Down"] (Victor 61148, n.d.; prob. c. 1903)
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Away Rio" (AFS 4232 A, 1939; on LC27 as "Rio Grande"; in AMMEM/Cowell)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Away for Rio,
Bound for the Rio Grande
Oh, Aye, Rio
NOTES: The "Rio Grande" of this song is almost certainly not the river of southwestern North America, but rather the province Rio Grande do Sul of southern Brazil. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe064

Ripest Apple, The

DESCRIPTION: "The ripest apple the soonest rotted, The purest love the soonest cold, A young man's words are soon forgotten...." The singer asks that he speak her name kindly, recalls how they loved, says she will be true, and says she will never find his like
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: lover betrayal separation nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 165, "The Ripest Apple" (1 text)
Roud #6580
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Will Put My Ship In Order" (floating lyrics)
File: BrII165

Ripest of Apples

See Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady) AND The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: E098)

Ripon Sword-Dance

DESCRIPTION: "Christmas time has now been approaching." The characters have come from far away. Room is made for each and each has his lines: General "Warrington" from Waterloo, Hieland laddie, Tom the tinker, Beelzebub, Big Head, St George and doctor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1980 (recording, The Ripon Sword Dancers)
KEYWORDS: Christmas humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
RECORDINGS:
The Ripon Sword Dancers, "Make Me a Room, For I Am A-Coming" (on Voice16)
NOTES: Hall, notes to Voice16: The Ripon Sword Dancers used this song in their Boxing Day mummers' play completed, in its entirety, in two minutes and fifty seconds.
For two similar examples of Christmas song/sword-dance/drama see Robert Bell, editor, [The Project Gutenberg EBook (1996) of] Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), "The [Wharfdale] Sword-Dancers' Song" ("The first that enters on the floor") and "The [Durham] Sword-Dancers' Song and Interlude" ("Good gentlemen all, to our captain take heed"). - BS
I find myself wondering if this might not be a sort of inland equivalent of thing like the "Pace-Egging Song," which introduces Lord Nelson, Lord Collingwood, and the hands serving under them. Here, it is Wellington ("Warrington,") the land her of Waterloo, as Nelson was the naval hero of Trafalgar. - RBW
File: RcRiSwDa

Ripping Trip, A

DESCRIPTION: About the troubles of a sailing trip to San Francisco, each verse ending "Rip goes the --" (boiler, engine, your money, etc.). The trip features a defective engine, a savage captain, poor food, disease, and poverty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1858 (Put's Golden Songster)
KEYWORDS: sea gold mining hardtimes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fife-Cowboy/West 14, "A Ripping Trip" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIPTRIP*
Roud #8059
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "A Ripping Trip" (on LEnglish02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Pop Goes the Weasel" (tune) and references there
File: FCW014

Rise and Shine

DESCRIPTION: "God said to Noah, there's gonna be a floody, floody.... (So) Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory... Children of the Lord." Noah builds the ark; the animals arrive, including elephants and kangaroos; it rains; it dries up
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: religious flood humorous
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 388, "Rise And Shine" (1 text)
DT, RISESHIN
Roud #11968
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Children of the Lord" (on PeteSeeger11)
File: FSWB388A

Rise Me Up from Down Below

DESCRIPTION: Shanty, with chorus "Whiskey-oh, Johnny-oh! Oh, rise me up from down below, down below, oh, oh, oh oh! Up aloft this yard must go, John! Rise me up from down below!" The verses describe "the world down below," where the "fires do roar," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951
KEYWORDS: shanty Hell
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Doerflinger, p. 47, "Rise Me Up from Down Below" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 281-282, "Rise Me Up From Down Below" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 207]
ST Doe047 (Partial)
Roud #9440
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Whiskey Johnny" (identical chorus, different verses celebrating whiskey)
File: Doe047

Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)

DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives at his love's window and begs to come in. She asks who is there. He identifies himself, and she allows him to enter. When he leaves, he rejoices, "For late last night I've been with my lass." In other versions, his ghost bids farewell.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: nightvisit courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Greig #177, p. 2, ("Hearken, hearken, and I will tell you") (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 783, "I Must Away" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 34, "The Ghostly Lover" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 89, "Hearken, Ladies, and I Will Tell You, Or The Constant Lovers" (1 text)
Kennedy 159, "A Health to All True-Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 63, "Here's a Health To All True Lovers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #22568
RECORDINGS:
John Reilly, "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" (on Voice10)
Belle Stewart, "Here's a Health to all True Lovers" (on Voice06)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Will Put My Ship In Order" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father" [Child 248] (plot)
cf. "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)" (plot)
cf. "Let Me In This Ae Nicht" (plot)
cf. "Willy O!" (theme)
cf. "I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober" (two verses)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Open and Let Me In
NOTES: This is a difficult conundrum, in that there are versions of this song with very similar words but plots with very different directions: One is a nightvisiting song, the other a ghost returning to his love after long absence.
In earlier versions of the Index, I split these two ballads, as "Rise Up Quickly" and "The Ghostly Lover" -- after all, the ghost is a pretty significant change; this was in contradiction to Roud, who lumped them.
Making things trickier still, one important text (Kennedy's) is "I Will Put My Ship In Order" without the first and last verses. It's not just the same plot; it's the same *words*. The two assuredly have a common origin, though in fact the songs have different endings. But fragments could file with other songs.
It is amazing that Kennedy, who is an impossible lumper and included at least one completely unrelated text from Sam Henry in his notes, failed to observe the connection to "I Will Put My Ship In Order." Kennedy's text is incredibly composite in its choruses, taking items from "I'm a Rover and Seldom Sober" and "Love is Teasing." But the Ord text implies that these are not an original part of the song. Many of the other versions have also picked up extraneous material.
The title I have assigned here is not based on any traditional version; I pulled it out of Kennedy's text because the extant titles were so unhelpful and inorganic to the texts.
Adding it all up, I wonder if this could possibly be a mix of "I Will Put My Ship In Order" and some lost Ghostly Lover song. Or is the "Ghostly Lover" version a mix of the nightvisiting version of this song with "The Grey Cock" or something of that type? In any case, it's a mess which admits of no easy solution. - RBW
Greenleaf/Mansfield names its text "The Ghostly Lover" though the ghost does not appear. "Although the words do not seem to bear out the title, the White girls insist this is a song about a lover who was drowned, but rose from his watery grave to see his sweetheart once again." Another ghostly example is John Reilly's "Adieu Unto All True Lovers" on "The Voice of the People, Vol 10: Who's That at my Bed Window?," Topic TSCD 660 (1998): here the text is clearly what we are calling "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" with the "where is the blushes" verse from "Willy O!" added to provide the ghost. The discussion of the Costello version in the notes to "The Grey Cock, or, Saw You My Father [Child 248]" give a similar example in which verses of both "Willy O!" and "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" are inserted unchanged into another ballad.
"Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In" has distinguishing lines that stand out when verses are imported into another ballad. For example,
... "Who's that at my bed window,
Disturbing me from from my long night's rest?"
"I am your lover; sure pray discover...."
"...I'm wet, love, unto the skin." [as opposed to "I've got wet through all my clothes" in "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)"].
"I'll be guided without a stumble....
It may begin with a treacherous journey that might have led the traveller to stumble:
"Over hills and lofty mountains,
Oh dear! oh dear! I'm forced to go...."
"Let the night be dark as the very dungeon [or dunghill]..."
GreigDuncan4: "There has been some crossing over of material between this night visiting song and [GreigDuncan2] 338 'Willie O', which treats the subject of a dead lover's return." GreigDuncan4 783B is very close to Ord's text.
The cold and wet theme seems common in non-ghostly night-visit songs. Besides Kidson's "Forty Miles" see "Hey Lizzie Lass" and "Oh Tibbie, Are Ye Sleepin'." While the night visitor of "When A' the Lave Gaed to Their Beds" does not complain of being cold or wet he ends by declaring "I care na' for the hardest work, Nor wind nor rain I'll fear, While I am welcome back again To the arms of my dear."
The first verse of Greig's version is almost the same as the first verse of his text for "Hearken, Hearken"; the non-revenant sense of this version is made stronger by the verse: "Hearken, hearken, and I will tell you Of a lad and a country lass; Seven long years they've been a-courting, Many a jovial hour betwixt them passed."
Another wet lover song is "I Will Put My Ship in Order." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Ord089

Rise Up, Dear Love

DESCRIPTION: Ainger asks a girl to open the door and let him in on a cold night. She tells him to return to the girl he was with the night before. He says he loves only her; contrary reports are false. She lets him in. She wonders why she left him outside so long.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: dialog nightvisit
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 775, "Rise Up, Dear Love" (1 text)
Roud #6191
File: GrD4775

Rise Up, Shepherd

DESCRIPTION: "There's a star in the east on Christmas morn, Rise up, Shepherd, and follow." The shepherd is advised to "Leave your sheep and leave your lambs" and follow the star to where Jesus is
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious shepherd Christmas
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 253, "Rise Up, Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 373, "Rise Up, Shepherd, And Follow" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #85, "There's a Star in the East" (1 text)
Roud #15289
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow" (on PeteSeeger37, PeteSeeger42)
NOTES: Although everything mentioned here comes from the Gospels, there is no evidence that the shepherds behaved as described. The star is mentioned only in Matthew (2:2, 9-10), and it seems to have been visible only to the Magi ("Wise Men") -- at least, Herod and his advisors couldn't tell which star it was.
The shepherds who see Jesus, on the other hand, are found only in Luke (2:8-20). They are not guided by the star, but given explicit directions by an angel. - RBW
File: LoF253

Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow

See Rise Up, Shepherd (File: LoF253)

Rise Ye Up

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

Rise, Ole Napper

See Napper (File: Br3123)

Rising in the North, The [Child 175]

DESCRIPTION: The Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland, suspected of treason, go into rebellion, bringing in others such as Master Norton. They gather their forces, but are delayed in besieging a castle. Loyal forces defeat the rebels
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: nobility rebellion
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1558-1603 - Reign of Elizabeth I
Nov 14, 1569 - Beginning of the northern rebellion
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 175, "The Rising in the North" (1 text)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 266-278, "The Rising in the North" (2 texts, one being that in the Reliques and the other being the manuscript copy)
Leach, pp. 484-488, "The Rising in the North" (1 text)
Roud #4005
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" [Child 176] (subject)
cf. "The Earl of Westmoreland" [Child 177] (subject)
cf. "Rookhope Ryde" [Child 179] (context)
NOTES: The Percies of Northumberland and the Nevilles of Westmoreland were the great lords of the English north; on those rare occasions they agreed on anything, they could usually take Northumbria with them.
The north was also conservative; Catholicism was strongest there. By 1569, Elizabeth was securely Protestant, and her heir Mary Queen of Scots was in her custody.
The "Rising in the North" did not actually begin in Northumbria; Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, first contacted the Spanish about giving the throne to Mary. His interest, however, was political (he resented the power of the Cecils); he quickly backed down. (Though he would rebel again in 1571 and be executed.)
With the Duke of Norfolk out of the picture, the northern earls took over. They did not actually demand Elizabeth's overthrow -- but wanted Mary back on the Scottish throne and a restoration of Catholicism in England. The threat to replace Elizabeth with Mary was obvious.
The northern Earls succeeded in raising the north (including even Yorkshire, led by its sheriff Richard Norton), but they did not capture Queen Mary and could not bring the rest of the country to their banner (Holinshed says they gathered about seven thousand men, but even this may be exaggerated; such reports often are).
However large the rebellion was, it was dispersed by the end of December, with the rebels in full flight. Leonard Dacre tried to fan the flames in 1570, but he was easily suppressed. Some eight hundred rebels were executed.
For the sequel to this, see "Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas" [Child 176] and "The Earl of Westmoreland" [Child 177]. - RBW
File: C175

Rising of the Moon, The

DESCRIPTION: "Oh! Then tell me, Sean O'Farrell, Tell me why you hurry so...." The singer is told that the "pikes must be together at the rising of the moon." The pikes gather, but are spotted and defeated. The listeners are told, "we will follow in their footsteps."
AUTHOR: Words: John Keegan Casey (1846-1870)
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (reference in _The Nation_, Feb 23, 1867, according to Zimmermann); c.1865 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1798 - Irish Rebellion
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (10 citations):
O'Conor, p. 111, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
PGalvin, p. 35, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
OLochlainn-More 67, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 69, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 117, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 322, "The Rising Of The Moon" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 120-121, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text, tune on p. 22)
DT, RISEMOON*
ADDITIONAL: H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 21-22, 497, "The Rising of the Moon"
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 550-551, "The Rising of the Moon" (1 text)
Roud #9634
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "The Rising of the Moon" (on IRClancyMakem03)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.10(189), "The Rising of the Moon," unknown, n.d.; also 2806 b.10(205), "The Rising of the Moon"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wearing of the Green (I)" (tune) and references there
cf. "Bannow's Bright Blue Bay" (tune)
NOTES: John Keegan Casey was a nineteenth century Irish patriot. He wrote this song in prison, where he died at the age of twenty-three. He was regarded as being very promising, but of course died very young; this is the only piece of his to have any wide circulation.
The reference to "pikes" accurately shows one of the problems of the 1798 rising. The rebels in Wicklow, for instance, had over ten thousand men enlisted to their cause -- and guns for only a thousand of them, and too little powder even for that thousand weapons.
Their alternative was the pike. These they had in sufficiency, since local blacksmiths could and did make them. And they also had the advantage of being easy to use: An illiterate farmer boys wouldn't know how to use a musket, but (in theory) anyone could figure out how to stick an enemy with a pike.
Of course, against real soldiers armed with firearms, they would have been quite useless. Pikes had been a genuine military weapon at the time of the last great battles in Ireland, the Boyne and Aughrim (see G.A. Hayes-McCoy, Irish Battles: A Military History of Ireland, pp. 219-220), but the ratio of musketeers to pikemen had been steadily rising; even at the Boyne, there were some regiments on the Williamite side with no pikes at all. And, by 1798, the bayonet had replaced the pike in all modern armies.
Still, the British were doing what they could to stop even pike production; Viceroy Camden was concerned about the way blacksmiths were turning them out (see Robert Kee, The Most Distressful Country, Volume 1 of The Green Flag, p. 68).
To add to the problems, the leadership of the United Irishmen were almost all in British custody by the time the of the 1798 uprising. The uprising was almost forced; the British were determined to root out all hints of rebellion; rather than be rounded up, the local cells went into revolt. But they no longer had leaders to coordinate their activities.
Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 34, says that in Casey's original, the rebels met by the Inny River, but he feared that this would bring extra British attention, so he changed it to the "shining river." - RBW
OLochlainn-More, pp. viii-ix: "John Keegan Casey's 'Rising of the Moon' had to be included for the spendid air my grandfather John Carr of Limerick had to it. (I hate to hear it sung to 'The Wearing of the Green' -- a tune which does not suit at all)." The OLochlainn-More tune is very much the tune as I remember Richard Dyer-Bennet singing it in the early 1950's (probably the one available on the 1957 LP Dyer-Bennet 4000). - BS
File: PGa035

GSPLITRBalladIndex.HTMLGSplit Archive&{FCCE7D5C-7BB5-4EC3-B04B-4F0350F5B7B7}7��*

Railroad Bum, The

Railroad Cars are Coming, The

Railroad Corral, The

Railroad Daddy Blues

Railroad Dinah Gal

Railroad Song

Railroad to Heaven, The

Railroad Tramp

Railroader for Me, A

Railroader, The

Railroadin' and Gamblin'

Railroading on the Great Divide

Railway Spiritualized, The

Rain and Snow

Rain Come Wet Me

Rain Fall and Wet Becca Lawton

Rain Rain the Wind Does Blow

Rain, Rain My Savior

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Rainbow 'mid Life's Willows

Rainbow (I), The

Rainbow (II), The

Rainbow Willow

Raise 'Em Up Higher

Raise a Ruckus

Raise a Ruckus Tonight (I)

Raise a Ruckus Tonight (II)

Raise a Rukus

Raise a Rukus Tonight

Rake and Rambling Boy, The

Rakes of Mallow, The

Rakes of Poverty, The

Rakes of Stony Batter, The

Raking of the Hay

Rally Round the Flag

Rally-Roh

Rally, Boys, Rally

Ram o' Bervie, The

Ram o' Dirram, The

Ram of Dalby, The

Ram of Derby, The

Ram of Diram, The

Ram Song (I), The

Ram Song (II), The

Ramble Away

Rambleaway

Rambler from Clare, The

Rambler Song

Ramblin' Reckless Hobo

Rambling Beauty, The

Rambling Blues

Rambling Boy (I), The

Rambling Boy (II)

Rambling Boy (III), The

Rambling Boys of Pleasure, The

Rambling Gambler, The

Rambling Miner, The

Rambling Round

Rambling Round Your City

Rambling Rover

Rambling Sailor, The

Rambling Shoemaker, The

Rambling Soldier (I), The

Rambling Soldier (II), The

Rambling Suiler, The

Rambling Young Fellow, A

Rambling, Gambling Man

Randal, My Son

Randy Dandy O

Randy Riley

Rang-a-Tang-Too, The

Range Rider's Appeal, A

Ranger, The

Ranger's Prayer

Rangey Ribs, The

Ranso Ray

Ransum Scansum

Rantin Willie Mair's Wife

Rantin' Auld Maid, The

Rantin' Laddie, The [Child 240]