Rising Sun, The


See The House of the Rising Sun (File: RL250)

Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now


DESCRIPTION: The singer marries a woman who, from laziness, ignorance or slovenliness, does nothing right (milks the cow in the chamber pot, churns butter in a boot). In some versions she dies of shame (because "she pishit in the bed").
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (Sumner)
KEYWORDS: marriage food humorous husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Bord)) US(Ap,MW,So)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Randolph 439, "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" (2 texts, 1 tune)
LPound #118 pp. 236-237 "I Bought Me a Wife" (1 text)
JHCoxIIA, #13A-C, pp. 57-60, "The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin," "Dandoo" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "B" text omits the beating and has the husband run away; it may well be a version of this although it might alternately be Child #277 mixed with "Devilish Mary" [Laws Q4] or something like it)
DT 277, RISSROSS
ADDITIONAL: Lucille Burdine and William B McCarthy, "Sister Singers" in Western Folklore, Vol. IL, No. 4 (Oct 1990 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 408-410 "There's a Piece of Bread A-laying on the Shelf" (1 text)
James Orchard Halliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England (London, 1886 ("Digitized by Google")) #477 p. 243, ("I married my wife by the light of the moon") (1 text)
J.A.C. Leland, "Two Folksongs from Ohio" in Western Folklore, Vol. VII, No. 1 (Jan 1948 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 65-66 "The Shiftless Wife" (2 texts, including one added by the editors from Halliwell 1886)
Heywood Sumner, The Besom Maker (London, 1888 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 15-16, "Hobbelty Bobbelty How Now" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lucille Burdine and William B McCarthy, "Sister Singers" in Western Folklore, Vol. IL, No. 4 (Oct 1990 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 408-410 "There's a Piece of Bread A-laying on the Shelf" (1 text)
Lucy E. Broadwood and J.A. Maitland, editors, English County Songs, (London, 1893), pp. 92-93, "Robin-a-Thrush" (1 text, 1 tune) [Not yet indexed as Broadwood/Maitland pp. 92-93].
Roud #117
RECORDINGS:
Chubby Parker, "Nickety Nackety Now Now Now" (Gennett 6077/Champion 15247 [as Smilin' Tubby Johnson]/Silvertone 5011, 1927; Supertone 9189, 1928) (Conqueror 7889, 1931)
Ridgel's Fountain Citians, "The Nick Nack Song" (Vocalion 5455, 1930; on CrowTold01)
Pete Seeger, "Risselty-Rosselty" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01) (on PeteSeeger12)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277] (theme: difficult wife) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Cooper of Fife
The Wee Cooper of Fife
Bandoo
Gentle Virginia
Kitty Lorn
Kitty Alone
Dan-you
The Old Man Who Lived in the West
NOTES: This song is usually considered a variant of "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" [Child 277]. We (PJS and BS) believe this is a different song.
A text is "The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin" if:
* the wife is beaten under a sheep's skin, or
* the wife's relatives and class are mentioned, or
* the wife states high-flown reasons for not working [for example, she fears "soiling a gay gold ring" or "high heeled shoe" or "shaming her gentle kin"] or
* the wife's high class is an issue, or
* when the husband asks for dinner she tells him to make it himself, or
* the wife mends her ways, or
* the husband is a "wee cooper", or
* as a last resort for a small fragment, the chorus is a "Dandoo, dandoo ..." or "For gentle, for Jenny, my rosamaree ... As the dew falls over the green valley" variation.
If the wife is beaten the sheep's skin is crucial to distinguish the song from other wife beating songs like "The Holly Twig" [Laws Q6], "The Wicked Wife o' Fife" [GreigDuncan7], "The Daughter of Peggy-O," or even Sumner's version of "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" [he beats her in the chorus, to no effect].
A text is "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" if:
* the wife is ignorant, slovenly, or stupid, but not shrewish or too fine to work, or
* the wife dies in bed
A "Risselty, Rosselty" wife never improves.
Most refrains follow the pattern also found in "The Wee Cooper of Fife" version of Child 277 -
"Nickety, nackity, noo, noo ... Sing, hey Willy Wallachie, how John Dugal alane, quo' rushitie rue, rue, rue" (DBuchan) -
but the usually nonsense words vary widely. For example
* "Nickety-nackety now, now, now ... Nickety-nackety hey John Dafferty, willopy, wallopy, rusty coke wallacky, nickety-nackety, now, now, now" (Chubby Parker)
* "Nickety nackety, now, now, now ... High, willy, wally, and Jenny bang, doodle, sandy go vestego, now, now, now" (LPound)
* "Nickety Nackety, no, no, no ... Hi Willy Wally and Charlie Bill Doodle and Sandy go, Rusty go, no, no, no" (Leland)
* "Nickety nackety, now, now, now ... Nickety nackety, age of laffety, whillecky whollecky, rusco quality, Nickety nackety, now, now, now" (Burdine/McCarthy)
* "Risselty-rosselty now, now, now ... Risselty-rosselty, hey bom-bosselty, nicklety, knacklety, rustical quality, willaby-wallaby now, now, now" (Pete Seeger)
* "Risselty-rosselty now, now, now ... Risselty-rosselty, hey
bombosity, nickety nackity, retrical quality, willaby wallaby now, now,
now" (also Pete Seeger)
* "Moppety, moppety, mono ... With a high jig jiggety, tops and petticoats, Robin-a-Thrush cries mono" (Broadwood/Maitland)
* "Neagletie, neagletie, now, now ... Heich, wullie, williecoat, bang John Douglas, Robin o Rasheltree, now, now" (Lyle-Crawfurd2)
* "Hobblety bobblety how now ... With a heigh down ho down duffle green petticoat Robin he thrashes her now now" (Sumner)
* "A tidy housewife, a tidy one ... And I hope she'll prove a tidy one" (Halliwell)
The Lyle-Crawfurd2 150 "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" text, "Robin o Rasheltree" [E. B. Lyle, editor, Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs, Volume 2 (1996)], includes verses like "My wife she's a hure of aw the sluts She roastit a hen baith feathers and guts." Maybe the common form of "Risselty, Rosselty, Now, Now, Now" was a bawdy text that editors and some singers cleaned up: "this song was made for gentlemen, If you want any more ...." [Broadwood/Maitland]. Crawfurd seems never to censor a text. - BS, PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C277RR

River in the Pines, The


See The River through the Pines (File: LoF056)

River Lea, The


DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. One fine day in May sailor finds himself broke and ships aboard the (River Lea). He spends the rest of the song (and presumably rest of the voyage) singing of all things he won't do any more once this voyage is over.
AUTHOR: Sam Peck ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Colcord)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor ship
FOUND IN: US Britain
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Colcord, pp, 181-182, "The River Lea" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 586-589, "The River Lea," "The Anglesey" (2 texts, 2 tunes -- the first being quoted from Colcord) [AbEd, pp. 406-409]
ST Hugi589 (Partial)
Roud #351
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7] (similar story)
NOTES: Colcord says this was composed by a shantyman named Sam Peck. It obviously bears some relation to "Dixie Brown," though it has no mention of shanghaiing or robbery. Hugill also mentions (though does not corroborate) Colcord's claim, and states that it was quickly pulled into the popular shanty repertoire for use at the capstan. - SL
File: Hugi589

River Lee, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the Lee by moonlight. For example, sounds of the "gurgling brook" at night are compared to "the lute's harmonious languor" rather than "the trumpet's clangour, Or the nerve-wounding fife"
AUTHOR: Richard Alfred Millikin (1767-1815) (source: Croker-PopularSongs)
EARLIEST DATE: 1818 (_The Harmonica_, written c.1803, according to Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: river lyric music
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 220-222, "The River Lee" (1 text)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
An Ode to Cynthia
NOTES: Richard Alfred Millikin is best-known for writing "The Groves of Blarney"; of works in this index, he also wrote "The Groves of Blackpool." - RBW
File: CrPS220

River of Jordan, The


DESCRIPTION: Jesus meets John the Baptist, is baptized. King Naaman, a leper, calls for Elijah, he is to dip in Jordan and "wash your spots away." Jordan is far away, so the singer will find "an altar in an old-fashioned church/and my River of Jordan that will be"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963 (recording, Poplin Family)
KEYWORDS: disease Bible religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Poplin Family, "The River of Jordan" (on Poplin01)
NOTES: Probably recently-composed, but it may be entering the tradition. - PJS
It certainly has enough errors to be traditional. The story of Jesus meeting John the Baptist is found in Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3; compare John 1.
Naaman's leprosy is found in 2 Kings 5. He was not a king but a general in the service of the King of Damascus. And he did not consult with Elijah but Elisha -- and Elisha volunteered to be consulted; Naaman had been sent to the King of Israel to be cured. - RBW
File: RcTroJor

River of Life


DESCRIPTION: "Soon we'll come to the end of life's journey, And perhaps we'll never meet anymore, Till we get to heaven's bright city, Far away on the beautiful shore." A description of the beauties of heaven, where the singer obviously expects to go
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Warner)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Warner 85, "River of Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Wa085 (Partial)
Roud #16394
RECORDINGS:
Buna Vista Hicks, "River of Life" (on USWarnerColl01)
File: Wa085

River Roe (I), The


DESCRIPTION: The singer wanders by the river, and comes by the Roe Mill, where Captain Moody and his workers are about their tasks. The singer must return home, but the Roe holds him entranced
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: rambling river nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H649, p. 171, "The River Roe (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13531
File: HHH649

River Roe (II), The


DESCRIPTION: The singer asks what place can "match the dark Roe." The singer recalls the history of Cooey na Gal and the church at Dungiven, then describes all the places along the Roe until the "tired" river flows into Loch Foyle.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: river nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H629, p. 171-172, "The River Roe (II)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13532
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of the Roe" (for Cooey-na-Gal) and references there
NOTES: For "Cooey-na-Gal" O'Cahan and Dungiven Priory, see the notes on "The Banks of the Roe." - RBW
File: HHH629

River Roe (III), The


DESCRIPTION: A nobleman's son meets a servant maid he won't name. "But her master's habitation is on the river Roe." He proposes. She promises to meet him the next day. They meet, she agrees, and they marry the next evening. "She has servants to attend her"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1863 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(152))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage nobility servant river
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, pp. 47-48, "The River Roe" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(152), "The River Roe", H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also 2806 b.9(236), 2806 b.11(202), Harding B 19(79), 2806 c.15(78), Harding B 26(578), 2806 b.11(230), 2806 b.11(206), "The River Roe"
NOTES: A number of Bodleian broadsides have dropped the first two lines (something like "As I went out one evening all in the month of May, When Flora's flowering mantle had deck'd the meadow gay", or lines ending in "June" and "bloom") and start with the third line in O'Conor: "I espied a lovely fair one, and her did not know." - BS
File: OCon047

River through the Pines, The


DESCRIPTION: "O Mary was a maiden when the birds began to sing, She was sweeter than the blooming rose so early in the spring...." She loves (Charlie), a shanty boy; the two are married. But he dies at his work; they are buried together
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage separation work logger death burial
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont,Que)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Rickaby 30, "The River in the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 56, "The River in the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #37, "The River through the Pine" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
ST LoF056 (Partial)
Roud #669
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Town of Brandywine
NOTES: As "The River in the Pines," this song is item dC33 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: LoF056

River-Driver's Lament, The (I Am a River Driver)


DESCRIPTION: I went lumbering at sixteen and courted a pretty girl who caused me to roam. "Sure I'm a river driver and I'm far away from home." "Now I'm old and feeble and in my sickness lie Just wrap me up in my shanty blankets and lie me down to die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: As an entity, 1959 (Peacock); Fowke's fragment dates to 1958
KEYWORDS: courting death lumbering drink rambling floatingverses logger
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf,Ont)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 759-760, "The River Driver's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #59, "I Am a River Driver" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #4564
NOTES: Floating verses include adaptations of "I'll eat when I'm hungry", "Build me a castle" and "I'm ... and a long way from home" and "wrap me up in my shanty blankets." - BS
Fowke's very short text ("I'll eat when I'm hungry and drink when I'm dry; If the water don't drown me I'll live till I die, If the water don't drown me while over it I roam, For I am a river driver and far away from home") could be just a lumberjack adaption of "Rye Whiskey," but it's close enough to Peacock to allow us to tentatively lump them. - RBW
File: FowL69

River, Stay Way


DESCRIPTION: "You keep going your way; I'll keep going my way; River, stay way from my door... You don't need my cabin; River, stay way from my door. Don't come up any higher; I'm so alone, just my bed and fire... Don't start breaking my heart."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Henry; collected by Susie A. Blaylock from an unnamed source)
KEYWORDS: river loneliness home nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 189, "River, Stay Away" (1 text)
NOTES: This is one of those items that could easily float in and out of any bluesy semiballad. I suspect that it did so, and probably belongs with something else in the Index. but without a tune, there is no way to say what. - RBW
File: MHAp189

River's Up and Still A-Rising


DESCRIPTION: "River's up and still a-rising, Just got back from a negro baptizing." "Farewell, mourners (x2), Goodbye, I'se gwine to leave you behind." Most verses are about improbable dress: "Had an old hat, had no brim, Looked like a blue jay sitting on a limb."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: humorous river nonballad clothes bird
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 326, "River's Up and Still A-Rising" (1 text)
Roud #16840
File: Br3326

Riverhead La'nchin' on Jubilee Day, The


DESCRIPTION: Men come from all around St Mary's Bay and as far as St John's on Jubilee Day "for to help Uncle Steve get the craft under way." Once the ship was "out in Riverhead Arm... we cheered for the King." There are toasts all around.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: ship moniker
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 882-883, "The Riverhead La'nchin' on Jubilee Day" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9809
NOTES: This must be the Silver Jubilee Day for King George V, May 6, 1935. St Mary's Bay is on the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula. - BS
File: Pea882

Riverhead Line


See The Bonavist Line (File: Pea768)

Rivers of Texas, The (The Brazos River)


DESCRIPTION: The singer lists the various rivers of Texas he has seen, noting that "Down by the Brazos I courted my dear." But now she has left him, and "I never will walk by the Brazos no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation river
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 201, "The Brazos River" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RIVTEXAS*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 36, #3 (1991), pp, 72-73, "Down by the Brazos" (1 text, 1 tune, from the Scragg Family)
Roud #4764
RECORDINGS:
Irene Carlisle, "The Brazos River" (AAFS-L30, 1942?)
Art Thieme, "Down by the Embarass" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme05)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Down by the Embarras (Illinois version)
The Rivers of Georgia
NOTES: Paul Stamler notes that there are "non-Texas" versions of this song (see the alternate titles), though I have never encountered them. I know that at least one modern "folk" composer has created a localized version; I suspect the traditional versions are of similar origin. Though I am not sure which is the original. - RBW
As far as I can tell, the Texas version was first. I also gather someone tried to rewrite it for Nebraska, but they didn't have enough rivers to finish a verse. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: R201

Road to Dundee, The


DESCRIPTION: "Cauld wind was howling o'er moor and o'er mountain" when the singer meets a girl asking her way to Dundee. He says he can't easily tell her, but will show her the way. As they approach the town, they exchange tokens and part. And no, they *don't* marry
AUTHOR: Mackay (per OLochlainn)
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: travel courting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Greig #51, p. 2, "The Road to Dundee" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 971, "The Road to Dundee" (7 texts plus a fragmentary text from Greig on p. 600, 4 tunes)
Ord, pp. 152-153, "The Road to Dundee" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 95, "Sweet Carnloch Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROADDUND* RDUND2
Roud #2300
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lass o' Glenshee" (tune, per Greig)
File: Ord152

Road to Heaven, The


DESCRIPTION: "The road to heaven by Christ was made, With heavenly truth the rails are laid, From earth to heaven the line extends... I'm going home to die no more." The Christian life is compared to a railway: "The Bible is the engineer," "God's love the fire," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1854 (Chamber's Journal, according to Cohen)
KEYWORDS: railroading religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 605-610, "I'm Going Home to Die No More/The Railway Spiritualized" (2 texts plus 2 broadside prints, 1 tune)
Belden, p. 468, "The Railroad to Heaven" (1 text)
Randolph 600, "The Road to Heaven" (1 text)
Roud #7940
RECORDINGS:
Blue Ridge Gospel Singers (Buell Kazee, Lester O'Keefe, and others), "I'm Going Home to Die No More" (Brunswick 152, 1927)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(024), "The Spiritual Railway" ("The line to Heaven by Christ was made"), James Lindsay (Glasgow), c. 1855.
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Spiritual Railroad
File: R600

Road to Peterhead, The


DESCRIPTION: On the road to Peterhead the singer is invited to join a party of three score lads and lasses. He follows them to a house where he sees a bride. He joins the parade of "more than seven score and ten," and describes the feast and happy wedding
AUTHOR: William Lillie (source: GreigDuncan3)
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: wedding dancing music
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig 52, p. 1, "The Road to Peterhead" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 613, "The Road to Peterhead" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #5631
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 quotes a note written about 1860 that Lillie wrote the song "on visiting a Penny Wedding at Sandhole, Longside." - BS
For another Penny Bridal song, see "The Blythesome Bridal." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3613

Road to the Isles, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer hears "a far croonin'" calling him back to the Hebrides. He lists the places he will visit on his way home, and says, "If it's thinkin' in your inner heart the braggart's in my step, You've never smelt the tangle o' the Isles."
AUTHOR: Words: Kenneth Macleod
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Kennedy-Fraser)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad travel
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy-Fraser II, pp. 240-241, "The Road to the Isles" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RDISLES*
NOTES: On its face, this is just another pseudo-folksong by Kenneth Macleod to a Hebridean tune, but my father seems to have learned it orally. I suppose it was from some radio program, but who can tell? When in doubt, we index -- and add apologetic notes like these. - RBW
File: KFrII240

Roast Beef of Old England, The


DESCRIPTION: "When mighty roast beef was the Englishman's food, It ennobled our hearts and strengthened our blood." The singer complains about the new-fangled French ragouts, and recalls the good old days of Queen Elizabeth, the Armada -- and beef
AUTHOR: Richard Leveridge (c. 1670-1758)
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (Chappell), but known to be in use at least a century before that
KEYWORDS: food royalty battle
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1558-1603 - Reign of Elizabeth (I)
1588 - Voyage of the Spanish Armada
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 95-96, "The Roast Beef of Old England" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Not, as far as I can tell, an actual folk song -- but, prior to the adoption of "God Save the King," this was as close as England, and particularly the English navy, came to having an anthem. It probably belongs here on that basis. - RBW
File: ChWII095

Rob Roy [Child 225]


DESCRIPTION: Rob Roy comes to the lowlands and captures a wealthy lady. He orders her to marry him; she refuses. He prepares to kidnap her, and allows no delay. They are married without her consent. He describes his valor and bids her be content
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803
KEYWORDS: marriage abduction rejection
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 8-9, 1750 - Abduction of Jean Key by Robert MacGregor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(High)) US(NE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 225, "Rob Roy" (12 texts)
Bronson 225, "Rob Roy" (3 versions)
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 296, "Rob Roy" (1 text, possiby derived from print)
Leach, pp. 583-585, "Rob Roy" (1 text)
DT 225, ROBROY
Roud #340
NOTES: This song is accurate enough as far as it goes, but far from complete. Rob Oig ("Young") was the fifth son of Walter Scott's Rob Roy, and a real desperado. In 1736 (when he was perhaps no older than twelve), he shot a trespasser and was outlawed when he refused to appear in court.
After spending time in the British army, he returned to England and married for the first time (despite still being outlawed). When this wife died, he and his brothers determined to marry him to Jean Key, a wealthy widow of nineteen. This rough wooing took place as described in the ballad.
In the sequel, the MacGregors were forced to release Jean Key (who died within a year), and both James MacGregor (who organized the plot) and Robert MacGregor were eventually brought to trial; James escaped, but Robert was executed in 1754. - RBW
File: C225

Robber Hood's Death


See Robin Hood's Death [Child 120] (File: C120)

Robber, The


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

Robbie Barron


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets and would have Robbie Barron, "a rovin' youth ... would have daizled both your eyes." Robbie asks that she walk with him "but other lasses followed us And that put Robbie mad." When he asks for a kiss she blushes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting beauty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 765, "Robbie Barron" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6184
File: GrD4765

Robbie Reave Her Apron


DESCRIPTION: Robbie beat his wife and tore her apron. "Robbie reave and Geordie sewed, An' Robbie reave her apron" When Robbie vowed to kiss her she refused and he tore her apron.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: marriage rejection violence nonballad husband wife clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1307, "Robbie Reave Her Apron" (1 text)
Roud #7203
File: GrD71307

Robbie Tampson's Smitty


See Robin Tamson's Smiddy [Laws O12] (File: LO12)

Robert Barnes Fellow Fine


See John Smith My Fellow Fine (File: SNR026)

Robert's Farm


See Down on Penny's Farm (File: LoF147)

Roberta


See Alberta, Let Your Hair Hang Low (File: BMRF576)

Robie and Grannie


See Robie and Granny (File: GrD3557)

Robie and Granny


DESCRIPTION: Robie and Granny go to town and spend half-a-crown on drink. On the way home Granny falls into a ditch. Robie tries to pull her out, falls, "cursed her and ca'd her an auld drunken soo" and all she could do is cry "Pu' Robie, pu' [pull]."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous abuse
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #161, p. 2, "Robie and Grannie" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 577, "Robie and Granny" (1 text)
Roud #1579
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Robbie and Grannie
File: GrD3577

Robin Adair


DESCRIPTION: "What's this dull town to me? Robin's not near." The singer laments her missing Robin Adair, who is her only source of joy and mirth, who "made this town heaven and earth."
AUTHOR: Words: Lady Caroline Keppel
EARLIEST DATE: 1793 (Edinburgh Musical Miscellany)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fuld-WFM, p. 468, "Robin Adair"
DT, ROBADAIR (cf. EILAROO.NOT)
Roud #8918
RECORDINGS:
Inez Barbour, "Robin Adair" (Phono-Cut 5198, c. 1915)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Eileen Aroon" (tune)
cf. "Sadly to Mine Heart Appealing" (portions of Stephen Foster's tune)
NOTES: This is perhaps not a folk song in its own right. But as it uses the same melody as "Eileen Aroon," which pretty definitely does belong, I thought it best to include it.
Lady Caroline Keppel fell in love with Robin Adair (a surgeon, and so presumably below her station) in the 1750s, and wrote this song in consequence. She was eventually permitted to marry him (only to die in 1769 at the age of 32), but at the time the song was written, she thought she would not be allowed to wed Robin. - RBW
File: DTrobada

Robin and John


See Robin Hood and Little John [Child 125] (File: C125)

Robin Hood and Allen a Dale [Child 138]


DESCRIPTION: Robin observes a young man cheery one day, downcast the next. He is Allen a Dale; his bride-to-be has been betrothed to another. Robin goes in disguise to the church on the wedding day, calls in his men, and ensures she marries Allen after all.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1723
KEYWORDS: Robinhood disguise love marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Child 138, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
Bronson 138, comments only; cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 173, "[Drive the cold winter away]"
GreigDuncan2 272, "Allen-a-Dale" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 397-400, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
OBB 121, "Robin Hood and Alan a Dale" (1 text)
PBB 68, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
DBuchan 51, "Robin Hood and Allen a Dale" (1 text)
BBI, RZN8, "Come listen to me, you gallants so free"
DT 138, RHALANAD\
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 486-492, "Robin Hood and Allin a Dale" (1 text)
Roud #3298
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
This particular part of the Robin Hood story seems to have arisen in the seventeenth century. In the earliest versions of the legend (Sloane MS.), the betrayed lover is not Allen but Scarlock (Holt, p. 165). But by the nineteenth century, Allen's name had become a regular part of the legend.
The gimmick of the song, of a minstrel sneaking into the enemy camp to gather information, is of course far older than the song itself. In English tradition, we in fact find a story of King Alfred the Great of Wessex sneaking into the Viking camp in the guise of an entertainer to spy out their plans (Hindley, pp. 192-193). This is, however, a late anecdote -- and even if King Alfred would take such a risk, and even if he had the musical skills to pull it off (unlikely), there is the non-trivial problem that Old English and Old Norse, while related, were distinct languages by this time; a Norse army would not be likely to want to hear an English singer.
(To be sure, Hindley, p. 211, says that Alfred was fascinated by "Saxon songs," but it appears that this is simply based on Asser's story -- in the Life of Alfred, section 23; AsserAlfredEtc, p. 75 -- that Alfred, in his early life, was fascinated by the *appearance* of a book of English poetry, which he memorized and so induced his mother to give it to him. That might explain Alfred's interest in literature, but it doesn't make him a musician.)
Better-attested is the tradition that Richard I the Lion-Hearted was a troubadour -- and it is a simple fact that he once used disguise to try to sneak through Germany (Gillingham, pp. 223-224). I also read, somewhere, a report that, after his return from the Crusade, he disguised himself to recapture Nottingham. The attempt to sneak across Germany was, however, a complete failure; Richard was captured. The business did, however, cement the link of the king with minstrels, since a legend arose that a troubadour named Blondel wandered around Germany seeking Richard (Gillingham, p. 224), and locating him when Richard sang back a song that they, but no one in Germany, would know.
The first account of Blondel, however, occurs in a document written more than a half century after Richard's death. This tale, like the tale of Alfred, is merely folklore -- but it may have suggested plots like this one. It is interesting to note that the tale of Fulk Fitzwarin, which has many close links to the Robin Hood legend (again, see the information on the "Gest of Robyn Hode") contains a tale of a minstrel going to a castle in disguise and singing a song a prisoner is sure to recognize (Cawthorne, p. 107). This tale, surely, is related to the Blondel legend. Whether this particular item ever played a role in the Robin Hood story is altogether another matter.
Knight/Ohlgren, p. 486, claim that this plot became a Ballad Opera in 1751 -- but, given that the lovers were Leander and Clorinda and the old man who is Clorinda's unwanted fiancee is Sir Humphrey Wealthy, I incline to think that less a version of this ballad than just another retelling of the legend. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: C138

Robin Hood and Arthur O'Bland


See Robin Hood and the Tanner [Child 126] (File: C126)

Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne [Child 118]


DESCRIPTION: Little John and Robin separate; Little John is taken after trying to stop an invasion by the Sheriff. Meanwhile, Robin meets Guy; they fight, and Robin slays Guy. He then takes his clothes and horn and rescues John
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood outlaw fight rescue
FOUND IN: US(SE)?
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Child 118, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
Bronson 118, comments only; cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, p. 277, "The Chirping of the Lark" (1 tune)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 102-116, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text, rewritten and with lacunae filled by Percy)
BrownII 32, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text, said in the Brown collection to "certainly derive" from this piece, but this is a stretch. It may be this, but it is only a disordered fragment, which looks to me to combine aspects of several Robin Hood ballads; the only real link with this is the reported title "Robin Hood and Guy of Gusborne")
Leach, pp. 334-340, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text)
OBB 116, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text, probably a modernized version of Child's text)
Gummere, pp. 68-76+320-321, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text, conflating Hales/Furnivall and Child)
TBB 26, "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text, probably a modernized version of Child's text)
DT 118, RHGISBOR
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 169-183, "RObin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (1 text, newly edited from the sources)
Roud #3977
NOTES: This is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (The earliest known copy (from the Percy folio) is somewhat corrupt, but shows survivals of a much older text, and seems to be at least two centuries older than the manuscript. It is noteworthy that a fragment of the same story, in dramatic form, appears on the back of a slip of financial sheets from 1475/6 C.E. For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]).
Observe that, although the modern version of the legend calls Guy of Gisborne "Sir Guy," implying that he is a knight, stanza 22 clearly says that he and Robin are both yeomen.
Bronson notes that Chappell associated a tune with this piece, but that the association was Chappell's own, on weak grounds, and therefore does not cite the melody. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C118

Robin Hood and Little John [Child 125]


DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood meets John Little on a bridge. They agree to fight until one falls into the brook. Robin is dunked. He blows his horn for his men and offers John a place among them. John accepts and is re-named Little John, though he is seven feet tall.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1685 (broadside by W. Onley; title mentioned 1624 in the Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood outlaw fight
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MW,SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Child 125, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text)
Bronson 125, "Robin Hood and Little John" (2 versions+ 1 in addenda)
Creighton/Senior, p. 67, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 fragment)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 19-20, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach, pp. 366-372, "Robin Hood and Little John" (2 texts)
Friedman, p. 339, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text)
Niles 45, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text, 1 tune)
BBI, RZN22, "When Robin Hood was about twenty Years old"
DT 125, RHLITJON*
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 476-485, "Robin Hood and Little John" (1 text,based on the Onley broadside)
Roud #1322
RECORDINGS:
John Strachan, "Robin Hood and Little John" (on FSB5, FSBBAL2) {Bronson's #1}
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 3(125a), "Robin Hood and Little John," C. Sheppard (London), 1791 [barely legible]
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Robin and John
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
This is one of the few Robin Hood ballads with a genuinely traditional tune (two, in fact), though one of the texts may have been influenced by print. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C125

Robin Hood and Maid Marian [Child 150]


DESCRIPTION: Robin, while Earl of Huntingdon, woos Maid Marian. Then, outlawed, he keeps to the wood, disguised. She dresses as a page to seek him. They meet and fight, unrecognized, till both are wounded. He calls a halt, she knows his voice, they celebrate.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1795 (Ritson)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood love courting fight disguise
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 150, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
Bronson 150, comments only
Leach, pp. 423-425, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text)
BBI, RZN3, "A bonny fine maid of noble degree"
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 493-498, "Robin Hood and Maid Marian" (1 text,based on the Onley broadside)
Roud #3992
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
It is noteworthy that Marion is not an original part of the Robin Hood legend -- other than this late and feeble piece, she is mentioned only twice in all the ballads printed by Child (#145A, stanza 9, and #147, stanza 1). In neither case is she described as Robin's wife or beloved; she could be one of his men's wives, or a member of his band. I observe that, in the "Gest" and in "Robin Hood's Death" [Child 120], Robin does not mention a wife or children when he dies -- even though he states that he never hurt a woman. Would he not commend his wife to John's care if he had one? Obviously she is a late addition to the tale. Where she came from must remain a matter of speculation.
Holt (p. 160) believes that the story of Robin and Marian derives from Adam de la Halle's thirteenth century play "Robin et Marion." In this romance, Marian is a shepherdess whose fidelity to Robin causes her to fend off a lusty knight. This legend entered the French May Games, and was used by John Gower. At some point Marian became Queen of the May Games. With Robin also a character in the games, their union was almost inevitable.
In fact, things may not be that complex. Mustanoja notes that Robin and Marion are typical names for rustic lovers in French and English romance. If Robin were to find a lover, the name Marion was almost to be expected.
This pairing is also found in Scotland, although in slightly different form. Speaking of Robert Henryson (fl. 1462), Garnett/Gosse, pp. 295-196, write, "Perhaps the most important of Henryson's performances is the lyrical pastoral of Robin and Makyne, not so much for its own merit, though this is great, than as the first revelation of the vast material for popular poetry in Scotch rural life. It is the old story of cross purposes. Makyne loves Robin, Robin is indifferent. Makyne becomes desperate, lays open siege to him; Robin repels her. Makyne renounces him; Robin, piqued into love, strives to regain her, but only to discover that
"The man that will nocht whan he may,
Sall have nocht quhen he wald."
Those wishing to see Henryson's poem may find it in volume II of Percy's Reliques. It looks rather affected to me (Henryson was one of many Chaucer imitators in this period), although some of this may be the result of it being taken from a printed version rather than from manuscript.
Henryson's tale was told after the origin of the Robin Hood legend, but before the linking of Robin and Marian; it serves as another illustration of the standard link between Robin and Ma(whatever). Indeed, it has been argued that, in the may games, Marian was initially the consort of the jolly, worldly, distinctly unchaste Friar Tuck, and that she came to be Robin's prize based on their names.
The Broadside Index notes that this piece is "Smithson's parody of Robin Hood ballads," and Child observes that the broadside is signed S.S.
The absurd lateness of this particular song is shown by the mention in verse 3 that "neither Rosamond nor Jane Shore" could surpass Marian in beauty. It would not be unreasonable to find a mention of Rosamund (Clifford) in a Robin Hood ballad; she was the mistress of King Henry II, the father of Richard the Lion-Hearted and the great-great-grandfather of Edward II (Kings widely associated with the Robin Hood legend).
The mention of Jane Shore, though, is astonishingly anachronistic. Elizabeth Lambert, known as Jane Shore (for her story, see the song "Jane Shore") was the mistress of King Edward IV (died 1483) and was probably born in the 1450s. Sir Thomas More, who tells us most of what we know about her, had actually met her in old age in the sixteenth century (Cheetham, p. 205). She thus was active fully a century after our first known mention of Robin Hood as a legendary figure. A song which mentions her could hardly come from before 1475.
What's more, it could be a lot later. In an age before photography, when portraits had to be painted and copied by hand, the assumption was that the most beautiful women were kings' mistresses. But, after the reign of Edward IV, there were few noteworthy royal mistresses. Edward IV's son Edward V was pre-pubescent when he was deposed (Ashley, p. 620). Richard III, who came next, lasted only two years and didn't have time for mistresses (and seems to have been puritanical anyway; Cheetham, pp. 204-205. His only illegitimate children were born long before he became king, and before he was married -- and we have no knowledge of the motherŐs name.). That strange, strange man, Henry VII, seems to have been very sexually unadventurous (Ashley, p. 624).
Henry VIII of course had mistresses, such as Bessie Blunt the mother of the Duke of Richmond, but they were forgotten in the tale of his many wives. Edward VI was a boy, too young for such things (Ashley, p. 636). Mary I and Elizabeth I were female; they obviously had no mistresses. James VI and I seems to have been homosexual; he had no known mistresses (Ashley, pp. 575-576). Charles I was another with a quiet home life (Ashley, p. 650). Thus the next king after Edward IV to have a noteworthy mistress was Charles II (ascended 1660), who had quite a collection, including Nell Gwin. So, since there were no noteworthy beauties for almost two centuries after Jane Shore, this rather feeble item could be very late indeed.
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
Knight/Ohlgren, p. 493, do make the interesting point that there is perhaps a feminist undercurrent here -- almost the only such in the Robin Hood corpus. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: C150

Robin Hood and Queen Catherine


See Robin Hood and Queen Katherine [Child 145] (File: C145)

Robin Hood and Queen Katherine [Child 145]


DESCRIPTION: The king proposes a wager with Queen Katherine, his archers against any she may choose. She sends for Robin and his men, giving them false names. They win and are revealed but the king has promised not to be angry with any in the queen's party.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663 (garland); a song that was likely this one was entered into the Stationer's Register in 1656, and a broadside probably printed by 1655
KEYWORDS: Robinhood contest trick royalty
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 145, "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine" (3 texts)
Bronson 145, (extensive) comments only
Leach, pp. 413-417, "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine" (1 text)
BBI, RZN10, "Gold tane from the Kings harbengers"
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 563-580, "Robin Hood and Queen Catherin" (1 text, based primarily on the Forresters manuscript)
Roud #72
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood's Chase [Child 146]"
NOTES: According to Knight/Ohlgren, this must have been in existence by 1655, because one of the Wood broadsides (Child's B.a) was printed by Grove, who ceased operations in that year. Given the uncertainty about most such dates, I decided to leave the other possible dates in the "Earliest Date" field.
There is no historical "Queen Katherine"; the wife of King Stephen (reigned 1135-1154) was Matilda; the wife of Henry II (1154-1189, the first king usually associated with Robin Hood) was Eleanor of Aquitaine; Richard I (1189-1199) married Berengeria of Navarre; John (1199-1216) has as his primary wife Isabella of Angouleme; Henry III (1216-1272) married Eleanor of Provence; Edward I (1272-1307) married first Eleanor of Castile and then Margaret. Edward II married Isabella of France. Edward III married Philippa of Hainault. The first English Queen Catherine/Katherine was Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France, who married Henry V of England in 1420 -- impossibly late for a historical Robin Hood, although she does precede the earliest known copies of the Robin Hood ballads. Nor was there a Scottish Queen Katherine
Leach speculates that one of Henry VIII's wives (either Catherine of Aragon or Katherine Howard) is meant! This involves a major difficulty, pointed out in Nigel Cawthorne, A Brief History of Robin Hood: The True History Behind the Legend, Running Press, 2010, p. 187: This ballad involves Friar Tuck, and while both Catherines were Catholic, friars would not have been popular in the reign of Henry VIII (especially in the time of Katherine Howard, after the dissolution of the monasteries. In any case, how can we possibly have a Robin Hood alive after the reformation?) Nonetheless, Knight/Ohlgren, p. 563, also think Catherine of Aragon is meant, because she was the one Queen Catherine who played an active role in English government -- and there are records of Henry VIII playing at Robin Hood.
I would have to say that Henry V seems genuinely more likely -- he of course was deeply involved in recruiting archers, and because his wife was not only foreign but a daughter of Henry's long-time enemy, she might well have been willing to show him up.
The sequel to this story is told in Child 146, "Robin Hood's Chase."
Most versions of the ballad are rather incoherent; it is possible that the broadside prints have been shortened. Stephen Knight, editor (with a manuscript description by Hilton Kelliher), Robin Hood: The Forresters Manuscript (British Library Additional MS 71158), D. S. Brewer, 1998, pp. 52-53, observes that the version in the Forresters Manuscript is about a dozen stanzas longer than most of the others (about a 20% increase in length), and that it resolves many of the inconsistencies.
For background on the Robin Hood legend, including a possible connection between this song and the story of Queen Isabella, the wife of Edward II, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C145

Robin Hood and the Beggar (I) [Child 133]


DESCRIPTION: Robin meets a beggar who asks charity. They fight. The beggar wins. Robin gives him his horse and clothes, goes on to Nottingham in the beggar's attire. There he finds three of his band are to be hanged. He blows his horn to summon his men who rescue them
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood begging execution rescue disguise
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 133, "Robin Hood and the Beggar I" (1 text)
Bronson 133, comments only
Leach, pp. 385-388, "Robin Hood and the Beggar, I" (1 text)
Roud #3391
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C133

Robin Hood and the Beggar (II) [Child 134]


DESCRIPTION: Robin asks money of a beggar who answers disdainfully. They fight. The beggar wins and goes off. Robin is found by three of his men. He sends two to avenge his disgrace. They ambush the beggar, but he bribes and tricks them and gets away.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1795
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight rescue escape trick money
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 134, "Robin Hood and the Beggar II" (1 text)
Bronson 134, "Robin Hood and the Beggar II" (1 version)
GreigDuncan2 264, "Robin Hood and the Beggar" (1 fragment)
Leach, pp. 388-397, "Robin Hood and the Beggar, II" (1 text)
Roud #3392
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C134

Robin Hood and the Bishop [Child 143]


DESCRIPTION: Robin sees a bishop with a large company and fears to be taken. He appeals to an old wife, trades clothes with her, returns to his men. She is taken for him, but they rescue her, take money from the bishop, make him say mass and ride away backwards.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663 (garland); a song that was likely this one was entered into the Stationer's Register in 1656
KEYWORDS: Robinhood clergy disguise rescue
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Child 143, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 text)
Bronson 143, comments only
Flanders-Ancient3, p. 117, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 fragment of a single line, identified as this seemingly by title; there is no real reason to think it is this ballad)
Leach, pp. 408-411, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 text)
Niles 47, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (2 texts, 2 tunes, of which only the second could be this ballad, and even it is mixed with Child 140)
BBI, RZN5, "Come gentlemen all, and listen a while"
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 549-555, "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (1 text, newly edited from the sources)
Roud #3955
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (plot, lyrics)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Knight/Ohlgren, p. 554, mention a speculation that the secular powers shown by the Bishop here show this song to be a post-Reformation attack on Catholics. There is some sense to this, but some bishops did have secular powers -- notably the Bishop of Durham, who was de facto earl of Durham -- and who was based not too far from Robin Hood country.
On p. 555, Knight/Ohlgren suggest that the final elements of the forced mass and the bishop being mounted backward suggest a burlesque. Possibly -- but prisoners going to trial or execution were also sometimes mounted backward To treat the bishop so would probably have been very frightening to him. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C143

Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford [Child 144]


DESCRIPTION: The Bishop of Hereford enters Barnsdale and finds Robin Hood killing a deer. He tries to convince Robin Hood to come before the king. Robin refuses, gives the Bishop dinner, and then extracts the price -- several hundred pounds, plus a dance or a mass
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1670 (Forresters manuscript)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood hunting clergy money
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 144, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (2 texts)
Bronson 144, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (3 versions)
Leach, pp. 411-413, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (1 text)
OBB 120, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (1 text)
PBB 70, "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford" (1 text)
DT 144, RHOODBSH*
Roud #2338
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood and the Bishop" (plot, lyrics)
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. The notes to that ballad also detail some reasons why Robin might be particularly likely to pick on the Bishop of Hereford, who might (on this line of argument) have been Adam Orleton. who was bishop in the 1320s. This is one of several hints that this song, although seemingly late in form, may be based on older materials than most of the late Robin Hood ballads. The fact that Robin is here based in Barnsdale, not Sherwood, is another. Although the attestation for the ballad is late (first known from the Forresters manuscript of c. 1670, and first published in the Aldermary garland of c. 1750), the content give evidence of being early. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C144

Robin Hood and the Butcher [Child 122]


DESCRIPTION: Robin goes to Nottingham in the guise of a young butcher who sells cheap and spends freely. The sheriff returns with him to the forest for bargain-priced cattle. He is shown deer, then captured and relieved of his gold. He is released for his wife's sake.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1657 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood trick commerce robbery
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 122, "Robin Hood and the Butcher" (2 texts)
Bronson 122, comments only
OBB 119, "Robin Hood and the Butcher" (1 text)
BBI, RZN4, "Come all you brave gallants & listen a while"
Roud #3980
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C122

Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar [Child 123]


DESCRIPTION: Robin learns of a friar's prowess and seeks him out. Each submits once to carrying the other over water, then the friar dumps Robin in. They fight long, then Robin's men and the friar's dogs enter the fray. The friar is invited to join the band.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663 (garland)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood clergy fight outlaw
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Child 123, "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" (2 texts)
Bronson 123, "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 361-365, "Robin and the Curtal Friar" (1 text)
OBB 118, "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" (1 text)
BBI, RZN13, "In summer time when leaves grow green"
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 458-468, "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" (1 text, conflated from the Percy and garland texts)
Leslie Shepard, _The Broadside Ballad_, Legacy Books, 1962, 1978, p. 135, "The Famous Battle between ROBIN HOOD and the Curtal Fryer" (reproduction of a broadside page)
Roud #1621
NOTES: This friar is otherwise known as Friar Tuck, so called because his frock is tucked up. Child says Curtal relates to the keeping of the "curtile", or vegetable garden, but acknowledges that others thought it meant he had a curtailed, or shortened, frock. - KK
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. Knight/Ohlgren however note that the song does not refer to Friar Tuck, even though the Percy Folio calls the song "Robin Hood and Fryer Tucke."
There is a record of a "Friar Tuck," though not in any way associated with Robin Hood. Two writs of 1417 mention a man of that name who had gathered a gang of outlaws in Surrey and Sussex. He remained at large in 1429 (though nothing was heard of him in the interval); his true name was reported to be Robert Stafford.
The association of Robin Hood and the Friar may have arisen from the May Games (in which both a Friar and Robin were characters), and the Friar may possibly have been associated with Friar Tuck because the latter was an outlaw.
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
Bronson has extensive notes on the dubious nature of the tune of this piece, which is from Rimbault based on an alleged handwritten copy no longer found in the book where Rimbault claimed to find it. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C123

Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow [Child 152]


DESCRIPTION: The sheriff of Nottingham plots to catch Robin by means of an archery competition. Robin and his men go, but dress differently and scatter in the crowd, so are not recognized. Robin wins. To gloat, he sends a letter to the sheriff, by arrow.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1777 (garland)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood contest disguise
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 152, "Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 541-548, "Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow" (1 text)
Roud #3994
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
This ballad seems more directly linked to the "Gest" than most, since the golden arrow of the seventh stanza is described in terms similar to that used of a golden arrow in the "Gest." Child thinks that the first 23 stanzas of this song are derived from the "Gest." The plot of the remainder, however, is different (and probably not as good, unless you like the Robin-as-trickster motif which is almost invisible in the "Gest"). The whole effect of this ballad is very late and rather feeble.
The last stanza promises that listeners shall soon hear the "end" of Robin Hood. This is a reference to the fact that, in the garland, "Robin Hood's Death" [Child 120] follows. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C152

Robin Hood and the Monk [Child 119]


DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood decides to take mass in Nottingham. He quarrels with Little John after a shooting match, and proceeds alone. A monk betrays him to the sheriff. John and Much trick the king into giving them his seal; they go to the sheriff and rescue Robin
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1450 (paleographic dating of ms. Cambridge Ff. 5.48)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood clergy captivity rescue
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Child 119, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
Bronson 119, comments only; cf. Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 53-54, "Oh, How They Frisk It, or, Leather Apron, or Under the Greenwood Tree"
Leach, pp. 340-349, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text, probably a slightly modernized version based on Child)
Friedman, p. 327, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text, based on Skeat's transcript with some modernization and emendations from Child)
OBB 117, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text, source not states; the spelling is modernized and some of the missing lines conjectured)
Niles 42, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text, 1 tune -- another questionable JJN collection; it appears to be a modern version created from whole cloth based on a summary of the plot in Child and with a few names distorted in an attempt at disguise)
Gummere, pp. 77-89+321-322, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text. Source not stated, but probably Skeat, with some modernization)
TBB 27, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text, Child's text, modernized)
Hodgart, p. 81, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 31-56, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text, newly edited from the sources)
Iona & Peter Opie, The Oxford Book of Narrative Verse, pp. 22-32, "Robin Hood and the Monk" (1 text. modernized from Dobson & Taylor)
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #148, "In Summer" (1 fragment, consisting of the first five verses)
Roud #3978
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Robin Hood and the Twenty Pounds of Gold (title used by Niles)
NOTES: In terms of the date of the manuscript, this is regarded as the oldest surviving Robin Hood piece (though in fact, except for John Jacob Niles's probable fake, it does not seem to survive outside the one manuscript). It is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]).
E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947, p. 153, makes another claim -- that this is, along with "Riddles Wisely Expounded" [Child 1] the oldest true popular ballad in the Child collection (both are found in manuscripts from c. 1450). All earlier ballad-like pieces he discounts as not truly folk. Since I suspect his citation of "Riddles" is actually of "I Gave My Love a Cherry," that makes this the oldest popular ballad in the Child collection.
Bronson observes that Chappell associated a tune with this piece, but that the association was Chappell's own, on weak grounds, and therefore does not cite the melody. The Opies quote Dobson and Taylor to the effect that this was more likely recited than sung.
The Cambridge manuscript, again according to the Opies, is sort of a do-it-yourself minstrel kit: 135 pages not only of tales but also prayers and prophecies. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C119

Robin Hood and the Old Maid


See Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)

Robin Hood and the Old Woman


See Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)

Robin Hood and the Pedlar


See The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood [Child 132] (File: C132)

Robin Hood and the Pedlars [Child 137]


DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood, Will Scarlett, and Little John try to stop three pedlars, succeeding only by sending an arrow into one of their packs. They fight. Robin appears to be slain. His antagonist administers a supposed healing balsam, making him puke on reviving.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Gutch)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight injury medicine trick humorous
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 137, "Robin Hood and the Pedlars" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 626-632, "Robin Hood and the Pedlars" (1 textt, which is a modernized version of Child's transcription)
Roud #3987
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
This is perhaps the ultimate example -- it has gone from Robin the excessively pugnacious to Robin the drug-addled. The date cannot be absolutely proved; the manuscript containing it has materials copied as early as the seventeenth century and as late as the nineteenth. This alleged ballad (really a farce) is in the nineteenth century portion, And it certainly feels nineteenth century -- frankly, in reading this, I feel like I'm reading Edward Lear. Not the content, of course, but the style. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C137

Robin Hood and the Potter [Child 121]


DESCRIPTION: A potter defeats Robin. Robin disguises himself as the potter. He sells pots in Nottingham, giving some to the Sheriff's wife. She invites him home. He offers to take the Sheriff to Robin. Robin robs the Sheriff, sending him home with a horse for his wife
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1795 (Ritson)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight trick disguise gift
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 121, "Robin Hood and the Potter" (1 text, with "The Playe of Robyn Hode" in an appendix)
Leach, pp. 352-360, "Robin Hood and the Potter" (1 text)
Niles 44, "Robin Hood and the Potter" (1 text, 1 tune -- as dubious as any other JJN Robin Hood ballad. In this case, he claimed it was from, ahem, the wife of "Potsie" Cobb. Like the Niles text of "Robin Hood and the Monk," this is a summarization of the plot of the Child text in what appears to be deliberately dumbed-down verse)
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 57-79, "Robin Hood and the Potter" (1 text, newly edited from the sources)
Roud #3979
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Potter and Robin Hood
NOTES: This is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]).
It can hardly be considered an original piece, however; there is a similar story told of Hereward the Wake, the English rebel against the Norman Conquest. Hereward, knowing an attack on his stronghold of Ely was coming, decided to try to spy out the plan. Leaving the island, he met a potter, and persuaded him to lend the outlaw enough pots to pretend to be a potter. Hereward then visited the Norman camp, and (pretending not to understand French) learned what he needed to learn to foil the plot (see Maurice Keen, The Outlaws of Medieval Legend, Dorset, 1961, 1977, 1987, p. 18). On pp. 23-25, Keen notes that the story was also told of Eustace the Monk, who was constantly disguising himself in one way or another -- and Eustace wasn't even English; he was from Flanders. Since the story is old and widespread, clearly the legend of Robin predates this song significantly.
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150), with this one being the earliest) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
This is probably the earliest, and in many ways the best, example of this genre, though it is hardly typical (since it has a second part dealing with the trick played on the Sheriff). Paul Stamler offers the following only-mildly-exaggerated description of the typical ballad of this type:
"Robin Hood meets just about anyone and they quarrel about something really stupid. Robin picks a fight, and since the other person is always bigger, stronger, and a better fighter, he wins. Robin then makes nice with him and invites him to join all the other people who've beaten him up. Somewhere during all this, Robin raises an extremely symbolic horn to his lips. Privately, everyone in Robin's band agrees that Robin would do better if he stayed on his meds." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C121

Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon [Child 129]


DESCRIPTION: Aragon has encircled London, demanding its princess, unless three champions defeat him and his two giants. Robin Hood, Little John, and Robin's nephew Will Scadlock do so, gaining pardon. Will gains the princess and is reunited with his father.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1749
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight royalty pardon
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 129, "Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon" (1 text)
Bronson 129, "Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon" (1 version)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 233-240, "Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon" (1 text, 1 tune, which even the editors admit is full of absurdities and whose verses Bronson calls "rather deplorable") {Bronson's [#1]}
BBI, RZN18, "Now Robin Hood, Will Scadlock, and little John"
Roud #3983
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
This is an instance where oral tradition didn't do anything for a ballad; Child calls his text vapid, and the New Brunswick version from J. P. A. Nesbitt (found in Barry/Eckstorm/Smyth) could almost be held up as an example of "when ballads go bad."
It is probably obvious that there isn't a hint of history in this ballad; the attacker in the ballad is a Turk, but Aragon was a Christian state, centered around Barcelona. The Aragonese could not have have hoped to attack England until after the union with Spain.
The whole business might have been suggested by the bad blood between Spain and England over the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon -- but that of course didn't end in invasion.
Oh, plus there was no earldom of "Maxfield" in the Robin Hood era.
There are any number of other anachronisms and absurdities in the ballad, but it's really not worth the effort to document them.
Personally, I suspect that name "Aragon" is an error of hearing for "Ottoman." This would explain how the prince can be an infidel. (True, Spain had been for a time held by Moslems, but it wasn't called Aragon then!). But what can we have but scorn for a balladeer who heard the name "Ottoman" and confused it with "Aragon"? Obviously there is no truth in the thing. Especially since the Ottoman Empire did not conquer Constantinople until 1453, well after Robin Hood's latest possible date, and although the Ottomans eventually threatened Christian Western Europe, they were no threat to the west until after Byzantium fell. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C129

Robin Hood and the Ranger [Child 131]


DESCRIPTION: Robin is stopped from killing a deer by a forester. They fight. Robin is bested and offers the other a place in his band. He blows his horn to summon his men, the forester joins them, and all celebrate.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1777
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 131, "Robin Hood and the Ranger" (1 text)
Bronson 131, "Robin Hood and the Ranger" (2 versions)
Roud #933
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C131

Robin Hood and the Scotchman [Child 130]


DESCRIPTION: "Bold Robin Hood to the north he would go... with valour and mickle might... To fight and recover his right." Robin meets a Scotsman, and offers him a job providing he can pass a test of strength. The Scot pummels Robin and joins his band
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 130, "Robin Hood and the Scotchman" (2 texts)
Bronson 130, comments only
BBI, (no number given; should perhaps be ZRN24), "Then bold Robin Hood to the north"
Roud #3984
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C130

Robin Hood and the Shepherd [Child 135]


DESCRIPTION: Robin comes upon a shepherd and demands to know the contents of his bag and bottle. The shepherd defies him. They fight. The shepherd wins. Robin blows his horn. Little John answers the call but the shepherd thrashes him as well.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight shepherd
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 135, "Robin Hood and the Shepherd" (1 text)
Bronson 135, comments only
BarryEckstormSmyth p. 451, "Robin Hood and the Shepherd" (brief notes only)
BBI, RZN1, "All gentlemen and yeomen good"
Roud #3985
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C135

Robin Hood and the Sheriff


See Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)

Robin Hood and the Tanner [Child 126]


DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood meets a tanner in the woods; they fight. After two hours Robin blows his horn. Little John comes running; Robin says the other has tanned his (Robin's) hide. Little John offers to continue the battle; Robin says no, praising the tanner's skill.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1657 (Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) US(SE)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Child 126, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (1 text)
Bronson 126, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (3 versions+ 2 in addenda)
Davis-Ballads 31, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (1 text, 1 tune entitled "Robin Hood and Arthur O'Bland") {Bronson's #3}
Leach, pp. 372-376, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 4, "Robin Hood and the Tanner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 94, "Robin Hood and Arthur O'Bland" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #3}
BBI, RZN12, "In Nottingham there lived a jolly Tanner"
DT 126, RHOODTAN*
Roud #332
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
Bronson, in searching for the tunes of the Child Ballads, notes that many are the same tune, and that tune is most likely to be "Arthur A Bland." Which, if it is anything, is this. So this may be one of the "core" Robin Hood ballads. Except -- all this is based on a few tag lines, which are often unreliable.
The Opies (Opie-Oxford2, #12) speculate that the Arthur a Bland of this song may be the Arthur O'Bower of their nursery rhyme #12:
Arthur O'Bower has broken his band
And he comes roaring up the land;
The King of Scots with all his power
Cannot stop Arthur of the Bower.
This seems to be based solely on similarity of names, however. I would not be surprised if Arthur O'Bower has some deeper significance -- but I can't see any reason to link him to Robin Hood. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C126

Robin Hood and the Tinker [Child 127]


DESCRIPTION: A Tinker asks help arresting Robin Hood for 100 pounds. Robin tricks him into drinking himself to sleep. On waking he learns his companion was Robin. He finds Robin; they fight. Robin yields, then blows his horn for reinforcements. The Tinker joins them.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1777
KEYWORDS: Robinhood trick
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 127, "Robin Hood and the Tinker" (1 text)
Bronson 127, comments only
Leach, pp. 376-380, "Robin Hood and the Tinker" (1 text)
BBI, RZN14, "In summer time when leaves grow green"
Roud #3982
NOTES: Child describes this as a "contemptible imitation of imitations." - KK
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C127

Robin Hood and the Twenty Pounds of Gold


See Robin Hood and the Monk [Child 119] (File: C119)

Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight [Child 153]


DESCRIPTION: The king sends a knight with 100 to arrest Robin. The knight goes alone to Robin to request surrender. Robin refuses and battle ensues. The knight (retires/is killed) but Robin, wounded, sends for a monk whose bloodletting ends his life. The men scatter.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1741
KEYWORDS: Robinhood knight battle injury death clergy
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Child 153, "Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight" (1 text)
Bronson 152, comments only
Roud #3995
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood's Death" [Child 120] (subject)
NOTES: We've all heard of revisionist history, but whoever heard of revisionist mythology? Child comments, "Written, perhaps, because it was thought that authority should in the end be vindicated against outlaws, which may explain why this piece surpasses in platitude everything that goes before." And, indeed, how many ballads include a rhymed version of a epitaph?
It will be noted that this contradicts the standard legend of Robin Hood's death, long since established by Child #117 and Child #120.
I also noted that the metre matches that of the "Yarn of the Nancy Bell." Suitable, for such a piece of accidental humor. I find it amazing that it was actually printed multiple times. Forget the story. It just plain sounds stupid.
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C153

Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons


See Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140] (File: C140)

Robin Hood and Will Scarlet


See Robin Hood Newly Revived [Child 128] (File: C128)

Robin Hood Newly Revived [Child 128]


DESCRIPTION: Robin sees a young man skillfully kill a deer, offers him a place, is answered disdainfully. They fight. Impressed, Robin asks the stranger who he is. He is Robin's sister's son, who has slain his father's steward. Robin makes him next under Little John
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663 (Garland)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight family
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 128, "Robin Hood Newly Revived" (1 text)
Bronson 128, comments only
Leach, pp. 380-383, "Robin Hood Newly Revived" (1 text)
BBI, RZN7, "Come listen a while you Gentlemen all"
DT 128, RHNEWREV
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 499-506, "Robin Hood and Will Scarlet" (1 text,based on the Onley broadside)
Roud #3956
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" [Child 132] (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Robin Hood and the Stranger
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle.
This particular Robin Hood ballad does have interesting aspects, however. Robin's unknown opponent turns out to be Young Gamwell, his nephew -- a name possibly related to Gandelyn, hero of the romance of the same name. And he is taken into the band as Will Scarlet -- and the earliest ballad versions of Robin Hood's band seems to have consisted of four men, Robin, Little John, Much the Miller's Son, and WIll Scarlock/Scathelock/Scarlet. This raises the possibility that there is some old tradition behind the broadsides. The language of the ballad, however, can hardly be older than the seventeenth century, and the poetry is poor.
There is some dispute about the relationship between this song and "The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood" [Child 132]; see the notes to that song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C128

Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140]


DESCRIPTION: Robin learns from (a women/their mother) that three men are to be hanged for deer-killing. He meets a (palmer/beggar) who confirms this. Robin insists on trading clothes, goes disguised to Nottingham, blows his horn for his men, and rescues the three.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1750 (Percy manuscript)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood execution disguise rescue
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South,West),Scotland) US(NE,SE)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Child 140, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (4 texts)
Bronson 140, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (7 versions+2 in addenda)
GreigDuncan2 243 (plus 1 verse on p. 547), "Robin Hood and the Squires" (2 texts)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 2420-242, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, pp. 69-72, "Bold Robin Hood Rescuing the Three Squires" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 107-116, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (3 texts, with A1 and A2 being variant versions from the same informant, 1 tune) {Bronson's #2, with some small variants}
BrownII 140, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (1 text with variants from several performances by the same informant)
Friedman, p. 341, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (1 text)
OBB 122, "Robin Hood and the Widow's Three Sons" (1 text)
PBB 69, "Robin Hood and the Sheriff" (1 text)
Niles 47, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the second perhaps being mixed with Child 143)
Chase, pp. 124-126, "Bold Robin Hood" (1 text, 1 tune, clearly this piece although it has many floating lyrics, e.g. from "The House Carpenter") {Bronson's #4}
Darling-NAS, pp. 87-90, "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires" (1 text)
DT 140, RH3SQUIR*
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 476-485, "Robin Hood Rescues Three Young Men" (1 text,based on one of the garlands)
Roud #71
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Robin Hood and the Old Maid
Robin Hood and the Old Woman
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Knight/Ohlgren, p. 513, notes the interesting fact that this is the only ballad incident to appear in the plays of Anthony Munday, who seems to have thrown the Robin Hood legend in a very different (and less attractive) direction after the appearance of the plays in 1598-1599. Knight/Ohlgren think that Munday borrowed the story. I am not sure I agree. The ballad feels like a seventeenth, or even eighteenth, century composition, by a literary hack who is trying to imitate true ballad style (and not succeeding very well). I would not be surprised if the poem takes the incident from Munday rather than the reverse.
And yet, it is Child's opinion that "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" [Child 141] is an "imitation" of this piece, which means it must predate the 1663 garland which contains "Will Stutly." Also, there are several garland prints of this, all undated, but this strongly hints at a date before 1675. Possibly well before. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C140

Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly [Child 141]


DESCRIPTION: One of Robin's men, Will Stutly, is to be hanged. Robin and his men swear to rescue him or die trying. At the gallows Little John leaps from a bush, unbinds Will, and gives him a sword. They fight back to back as the archers chase the sheriff and his men
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663 (garland)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood execution rescue fight
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 141, "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" (1 text)
Bronson 141, "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" (1 version)
Davis-Ballads 32, "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" (1 text, 1 tune entitled "The Rescue of Will Stutly") {Bronson's [#1]}
Leach, pp. 402-403, "Robin Hood Rescuing Will Stutly" (1 text)
BBI, RZN21, "When Robin Hood in the Green wood"
DT 141, ROBHDWST*
Roud #3957
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Child considers this to be an "imitation" of "Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires [Child 140]." One or the other of these seems to have been known to the author of the Sloane MS. life of Robin (British Library, Sloane MS. 780), which presumably would date the story (as opposed to the song) before 1600. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C141

Robin Hood Side


See Scarboro Sand (The Drowned Sailor) [Laws K18] (File: LK18)

Robin Hood Was a Forrester Bold


DESCRIPTION: "O Robin Hood was a forrester good As ever drew bow in a merry greenwood, And the wild deer will follow, will follow." "Little John with his arms so long, He conquered them all with his high ding dong, And the bugles did echo, did echo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood
FOUND IN: US(Ap) Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
JHCox 34, "Robin Hood" ( text)
Roud #1303
NOTES: Cox's text is only a fragment of what was presumably a longer ballad (probably a late broadside, though I find no reference in the Broadside Ballad Index to this particular text). It doesn't look like any of the Child "Robin Hood" ballads, either. But it is traditional, so here it sits until someone figures out its ancestry. - RBW
File: JHCox034

Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage [Child 149]


DESCRIPTION: Robin and his mother visit her brother, who makes Robin his heir and gives him Little John as a page. Robin takes Little John to his band in the forest. He meets shepherd Clorinda who impresses by shooting a buck. They go to Titbury feast and are married.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1716; Wing dated one of the broadsides before 1685, according to Knight/Ohlgren
KEYWORDS: Robinhood family mother brother servant outlaw marriage
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 149, "Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor and Marriage" (1 text)
BBI, RZN17, "Kind gentlemen will you be patient awhile"
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 527-540, "Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valour, and Marriage" (1 text,based primarily on the Roxburghe copy)
Roud #3991
NOTES: Child notes that this ballad has several elements at variance with the bulk of the Robin Hood tradition. - KK
That is being very polite to a rather dreadful piece of hack work. For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. As for this monstrosity, well, Child gave it a bit of what it deserves when he notes that "The jocular author of this ballad... would certainly have been diverted by any one's supposing him to write under the restraints of tradition."
Knight/Ohlgren, p. 527, note that the texts borrows many materials not in the Robin Hood tradition, and concludes with a hope that the King will have heirs. They suggest that this is a wish for Charles II (reigned 1660-1685), who in fact had no legitimate children, which caused the throne to go to his Catholic brother James and eventually producing the Glorious Revolution.
This seems highly likely, but is not a logical necessity, since there were other childless English kings. One of them, of course, was Richard I, who why the mid-seventeenth century had become the usual King of the Robin Hood story.
The ballad implies that Robin is no longer a pure yeoman; he is the nephew of a "Squire Gamwell" (compare the Young Gamwell of "Robin Hood Newly Revived" [Child 128]), and his mother is the niece of the romance hero Guy of Warwick.
The song rings in not only the Pindar of Wakefield but also Adam Bell and Company.
To top it all off, Robin's love is not Maid Marian (who, admittedly, is no part of the early legend, but at least comes from the May Games) but Clorinda (Queen) of the Shepherdesses.
Just in case that isn't unreality enough for you, consider the claim in the third stanza that Robin's father could should an arrow a distance of two miles and an inch. (It would never do to forget the inch!)
Of course, a little work with the basic formulae of physics shows that, if we assume no air resistance and that Robin's father shot at an exact 45 degree angle (the optimal angle for propelling an object the maximum distance), the arrow would have needed an initial velocity of about 177 meters per second to cover that distance before falling to earth.
That's about 635 kilometers per hour. Or 380 miles per hour.
I don't know the ballistic properties of an arrow well enough to calculate the effects of air resistance. but I would estimate that, in English conditions, the arrow would have to be fired at least 900 kilometers per hour/550 miles per hour.
Right. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C149

Robin Hood's Chase [Child 146]


DESCRIPTION: Robin leaves London after the feats of Child 145. The king, repenting of his pardon, goes after him. Robin leads a chase through many towns, back to London, then to Sherwood. The king returns to London to learn cunning Robin had sought him there.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood royalty escape
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 146, "Robin Hood's Chase" (1 text)
Bronson 146 comments only
Leach, pp. 418-420, "Robin Hood's Chase" (1 text)
BBI, RZN9, "Come you gallants all, to you I do call"
Roud #3989
NOTES: It should perhaps be noted that the wife of Henry II (the "King Henry" of most Robin Hood ballads; reigned 1154-1189) was named Eleanor. The first Henry to have a wife named Katherine was Henry V (reigned 1413-1422); Henry VIII (1513-1547) marred several Katherines. But both these kings are far too late for Robin Hood's era. For further details, see the entry on Child 145.
For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C146

Robin Hood's Death [Child 120]


DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood, feeling ill, travels to (Kirkly-hall) to be blooded. The prioress sets out to bleed him to death. Only as he nears death does Robin realize what is happening; he calls to Little John. It is too late to save Robin; he arranges for his burial
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1786 (garland, The English Archer); also in the seventeenth century Percy Folio, and the basic plot is in the "Gest of Robyn Hode" from 1534 or earlier
KEYWORDS: Robinhood death burial medicine betrayal
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Child 120, "Robin Hood's Death" (2 texts)
Bronson 120, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 version)
Davis-Ballads 30, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text, 1 tune entitled "The Death of Robin Hood") {Bronson's [#1]}
Leach, pp. 349-352, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 345, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
OBB 125, "The Death of Robin Hood" (1 text)
Niles 43, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gummere, pp. 90-93+322-323, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
Hodgart, p. 94, "Robin Hood's Death" (1 text)
BBI, (no number; perhaps should be ZRN23?), "When Robin Hood and Little John"
DT 120, ROBHDTH*
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 592-601, "The Deat of Robin Hood" (1 text, a composite of the Percy folio and English Archer versions)
Roud #3299
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "The Death of Robin Hood" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme06) [with introductory verses from other Robin Hood ballads]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight" [Child 153] (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Robber Hood's Death
NOTES: This is considered by J. C. Holt (following Child and others), to be one of the five "basic" Robin Hood ballads. (For more details on chronology see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]). The earliest known copy (from the Percy folio) is very defective, but seems to be at least two centuries older than the manuscript -- the basic story of the betrayal of Robin Hood by the prioress of Kirkless is also in "A Gest of Robyn Hode," which was first printed no later than 1534 and was probably written more than half a century before that. And Richard Grafton's chronicle of 1569 reports that he was killed at "a certein Nunry in Yorkhire called Bircklies" (for text see Knight/Ohlgren, p. 29).
This perhaps the most popular of the basic Robin Hood ballads (note that it is one of only eight Robin Hood pieces for which we have an authentic tune, from Davis); fragments have been found in America as recently as the twentieth century.
Much of the early Robin Hood legend has parallels in the romance of Fulk FitzWarin, and the tale of the death may be an example. In the ballad, it is Red Roger/Roger of Doncaster who helps arrange Robin's death, and stabs Robin after he has been bled; Robin then decapitates Roger.
Fulk, in one of his innumerable conflicts with King John, finds himself in a fight. Sir Ber(n)ard de Blois attacks him from behind; Fulk spins around and kills him -- nearly cuts him in half, in fact (see Nigel Cawthorne, A Brief History of Robin Hood: The True History Behind the Legend, Running Press, 2010, pp. 145-146). The similarity to this story is obvious, although the general idea is so common that it might be coincidence. In any case, Fulk survives, which Robin does not.
The Percy version of this is very long, and badly defective, meaning that we are missing many details. Much that remains is confusing -- e.g. we meet an old woman "banning" Robin Hood. Why? We don't know. Most authorities assume she is cursing him -- but Knight/Ohlgren, p. 592, point out that it properly means "lament" -- possibly she is forecasting his death. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C120

Robin Hood's Delight [Child 136]


DESCRIPTION: Robin Hood, Little John, and Will Scarlock are met in the forest by three keepers. They fight. The keepers get the better of it. Robin asks to blow his horn but is refused. Robin invites them to compete at drinking sack instead. They become friends.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663
KEYWORDS: Robinhood fight drink
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 136, "Robin Hood's Delight" (1 text)
Bronson 135, comments only
BBI, RZN20, "There's some will talk of Lords and Knights"
Roud #3986
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Fully half the Robin Hood ballads in the Child collection (numbers (121 -- the earliest and most basic example of the type), 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, (133), (134), (135), (136), (137), (150)) share all or part of the theme of a stranger meeting and defeating Robin, and being invited to join his band. Most of these are late, but it makes one wonder if Robin ever won a battle. - RBW
File: C136

Robin Hood's Fishing


See Noble Fisherman, The, or, Robin Hood's Preferment [Child 148] (File: C148)

Robin Hood's Golden Prize [Child 147]


DESCRIPTION: Robin, disguised as a friar, asks alms of two priests in the wood. They claim that they were robbed and have nothing. Robin follows them and forces them to reveal the gold they are carrying. He makes them vow never to lie or cheat in the future
AUTHOR: unknown (Wing suggested Laurence Price, whose initials appear in one early copy)
EARLIEST DATE: 1663 (garland); what seems to be this ballad was registered 1656 in the Stationer's Register and Wing dates one broadside version to 1650
KEYWORDS: Robinhood money clergy lie
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Child 147, "Robin Hood's Golden Prize" (1 text)
Bronson 147, comments only
Leach, pp. 420-422, "Robin Hood's Golden Prize" (1 text)
OBB 123, "Robin Hood's Golden Prize" (1 text)
BBI, RZN11, "I have heard talk of Robin Hood"
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 556-562, "Robin Hood's Golden Prize" (1 text, newly edited from the sources)
Roud #3990
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Wing's attribution of this piece to Laurence Price seems to be widely accepted; Chappell mentioned it in his book on the Roxburghe Ballads, and Knight, p. 77, says that it is "apparently written" by Price. This would explain the strong anti-clerical tone of the piece; Price was active in the middle part of the seventeenth century (Chappell dates his work "before the restoration"), when England was extremely anti-Catholic.
Price himself is such an obscure figure that (as of October 2010) he doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry. Nor have I found biographies of him in my literary references. The few poems I've manage to find (such as those in Chappell) did not impress me. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: C147

Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham [Child 139]


DESCRIPTION: Robin at age 15 falls in with 15 foresters in Nottingham. He intends to enter a shooting match. They taunt him with his youth. He wagers on his ability and wins by killing a hart, but they refuse to pay. He kills them all, escapes to the merry green wood.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1663 (garland; title found 1656 in the Stationer's Register)
KEYWORDS: Robinhood hunting contest escape money youth
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Child 139, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 text)
Bronson 139, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (2 versions)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 69-70, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 text (composite from 2 singers), 1 tune) {Bronson's #2}
Creighton-NovaScotia 7, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 fragment, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Leach, pp. 400-402 "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 text)
BBI, RZN19, "Robin Hood he was a tall young man"
DT 139, RHPROGNT
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 507-512, "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham" (1 text)
Roud #1790
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Wood 402(14, 15), "Robin Hoods Progresse to Nottingham," F. Grove (London), 1623-1661; also Wood 401(37) [partly illegible], "Robin Hoods Progresse to Nottingham"; Douce Ballads 3(120a), "Robin Hood's progress to Nottingham" [subtitle "Shewing how he slew fifteen foresters"]
NOTES: For background on the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. This seems to be the earliest ballad to explain why Robin Hood became an outlaw, but we note that it is much more recent than ballads such as the "Gest" and "Robin Hood and the Potter" [Child 121]. - RBW
This, according to broadside Bodleian Douce Ballads 3(120a) and all other broadsides withi list a tune, is to be sung to the tune of "Bold Robin Hood." But Bronson notes that this song cannot be identified, and that several Robin Hood ballads use the same stanza form. - BS, RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C139

Robin Redbreast


See The Banks of the Gaspereaux [Laws C26] (File: LC26)

Robin Redbreast's Testament


DESCRIPTION: The singer asks the robin how long it has been there; it says twenty years, but now it's sick and would make its testament. He gives parts of his body to the Hamiltons, to serve them, and others to repair bridges. He scorns the wren who mourns for him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: bird death lastwill farewell
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
GreigDuncan3 646, "Robin's Testament" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
SHenry H527, pp. 20-21, "Robin Redbreast's Testament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 194, "(Robin Redbreast's Testament)" (1 text)
DT, ROBNTEST
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), pp. 38-40, "Robin Redbreast's Testament"
Roud #3900
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Robin
Robin Sick and Wearie
NOTES: In the time-honored tradition of folklorists assigning big meaning to small verse, I suspect this has a political undertone. (Probably someone has talked about this before, but I haven't seen it yet.) My first thought was of the period at the end of the reign of Mary Stuart and the beginning of James VI and I in Scotland, when the Hamilton and Lennox factions were struggling over the regency. But the Hamiltons were not yet Dukes.
Testing additional versions, I think the likely time period is c. 1649 and the end of the reign of Charles I. The robin is said to be "e'en like a little king," which fits, and his reign of "mair than twenty year" fits Charles, who came to the throne in 1625 and was executed in 1649.
In that case, the Duke of Hamilton is James, First Duke of Hamilton (1606-1649). An indecisive and ineffective figure, he finally ended up leading royalist forces at Preston in 1648, where he was crushed by Cromwell. He was executed about a month after Charles himself. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: HHH527

Robin Spraggon's Auld Grey Mare


See Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud (File: FVS311)

Robin Tamson's Smiddy [Laws O12]


DESCRIPTION: The singer has been sent to the smithy to have the mare shod. While there he woos the smith's daughter behind her father's back. The girl dislikes his poor clothes; he says she can mend them. She decides to run off with him rather than live an old maid
AUTHOR: Alexander Rodger (1784-1846) (source: Whistle-Binkie)
EARLIEST DATE: 1842 (in _Whistle-Binkie_, as "My Auld Breeks, air the Corn Clips")
KEYWORDS: clothes courting elopement horse
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(MW) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Laws O12, "Robin Tamson's Smiddy"
Logan, pp. 365-367, "My Minnie Ment My Auld Breeks" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 1009, "Robin Tamson's Smiddy" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Gardner/Chickering 67, "Robin Tamson's Smiddy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 39, "Robbie Tampson's Smitty" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 14, "Robbie Tampson's Smitty" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 671, RTSMITTY
ADDITIONAL: Alexander Rodger, editor, _Whistle-Binkie_, Third Series (Glasgow, 1842), pp. 64-66, "My Auld Breeks"; also Whistle-Binkie, (Glasgow, 1878), Vol I, pp. 377-378, "My Auld Breeks"
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 165, "My Mither Men't"
Roud #939
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.25(573), "Robin Thompson's Smiddy," J. Moore (Belfast), 1846-1852; also 2806 c.16(207)=Harding B 11(3301), "Robin Thompson's Smiddy"; Harding B 11(2103), "Duddy Breeks" or "Robbin Thompson's Smiddy"; Firth b.26(528), "Robin Tamson"; Harding B 11(1018), Harding B 11(331), "Duddy Breeks"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(42b), "Robin Tamson's Smiddy," Poet's Box (Dundee), c 1880-1900
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cornclip" (tune, per Whistle-Binkie)
File: LO12

Robin the Smuggler


DESCRIPTION: Old Robin brewed "the pure mountain bead, The Forres and Elgin folk liked it gweed." "As the Tuesdays and Fraidays cam roon' The cairtie was packit [by Robin and his wife] wi' peats for the toon, Wi' a keg in the middle." They have not been seen recently.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan2)
KEYWORDS: crime drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan2 261, "Robin the Smuggler" (1 text)
Roud #5851
NOTES: GreigDuncan2: "Cf. 'The Kellas Peatfutherer' in the Elgin Courant and Courier of 24 March 1939, where it is said that the song was written by James Simpson from Mortlach about 1850 and was usually sung to the air of 'Muirlan' Willie'. The subject was Robert or Robbie Milne (1792-1870), a crofter at Newton of Kellas."
GreigDuncan2: "Learnt twenty-two years ago, from a man who had been feed in Morayshire and got it there. Noted 21st February 1907. This air is a version of 'Muirland Willie'...." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD2261

Robin's Testament


See Robin Redbreast's Testament (File: HHH527)

Robyn and Gandeleyn [Child 115]


DESCRIPTION: Robyn hunts deer. Just after felling one he is himself slain by an arrow. His knave Gandeleyn seeks its source, finds Wrennok the Dane, challenges him, and avenges Robyn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1430 (British Museum -- Sloane MS. 2593); printed by Ritson 1790
KEYWORDS: hunting death fight revenge
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 115, "Robyn and Gandeleyn" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 332-334, "Robin and Gandeleyn" (1 text)
OBB 112, "Robyn and Gandeleyn" (1 text)
DT 115, RHGANDYN
ADDITIONAL: Stephen Knight and Thomas Ohlgren, editors, _Robin Hood and Other Oudlaw Tales_, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2000, pp. 227-234, "Robyn and Gandelyn" (1 text, newly edited from the sources)
Roud #3976
NOTES: Chambers, p. 131, thinks that this is a sort of proto-Robin Hood ballad, with Gandelyn to eventually become "Young Gamwell" or "Gamelyn." Child dismisses this notion, and rightly I think (but see below)
Chambers also notes that the source (Sloane MS. 2593) contains many carols, and believes that this was intended to be sung at Christmas. This is basically bunk (it doesn't help that Chambers literally hasn't the sense to tell what is a carol, or even what is a traditional song).
Sloane MS 2593 *does* contain many religious works, including the well-known "Adam Lay Ybounden" and "I Syng of a Maiden That Is Makeles" and others -- but it has plenty of secular works as well, including "I Have a Yong Suster" (the earliest form of "I Gave My Love a Cherry"), some drinking lyrics, and at least a few riddles. Plus some rather dirty items, including "I Have a Gentil Cock" (in fact, as the facsimile on p. 35 of Fletcher shows, "I Have a Gentil Cock" immediately follows "I Syng of a Maiden." (Although I note that the text of the manuscript clearly reads "I haue a gentil COOK." Not much doubt about what is meant, however.)
The manuscript is dated c. 1450 by Child, a date followed by Knight/Ohlgren, p. 227, but c. 1400 by Fletcher, p. 34; "earlier fifteenth century" by Davies, p. 153; and "fifteenth century" by Luria/Hoffman, p. 236. I have used the compromise date of c. 1430. The manuscript is quite plain, and the writing appears to have been done rather quickly (it is much less elegant than the court hands of the period); I frankly think this dating rather more precise than the handwriting justifies.
If this isn't a Robin Hood song, it may nonetheless have some very indirect connections with that corpus. As with several of the older Child ballads ("Hind Horn" [Child 17], "King Orfeo" [Child #19], "Blancheflour and Jellyflorice" [Child 300]), this may connect with a Middle English romance.
The romance in this case is "Gamelyn," which can be found e.g. in Sands, pp. 156-181 (who mentions a critical edition published by Skeat in 1884 as The Tale of Gamelyn). The plot in brief: Sir John of Boundys, dying, leaves his property to his sons John, Ote, and Gamelyn. Gamelyn is set aside. Placed in bondage by his brother, he is freed by Adam the Spencer; they take revenge and flee to the greenwood. The oldest brother, now sheriff, declares him an outlaw. Gamelyn comes to the court, is taken prisoner, but is set free when Ote stands his bail. Gamelyn attacks the court, gains his freedom, and is pardoned by the King.
The similarities of "Gamelyn" to the Robin Hood cycle are obvious, and it is possible that "Robyn and Gandelyn" is a worn down version of the romance; they are about as close as "Hind Horn" and "King Horn" (i.e. not very). But that doesn't make the ballad an ancestor of the Robin Hood corpus; rather, it is at best a cousin.
More interesting is the relationship between "Robin and Gandelyn" and "Gamelyn." The author of "Gamelyn" is unknown, but the "language is generally that of Chaucer's time" (Sands, p. 155). This would make "Robyn and Gandelyn" more recent than "Gamelyn," but not by much. This does not of course tell us which plot is older.
"Gamelyn" is one of the best-attested of the Middle English romances, though the reason is "bizarre" (Chaucer/Benson, p. 1125): It's included in many manuscripts of Chaucer! The Cook's Tale ends abruptly (Keen, p. 78, speculates that Chaucer decided the story he had in mind was too raunchy to use), and it appears that some scribes, feeling the need to supply a complete story, plugging in this account -- a rather poor fit; the the seven-stress lines don't match the rest of the Canterbury Tales, and it features a lot of alliteration (Keen, p. 80), which is not at all typical of Chaucer. The temptation is to think that it is a modification of a poem in alliterative verse, presumably springing from the fourteenth century alliterative revival that produced "Piers Plowman" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight."
Knight/Ohlgren, pp. 227, connect this to Robin Hood not on the basis of the name Robin but rather the name "Gandelyn," plus the setting in Wrennock, which has associations with the tale of Fulk Fitzwarin, often considered a source for the "Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117].
Keen, p. 89, also notes that Gandelyn is a rough, common man, an opponent of the aristocracy -- a character who would certainly not appeal to Chaucer, who (while not a nobleman himself) spent his whole life in their company.
There are some 16 manuscripts in Manley and Rickert's "c" and "d" groups of The Canterbury Tales, which are associated with the inclusion of Gamelyn, though not all of these are complete; we also find it, e.g., in the well-known Harley 7334.
Keen, p. 79, notes that it is an unusual romance in that it is surprisingly real -- it's about common people, living ordinary lives, and there is no magic. It even goes into details about the problems of moving about in an untended forest. This, obviously, is another reason why it is rather unlike Robin Hood; the core Robin Hood ballads ignore the difficulties of living in the greenwood. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: C115

Rock 'N' Row Me Over


See One More Day (File: FSWB086B)

Rock About My Saro Jane


DESCRIPTION: The singer, despite "a wife and five little children," decides to "take a trip on the big Macmillan." The troublesome operations of the boat are described. Chorus: "Oh, there's nothing to do but sit down and sing And rock about my Saro Jane."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, Uncle Dave Macon)
KEYWORDS: ship river love work
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 47, "Rock About My Saro Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax- FSNA 277, "Rock About, My Saro Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 747, "Rock About, My Saro Jane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 92, "Rock About My Saro Jane" (1 text)
DT, SAROJANE
Roud #10052
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "Rock About My Saro Jane" (Vocalion 5151, 1927; also probably issued as Brunswick B-1024, 1929 and Brunswick 80091, n.d.; on TimesAint03)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Rock About My Saro Jane" (on NLCR14)
File: LxU047

Rock All Our Babies to Sleep


See Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own) (File: R393)

Rock Island Line (I), The


DESCRIPTION: "The Rock Island Line is a mighty good road, The Rock Island Line is the road to ride." About life in general, engineering on the Rock Island Line, and anything else that can be zipped into the song
AUTHOR: unknown (heavily adapted by Huddie Ledbetter)
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (recording, Kelly Pace et al)
KEYWORDS: railroading train nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 472-477, "The Rock Island Line" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 102, "Rock Island Line" (1 text)
DT, ROCKISLL
Roud #15211
RECORDINGS:
Kelly Pace & group of prisoners, "Rock Island Line" (AFS 248 A1, 1934; on LC8, LCTreas)
NOTES: How much of this is genuinely "folk" is hard to tell. The earliest version collected [was] at Cummins Prison Farm (Arkansas) in 1934. The collection was made by John & Ruby Lomax; Lead Belly was their driver. Working from this and perhaps some floating material, Lead Belly created a song which he interspersed with patter about railroad work. The Weavers regularized this, and Alan Lomax added "new material"; one wonders if the prisoners would have recognized the result. - PJS, RBW
One of the verses found in revival versions is present [in the Pace recording on 1934], ("Jesus died to save me in all of my sin/Glory to God, we goin' to meet Him again"), as is the standard chorus.
Mr. Pace's name is spelled "Kelly" throughout LC8, but,"Kelley" on LC10. I have no idea which is correct. - PJS
Cohen uses the spelling "Kelly Pace," but of course he may have had the same problem.
Cohen also documents the evolution of the song, which apparently began as an Arkansas work song. Lead Belly, as noted, probably learned it in 1934. When he recorded it for the Library of Congress in 1937, he used a subset of the Pace verses, with a line of patter about cutting trees; the song is still a work song.
When Lead Belly recorded it again in 1944 for Capitol, he had added a couple of verses not from Pace ("I may be right and I may be wrong"; "A-B-C double X-Y-Z") and had a new line of railroad patter. Soon after, he recorded it for Folkways, in what seems to have become the canonical version, ending with him telling the rainroad agent, "I fooled you."
It's unfortunate we don't have more information about how Lead Belly performed the song in concert in these years. It's quite a demonstration of "live fire" folk process, though. - RBW.
File: FSWB102

Rock Island Line (II), The


See Fox River Line, The (The Rock Island Line) [Laws C28] (File: LC28)

Rock o' Jubilee


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, rock o' jubilee, poor fallen soul, O Lord, do rock o' jubilee." "I have no time to stay at home." "My father('s) door wide open now." "Mary, girl, you know my name." "The wind blow east, he blow from Jesus."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 25, "Rock o' Jubilee" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: AWG025

Rock o' My Soul


See Good Lordy, Rocky My Soul (File: FSWB357B)

Rock of Ages (I)


DESCRIPTION: "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me, Let me hide myself in thee." The singer admits to the inability to meet God's demands, and asks forgiveness and protection
AUTHOR: Words: Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778)/Music: Thomas Hastings (1784-1872)
EARLIEST DATE: 1775 (first stanza; remainder of text 1776, both in "The Gospel Magazine"; music published 1832)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 357, "Rock of Ages" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 469-470, "Rock of Ages"
DT, ROCKAGES*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), pp. 120-121, "Rock of Ages" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5429
RECORDINGS:
Henry Burr, "Rock of Ages" (Columbia 1781, 1904)
Peerless Quartet, "Rock of Ages" (Paramount 33010, 1919)
Hamlin Male Quartet, "Rock of Ages" (Supertone 9267, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over the Rock of Ages)"
NOTES: Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778) is most famous for writing the words to this song. Johnson, p. 120, gives a brief biography which seems to consist mostly of denomination-jumping. He is said to have been "always in frail health," which explains his early death. The immediate cause of death, according to Kunitz/Haycraft, p. 519, was tuberculosis, which he contracted in 1775.
He is credited with two volumes of religious lyrics. Nonetheless Granger's Index to Poetry lists only seven of his works which made it into their voluminous database (and it appears that two of those are actually alternate names for this piece). This is of course the one most cited (twelve times under various titles). It is also the only work of his cited by Benet (p. 1129), who does not call him a hymn-writer but does call him a controversialist.
The description seems apt. Kunitz/Haycraft, p. 519, say that he was "First converted to the ministry by a follower of John Wesley [one James Morris, according to Johnson], Toplady become the most extreme of Calvinists." Wesley and the Methodists were the most Arminian of denominations -- that is, they absolutely denied predestination. And predestination -- God arbitrarily and capriciously granting salvation at whim -- is the cornerstone of Calvinist doctrine (not that Calvinists put it that way, but we need to understand how each side saw it. Calvinists see Arminians as a bunch of sloppy bleeding hearts; Arminians see Calvinists as a bunch of Nazis with no compassion or flexibility.)
Christians can disagree on such things and perhaps still work together. Not Wesley and Toplady. As Kunitz/Haycraft continue, "[T]he rest of [Toplady's] life was devoted to a crusade against Wesley and Wesleyan doctrines. What is curious is that in this violent controversy both Wesley and Toplady, men of high principles, broad learning, and unimpeachable character, descended to a fish-wife level of public disputation."
The general tone of his writings is clearly revealed in the titles of some of his books (NewCentury, pp. 1081-1082): The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination, Stated and Assured (published when he was only 29), The Church of England Vindicated from the Charge of Arminianism (published in that same year of 1769), and Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England.
Toplady, incidentally, is wrong. Although the Anglican church was never as Arminian as the Methodists, neither was it historically Calvinist. The seventeenth century of course saw attempts to turn it in that direction, but the key point of the Puritan Movement, and the Civil War, and the Commonwealth, is that Calvinism ultimately *failed* to take over the Church of England. Toplady was arguing a case which had been lost eighty years before he was born.
For another song by Toplady, see "Jesus At Thy Command." - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: FSWB357C

Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over the Rock of Ages)


DESCRIPTION: "Way down yonder in the lonesome valley, clef' for me, clef' for me (x2), Way down yonder in the lonesome valley, Let God's bosom be my pillow. Hide me over the rock of ages, clef' for me, clef' for me." "What you gon' do when the world's on fire?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1921 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 547, "Rock of Ages" (1 text plus a fragment and mention of 1 more)
Fuson, p. 204, "Hide Thou Me" (1 text, probably a mix, with the form of "Rock of Ages (II -- Hide Me Over Rock of Ages" but verses from "Jacob's Ladder")
Roud #5429
RECORDINGS:
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "Rock of Ages" (Brunswick 190, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rock of Ages (I)"
NOTES: The notes in Brown suggest that this is an "adaption" of the standard "Rock of Ages." Most likely, since the phrase "rock of ages" is assuredly not Biblical. But this is clearly a separate song. - RBW
File: Br3547

Rock the Cradle, John


DESCRIPTION: "Rock the cradle, John ... Mony [a] man rocks another man's child And thinks he's rockin his own ... Although the babe be not your own Oh rock the cradle"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: infidelity marriage nonballad bastard children husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1450, "Rock the Cradle, John" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #7278
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)" (theme)
cf. "Hushie Baa, Ee-a-Baa" (theme)
File: GrD71450

Rock to See the Turkey Run


DESCRIPTION: "Rock to see de turkey run, Run, run, run, run, run, run, Rock to see de turkey run, Run, run, run, run, run, run, Rock to see de turkey run, Run, run, run."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 196, "Rock to See de Turkey Run" (1 short text)
File: ScaNF196

Rock-a My Soul


DESCRIPTION: "Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham (x3), Oh, rock-a my soul," "When I went down to the valley to pray... My soul got happy and I stayed all day." "When I was a mourner just like you... I mourned and mourned till I come through."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 73, "Rock o' My Soul" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 573, "Good Lordy, Rocky My Soul" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 357, "Rock-a My Soul" (1 text)
Roud #11892
RECORDINGS:
Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, "Rock My Soul" (Bluebird B-7804/Montgomery Ward M-7596, 1938; RCA Victor 20-2921, 1948; on Babylon)
Taylor sisters, "Rock-a My Soul" (on HandMeDown2)
NOTES: The reference to Abraham's bosom alludes to the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). In 16:22, Lazarus dies and is carries to Abraham's bosom. Although the phrase does not occur elsewhere, it came to have the sense of "heaven."
It is interesting to note that the version they shoved down our throats as children ran "Rock-a my soul," which sounded like someone rocking on a rocking chair or in a cradle. But Allen/Ware/Garrison give it as "Rock o' my soul" -- i.e. "Rock of my soul." This, as a reference to God, is more Biblical and much more comprehensible. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: FSWB357B

Rock-A-By Ladies


DESCRIPTION: "Four little prisoners here in jail, here in jail, here in jail, Four little prisoners here in jail...." The four are charged with shooting "the old man instead of the son." The required "dollar and a half to set them free" is given and they are released
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty trial freedom
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 579, "Rock-a-by Ladies" (1 text plus fragments from other sources)
Roud #502
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "London Bridge Is Falling Down" (tune & meter)
File: R579

Rock-A-Bye Baby


DESCRIPTION: The nursery rhyme: "Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top, When the wind blows, the cradle will rock...." Folk versions often add more verses (or make changes to the first), e.g. about the farmer who goes hunting to feed the baby
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: text: 1784 (Gammar Gurton's Garland, according to Opie-Oxford2); tune: 1884 (see notes)
KEYWORDS: lullaby
FOUND IN: US(SE) Ireland Canada(Mar) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Warner 190, "Rocky By Baby, By-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan8 1552, "Hush-a-Ba Baby On a Tree Top" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H591a, p. 6, "Heezh Ba" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 113, "Rock-a-Bye Baby in the Tree-Top" (1 text with variants)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 86, "Rockaby Baby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 22, "Hush-a-bye, baby, on the tree top" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #550, p. 224, "(Hush a by Baby)"
Silber-FSWB, p. 408, "Rock-A-Bye, Baby" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 468-469+, "Rock-a-Bye Baby"
ST Wa190 (Partial)
Roud #2768
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "What'll I Do with the Baby-O" (words)
cf. "Tony Went Walking" (lyrics)
NOTES: The first reported printing of the words to this piece is from about 1765, in "Mother Goose's Melody." It does not seem to have become a song -- or at least to have adopted its current melody -- until 1872, when Effie I. Crockett (1857-1940) allegedly sang it to an infant she was babysitting. The result was published in 1884, with Crockett adopting the pseudonym "Effie I. Canning."
In the Sam Henry text, the song starts with the singer recalling being "airy and handsome" and going out partying; but "noo I am auld... fittin' for nae thin' but rockin' the cradle. Rockin' the cradle is nae work, ava," then breaks into the standard lyrics. It's probably a composite, but with only six lines of the original, most of which are similar to floating material, the other half is probably beyond identification; there are points of contact with "Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)."
The Montgomeries (Montgomerie-ScottishNR #134) have a piece which looks vaguely related, beginning, "Hoolie, the bed'll fall! Who'll fall with it? Two eyes, two hands, And two bonnie feet."
According to folklore (or at least Katherine Elwes Thomas), this originally referred to the Old Pretender, James III son of James II of England, and the whole stanza refers to James II's deposition as a result of having a Catholic heir. Uh-huh. The only reason I can see for this is the fact that (according to the Opies) the melody is related to "Lilliburlero." Distantly related -- and, in any case, the setting of the tune is more recent than the words. For myriad other attempts to wring meaning from the lyrics, including even a link to the Egyptian god Horus, see the Opies' notes. - RBW
There are examples on the Library of Congress American Memory site of other melodies for the song and other texts incorporating the tree top verse:
LOCSheet, sm1881 16221, "Lullaby Baby Upon the Tree Top," White, Smith & Co. (Chicago), 1881; also sm1881 14963, "Lullaby Baby Upon the Tree Top" (tune)
LOCSinging, sb10078a, "Dig, Dig, Dig" or "Hush-a-bye Baby," unknown, n.d.; also as102980, "Dig, Dig, Dig" or "Hush-a-bye Baby" - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Wa190

Rock-a-Bye Baby in the Tree-Top


See Rock-A-Bye Baby (File: Wa190)

Rock, Chariot, I Told You to Rock


DESCRIPTION: Biblical statements linked by the refrain "Judgement goin' to find me!" E.g., "Rock, Chariot, I Told You to Rock, Judgement goin'... Won't you rock, chariot, in the middle of the air... I wonder what chariot comin' after me...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson et al)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 50-52, "(Rock, Chariot, I Told You to Rock)" (1 text); p. 227, "Rock Chariot" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #10961
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, Earthy Anne Coleman & Price Coleman, "Rock Chariot, I Told You to Rock" (on NFMAla2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" (subject)
NOTES: This is based on Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel 1, but with hints of the Assumption of Elijah (2 Kings 2). - RBW
File: CNFM050

Rock'd in the Cradle of the Deep


DESCRIPTION: "Rock'd in the cradle of the deep, I lay me down in peace to sleep; Secure I rest upon the wave, For thou Oh! Lord, hast power to save." The singer reiterates a simple faith: God can save, the storms cannot harm me, I will sleep sound whatever happens
AUTHOR: Words: Emma Hart Willard / Music: Joseph Philip Knight
EARLIEST DATE: Words: 1832 / Music: 1840
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 184-189, "Rock'd in the Cradle of the Deep" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
James Cherry, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (Berliner 0964X, 1896)
Edison Quartet, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (CYL: Edison 2217, c. 1897)
William F. Hooley, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (Victor 3067, 1904)
J. W. Myers, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (Zonophone 322, 1905)
Original Bison City Quartette, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep") (CYL: Ohio Phonograph Co., no #, c. 1893)
Standard Quartette, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (CYL: Columbia 2247, rec. c. 1895)
Frank C. Stanley, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" (Victor 4867, 1906)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Drover's Dream" (quoted in that song)
SAME TUNE:
Locked in the Stable with the Sheep (cf. Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 84)
File: RJ19184

Rock's Poteen


DESCRIPTION: The singer's "soul for every ill prepares, Whilst I've poteen to cheer me." He prefers Rock's poteen to Briton's ale and beer. Wine is for "stupid sots." "Then fill your glass of sparkling juice That never met a gauger's nose."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Croker-PopularSongs)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Croker-PopularSongs, pp. 78-79, "Rock's Poteen" (1 text)
NOTES: Morton-Ulster: "A 'Gauger' was a member of the Revenue Police, who until their disbandment in the mid 1850s, had been charged with the suppression of illicit distillation -- poteen making."
Croker-PopularSongs: "From 1802 to June 1806 ... no less than 13349 unlicensed whisky-stills ... were seized in Ireland.... This song, in praise of poteen, is copied from Captain Rock in London, No.2" - BS
File: CrPS078

Rocking the Baby to Sleep


See Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own) (File: R393)

Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)


DESCRIPTION: The old man laments "about rocking the cradle and the child not his own." Though at the time he had been happy to marry a lighthearted lass, he now finds her out at parties all the time (or keeping company with other men)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian 2806 b.9(282))
KEYWORDS: marriage age wife husband children infidelity bastard
FOUND IN: Ireland US(SE,So) Britain(Wales) Canada(Newf) Australia
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Randolph 393, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 166, "Show Me the Man Who Never Done Wrong (or, Rocking the Baby to Sleep)" (1 text, 1 tune -- a curious version in which it appears at first that it is the woman, not the man, who is betrayed)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 168-169, "The Wee One"; p. 266, "Rock All Our Babies" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 212, "Rocking the Cradle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 143-145, "Old Man Rocking the Cradle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 478-479, "The Milkman's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 192, "The Old Man's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune); also 190, "Run Along, You Little Dogies" (1 text, 1 tune, mostly "Get Along Little Dogies" but with a chorus partly from this piece!)
DT, ROCKCRAD ROCKCRA2
Roud #357
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "Rocking the Cradle" (on IRRCinnamond02)
Richard Hayward, "County Mayo Fragment" (Rex 15016A/matrix DR 11812-2, 1947)
A. L. Lloyd, "Rocking the Cradle" (on Lloyd2, Lloyd4)
Uncle Dave Macon, "Tossing the Baby So High" (Vocalion 5013, 1926)
Neil Morris, "Rock All the Babies to Sleep" (on LomaxCD1707)
Charlie & Bud Newman, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (OKeh 45431, 1930; rec. 1928)
Riley Puckett, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (Columbia 107-D, 1924)
George Reneau, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (Vocalion 14997, 1925)
Jimmie Rodgers, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (Victor 23721, 1932; Regal Zonophone [UK] MR-2200, 1936; rec. 1930)
Paddy Tunney, "The Old Man Rocking the Cradle" (on Voice01); "Rocking the Cradle" (on IRPTunney01)
Dave Turner [pseud. for Dick Parman], "Rock All Our Babies To Sleep" (Supertone 9374, 1929)
Fay & Jay Walker, "Rock All Our Babies to Sleep" (Broadway 8093, c. 1925)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.9(282), "Rocking the Cradle," J.F. Nugent & Co. (Dublin), 1850-1899; also Harding B 19(65), 2806 c.15(202), "Rocking the Cradle"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Unhappy Jeremiah (The Brats of Jeremiah)" (plot)
cf. "Hush-a-Bye, Baby" (plot)
cf. "When I Was Single (II)"
cf. "Seoithin Seo" (tune, according to Sean O Boyle, notes to David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland")
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Tossing the Baby So High (Uncle Dave Macon version)
NOTES: An Irish legend has it that the chorus, "Hi-ho, hi-ho, my laddie, lie easy, For perhaps your own daddy might never be known. I'm seein' and sighin' and rockin' the cradle, And nursing the baby that's none of my own," was sung by the Virgin Mary to the baby Jesus. In English, no doubt. - RBW
Also collected and sung by David Hammond, "Rockin' the Cradle" (on David Hammond, "I Am the Wee Falorie Man: Folk Songs of Ireland," Tradition TCD1052 CD (1997) reissue of Tradition LP TLP 1028 (1959)) - BS
File: R393

Rockingham Cindy


See Jinny Go Round and Around (File: R272)

Rocks and Gravel


DESCRIPTION: "Rocks and gravel makes a solid road (x2), Takes a do-right woman to satisfy my soul." Unrelated verses, largely about the ways a man can go wrong (and, perhaps, abandon his woman)
AUTHOR: Alan Lomax & W. B. Richardson ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: drugs gambling abandonment
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 77, "Rocks and Gravel" (1 text)
File: FSWB077A

Rocks In De Mountens


See Take This Hammer (File: FR383)

Rocks of Bawn, The


DESCRIPTION: Singer warns fellow-laborers not to hire with any master without knowing what the work will be. He describes his decrepit condition, and declares that even the British army would offer a better life (but he has not been invited to join)
AUTHOR: Martin Swiney ? (attribution by Dominic Behan, according to Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Collected by Sam Henry)
KEYWORDS: disability poverty farming work army boss worker
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SHenry H139, p. 42, "The Rocks of Bawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 23, "The Rocks of Baun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 4, "The Rocks of Bawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROCKBANN
Roud #3024
RECORDINGS:
Seamus Ennis, "The Rocks of Bawn" [incomplete] (on Lomax42, LomaxCD1742)
Joe Heaney, "The Rocks of Bawn" (on Pubs1, Voice05)
Tom Lenihan, "The Rocks of Bawn" (on IRTLenihan01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lovely Jane from Enniskea" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Lovely Jane from Enniskea (File: MoMa005)
NOTES: In the seventeeth century, Cromwell's army's drove the Irish "to Hell or to Connaught" -- to the submarginal lands of the western coast, where life was exceptionally hard. - PJS
Although it is quite true that the Irish were concentrated in the poorest lands, especially in the far west (note that almost all native speakers of Gaelic are in the west), Cromwell is hardly the only guilty party (though his guilt was extreme; see the notes to "The Wexford Massacre"). The British initially settled in the "Pale" around Dublin, and most later colonists also landed in the east. Thus there was a constant westward pressure on the native Irish -- especially those unwilling to accept British institutions such as the Anglican church. - RBW
File: DTrockba

Rocks of Giberaltar, The


See The Lowlands of Holland (File: R083)

Rocks of Gibraltar, The


See The Lowlands of Holland (File: R083)

Rocks of Scilly, The [Laws K8]


DESCRIPTION: The singer leaves his new wife to go to sea. Lonely, he fears a disaster -- and meets one when a storm runs his ship onto the Rocks of Scilly. Another singer tells how only four sailors survive, not including the first singer. His wife dies of sorrow
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(83))
KEYWORDS: sailor storm wife death
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) Britain(England(West))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws K8, "The Rocks of Scilly"
Creighton/Senior, pp. 200-201, "Rocks of Scilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 62, "The Rocks of Scilly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 50, "The Rocks of Scilly" (1 text)
DT 400, SCILLRCK
Roud #388
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(83), "Rocks of Scilly," W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Firth c.12(118), Harding B 17(261a), Harding B 16(231a), Harding B 11(3303), "[The] Rocks of Scilly"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gentle Boy (Why Don't Father's Ship Come In)" (theme)
NOTES: "The Isles of Scilly -- 40 miles off the extreme western tip of England -- are a beautiful, sometimes wild, place where more ships have been wrecked than anywhere else in the world." (Source: Tresco Times--The Last Piece of England quoted at the Tresco Isles of Scilly site) - BS
File: LK08

Rocky Banks of the Buffalo, The


See Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie [Child 14] (File: C014)

Rocky Brook


See Samuel Allen [Laws C10] (File: LC10)

Rocky By Baby, By-O


See Rock-A-Bye Baby (File: Wa190)

Rocky Mountain Side


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

Rocky Road (Green Green)


DESCRIPTION: Playparty, with several possible plots, but typical chorus "Green green, rocky road, Some (young) lady's green. Tell me who you love, tell me who you love...." In one game, a girl is called into a circle, calls a boy, and so forth
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, children of Lilly's Chapel School)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, p. 154, "(Green, Green, Rocky Road)" (1 text); p. 277, "Green Green Rocky Road" (1 tune, partial text)
Roud #15657
RECORDINGS:
Children of Lilly's Chapel School, "Green Green Rocky Road" (on NFMAla6, RingGames1)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Green Green
Green Green Rocky Road
Red Green
Red Light Green Light
NOTES: This should not be confused with the shape-note hymn "Rocky Road," nor with the pop-folk song "Green, Green", both of which are separate songs.
The version of this song usually sung by revival singers was adapted by Len Chandler from the traditional song found in Courlander. The folk-revival version also incorporates lyrics from "Rosie, Darling Rosie," which was also collected and recorded by Courlander. - PJS
File: CNFM154

Rocky Road (II)


See Rough, Rocky Road (Most Done Suffering) (File: Br3632)

Rocky Road to Dublin, The


DESCRIPTION: An emigrant from Tuam recounts his comical misadventures on the way to England. He is flirted with in Mullingar, robbed in Dublin, put with the pigs on board ship, and ends in a brawl with "the boys of Liverpool."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3304))
KEYWORDS: emigration humorous Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Hodgart, p. 207, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (1 text)
SHenry H44, pp. 178-179, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, pp. 19-20, "Rocky Road to Dublin" (1 text)
OLochlainn 51, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RCKYDBLN*
Roud #3012
RECORDINGS:
American Quartet, "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (Victor 17900, 2926; rec. 1915)
Sam Ash, "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (Little Wonder 254, 1915)
Liam Clancy, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" (on IRLClancy01)
Marguerite Farrell, "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (Columbia A1920, 1916; rec. 1915)
Osey Helton, "Rocky Road to Dublin" (Broadway 5122A, c. 1931)
Edward Herborn & James Wheeler, "Rocky Road to Dublin" (Columbia A2217, 1917)
Bill McCune & his Orch. "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (Vocalion 04281, 1938)
Premier Quartet, "Along the Rocky Road to Dublin" (CYL: Edison [BA] 2817, n.d.)
Allen Sisson, "The Rocky Road to Dublin" [instrumental] (Edison 51559, 1925)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3304), "Rocky Road to Dublin," J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also Harding B 18(417), Johnson Ballads 2804 [same as LOCSinging as203070]; Harding B 11(454), "Rocky Road to Dublin"
LOCSinging, as203070, "The Rocky Road to Dublin," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878 [same as Bodleian Harding B 18(417)]; also as111860, "The Rocky Road to Dublin"
NOTES: [Tune listed in broadsides LOCSinging as203070 and Bodleian Harding B 18(417) as "Irish Jig." True, but hardly helpful.... - RBW/BS]
Broadside LOCSinging as203070: H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: Hodg207

Rocky Road to Georgia


See Rocky Road to Jordan (Long Summer Day) (File: R590)

Rocky Road to Jordan (Long Summer Day)


DESCRIPTION: "Out a sweetheart hunting, long a summer day." "Where shall I find her, long a summer day?" "Here is where I found her, Rocky road to (Jordan/Georgia)." "Walk and talk together...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: courting playparty
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 590, "Rocky Road to Georgia" (1 text)
Roud #7650
File: R590

Roddy McCorley


DESCRIPTION: "Oh see the fleet-foot host of men..." who are hurrying to stage a rescue. "For young Roddy McCorley goes to die on the bridge of Toome today." They are too late. The song recalls McCorley's actions; he would not turn traitor even to save his life
AUTHOR: Words: Ethna Carberry (1866-1902)
EARLIEST DATE: c.1798 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland rebellion death execution
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
February 28, 1800 - Rody McCorley hanged in Toome. (source: Moylan citing John Moulden)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
OLochlainn-More 100, "Rody MacCorley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 17, "Rody Mac Corly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 123, "Rody MacCorley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 324, "Roddy McCorley" (1 text)
DT, RMCORLEY*
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Roddy McCorley" (on IRClancyMakem02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rody McCorley" (subject)
NOTES: The Fiddler's Companion site says "McCurley was a County Antrim rebel leader in the rising of 1798."
The rebels [were] defeated at Antrim in June 1798. If any of [the details in the song "Rody McCorley are] accurate he might have been executed Good Friday, April 6, 1798 or, more likely, March 22, 1799.
Zimmermann: "Rody McCorley was hanged c.1798." [But see Moylan's note.]
A. T. Q. Stewart, The Summer Soldiers: The 1798 Rebellion in Antrim and Down, Blackstaff Press, 1995, p. 156, gives this account: "Of the Toome rebels are remembered at all, it is because of Roddy McCorley. A young Presbyterian from Duneane whose family had been evicted from their farm after the death of his father, he was in hiding for nearly a year after the rebellion before being betrayed, tried by court martial at Ballymena, and hanged 'near the Bridge of Toome' on Good Friday, 1799." In the footnote to this paragraph, Stewart adds, "Though hardly mentioned in Presbyterian annals, Roddy McCorley is a major figure in nationalist martyrology because he became the subject of a famous song." Guess which one.
Moylan: .". by Ethna Carberry (Anna [Johnson] MacManus b. 1866), was written in the 1890s and may have been based on ["Rody McCorley"]. - BS
According to Hoagland, 1000 Years of Irish Poetry, p. 775, the name was spelled "Carbery" (a spelling supported by Granger's Index to Poetry, though Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads [third edition, Music Ireland, 2004], p. 112, has the spelling "Ethna Carbury"); her collected poems were published posthumously in The Four Winds of Erin. Granger's cites six of her poems; this, interestingly, is not among them. - RBW..
File: FSWB324

Rodney's Glory


DESCRIPTION: "Good news to you I will unfold, 'Tis of brave Rodney's glory." In 1782 Rodney defeats De Grasse and the French fleet off Fort Royal. Five French ships are captured and thousands slain. "Now may prosperity attend Brave Rodney and his Irishmen"
AUTHOR: Eoghan Rua O Suilleabhain (Owen Roe O'Sullivan) (1748?-1784) (source: Hoagland; cf. Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1845 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.12(24))
KEYWORDS: battle navy death sea ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
April 12, 1782 - Admiral George Brydges Rodney defeats French Admiral the Count De Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes in the Caribbean and brings the captured French ships into Fort Royal
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Moylan 8, "Rodney's Glory" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 349-351 "Rodney's Glory" (1 long text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.12(24), "Rodney's Glory," J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(133a), "Rodney's Glory," unknown, c.1890
NOTES: Moylan: "Serving with Rodney was a thirty-three-year-old Irishman -- the Gaelic poet Eoghan Rua O Suilleabhain from Sliabh Luachria.... He took part in the engagement with De Grasse and composed this song ... as a way of ingratiating himself with his commander and thereby obtaining his discharge. The ploy was apparently unsuccessful...." - BS
According to Herman, pp. 316-318, George Brydges Rodney (1718-1792) was anything but a good example: although he made captain at the astonishing age of 23, he "had an unquenchable greed for money that corrupted everything he touched. He stole from captured prizes... and cheated other officers out of prize money. He treated everyone with high-handed arrogance... He was also a degenerate gambler, and the outbreak of war found him in France, hiding from debtor's prison." Similarly Brumwell/Speck, p. 31, describe him as having "a difficult temperament and notorious hunger for prize money." He bankrupted himself with gambling and in bankrolling his campaigns for parliament.
But he was known as a fighter, so he was pulled out of retirement to command the Leeward Islands station during the late stages of the American Revolution. (He was thoughtfully supplied with several officers to watch over his accounts and actions.) It was a rather desperate time for Britain; the navy was still recovering from severe budget cuts under the Prime Minister Grenville in the 1760s (Cook, pp. 56, 114-115).
In 1780, at Cape Finisterre (the so-called "Midnight Battle"), he changed naval rules by attacking from the windward, making it impossible for a defeated enemy to simply flee. This was vital to saving Gibraltar (Brumwell/Speck, p. 331).
But his great victory was the Battle of the Saintes. Britain had lost at Yorktown the year before, and de Grasse's fleet which has won the naval part of the Yorktown campaign threatened to destroy the British position in the Carribean as well. Britain was in extreme danger -- the British had written off the American colonies, but the Spanish and others were now joining the French in their war on Britain (Stokesbury, pp. 168-169, 172).
De Grasse, based at Fort Royal at Martinique, was supposed to rendezvous with the Spanish and attack Jamaica. Instead, Rodney caught him on April 12. According to Dupur/Johnson/Bongard, p. 637, he sank one ship and captured five (a sixth of the French fleet). Keegan/Wheatcroft, p. 265, however, says he captured nine ships then and after. Stokesbury, p. 173, credits Rodney with capturing five shipes including De Grasse's flagship, "which they battered to a pulp. De Grasse was a broken man." Despite these discrepancies, every source seems to agree that his win at the Saintes allowed Britain to continue its mastery of the sea, allowing it to remain a great Colonial power even after the loss of the American colonies..
Rodney was rewarded with a peerage and a pension of 2000 pounds a year, although even this was not sufficient to pay his debts (Brumwell/Speck, p. 332). - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Moyl008

Rody MacCorley


See Roddy McCorley (File: FSWB324)

Rody McCorley


DESCRIPTION: Rody McCorley is betrayed in Ballyscullion by Dufferin and McErlean. Testimony that he was "a foe unto the crown" leads to prison in Ballymena and hanging "upon Good Friday... Convenient to the Bridge of Toome"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (OLochlainn-More)
KEYWORDS: rebellion betrayal execution prison trial Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
February 28, 1800 - Rody McCorley hanged in Toome. (source: Moylan citing John Moulden)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 21, "Rody McCorley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 122, "Rody McCorley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9756
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Roddy McCorley" (subject)
NOTES: OLochlainn-More: "This is the authentic 1798 ballad"
The Fiddler's Companion site says "McCurley was a County Antrim rebel leader in the rising of 1798."
The rebels [were] defeated at Antrim in June 1798. If any of this is accurate he might have been executed Good Friday, April 6, 1798 or, more likely, March 22, 1799 [but see Moylan's note].
The ballad is recorded on two of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Roisin White, "Rody McCorley" (on "The Croppy's Complaint," Craft Recordings CRCD03 (1998); Terry Moylan notes)
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Roddy McCorley" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
File: OLcM021

Roger


See Roger's Courtship (File: HHH520)

Roger the Miller


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

Roger the Ploughboy


DESCRIPTION: Roger meets milk-maid Sue. He would take her to the fair to buy hair ribbons. She eventually agrees. In a grove "he gave her a ribbon to roll up her hair." She said it could not be bought at a fair. They marry. "Roger continues to roll up her hair"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1886 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(2578))
KEYWORDS: love marriage seduction
FOUND IN:
Roud #17772
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "The Lark in the Morning" (on Voice05) [a mixture of "The Lark in the Morning" and "Roger the Ploughboy"]
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2578), "Roger the Ploughboy" ("Young Roger the ploughboy was a crafty young swain"), H., Such (London), 1863-1885; also Firth b.34(258)[some words are illegible], "Roger the Ploughboy"; 2806 c.16(113), "Roger the Plow Boy"
NOTES: The description is based on broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(2578).
See recording Paddy Tunney, "The Lark in the Morning" (on Voice05). The first verse is a fragment of "The Lark in the Morning"; the second is a fragment of "Roger the Ploughboy." - BS
Is it just me, or does this sound like someone is trying to stick a happy ending on "Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?"
File: BdRotPlo

Roger the Tinker Man


See Jolly Old Roger (File: R496)

Roger's Courtship


DESCRIPTION: Roger's father instructs the boy in how to find a wife. He should dress in his best and kiss each pretty girl he meets. He meets (Grace/Nell), and tries his procedure. She slaps him. He asks how she dare reject such a fine specimen as he, then goes home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection father clothes
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #151, p. 1, "Roger" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 760, "Roger" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
SHenry H820, pp. 257-258, "Roger's Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #575
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jan's Courtship
Roger and Nell
Robin's Courtship
I'll Awa to My Mither I Will
NOTES: GreigDuncan4: "Learnt from father forty-five years ago. Noted 1905." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: HHH520

Rogers The Miller


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

Rogue, The


DESCRIPTION: The girl walks down the street "like a good girl should" followed by a rogue, a sailor, a knave or some such. She rather coyly seduces him. (He coyly gets her pregnant.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1620 (in Bishop Percy Folio Manuscript as the fragmentary "A Dainty Ducke")
KEYWORDS: bawdy sex seduction pregnancy
FOUND IN: US(So) Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kinloch-BBook XXVII, p. 82-83, "The Knave" (1 text)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 187-190, "The Rogue" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT, KNAVEKN NAVENAVE*
Roud #8156
ALTERNATE TITLES:
A Gob Is a Gob
Knaves Will Be Knaves
File: RL187

Roi du Bal, Le (King of the Ball)


DESCRIPTION: French. Twelfth Night ritual song. Singers toast the "rights" of the King of the Ball, paying him honor. The king demands champagne, saying he can't sing without it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (BerryVin)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage nonballad request ritual drink wassail
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BerryVin, p. 92, "Le Roi du Bal (King of the Ball)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Somerset Wassail" (subject) and references there
NOTES: According to BerryVin, in the old Northwest (Indiana) territory, on Twelfth Night single people would gather at the home of the oldest lady of the community, who had baked a cake with four beans hidden in it. The four young men whose pieces of cake contained the beans would be acclaimed as kings, and would each put on a King's Ball, beginning the next day and continuing at weekly intervals. Each king would select a queen, presumably his sweetheart; the ladies furnished the refreshments while the men paid the fiddler. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BerV092

Roisin Dubh (Dark Rosaleen)


DESCRIPTION: Gaelic. The singer laments being kept from his dark Rose. He warns that help is coming from the Pope but they will be apart. He would do anything if he could be with her. The end of the world will come before she would die.
AUTHOR: see notes
EARLIEST DATE: 1963 (IRPTunney02)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage love war separation nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (7 citations):
ADDITIONAL: Edward Hayes, The Ballads of Ireland (Boston, 1859 (reprint of 1855 London edition)), Vol II, pp. 19-21, "Dark Rosaleen" [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 143-145, "Dark Rosaleen" [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]; pp. 145-146, "Roisin Dubh" [translated by Eleanor Hull]; pp. 146-148, "Roisin Dubh" [translated by Padraic Pearse]
H. Halliday Sparling, Irish Minstrelsy (London, 1888), pp. 134-135, 500, "Roisin Dubh" [translated by Thomas Furlong (1794-1827)]; pp. 136-139, 504, "Dark Rosaleen" [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
Charles Sullivan, ed., Ireland in Poetry, p. 60, "Dark Rosaleen (1 text) [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 56-58, "Dark Rosaleen" (1 text) [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
Thomas Kinsella, _The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1989), pp. 273-275, "Dark Rosaleen" (1 text) [translated by James Clarence Mangan]
Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #192, "Dark Rosaleen" (1 text) [translated by James Clarence Mangan (1803-1849)]
RECORDINGS:
Paddy Tunney, "Roisin Dubh" (on IRPTunney02)
NOTES: Hayes: "This impassioned ballad, entitled in the original 'Roisin Dubh' (or The Black Little Rose), was written in the reign of Elizabeth by one of the poets of the celebrated Tirconnellian chieftain, Hugh the Red O'Donnell. It purports to be an allegorical address from Hugh to Ireland, on the subject of his love and struggles for her, and his resolve to raise her again to the glorious position she held as a nation before the irruption of the Saxon and Norman spoilers."
Sparling: "Mangan ... always maintained that it was in reality a love-song with an infusion, but no more, of allegorical meaning."
Sparling p. 136 states that "Furlong's version is much more literal but this [Mangan's version] conveys a better idea of the intense fire and passion of the original."
Paddy Tunney sings a Gaelic three verse version on IRPTunney02. The notes to that album have a translation by either Tunney or Peter Boyle. The published translation among ADDITIONAL references closest to that translation is Eleanor Hull's seven verse translation [Hoagland pp. 145-146], though parts of other translations are recognizable. The description is based on Eleanor Hull's and James Clarence Mangan's version. - BS
Hoagland attributes this to Owen Row Mac Ward, who presumably is the poet of Red Hugh O'Donnell mentioned by Hayes. (For Red Hugh, see the notes to "O'Donnell Aboo (The Clanconnell War Song)"). It seems reasonable to attribute the poem to the sixteenth century, given the references to religious persecution, but while that is surely the earliest possible date, there is nothing in the song to prevent a seventeenth century date, or even one from the early eighteenth, I think. (Sullivan attributes it to the nineteenth century, which seems improbable.) Kinsella says that Mangan's translation is "from the Irish of Costello."
The translations are so diverse that it is sometimes difficult to see them as from the same original. Some of this may be because the translators (notably Paidraic Pearse) had axes to grind. - RBW
File: RcRoiDub

Roll and Go


DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. "O Sally Brown she promised me, a long time ago. She promised for to marry me, Way-ay roll and go." Combination of "Sally Brown" and "A Long Time Ago" with an entirely different tune.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor courting parting
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hugill, p. 167, "Roll and Go" (1 text, 1 tune -- quoted from Sharp-EFC) [AbEd, p. 134]
Sharp-EFC, X, p. 12, "Roll and Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2628
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Long Time Ago" (refrain)
cf. "Sally Brown" (verses)
NOTES: Sharp seems to be the only source for this. Hugill classed it as separate from it relatives ("Sally Brown" and "Long Time Ago") though if it had to be declared one or the other, I'd put it with "Sally Brown" as they are both usually used as capstan shanties. - SL
File: Hugi167A

Roll Down Dem Bales o' Cotton


DESCRIPTION: "Roll down dem bales o' cotton (x3), I ain't got long to stay here now."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: work nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 243, "Roll Down Dem Bales o' Cotton" (1 short text)
File: Br3243

Roll Down the Line


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

Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms


DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "Roll in my sweet baby's arms (2x)/Lay around the shack till the mail train comes back/Roll in my sweet baby's arms." Floating verses, e.g. "Ain't gonna work on the railroad/Ain't gonna work on the farm"; "Where was you last Friday night...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (recording, Buster Carter & Preston Young)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad floatingverses separation
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 178, "I'll Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 159, "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (1 text)
DT, ROLLBABY*
RECORDINGS:
Buster Carter & Preston Young, "I'll Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (Columbia 15690-D, 1931)
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (Mercury 6372, c. 1951)
Monroe Brothers, "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (Bluebird B-6773, 1937)
New Lost City Ramblers, "I'll Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" (on NLCR03)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Late Last Night When Willie Came Home" (words)
cf. "My God, How the Money Rolls In" (words)
NOTES: Paul Stamler lists this as a humorous song. I thought I should add that the versions I've heard have been done "straight," often with a blues feel. - RBW
File: CSW178

Roll Me From the Wall


DESCRIPTION: The singer is courted by young men who wish to roll her from the wall. Her parents force her to marry an impotent old man. He dies and leaves her land and money. She marries a young man who does roll her from the wall but spends all her money.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1970 (Morton-Ulster)
KEYWORDS: age marriage sex death money
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Ulster 11, "Roll Me From the Wall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8302
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Foot of the Mountain Brow (The Maid of the Mountain Brow)" [Laws P7] (tune)
cf. "Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man" (theme) and references there
NOTES: Jim Carroll's notes to IRTravellers01: "Arranged or 'made' marriages were very much an accepted part of rural life in Ireland up to comparatively recent times... Women from poor house-holds which were unable to support the whole family would readily marry older farmers looking for a housekeeper, or maybe widowers with young children to care for." - BS
There was an additional reason for this well-attested problem: The shortage of land in pre-famine Ireland. Since a boy could not marry until he had land to support his family, he had to wait until his father died -- and even that might not leave enough property for marriage. So there was a shortage of eligible young men, forcing the women either to wait themselves (which meant more burdens on their parents) or to marry a widower. - RBW
File: MorU011

Roll Me Over


DESCRIPTION: The singer begins with number one, "when the fun has just begun," and progressing to number ten, when "it's time to start again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy shanty humorous
FOUND IN: Australia Britain(England) US(ubiquitous) New Zealand
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cray, pp. 325-327, "Roll Me Over" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 389-392, "Roll Me Over" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #10133
RECORDINGS:
Larry Vincent's Pearl Trio, "Roll Me Over" (Pearl 50, c. 1949)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Yo Ho, Yo Ho"
cf. "Drive It On"
cf. "Put Your Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away" (tune)
cf. "Kissing Song (II -- She Just Kept Kissing On)" (form)
SAME TUNE:
Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away (File: Hugi508)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Roll Me Over in the Clover
NOTES: This is perhaps the most popular formula song in the English language. - EC
Hugill thinks this derived from the shanty "Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine and Pump Away," with which it shares a tune. I wouldn't be surprised if the kinship goes the other way. Even more likely to be a descendant is "Kissing Song (II -- She Just Kept Kissing On)." - RBW
File: EM325

Roll Me Over in the Clover


See Roll Me Over (File: EM325)

Roll on the Ground (Big Ball's in Town)


DESCRIPTION: Floating verses: "Let's have a party, let's have a time/Let's have a party, I've only a dime"; "Work on the railroad, sleep on the ground/Eat soda crackers, ten cents a pound." Chorus: "Roll on the ground, boys, roll on the ground (x2)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (recording, Billy Golden)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Floating verses, mostly concerning high life: "Get on your big shoes, get on your gown/Shake off those sad blues, Big Ball's in town"; "Let's have a party, let's have a time/Let's have a party, I've only a dime"; "My love's in jail, boys, my love's in jail/My love's in jail, boys, who's going her bail?" And "Work on the railroad, sleep on the ground/Eat soda crackers, ten cents a pound." Chorus: "Big Ball's in Boston [Nashville], Big Ball's in town/Big Ball's in Boston, we'll dance around." Or, in the other common version, "Roll on the ground, boys, roll on the ground (x2)."
KEYWORDS: prison dancing drink humorous nonballad floatingverses dancetune
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
BrownIII 234, "Working on the Railroad" (1 text plus two unrelated fragments, the "B" and "C" fragments probably belong here; the "A" text is a jumble starting with "Working on the Railroad" but followed up by what is probably a "Song of All Songs" fragment)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 200, "Big Ball's In Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 199, "Roll On The Ground" (1 text)
DT, ROLLGRND*
Roud #12114 (and probably others)
RECORDINGS:
Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers, "Big Ball in Town" (Brunswick 241, 1928)
Georgia Yellow Hammers, "Big Ball in Memphis" (Victor V-40138, 1929)
Billy Golden, "Roll on the Ground" (Berliner 0539, c. 1900; Victor A-616, c. 1901; rec. 1899) (CYL Albany 1131 [as "Roll On de Ground"], n.d.) (CYL: Lambert 5077 [as "Roll on de Ground"], n.d. but c. 1900) (Victor 16804, 1911 [as "Roll on de Ground"]; rec. 1905)
Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, "Roll on the Ground" (Brunswick 186, 1927)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "Big Ball's in Town" (King 622, 1947)
Fate Norris & his Playboys, "Roll 'em on the Ground" (Columbia 15435-D, 1929)
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers, "Big Ball In Town" (Columbia 15204-D, 1927)
Taylor-Griggs Louisiana Melody Makers, "Big Ball Up Town" (Victor 21768, 1928)
Thaddeus C. Willingham, "Roll on the Ground" (AFS, 1939; on LC02, LCTreas)
Unidentified artist [label reads "Negro Shout"], "Roll on the Ground" (Busy Bee 67, c. 1904)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Big Ball's in Boston
NOTES: Harry Oster has reported an anti-Semitic variant from Louisiana, "Hook Nose In Brooklyn." - PJS
Cohen/Seeger/Wood report "This tune is the sort that exists only for itself and its suitability on the banjo, the words being only very freely attached and often with reference to a drunken state." This seems to be true of most variants, except perhaps for the prejudiced version mentioned by Paul. - RBW
Maybe so; the piece, however, seems to have begun life as a "coon song" -- a popular minstrel piece. - PJS
File: CSW200

Roll On Weary River, Roll On


DESCRIPTION: "Roll on, weary river, roll on, Don't take me away with your song, Your waters are deep, many secrets they keep...." "I'm down by the river alone, No place on earth to call home...." The singer, poor and lonely, asks the river to stay away from her home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (recording, Hedy West)
KEYWORDS: river loneliness hardtimes nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 28, #2 (1980), p, 27, "Roll On Weary River, Roll On" (1 text, 1 tune, as sung by Hedy West and learned from her grandmother)
File: Sov28n2b

Roll On, Boys


DESCRIPTION: "Roll on, boys, You make your time; I am so broke down, I can't make mine." "I once was young, As you must see; But age has got The best of me." "Someday you'll think Of me I know When you are old And cannot go." Other verses of hard work and old age
AUTHOR: adapted by John Daniel Vass?
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (collected by Shellans from John Daniel Vass)
KEYWORDS: work hardtimes age nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shellans, p. 47, "Roll On, Boys" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7329
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Take This Hammer" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES: This song is quite a conundrum. It seems clearly related to the "Roll On, Buddy" versions of "Take This Hammer," but it never uses either the words "Roll on, buddy" or "take this hammer," and much of the song is about the worker failing because of age.
Plus we know that the informant, John Daniel Vass, was capable of rewriting a song; Shellans has several instances of items Vass reworked from traditional materials. Shellans does not say that that happened here, but it seems the best explanation. On that basis, I'm classifying this very tentatively as its own song, but one that clearly should be linked with the extended "Take This Hammer" family. - RBW
File: Shell047

Roll On, Buddy (I)


See Take This Hammer (File: FR383)

Roll On, Buddy (II) [Roll On, Buddy, Roll On]


DESCRIPTION: Assorted verses: "I'm going to the East, Karo" "You'd better quit your rowdy ways/You'll get killed some day" "My home's down in Tennessee." Cho: "Roll on, buddy, roll on...You wouldn't roll so slow/If you know what I know/Yes, roll on, my buddy, roll on"
AUTHOR: Lyrics: Charles Bowman/tune: traditional
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Charlie Bowman & his Brothers)
KEYWORDS: travel death floatingverses nonballad home wife homesickness
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Bowman & his Brothers "Roll On, Buddy" (Columbia 15357-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Monroe Bros. "Roll On Buddy" (Bluebird B-6960, 1937)
Sam & Kirk McGee, "Roll On, Buddy"(on McGeeSmith1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms"
cf. "Rock About My Saro Jane" (tune)
cf. "Take This Hammer" (chorus -- the "Roll On, Buddy" variant)
NOTES: This should not be confused with the "Roll On, Buddy" variant of "Take This Hammer"; although it was assembled by Charlie Bowman, who also was involved in assembling "Nine-Pound Hammer" as a delimited song when he was a member of Al Hopkins & his Buckle Busters, this is an entirely separate song. I use "floatingverses" as a keyword mostly because of the "rowdy ways" verse; the rest don't seem to have exact analogues elsewhere. - PJS
Further research shows that the author, Charlie Bowman, was not only familiar with the other "Roll On, Buddy," but held the copyright on that song, having assembled it from traditional fragments in collaboration with Al Hopkins. - PJS
File: RcROBRO2

Roll On, Columbia


DESCRIPTION: Tribute to the Columbia River, the development along it, and the Bonneville Power Administration that manages both: "Roll on Columbia, roll on (x2), Your power is turning our darkness to dawn, So roll on, Columbia, roll on."
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST DATE: 1941
KEYWORDS: technology nonballad river
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 348-349, "Roll On, Columbia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 233, "Roll On, Columbia" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, pp. 166-167, "Roll On, Columbia" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROLCOLUM
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Roll On, Columbia" (on AmHist2) (on PeteSeeger41)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodnight Irene" (tune)
NOTES: I've seen people claim that the tune Woody used was "Goodnight Irene"; others say it's "My Bonnie." I guess he managed to modify it enough to fool at least a few people.... - RBW
"My Bonnie"? Naah. This is "Goodnight Irene", almost unchanged. - PJS
Obviously true of the chorus. The verse has been altered to a greater degree. Not that it really matters. - RBW
File: SBoA348

Roll On, Little Dogies


See The Cowboy's Dream (File: R185)

Roll Over


DESCRIPTION: "There were ten in the bed, and the little one said, 'Roll over, roll over.' So they all rolled over and one fell out." "There were nine in the bed..." "There was one in the bed And the little one said, 'Good night.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: nonballad humorous
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 386, "Roll Over" (1 text)
File: FSWB386C

Roll the Boat Ashore (Hog-eye I)


DESCRIPTION: Tales of sailing or mountain life, held together with a chorus such as "With a hog-eye! Roll the boat ashore and a hog-eye (x2). All she wants is a hog-eye man." Typical verse: "Who's been here since I been gone? (Someone) with his sea-boots on."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonballad shanty
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BrownIII 186, "Row the Boat Ashore" (1 text, with all the verses changed to land pursuits)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 836, "The Hog-Eye Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 380, "Hog-Eye" (1 fragment, seemingly a ruined version of the chorus, 1 tune)
ST San380 (Partial)
Roud #331
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sally in the Garden" (many floating verses)
NOTES: Paul Stamler points out a connection between this and "Sally in the Garden," which often mentions Sally being involved with a hog-eye man. Given that both songs are rather amorphous, it can be difficult in the case of short or excerpted texts to tell which is which (and, indeed, Roud appears to lump them).
Nonetheless I would maintain that they are separate songs, based on form. This one is a shanty. Colcord's version is perhaps typical; it has a long (three and a half line) chorus, and the verses have more syllables than "Sally in the Garden." For an example, see the Supplemental Tradition.
Whall suggests that "hog-eye" in this case has nothing to do with the usual sexual meaning; a "hog-eye" reportedly was a California coastal barge, and the reference to the Gold Rush. - RBW
File: San380

Roll the Chariot


See We'll Roll the Old Chariot Along (File: Doe049)

Roll the Cotton Down


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Roll the cotton down." The young man (from Alabama) joined the (Black Ball) line (and now looks back and describes the curious doings on a Black Ball vessel)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 33-34, "Roll the Cotton Down" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 62-63, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Bone, pp. 84-86, "Roll th' Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 62, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 144-145, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 152-158, "Roll the Cotton Down," "De Runer Von Hamborg (The Runners of Hamburg)" (9 texts-2 in German, 1 tune. The fifth version is basically "Paddy Works on the Railway," sixth is "A Long Time Ago." In the German versions the characteristic line "roll the cotton down" is frequently replaced with "Oh, come, a beer for me.") [AbEd, pp. 123-126]
GreigDuncan1 3, "Roll the Cotton Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROLLCTTN* ROLLCOTT2*
Roud #2627
RECORDINGS:
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Roll the Cotton Down" (AFS 4232 B2, 1939; on LC27, in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Long Time Ago" (tune, floating lyrics)
cf. "Roll, Alabama, Roll" (tune)
cf. "Lower the Boat Down" (similar tune)
cf. "Run, Let the Bullgine Run" (tune)
File: Doe033

Roll the Old Chariot Along


See We'll Roll the Old Chariot Along (File: Doe049)

Roll the Tater (Rolly Rolly)


DESCRIPTION: "Don't you think he's a nice young man? Don't you think he's clever? Don't you think that him and me Would make a match forever? Rolly roll, rolly roll, Rolly roll the 'tater." The singer likes music/dancing so much that she wants to join the Shaker band
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (JAFL 28)
KEYWORDS: courting dancing food
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 582, "Roll the 'Tater" (1 text)
Roud #7670
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Weevily Wheat" (floating lyrics, meter)
NOTES: Randolph believes this song completely unconnected to "Weevily Wheat." But my immediate reaction on reading the piece was to think of that song. No wonder ballad indexing is so hard! - RBW
File: R582

Roll the Union On


DESCRIPTION: "We're going to roll, we're going to roll, we're going to roll the union on." Verse: "If the (boss, scabs, etc.) get(s) in the way, we're going to roll right over him (them)...we're going to roll the union on"
AUTHOR: Probably John Handcock/Handcox
EARLIEST DATE: 1937 (recording, John Handcock)
KEYWORDS: labor-movement nonballad boss scab worker
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, ROLUNION*
RECORDINGS:
John Handcock, "Going to Roll the Union On" (AFS 3237 A2, 1937)
Pete Seeger & Chorus, "Roll the Union On" (on PeteSeeger01)
NOTES: John Handcox (with an X) was a sharecropper and organizer; he apparently based the song on the hymn "Roll the Chariot On" (which seems to be not the same as "We'll Roll the Old Chariot Along" as found in Sandburg; they share a verse, but not the tune or meter). I have been unable to find a copy of "Roll the Chariot On". - PJS
File: DTroluni

Roll the Woodpile Down


DESCRIPTION: Pumping or capstan shanty. Verse lines end with "way down in Florida" and "an' we'll roll the woodpile down." Full chorus: "Rollin' rollin' rollin' the whole world round. That brown gal o' mine's down the Georgia Line, an' we'll roll the woodpile down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty worksong
FOUND IN: West Indies US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hugill, pp. 160-161, "Roll the Woodpile Down" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 128]
DT, WOODPLDN*
Roud #4443
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Haul the Woodpile Down
NOTES: Hugill states that this is the sea version of "Haul the Woodpile down." [Indexed as "Hold the Woodpile Down," which is a more Dave Macon-ish version of the title. - RBW] Probably originated in the West Indies of American south, and was popular at sea right up to the end, one of Hugill's sources remembers it sung on board as late as 1920. Technically this could have been entered under "Hold the Woodpile Down"; however that entry kept making references to "Roll the Woodpile Down" and there was no entry for that cross-reference so I decided to add one, especially since this is likely the original that Uncle Dave Macon's version came from. - SL
Since this song seems to predate "Roll the Woodpile Down," and is also more coherent, it seems reasonable to consider this the original. - RBW
File: Hugi160

Roll Them Simelons


DESCRIPTION: "O Miss Mary, I am so sorry, Bound for Texas, I am so sorry. Roll them simelons, roll 'em round, Keep them simerlons rollin' down. Roll them simelons, roll 'em down, All them pretty girls down town."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Hudson)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hudson 157, p. 302, "Roll Them Simelons" (1 short text)
Roud #4511
File: Hud157

Roll Your Leg Over


DESCRIPTION: In this quatrain ballad, singers hypothecate that if the girls were ducks, rabbits, bricks, etc., they would be drakes, hares, masons, and euphemistically enjoy lustful pleasures.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Australia [from an American student] Canada US(MW,So,SW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cray, pp. 301-309, "Roll Your Leg Over" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman II, pp. 643-647, "Roll Your Leg Over" (2 texts)
DT, ROLYRLEG
Roud #10410
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hares on the Mountain"
cf. "Creepin' and Crawlin'"
cf. "The Twa Magicians" [Child 44]
NOTES: This more or less recently composed bawdy song -- the earliest text recovered dates from the second world war -- is ultimately descended from "The Twa Magicians" (Child 44). See Cray, pp. 306 ff. - EC
G. Legman offers extensive notes in Randolph-Legman II. - EC
Paul Stamler suggests that this is a strongly bawdy version of "Hares on the Mountain." The dependence, in lyrics and form, is obvious, but this text apparently has taken on a life of its own in army circles. I must admit that I question the connection with "The Twa Magicians." Cray concedes there are no intermediaries between "The Twa Magicians" and the "Hares on the Mountain/Sally My Dear" complex. - RBW
File: EM301

Roll, Alabama, Roll


DESCRIPTION: The Alabama is built in Birkenhead by Jonathan Laird. After a long career of commerce-raiding, the Kearsarge catches her off Cherbourg and sinks her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925
KEYWORDS: shanty battle navy Civilwar
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 15, 1862 - Launching of the C.S.S. Alabama
June 19, 1864 - The Alabama sunk by the U.S.S. Kearsarge
FOUND IN: US(MA) New Zealand
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 35-37, "The Alabama" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Colcord, p. 65, "Roll, Alabama, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 159, "Roll, Alabama, Roll!" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 126-127]
Scott-BoA, pp. 245-247, "Roll, Alabama, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 350-351, "The Alabama" (1 text)
Silber-CivWar, p. 70, "Roll, Alabama, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROLLALAB*
Roud #4710
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Roll the Cotton Down" (tune)
NOTES: When the Civil War began, the Confederates had neither navy, nor merchant fleet, nor significant shipbuilding capability; all rested in the hands of the North. Facing economic strangulation, the South explored every avenue to build a fleet. And in their Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory they had perhaps the most creative of all Jefferson Davis's cabinet officers; it is probably not coincidence that Mallory was the only Confederate cabinet officer to serve for the entire existence of the Confederacy
Early in the war, the British were willing to help the Confederates build a navy. One of the ships built for this purpose was the Alabama, a fast commerce-raider. Built by Jonathan Laird, Ltd. at Birkenhead near Liverpool, the Federals protested her building from first to last, but somehow the papers never quite came through in time. (Nevins, pp. 266-267, describes how American Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams kept bringing new details to the British government about the Alabama. The British government theoretically agreed to try to stop work on the ship, but the local customs inspectors ignored their instructions. Stokesbury, p. 252, describes how Laird kept the whole thing quiet by simply calling the hull "No. 290.")
After the completion of the hull in 1862, the Alabama sailed for the Azores to pick up arms and her Captain, Raphael Semmes (brother of the Confederate General Paul Semmes, killed at Gettysburg), who was the former commander of the raider Sumter and considered "the most distinguished fighter in the Confederate navy" (RandallDonald, p. 450). The crew reportedly "was mostly English and included very few Southerners" (RandallDonald, p. 450).
Paine, p. 12, claims that the Alabama was, in terms of ships seized, the most successful commerce raider of all time; he credits her with destroying 55 ships and capturing ten more which were released on bond. McPherson, p. 547, credits her with 64 victories in her two year career. Jameson, p. 12, lists her tally as "sixty-five vessels and $10,000,000 worth of property." RandallDonald, pp. 450-451, lists her as having taken 62 merchant ships plus the larger navy vessel Hatteras. Catton simply says (p. 386) that she sank more than "threescore ships" while noting (p. 128) that one of her victims was the Alert, the ship in which R. H. Dana served his "Two Years Before the Mast." Boatner, p. 4, claims she took care of 69 ships.
Although she once ran the blockade to enter the Confederate port at Galveston, the Alabama was generally unable to stop at Confederate ports; when she needed repairs in 1864, she stopped at the French port of Cherbourg. An American got off word of her presence there, and the Kearsarge was waiting when the Alabama sailed. Soon after the Alabama crossed the three mile limit, the Kearsarge moved in; the Confederate ship sank some forty minutes later. Her crew was rescued by a British yacht.
According to Pratt, p. 151-152, there wasn't much difference in actual fighting power between the Alabama and the Kearsarge. (Paine, p. 12, lists Alabama with 6 32-pounders plus a 110-pounder and a 68-pounder; she could steam at 13 knots and carried a crew of 148. On p, 285, Paine lists Kearsarge as having two 11" pivot guns and 4 32-pounders; her crew was 160 and her speed 11 knots).
But raw fighting power rarely settles battles. The Kearsarge was a well-drilled ship with properly-trained gunners. Alabama, which constantly had to change bases, could never lay in an adequate supply of powder and shot, so her gunners were much less accurate. Browne-BL, p. 584, declares "The firing of the Alabama was rapid and wild, getting better near the close; that of the Kearsarge was deliberate, accurate, and almost from the beginning productive of dismay, destruction, and death." Of course, Browne was the surgeon of the Kearsarge, so he was biased. But the assessment seems to be true. And Kearsarge had those two very heavy 11-inch guns. As a result, Kearsarge was able to score many more damaging hits and destroy her opponent while taking very little damage. Only three men on the Kearsarge were wounded (Browne-BL, p. 585).
Both sides claimed that the other had fired after the Alabama ran up the white flag (Browne-BL, p. 586). But Alabama was already sinking, and only a few shots were fired.
The Alabama was a great success, but few ships followed her. The Americans demands for reparation, known as the "Alabama Claims," caused the British to stop building ships for the Confederacy. In all the claims covered the damage done by eleven ships; the total bill was $19,021,000, largely due to the Alabama, the Shenandoah, $6,488,320; and the Florida, $3,698,609 (according to Boatner, p. 5). The Americans were finally paid in 1873. Boatner, p. 5, says the amount was $15.5 million, which figure is also quoted by Stokesbury, p. 252; Randall/Donald, which devotes half a dozen pages to the neutral tribunal which adjudicated the claims, says that the figure was $1,929,819 in gold; I suspect some of the discrepancy lies in conversion rates.
According to Delgado, p. 122, the wreck of the Alabama was found off Cherbourg in 1984, and some artifacts have been recovered.- RBW
For a broadside on the same subject see
LOCSinging, as112570, "The Sinking of the Pirate Alabama," J. Magee (Philadelphia), 1864; also hc00026b, "The Sinking of the Pirate Alabama"; cw103190, "Kearsarge and Alabama"
attributed to Silas S. Steele, "Tune: 'Teddy the Tiler,' or 'Cannibal Islands.'" - BS
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: Doe035

Roll, Boys, Roll


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Oh Sally Brown she's the gal for me, boys Roll, boys roll boys roll. Sally Brown she's the gall for me boys, Way high Miss Sally Brown."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor
FOUND IN: West Indies
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, p. 170, "Roll, Boys, Roll!" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 137-138]
NOTES: Hugill got this from his friend "Harding the Barbarian," a black sailor and shantyman from Barbados. Harding said it originated in the West Indies and was popular in ships which carried chequerboard crews. - SL
File: Hugi170

Roll, Jordan, Roll (I)


DESCRIPTION: "My brother sitting on the tree of life And he heard when Jordan roll, Roll, Jordan, Roll, Jordan, Roll, Jordan, Roll.""O preacher, you oughta been there." "My sister sitting on the tree of life." "He comes, he comes, the Judge severe." Etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: river freedom religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 1, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 631, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (2 short texts plus a fragment)
Scott-BoA, pp.195-196 , "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 240, "Roll, Jordan, Roll"; 241, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 369, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (1 text)
Roud #6697
RECORDINGS:
Elizabeth Bivens, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (on HandMeDown2)
Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, "Roll Jordan Roll" (Victor 16453, 1910; rec. 1909); "Roll Jordon [sic] Roll" (CYL: Edison [Amb.] 980, rec. 1912)
Lt. Jim Europe's Singing Serenaders, "Roll Jordan Roll" (Pathe 22105, 1919) (Pathe 020851, 1923 [as Jim Europe's Singing Serenaders])
Tuskegee Institute Singers, "Roll, Jordan Roll" (Victor 18237, 1917; rec. 1915)
NOTES: The texts of this piece differ significantly; the verse lines quoted above are typical but by no means universal. There seem to have been adaptions for particular situations. The line "Roll, Jordan, Roll" is, of course, characteristic. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: SBoA195

Roll, Jordan, Roll (II)


DESCRIPTION: Humorous verses for "Roll, Jordan, Roll," e.g. "Kate went a-fishing the other night, Roll sweet Jordan roll, She broke eleven hooks and never got a bite..." "[A chicken] sneezed so hard with the whooping cough It sneezed its head and tail both off."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 303, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" (1 text)
BrownIII 469, "Way Down Yonder on Cedar Street" (1 short text)
Roud #6697
NOTES: Brown's six-line fragment is not in the same form as Randolph's song, and doesn't mention the Jordan. But they start with the same lines; in the absence of real data to classify the Brown text, I lump them. - RBW
File: R303

Roll, Julia, Roll


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

Rolled the Stone Away


DESCRIPTION: "In ancient days, when Israel's host In darkest bondage lay, The mighty power of God was shown, He rolled the stone away. He rolled the sea away, He rolled the sea way. With Jesus ever near, No foe I have to fear. He rolls the sea away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 630, "Rolled the Stone Away" (1 fragment)
Roud #11930
NOTES: The Brown text looks very composite (what exactly was rolled away -- the Red Sea or the stone closing Jesus's tomb?) -- but with so little text, we can hardly separate the components. - RBW
File: Br3630

Roller Bowler


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Short refrain: "Hooray you roller bowler." Full refrain: Timme high-rig-a-jig and a ha ha ha, Good morning ladies all." Verses concern courting or at least chasing women.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty courting
FOUND IN: Britain West Indies
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Hugill, pp. 348-349, "Roller Bowler" (3 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 260-263]
Sharp-EFC, XII, pp. 14-15, "Roller, Bowler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8283
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Good Morning, Ladies All
File: Hugi348

Rollicking Bill the Sailor


See Bollochy Bill the Sailor (File: EM081)

Rollicking Boys Around Tandragee, The


DESCRIPTION: The song is about Tandragee, its "darling colleens" and "rollicking boys." Other places have their fine points but Tandragee has its wonderful dancers, bold men and rare singers. "The gem of oul' Ireland is Tandragee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (IRTunneyFamily01)
KEYWORDS: dancing music Ireland nonballad home
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 91-92, "The Rollicking Boys Around Tandragee" (1 text)
Roud #3106
RECORDINGS:
Michael Gallagher, "The Rollicking Boys Around Tandaragee" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bunch of Green Rushes that Grew on the Brim" (tune, according to Tunney-StoneFiddle)
NOTES: This song strings together references to other songs: "The House That Jack Built," "The Praties They Grow Small," "Donnybrook Fair," "Irish Jaunting Car," "The Rakes of Kildare," ...; and famous men: Robert Emmet, Burke, Dan O'Connell and Thomas Moore.
Tunney-StoneFiddle: .".. a good-humoured swipe is made at quite a few sacred cows.... 'That', he [the singer] maintained, 'is the satire to slay all stage-Irishmen!'" - BS
File: TSF091

Rollin' Down the Line


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

Rollin' Home by the Silvery Moon


DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Chorus: "Rollin' home (x4) by the light of the silvery moon. Happy is the sailor who has shipped aboard a whaler, when she's rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' home."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Chorus: "Rollin' home (x4) by the light of the silvery moon. Happy is the sailor who has shipped aboard a whaler, when she's rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin' home." Verses run "Here's to the good ol' beer (claret, rum, etc) mop it down" (also x4). The verses get more bawdy after finishing with the available beverages.
KEYWORDS: drink sailor shanty bawdy
FOUND IN: US Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 180-81, "Rollin' Home by the Silvery Moon" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Hugi 180

Rolling a-Rolling


See The Twa Sisters [Child 10] (File: C010)

Rolling Down to Old Maui (Mohee)


DESCRIPTION: The sailors, having spent many months in Kamchatka and the Bering Sea, are happy to flee the northern gales and return to temperate climes in Maui/Mohee. The look forward to seeing the girls
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1858 (Journal from the Atkins Adams)
KEYWORDS: whaler return sailor sea
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 27-28, "Rolling Down to Old Mohee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 197-198, "Rolling Down to Old Maui" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 228-230, "Rolling Down to Old Maui" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, MAUI1* MAUI2* MOHEE3*
Roud #2005
File: SWMS027

Rolling Home


DESCRIPTION: The sailors are "Rolling home, rolling home, rolling home across the sea, Rolling home (to wherever home is)." They describe they voyage, the girls or whatnot they have left behind, and the joys of returning to home (and sweethearts)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: ship travel return reunion
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW,NE) Australia Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 155-160, "Rolling Home" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 52-55, "Rolling Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 133-136, "Rolling Home" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 182-191, "Rolling Home" (4 texts- 3 English, 1 German; 3 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 146-149]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 141-143, "(Rolling Home)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 54-55, "Rolling Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 95, "Rolling Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 40, "Rolling Home to Merry England" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 320-321, "Rolling Home" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 96, "Rolling Home" (1 text)
DT, ROLLHOME ROLLHOM2 ROLLHOM3
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 32, #4 (1987), p, 80, "Rolling Home" (1 text, 1 tune, as sung by Captain Leighton Robinson)
Roud #4766
RECORDINGS:
Morris Houlihan, "Rolling Home" (on NFMLeach)
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Rolling Home" (AFS 4230 A, 1939; on LC27; on LC27, in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Kevin Barry" (tune)
cf. "Magelhan" (adaption of text)
NOTES: Silber credits this to Charles Mackay, but the variety of verses known to me (most of which do not occur in Silber) implies that this is a genuinely traditional song. - RBW
Hugill in Shanties from the Seven Seas (Mystic Seaport,1994) p. 145 says "Its origin is a bit doubtful, but most collectors seem to think it is based on a poem of Charles Mackay, written on board ship in 1858.... No one has discovered as to whether it is mentioned in any books prior to 1858; if this was the case it would more or less prove that the shanty came first."
Mackay's chorus is "Rolling home, rolling home, rolling home, dear land to thee, Rolling home to merry England, rolling home across the sea" per Leach in notes to NFMLeach. Leach thinks "MacKay used the chantey refrain [rather] than that he contributed it. Certainly the Newfoundlanders think that this chantey is older than the middle of the [19th] century." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe155

Rolling Home to Merry England


See Rolling Home (File: Doe155)

Rolling in the Dew (The Milkmaid)


DESCRIPTION: Boy: Where are you going? Girl: Milking. Boy: May I come? Girl: Why not? Boy: What if I lay you down? Girl: Then you'll help me up. Boy: What if you get pregnant? Girl: You'll be the father....
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1842 (Halliwell), according to Kennedy
KEYWORDS: dialog seduction
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,So) Britain(England(Lond,South),Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Randolph 79, "The Milking Maid" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Eddy 52, "The Milkmaid" (1 text)
Hudson 132, pp. 277-278, "The Milkmaid" (1 text plus mention of "numerous" others)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 137-138, "Where Are You Going, My Pretty Fair Maid?" (1 text)
Doerflinger, pp. 68-70, "Sacramento" (3 texts, 2 tunes, with the third text deriving its tune from this piece; the other two texts are independent)
Hugill, pp. 92, 210-211, "Rio Grande" (1 fragment, version "c" of "Rio Grande," with the text of this song and the chorus of "Rio Grande") [AbEd, p. 85]; "Blow the Man Down" (1 text, version "e" of "Blow the Man Down" sung to the that tune as well as those of "Rio Grande" and "Goodbye, Fare-ye-well") [AbEd, pp. 165-166]
GreigDuncan4 811D, "I'm Gaun to the Wood"; GreigDuncan4 812, "Rolling in the Dew" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp-100E 44, "Dabbling in the Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 238-239, "Rolling in the Dew" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 189, "Rolling in the Dew" (1 text, 1 tune); also 94, "Pelea era why moaz, moes fettow teag? [Where Are You Going To, My Pretty Maid?" (1 text + Cornish translation, 1 tune)
Leather, p. 205, "The Milkmaid's song" (1 censored excerpt, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 112, pp. 228-229, "The Milkmaid"; p. 230, "The Pretty Milkmaid" (2 texts, neither of which recounts the seduction)
JHCox 125, "The Milkmaid" (2 texts)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 46, "My Pretty Maid" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 317, "Where are you going to, my pretty maid?" (3 texts)
BBI, ZN242, "As I walked forth one summers day" ("Dreadful expansion of 'Where are you going my pretty maid, I'm going milking sir, she said'")
DT, DABBLDEW* MILKMDFR*
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #219, "Dabbling in the Dew" (1 text, probably cleaned up)
Roud #298
RECORDINGS:
George Maynard, "Rolling in the Dew" (on FSB2CD, Maynard1, Voice10)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(348), "Where Are You Going My Pretty Maid?," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Firth b.34(275) View 2 of 2, "Where Are You Going My Pretty Maid"
LOCSheet, sm1882 21563, "O Where Are You Going, My Pretty Maid?," J. M. Russell (Boston), 1882 (tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Seventeen Come Sunday" [Laws O17]
cf. "The New-Mown Hay"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Where Are You Going, My Pretty Fair Maid?
NOTES: A number of the versions of this piece, such as Pound's two and the main Opie text, end seemingly BEFORE the seduction; the man asks the girl about her wealth, and she replies, "My face it is my fortune," whereupon he abandons her. I suspect, however, that these versions are bowdlerized, with the seduction eliminated from the middle.
In some cases this may be editors' bowdlerization, but it may have happened naturally in a few instances (note that Laura Ingalls Wilder actually quotes such a version in chapter 13 of By the Shores of Silver Lake!). - RBW
One of the reasons milkmaids were held in such romantic esteem was for their smooth, fair, and un-pockmarked skin, which came from their contact with cowpox and resultant immunity to smallpox -- thus the milkmaid's remark, "My face is my fortune."
Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. - PJS
There seem to be several pieces of this sort floating about. Gammer Gurton's Garland and others have one running,
Little maid, pretty maid, whither goes thou?
Down in the (forest/meadow) to milk my cow.
Shall I go with thee? -- No, not now;
When I send for thee, then come thou.
(See Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #101, p. 90; Opie-Oxford2, p. 280, #313.) I suspect it is actually this, not "Rolling in the Dew," that Kennedy is citing for his date. I also suspect it is a cleaned-up version designed for public consumption.
Similarly, I suspect that Cox, who cites the "Universal Songster" of 1829, was looking at a clean version.
Robert Burns, it appears, collected a true "Rolling in the dew makes the milkmaid fair" text (thanks to Jonathan Lighter for pointing this out), but he did not supply details of the collection. Nonetheless this makes it clear that the song dates at least to the eighteenth century. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R079

Rolling King


See South Australia (File: Doe071)

Rolling Neuse, The


DESCRIPTION: "When Greene's horn blew a long, loud blast, At early day's bright dawning, In slumber my heart was pulsing fast. I was dreaming of the morning When Nancy would be my youthful bride." As he prepares to fight, he prays for her happiness
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: battle love courting dream
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 366, "The Rolling Neuse" (1 short text)
Roud #11746
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wind That Shakes the Barley" (subject)
NOTES: Brown's informant listed this as a fragment, and so it appears to be. As it stands, it looks rather like "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," though whether that comparison would stand in a full-length version is not clear.
Greene is doubtless Nathaniel Green (1742-1786), who had a long career in the Continental (American Revolutionary) army. In October 1780 he was given command of what would now be called something like the southern theatre of the war. He successfully lead Cornwallis around by the nose, and despite minor setbacks, captured most southern cities by the end of 1781.
The Neuse River flows into Pamlico Sound in North Carolina, but this cannot be used to date the song more precisely; the soldier seemingly is not serving on the Neuse but thinking of his home near it. - RBW
File: Br3366

Rolling of the Stones, The


See The Twa Brothers [Child 49] (File: C049)

Rolling River


See Shenandoah (File: Doe077)

Rolling Stone, The [Laws B25]


DESCRIPTION: Hard times leave a husband wanting to move to (California); his wife wishes to stay at home. She wins the argument by pointing out that they might be killed by Indians on their way
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes travel settler
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws B25, "The Rolling Stone"
Belden, pp. 351-352, "The Rolling Stone" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Randolph 194, "The Rolling Stone" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 186-188, "The Rolling Stone" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 194A)
Fuson, p. 100, "The Stone that Is Rolling" (1 text)
FSCatskills 87, "The Rolling Stone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 161-163, "The Wisconsin Emigrant" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 387, ROLLNGST*
Roud #710
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Husband's Departure" (form, lyrics)
File: LB25

Rolly Roll


See Roll the Tater (Rolly Rolly) (File: R582)

Rolly Trudam


See Lolly-Too-Dum (File: LxU012)

Rolly Trudum


See Lolly-Too-Dum (File: LxU012)

Romish Lady, The [Laws Q32]


DESCRIPTION: A young woman is a closet Protestant (she reads the Bible and refuses to worship angels). Her Catholic mother has her imprisoned. Tried before the Pope, she is burned at the stake. She pardons her tormentors while blaming her mother for her fate
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1586 (stationer's register)
KEYWORDS: religious death execution
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Laws Q32, "The Romish Lady"
Belden, pp. 450-455, "The Romish Lady" (5 texts; it appears that Laws omits version "C" from his list, but it is clearly the same piece)
Eddy 97, "The Romish Lady" (1 text)
Gardner/Chickering 149, "An Account of a Little Girl Who Was Burnt for Her Religion" (1 text)
Randolph 604, "The Death of a Romish Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 56, "The Romish Lady" (1 text with variant readings)
Hudson 28, pp. 137-139, "The Death of a Romish Lady" (1 text)
Scarborough-SongCatcher, pp. 175-178, "A Lady's Daughter of Paris," with local title "There Was a Romish Lady" (1 text; tune on p. 404)
Brewster 49, "The Death of a Romish Lady" (1 text plus a fragment)
McNeil-SFB2, pp. 94-97, "The Romish Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 25, pp. 63-66, "The Death of a Romish Lady" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1518, "It was a Ladies Daughter, of Paris properly"
DT 540, ROMSHLDY*
Roud #1920
NOTES: This song obviously dates to a time when Catholic-Protestant tensions were high, though it is not clear whether this dates it from before Henry VIII's break with Rome (1533), or during the reign of Mary I (1553-1558).
The song is known to have been in existence in the time of Charles II, 1660-1685, and a fragment is apparently found in John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont's 1611 play "The Knight of the Burning Pestle." (I say "apparently" because the reference is extremely brief. All that we have are the title -- "A Lady's Daughter of Paris, Properly" -- and
part of the first line -- "It was a lady's daughter..."; it is unusual in that it is a ballad *not* sung by Merrythought.)
Many of the charges leveled here are, sadly, true though overblown. The statute "De heretico comburendo" was enacted in England in 1401 (it had passed earlier in most continental countries) -- but very few English martyrs other than Tyndale were burned.
The Catholic laity was long forbidden to read scriptures -- but Catholic translations of the Bible into English first appeared in 1582.
Most of the other implied charges (e.g. worship of idols, slavish adherence to priests) are traits shared with at least some Protestant churches.
Curiously, in a piece so clearly controversial, there are no direct scriptural quotations. The claim "I'll live by faith forever" obviously is based on Romans 1:17 and its host of parallels; the phrase "the pride of life" is an allusion to 1 John 2:16 (KJV; NRSV renders "pride in riches"); the injunction "shed not a tear for me" may hark back to Luke 23:28; the statement "while my poor body is burning, my soul the Lord shall see" is reminiscent of the last minutes of Stephen (Acts 7:55f.); her forgiveness of her persecutors also refers back to Stephen (Acts 7:60) as well as Jesus's pardon of his killers (Luke 23:34 in the KJV; many early Bible manuscripts omit this verse). - RBW
File: LQ32

Rookery, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer meets a maid and accompanies her home "in Blarney Lane, convenient to the Rookery." She invites him to her room for sport and whisky punch. He wakes drunk, minus twenty pounds, a watch and coat. The neighbors laugh. Young men be warned
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: sex seduction robbery drink whore warning
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OCanainn, pp. 42-43, "The Rookery" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gold Watch" [Laws K41] (plot) and references there
File: OCan042

Rookhope Ryde [Child 179]


DESCRIPTION: The singer curses those who raid Rookhope. Northern thieves descend upon Rookhope when most of the high officials were away. But the raiders are seen, pursued, and taken in battle. The singer praises those who repelled the raid
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1792 (Ritson, "The Bishopric Garland")
KEYWORDS: poaching robbery punishment
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Child 179, "Rookhope Ryde" (1 text)
Roud #4008
NOTES: Child dates this "ryde" (raid) to the time of the Rising in the North (for background, see "The Rising in the North" [Child 175]), and this seems likely enough. However, neither the song itself nor outside sources give enough details to make this verifiable. The only other evidence is implicit: The Rising distracted or removed so many lords, sheriffs, and bailiffs that it made such a vast raid possible. - RBW
File: C179

Rookie's Lament


DESCRIPTION: "I ain't been long in this here army, Just a few days since I arrive." The new recruit complains about sergeants, drill, hiking, cavalry, cavalry horses, military medicine, military discipline, and anything else that springs to mind
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: army soldier hardtimes
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 548-551, "A Rookie's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15543
NOTES: All this whining and he didn't even mention military food. - RBW
File: LxA548

Room Enough


DESCRIPTION: "My Lord says there's room enough, Room enough in Heaven for us all. My Lord says there's room enough, So don't say away." Sisters, brothers, sinners, backsliders are told, "Don't stay away."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Work)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 94-95, "My Lord Says There's Room Enough in Heaven for Us All" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12313
NOTES: Jackson notes that this is used as a church and camp song -- but also notes its suitability for field work because it is so easy to improvise; all the lead singer has to do is come up with a noun to start a line, and then repeat it a few times and go into the chorus. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM094

Room Was So Cold and Cheerless, The


DESCRIPTION: "The room was so cold and cheerless and bare," almost without furniture and with broken windows. The cradle sits empty, the woman is dying of hunger and cold. Her husband is a drunkard and will not reach Heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Henry, collected from Rachel Brackett)
KEYWORDS: death abandonment husband wife drink clergy Bible Hell warning
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 116-117, "The Room Was So Cold and Cheerless" (1 text)
NOTES: The song states in the final stanza, "A verse in the Bible, the minister read, 'No drunkard shall reach heaven," it said."
There is no verse in the Bible which uses those precise words. The reference is, I believe, to 1 Corinthians 6:[9-]10, which reads, "Fornicators, odolators, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, [10] thieves, the freedy, the drunk, the ill-tongued, bandits -- none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God." However, it also goes on to say that the readers *used to be* these things, but were freed by the work of Jesus. Although all of these things are (seemingly) sinful, as I read the passage, it is not the sin but the attitude of the sinner which determines salvation. I grant that this is a fairly subtle distinction -- clearly it was lost on the author of this song. - RBW
File: MHAp116

Root, Abe, or Die


See Root, Hog, or Die (Confederate Version) (File: R248)

Root, Hog, or Die (Confederate Version)


DESCRIPTION: Various cracks about the incompetence or cowardice of the Yankees, ending by saying "We'll make the Dutch (or Old Abe, or any other tempting target) root hog or die." Also praises the confederate armies in extravagant terms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar parody patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 10, 1861 - Battle of Wilson's Creek
FOUND IN: US(So,SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Belden, pp. 361-362, "Root, Abe, or Die" (1 text)
Randolph 248, "Root Hog or Die" (1 text, with an element of "The Bonnie Blue Flag" mixed in)
BrownIII 372, "Root Hog or Die" (1 short text, perhaps mixed)
DT, ROOTHOG2*
Roud #7829
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
cf. "The Jolly Union Boys" and references there (concerning Battle of Wilson's Creek)
NOTES: Randolph's version of this song is very specific to Missouri; see his notes.
Belden's version, at first glance, has almost nothing in common with Randolph's brief and mixed-up version. But both are from the Ozarks, and both involve the Missouri campaigns of Nathaniel Lyon and the Battle of Wilson's Creek. If they aren't the same piece, they are communal efforts on the same theme. Close enough.
Brown's short text is another matter; it seems more generically Confederate, and refers to Fort Sumter. But it's too short to file separately.
For the complex background to the Battle of Wilson's Creek, see the notes to songs in the cross-references, notably "The Jolly Union Boys" and "Joe Stiner." - RBW
File: R248

Root, Hog, or Die (V)


DESCRIPTION: Minstrel song? "Root, Hog, or Die," with some "Walkin' in the Parlor" verses: "The greatest ole nigger that I eva' did see, Looked like a sick monkey...." "I come from Alabama with a pocketful of news..." Cho: "Chief cook and bottle washer...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Allsopp)
KEYWORDS: cook work nonballad floatingverses food
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 161, ("Root, Hog, or Die")
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
cf. "Walkin' in the Parlor" (lyrics)
File: FWA161A

Root, Hog, or Die (VI -- Cowboy Bawdy variant)


DESCRIPTION: The singer heads to Arizona to punch cattle. He takes a holiday in Phoenix, where was pretty girl says she will "see what I can do for your root, hog, or die." He contracts a venereal disease; "that's why I lost the head of my root, hog, or die."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1976 (collected by Logsdon from Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: bawdy cowboy sex disease disability
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Logsdon 22, pp. 140-142, "Root, Hog, or Die" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3242
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gay Caballero" (theme of disease destroying sexual organs)
cf. "The Fire Ship" (plot) and references there
File: Logs022

Root, Hog, or Die [Laws B21]


DESCRIPTION: The singer arrives in California broke and takes a job making hay. He soon gambles his pay away, gets drunk, and lands in jail. A friend pays his fine; he warns against the dangers of playing poker
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1910
KEYWORDS: poverty drink gambling prison reprieve
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws B21, "Root Hog or Die"
Randolph 422, "Root Hog or Die" (5 texts, mostly short and perhaps excerpted, 3 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 347-349, "Root Hog or Die" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 422C)
Silber-FSWB, p. 57, "Root, Hog, Or Die" (1 text)
DT 598, ROOTHOG3
Roud #3242
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (II)"
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (III)"
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (IV)"
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (V)"
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die (Confederate Version)"
File: LB21

Root, Hog, or Die! (II)


DESCRIPTION: A bull-whacker recalls good times in Salt Lake City when his Chinese whore could roll her hog eye, and he would root hog or die.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy whore foreigner
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 576-582, "Root, Hog or Die!" (4 texts, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 11, "Root Hog or Die" (2 texts, 1 tune, with the "A" and "B" texts being different forms of the song. "A" appears to be a cleaned-up version of this form.)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
NOTES: The supplemental texts supplied by Legman in Randolph-Legman I are more interesting than the one stanza fragment that Randolph collected. - EC
[Note: Randolph actually collected five "clean" versions of this piece, but all -- except that listed as "Root Hog or Die (Confederate Version)" -- are quite fragmentary. - RBW]
I am not entirely sure that the Fife "A" text is a variant of this piece (though it starts in the same way). But if it isn't, it needs its own entry -- and I'm tired of the proliferation of "Root Hog or Die" versions.... - RBW
File: RL576

Root, Hog, or Die! (III -- The Bull-Whacker)


DESCRIPTION: A "Western" "Root Hog" version, with the singer herding cattle and keeping an eye out for local wildlife. He complains about the hard life and bad food, but also talks about the pretty girls
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: work travel animal whore
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 171, "Root, Hog, or Die" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 430-432, "The Bull-Whacker" (1 text)
Fife-Cowboy/West 11, "Root Hog or Die" (2 texts, 1 tune, of which the "B" text, "The Philosophical Cowboy," appears to belong here)
DT, ROOTHOG1*
Roud #4292
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Philosophical Cowboy
NOTES: The final verses of this version resemble the bawdy text (Root, Hog, or Die II), and one wonders if this version might not have been cleaned up. But the lead-in is completely different. - RBW
File: LoF171

Root, Hog, or Die! (IV)


DESCRIPTION: "I'll tell you all a story that happened long ago, When the English came to America... The Yankees boys made 'em sing 'Root hog or die.'" The singer describes various English defeats: the Tea Party, Bunker Hill, Yorktown, Baltimore, New Orleans
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (a text reported by Belden to be this was found in the 1859 Dime Song Book)
KEYWORDS: battle patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec. 16, 1773 - Boston Tea Party. Americans protest the British tax on tea by dumping a shipload into Boston Harbor
June 17, 1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (fought on Breed's Hill, and won by the British, though at heavy cost)
Oct 19, 1781 - Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown (not really as a result of being defeated; his supply line had been cut by the French navy)
Aug 24, 1814 - A British force under Robert Ross captures Washington, D.C. after brushing aside the incompetent defenders. (Madison's administration had already fled). Two days later the British leave for Baltimore.
Sept 13, 1814 - Battle of Fort McHenry, which saves Baltimore from the British attack.
Jan 8, 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. Although a peace had already been signed, word had not yet reached Louisiana, which British General Pakenham sought to invade. Andrew Jackson's backwoodsmen easily repulse Pakenham.
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 334, "Root Hog or Die" (1 text)
Roud #4734
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Root, Hog, or Die" [Laws B21] and references there
File: Beld334

Rory O'Moore


See Rory O'More (File: OCon090)

Rory O'More


DESCRIPTION: "Young Rory O'More courted young Kathleen Bawn." He teases her. She says Mike loves her and dreams of hating Rory. Rory says "drames always go by contraries," After thrashing Dinny Grimes and Jim Duff he asks her to marry. They marry and retire to bed.
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1839 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(3313))
KEYWORDS: courting marriage fight dream
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan4 770, "Rory o' More" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 90, "Rory O'More" (1 text)
Roud #6125
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(3313), "Rory O'More", J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Firth b.27(136), Harding B 11(1513), Firth c.17(129) [only partly legible], Harding B 11(2596), Harding B 25(72), 2806 b.11(243), Harding B 16(233c), Harding B 11(3312), Firth b.34(212) View 2 of 2, 2806 c.16(297), Johnson Ballads 342, 2806 c.15(328), "Rory O'More"
SAME TUNE:
Too-Ril-Te-Too (The Robin and the Cat) (File: Lins293)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rory O'Moore
NOTES: Since O'Conor omits the fourth(final) stanza broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(3313) was used for the Description.
GreigDuncan4, like O'Conor, omits the broadside's fourth verse. Since, other than that, the text matches the broadside very closely, this may be an example of intentional self-censorship although that fourth verse is mild: they marry and go to bed. - BS
At least one source sub-titles this "Good Omens."
There was an Irish nationalist, Rory O'More, who was a leader of the 1641 rebellion (and a grandfather of Sarsfield, for whom see "After Aughrim's Great Disaster." It doesn't appear he is connected with this song, though. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: OCon090

Rory of the Hill


DESCRIPTION: The bold Tip mountaineer" "Rory of the Hill" asks if Scully is dead." Rory tells how Scully and the agent turned him and his mother out. Since then he, like Michael Hayes, shot a landlord or agent. He fled to New York, but has returned to Ireland.
AUTHOR: Thomas Walsh (according to broadside Bodleian 2806 b.10(137)) or I. Walsh (according to broadsides Bodleian Firth b.26(102), Bodleian Firth c.26(154) and Bodleian 2806 c.8(278))
EARLIEST DATE: 1868 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: emigration return murder America Ireland
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 75, "Rory of the Hill" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(102), "Rory of the Hills" ("At Slievenamon the man who asked me was Scully dead?"), T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899 ; also Firth c.26(154), "Rory of the Hills"; 2806 b.10(137), "Rory of the Hill"; 2806 c.8(278), "Roary of the Hill"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Whole Hog or None" (tune, per broadsides Bodleian 2806 b.10(137) and Bodleian 2806 c.8(278))
cf. "The Battle of Ballycohy" (subject: the shooting of Billy Scully)
cf. "The Gallant Farmers' Farewell to Ireland" (subject: Michael Hayes)
File: Zimm075

Rory of the Hills


DESCRIPTION: A son asks why a "rake up near the rafters" is not used to make hay. His father, Rory of the Hill, takes him to meet his old comrades and then reveals that the rake hides a sword. He does his soldier's drill and says "You'll be a Freeman yet, my boy"
AUTHOR: Charles J. Kickham (1828-1882) (See Notes)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1885 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 40(2) View 1 of 4)
KEYWORDS: rebellion patriotic father farming
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
O'Conor, pp. 74-75, "Rory of the Hills" (1 text)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 128-130, "Rory of the Hill" (1 text)
DT, RORYOMOR*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 525-526, "Rory of the Hill" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 40(2) View 1 of 4, "Rory of the Hill" ("That rake up near the rafters"), J.F. Nugent and Co.? (Dublin?), 1877-1884
NOTES: Broadside Harding B 40(2) View 1 of 4 has the lines strangely rearranged and some of the text is missing. Irish Minstrelsy by H. Halliday Sparling (London, 1888), pp. 28-30, 502, "Rory of the Hills" makes the attribution to Kickham. [Supported by Hoagland. - RBW] - BS
For the career of Kickham, an Irish nationalist who helped organize the Irish Republican Brotherhood, see the notes to "Patrick Sheehan [Laws J11]."
Healy, pp. 130-131, has a second "Rory of the Hill" song. It appears related only by title. - RBW
File: OCon074

Rosa Becky Diner


See Lead Her Up and Down (Rosa Becky Diner, Old Betsy Lina) (File: R552)

Rosa Betsy Lina


See Lead Her Up and Down (Rosa Becky Diner, Old Betsy Lina) (File: R552)

Rosa Lee McFall


DESCRIPTION: Singer loves Rosa Lee McFall and sings her praises. He proposes to her; she accepts, but then dies. He vows to roam the world alone "'till God prepares my place in heaven With my Rosa Lee McFall"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: grief courting love death mourning travel
FOUND IN: US
RECORDINGS:
Charlie Monroe & His Kentucky Pardners, "Rosa Lee McFall" (RCA Victor 21-0054, 1949)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Rosa Lee McFall" (on NLCR13)
NOTES: This plot shows up enough times that I have the sneaking suspicion "Rosa Lee McFall" is a variant of another song. Since I don't know which, however, I've indexed it on its own. - PJS
File: RcRLMcF

Rosabella Fredolin


DESCRIPTION: Sailor sings about his "greatest delight," a rope maker's daughter who betrayed him when he sailed away. She tore up his letters to use as hair curlers. When he hears of this he writes a farewell to her and adds mention of her drinking and smoking habits.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1844
LONG DESCRIPTION: Sailor sings about his "greatest delight," a rope maker's daughter who betrayed him when he sailed away. She tore up his letters to use as hair curlers. When he hears of this he writes a farewell to her and adds mention of her drinking and smoking habits. This was often sung to the tune of "Ane Madam," a Swedish version of "Blow the Man Down."
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage sailor courting rejection farewell hair drink
FOUND IN: Sweden
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 216-219, "Rosabella Fredolin" (2 texts-English & Swedish, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ane Madam" (tune)
NOTES: Hugill took this from Sang under Segel (1935) where the compiler (Sternvall) says that it came from a seaman's song-book dated 1844. - SL
File: Hugi216

Rosaleen Bawn


DESCRIPTION: The singer wishes Rosaleen Bawn to come away with him. He tells how the May moon is the perfect time to escape. He tells her she will soon forget her home, and that he will make her happy and, apparently, rich
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love courting nightvisit elopement
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H63, p. 247, "Rosaleen Bawn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13337
NOTES: It is by no means clear, from the song, whether the singer is rich, is handing the girl a line, or is just given to hyperbole. Sam Henry reports that the singer was courting the daughter of his employer, and had nothing to offer her. This doesn't really seem to suit the song. - RBW
File: HHH063

Rosalie


See Little Old Log Cabin by the Stream (Rosalie) (File: R710)

Rosamond's Downfall


See Fair Rosamond (File: Lins193)

Rosamund Clifford


DESCRIPTION: King Henry II loves Rosamund Clifford, and constructs a bower at Woodstock to guard her from Queen Eleanor's jealousy. The King and Rosamund talk at length. He departs for the wars. Queen Eleanor poisons Rosamund
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy) (Broadside registered 1656)
KEYWORDS: love separation death poison royalty
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1154-1189 - Reign of Henry II
c. 1176 - Death of Rosamund Clifford
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 154-164, "Fair Rosamund" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2820, "When as King Henry rul'd this Land/"; cf. BBI, ZN2442, "Sweet youthful charming ladies fair"
cf. Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 163-164, "Rosamund" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Queen Eleanor's Confession" [Child 156] (subject)
cf. "Fair Rosamond" (subject)
SAME TUNE:
When Anne, a Princess of renown/The Glorius Warriour (BBI ZN2817)
NOTES: Romantic pieces based on the tale of Rosamund Clifford seem to have been fairly common, but I have lumped them all here, excerpt for "Fair Rosamund," on the grounds that few can be demonstrated to be traditional.
The versions listed above seem to fall into two families; the Percy text goes with the broadside "When as King Henry Ruled this Land"; Chappell's version is a "Sweet Youthful Charming Ladies Fair" type of text.
There are traditional elements to the songs, however, as the folk accounts do not match the actual facts. This possibly justifies their inclusion here.
The facts are these: Henry II truly did marry Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he truly did have an affair with Rosamund Clifford. Rosamund seems to have been the true love of Henry's life.
Beyond this, all is conjecture. We do not have dates of Rosamund's romance with Henry, and the evidence conflicts. Geoffrey, Bishop of Lincoln is said to have been their (second) son, born in 1159. But this conflicts with other evidence about Henry's amours. Also, Henry was still busily having children by Eleanor at that time. The last child of Henry and Eleanor was the future King John, born 1166/67. Henry was still a relatively young man of about 34, while Eleanor was about 45 and probably incapable of bearing further children.
Rosamund was the daughter of Walter FitzPonce, who took the surname Clifford upon gaining the title of Clifford Castle (by marriage) some time before 1138. The date of Rosamund's birth is uncertain. She died around 1176 or 1177, but the death was the result of natural causes -- and she was living in a nunnery at the time! Indeed, by the 1170s, Henry had Eleanor under virtual house arrest; even had she wanted to, she probably could not have arranged Rosamund's death.
For more on this, see the notes to "Queen Eleanor's Confession" [Child 156]; there is also some material in "Fair Rosamond." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Perc2154

Rosanna


See Farewell, Dear Rosanna [Laws M30] (File: LM30)

Rose and the Thyme, The


See The Rue and the Thyme (The Rose and the Thyme) (File: Ord187)

Rose Blanche, La (The White Rose)


DESCRIPTION: French: "Par un matin je me suis leve (x2), Plus mantin que ma tante (x2)." The singer enters a garden and is picking white roses when her lover approaches. She falls and "breaks her ankle." The "doctor" tells her to bathe it in water and white roses
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: love flowers courting injury foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Canada
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 118-119, "La Rose Blanche" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FMB118

Rose Conley


See Rose Connoley [Laws F6] (File: LF06)

Rose Connoley [Laws F6]


DESCRIPTION: The singer kills Rose by drugging her (with "burglar's wine"), stabbing her, and throwing her in the river. He commits the crime on his father's assurance that "money would set [him] free," but the assurance was false; he is to be hanged
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: murder drugs river execution wine
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Laws F6, "Rose Connoley"
Warner 110, "Rose Connally" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 249, "Rose Connally" (1 text plus excerpts from 1 more)
Lomax-FSUSA 83, "Down in the Willow Garden" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 137, "Rose Connelly" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHCox 91, "Rose Connoley" (2 texts)
Darling-NAS, pp. 202-203, "Willow Garden" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 223, "Down In The Willow Garden" (1 text)
DT (311), WLLWGRDN*
Roud #446
RECORDINGS:
Texas Gladden with Hobart Smith, "Down in the Willow Garden" (Disc 6081, 1940s)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "Rose Conley" (Victor 21625, 1927; on GraysonWhitter01)
Charlie Higgins, Wade Ward & Dave Poe, "Willow Garden" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1702)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers [or Wade Mainer & Zeke Morris], "Down in the Willow" (Bluebird B-7298/Montgomery Ward M-7307, 1937)
Charlie Monroe & His Kentucky Pardners, "Down in the Willow Garden" (Victor 20-2416, 1947)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Down in the Willow Garden" (on NLCR16)
Osborne Brothers & Red Allen, "Down in the Willow Garden" (MGM 12420, 1957)
NOTES: Almost every version of this song contains a crux: Just *what* did the killer cause Rose to drink? Burglar's wine? Burgundy wine? Something else (Texas Gladden sung either "virgin" or "Persian"; one of Cox's informants had something like "merkley").
Burgundy, frankly, makes no sense. The usual tune (as sung, e.g., by Grayson and Gladden) calls for two syllables, and burgundy isn't going to knock a girl out, either.
Problem is, no one knows what "burglar's wine" is. But that, of course, invites correction, perhaps to "burgundy." It makes no sense to assume that "burgundy" is original and corrected to "burglar's"; this produces a paradox. If "burglar's wine" is meaningless, a listener is not likely to hear the song as to make nonsense (it might happen once, but not several times, and Cox and Grayson show "burglar's wine" to be widespread). And if "burglar's wine" does exist, then it could be an original reading.
Thus I do not doubt that "burglar's wine" is the earliest extant reading in the tradition. It may even be original; I seem to recall reading somewhere that it was a drugged wine. But I can't find the reference.
Lyle Lofgren, who has studied the piece, proposed an emendation which makes reasonable sense: "[Russell Bartlett's "Dictionary of Americanisms"] gave me a candidate: 'burgaloo,' a popular pear variety at the time, identified in the dictionary as a variant of 'virgelieu.'" - RBW
File: LF06

Rose in June


DESCRIPTION: "Was down in the valleys, the valleys so deep, To pick some plain roses to keep my love sweet, So let it come early, late or soon, I will enjoy my rose in June." "O, the roses are red, the violets blue." "O love, I will carry the sweet milking pail."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: love courting flowers lyric
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 256-257, "Rose in June" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #1202
File: CoSB256

Rose in the Garden, The


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

Rose O'Grady


See Sweet Rosie O'Grady (File: Dean062A)

Rose of Alabama, The


DESCRIPTION: "Away from Mississippi's vale, With my old hat there for a sail, I crossed upon a cotton bale To Rose of Alabama." The singer courts Rose. His banjo falls into the stream. "And every night... To hunt my banjo for an hour... I meet... my flower."
AUTHOR: Words: Silas S. Steele
EARLIEST DATE: 1846
KEYWORDS: music courting love trick river
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 214-215, "The Rose of Alabama" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: SBoA214

Rose of Allandale, The


DESCRIPTION: "The sky was clear, the morn was fair, Not a breath came over the sea When Mary left her highland home And wandered forth with me." The singer recounts his travels and hardships, noting that the love of Mary, the Rose of Allandale, helped him through
AUTHOR: Sidney Nelson and Charles Jefferys, according to Gogan
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: love travel
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 257-260, "The Rose of Allendale" (1 text, 1 tune); also p. 260, "(Mary's Cot)" (1 text, with the first verse belonging here though the rest is from "Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy")
DT, ALANDAL*
Roud #1218
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:118, "The Rose of Allandale," unknown, 19C; also Mu23-y4:036, "The Rose of Allendale," unknown, 19C
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Sweet Rose of Allandale
Sweet Rose of Allendale
NOTES: Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 128, is the source for the statement that this is by Nelson and Jefferys. I don't trust that too far, since he seems to think this patently Scottish song is Irish. - RBW
File: SWMS257

Rose of Allendale, The


See The Rose of Allandale (File: SWMS257)

Rose of Britain's Isle, The [Laws N16]


DESCRIPTION: Jane falls in love with a servant, who is then sent to sea. She follows him in disguise and is wounded in battle. Her secret having been revealed, her lover marries her. They return home to find her father willing to forgive
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: exile cross-dressing sea marriage father
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws N16, "The Rose of Britain's Isle"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 29, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 50, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 61-63, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text)
Creighton-NovaScotia 48, "Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 37, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text)
Manny/Wilson 90, "The Rose of Britain's Isle" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 447, ROSEBRIT
Roud #1796
File: LN16

Rose of England, The [Child 166]


DESCRIPTION: A rose springs up in England, but is rooted up by a boar. The rose returns via Milford Haven, gathers his forces, wins the field, becomes king, and receives great praise.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1750 (Percy folio)
KEYWORDS: royalty rebellion flowers political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1485 - Death of Richard III. Accession of Henry VII
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Child 166, "The Rose of England" (1 text)
Flanders/Olney, p. 91, "The Rose of England" (1 fragment, with lyrics somewhat resembling Child's but so short that it may not be the same song)
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 149-150, "The Rose of England" (1 text, the same fragment as Flanders/Olney)
Roud #4001
NOTES: E. K. Chambers, English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1945, 1947, p. 164, says that "The Rose of England, at least by title, [is] in Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas of about 1616." It is obviously possible that that is this ballad -- but I doubt it. This is largely a propaganda piece to justify the Tudor usurpation, and by 1616, with the Stuarts on the throne, that was hardly an issue any more. If the title were more specific ("Henry, the Tudor Rose" or some such), the probability would be higher -- but "The Rose of England" is too generic and could apply to many people other than Henry Tudor. Indeed, almost anyone taken off the street would be more rose-like than Henry VII.
To tell the history of the Wars of the Roses in less than thirty thousand words is impossible (especially since it involves the story of Richard III, who is perhaps the most controversial figure in all of human history), but here goes anyway:
In 1399, King Richard II was deposed (with good reason; he was an inept despot).
The throne, however, did not pass to his heir (his great-grand-nephew, a Mortimer) but to his cousin Henry IV. This was acceptable as long as Henry IV and his son Henry V were alive. But in 1422, just after he had been declared heir to the kingdom of France, Henry V died, leaving as his only heir a nine month old boy, Henry VI.
Without a strong king, England soon lost control of France (the last possessions outside Calais were lost by 1453). To make matters worse, Henry VI was feeble-minded, and was married to a tremendously ambitious queen, Margaret of Anjou. Their inept government descended into chaos when Henry went mad.
Eventually a civil war arose between Henry's partisans and the partisans of Richard Duke of York (the legitimate heir of Richard II). Richard of York probably didn't really want the throne, but when Margaret had him killed, Richard's son Edward had no choice but to seize power (1461). It took Edward (IV) ten years to gain a firm grip on power (it is probably not coincidence that Edward gained firm control in 1471, when his brother Richard turned 18. Richard was Edward's chief support in the last years of his reign). Edward reigned for another twelve peaceful years. Then disaster struck. Edward died young in 1483, leaving as his heir a twelve year old boy (Edward V) who was in the hands of a rapacious faction. When a rumor arose that Edward V was illegitimate, Richard seized the throne. (The fact that his seizure cost a couple of people their heads should not conceal the fact that it was arguably legal and undoubtably the best thing for England.)
The Lancastrian faction (which had earlier supported Henry VI) managed to find a new candidate for the throne in Henry Tudor, a semi-illegitimate descendent of Henry IV's father John of Gaunt. By a minor miracle, Henry defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and became king as Henry VII. (Despite the song, it should be noted that Richard III was far more legitimate than Henry VII, was probably a better soldier, gave every evidence of being a decent man when politics wasn't involved, and was *not* deformed. Henry, by contrast, was a cheap, rather ugly coward.) To firm up his claim, Henry also had to marry Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth.
It is ironic to note that Henry was often proclaimed as a gift from God designated to rescue England from Richard. But Henry's arrival corresponded to the arrival of the "Sweating Sickness," which apparently killed tens of thousands of people by the time of the last known outbreak in 1551. (According to The Wordsworth Encyclopedia of Plague & Pestilence, there were outbreaks in 1485, 1507-1508, 1516-1517, 1529, and 1551). Thus the sickness was virulent just about exactly as long as there were male Tudors on the throne. No, I don't think the facts actually related. But it's something for the "divine intervention" folks to consider.)
The title "The Rose of England" came from Henry's adopted token of the red rose -- and also from the white rose that was the token of the House of York (the family of Edward IV, Richard III, and Elizabeth). Whether Henry VII was an improvement over Richard III can be debated -- but certainly he was no rose. Perhaps the best evidence of this is the company he kept: The three men most responsible for making him king were
- Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who was murdered by his own people for his behavior
- Sir William Stanley, a multiple turncoat who had been spared by Richard and who saved Henry's life -- but was executed by Henry half a dozen years later for treason! (Of which more below.)
- Lord Thomas Stanley, Sir William's brother and Henry's stepfather, another turncoat whom Richard had spared. He lived to become Earl of Derby, but Henry kicked him out of his government
Henry's Chancellor was John Morton, Bishop of Ely, whose chief accomplishment was his ability to extort money from Henry's subjects.
All in all, a man with very unpleasant associates. The best thing that can be said for Henry VII is that he was the grandfather of Elizabeth I -- but, of course, Edward IV was Elizabeth's great-grandfather, and Richard III her great-great-uncle.
The sundry references in this song include the following:
"A crowned king... ouer England, Ireland, and France": The kings of England had claimed the throne of France since the time of Edward III -- but in Henry VII's time, only Calais was still in Henry's hands, and the only use Henry made of the title was to use it to extort money for "invasions" he had no intention of carrying out.
"Milford Hauen": Milford Haven, the town in Wales where Henry VII landed when he set out to attack Richard III.
"Sir Rice ap Thomas": Rhys ap Thomas was a Welsh chieftain who brought his forces over to Henry Tudor (in return for promises of high office).
"Erle Richmond": The closest thing Henry Tudor had to a legitimate title; his father had been appointed Earl of Richmond by Henry VI in 1452. (Though Edward IV withdrew the title while Henry was still a boy; see Elizabeth Jenkins, The Princes in the Tower, Coward, McCann & Geoghan, 1978, p. 22).
"Sir William Stanley": As noted above, Sir William Stanley was the brother of Lord Thomas Stanley (c. 1435-1504; second Lord Stanley and by this time first Earl of Derby), who was the third husband of Margaret Beaufort, Henry's mother. Thomas Stanley was a member of Richard's government, but (for obvious reasons) the Stanleys would have preferred the Tudor on the throne.
The Brothers Stanley, however, refused to show their colors; both brought forces to the Battle of Bosworth -- and then refused to fight! A. H. Burne, The Battlefields of England (a compilation of two volumes from the 1950s, Battlefields of England and More Battlefields of England, with a new introduction by Robert Hardy), Pen & Sword, 2005. p. 289,, says that such a battle has never occurred in English history: Four armies forming a square, with Richard III and Henry Tudor facing each other and the two Stanleys taking the other two sides of the square between them. Only when Richard ordered his charge against Henry did William Stanley intervene; his forces killed Richard and probably saved Henry Tudor's life.
It surely says something about both William Stanley and Henry Tudor that, in 1495, Henry accused William Stanley of treasonable support for a pretender and had him executed. Henry's only sign of gratitute to the man who put him on the throne was to pay for Stanley's burial. (Though some suspect that Henry went after Sir William to get his hands on his money.)
"The Erle of Oxford": John de Vere (c. 1443-1513), the (Lancastrial) Earl of Oxford, and a sort of a "yellow dog Lancastrian": He'd support a yellow dog for king as long as it wasn't a Yorkist.
"King Richard": Richard III. The reference in the song to a boar who rooted up the rose of England is probably an allusion to Richard's emblem of the White Boar.
The part about rooting up the Rose of England doubtless refers to the disappearance of Edward V. Shortly after being set aside as King, Edward and his brother Richard disappeared. Their fate was and is unknown (there are a couple of skeletons that might be theirs, but Elizabeth II has refused to allow genetic testing to find out for sure). It is likely that Richard killed them -- but even Henry VII couldn't offer any proof of that; there are those who think he killed Edward V himself, and if those unknown skeletons are really those of the Princes in the Tower, it's also possible that Edward V died of dental problems. It's a mystery that simply cannot be solved.
I can't help but note the irony that a version of this says "The cronykle will not layne [lie]" (a line perhaps taken from "The Battle of Otterburn"), but the essence of chronicles of this period -- from both sides! -- is that they lie for political reasons.
For additional details on Richard III's story, see the notes to "The Vicar of Bray" and especially "The Children in the Wood (The Babes in the Woods) [Laws Q34]. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C166

Rose of Glenfin, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer loves Molly from Magherafin, "the Rose of Glenfin." She swears she would be his but marries another. He curses any young man "who'd shower on any woman too much affection"; when your money's gone she'll go "with some other man's son"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988 (McBride)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity marriage
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McBride 61, "The Rose of Glenfin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10365
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Handsome Molly" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: The verse that travels from "Handsome Molly" here takes the form
Don't you mind lovely Molly when you gave me your hand,
You swore on the bible that you would be mine.
But it's now you've gone and married and you broke all those vows,
I am sorry for to leave you, farewell a stor mo chroi.
McBride added two verses of his own but I think deleting them does not leave this song to be "Handsome Molly," "Went to Church Last Sunday" or any of their relatives.
Glenfin is in Donegal. - BS
File: McB1061

Rose of Glenshee, The


See The Lass of Glenshee [Laws O6] (File: LO06)

Rose of Killarney


DESCRIPTION: "Oh! promise to meet me where twilight is falling." A love lyric to the "sweetest and fairest of Erin's fair daughters, Dear rose of Killarney, Mavourneen Asthore."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (O'Conor)
KEYWORDS: love lyric nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 18, "Sweet Rose of Killarney" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 142, "Rose of Killarney" (1 text)
Roud #2788
File: CrSNB018

Rose of Tralee, The


DESCRIPTION: "The pale moon was rising above the green mountain." He describes his love's beauty. "Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me, Oh, no, 'twas the truth in her eyes Ever dawning, that made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee."
AUTHOR: Words: C. Mordaunt Spencer/Music: Charles W. Glover ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1883 (Smith/Hatt); originally published in London c. 1845
KEYWORDS: love lyric nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
O'Conor, p. 80, "The Rose of Tralee" (1 text)
Smith/Hatt, pp. 100-101, "The Rose of Tralee" (1 text)
Mackenzie 141, "The Rose of Tralee" (1 text)
DT, TRALEE*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 493, "The Rose of Tralee" (1 text)
Roud #1978
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B.11(1290), "The Rose of Tralee" ("The pale moon was rising above the green mountain"), H. Such (London) , 1863-1885
LOCSheet, sm1850 660580, "Rose of Tralee," Peters, Webb and Co. (Louisville), 1850; also sm1850 482010, "Rose of Tralee" (tune)
NOTES: Source: Re author--"St Patricks Day--March 17, 2003" on the Eastern Illinois University site. - BS
The editors of Granger's Index to Poetry lists two possible authors, the first possibility being William Pembroke Mulchinock (1820?-1864; this claim is supported, and perhaps derived from, Hoagland) and our listed author Spencer the second. (The latter attribution is supported by the uncredited Amsco publication The Library of Irish Music, which however seems to me to be a rather poor source. Sing Out, Volume 38, #4 [1994] lists Glover as the author, not separating the words and music; it gives Glover's dates as 1806-1863.)
Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 18, supports the attribution to Mulchinock, and notes that he was a frequent contributor to the well-known Irish journal The Nation. But Gogan also tells a pretty folkloric story about the song: That Mulchinock, who was from Tralee, fell in love with a local girl, Mary O'Connor, and sent him away. When he returned home, he met the funeral procession for his beloved Mary, and wrote this song in her memory. Obviously it could have happened. But what are the odds in real life?
Neither proposed author wrote anything else that has shown any sign of enduring.
The Sing Out! article reports that the song was sung by John McCormak in the 1930 movie "Song o' My Heart," which is what made the piece truly popular. - RBW
File: OCon080

Rose the Red and White Lily [Child 103]


DESCRIPTION: Rose and Lily are each loved by a son of their cruel stepmother, who attempts to part them. The girls disguise themselves as boys and go into service with their erstwhile loves. After much adventure they are revealed and reunited, each couple marrying.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1783
KEYWORDS: love stepmother separation disguise cross-dressing reunion marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 103, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (3 texts)
Bronson 103, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (2 versions)
GreigDuncan1 162, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (1 text)
OBB 55, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (1 text)
DBuchan 21, "Rose the Red and White Lily" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix) {Bronson's #1}
Roud #3335
File: C103

Rose Tree, The


See The Juniper Tree (The Wicked Stepmother, The Rose Tree) (File: Cha047)

Rosebud in June


DESCRIPTION: Singer celebrates joys of spring, dancing on the green, and sheepshearing.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1840
KEYWORDS: ritual dancing nonballad sheep
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sharp-100E 93, "It's a Rosebud in June" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ROSEBUDJ*
Roud #812
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Here's the Rosebud in June
Rosebud in June
NOTES: This song, a simple pastoral on its face, has ritual overtones. Note the chorus: "We'll pipe and we'll sing, Love/We'll dance in a ring, Love/When each lad takes his lass/All on the green grass/And the lads and the lasses to sheep-shearing go." Ring-dancing was characteristic of rituals in pre-Christian Europe. Other verses have hints of sympathetic magic as well. -PJS
File: ShH93

Rosedale Shores


See Rosedale Waters (The Skeptic's Daughter) (File: R601)

Rosedale Waters (The Skeptic's Daughter)


DESCRIPTION: The skeptic's daughter sets out to refute the Christians. She is instead converted. Her father orders her to reject the faith. She refuses his order, and is cast from his home. But soon her parents come to her, begging her to return and convert them
AUTHOR: Music: F. T. Alexander?
EARLIEST DATE: 1897 (manuscript known to Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious rejection separation help father children
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 601, "The Skeptic's Daughter" (1 text plus an excerpt, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 418-422, "The Skeptic's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 601A)
Roud #4644
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Protestant Maid" (subject: religious conversion) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rosedale Shores
NOTES: This piece may have been used by Holy Rollers to try to convert souls, but all I can say is that its utter banality would be likely to convert me the other way.... - RBW
File: R601

Rosemary and Thyme


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

Rosemary Fair


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

Rosemary Lane [Laws K43]


DESCRIPTION: A sailor meets a girl at an inn, and induces her to go to bed with him. In the morning he gives her gold and says, "If it's a boy, he will (fight for the king/be a sailor); if a girl, she will wear a gold ring."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: seduction separation clothes floatingverses
FOUND IN: Australia US(Ap,MA,NE,SE,So,SW) Canada(Queb) Britain(England,Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (16 citations):
Laws K43, "Home, Dearie, Home (Bell-Bottom Trousers)"
Greig #135, pp. 1-2, "Hame, Dearie, Hame" (1 text)
GreigDuncan5 1057, "Hame, Dearie, Hame" (10 texts, 11 tunes)
GreigDuncan7 1429, "When I Was a Servant in Old Aberdeen" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Cray, pp. 72-75, "Bell Bottom Trousers" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 81-88, "Bell Bottom Trousers" (6 texts, 1 tune)
Chappell-FSRA 34, "The Boy Child" (1 short text, which Laws calls a "ribald fragment." Fragment it is, with only two of the regular verses, including "If it be a girl...." But I suspect the other two verses are a mixture from another, heavily bawdy, song, which we might title something like "eleven inches in")
Ohrlin-HBT 72, "Button Willow Tree" (1 text, 1 tune, with a cowpuncher as the visiting man!)
Gardner/Chickering ,165 "Jack, the Sailor Boy" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 43, "Rosemary Lane" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 166, "Bell-Bottomed Trousers" (1 text)
Colcord, pp. 167-168, "Home, Dearie, Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 498, "Home, Dearie, Home" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 366]
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 146, "Bell-Bottom Trousers" (1 text; this follows a text and tune of "Home, Dearie, Home," i.e. "Ambletown," plus a stanza of Henley's adaption and an alternate chorus)
Fuld-WFM, p. 139, "Bell Bottom Trousers"
DT 319, BELLBTTM* HOMEBOYS* RASPLANE RASPLAN2* ROSELANE*
Roud #269
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs, "Rosemary Lane" (on Briggs1, Briggs3)
Liam Clancy, "Home Boys Home" (on IRLClancy01)
Jerry Colonna, "Bell Bottom Trousers" (Capitol 204, 1945)
Chris Willett, "Once I Was a Servant" (on Voice11)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 624, "The Servant of Rosemary Lane" ("When I was a servant in Rosemary-lane"), J. Jennings (London), 1790-1840; also Harding B 15(279a), Harding B 11(4221), "The Servant of Rosemary Lane"; Bodleian, Harding B 17(130a), "Home, Dear Home" (with the "Home, Dear Home" chorus, several verses of this, and perhaps a rewritten ending)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "When I Was Young (Don't Never Trust a Sailor)" (plot, floating lyrics)
cf. "Ambletown" (floating lyrics, theme)
cf. "Pretty Little Miss" [Laws P18] (theme)
cf. "A North Country Maid"
cf. "Hame, Hame, Hame" (structure and some lines)
cf. "Fat'll Mak a Bonny Lassie Blythe an' Glad" (tune, per GreigDuncan5) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Oak and the Ash, The
Drury Lane
Raspberry Lane
Once When I Was a Servant
Old Aberdeen
NOTES: The history of this song is extremely complex and obscure. The extended family is listed in the Index under three titles: "Rosemary Lane," "Ambletown," and "When I Was Young (Don't Never Trust a Sailor)." However, these may represent as many as five songs, or perhaps only a single one.
The three basic plots are as follows:
* "Rosemary Lane" (a title selected because, unlike Laws's title "Home, Dearie, Home," it is unique to this version) is a British ballad of a servant who is seduced and then abandoned by a sailor. It exists under many titles, e.g. "Bell-Bottomed Trousers."
* "When I Was Young" has the same plot but in a very reduced form; what matters is not the method of the seduction but simply that it happens. This song frequently has a bawdier feel. It ends with a warning, "Don't ever trust (a sailor) an inch above the knee."
* "Ambletown" (another title chosen because it is unambiguous) involves a sailor who learns from a letter that he is a father, and desperately wants to return home to see the child.
The greatest difficulty concerns the relationship between "Rosemary Lane" and "Ambletown." In plot, they are quite distinct. A comparison of the lyrics, however, shows that as much as half the material in "Ambletown" occurs also in "Rosemary Lane" (which is longer, seemingly older, and much more common). As many as three stanzas regularly "cross": "If it be a boy, he will fight for the king"; "And it's home, dearie, home"; and "The oak and the ash and the bonnie birchen tree." (The latter two may be derived from yet another song, "A North Country Maid" ).
It should also be noted that "Ambletown" could function as an ending to "Rosemary Lane," particularly if the warning about not trusting a sailor is not the original ending. This has not, however, been observed in tradition.
Extensive examination of the texts of the songs could not finally resolve the question. The Ballad Index Board is tentatively of the opinion that "Rosemary Lane" and "Ambletown" now are separate songs, which have cross-fertilized heavily but remain distinct. It is quite possible, however, that one (probably "Ambletown") is an offshoot of the other, with a new (clean) plot built around the same verses.
In addition, "Rosemary Lane" has undergone extensive evolution *after* the cross-fertilization stage. Our guess is that it began with a relatively "clean" broadside of seduction (now seemingly lost). This likely contained the "If it be a boy" stanza, but probably not the others. Tradition then mixes in the other common stanzas, and set to work on the song, producing both clean and bawdy versions. - RBW, DGE, PJS
An addendum: Don Duncan brings to my attention the poem "O Falmouth Is a Fine Town," by William E. Henley (1878), which has the following first verse:
O Falmouth is a fine town with ships in the bay,
And I wish from my heart it's there I was to-day;
I wish from my heart I was far away from here,
Sitting in my parlor and talking to my dear.
For it's home, dearie home--it's home I want to be.
Our topsails are hoisted, and we'll away to sea.
O the oak and the ash and the bonnie birken tree,
They're all growing green in the old countrie.
Henley admitted that part of the song, including the chorus, was old. Duncan speculates that "Falmouth..." is the rewrite of "Rosemary Lane" we postulated above. This seems quite possible -- but if so, then Henley's poem has gone into oral tradition itself, and experienced a great deal of folk processing. Thus, the essential outline we described above seems to be accurate.
Just in case that weren't complicated enough, Allan Cunningham produced a poem, "Hame, Hame, Hame," which once again used some of the same lyrics: "Hame, hame, hame, hame, fain wad I be, O hame, hame, hame, to my ain countrie!" The rest, though, seems simply a hymn to home, "When the flower is in the bud, and the lead is on the tree, The lark shall sing me hame to my ain countrie...." For this text, see, the entry on "Hame, Hame, Hame."
The reference to "Rosemary Lane" is particularly interesting. "Rosemary" of course stood for remembrance in flower symbolism, which is very fitting in this context. But David Cordingly, Women Sailors and Sailors' Women, Random House, 2001 (I use the undated, but later, paperback edition), p. 7, notes that at one time the actual street had some significance to sailors. A brothel owner named Damaris Page was active in the 1650s and 1660s: "She had one on the Ratcliffe Highway that catered to ordinary seamen and dockworkers, and she also managed one on Rosemary Lane for naval officers and those who could afford the prices of the classier prostitutes." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LK43

Rosen the Bow


See Rosin the Beau (File: R846)

Rosenthal's Goat


See Bill Grogan's Goat (File: SRW141)

Roses are Red


DESCRIPTION: "Roses are red, violets are blue, (sugar/honey/gillyflower) is sweet and so are you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1784 (Gammer Gurton's Garland)
KEYWORDS: nonballad flowers
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Opie-Oxford2 458, "The rose is red, the violet blue" (1 text)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 238, (no title) (1 short text: "Roses red, violets blue, cucumbers green and so are you"!); p. 243 (no title) (1 short text)
NOTES: Although this is widely known (i.e. even I heard it in youth), except for Henry, I have seen no evidence that it is a song and not simply a rhyme. The Opie version is a gift song for Easter; I have not seen this elsewhere (nor seen any other version which mentions the gillyflower).
It certainly has inspired parodies -- e.g. Peter and Iona Opie, I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth, #146, offers "Roses are red, Violets are blue, The shorter the skirt, The better the view" and "Roses are red, Cabbages are green, If my face is funny, Yours is a scream." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MHAp238A

Rosewood Casket


See Little Rosewood Casket (File: R763)

Rosey Anderson


See Rosie Anderson (File: Log392)

Rosey Apple Lemon and Pear


DESCRIPTION: Singing came of courting. "(Mary Wilson), fresh and fair, A bunch of roses she shall wear, Gold and silver byher side, I know who is her bride." "Rose, apple, lemon, or pear." "Take her by the lily-white hand."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN: Britain(England,Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1579, "Orange Blossom" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 71, "Singing Game (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; #41, "Rosy Apple, Lemon or Pear" (1 text)
Roud #6492
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wind Blows High" (tune, per GreigDuncan8)
NOTES: Some of the versions of this, such as the Montgomeries', appear to have mixed with "Weevily Wheat" or one of its relatives. With pieces like this, it's hard to tell. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MSNR071

Rosie


DESCRIPTION: "Be my woman, gall, I'll / be your man. Every Sunday's dollar / in your hand. Stick to the promise, gall, 'at / you made me. Weren't gonna marry till-a /I go free. Well Rosie / oh Lord gal, When she walk she reel and / rock behind..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: prisoner love abandonment
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Courlander-NFM, p. 107, (no title) (1 text); pp. 262-263, "Rosie" (1 tune, partial text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 62-65, "Rosie" (1 text, 1 tune, probably composite)
Roud #15507
File: CNFM107A

Rosie Anderson


DESCRIPTION: Rosie marries Hay Marshall, but soon attracts the attention of Lord Elgin. Elgin dances with Rosie and takes her home. After more wantonness on her part, Marshall divorces Rosie. She is left to lament her fate (and court a soldier or become a prostitute)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1869 (Logan)
KEYWORDS: marriage adultery nobility betrayal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 184-187, "Rosey Anderson" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #127, pp. 1-2, "Rosie Anderson" (1 text)
GreigDuncan7 1462, "Rosie Anderson" (12 texts plus a single verse on p. 529, 10 tunes)
Ord, pp. 91-92, "Rosey Anderson" (1 text)
Logan, pp. 392-395, "Rosey Anderson" (1 text)
DT, ROSANDER
ADDITIONAL: W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1876 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh, 2007)), Vol I, p. 220, ("Hay Marshall was as brave a lord") (1 tune) [first and last verse only; the rest, writes Christie, "is not suited for this Work."]
ST Log392 (Full)
Roud #2169
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:010, "Rosy Anderson," unknown (Glasgow), no date
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Peggy and the Soldier (The Lame Soldier)" [Laws P13] (plot)
cf. "The Brewer Laddie" (plot)
cf. "Tamiston" (theme: seduction by Lord Elgin)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Hay Marshall
NOTES: Logan has many details about the facts behind this ballad (though providing few dates). Rosie reportedly married Thomas Hay Marshall at the age of 16, urged on more by her parents than her own desires. The divorce was rather more messy than the ballad shows, as Marshall had neglected his wife. Sadly, the affair ended with Rosie walking the streets of London.
The Lord Elgin mentioned in this ballad is also the one who walked off with the Grecian marbles. All in all, not the sort of person I'd want to let into the house. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Log392

Rosie Belle Teeneau, The


DESCRIPTION: In habitant dialect. The Rosie Belle Teeneau is manned by Jean Baptiste DuChene and family, and sails the Great Lakes. On one trip, they carry a cargo of gunpowder without knowing what it is. It, and DuChene, are blown up. Sailors are warned of explosives
AUTHOR: unknown (published by William Edward Baubie)
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Baubie, French Canadian Verse)
KEYWORDS: humorous sailor ship death
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 158-160, "Legend of hte Rosie Belle Teeneau" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "De Scow Jean La Plante" (main character)
NOTES: That this is a legend, and not fact, is obvious from the fact that gunpowder is not itself explosive; it *burns*, and must be primed. No such events are described in the song.
It is not clear to me that this poem/song is traditional. Walton's version is from print, and there is no mention of having heard even a portion of it from tradition. But the notes imply that the legend of DuChene and the gunpowder is traditional -- indeed, there is another poem about him, ""De Scow Jean La Plante," which involves a different boat and a different voyage but has a "Captain Batteece" and ends with the boat blowing up. This probably isn't folk song. It may be folk tale. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: WGM158

Rosie Nell


DESCRIPTION: "How oft I dream of childhood days, Of tricks we used to play.... I'd rather be with Rosie Nell, a-swinging in the lane." But then "Aunt Jemima Brown" introduces Rosie to another fellow. The singer warns men against getting too involved with women
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1868 (The Champaign Charlie and Coal Oil Tommy Songster)
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity warning
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Fuson, p. 99, "Rosy Nell" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 114-116, "Rosie Nell" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 871, "Swinging in the Lane" (1 text, 1 tune)
cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "Rosie Nell" (source notes only)
ST San114 (Partial)
Roud #2870
RECORDINGS:
Walter "Kid" Smith & Norman Woodlief with Posey Rorer, "I'd Rather Be with Rosy Nell" (Gennett 6858/Challenge 431, 1929)
The Virginia Dandies [alternate name for Walter "Kid" Smith & The Carolina Buddies], "Rosy Nell" (Crown, unissued, 1931)
File: San114

Rosie, Darling Rosie


DESCRIPTION: "Rosie, darling Rosie, Ha ha Rosie (x2)" "Way down yonder in Baltimore, Ha ha Rosie, Need no carpet on my floor." "Grab your partner and follow me..." "Some folks say preachers won't steal..." "Stop right still and study yourself..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, children of Brown's Chapel School)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 155-156, "(Rosie Darling Rosie)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11008
RECORDINGS:
Children of Brown's Chapel School, "Rosie, Darling Rosie" (on NFMAla6, RingGames1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Coney Isle" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Some Folks Say that a Preacher Won't Steal" (lyrics)
NOTES: Lyrics from this song made their way into the folk-revival version of "Rocky Road (Green Green)," but they don't share lyrics in their traditional versions. - PJS
File: CNFM155

Rosin Box, The


DESCRIPTION: A tinker comes to solder among the ladies with "his soldering-iron tool." An old woman asks that he solder her bones. "A country chap" takes the tinker's daughter but she is rescued. If a woman had been honest, she'd have "a baby belonging to me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967 (recording, Johnny Reilly)
KEYWORDS: sex tinker
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #2501
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Reilly, "The Rosin Box" (on Voice07)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rozzin Box
NOTES: I won't pretend to understand how "the tinker he was nasty and was looking for a swap When up steps a country chap took his daughter in a truck" ties into the rest of this. On the other hand the sexual coding seems clear in the chorus "with his rosin box and itchy pole, his hammer, knife and spoon, And his nipper-tipper handstick and his soldering iron tool." - BS
File: RcRozBox

Rosin the Beau


DESCRIPTION: "Old Rosin," who has travelled the whole country/world, is preparing to depart from this life. He hopes that future generations will emulate him, and asks to be remembered (usually with alcohol). Details vary widely
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1860 (broadside, LOCSinging as110360)
KEYWORDS: drink death party burial
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South),Scotland(Aber)) US(MA,Ro,SE,So,SW) Ireland
REFERENCES (16 citations):
Belden, pp. 255-258, "Old Rosin the Beau" (2 texts)
Randolph 846, "Old Rosin the Bow" (2 short texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 386-387, "Old Rosin the Bow" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 846A)
Warner 159, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 32, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text)
Chappell-FSRA 64, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text)
Hudson 77, pp. 203-205, "Rosin the Bow" (2 texts)
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 171-175, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 5, "Old Rosin the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan3 698, "Rosen the Beau" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Kennedy 281, "Rosin, the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H698, p. 51, "Old Rosin the Bow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 37-39, "Old Rosin, the Beau" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 100, pp.209-211, "Rosin the Bow" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 202, "Old Rosin The Beau" (1 text)
DT, ROSINBOW*
Roud #1192
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Rosin the Bow" (on IRClancyMakem01)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSinging, as110360, "Old Rosin the Beau," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also sb40517a, "Old Rosin the Beau"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Acres of Clams (The Old Settler's Song)" (tune)
cf. "Lincoln and Liberty" (tune)
cf. "Sherman's March to the Sea" (tune)
cf. "Henry Clay Songs" (tune)
cf. "The Men of the West" (tune)
cf. "Straight-Out Democrat" (tune)
cf. "A Hayseed Like Me" (tune)
cf. "Tippecanoe" (tune)
cf. "He's the Man for Me" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Acres of Clams (The Old Settler's Song) (File: LxU055)
Lincoln and Liberty (File: San167)
Sherman's March to the Sea (File: SBoA248)
Just Tread on the Tail of Me Coat (File: R474)
The Mill-Boy of the Slashes (Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 39-40; cf. "Henry Clay Songs," File: SRW039)
Old Hal o' the West (Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 39-40; cf. "Henry Clay Songs," File: SRW039)
Straight-Out Democrat (File: SRW043)
The Men of the West (File: PGa030)
A Hayseed Like Me (File: Grnw060)
Tippecanoe (File: Br3397)
He's the Man for Me (File: RcHtMfM)
Song of the 1001 ("'Twas down by the foot of Mount Aetna") (Robert E. Gard and L. G. Sorden, _Wisconsin Lore: Antics and Anecdotes of Wisconsin People and Places_, Wisconsin House, 1962, p. 290, [no title]. The 1001 was said to be an organization which "made hoaxing the sole raison d'etre of their brotherhood.")
NOTES: Although this song is only moderately popular, and has been heavily folk processed, songs which have borrowed its tune were very common, particularly in the nineteenth century (see, e.g. "Acres of Clams," "Lincoln and Liberty").
Cohen cites Dichter and Shapiro to the effect that sheet music of this song (author not listed) was published in 1838. Whether this is actually the origin of the song (especially the tune) is not clear. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as110360: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R846

Rosin the Bow


See Rosin the Beau (File: R846)

Roslin on the Lee


DESCRIPTION: Sir Simon Fraser and Sir John Comyn led "ten thousand hielan' laddies Drest in their tartan plaidies." "For one hour and a quarter There was a bloody slaughter Till the English cried for quarter And in confusion flee"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: battle England Scotland
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 111, "Roslin on the Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5785
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Battle of Roslin
NOTES: Bodleian, 2806 c.11(109) ["Performer: Simpson, MacGregor"], "Roslin on the Lee" ("Just leave your tittle tattle"), The Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1849-1880 appears to be this ballad but could not be downloaded to be verified.
GreigDuncan1: "This Scottish victory over an English force took place at Roslin, south of Edinburgh, on 24 February 1303."
For some background on Scotland's rebellion against Edward I see "Scots Wha Hae (Bruce Before Bannockburn)." - BS
This is one of those cases where folklore significantly exaggerates. Yes, there was scattered opposition to the occupation by Edward I after the defeat of Wallace at Falkirk -- but there wasn't much. Sir Simon Fraser and John Comyn the Red were among the leaders -- but both would eventuallly submit to Edward I (see Magnus Magnusson, Scotland: The Story of a Nation, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000, pp. 151-152). It was, in fact, Robert Bruce's murder of the Red Comyn which formally started his war with Edward I (Magnusson, pp. 165-166).
Roslin was little more than a skirmish, involving far fewer men than this song would imply -- and was so minor that it was not even mentioned in the first six Scottish histories I checked. Its strategic significance was nil. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1111

Rossa's Farewell to Erin


DESCRIPTION: O'Donovan Rossa, on a ship, bids "Farewell to friends of Dublin." He will return sometime. He recalls joining the Fenian Brotherhood in 1864, curses "those traitors Who did our cause betray ... Nagle, Massey, Corydon, and Talbot" and sent him to jail.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (OLochlainn); c.1865 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: exile rebellion prison pardon Ireland patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 5, 1871 - Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa is freed from jail by amnesty on condition that he exile himself. He arrives in New York Jan. 19, 1871. (see Notes)
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
OLochlainn 34, "Rossa's Farewell to Erin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zimmermann 70, "O'Donovan Rossa's Farewell to Dublin" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Healy-OISBv2, pp. 136-137, "O'Donovan Rossa's Farewell (to Dublin)" (1 text)
ST OLoc034 (Partial)
Roud #3040
NOTES: (Source Ireland's Own site "Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa (1831-1915)" from George Treanor, Irish Heritage Group): Formed the Phoenix Society of Skibbereen for the fight for independence. That organization joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), or Fenians, which formed in 1858. Rossa was arrested in 1858 for association with the Fenians, and again in 1865 after the Fenian Rising. His sentence was for writing seditious articles. He was treated badly in jail, and released in 1871 by amnesty on condition that he go into exile. In New York Rossa continued writing in support of the Fenian movement and was involved in planning bombing attacks in England. He died in the United States.
Rossa and four others -- the "Cuba Five" -- arrive in New York on January 19, 1871 on board the steamer Cuba (Source: History Cooperative site; Irish Culture and Customs site) - BS
Rossa was another of those Irishmen (like, e.g. Cathal Brugha) who changed his name to make it more "Irish"; according to Kee (p. 4), he was born Jeremiah Donovan Rossa (not O'Donovan) -- although Lyons, p. 126, has a different version: In this, he was born Jeremiah O'Donovan and added the name Rossa. Golway, p. 113, says that his father was one of those who starved to death during the potato famine (in Skibbereen, in fact, according to OxfordCompanion, p. 404).
In 1856, O'Donovan Rossa founded the Phoenix Society, a literary group devoted to resurrecting Irish culture and literature (Lyon, p. 126); and from 1863 he was one of themajor forces behind the newspaper Irish People. The newspaper would be raided in 1865, resulting in O'Donovan Rossa's arrest.
In Charles Sullivan's Ireland in Poetry, p. 101, there is a poem, "The Returned Picture," credited to Mary O'Donovan Rossa (who was indeed a poet, having published Lyrical Poems in 1868). If this item is to be believed, Rossa's guards never let him see his wife, or the child still unborn when he was imprisoned, nor even let them see their picture. I cannot verify this,but it wouldn't surprise me. Not that his behavior was exactly above reproach; Golway on p. 148 reports that he was known for flinging the contents of his chamber pot at his jailors. In context, one can hardly blame them for tying his hands behind his back for a month (Kee, p. 62). He was finally released in 1871. He went to American soon after (OxfordCompanion, p. 404).
In his life, Rossa wasn't a particularly effective figure in politics (although his writings had some influence), and he died senile in New York at the age of 84 -- but his body, shipped back to Ireland, proved a powerful rallying point for nationalists. (This even though Kee, p. 238, says that Rossa toward the end of his life inclined toward the moderate methods of John Redmond. It hadn't always been so; in the 1880s, he had organized bombings in England; OxfordCompanion, p. 404) Padraig Pearse gave his funeral elegy, and used it to call for Irish independence -- even as thousands of Irish boys were volunteering to serve in the British army.
The informers mentioned in the song are a varied lot. Corydon was a Fenian courier who worked for the headstrong Captain McCafferty, who revealed a plan to attack the Chester Castle military storehouse (Kee, p. 36). Nagle was a worker at the Irish People who was more spy than informant; he carried off correspondence coming through the paper's offices (Kee, p. 23). Thomas Talbot was a professional detective who infiltrated the Fenians under the name John Kelly (Kee, p. 25).
Gordon Massey was the most important but most equivocal; it's not sure if he turned informer before or after he was taken by the British (Kee, pp. 32-33). A Crimean veteran who had gone to America and changed his name several times; he was given high seniority in the Fenian movement based on his alleged command experience, but was betrayed by Corydon (Kee, p. 39). - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: OLoc034

Rosy Apple, Lemon or Pear


See Rosey Apple Lemon and Pear (File: MSNR071)

Rosy Banks of Green, The


DESCRIPTION: Josephine and Charlie, a sailor, have been in love since they were in school. Her father shoots them. Josephine, dying, is glad she is going to meet her dead mother and Charlie. They "never shall be parted on the rosy banks of green"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: murder courting love father sailor reunion
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 701-704, "The Rosy Banks of Green" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 136, "Rosy Banks of Green" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4437
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Rosy Banks So Green
File: Pea701

Rosy Nell


See Rosie Nell (File: San114)

Rothesay-O


DESCRIPTION: "Last Hogmanay, at the Glesga Fair, there were me, mysel', and several mair, We a' gaed aff tae hae a tair And spend the nicht in Rothesay-O." And a tear it truly was, as they drank, sang, fought, slept, and were bitten by bugs in Rothesay.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: party drink humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Kennedy 282, "Rothsay-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 205, "Rothesay, O" (1 text)
DT, ROTHSAY-O*
Roud #2142
RECORDINGS:
Louis Killen & Pete Seeger, "Rothesay-O" (on PeteSeeger47)
Davie Stewart, "Rothsay-O" (on FSB10)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Tinkler's Waddin (The Tinker's Wedding)" (tune)
cf. "The Day I Went to Rothesay O" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
The Tinkler's Waddin (The Tinker's Wedding) (File: RcTTWttw)
File: K282

Rothiemay


DESCRIPTION: The singer praises "bonnie Rothiemay" on the banks of the Deveron. He tells about the seasons' effects, Milltown, the churchyard and other landmarks including the "Hoose" that "shelter lent" Mary, Queen of Scots. He recalls growing up in Rothiemay.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: pride nonballad home
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 518, "Rothiemay" (1 text)
Roud #6002
NOTES: Mary, Queen of Scots, visited Rothiemay Castle in 1562 (source: "Mary's Progresses" at Marie Stuart Society site).
Milltown of Rothiemay is about 40 miles northwest of Aberdeen. - BS
Mary's visit to Rothiemay took place on the night of 4 September, according to Rothiemay's web site (http://tinyurl.com/tbdx-Rothiemay). The date is interesting. According to Magnus Magnusson, Scotland: The Story of a Nation, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000, p. 347, "In the summer of 1562 Mary went with Lord James Stewart on a campaign against the most powerful Catholic family in Scotland, the Gordons of Huntly; George Gordon, the fourth Earl of Huntley (the 'Cock of the North,' as he was called) and one-time Chancellor of Scotland, died of apoplexy after being captured in a skirmish in October."
George Gordon, it has been suggested, was the hero of "Geordie" [Child 209].
The events in "The Fire of Frendraught" [Child 196] also involved the lord of Rothiemay.
At least one of the landmarks in the song, the castle of Rothiemay, was demolished in 1963. But it appears, from the town web site, that they are still proud of their history. And there were many mills there. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3518

Rothsay-O


See Rothesay-O (File: K282)

Rotten Potatoes, The


DESCRIPTION: Tenants are starving. At all costs save your corn and meal. Sell your cattle. The politicians will have a plan. The rents will be reduced. Food will be had "from Russia and Prussia and Americay." Potatoes have failed since '45. Things will improve.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: starvation Ireland nonballad food
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 58, "A New Song on the Rotten Potatoes" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)" (subject: The Potato Famines) and references there
NOTES: Although the singer hopes for help from the politicians, a change in government actually meant that Ireland was given *less* help as the famines stretched on.
The potatoes suffering from the blight didn't exactly rot. They just shrivelled away -- not that the difference made any difference. For details on the blight and its effects, see the notes to "Over There (I - The Praties They Grow Small)." - RBW
File: Zimm058

Rough Pavement


DESCRIPTION: The paved roads on the Island: "In springtime the potholes occur everywhere Oh that black roller-coaster will kill me." Mainland the roads are smooth. "My wife's not accustomed to such a smooth trip, So we pulled the car over and we followed the ditch!"
AUTHOR: Allan Rankin
EARLIEST DATE: 1982 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad technology travel
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ives-DullCare, pp. 221-223, 253, "Rough Pavement" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13995
File: IvDC221

Rough, Rocky Road (Most Done Suffering)


DESCRIPTION: "It's a rough, rocky road, And I'm 'most done struggling/suffering (x3), I'm bound to carry my soul to the Lord. I'm bound to carry my soul to Jesus, I'm bound to carry my soul to the Lord." "My (father's/etc.) on the road, And he's 'most done...."
AUTHOR: J. C. Brown ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (recording, Tuskegee Institute Singers)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad travel Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 632, "Rough, Rocky Road" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 25, "Most Done Ling'rin Here" (1 text, 1 tune, with a verse from "Run, Nigger, Run" plus the "If you get there before I do" floating verse and a chorus that might be this)
Roud #11832
RECORDINGS:
Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, "Rocky Road" (Columbia 15274-D, 1928; on AAFM2)
Emmett Brand, "Most Done Traveling (Rocky Road)" (on MuSouth06)
Fisk University Jubilee Singers, "Most Done Travelling" (Columbia A2901, 1920)
Tuskegee Institute Singers, "Most Done Trabelling (sic)" (Victor 18447, 1918)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Most Done Suffering
File: Br3632

Round About the Ladies


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

Round About the Maypole


See Round About the Punchbowl (File: Leyd021)

Round About the Punchbowl


DESCRIPTION: "Round about the punchbowl," "First time never to fall," "Second time catching time," "Third time kissing time"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: nonballad drink playparty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1594, "Round About the Maypole" (1 text)
Leyden 21, "Round About the Punchbowl" (2 texts)
Roud #12974
NOTES: Leyden describes the ring game for this song.
Leyden's second version, "collected by Clara M Patterson at Ballymiscaw Primary School in the 1890s," adds floating lines "Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes" [see "Banbury Cross"] and "Up the heathery mountain and down the rushy glen We dare not go a-hunting for Conor and his men" [see, for example, "Shane Crossagh"] - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Leyd021

Round and Round the Levee


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

Round and Round the Village


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

Round It Up a Heap It Up


DESCRIPTION: Corn-husking song, "Round it up a heap it up a Round it up a corn, A joog-a-loa." "De big owl hoot and cry for his mate, My honey, my love! Oh, don't stay long, oh, don't stay late... It ain't so fur to de goodbye gate."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food work
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 201, "Round It Up a Heap It Up" (1 text, plus a "Juba" fragment)
NOTES: The full stanza ("De big owl hoot....") is reported to come from Harris's Uncle Remus and His Friends. The relationship between that text and the traditional song is not clear. - RBW
File: Br3201

Round River Drive


DESCRIPTION: Recitation; multiple stories of Paul Bunyan
AUTHOR: original probably by James McGillivray; re-versified by Douglas Malloch
EARLIEST DATE: 1910 (Detroit Evening News, according to Wyman)
KEYWORDS: lumbering talltale humorous logger work recitation
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Beck 95, "Round River Drive" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Robert E. Gard and L. G. Sorden, _Wisconsin Lore: Antics and Anecdotes of Wisconsin People and Places_, Wisconsin House, 1962, pp. 77-80, "Round River Drive" (1 text, from Gene Shepard)
Roud #6523
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Paul Bunyan" (subject)
cf. "Paul Bunyan's Big Ox" (subject)
NOTES: This is an encyclopedic collection of Bunyan tales, which despite its length made it into oral tradition. Paul Bunyan is sometimes derided as a phony folk-hero, and he's certainly been heavily commercialized, but Beck makes clear that these were genuine folk tales.- PJS
The story is in fact quite a bit more complicated than that; see the notes to "Paul Bunyan." It is very likely that this is the source, not the result, of the Bunyan legend. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Be095

Round Rye Bay for More


DESCRIPTION: "We'll go round Rye Bay for more, my tars, Round Rye Bay for more" South of the buoy at Rye Bay the singer lost his trawl where "Old Crusty he told me that I shouldn't stray." The singer will go back when our money's gone.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (recording, Johnny Doughty)
KEYWORDS: nonballad shanty sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #8095
RECORDINGS:
Johnny Doughty, "Round Rye Bay for More" (on Voice02)
NOTES: On Voice02 Johnny Doughty sings the verse beginning "South of the buoy down Rye Bay way" as a parody of, and to the tune of, "South of the Border Down Mexico Way," by Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr, recorded by Frank Sinatra in the 1950's. - BS
File: RcRRBfM

Round the Bay of Mexico


DESCRIPTION: "Round the Bay of Mexico, Way, oh Susiana, Mexico is the place that I belong in...." The singer tells of courting girls "two at a time" and having them love him "because I don't tell everything that I know." He heads off to the fishing ground
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (field recording, Henry Lundy & David Pryor)
KEYWORDS: sailor courting
FOUND IN: Bahamas
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 83, "Round the Bay of Mexico (Bay of Mexico)" (1 text)
Roud #207
RECORDINGS:
Henry Lundy & David Pryor, "Round the Bay of Mexico" (AAFS 512 B2, 1935; on LC05, LomaxCD1822-2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cape Cod Girls" (lyrics)
NOTES: This is listed as having "new lyrics" by Paul Campbell (the Weavers, collectively), and "music adaption" by Tom Geraci. I have seen relatively little of the material elsewhere; this looks more like a new song from traditional materials than a touched-up traditional song. - RBW
Nope -- the song as touched up by the Weavers and friends is still quite close to the field recording from the Bahamas in 1935. - PJS
File: FSWB083B

Round the Corn Sally


DESCRIPTION: "Five can't catch me and ten can't hold me, Ho, round the corn, Sally, Round the corn, round the corn, round the corn, Sally! Ho, ho, ho, round...." "Here's your iggle-quarter and here's your count-aquila." "I can bank, ginny bank, ginny bank the weaver."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: nonballad money
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 68, "Round the Corn, Sally" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12025
NOTES: Allen/Ware/Garrison can make little of the text of this, and I can't say I blame them -- but might that last verse have somehow floated in from the chorus of "Jenny Dang the Weaver"? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG068A

Round the Corner, Sally


DESCRIPTION: Short-haul or halyard shanty. "Round the corner we will go, round the corner Sally." Verses refer to women or places where women may be found.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Sharp-EFC)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor whore
FOUND IN: Britain US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Colcord, p. 45, "Round the Corner" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 389-390, "Round the Corner, Sally" (2 texts, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 297-298]
Sharp-EFC, XLII, p. 47, "Round the Corner, Sally" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RNDCORNR*
Roud #4697
NOTES: According to Hugill "round-the-corner-sallies" are at least loose women and often full-fledged prostitutes. - SL
Dana's Two Years Before the Mast lists a song "Round the Corner" as a favorite shanty in his sailing days. If it is this piece, it would provide an Earliest Date for the song -- but Colcord notes that there is no reason to identiry them. Indeed, she seems to think them distinct -- but her reason is that this song is "almost too slight" to have merited mention. This would be a stronger argument if her text didn't look rather bowdlerized. - RBW
File: Hugi389

Round-Up Cook, The


See Punchin' Dough (File: FCW037)

Rounding the Horn


DESCRIPTION: Sailor describes hard trip around Cape Horn (in the frigate "Amphitrite"), and the pleasures (mostly female) of shore-leave in Chile. The singer says that Spanish girls are superior to (English) women, who have no enthusiasm and steal your clothes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907
KEYWORDS: travel sea ship shore drink sailor whore clothes theft
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 90, "Rounding the Horn" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H539, pp. 97-98, "The Girls of Valparaiso" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 177-178, "The Girls Around Cape Horn" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, RNDHORN* RNDHORN2
Roud #301
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Round Cape Horn" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Loss of the Amphitrite" [Laws K4] (subject)
cf "The Painful Plough" (tune)
cf. "Come All You Worthy Christian Men" (tune)
cf. "Van Dieman's Land (I)" [Laws L18] (tune)
NOTES: The brig Amphitrite was built in 1820 and engaged in South American trade. A frigate of the same name was lost in 1833 while carrying female convicts to Australia (see "The Loss of the Amphitrite"). - PJS
Roud, in one of his stranger acts of lumping, combines this with "The Loss of the Amphitrite" [Laws K4]. They only common element I can see is the ship name. - RBW
File: VWL090

Roundup in the Spring


DESCRIPTION: A group of cowboys meet in a hotel and swap tales. An old man listens eagerly. He was a cowboy, too, and recalls the work. He concludes, "I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring."
AUTHOR: claimed by Jack C. Williams and Carl Copeland
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Recording, Vernon Dalhart; also Publications of the Texas Folk-Lore Society, Vol. VI); the Copeland text copyrighted 1916
KEYWORDS: cowboy age work
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 20, "Roundup in the Spring" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11309
RECORDINGS:
Leon Chappelear "I'd Like to Be In Texas (For the Roundup in the Spring)" (Champion 45068, c. 1935; Montgomery Ward M-4950, 1936)
Vernon Dalhart "I'd Like to Be In Texas" (Vocalion 5044, 1926)
Bradley Kincaid "I'd Like to Be In Texas" (Decca 12053, n.d.)
[Asa] Martin & [James] Roberts, "The Roundup in the Spring" (Perfect 12906/Melotone 12642 [as by Asa Martin], 1933; on WhenIWas1)
File: Ohr020

Rouse, Hibernians


DESCRIPTION: "Rouse, Hibernians, from your slumbers! ... Our French brethren are at hand." Erin's sons defeat the tyrants now. "Apostate Orange ... Sure you might know how Irish freemen Soon would put your Orange down" "Vive la, United heroes"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1798 (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Ireland nonballad patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Aug 22, 1798 - 1100 French troops under General Humbert land at Killala Bay in County Mayo. He would surrender on Sept. 8, and by May 23 the Mayo rising had been suppressed with some brutality
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Zimmermann 18, "Rouse, Hibernians" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moylan 113, "Rouse Hibernians" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Viva La!" (tune)
cf. "Men of the West" (subject)
NOTES: Zimmermann quotes Musgrave: "This was found on the mother of Dougherty, a United Irishman who was killed by Woollaghan at Delgany, in the county of Wicklow in autumn 1798. She was seen to throw it out of her pocket, yet she swore she never saw it." - BS
This is rather a curious piece, since the 1798 rebellion in Wicklow and the east was already over by the time General Humbert made the first French landing in the west of Ireland. For details on that event, see the notes to "Men of the West."
To this piece Hamish Henderson compares the song "Vive la Republican," collected from Bell Robertson by Greig. The similarity is more thematic than lyric; the version printed by Henderson has none of the ethnic/religious tension of the Irish. For discussion, see pp. 9-10 of Henderson's essay in Edward J. Cowan, editor, The People's Past: Scottish Folk, Scottish History 1980 (I use the 1993 Polygon paperback edition). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Zimm018

Rousie's Song


DESCRIPTION: "They shore them wet on Monday, And they shore them wet again; How in the hell can a rousie live On twenty points of rain?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: work sheep
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 278, "Rousie's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Meredith et al explain that rouseabouts were paid by the week, and were allowed to "laze about" -- and get paid! -- if the shearers declared it too wet to work.
This doesn't make sense, though -- if rain lets workers get a paid vacation, why should they complain about it? And if it doesn't rain, they can always finish up and go elsewhere. So I have to suspect that this predates the work of the shearers' union, and comes from the days when the workers were paid only for work done. I'll admit that I don't know, though. - RBW
File: MCB278

Roustabout Holler


DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Po' roustabout don't have no home, Makes his livin' on his shoulder bone." The singer, loading sacks of cottonseed on the steamer Natchez, has no home and a sore shoulder, but does have a "little gal in big New Orleans."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: work river
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 571, "Roustabout Holler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15599
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Levee Camp Holler"
cf. "Steel Laying Holler"
File: BMRF571

Rover of the Sea, The


See The Bold Fisherman [Laws O24] (File: LO24)

Rovin' Sailor, The


See The Rambling Soldier (File: ShH43)

Rovin' Tam


DESCRIPTION: "Rovin Tam came doun the glen" and proposes to Nancy. She says, "Me be your dearie?" "Long he pled his cause in vain" and "plunged into Ugie's stream" At that she agrees to be his dearie. He drags himself onto the bank. Within a month they marry.
AUTHOR: Peter Still (1814-1848)
EARLIEST DATE: 1845 (Still)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greig #108, p. 1, "Rovin' Tam" (1 text)
GreigDuncan4 912, "Rovin' Tam" (3 texts)
ADDITIONAL: Peter Still, The Cottar's Sunday, and Other Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Philadelphia, 1845), pp. 196-197, "Rovin' Tam"
Roud #6259
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Duncan Gray" (tune, per GreigDuncan4 and Still)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Rovin Tam Came Doun the Glen
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 quoting a Greig correspondent: "My uncle [Kenneth Shirer] tells me he has heard that the song was composed by a lady ... And if his memory serves him right, it was a Miss Gordon." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4912

Roving Bachelor, The


DESCRIPTION: The bachelor comes to town determined to find a wife. Seeing a woman, he engages her in conversation and learns of her tastes and her fortune (as well as how she treats her family). (Since her wealth is enough and he suits her fancy, they get married)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (Grieg)
KEYWORDS: rambling courting marriage dialog bachelor
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H650a+b, pp. 263-264, "The Roving Bachelor" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #1649
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Roving Journeyman, The
NOTES: This is recognized less by the details of the plot than by the constant repetition of the phrase, "The next question that I asked/axed her...."
Creighton has a fragment also titled "The Roving Journeyman," but it looks more like a version of "With My Swag All On My Shoulder."
Henry's second version asks "did her father deal in flax?" This appears to be a reference to the several periods in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when the Irish linen industry tried to build itself up. Typically the British would open the markets, the Irish would try to build an industry, and the British would reimpose the tarriff walls, crushing the Irish flax farmers. It's not clear from the song whether it takes place during the up or down points of the cycle. - RBW
File: HHH650

Roving Blade, The


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

Roving Cowboy (I)


See Jack Monroe (Jackie Frazer; The Wars of Germany) [Laws N7] (File: LN07)

Roving Cowboy, The


See Come All Ye Lonesome Cowboys (File: R189)

Roving Gambler Blues


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

Roving Gambler, The (The Gambling Man) [Laws H4]


DESCRIPTION: The singer freely admits his addiction to gambling, cards, and a roving life. But he also has an eye for the ladies. In one town he meets with a "pretty little girl" who takes him home and then decides to follow him wherever he goes
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: gambling courting rambling floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,Ro,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES (18 citations):
Laws H4, "The Roving Gambler (The Gambling Man)"
Belden, pp. 374-377, "The Guerrilla Boy" (4 texts, 1 tune, but only the first 2 texts are this piece)
Randolph 835, "The Guerilla Man" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 323-325, "The Guerrilla Man" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 835A. Cohen notes that the printed melody fits only the first verse; there is probably an error in the transcription, causing a line to be omitted)
BrownIII 49, "The Journeyman" (3 text)
Brewster 87, "The Blue-Coat Man" (1 text, a curious version in which the gambler, upon seeing enemies, "willingly shot them down"; 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 75, "The Roaming Gambler" (1 text)
Fuson, p. 131, "The Gambling Man" (1 text, incorporating the "Pretty Little Foot")
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 98-99, "The Roving Gambler" (1 text; a number of his other texts also have verses probably from this song; see the references under "On Top of Old Smokey")
Sandburg, pp. 312-313, "The Roving Gambler" (3 texts, 1 tune. The "A" and "C" texts, clearly go here; the "B" text is possibly distinct though mostly floating verses)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 150-151, "The Roving Gambler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 21, pp. 136-139, "The Buckskin Shirt" (1 text, 1 tune, a strange composite starting with "The Roving Gambler (The Gambling Man) [Laws H4]), breaks into a cowboy version of "Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me)," and concludes with a stanza describing the happy marriage between the two)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 889, "The Roving Gambler" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 592, "The Wandering Steamboatman" (1 partial text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 226-227, "The Roving Gambler" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 54, "Rambling, Gambling Man" (1 text, with more than a little influence from the "I'm a Rambler, I'm a Gambler" texts of "The Wagoner's Lad"); p. 60, "Roving Gambler Blues" (1 text)
Thomas-Makin', p. 122, "The Rustlin' Gambler" (1 text, probably a mix of this with other gambler songs)
DT 645, ROVINGMB
Roud #498
RECORDINGS:
Frank Bode, "Roving Gambler" (on FBode1)
Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, "Roving Gambler" (Crown 3159, 1931; Paramount 3302, 1932; Varsity 5082, Montgomery Ward M-3025, Homestead 23041, Continental 3012 [as Pete Daley's Arkansas Fiddlers], n.d.)
Vernon Dalhart, "Rovin' Gambler" (Edison 51584, 1925) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5027 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], n.d.) (OKeh 40479 [as Tobe Little], 1925) (Columbia 15034 [as Al Craver], 1925) (Grey Gull/Radiex 4135 [as Jeff Calhoun], 1927)
Hobart Delp & band, "Roving Gambler" (on Persis1)
Kelly Harrell, "Rovin' Gambler" (Victor 19596, 1925; on KHarrell01) (Victor 20171, 1926; Montgomery Ward M-4367, 1933; on KHarrell01)
Claude Moye, "Roving Gambler" (Champion 16118 [as Asparagus Joe], Supertone 9712 [as Pie Plant Pete], 1930; Superior 2643 [as Jerry Wallace], 1931; Champion 45063, Melotone [Can.] 45063 [both as Pie Plant Pete; as "Rovin' Gambler"], 1935)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Roving Gambler" (on NLCR01)
George Reneau, "Rovin' Gambler" (Vocalion 15148, 1925; Vocalion 5077, 1926)
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "The Roving Gambler" (Columbia 15447-D, 1929)
Welby Toomey, "Roving Gambler" (Gennett 6005, Champion 15209 [as Herb Jennings], Silvertone 5006, Challenge 229 [as Clarence Adams], 1927; Silvertone 8151, Supertone 9252, 1928; Herwin 75532, n.d.; rec. 1926)
Doug Wallin, "The Roving Gambler" (on Wallins1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "True-Born Irish Man (With My Swag All on My Shoulder; The True-Born Native Man)" (plot)
cf. "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me (Been All Around This World)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Almost Done" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Gambler" (theme, floating lyrics)
cf. "Sailing Out on the Ocean" (floating lyrics)
cf. "I Met a Handsome Lady" (lyrics)
cf. "The Soldier Boy (III) (The Texas Volunteer): (lyrics)
File: LH04

Roving Highlander, The


See The Braemar Poacher (File: GrD2253)

Roving Irishman, The


See True-Born Irish Man (With My Swag All on My Shoulder; The True-Born Native Man) (File: MA062)

Roving Jack the Baker


DESCRIPTION: Roving Jack the baker returns from war with a good pension. He meets a girl with 15 pounds of her own. He courts her with lies to get her money. He promises to marry her but hopes not to. He makes her drunk, takes her to bed, steals her money, and leaves.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: greed courting sex lie theft drink rake
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 32, "Roving Jack the Baker" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Merrily Kiss the Quaker" (tune, per Leyden)
cf. "Gold Watch [Laws K41]" (plot, with sex roles reversed) and references there
File: Leyd032

Roving Journeyman (I), The


See True-Born Irish Man (With My Swag All on My Shoulder; The True-Born Native Man) (File: MA062)

Roving Journeyman (II), The


See The Roving Bachelor (File: HHH650)

Roving Journeyman, The


DESCRIPTION: Jamie, a tradesman, left Nancy in Caledonia, promising to write. Now he works iron and steel from six in the morning til seven at night. He recommends others marry rather than leave their sweetheart behind. He toasts journeymen, his family, and Nancy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: love emigration parting worker Scotland
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #107, p. 2, "The Roving Journeyman" (1 text)
GreigDuncan8 1539, "The Roving Journeyman" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #12958
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Caledonia
NOTES: Apparently broadside Bodleian, 2806 c.11(49), "Caledonia" ("Come all you roving journeymen, whereever you be"), unknown, no date is this song but I could not download and verify it. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81539

Roving Newfoundlanders (I), The


DESCRIPTION: The singer, musing at home, thinks about all the Newfoundlanders who have sailed and fished in all parts of the world. They have also taken part in historic world events (mostly confined to the 19th century) The singer tells us he is from Harbour Grace.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: Canada patriotic bragging
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 183, "The Roving Newfoundlanders" (1 text, 1 tune)
Blondahl, p. 15, "Roving Newfoundlander" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle2, pp. 55, "The Roving Newfoundlanders" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doyle3, pp. 71, "The Roving Newfoundlanders" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6362
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "The Roving Newfoundlander" (on NFOBlondahl02,NFOBlondahl05)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Captain Bob Bartlett" (character) and references there.
NOTES: Judging by the historic events mentioned (the Boer War, the Spanish-American War of 1898 and going to the "Pole"), we can determine that the song is from the early twentieth century. Robert Abram Bartlett was born in Brigus, Conception Bay and began exploring the Arctic in 1897. He was with Admiral Robert Peary in 1909 when [the latter reportedly reached] the North Pole, being the commander of Peary's ship. - SH
For a good deal more on Captain Bob Bartlett, see the notes to "Captain Bob Bartlett"; also "Ballad of Captain Bob Bartlett, Arctic Explorer." For the quest for the Pole, see "Hurrah for Baffin's Bay." - RBW
File: Doy55

Roving Newfoundlanders (II), The


DESCRIPTION: "Ye roving boys of Newfoundland, come listen unto me." In 1863, Shea hires 55 men to work on the railway. They run away to Canada, work on a riverboat and are robbed, ship on the Morning Bloom which sinks on George's Bank; only seven reach St John's
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: death drowning commerce fishing river sea ship work ordeal storm wreck Canada sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield 150, "The Roving Newfoundlanders" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 916-921, "George's Banks" (2 texts, 3 tunes)
Leach-Labrador 78, "George's Banks" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #17756
CROSS-REFERENCES:
The Shea Gang
You Roving Boys of Newfoundland
NOTES: This is a tough one to pin down.
This is surely not about the Newfoundland Railroad which was not begun until 1881. The Windsor Branch Railway in Nova Scotia opened in 1856 and is at least possible as the railroad in question.
Peacock's versions of the song have the date as 1868 and he has "Shea's gang" building the Canadian Pacific Railway; but the Canadian Pacific Railway construction began in 1875 after scandals and false starts in the early Seventies.
As for the wreck of the Morning Bloom on George's Bank: I find no record of that[;] the Northern Shipwrecks Database 2002 lists well over 200 ships by name lost on George's Bank between 1822 and 1995.
A July 2002 note by Wilfred Allan at Nova-ScotiaSeafarers-L Archives site states "Georges Bank is at the edge of the Atlantic continental shelf between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia. Thus it straddles both the U.S and Canadian borders ... about 250 km by 150 km in area." - BS
We have four texts -- Greenleaf/Mansfield 150, Leach-Labrador 78, Peacock p916A and Peacock p919C -- and we're not likely to find more (cf. Mercer). This seems a good time to sum up.
In response to my query about railway history as it might relate to Peacock's version and comments, Dave Knowles, Librarian of the C. Robert Craig Memorial Library in Ontario -- established to collect, preserve and make available to the public materials that document the history of rail transportation in Canada -- was kind enough to join me in speculating about the railway and to suggest further paths to follow in researching this problem.
Mr Knowles's thoughts -- quoted by permission with the understanding that "so much of it is guesswork or gut instinct that it really doesn't qualify as research" -- follow and are interspersed among the comments on the railway section of this discussion. He writes, "On balance I suspect that the situation in the song is generic rather than specific. Given the song's length it probably developed over the years with consequent changes in names and facts in order to match the times, the tune, and perhaps even the audiences. In all probability many songs were melded together to create the epic."
While I don't go that far, I did become convinced that the ballad is a constructed "Odyssey" with episodes to work back to "Ithaca" rather than a retelling of an historic journey; why, for example, would even a storm-driven Gloucester fisherman work so hard to reach St John's rather than heading home?
As for the rest of the statement: certainly, the components were in the air for years and, as Greenleaf/Mansfield 183 illustrates, the idea of combining the different adventures of "The Roving Newfoundlanders" in a single song was not new (though Greenleaf/Mansfield 183 does not stitch them together into a single adventure).
Songs about work fill the collections. There are a few songs about fishing on your own in the season: "Rowing in a Dory" where you are "the captain and the crew," "The Fisher Who Died in his Bed," "John Yetman," "Western Boat," .... There are a few more about trying to get through the hard times at home off season like "Brown Flour" and "Fish and Brevis." There are far more about leaving home for seasonal fishing: "The Herring Gibbers," "Taking Back Gear in the Night," "High Times in our Ship," not to count the many "The Wreck of ..." and "The Loss of ..." that end in disaster.
There are many about leaving home for seal hunting, logging, hauling cargo etc.: "Maurice Crotty," "The Sealer's Song," "Twin Lakes," "Jerry Ryan," "The Badger Drive," and some about spiking on railways: "The Boys at Ninety-Five," "The Bonavist Line," "Drill Ye Heroes, Drill." There are ballads about leaving the island for seasonal work: "Labrador," "The Girls of Newfoundland," "The Track to Knob Lake,."... There are ballads about leaving the island for years to earn a stake, like "The Green Shores of Fogo" and "My Dear, I'm Bound for Canady." Finally there are ballads about emigrating when hard times are too much to bear, like "The Emigrant from Newfoundland" and "The Low-Backed Car."
This ballad has five episodes and they cover some of this variety of situation.
(1) In 1863/1868/1872 they (maybe 55 or 62) leave Newfoundland to get work.
My first problem was in taking this range of dates seriously. What was going on in those years? Is this is just meant to refer to "a ways back"?
(2) In three of the four versions, the first stop is to railway construction for Shea (maybe in "Canada"). The conditions being very bad, they run away.
Peacock puts this job at Crow's Nest Pass, and, in 1961, his seventy-seven year old informant reminisced about hearing the old-timers talk about that hard time. If Peacock was right then this episode referred to a Canadian Pacific Railway project in the winter of 1897-1898; Crow's Nest Pass -- or Crowsnest Pass -- is just east of the border between southern Alberta and British Columbia.
Dave Knowles continues on the subject of what workers were likely to be found on railway construction gangs between 1860 and 1900. My original question to him involved the likelihood that Newfoundlanders were contracted as a group in 1863-1872. "The dates cited in the song were in the sixties. There were many different railways built in what is today's 'Canada' beginning in the 1830s. The first railway into Ottawa was 1854, and the Grand Trunk between Montreal and Toronto was 'abuilding' in the 1856-8 period. Most of these early railways were short and soon ended up in the three major systems of Grand Trunk, Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern....
"As far as labour is concerned most of it was local, contracted and sub-contracted out. Stone bridges, stations etc would require skilled stone masons and carpenters who were a higher level of worker than needed for the roadbeds. The Grand Trunk (between Montreal and Toronto), in contrast, however, was built by British railway contractors Peto, Brassey, Bates and Jackson who imported a crew (estimated at 3000) of the famous 'navvies' from Britain. They returned to Britain at the end of construction. The western end of the CPR in the early 1880s used labourers imported from China!
"In the days before steam or diesel powered construction equipment the work was hard and I gather the attrition rates were pretty high. Consequently labourers were sought from wherever they could be found. Many contractors were involved. I suspect that there were many 'Sheas' among the contractors and sub-contractors as well as in the labour force. In the Ottawa area the Royal Engineers had used many Scots and Irish stone masons on the necessary works of the Rideau Canal, and there was a substantial colony of Irish immigrants located to the west and south of Ottawa." He goes on to recommend Fleming and Coleman as sources for further information, both of which were very useful.
I followed Dave Knowles's lead to look at sources of railway labor throughout the period. The ballad holds together best if the railway work is actually in the East, on the Intercolonial in the Maritimes. The original Intercolonial plan had considered Imperial Government orchestration of Irish emigration to alleviate both the famine and shortage of labour (Fleming, pp. 49-50). I could find no reference to the actual source after 1862 (Fleming, pp 55-64).
The work on the Grand Trunk before the 1860s required temporary contracting of 3000 navies from England because "there was no local labour worth speaking of" (Coleman, pp. 183-184). English navies continued to be used. While "the navvy age" continued until about 1900 (Coleman, p. 20) the last "great work" in Britain was completed in 1875 (Coleman, p.192) and by 1888 "navvies from London were starving at Toronto" (Coleman, p. 191).
By 1880 use of Chinese labor had become a major issue in the west (Berton, p. 373). While locals were against the competition, the railway builders preferred Chinese labor. Not only were wages low for Chinese labor but there was "little to fear" in regard to working condition monitoring from a government and public hostile to the Chinese (McKee and Klassen, p.21). And, besides, in 1885, "Chapleau wrote that 'as a railway navvy, the Chinaman has no superior'" (Berton, p. 374). Restriction of Chinese immigration by imposition of a $50 head tax, in 1885, reopened the labor market to Canadians (18thC) as the navvy source dried up. By 1887 there were sites employing no Chinese (Turner, pp. 17-18).
By the time of the Crow's Nest Pass project working conditions for white workers were an issue and the description of the situation is very much like that described by the ballad. Thirty-five hundred were employed in construction (Cousins, p 32). "Complaints reached Ottawa, and in January 1898... a commission [was appointed] to inquire into the treatment of laborers in the Crowsnest construction crews. Its report, submitted in April, told a tale of poor accommodation, bad sanitary conditions, and low wages.... Cases of desertion and of nonpayment of wages by contractors were fairly frequent; there was some violence in the camps and occasionally a murder" (Lamb, p. 212).
Anyone in Ottawa, or near a Canadian library, wishing to investigate the Crow's Nest Pass project further might consider the following sources: Report of Commissioner N.W.M.P. 1898 (Ottawa: King's Printer, 1898), and Report of the Commission Inquiring into the Death of McDonald and Fraser of the Crow's Nest Railway, R.C. Clute Commissione. 1899 Ottawa. Sessional Papers No. 70 Vol. 33 No. 14, may be included in Government of Canada Files at [link expired, but the data has probably been moved to the Library and Archives Canada site, http://tinyurl.com/tbdx-CanadaArchives, which has many references to the Pass project - RBW], Reference RG43, Railways and Canals, Series A-I-2, Volume 348, File 9080, Access code 90, File Title: Crow's Nest Pass Railway Co. - Labour Conditions. Keywords: Crow's Nest Pass Railway Co. Outside Dates: 1897-1907, File aiding number: 43-50.
(3) In the two versions for which 55 run away, their next job is on a riverboat in Canada (maybe around Montreal); until their money is stolen.
I have seen no other Newfoundland references to river boating. That is hardly surprising since there were no Newfoundland river boats. However, the story is different for the rest of what is now Canada. The first commercial steamboat voyage on the St Lawrence -- between Montreal and Quebec -- took place in 1809, two years after Fulton's Clermont went into service on the Hudson (Croil, pp. 50, 312).
By the time of the years actually mentioned in the ballad commercial steam powered river boats were common in Quebec and Ontario (Croil, pp. 307-332). At the time of the Crow's Nest Pass project "some of the finest river steamers in the Dominion" were on the Columbia River and Kootenay Lakes, about 160 miles away (Croil, pp. 338-339). And while river boats may not have been in Newfoundland, steamers were. Steam service began in the 1840's and steamers were used in seal hunting in 1862 (Croil, pp. 354-355). So Newfoundlanders were knowledgeable steamship hands throughout the period we are considering and steamships were used commercially where the events may be supposed to take place. Whether they actually took place in the context of the ballad is the question.
(4) They eventually go through Halifax to Boston (or Gloucester) and ship aboard the Morning Bloom (or Morning Glow) for George's Banks. On November 22, in a bad storm, either their ship, or Jubilee, lose 22 men (but no ship is mentioned as sinking).
There is no question about the dangers on George's Banks (cf. "Fifteen Ships on George's Banks" and "George's Bank (II)"). However, there is no record of a severe storm on some November 22, or thereabouts, that I can find in the Northern Shipwrecks Database for the period in question. Part of the problem may be that no sunk ships are named in the ballad and that the database only records lost ships. However, if the date referred to a real storm I'd expect some ship to have been lost and reported.
(5) Having escaped that storm they continue fighting strong seas. Eventually they see the lighthouse at Cape Ray (built 1871) or Cape Race (starts operation 1856) or Sarne's Point and, of the remaining crew of 18, only 7 survive to reach Cape Spear (built 1835) and St John's.
There's nothing here that we can say is evidence of some one historic event. - BS
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.5
File: GrMa150

Roving Ploughboy, The


DESCRIPTION: The singer asks that her horse be saddled so she can follow the ploughboy. After sleeping last night "on a fine feather bed," she will sleep tonight in a barn in his arms. She says none can compare with him, and bids her home farewell
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (Kennedy)
KEYWORDS: love elopement worker farming farewell
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kennedy 260, "The Roving Ploughboy-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2138
RECORDINGS:
John MacDonald, "The Roving Ploughboy-O" (on FSB3)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Gypsy Laddie" [Child 200] (theme, lyrics, tune)
NOTES: Paul Stamler suggests that this is a version (or, perhaps more correctly, a fragment) of "The Gypsy Laddie," and it's true that about half the lyrics appear in that song, and the general theme is the same, and there are similarities in the tune as well.
But the song seems to have circulated independently, and the key element of "The Gypsy Laddie" is missing: there is no sign of the wife abandoning her husband, or of him pursuing. Allowing the strong possibility that this is a fragment of the longer ballad, I still incline to split them.
Kennedy associates this with Ord's "The Collier Laddie." That strikes me as much more of a stretch. - RBW
File: K260

Roving Ranger, The


See Texas Rangers, The [Laws A8] (File: LA08)

Roving Shantyboy, The


DESCRIPTION: "Come all you tru-born shantyboys wherever you may be." The singer describes how he met a pretty girl and took her on my knee. The song shifts to the girl's viewpoint as she laments that "he was away by the first of may." She laments with her child
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1965 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: courting rambling pregnancy logger baby
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-Lumbering #57, "The Roving Shantyboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4359
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh No Not I" (plot)
cf. "Rambleaway" (plot)
NOTES: Fowke considers this to be "adapted from an older British song, but here the original has proved harder to identify." It appears to me *very* similar to "Rambleaway," including that song's shift in viewpoint: The man describes the seduction, the woman the consequences. Though the lyrics have points of contact with "The Foggy Dew" and others. - RBW
File: FowL56

Row After Row


DESCRIPTION: "I'm a-thinkin of you, honey, Thinkin' 'case I love you so... As I hoe down row after row." "Row after row, my baby (x3)... When I think of her the rows get shorter...." "So I keep on a-hoein' an a-hoein', Thinkin' of Miss Lindy Lou."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: worksong farming love
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 211-212, "Row After Row" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: ScaNF211

Row Boat (Ride About)


DESCRIPTION: "Row boat (or: "Ride About"), row, where shall I row?" The young man comes to Miss Mary's door and asks if she is in. She is, and the wedding is set for (the next day)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Newell)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage playparty
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 678, "Ride About, Ride About" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "B" text is mixed with "Uncle John Is Sick Abed")
BrownIII 73, "Row the Boat, Row the Boat" (2 texts plus a fragment)
Roud #13080
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wallflowers" (form, floating lyrics)
NOTES: The editors of Brown claim that their texts are remnants of "Wallflowers." This is one of those unprovable things; what similarities they have are all floating elements. The "B" text in Brown, "Tommy Jones," has clearly been conflated with something else to make it a true, if somewhat incoherent, ballad -- but what that something else is I cannot tell. - RBW
File: R678

Row the Boat Ashore


See Roll the Boat Ashore (Hog-eye I) (File: San380)

Row the Boat, Row the Boat


See Row Boat (Ride About) (File: R678)

Row Us Over the Tide


DESCRIPTION: Two children come up to a boatman, asking him to "row us over the tide." The report that their mother is dead and their father has abandoned them; they have no home.
AUTHOR: E. C. Avis?
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recordings, Kelly Harrell, Bela Lam); Avis is said to have published the song in 1888
KEYWORDS: mother father orphan death separation
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, ROWTIDE*
Roud #9132
RECORDINGS:
The Blue Sky Boys, "Row Us Over the Tide" (Bluebird B-6567, 1936)
Clarence & Claude Ganus, "Row Us Over the Tide" (Vocalion 5312, 1929)
Kelly Harrell & Henry Norton, "Row Us Over the Tide" (Victor 20935, 1927; on KHarrell02)
Bela Lam & His Green County Singers, "Row Us Over The Tide" (Okeh 45126, 1927)
Lulu Belle & Scottie (Okeh/unissued, 1940)
Mr. & Mrs. E. C. Mills, "Row Us Over the Tide" (Brunswick/unissued, 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Orphan's Lament (Two Little Children, Left Jim and I Alone)" (subject)
cf. "I Saw the Pale Moon Shining on Mother's White Tombstone" (subject)
NOTES: As far as I know, no version of this song reveals *why* the children want to cross the water. (Of course, the versions of the song aren't particularly coherent.) One suspects that, in the original, they interpreted crossing the tide as going to heaven.
Joan Sprung knew a report connecting this with the 1878 yellow fever epidemic (in which at least 20,000 people died, mostly along the Mississippi river between New Orleans and Memphis).
The Blue Sky Boys recording put a very different twist on this song, ending with a chorus about Jesus taking the children away to heaven. This is clearly a rewrite to give a potential tragedy a preudo-happy ending. - RBW
File: DTrowtid
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