What Brought the Blood?

What Can A Young Lassie Do Wi' An Auld Man

DESCRIPTION: Jenny curses the money that caused her mother to sell her to an old man. She cannot please him. She will try to follow her aunt Kittie's plan: "I'll cross him, I'll crack him until I have brak him." "Oh, weary's my life with a crazy old man"
AUTHOR: Robert Burns
EARLIEST DATE: 1792 (see NOTE)
KEYWORDS: age marriage nonballad husband mother wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, WHATCANA
Roud #1295
RECORDINGS:
Jane Turiff, "What Can a Young Lassie Dae Wi' An Auld Man?" (on Voice15)
NOTES: Musical Traditions site Voice of the People suite "Reviews - Volume 15" by Fred McCormick - 27.2.99: "I suspect however that he [Burns] re-created it from a traditional original, and my supposition is supported by the fact that he set it to a pre-existing air, which already bore the title of the present piece" [but Jane Turiff's version on Voice15 uses one of "The False Bride" tunes (for example, "I Loved a Lass" on SCMacCollSeeger01)]. - BS
The dating of this piece is slightly problematic. Ben Schwartz sent in a 1791 EARLIEST DATE based on the Burns Country web site. The Wordsworth Works of Robert Burns (p. 633) also dates it to that year.
The best reference I have, however, is James Kinsley's Burns: Complete Poems & Songs, which dates it 1792. That is, I think, based on its publication in volume IV of the Scots Musical Museum.
My best guess is that the song was written 1791, published 1792 -- but I'm listing the 1792 date just in case. - RBW
File: RcWCAYLD

What Care I for the Laird o' Drum

DESCRIPTION: "What care I for the Laird o' Drum, And what care I for Gammie O? We'll stap wir wa's [GreigDuncan8: take our way] ti the Mains o' Drum And hae anither drammie O"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #61, p. 2, ("What care I for the Laird o' Drum") (1 fragment)
GreigDuncan8 1928, "What Care I for the Laird o' Drum" (1 fragment)
Roud #13560
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
"The Laird o Drum" [Child 236] tells of that lord seeking a low-born wife who was willing to work. In some versions, he had a previous wife who was costly and worthless. Could this be her answer? Or the comment of one of the girls the Laird turned down before finding one who satisfied him? - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81928

What Child Is This?

DESCRIPTION: In response to the question, "What child is this" whom Mary cradles and angels hymn, we are tols "This, this is Christ the king." The child's humble estate is described, and listeners urged to praise him
AUTHOR: Words: William Chatterton Dix
EARLIEST DATE: 1871 (Bramley & Stainer); reportedly written c. 1865
KEYWORDS: Christmas religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 379, "What Child Is This?" (1 text)
DT, WHATCHLD
ADDITIONAL: Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #95, "What Child Is This Who Laid to Rest" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "What Child Is This?" (on PeteSeeger37, PeteSeeger42)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Greensleeves" (tune)
File: FSWB379A

What Do You Think o' Me Noo, Kind Sirs?

DESCRIPTION: "I am a young man, I live wi' my mither, A braw decent kimmer, I trow, Bu when I speak o' takin' a wife, She aye gets up in a lowe." He notes that someone is needed to care for the property. He courts Betty; she answers, "Who cares for you or your kye?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: mother home age youth courting rejection humorous
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 115-116, "What Do You Think of Me Noo, Kind Sirs?" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan4 898, "The Mither's Loon" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6141
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Bonny Wee Wifie and I" (tune, per GreigDuncan4)
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 quoting Gillespie: "Heard from girlhood, and first from Thomas Murdoch (carpenter) about 1857. Noted 1905." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: FVS115

What Do You Think of Me Noo, Kind Sirs?

See What Do You Think o' Me Noo, Kind Sirs? (File: FVS115)

What Do You Think of My Darling?

DESCRIPTION: The singer lives on a small pension. His wife makes him do the nasty jobs around the house and "if I don't do it right it's a slap ... a kick or a clout" She drinks, gossips, is ugly and dirty. He prays "the devil like lightening might sweep her away"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: shrewishness marriage drink ordeal wife
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Dibblee/Dibblee, p. 102, "What Do You Think of My Darling?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean, p. 127, "The Shrew Wife" (1 text)
Roud #9602
File: Dib102

What Does the Deep Sea Say?

DESCRIPTION: The big boat is coming around the bend, doing nothing but killing good men. Vicksburg was a hilly town, until the Yankee gunboats blew it down. Cho: "What does the deep sea say?...It moans and it groans, it slashes and it foams/And rolls on its weary way"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: battle Civilwar fight violence war river sea ship
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Nov 1862 - Union general Ulysses S. Grant begins his Vicksburg campaign. His first four attempts to reach the city fail
Apr 16, 1863 - Porter's gunboats run past Vicksburg, opening the way for Grant's final successful campaign
May 12-17, 1863 - Grant fights a series of minor battles which bring him to the defenses of Vicksburg
May 22, 1863 - Grant's attempt to take Vicksburg by storm is a bloody failure. The Union army settles down to a siege
July 4, 1863 - Lt. General Pemberton surrenders Vicksburg
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, DEEPSEA
RECORDINGS:
Vernon Dalhart, "What Does the Deep Sea Say" (Velvet Tone 1960-V, 1929)
Bob Ferguson (pseud. for Bob Miller) "What Does the Deep Sea Say" (Columbia 15727-D, 1932; prob. rec. 1931)
Lester McFarland & Robert Gardner, "What Does the Deep Sea Say" (Brunswick 483, 1930)
Bill Palmer's Trio, "What Does the Deep Sea Say?" (Bluebird B-5034, 1933)
Uncle Bud & his Plow Boys, "What Does the Deep Sea Say?" (Clarion 5418-C, 1931)
NOTES: Digital Tradition assigns authorship to Woody Guthrie. Given the date of Dalhart's recording, this is pretty near impossible. The McFarland-Gardner record credits this to "Miller." - PJS
File: DTdeepse

What Folk Are Made Of

See What's Little Babies Made Of? (File: SKE79)

What Folks Are Made Of

See What's Little Babies Made Of? (File: SKE79)

What Gives the Wheat Fields Blades of Steel?

DESCRIPTION: "What gives the wheatfields blades of steel? What points the rebel cannon?... What breaks the oath Of the men of the south?... Hark to the answer: Slavery." The evils of slavery, and the poison and treason it causes, are described in detail
AUTHOR: Words: John Greenleaf Whittier / Music: Martin Luther
EARLIEST DATE: 1862
KEYWORDS: slave slavery freedom political nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BoA, pp. 236-237, "What Gives the Wheat Fields Blades of Steel?" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Mighty Fortress" (tune)
File: SBoA236

What Harm Has Jesus Done?

DESCRIPTION: "Tell me what harm has Jesus done you Sinners all hate him so." Jews nailed him to the tree and gave him a cup of vinegar which he drank. Gabriel in the morning will separate the "sheep on the right and the goats on the left"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious Jesus Jew violence execution dying Bible
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 174, "What Harm Has Jesus Done?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2285
RECORDINGS:
Chas Owens and family, "What Harm Has Jesus Done?" (on MRHCreighton)
NOTES: At the time of recording, Charles Owens was 99, living in a small colony of Negroes in the Maritimes; they are descendants of slaves, and Creighton theorizes that they brought this jubilee song with them from the U.S. - PJS
We should probably recall that the Romans, not the Jews, crucified Jesus.
The reference to Jesus drinking vinegar is a mistranslation, though "vinegar" is the word used by the King James Bible in all four references (Matthew 27:48, Mark 15:36, Luke 23:36, and John 19:29 all use the same word). The four Gospels also use the same word for the beverage (while disagreeing on the delivery method), but its normal usage is "sour wine" (which was less expensive than sweet), not "vinegar," though of course vinegar could be made from it. Still, the best translation would probably be something like "cheap wine." It was a painkiller -- and, in context, it might well hasten death, since alcohol is a diuretic, and dehydration is one of the main causes of death during crucifixion.
The parable of the Sheep and the Goats is in Matthew 25:31-46. In it, Jesus, not Gabriel, separates the souls into groups. - RBW
File: CrMa174

What Irish Boys Can Do

DESCRIPTION: "They insult an Irishman ... it happens every day." But the Irish are noble and hospitable. Think of Irish warriors, like Wellington and the 69th at Bull Run, and poets Lover and Moore. Think of Irish songs and plays. "Then, why slur upon the Irish?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1865 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 31(102))
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 23, "What Irish Boys Can Do" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 31(102), "What Irish Boys Can Do", H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
LOCSinging, sb40474a, "What Irish Boys Can Do", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 31(102): The subtitle is "Answer to No Irish Need Apply." Printer H. De Marsan is at 54 Chatham Street
The reference to the Civil War dates and places this song:
"And then, too, in the present war between the North and South,
Let no dirty slur on Irish ever escape your mouth;
Sure, did you ne'er hear tell of the 69th, who bravely fought at Bull-Run!
And Meagher, of the seven days fight, that was in front, of Richmond,
With General Shields, who fought so brave for the Flag Red. White, and Blue?
And anything like a bayonet-charge the Irish boys can do."
For more on the Irish in the American Civil War see the Index notes to "By the Hush." [Also "The Irish Sixty-Ninth." - RBW]
For the general issue see "No Irish Need Apply."
Broadsides LOCSinging sb40474a and Bodleian Harding B 31(102): 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: OCon023A

What is a Home Without Love?

See What is Home Without Love? (File: RcWIAHWL)

What is Home Without Babies?

See What is Home Without Love? (File: RcWIAHWL)

What is Home Without Love?

DESCRIPTION: A lonely rich man, passing a cottage window, sees a happy husband, wife, and baby. He weeps, "What is a home without baby To kiss, to tease and adore...." Alone in a mansion, with the wife who married him for his money, he repeats his lament
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recordings, Roy Harvey)
KEYWORDS: loneliness marriage baby children family husband wife
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Rorrer, p. 82, "What Is Home Without Babies?" (1 text)
Roud #15947 and 12395
RECORDINGS:
Arkansas Woodchopper [pseud. for Luther Ossenbrink], "What is a Home Without Love" (Conqueror 7881, 1931)
Boone County Entertainers, "What Is Home Without Babies" (Supertone 9492, 1929)
Loman D. Cansler, "What Is a Home Without Love?" (on Cansler1)
Roy Harvey, "What Is Home Without Love" (Columbia, unissued, 1927)
Roy Harvey & The North Carolina Ramblers, "What Is Home Without Babies" (Brunswick 268, 1928) (Paramount 3267, 1931)
Monroe Brothers, "What Is Home Without Love" (Montgomery Ward M-4746, 1935; Bluebird B-6363, 1936)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "What Is Home Without Babies" (Columbia 15307-D, 1928)
Red Fox Chasers, "What Is Home Without Babies" (Supertone 9492, 1929)
SAME TUNE:
Reoording: Howard Dixon & Frank Gerald (The Rambling Duet) "Woman's Answer to 'What Is Home Without Love'" (Bluebird B-7450, 1938)
NOTES: Again, Cansler implies that this is in Randolph or Belden, but we don't seem to have indexed it, or I haven't found it. - PJS
It's not in Randolph, at least, and if it's in Belden, it's under an odd title and uses an unusual first stanza. When I indexed Rorrer, I initially omitted the song because I couldn't believe such a piece of slop was traditional. - RBW
File: RcWIAHWL

What Kin' o Pants Does the Gambler Wear?

See Sweet Thing (I) (File: R443A)

What Kind of Crowns Do the Angels Wear

DESCRIPTION: "What kind of crowns do the angels wear? The angels wear the golden crown, the golden crown, I'm bound to rest, I'm bound to rest... bound to rest with God." "What kind of robe do the angels wear?" "What kind of slippers do the angels wear?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 655, "What Kind of Crowns Do the Angels Wear" (1 text)
Roud #11835
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Can't Cross Jordan" (floating verses)
cf. "Going Up (Golden Slippers II)" (floating verses)
NOTES: The key line of these verses obviously float, but the form makes it an independent song. Barely. - RBW
File: Br3655

What Month Was Jesus Born In?

DESCRIPTION: "What month was Jesus born in? Last month in the year." The song details Jesus' birth in December and the humble cercumstances of his birth.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (recording, Heavenly Gospel Singers)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 58-59, "(What Month Was Jesus Born In?") (1 text); pp. 245-246, "What Month Was Jesus Born In?" (1 tune, partial text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 384, "Tell Me What Month Was My Jesus Born In?" (1 text)
Roud #13975
RECORDINGS:
Vera Ward Hall, "No Room At the Inn/The Last Month of the Year" (on NFMAla5) (on LomaxCD1706); "What Month Was Jesus Born In" (on ReedWard01)
Heavenly Gospel Singers, "When Was Jesus Born?" (Bluebird B-8907, 1941; on Babylon)
Pete Seeger, "What Month Was Jesus Born" (on PeteSeeger12)
NOTES: It should be noted that there is no Biblical evidence that Jesus was born in December; indeed, those scholars who have an opinion generally think he was born in spring.
In any case, December was not always the "last month of the year"; in the classical Roman calendar, it was the tenth month, and even after this changed, it was remembered for quite some time. In addition, for much of the Middle Ages, the new year began on March 25 (approximating the equinox).
Even if we ignore all that, Jesus was Jewish, and would have used the Jewish calendar, which had no month of December. Nor was its (approximate) equivalent of December the last month of the year. - RBW
File: CNFM245

What Put the Blood?

See Edward [Child 13] (File: C013)

What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?

See The Drunken Sailor (Early in the Morning) (File: Doe048)

What the Old Hen Said

DESCRIPTION: Singer hears an old hen, looking over her brood of chicks, exclaim that she loves them just as a cat loves its kittens, or a ewe its lamb. She calls them to her; they nestle in their "feather bed"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Flanders/Brown)
KEYWORDS: pride love lullaby animal chickens
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Flanders/Brown, pp. 185-186, "What the Old Hen Said" (1 text)
ST RcWTOHS (Partial)
Roud #5451
RECORDINGS:
Margaret MacArthur, "What the Old Hen Said" (on MMacArthur01)
NOTES: A very small narrative, but a narrative nonetheless. - PJS
File: RcWTOHS

What Was Your Name in the States?

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, what was your name in the States? Was it Thompson, or Johnson, or Bates? Did you murder your wife and fly for your life? Say, what was your name in the States?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: migrant travel crime
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Sandburg, p. 106, "What Was Your Name in the States?" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, p. 861, "What Was Your name in the States?" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, NAMESTAT
Roud #4754
RECORDINGS:
Logan English, "What Was Your Name in the States?" (on LEnglish02)
File: San106

What Will We Do When We'll Have No Money?

DESCRIPTION: Questions and answers. What will we do when we: have no money? hawk through town; marry a tinker? sell a tin can and walk with me man; marry a soldier? handle his gun; have a daughter? take it in hand and walk with me man.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1985 (IRTravellers01)
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous nonballad money
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, WHATWILL
Roud #16879
RECORDINGS:
Mary Delaney, "What Will We Do When We'll Have No Money?" (on IRTravellers01)
NOTES: The format of each verse of Mary Delaney's version on IRTravellers01 is "What will we do when [question]? All true lovers, what will we do then? [Answer], And we'll yodel it over again." - BS
Despite which, there is no yodel in this version. Delaney was the source for the song as sung by the Silly Sisters (Maddy Prior and June Tabor), which will be faniliar to many folk fans. - RBW
File: RcWWWDNM

What Will You Do, Love

DESCRIPTION: He: What will you do when I sail away? She: I'll be true and pray for you. He: If I were untrue?" She: "I'd still be true but ... could not bear it!" He: If, near home, my ship were lost. She: If you were spared "I'd bless the morrow ... welcome thee"
AUTHOR: Samuel Lover (1797-1868)
EARLIEST DATE: 1842 (Samuel Lover's novel "Handy Andy")
KEYWORDS: love questions separation sea ship dialog
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
O'Conor, p. 139, "What Will You Do, Love" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 407-408, "What Will You Do, Love?" (1 text)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4223), "What Will You Do, Love?", A. Ryle and Co. (London) , 1845-1859 ; also Harding B 11(3584), "What Will You Do, Love"; Firth b.25(432), "What Will You Do, Love!"; Harding B 11(4222), "What Will You Do, Love?"
LOCSheet, sm1885 23659, "What Will You Do, Love", Grand Conservatory Pub. Co. (New York), 1885 (tune)
LOCSinging, sb40552a, "What Will You Do, Love?", H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also as103050, "What Will You Do, Love"
NOTES: Just what we needed. A Riley ballad before the guy has even been gone for seven years to let the girl realize what a jerk he is. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging sb40552a: 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: OCon139

What Will You Give Me If I Get Up?

See Lazy Mary (She Won't Get Up) (File: R396)

What You Going To Do With a Drunken Sailor

See The Drunken Sailor (Early in the Morning) (File: Doe048)

What You Gon'er Do That Day?

DESCRIPTION: "Venus, Venus, beautiful star, Beautiful star, beautiful star, Venus, Venus, beautiful star, Oh, what you gon'er do on that day?" Similarly, "Rocks in the mountains, fall on me...." "Some to the right, some to de left...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 649, "What You Gon'er Do That Day?" (1 text)
Roud #11941
File: Br3649

What You Gwina Do When the World's on Fire?

DESCRIPTION: "What you gwina do when the world's on fire? I'm gonna jump in a hole o' water. What you gwina do when the water gets to boilin'? I'm a gonna kick and squeal and hollo."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: fire
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 470, "What You Gwina Do When the World's on Fire?" (1 fragment)
Roud #11789
File: Br3470

What'll I Do with the Baby-O

DESCRIPTION: Song describes various things to do with baby: wrap him up in calico, put him in his cradle, wrap him in the table cloth, throw him in the hayloft, hang him in the tree top, etc. Also, "How in the world do the old folks know I like sugar in my coffee-O?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: drink food humorous lullaby playparty baby floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
SharpAp 228, "What'll we do with the Baby?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ritchie-Southern, pp. 26-27, "What'll I Do with the Baby-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 162, "What'll I Do with the Baby-O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 234, "Charlie, Won't You Rock the Cradle" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 407, "Prettiest Little Baby In The County-O"; 408, "What'll We Do With The Baby-O?" (2 texts)
DT, DOBABYO
Roud #826
RECORDINGS:
Coon Creek Girls, "What Do I Do With the Baby-O" (Songs from Renfro Valley - Bell, mx. 2002, n.d., postwar)
Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, "Sugar in my Coffee" (Crown 3075, c. 1930)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "What You Gonna Do with the Baby?" (Victor V-40268, 1930; rec. 1929)
Happy-Go-Lucky Boys, "Whatcha Gonna Do With the Baby?" (Bluebird B-8391, 1940)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "What You Gonna Do With the Baby-O?" (King 538, 1946)
Frank Proffitt, "Baby-O" (Proffitt03)
Jean Ritchie & Roger Sprung, "What'll I Do With the Baby-O?" (on RitchieWatson1, RitchieWatsonCD1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rock-A-Bye Baby" (words)
cf. "Sugar In My Coffee" (floating lyrics)
File: R565

What's Little Babies Made Of?

DESCRIPTION: "What's old women made of?... Reels and jeels and old spinning wheels, And that's what old women are made of." "What's little boys made of?... Piggins and pails and puppy dogs' tails." "What's little babies made of?... Sugar and..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1844 (Halliwell, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: nonballad children
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1709, "What Folk Are Made Of" (6 texts, 4 tunes)
Greig #150, pp. 1-2, "Fat Folk's Made o'" (3 texts)
SharpAp 227, "What are Little Boys made of?" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 79, "What's Little Babies Made Of?" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 143, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 303-304, "What Folks Are Made Of" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 76, "What are little boys made of?" (2 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #320, pp. 175-176, "(What are little boysmade of?)"
Roud #821
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Song of All Nations" (concept)
cf. "I'll Kiss Ye Yet" (tune, per GreigDuncan8)
NOTES: The notes to The Annotated Mother Goose say that this has been attributed to Robert Southey, but also say that no supporting evidence has been offered. It does note that the first published version, Halliwell's, describes only what little boys and girls are made of. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: SKE79

What's Poor Mary Weepin' For (Poor Jenny Sits A-Weeping)

DESCRIPTION: "Poor (Mary/Jenny/Nellie/Sally) sits a-weeping, sits a-weeping, sits a-weeping, Poor Mary sits a-weeping All on a summer's day." "What's poor Mary weeping for...." "Because she wants to see her lad." "Rise up and choose another love."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting separation love
FOUND IN: Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1606, "O Mary Stands a-Weeping" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 70, "(Oh, what is Jeannie weeping for)" (1 text)
DT, JEANWEEP
Roud #2118
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Sally Walker" (lyrics)
NOTES: There are versions of this which look a little like "Little Sally Walker," but the overall thrust is different enough that I had no hesitation in splitting them.
The version I know best is that recorded by Jeannie Robertson and picked up by the Fisher Family; I've used her title on that basis. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MSNR070

What's Poor Mary Weeping For?

See Little Sally Walker (File: CNFM157)

What's That Blood On Your Sword?

See Edward [Child 13] (File: C013)

What's the Lady's Motion? (Skip O'er the Mountain)

DESCRIPTION: "Skip o'er the mountain, tra-la-la-la-la (x3), Oh, she loves sugar and cheese." "What's the lady's motion, tra-la-la-la-la (x3), Oh, she loves sugar and cheese." "It's a very lovely motion...." "Yonder goes a redbird...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: food playparty
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 87, "What's the Lady's Motion" (1 text)
Roud #7885
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Monkey Motions" (form)
File: Br3087

What's the Life of a Man?

DESCRIPTION: Singer, walking, observes the leaves that have fallen, noting that a few days ago they were green and growing. He calls attention to the churchyard, and to those who have withered and passed like a leaf." (But man, unlike leaves, will rise to be judged.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Sharp mss.)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, walking, observes the leaves that have fallen, noting that a few days ago they were green and growing, but a frost has withered them and a storm knocked them down. He calls attention to the churchyard, and to those who have withered and passed "like a leaf from a tree." (But man, unlike leaves, will rise again, according to scripture, and be judged.) Chorus: "What's the life of a man any more than the leaf?/A man has his seasons so why should he grieve?/For although in this world we appear bright and gay/Like a leaf we must wither and soon fade away"
KEYWORDS: age disability death nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South)) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 264, "What's The Life of a Man?" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LIFEMAN*
Roud #848
RECORDINGS:
Mrs. William Towns, "What Is the Life of a Man Any More than the Leaves?" (on Ontario1)
NOTES: Some folks really know how to brighten up a day. - PJS
File: K264

What's the Matter Now?

DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls how, when she was 17, Damon wooed her with "ardent flame" and a "wounded heart." When she consented to marry, he at first gave in to her every whim. But now, his response to all requests is, "What's the matter now?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1820 (New Musical and Vocal Cabinet)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage request rejection
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 255, "What's the Matter Now?" (1 text)
Roud #7757
NOTES: Even if the flowery tone were not a giveaway, the name Damon would surely prove the English broadside origin of this piece. How it wound up in tradition in Missouri neither I nor Belden could guess. - RBW
File: Beld255

What's the Rhyme to Porringer?

DESCRIPTION: "O what's the rhyme to porringer? Ken ye the rhyme to porringer? King James the seventh had ae dochter, And he gave her to an Oranger." "The lad has into England come And taken the crown." "James shall have his own again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1819 (Hogg1)
KEYWORDS: royalty marriage Jacobite
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1688/1689 - Glorious Revolution deposes King James (II and VII) and replaces him with his nephew William III and his daugher Mary II
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Hogg1, pp. 218-219, ("O what's the rhyme to porringer?") (1 text)
Opie-Oxford2 422, "What is the rhyme for porringer?" (1 text)
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 100, "(O what's the rhyme to porringer?)" (1 text)
DT, RHYMPORR
NOTES: Hogg1: "[This] is another ranting song [like Hogg1 33, "I Hae Nae Kith, I Hae Nae Kin"] which I have often heard sung about the same lady, or rather about the ingratitude of her husband, in whose hands she was no more than the clay is in the hands of the potter." - BS
I'm indexing this item with some qualms. The Montgomeries do not cite a source, and the handful of other references I've found, with the possible exception of Hogg1, aren't "folk." And I've no evidence of a tune.
But the context is clear: James (II of England and VII of Scotland; 1633-1701) was Catholic, but his heirs when he succeeded to the throne were his Protestant daughters Mary (1662-1694) and Anne (1665-1714). Mary was married to William of Orange (1650-1702), Stadtholder of Holland.
William, after a chaotic period in Dutch politics, seemed early in life to be almost disinherited, but gradually gained power in the 1670s. Charles II of England, meanwhile, was getting himself in a foreign policy mess, taking French money to avoid answering to Parliament for his anti-Dutch policy. William was able to take advantage in 1677 to marry the young princess Mary -- his first cousin; William was the son of James's sister.
Which sister just happened to be third in line for the throne. Charles II had no legitimate children, and his brother James had no sons (and neither of his daughters would leave an heir).
James II succeeded Charles II in 1685. The British were already worried -- James had been openly Catholic for 15 years. Early in his reign, he gave indications of favoring Catholics.
And then his second, Catholic, wife had a son. The "Old Pretender," potentially James III. James III was not a pretender; he was the proper heir in male descent. But he was Catholic.
Meanwhile, the French, who had been attacking the Dutch, instead sent an army into Germany. William of Orange saw the opening, and invaded England in 1688. In England, the Stuart regime collapsed like a house of cards; James "abdicated" by force in 1689. William and Mary were crowned jointly, the English succession was made officially Protestant, and a series of liberal reforms were agreed to that gave the coup the name "The Glorious Revolution."
Scotland didn't entirely agree. There was only one real battle against the invaders in 1689 (Killiekrankie), and it resulted in the death of Dundee, the leader of the anti-Orange faction. That largely calmed the revolt until 1714, when Anne, the last Stuart, died and was succeeded by the Hannoverian George I. But there were always rumbles below the surface, which would eventually result in the 1715, 1719, and 1745 Jacobite rebellions.
Obviously this item is about that. The question is, is it traditional? If the Montgomeries really found a copy in Scotland in the twentieth century, then it just about has to be, and deserves to be indexed. But mightn't they have just lifted it from Hogg? I suspect so, but there is enough doubt that I index the item.
Incidentally, this had a very small part in inspiring one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. According to Christopher Tolkien's notes in his father's The War of the Ring: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part 3, Houghton Mifflin, 1990, p. xi, J. R. R. Tolkien admitted that this fragment inspired his poem "Errantry." Which in turn seems to have been "upgraded" to produce Bilbo's poem in Rivendell. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: MSNR100

Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)

DESCRIPTION: The young man comes to the young woman and asks her to wed. He offers her gold, silver, and land. She tells him she is not interested in these; "all I want is a (good young/handsome) man." That being offered, the two agree to marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1883
KEYWORDS: courting marriage money virtue playparty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MA,MW,SE,So) Ireland
REFERENCES (22 citations):
GreigDuncan4 746, "The Spanish Lady" (9 texts, 8 tunes)
GreigDuncan8 1588, "There's a Lady Over Yonder" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Belden, pp. 506-507, "Madam, I Have Gold and Silver" (1 text)
Eddy 98, "Spanish Lady" (1 text); Eddy 131, "The Quaker's Wooing" (1 text, 1 tune); possibly Eddy 132, "The Sober Quaker" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 173, "The Wooing" (2 texts, the "A" text being "The Courting Case" and "B" being probably this piece)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 154-155, "Yonder Hill There Is a Widow" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 205, "Come My Little Roving Sailor" (3 texts, 3 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 55, "Come, My Little Roving Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 71, "The Quaker's Wooing" (1 text, 1 tune); also Sandburg, p. 144, "Kind Miss" (1 text, 1 tune, primarily this piece but with one verse of "The Drowsy Sleeper")
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 804-805, "There She Stands, a Lovely Creature" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H532, p. 367, "Tarry Trousers" (1 text, 1 tune -- a curious version in which, after all the business about riches and a good young man, the girl finally sends the lad off by saying she has a sailor love)
OLochlainn-More 79A, "The Tarry Trousers" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 12, "Madam, I Have Gold and Silver" (1 text, starting with this song but ending with a "Ripest of Apples" verse and ending with a Riley stanza)
Hudson 37, pp. 151-152, "Annie Girl" (1 text, which conflates 2 verses of "The Drowsy Sleeper" [Laws M4], 2 or 3 of "Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)" or "No, John, No: or similar, and 3 verses probably of "Pretty Fair Maid (The Maiden in the Garden; The Broken Token)" [Laws N42])
JHCox 158, "The Spanish Lady" (1 text)
SHenry H641, p. 383, "Ripest of Apples" (1 text, 1 tune, a tiny fragment of two verses, one of which often occurs with this song while the other is associated primarily with "Carrickfergus." The tune is not "Carrickfergus")
Creighton/Senior, pp. 199-200, "Quaker's Courtship" (1 fragment, 1 tune, which might be either this or "The Quaker's Courtship")
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 194-195, "Song on Courtship" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 149, "Wheel Of Fortune" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #290, pp. 168-169, "(Madam, I have come to court you)" (a short text, which might well be "The Quaker's Wooing" with beginning and end lost, but as it stands, it has no Quakers and must be filed here)
DT, WHEELFOR* DUBLNCTY* DUBLNCT2 (VANDY2) (DUBLNCI2)
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 48-49, "The Spanish Lady" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #542
RECORDINGS:
Seamus Ennis, "Dublin City" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:104, "The Wheel of Fortune," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C [an incredible mixture, with the "Wheel of Fortune" verse, though the rest seems an amalgam of thyme songs -- here spelled "time"]; also Mu23-y1:105, "The Wheel of Fortune," James Lindsay (Glasgow), 19C [even more mixture, with the "Wheel of Fortune" verse, a thyme stanza, a bit of "Fair and Tender Ladies," a "Queen of Heart" verse, and more]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Keys of Canterbury"
cf. "No, John, No"
cf. "Madam, Madam, You Came Courting" (theme)
cf. "The Quaker's Courtship" (theme)
cf. "Killy's Den" (tune, per GreigDuncan4)
cf. "The Twelfth of May" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Chester City
All I Want is a Handsome Man
As I Walked Up Through London City
Edinburgh City
NOTES: Although several versions listed here mention Quakers in their titles (e.g. Eddy's text, also that printed by Sandburg), their texts make no mention of the Quaker, and so I list them here.
This obviously began life as a ballad, but was collected in New York as a playparty, and Belden also found it as a singing game. - RBW
The text in the Silber-FSWB version is extremely fragmentary, and contains almost nothing of the plot described above. All that happens is that the man and woman meet; she washes her feet and dries them, then he laments young girls' deceiving ways and sings about numbers. - PJS
What Paul describes is fairly typical. The description above is of the fullest texts, but this ballad seems to be unusually good at losing pieces of itself. Often it descends into a purely lyrical piece -- and sometimes it seems to "re-ascend" by taking on a new ending of abandonment.
The existence of the numbers chorus ("Twenty, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen...") seems to be characteristic of a particular, very widespread, sub-version.
It appears likely that we can positively date this song to at least 1822, when John Randolph of Virginia asked a niece if she had heard a ballad with the verse
What care I for your golden treasures?
What care I for your house and land?
What care I for your costly pleasures?
So as I get but a handsome man.
For some reason, scholars have claimed this verse is from "Lord Randal." But it certainly appears to belong here. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: E098

Wheels of the World, The

DESCRIPTION: Spinners turn the wheels of the world. Some spinners are named with their product: Pitt, Castlereagh, Napoleon, Wellington, John Mitchell, John Bull, factory owners and the rich. "Let liberty be your bright motto and glory will turn your big wheel"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 20(190))
KEYWORDS: death suicide exile nonballad political worker Napoleon Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 200, "The Wheels of the World" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4120), "Wheels of the World" ("Come all you true sons of old Erin"), J. Pitts (London), 1819-1844[?]; also Harding B 20(190) [J. Harkness(Preston), 1840-1866], Firth c.14(127), "Wheels of the World," Firth b.27(49) [mostly illegible and probably trimmed]
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Game of Cards (II)" (subject: the elimination of Grattan's parliament)
NOTES: According to "Wheels of the World," Pitt [ "banish'd in Charon's old boat": d.1806] and Castlereagh spun the union of Ireland to England [1800] but were unhappy at the end, and Castlereagh committed suicide [1822]; Napoleon spun freedom and Wellington spun Waterloo [1815] "but if Grouchy had never been bribed sure the French would have split him in two"; John Mitchell spun to free Ireland but John Bull spun him to exile [1848]; factory owners and the rich spin to grind the poor. Broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(4120) mentions other spinners: Luther, Henry VIII, John Calvin, Nelson and the French that killed him at Trafalgar [1805], Prince Albert [1840] and Victoria: "For 300 years they've been spinning, Destruction all over the land."
There is a dating problem for broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(4120): it mentions John Mitchel's exile to Bermuda [subsequently Cape Colony and finally to Van Dieman's Land] which occurred after 1844. [I think the problem is an error in the attribution to the printer Pitts; the defaced imprint does not contain his name as it stands, merely the words "toy warehouse." Pitts also owned a toy warehouse, but the appearance of the broadside is unlike any of the other Pitts broadsides I checked. Given that this piece, if circulated in Ireland, would be considered perilously close to treason, I wonder if a printer might not try to fake the attribution. There is probably a good thesis in there somewhere, on broadside printers and their fonts and clip art collections. - RBW]
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentennial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Wheels of the World" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "1798 the First Year of Liberty," Hummingbird Records HBCD0014 (1998)) - BS
It is interesting to note that, of the three legible Bodelian broadsides of this song, only one carries an actual printer's imprint, and that defaced. The Bodleian editors did manage to determine two of the printers, but one of those attributions is questionable -- and it's also interesting that this song of interest primarily to the Irish was printed on British soil.
There is much interesting history in this song, which can be dated fairly precisely by the events it mentions. The three legible Bodleian broadsides (Harding B 11(4120), Harding B 20(190), Firth c.14(127)) all have nearly the same text, and must have been printed at about the same time. The references which give us our dates are as follows:
"I'll sing you a song about spinning, it was a good trade in its time" -- This might (or might not) refer to the direct control Britain exerted over Irish textile manufacturing; for more on this, see e.g. "The Volunteers' March."
"Luther... King Henry the eighth... John Calvin" -- the founders of the three basic branches of non-Catholic Christianity: Protestant (a name falsely applied to all three types), Anglican, and Reformed/Presbyterian. In Protestant England the three were mostly approved of; not so in Catholic Ireland! Thomas ("Tom") Cranmer (1489-1556) was Henry VIII's Archbishop of Canterbury; though hardly a noteworthy theologian, he was largely responsible for implementing Henry's new church. It is odd to note that the song does not mention his hard end (Mary Tudor had him burned at the stake)
"John Mitchell the brave son of Erin" -- John Mitchel (1815-1875), for whom see the song of the same name, started as a writer, and founded the publication The United Irishman. He ended up calling stridently for change in Ireland, and in 1848 was sentenced to transportation. Sent briefly to Bermuda, he then was moved to Australia, and escaped to the United States, there to advocate slavery and flogging of prisoners. Since his exile to Bermuda is mentioned, the song must date after 1848. (One suspects this verse, the third in all the broadside texts, has been displaced; were it moved after the seventh verse, the song would be in chronological order. On the other hand, Mitchel is the only Irishman referred to; maybe he was shoved forward as a result.)
The Lord C--n--n of all the broadsides is Lord Clarendon, i.e. George Villiers, fourth earl of Clarendon (1800-1870), the Lord Lieutenant from 1847-1852 before becoming foreign secretary. Although nominally responsible for the case against Mitchel, and the suppression of the sort-of-revolt of 1848, he had so little influence on the course of Irish history that I found only one mention of him in the histories I checked. In the broader world, his work seems to have been successful and relatively enlightened.
"Lord Nelson he was a good spinner" -- For Horatio Nelson, see e.g. "Nelson's Victory at Trafalgar (Brave Nelson)" [Laws J17]
"Billy Pitt, too, was a good spinner, and so was Lord Castlereigh... they spun the Union from Ireland" -- William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) was an MP as early as 1781 (from a "rotten" borough) and Prime Minister while still in his early twenties (1783). He would be Prime Minister for most of the rest of his life. He tried to pass several measures to help Ireland (free trade, Catholic emancipation -- Brumwell/Speck, pp. 296-297), but all were stymied. Therefore he is remembered mostly for the much-hated Act of Union, which eliminated the Irish parliament while introducing Irish members into the British Lords and Commons.
The reference here reminds me very strongly of similar references in "The Game of Cards (II)" and "The Shan Van Voght (1848)," though the direction of the dependence is not clear to me.
Robert Stewart Viscount Castlereagh (1769-1822) was actually Irish (from Ulster), and early in his career in fact supported Catholic emancipation (Brumwell/Speck, p. 77). He entered the English parliament in 1794, and became a member of Pitt's government. His was a brilliant career; he served at various times as both war and foreign secretaries, was largely responsible for the Peninsular campaign, and helped direct the last battles against Napoleon. He was by rational standards an outstanding success -- but in Ireland he was remembered as being the actual director of the campaign for Union. In his later years, when it was clear that the Congress system for governing Europe was failing, he became despondent. The responsibilities of his offices overwhelmed him, and he had a nervous breakdown and committed suicide.
"Napoleon he was a great spinner" -- The Irish held out great hopes for Napoleon, though he never did much for them; for what encouragement and help he did give, see the notes to "The Shan Van Voght."
"Old Wellington" -- obviously the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), winner of the Peninsular campaign and victor at Waterloo (1815), much disliked by the masses because he finally defeated Napoleon. If Mitchell's 1848 exile offers the earliest date for this song, the "Iron Duke's" death may supply the latest; two of the three broadsides have the line "Old Wellington he went a-spinning," but Firth c.14(127) patches this to "Old Wellington he now is dead"; this presumably was a topical change made 1852 or 1853, with the other versions coming from (though perhaps not printed) before 1852.
"If Grouchy had never been bribed" -- Emmanuel Grouchy (1766-1847) commanded one of the wings of Napoleon's army in the Waterloo campaign, and his failure to arrive at Waterloo may have cost Napoleon the battle (Pope, p. 247). The charge that he betrayed Napoleon occurs also in "Napoleon Bonaparte (III)" (see that song for a discussion) and in "The Removal of Napoleon's Ashes," but there is no reason whatsoever to believe that it is true.
"Prince Albert" -- Albert of Saxe-Coburg (1819-1861), the husband of Queen Victoria, upon whom she doted almost irrationally. He was not particularly well-liked in England, being suspected (as in this song) of being "on the make," since he was of far less hereditary importance than Victoria (see Cowan, pp. 161-162, for a couple of joke songs about Albert). But though she seems to have fallen in love first, there is no evidence that he tried to tempt her into anything. Indeed, as long as he lived, he proved a capable consort and diplomat, even if the people did not take to him.
"For the Queen has another young son That was spun in the City of Cork" -- Victoria had four sons: Edward (the future Edward VII, 1841-1910), Alfred (1844-1900), Arthur (1850-1942), and Leopold (1853-1884). Arthur, who was Victoria's favorite son (Longford, p. 367) later became Duke of Connaught, and is surely the child intended. The more so since Victoria visited Cork (which was renamed Queenstown at that time) in 1849, so it is possible (though hardly proved) that he was conceived in Cork.
Thus the strong internal evidence is that this piece was written between 1850 and 1852. - RBW
Bibliography

Brumwell/Speck: Stephen Brumwell and W. A. Speck, Cassell's Companion to Eighteenth-Century Britain, Cassell & Co., 2001
Cowan: Edward J. Cowan, editor, The People's Past: Scottish Folk, Scottish History 1980 (I use the 1993 Polygon paperback edition)
Longford: Elizabeth Longford, Queen Victoria: Born to Succeed, Harper & Row, 1964
Pope: Stephen Pope, Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars, Cassell, 1999 (I use the undated Facts on File hardcover edition)

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Moyl200

Wheelwright, The (John Hunter)

DESCRIPTION: John Hunter is apprenticed to a wheelwright. He and the master's daughter fall in love. When his apprenticeship is finished, he prepares to leave her as he seeks work. She offers to marry him and come with him. He accepts
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: apprentice love father marriage
FOUND IN: Ireland US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H125a+b, pp. 475-476, "John Hunter (a)/John Hunter (b)/The Wheelwright" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #9058
NOTES: The notes in Henry/Huntington/Herrmann imply that there is an Irish Gaelic version of this -- possibly even two. - RBW
File: HHH125

When a Chap Comes Hame

See A Good Roarin' Fire (File: HayU032)

When a Man's in Love [Laws O20]

DESCRIPTION: The singer asks his sweetheart to allow him into her room; she convinces him to stay by the fire. He tells her he has courted her long enough despite her parents' opposition; he will go to America. She agrees to be married (or spend the night together)
AUTHOR: Hugh McWilliams (source: Moulden-McWilliams)
EARLIEST DATE: 1831 (according to Moulden-McWilliams)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage emigration request
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland US(MW)
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Laws O20, "When a Man's in Love"
Dean, pp. 110-111, "The Boy of Love" (1 text, lacking the ending)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 214-215,"When A Man's In Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 59, "A Man in Love" (1 text, 3 tunes)
SHenry H211, p. 479, "When a Man's in Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 96-97, "When a Man's In Love He Feels No Cold" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 143, "When a Man's in Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 76, "When a Man's in Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 747, MANLOVE
ADDITIONAL: John Moulden, Songs of Hugh McWilliams, Schoolmaster, 1831 (Portrush,1993), p. 2, "A Man in Love"
Roud #990
RECORDINGS:
Robert Cinnamond, "When a Man's In Love" (on IRRCinnamond02)
A. L. Lloyd, "When a Man's In Love" (on Lloyd1)
Paddy Tunney, "When a Man's In Love" (on FSB1); "When A Man's in Love He Feels No Cold" (on Voice01); "When a Man's in Love" (on IRPTunney01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Star of the County Down" (tune) and references there
NOTES: In McWilliams's version she agrees to be married. - BS
File: LO20

When a Man's In Love He Feels No Cold

See When a Man's in Love [Laws O20] (File: LO20)

When a Woman Blue

DESCRIPTION: "When a woman blue, when a woman blue, she hang her head and cry... When a man get blue He grab a railroad train and ride." "I'm gonna lay my head, I'm gonna lay my head Down on that railroad line... Let the train roll by And that'll pacify my mind."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: train suicide
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 236-237, "When a Woman Blue" (1 short text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 506, "Oh! When a Man Get the Blues" (1 fragment)
Roud #11808
File: San236

When A' the Lave Gaed to Their Beds

DESCRIPTION: Late at night the singer taps at Nell's window. She lets him in "but a' that passed 'atween us twa An' we'll keep that to our-sell." He leaves at four. Hard work, wind and rain won't deter him "while I am welcome back again To the arms of my dear"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1897 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: courting nightvisit
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 784, "When A' the Lave Gaed to Their Beds" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6197
NOTES: GreigDuncan4 quoting Robert Reid in an 1897 issue of the Aberdeen Evening Gazette, the source for the text: "I heard them sung between thirty and forty years ago."
The singer leaves at four to be home in time to start work. No mention of cocks crowing. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4784

When Adam in the garden woned

See Wi' His Apron On (File: Ord105)

When Adam Was Created (Wedlock)

DESCRIPTION: "When Adam was created, he dwelt in Eden's shade, As Moses has related, before his bride was made." Then Eve was made from Adam's rib. The rest of the song describes the duties of wedlock, based on this account of the creation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection); Dumas's tune dated 1869
KEYWORDS: religious Bible marriage
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
BrownIII 53, "When Adam Was Created" (1 text)
SharpAp 193, "When Adam was Created" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 55, "When Adam Was Created" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 567-569, "Wedlock" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WEDLOK*
Roud #728
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Adam and Eve" (theme)
NOTES: I can't help but note that all the details here come from the "J" account of the creation (Gen. 2:4f.). In the "P" account, which occupies Genesis 1:1-2:4, men and women were created together. Make of it what you may.
Brown quotes Jackson to the effect that this derives from Chaucer's "Parson's Tale" or its folk/churchly sources.
In the Sacred Harp, this appears with the tune "Edmonds," credited to E. Dumas and dated to 1869. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: SKE55

When Barney Flew Over the Hills

See Barney and Katie (File: LO21)

When Bucks a Hunting Go

DESCRIPTION: "Sweet is the horn that sounds in the morn When bucks a hunting go," but the singer thinks about Nancy. The hounds chase the fox but his mind is on Nancy, his wife [usually]. "How happy is my wife and I When that we homeward go" Let's drink to it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1830 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 25(2034))
KEYWORDS: wife drink hunting
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan4 727, "Hame to My Nancy" (2 fragments, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: The Universal Songster or Museum of Mirth (London, 1834 ("Digitized by Google")), Vol III, pp. 281-282, "The Huntsman's Wife" or "The Sweets of Tally-Ho!"
Hedley Peek, editor, The Poetry of Sport (London, 1896 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 161, "When Bucks a Hunting Go"
Roud #217
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 25(2034), "When Bucks a Hunting Go" ("How sweet is the horn that sounds in the morn"), T. Birt (London), 1828-1829; also Harding B 11(1824), Firth b.25(229), Johnson Ballads fol. 27, Harding B 11(4160), Firth c.19(111), "When Bucks a Hunting Go[!]"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
My Fancy Dwells With Nancy Belle
NOTES: There are literary references showing that the song was familiar, at least in England. Alfred Crowquill's story, "Forgiveness -- The Return," quotes the usual first verse, "'Tis sweet in the morn ..." sung by one character (Bentley's Miscellany (London, 1849 ("Digitized by Google)), Vol XXV, p. 384); George Du Maurier's Trilby has it that "Taffy, in a voice like a high wind (and with a very good imitation of the Yorkshire brogue), sang a Somersetshire hunting-ditty, ending: 'Of this 'ere song should I be axed the reason for to show, I don't exactly know, I don't exactly know! But all my fancy dwells upon Nancy, And I sing Tally-ho!'" [not a verse from the broadsides] (New York, 1899 ("Digitized by Google)), p. 172); Ben Brierley, in "Out of Work," has a conversation between two characters watching a girl: "Doesn't know where she is. Bonnie girl! What a bonnet! Bolted at last. 'Still my fancy dwells on Nancy - heigh my diddle dy oh!'" (Ben Brierley, Lancashire Life (Manchester, 1885 ("Digitized by Google)), p. 38)
GreigDuncan4 quoting Duncan: "The song seems to contrast two lovers, of whom Nancy Belle is one." Duncan seems to have it wrong. Howeever, judging by the Brierly quote, the line "my fancy dwells with Nancy" seems to have had a life independent of the hunt.
Kidson has a version, "circa 1800," which replaces the "how happy is my wife" verse with "was she my wife, how sweet the life ...."
Roud has GreigDuncan4 as Roud #6161. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD4727

When Carbine Won the Cup

DESCRIPTION: "The race was run, the Cup was won, The great event was o'er. The grandest horse e'er trod a course Had led them home once more." A description of how Carbine and his rider Ramage (?) won the Melbourne Cup
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: horse racing
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 212-213, "When Carbine Won the Cup" (1 text)
NOTES: According to the Encyclopedia of Australia, the Melbourne Cup was first run in 1861; it is run on the first Tuesday in November. Carbine, who won it in 1890, is noteworthy for having carried the most weight ("10 st. 5 lb.") of any winner. - RBW
File: MA212

When Clon Came Home

DESCRIPTION: "At Croke Park last Sunday I hear that the Cork men faced Cavan whose fame was so dear ... but we held them and led them and beat them" The team members are named. "The Sam Maguire Cup has come home to the Lee"
AUTHOR: Paddy Meeghan (source: OCanainn)
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (OCanainn)
KEYWORDS: pride sports moniker
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sep 23, 1945 - Cork beat Cavan in the All-Ireland Football Championship (source: OCanainn).
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
OCanainn, pp. 116-117, "When Clon Came Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "Clon" - short for Clonakilty[?] - is not in the text. OCanainn: "Between team and reserves there were nine Clonakilty men with Cork, which explains the elation felt in Clonakilty at the result." - BS
File: OCan116

When Fanning First to Orange Came

DESCRIPTION: "When Fanning first to Orange came He looked both pale and wan, An old patched coat upon his back An old mare he rode on. Both man and mare wa'nt worth five pounds... but by his civil robberies He's laced his coat with gold."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1826 (Raleigh Register and North-Carolina Gazette)
KEYWORDS: robbery gold political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1738?-1818 - Life of Edmund Fanning
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 277, "When Fanning First to Orange Came" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "From Hillsborough Town the First of May" (subject)
cf. "Said Frohock to Fanning" (subject)
cf. "Who Would Have Tho't Harmon" (subject)
NOTES: One of four "regulator" songs in Brown. The regulators were a group of protesters against high taxes and fees, found mostly in North Carolina though some also were active in South Carolina.
J. Franklin Jameson, Dictionary of United States History 1492-1895, Puritan Press, 1894, p. 549, described the group this way:
Regulators, the name given to a body of insurgents in North Carolina just before the Revolution. Heavy taxes and fees aroused the resistance of the back-country people against Governor Tryon in 1766. The rebellion spread, but Tryon signally defeated the armed bands at Almances, on the Haw, in 1771. His successor, Martin, compromised with the "Regulators."
Frank McLynn, 1759,: The Year Britain Became Master of the World, 2004 (I use the 2005 Pimlico paperback edition), p. 389, lists the rise of the Regulators as one of several "direct or indirect responses to the definitive appearance of Britain as the first global superpower." I assume he is referring to the colonials' anger over the taxes needed to support superpowerdom.
The notes in Brown say that Regulators formally organized in 1766, when William Tryon (1725-1788) was governor of North Carolina (1765-1771) ; he defeated them at Almance in 1771. That was Tryon's way; as governor of New York (1771-1778) he was equally harsh. His successors then turned to compromise.
Brown states that Fanning, a Yale graduate of 1757, was a favorite of Tryon's; after moving to North Carolina, he went from being a local attorney to a Superior Court clerk and legislator. He also built a reputation for extreme avarice, making him a particular target for the regulators (and vice versa). A loyalist during the Revolution (commanded the King's American Regiment of Foot), he died in London.
Jameson, p. 229, gives this biography of Fanning: "Fanning, Edmund (1737-1818), at first a clerk of the North Carolina Supreme Court and a legislator. In 1777 he commanded a corps of loyalists, and fled to Nova Scotia at the close of the war, having been notorious for his barbarity as a leader of partisan warfare."
Jameson' biography of Tryon (p. 664) reads as follows: "Tryon, William (1725-1788), norn in Ireland, was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of North Carolina in 1764. He was Governor from 1765 to 1771. He suppressed the revolt of the 'Regulators' with great cruelty. He became Governor of New York in 1771, and continued in office until 1778. He was detested by the patriots for his inhumanity and the destruction of Danbury, Fairfield and Norwalk, Conn."
Makes it rather easier to understand why the Regulators were as upset as they were....- RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BrII277

When First I Seen This Lovely Queen

DESCRIPTION: "When first I seen this lovely queen, On her I fixed my eyes, And thought in time, while in my prime,To gain her I would try. "But all in vain; could not obtain This virgin's love at all... My portion was too small." If she remains coy, he'll seek another
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love rejection beauty
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 294, "When First I Seen This Lovely Queen" (1 text)
Roud #12199
File: Br3294

When First Into this Country

DESCRIPTION: The stranger arrives and finds no one cares about him. He is accused of crimes, but the only crime he admits is involvement with three girls. Forced into a harsh apprenticeship, he at last earns his freedom and marries his love
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: love courting work abuse freedom marriage apprentice
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Aber))) US
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 195-197, "When First Into this Country" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #59, p. 1, "The American Stranger" (1 text)
Greig #61, p. 2, ("I hae travelled this country") (1 text)
GreigDuncan7 1469, "The American Stranger" (12 texts, 9 tunes)
Ord, pp. 127-128, "The American Stranger" (1 text, a somewhat confused version in which the singer seems to shift from having one girl to three back to one)
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 170-171, "The American Stranger" (1 text, 1 tune, similar to but shorter than Ord's text)
DT, WHNFRST2*
Roud #1081
RECORDINGS:
Chris Willett, "The American Stranger" (on Voice11)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.17(4) View 2 of 2, "American Strander [sic]" ("I am a stranger in this country"), G. Thompson (Liverpool), 1789-1820; also 2806 c.17(3) View 2 of 2,, "America [sic] Stranger"; Harding B 11(48), Firth b.25(273), Harding B 15(3a), Harding B 25(46), Harding B 20(237), Harding B 11(3053A), Harding B 11(3056), 2806 b.11(29), Harding B 11(49), Harding B 16(6a), Harding B 28(159), "American Stranger[!]"; Harding B 25(1845) [illegible lines], "The Stranger"; 2806 b.11(215), "Sporting Youth" ("I'm a stranger in this country from Ireland I came")
Murray, Mu23-y2:013, "The Sporting Youth," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1856
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(019), "The American Stranger," McIntosh (Glasgow), 1849
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "When First To This Country (I)" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Irish Stranger
The Plains of America
NOTES: This shares a first line or two with "When First To This Country," but the similarity ends by the end of the second stanza. The first few verses probably did transfer (I suspect from this song to that, since "When First To This Country" barely survived in tradition), but the two songs are clearly separate.
To add to the confusion, the song seems to exist in two forms. Huntington's gives full details of the youth's troubles. Ord's and Stokoe's, both known by the title "The American Stranger," gloss over it, and end with the singer emigrating but saying something like the lovers are "In a plentiful country, (they are/and) God bless the King." - RBW
Chris Willett's version on Voice11 takes lines found on broadside Harding B 11(48), among others, ("But to prove myself loyal, You shall come along with me, And I'll take you to America, My darling for to be.") and turns them into a chorus ("Just to prove myself royal, if you're go along with me, I will take you to America my own darling to see"); it also has a verse from Johnson Ballads 458, among others, ("The moon shall be in darkness, And the stars shall give no light If ever I prove false to my hearts delight," "In the middle of the ocean There shall grow a myrtle [or plum, or willow] tree") that float in other songs.
Greig re #61 [GreigDuncan7 1469L] as compared to "The American Stranger": "It would seem that the two songs have some connection. One verse is the same in both, and there are other minor points of resemblance." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: SWMS195

When First To This Country (I)

DESCRIPTION: The singer courts Nancy, who turns him down; he steals a horse and is imprisoned. He complains of his ill-treatment, then adds "With my hands in my pockets and my cap put on so bold/With my coat of many colors, like Jacob of old"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (field recording, Gant Family)
KEYWORDS: courting love rejection prison theft thief
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 29, "When First To This Country" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 71, "When First Unto This Country" (1 text)
DT, WHENFRST*
Roud #15600
RECORDINGS:
Maggie & Foy Gant, "When First Unto This Country" (LC 65 A2)
New Lost City Ramblers, "When First Unto This Country" (on NLCR02, NLCRCD1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" (floating lyrics)
cf. "When First To This Country (II)" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics)
cf. "The Banks of the Bann (I)" [Laws O2] ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics)
cf. "The Frowns That She Gave Me" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics) and references there
cf. "When First Into this Country" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics) and references there
cf. "When First To This Country (II)" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics) and references there
cf. "In Eighteen-Forty-Nine" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
When First unto this Country
NOTES: This should not be confused with the kids' song "When I First Came to This Land," written -- well, translated -- by Oscar Brand in the 1940s. -PJS
[Or with the whalers' song "When First Into this Country." - RBW]
Paul Stamler mentions the prisoner's "coat of many colors," which he believes unconnected with the rest of the song. He may be right -- considering that the person who wore the "coat of many colors" (properly a "long robe with sleeves") was Jacob's son Joseph.
However, it is worth noting that Joseph's possession of the robe (which the author presumably thought resembled prison apparel) caused his brothers to resent him; the end result was that Joseph became a prisoner in Egypt. - RBW
File: CSW029

When First To This Country (II)

DESCRIPTION: "[My] poor heart beat sore" on leaving Molly. She pleads to come with him: "Short trouser, and jacket, my love I'll put on." He could not stand to see her beaten "So you can't come down with me, oh no my love, no." She will wait for his return.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1951 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: love farewell separation cross-dressing sailor
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 70-71, "When First To This Country" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2732
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9] (theme) and references there
cf. "The Maid in Sorrow (Short Jacket)" [Laws N12] (theme)
cf. "When First To This Country (I)" ("When First Unto This Country" lyrics) and references there
File: CrMa070

When First Unto This Country

See When First To This Country (I) (File: CSW029)

When Fortune Turns Her Wheel

DESCRIPTION: "Come, fill a glass, let's drink about... To meet ye a' ance mair, my friends, A sacred joy I feel, Though far awa I noo maun stray Till fortune turns her wheel." The singer has been betrayed by love and comrades, and bids farewell to Scotland and home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1874 (Poet's Box broadside, according to GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: parting drink
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig 88, p. 2, "When Fortune Turns Her Wheel" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 667, "When Fortune Turns the Wheel" (5 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, pp. 180-181, "When Fortune Turns Her Wheel" (1 text)
DT, FORTRNWH*
Roud #3798
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I'll Take This Glass into My Hands" (theme)
File: Ord180

When He Comes, He'll Come in Green

DESCRIPTION: "Don't cry, little baby, don't you cry. Your sweetheart will come by and by. When he comes, if he's dressed in green, Then you may know you'll be his queen." Similarly with other colors: "Dressed in blue, Then you may know his love is true," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: colors courting playparty lullaby
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
BrownIII 70, "Oh, Pretty Polly" (1 text); 71, "Don't Cry" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 163, (no title) (1 fragment)
Roud #7870
NOTES: The editors of Brown concede their two texts to be the same song, but split them anyway. They admit they don't know if the piece is a singing game of some kind, a lullaby, or something else. (Allsopp calls it a lullaby but has only one verse.) I've used both keywords because both look like they fit. It looks like a very good song for both purposes; I'm surprised it isn't more widely known. - RBW
File: Br3070

When He Who Adores Thee

DESCRIPTION: The singer states "though guilty to them [my foes], I have been but too faithful to thee [Ireland]!" "Oh! blessed are the lovers and friends who shall live The days of thy glory to see"; next best "is the pride of thus dying for thee"
AUTHOR: Thomas Moore (1779-1852) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 2000 (Moylan); reportedly performed 1839 (see NOTE)
KEYWORDS: execution Ireland nonballad patriotic
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Sep 20, 1803 - Robert Emmet (1778-1803) is hanged
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 158, "When He Who Adores Thee" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.27(14), "When He Who Adores Thee," unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Oh! Breathe Not His Name" (subject: concealed allusions to Robert Emmet)
cf. "She is Far From the Land" (subject: concealed allusions to Robert Emmet)
cf. "The Man from God-Knows-Where" (subject: concealed allusions to Robert Emmet)
NOTES: Performed by P.F. White in concert in Boston in 1839 (source: Robert R Grimes, How Shall We Sing in a Foreign Land? (1996, Notre Dame), p. 56.)
Moylan: "In this song Moore paraphrases parts of Emmet's speech from the dock and has him address these sentiments to Ireland."
You can find copies of Emmet's speech on the Web. See, for example, "Robert Emmet's Speech from the Dock (Document)" quoted on wiki.politics.ie site from "Politics.ie, the Irish politics website." None of Moore's text follows Emmet's, though Emmet is speaking over the court's head: "if there is a true Irishman present let my last words cheer him in the hour of his affliction." - BS
We should probably note that there is no official transcript of Emmet's speech (see Robert Kee, The Most Distressful Country, being volume I of The Green Flag, p. 168). We don't know his precise words. It hardly matters, any more than it matters that his rebellion was ill-organized and completely inept; he could hardly have said anything more effective than what was reported, and it was that which kept his myth alive.
Moore, we should add, knew Emmet; according to Kee, Moore was "Emmet's old friend and fellow student at Trinity." Kee regards Moore as having "set the tone" for Emmet's legend. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Moyl158

When I Am On the Sea Sailing

DESCRIPTION: The singer is leaving to fight in Flanders for six months. He would not have his girl dress as a man and follow him. He will pray "to the High Powers above To guard you." He returns "free from harm"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: love war soldier parting reunion cross-dressing dialog floatingverses
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1541, "When I Am On the Sea Sailing" (6 texts, 7 tunes)
Roud #422
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Fish May Fly
NOTES: The distinguishing line in the GreigDuncan8 texts is the verse, "When I am on the sea sailing, An' far from any shore, My prayers will be to the High Powers above, To guard for evermore." Floating verses include "The fish may fly, and the seas gang dry, An' the rocks melt wi' the sun, But if ever I do prove false to you My heart's blood it shall run" and "You mind me on yon milkwhite dove Sits mourning on yon tree, Lamenting over her marrow so sweet, And so will I for you." I assume that Roud lumps this with "Careless Love" and "Fare You Well, My Own True Love."
The verse and story line from GreigDuncan8 is missing in W. Christie, editor, Traditional Ballad Airs (Edinburgh, 1881 (downloadable pdf by University of Edinburgh)), Vol II, pp. 164-165, "You'll Never Mind Me More, Dear Love." That song begins "When you are on the sea sailing, And far from any shore, I fear you'll never mind on me, You'll never mind me more" -- as does GreigDuncan8 -- and then becomes a collection of floating verses. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81541

When I Can Read My Titles Clear (Long Time Traveling)

DESCRIPTION: "When I can read my titles clear to mansions in the sky, I will bid farewell to every tear and wipe my weeping eye." Chorus: "I'm a long time traveling here below, I'm a long time traveling away from my home...." Other verses vary
AUTHOR: unknown (portions by Isaac Watts)
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, J. T. Allison's Sacred Harp Singers)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, LONGTIME
Roud #5732
RECORDINGS:
J. T. Allison's Sacred Harp Singers, "I'm A Long Time Travelling Away From Home" (Gennett 6255, 1927)
Daniels-Deason Sacred Harp Singers, "Primrose Hill" (Columbia 15323-D, 1928; on Babylon)
Denson Sacred Harp Singers, "The Ninety-Fifth" (Brunswick 287, rec. 1928)
Elder Golden P. Harris, "I'll Lead a Christian Life" (Melotone 12178, 1931; on Babylon)
Frank Proffitt, "I'm a Long Time Travelling Here Below" (on FProffitt01)
NOTES: This song, or one of the same title, is said to have been one of Abraham Lincoln's favorites. The verses are so generic that it is really hard to call it one song; it's a family held together by the refrain "Been a long time traveling here below" and (often but not always) the mansions in the sky.
The first stanza is from a poem by Isaac Watts, "The Hopes of Heaven Our Support Under Trials on Earth," and reportedly published 1809. This shows up in several forms in the shape note book (e.g. with the tunes "Ninety-Fifth," "Primrose Hill," "Akers," and "Saints' Delight") -- but all these seem to be the Watts poem, which is not (to my ears at least) nearly as strong. - RBW
As far as I can tell from reading the Sacred Harp book [a demonstrably unreliable source - RBW], Watts seems to have composed all of the lyrics.
I've placed the Daniels-Deason and Elder Harris recordings here for want of a better place; they share lyrics but use different tunes. - PJS
For more on Isaac Watts, see the notes to "O God, Our Help in Ages Past." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: DTlongti

When I Die (I)

DESCRIPTION: Because the singer has found salvation, "When I die, I'll live again." He's made confession and will transgress no more. Ch: "When I die I'll live again/Hallelujah, I'll live again/Because I'm forgiven, my soul will find heaven/When I die I'll live again"
AUTHOR: James Rowe & Ernest Rippetoe
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Stamps-Baxter book, "Harbor Bells #4")
KEYWORDS: resurrection death nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US(MA,SE)
RECORDINGS:
Rev. Gary Davis, "When I Die I'll Live Again" (on GaryDavis02)
Watson Family, "When I Die" (on Watson01)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
When I Die I'll Live Again
NOTES: D. K. Wilgus, in his comments on Watson01, notes (speaking of this song and "The Lost Soul"): "The Watson family apparently sang these songs directly from a song book, but I have been unable to locate them in any source available to me, despite the conviction that I have met them before." Almost certainly he was remembering Davis's skeletal version, released the year before the Watson recordings were made, or the Stamps-Baxter hymnal. - PJS
File: RcWIDILA

When I Die (II)

See Pickle My Bones in Alcohol (File: Br3038)

When I Die Don't Wear No Black

DESCRIPTION: "When I die don't wear no black, For if you do My ghost come a-creeping back."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: death mourning clothes ghost
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 489, "When I Die Don't Wear No Black" (1 text)
Roud #11871
File: Br3489

When I Dream of Old Erin

DESCRIPTION: "When the nightingale�s singing its sweet melodies, And the scent of the flowers perfumes the night breeze," the singer dreams of Ireland and his love. He describes his old home, repeating, "When I dream of old Erin, I'm dreaming of you."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean)
KEYWORDS: love separation home Ireland
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Dean, p. 97, "When I Dream of Old Erin" (1 text)
Roud #9593
File: Dean097

When I First Came To This Land

DESCRIPTION: Immigrant comes to the USA, gets a shack, cow, duck, wife and son, and sings about them in a cumulative fashion: "Called my wife 'Run for your life'; called my duck, 'Out of luck'", etc.
AUTHOR: Words translated by Oscar Brand from Pennsylvania Dutch song
EARLIEST DATE: 1957 (Oscar Brand, "Our Singing Holidays")
KEYWORDS: animal cumulative emigration farming marriage nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
PSeeger-AFB, p. 13, "When I First Came to this Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 120 "When I First Came To This Land" (1 text)
DT, FIRSTCAM
Roud #16813
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "When I First Came to This Land" (on PeteSeeger24)
NOTES: This should not be confused with the traditional "When First To This Country." - PJS
File: PSAFB013

When I Get On My Bran' New Suit

DESCRIPTION: "When I git on my brand-new suit, Boots to my knees, Go to see my lovely gal And kiss her when I please."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 158, "Going to See My Girl (fifth of 12 single-stanza jigs) (1 text)
ST Fus158A (Full)
Roud #16414
File: Fus158A

When I Get on Yonder Hill

See Shule Agra (Shool Aroo[n], Buttermilk Hill, Johnny's Gone for a Soldier); also "I Want You All to Be There" (File: R107)

When I Go Up to Shinum Place

DESCRIPTION: "When I go up to shinum place" there will be red, white and black men. "There is no need of wigwam there, He send his angels to take care, And Jesus good and kind"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious Jesus Indians(Am.)
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 171, "When I Go Up to Shinum Place" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2728
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Indian Maid" (theme)
cf. "Indian Hymn" (theme)
NOTES: See "Indian Hymn" for similar phrases. - BS
Presumably the title of this piece is a patronizing corruption of "shining." - RBW
File: CrMa171

When I Landed in Glasgow

See The Young Maid's Love (File: HHH058)

When I Leave These Earthly Shores

DESCRIPTION: Recitation: "When I leave this earthly shore And mosey 'round this world no more, Don't weep, don't sob; I may have found a better job." After this introduction, the speaker spends two stanzas asking for small gifts now rather than big ones after death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: death recitation poverty
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
FSCatskills 104, "When I Leave These Earthly Shores" (1 text)
ST FSC104 (Partial)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Give Me the Roses While I Live" (theme of giving roses)
File: FSC104

When I Lie Doon

DESCRIPTION: The singer cannot sleep, oppressed "wi' dreams and delusions" for "my lovie's far from me When I lie doon"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: love nonballad separation dream
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1106, "When I Lie Doon" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #6836
ALTERNATE TITLES:
At Night When I Gang to My Bed
Oh, My Lovie's Far frae Me
File: GrD61106

When I Saw Sweet Nellie Home

See Seeing Nellie Home (File: RJ19229)

When I Set Out for Glory

DESCRIPTION: "When I set out for glory, I left this world behind, Determined for a city that's hard to find, And to begging I will go. And to begging I will go, I'll go...." Despite warnings, the singer is set on this path, and would rather be Christian than rich
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad travel begging poverty
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, p. 212, "The Begging Song" (1 text)
ST Fus212 (Partial)
Roud #5426
File: Fus212

When I Wake in the Morning

DESCRIPTION: The singer is "surrounded by sorrow ... lovely Jimmie if you knew what I knew." "When the boys come to court ... I do them disdain ... I never will marry till [my love] comes back again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: grief love separation nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 91, "When I Wake in the Morning" (1 text fragment, 1 tune)
ST CrMa091 (Full)
Roud #2707
RECORDINGS:
Angelo Dornan, "When I Wake in the Morning" (on MRHCreighton)
NOTES: Angelo Dornan is a major source for Creighton-Maritime and Creighton-SouthNB. Many of his songs, like this one, are fragments that are too brief for me to identify. - BS
Paul Stamler and I also puzzled over this independently. We've given up and are filing it as a loose fragment. - RBW
File: CrMa091

When I Was a Bonny Young Lassie

DESCRIPTION: The singer, being maid to a minister, was ignorant about sex. When a young man courts her, they go out to sing and she comes home late and pregnant. When asked about her illness she recalls singing. The boy is confronted and they willingly marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: courting sex marriage clergy servant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1500, "When I Was a Bonny Young Lassie" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #7175
NOTES: A recurring line is "But aye I courted my laddie and pleased the minister too."
When confronted the young man says, "As we came ower the way ... I was learnin' her to sing, And it's been the high notes o' Bangor that's pitten her oot o' tune." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71500

When I Was a Boy

See Old MacDonald Had a Farm (File: R457)

When I Was a Cowboy

DESCRIPTION: "When I was a cowboy, out on the western plains (x2), I made a half a million pulling on the bridle reins." The cowboy boasts of fighting Jesse James and Buffalo Bill. He advises, in the event of fire, abandoning the house and saving the "jelly"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: cowboy bragging outlaw fight nonsense
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 197, "When I Was a Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 379-380, "When I Was a Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 29, "When I Was a Cowboy" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #3438
NOTES: The Lomax version of this song comes from Lead Belly, and the Fife versions derive from Lomax. So it's not clear how much of this is truly traditional and how much Lead Belly. The "B" text in Fife looks a bit like a Lomax rework; it has stanzas reminiscent of "The Foggy, Foggy Dew" and "Rosemary Lane." - RBW
File: LoF197

When I Was a Fair Maid

See The Soldier Maid (File: DTsoldma)

When I Was a Lady

See All For the Men (File: LoF260)

When I Was a Little Boy (I)

See Little Brown Dog (File: VWL101)

When I Was A Little Boy (II)

See Now I Am a Big Boy (File: R358)

When I Was a Little Boy (III)

See The Swapping Boy (File: E093)

When I Was a Little Boy Strikin' at the Studdy

DESCRIPTION: "When I was a little boy, strikin' at the studdy [smithy], I had a pair o' blue breeks, and oh but they were duddie [tattered]! As I strook, they shook, like a lammie's tailie; But noo I'm grown a gentleman, my wife she wears a railie"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: clothes nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1688, "When I Was a Young Man I Chappit at the Studdy" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1826 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 297, ("When I was a little boy, strikin' at the studdy")
Robert Chambers (Edited by Norah and William Montgomerie), Traditional Scottish Nursery Rhymes (1990 selected from Popular Rhymes) #152, p. 87, ("When I was a wee boy, Strikin at the studdy")
Roud #13033
NOTES: The description is Chambers's text. I don't know what a "railie" is, but seems likely to refer to an early 19th century fashion [see, for example, Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, 1976: "rail ... n ... 1 archaic: a loose garment worn in varying style esp by women since the early medieval period 2 obs: a neckercheif for women"]. GreigDuncan8 ends with the singer "grown a grandpa, my wife she wears a veillie." - BS
Alexander Warrack, The Scots Dialext Dictionary, Waverly Books, 2000, defines "railie/railly" as a woman's jacket, although it does not describe the style. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81688

When I was a maiden of sweet seventeen

See Maidens of Sixty-Three (The Old Maid) (File: HHH679)

When I Was a Servant in Old Aberdeen

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

When I Was a Wee Thing

DESCRIPTION: "When I was a (little girl/wee thing), About (seven) years old, I hadna worth a petticoat To keep me frae the cold." The singer travels to (Edinburgh), buys clothes, goes to the woods, and builds a kirk with the help of the birds of the wood
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Montgomerie)
KEYWORDS: bird animal clergy clothes
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose 232, p. 151, "(When I was a little girl)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 139, "(When I was a wee thing)" (1 text)
File: BGMG222

When I Was a Young Girl

See All For the Men (File: LoF260)

When I Was A Young Man

DESCRIPTION: As a young man the singer "was drinking and a-smoking, boys, from morning unto night." When he had spent all his money he worked for more. He was enraged when he "walked into the public house and I called for a pint of the best" but got "the slop"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1995 (recording, Wiggy Smith)
KEYWORDS: drink lie
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
Roud #12931
RECORDINGS:
Wiggy Smith, "When I Was A Young Man" (on Voice13)
File: RcWIWAYM

When I Was a Young Man (I)

DESCRIPTION: The singer proposes to his long-time sweetheart but she rejects him as an idler. "In the spring had you cropped my wing" he would have won her. He says he'll "sail the ocean o'er, For the loss of one is a gain of two And a choice of twenty more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection farewell
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-NovaScotia 50, "When I Was a Young Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS050 (Partial)
Roud #1797
NOTES: This is one of those songs that sounds like you've heard it before; the plot is common and the images commonplace. But neither Creighton nor Roud nor I can recall another version. - RBW
File: CrNS050

When I Was a Young Man (II)

See I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male) (File: R365)

When I Was a Young Man I Chappit at the Studdy

See When I Was a Little Boy Strikin' at the Studdy (File: GrD81688)

When I Was a Young Thing

DESCRIPTION: "When I was a young thing I lived with my granny, my mama was dead and my pa gone to sea." The singer always wanted to be a sailor "and follow my dada," but he finds that a sailor's life is filled with hard work.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: work sailor ship father mother orphan
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 893-894, "When I Was a Young Thing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9939
File: Pea893

When I Was Little Jeanikie

DESCRIPTION: "When I wis little Jeanikie" the singer loved Johnny, "servant to my daddy" When everyone was asleep she "did dry his gray breeks." Now they live together with their "bairnies weel an happy"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: love clothes baby servant
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1280, "When I Was Little Jeanikie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7192
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Johnnie's Grey Breaks
File: GrD71280

When I Was Lost in the Wilderness

DESCRIPTION: "King Jesus handed the candle down, An' I hope dat trumpet goin' to blow me home Yer de new Jerusalem." "When Moses smote de water wid his shepherd's rod, De waters rared back...." "When Joshua ordered dat de sun stand still...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus Bible nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 652, "When I Was Lost in the Wilderness" (1 text)
Roud #11943
NOTES: Don't ask me where Brown's title came from; there is no mention of wilderness in the song.
Moses's parting of the Red Sea is described in Exodus 14; Joshua's request that the sun stand still is in Joshua 10:12-13. - RBW
File: Br3652

When I Was Noo But Sweet Sixteen (The Bothy Lads, The Plooboy Lads)

DESCRIPTION: Singer complains that the ploughboys are "false and deceiving-o They say all and the gang awa'." At sixteen she was "just in blooming." At nineteen she's home with her baby with no idea where the father may be.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1953 (recording, Jeannie Robertson)
KEYWORDS: seduction sex nonballad baby abandonment
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, PLOOLAD*
Roud #5138
RECORDINGS:
Jeannie Robertson, "When I Was Noo But Sweet Sixteen" (on Voice10)
File: RcWIWNBS

When I Was One-and-Twenty

See The Backwoodsman (The Green Mountain Boys) [Laws C19] (File: LC19)

When I Was Single (I)

See I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male) (File: R365)

When I Was Single (II)

DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the gay nights he lived when single. Now married, his wife leaves him to watch the cradle and run errands. He laments that "the poor man's labor is never done."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Eddy)
KEYWORDS: marriage nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Eddy 71, "When I Was Single" (1 text)
ST E071 (Full)
Roud #5357
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male)"
cf. "Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)" (plot)
cf. "Married and Single Life" (subject)
NOTES: This may be a version of "Rocking the Cradle (and the Child Not His Own)"; Eddy's fragment is too short for me to be sure. - RBW
File: E071

When I Was Single (III)

See I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again (File: Wa126)

When I Was Single (IV)

See Do You Love an Apple? (File: K203)

When I Was Single, Oh Then

See I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male) (File: R365)

When I Was Young (Don't Never Trust a Sailor)

DESCRIPTION: A girl laments the loss of her virginity to a sailor, (who gives her half a dollar for "the damage I have done," and advises if she has a son to send him off to sea). She is found to be pregnant. Her parents throw her out. She warns girls against sailors
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield)
KEYWORDS: bawdy sailor seduction sex warning
FOUND IN: US(MW,So,SW) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Cray, pp. 75-78, "When I Was Young" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph 806, "Don't Never Trust a Sailor" (1 text)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 74-80, "When I Was Young and Foolish" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Greenleaf/Mansfield 58, "The Lass that Loved a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 500-501, "Home, Home, Home" (1 text, 1 tune, with a chorus probably derived from "Ambletown" or some other member of the "Rosemary Lane" family) [AbEd, pp. 368-369]
JHJohnson, p. 65, "The Lass That Loved a Sailor" (1 text)
Sandburg, p. 219, "When I Was Young and Foolish" (1 short text, 1 tune, which appears to go with this piece although the ending is missing)
Blondahl, p. 106, "The Lass That Loved a Sailor" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST EM075 (Full)
Roud #954
RECORDINGS:
Dillard Chandler, "The Sailor Being Tired" (on OldLove)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosemary Lane" [Laws K43]
cf. "The Gatesville Cannonball"
cf. "Oh, No, Not I" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Rambleaway" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Night Hawk
The Sailor-Girl's Lament
NOTES: Randolph-Legman has extensive historical notes, separating this "inch-above-the-knee" song from "Bell Bottom Trousers/Rosemary Lane." - EC
For discussion of this song and its ancestry, see the entry on "Rosemary Lane" [Laws K43]. The pieces here may not be a unity; one might describe this as bawdy remnants of that ballad. - RBW
File: EM075

When I Was Young (II)

DESCRIPTION: Singer laments married life, saying when she was young she lived well and happily, but now she lives in poverty and misery. The chorus warns, "Ye'd better be a maiden as a poor man's wife."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1850
KEYWORDS: poverty marriage warning
FOUND IN: Britain(North,West,South) Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 102, "When I Was Young" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BTTRSNGL*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 27, #1 (1978), p, 15, "It's Better to be Single Than a Poor Man's Wife" (1 text, 1 tune, the Margaret Barry version)
Roud #894
RECORDINGS:
Margaret Barry & Michael Gorman, "It's Better to be Single Than a Poor Man's Wife" (on Barry-Gorman1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Single Girl, Married Girl"
cf. "Sorry the Day I Was Married"
cf. "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again" (theme)
cf. "I Wish I Were Single Again (II - Female)" (theme)
cf. "Do You Love an Apple?" (theme, floating lyrics)
cf. "For Seven Long Years I've Been Married" (theme)
NOTES: Obviously, this is extremely close to the songs listed as cross-references, and they have either cross-fertilized or share a common ancestor, but it has a distinctly different chorus, emphasizing being a poor man's wife, and as such I think it deserves a separate listing. -PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: VWL102

When I Was Young and Foolish

See When I Was Young (File: EM075)

When I Was Young and in My Prime

DESCRIPTION: The singer boasts that when he was young, he could "fetch" a kid every time, but now that he is old, he can't get a "bit to save my soul."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: bawdy age sex
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 159-161, "When I Was Young and in My Prime" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Am Growing Old and Gray" (theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I Ain't So Young
When I Was in My Prime
File: RL159

When I Was Young I Was Well Beloved

See The False Lover (File: HHH790)

When I Went for to Take My Leave

DESCRIPTION: Singer, leaving to fight for the Union in the Civil War, weeps to leave his child and wife, and vows that "if the Davis boys don't bind me" he will return as quickly as possible when it's over
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (recording, Loman D. Cansler)
KEYWORDS: grief Civilwar war farewell parting return separation baby family wife husband
FOUND IN: US(So)
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "When I Went for to Take My Leave" (on Cansler1)
File: RcWIWFTT

When I'm Dead and Buried

See Don't You Weep After Me (File: R262)

When I'm Gone (I)

DESCRIPTION: "It'll be Lawd, Lawd, Lawd, when I'm gone." "I'm gonna fly from mansion to mansion, when I'm gone." "I'll be done with troubles and trials." "I'm gonna walk and talk with Jesus." "I'm gonna set at the welcome table."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax-FSNA 243, "When I'm Gone" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Welcome Table (Streets of Glory, God's Going to Set This World on Fire)" (floating verses)
NOTES: Alan Lomax claims -- on the basis of a few words in the chorus -- that this is the same as "Don't You Grieve After Me (I)." I don't buy it. - RBW
File: LoF243

When Jesus Christ Was Here Below

DESCRIPTION: "When Jesus Christ was here below, He taught his people what to do, And if we would his precepts keep We must descend to washing feet." The song details the footwashing at the Last Supper
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Jesus Bible religious
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 198-199, "When Jesus Christ Was Here Below" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7132?
NOTES: This song closely follows the account of the footwashing in John 13:1-11; the incident is not mentioned in the other three gospels or elsewhere in the Bible. - RBW
File: ThBa198

When Jesus Christ Was Here On Earth

DESCRIPTION: Jesus, on earth, is called a spy. He walks past a sinful crowd, hears a woman say, "I'd go prophesy." He tells Peter, James, and John, "It's written I must die/Shed my blood on Calvary/And never more to die"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (recording, I. D. Beck & congregation)
KEYWORDS: death prophecy religious Jesus
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
Roud #7386
RECORDINGS:
I. D. Beck & congregation: "When Jesus Christ Was Here On Earth" (on LomaxCD1704)
NOTES: This is fragmentary, but still clearly a narrative, so I include it. - PJS
File: RcWJCWHE

When John and I Were Married

DESCRIPTION: When the singer married John her cranky old mother gave them nothing. They saved their money and slept in a bed of straw. Now they are happy: "love will live in cottage low as weel's in lofty ha'" so marry whom you love.
AUTHOR: Robert Tannahill (1774-1810) (source: Ramsay)
EARLIEST DATE: 1838 (Ramsay)
KEYWORDS: love marriage nonballad mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1278, "Clean Pease Strae" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: Phillip A Ramsay, The Poetical Works of Robert Tannahill (London, preface 1838), p. 37, "When John and I Were Married"
Alexander Whitelaw, A Book of Scottish Song (Glasgow, 1845), p. 450, "When John and Me'
Roud #7140
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(42), "Clean Pea Strae" ("When John an' me were married"), J. Harkness (Preston), 1840-1866; also 2806 c.15(310)[some words illegible], "When John and Me Were Married"
NOTES: Both GreigDuncan7 versions add a first verse along the line of 'Let's go to the mill [barn] and thrash [take another round] at the straw. GreigDuncan7 1278B is only that verse; if 1278A, which adds Tannahill's verses to that first, [didn't exist,] I would have considered this a separate song. Perhaps this verse is what's left of the older "Clean Pease-Strae" which Ramsay has as the tune of "When John and I Were Married." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71278

When John's Ale Was New

See When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)

When Johnny Comes Marching Home

DESCRIPTION: The singer promises that Johnny will receive a hearty welcome when he returns home from the war. Everyone will turn out; all will be gay; the old church bell will ring; there will be shouting and flowers; they will wreathe his brow with laurel
AUTHOR: Words: "Louis Lambert" (Patrick S. Gilmore)
EARLIEST DATE: 1863
KEYWORDS: home war return reunion nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (10 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 233-236, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 327-329, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-CivWar, p. 94, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 51, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 130, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hill-CivWar, p. 204, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 282, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1 text)
Thomas-Makin', p. 54, (no title) (1 text, mostly "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One)" but with this chorus)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 639-641, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
DT, JHNMARCH*
ST RJ19233 (Full)
Roud #6673
RECORDINGS:
Harry Evans, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (Emerson 7373, 1918)
Pete Seeger & Bill McAdoo, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (on PeteSeeger28)
Frank C. Stanley, "When Johnnie Comes Marching Home" (CYL: Edison 5003, c. 1898)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, R.B.m169(220), "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," unknown, n.d.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" (tune)
cf. "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One)" (tune)
cf. "Snapoo" (tune)
cf. "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" (approximate tune)
SAME TUNE:
Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye (File: PBB094)
Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One) (File: R227)
Snapoo (File: EM379)
The Widow-Maker Soon Must Cave [Anti-Lincoln campaign song of 1864] (James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 790)
NOTES: Scholars continue to argue whether "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" or the doleful "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" is the original. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" can be firmly dated to the beginning of the Civil War, while "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" does not appear until slightly later (1869) -- but as a traditional song. The earliest known printing is, in fact, that of "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl" (early 1863).
If I were to make a guess, I think I would put "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl" first; it's a logical tune for Gillmore to steal (and some anonymous Irishman to turn into an anti-war song). But what do I know? - RBW
File: RJ19233

When Johnny Went Plowing for Kearon

DESCRIPTION: Kearon, too old to plow, hires Johnny. But Kearon had an "enjyne" with the team which Johnny did not understand. Kearon tries it himself but cannot do it. Kearon gives him some instruction. "Johnny took heed to what Kearon had said" and finishes the job
AUTHOR: Lawrence Doyle
EARLIEST DATE: 1968 (Ives-DullCare)
KEYWORDS: age farming technology humorous
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Dibblee/Dibblee, pp. 19-20, "When Johnny Went Plowing for Kearon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 191-193,256, "When Johnny Went Plowing for Kearon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12480
NOTES: Ives-DullCare: "A story of a greenhorn's plowing mishap and how his boss decided to show him how it's done, only to wind up worse off than his pupil."
File: Dib019

When Johnson's Ale Was New

See When Jones's Ale Was New (File: Doe168)

When Jones's Ale Was New

DESCRIPTION: Stories from Jones's Bar. Various drinkers come in, each with his tale or his unruly behavior or his demand. Most are hard workers whose burdens are relieved by the ale.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1594 (stationer's register)
KEYWORDS: drink nonballad landlord ritual
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA) Britain(England(All),Scotland) Australia
REFERENCES (10 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 168-169, "When Johnson's Ale Was New" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 273-277, "When John's Ale Was New" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan3 561, "When Jones' Ale Was New" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 284-285, "Four Jolly Fellows" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 287, "When Jones's Ale Was New" (1 text, 1 tune)
Combs/Wilgus 166, pp. 132-133, "The Jovial Tinker (Joan's Ale is Good)" (1 text -- a heavily modified version with a floating first verse and a final verse that may imply a Civil War setting)
Paterson/Fahey/Seal, pp. 245-248, "When Jones's Ale Was New" (1 text plus an excerpt from a British broadside)
Silber-FSWB, p. 231, "Johnson's Ale" (1 text)
BBI, ZN2502, "There was a jovial Tinker"
DT, JONESALE JONESAL2 JONESAL3
Roud #139
RECORDINGS:
Bob & Ron Copper, "The Jovial Tradesman" (on LomaxCD1700); "The Jovial Tradesman" (on FSB3)
Fred Jordan, "When Jones's Ale Was New" (on Voice13)
John M. (Sailor Dad) Hunt, "When Jones's Ale Was New" (AFS, 1941; on LC27)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 1(105b), "Joan's Ale is New"["Jones" in the text], T. Vere (London), 1644-1680; also Douce Ballads 1(99b), "Joan's Ale is New"["Jones" in the text]; Harding B 28(139), "Joan's Ale"["Joan's" in the text]; Harding B 11(652), "When John's Ale Was New"; Harding B 16(336b), "Joan's Ale Was New"["Joan's" in the text]; 2806 c.18(169), "Joan's Ale is New"["Joan's" in the text]
Murray, Mu23-y2:014, "When John's Ale was New," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 19C
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Young Man Who Travelled Up and Down"
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jone's ale is newe
When John's Sail Was New
NOTES: The song was sung by the "jolly boys" (pace-eggers) in Overton, Lancs, as part of their Easter house-to-house ritual. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe168

When Mary Came Wandering Home

See Mary of the Wild Moor [Laws P21] (File: LP21)

When McGuinness Gets a Job

See Last Winter Was a Hard One (File: FSC098)

When Morning Stands on Tiptoe

See The Echoing Horn (File: K246)

When Mursheen Went to Bunnan

DESCRIPTION: The singer's "spirits has completely left" since Mursheen went to Bunnan. She left because he drinks. He drank with her father, who turned against her when she left. He had been "bound for the west" but now he "gave up all my palaver with Yankees"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1974 (recording, Micho Russell)
KEYWORDS: love separation drink father
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #8146
RECORDINGS:
Micho Russell, "When Mursheen Went to Bunnan" (on Voice13)
File: RcWMuWtB

When My Blood Runs Chilly and Cold

DESCRIPTION: "When my blood runs chilly and cold, I've got to go... Way beyond the moon. Do lord, do, Lord, do remember me.... If you can't bear no crosses, you can't wear no crown.... I've got a mother in Beulah land, she's calling me...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad death
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 104, "When My Blood Runs Chilly an' Col'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 610-611, "When My Blood Runs Chilly an' Col'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15548
File: LxU104

When My Lord Went to Pray

DESCRIPTION: "Way over yonder beyond the mountain, Where my Lord went to pray, They dressed my Lord in a long white robe...." "He hewed him out a cross..." "Come and help me bear this old cross along...." The singer tells of Jesus's death and salvation
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 654, "When My Lord Went to Pray" (1 text)
Roud #11944
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Never Said a Mumbling Word" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: According to Mark 15:21, etc., Jesus needed help to carry his cross, though John (19:17) says he carried his own cross. The size of the cross is not specified, and when the soldiers dressed Jesus in fine clothes, they put him in a *purple* cloak (Mark 15:20). - RBW
File: Br3654

When O'Connor Drew His Pay

DESCRIPTION: O'Connor (a logger), after drawing his pay, goes on a spree, starts a fire, and is arrested. Taken to "limbo" (jail), he pays his fine and they ship him (as freight) back to the woods. He swears he's "never spent his savings quite so pleasurably before"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: lumbering drink prison fire money humorous
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 35, "When O'Connor Drew His Pay" (1 text)
Roud #4065
NOTES: The text is incomplete, but gives the flavor of the song. I used "prison" as a keyword only because we don't have "jail." - PJS
This song is item dC44 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: Be035

When Our Boys Gave Up Squiddin'

DESCRIPTION: "Our boys give up squiddin', they all joined the Navy To fight for old England, her King and her Crown." The boys get their parents consent, go "up to the court-house to join up that day," leave their women and family and go to "Keep Hitler Down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: moniker war navy patriotic family derivative England separation
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Doyle3, p. 83, "When Our Boys Gave Up Squiddin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SQUIDJI2*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Squid-Jiggin' Ground" (tune)
File: Doyl3083

When Paddy McGinty Plays the Harp

DESCRIPTION: "When Paddy McGinty plays the harp you've got to get up and dance ... It's wonderful Irish music that is neither flat nor sharp When Paddy McGinty plays the harp"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (NFOBlondahl04, NFOBlondahl05)
KEYWORDS: dancing harp music nonballad
FOUND IN:
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "When Paddy McGinty Plays the Harp" (on NFOBlondahl04)
NOTES: Is this even a music hall song? There is a 1940 recording on OKEH 5849 by the McFarland Twins and their Orchestra [sources: Steven Abrams site as The Online Discographical Project; Northwest Internet Technologies copyright owner of World of Grampophones site]; "the McFarland twins, Arthur and George, were handsome blonds who played reeds and had own corny band late '30s, suddenly became more modern c'42 but never hit the big time" [Source: MusicWeb site Encyclopedia of Popular Music re Fred Waring].
Blondahl04 and NFOBlondahl05 have no liner notes confirming that this song was collected in Newfoundland. Barring another report for Newfoundland I do not assume it has been found there. There is no entry for "When Paddy McGinty Plays the Harp" in Newfoundland Songs and Ballads in Print 1842-1974 A Title and First-Line Index by Paul Mercer. - BS
File: RcWPMPTH

When Pat Came Over the Hill

See The Whistling Thief (File: HHH710)

When Saint Peter's Day Was A-Dawning

DESCRIPTION: Singer describes "the deeds of the sons of Saint Patrick" at a secret society meeting. "The Harp of old Ireland played Orange Lie Down" and woke the Brunswickers. "Banish this crew that our land did pollute" and let them go to some other island.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Tunney-StoneFiddle)
KEYWORDS: Ireland political
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 127-128, "When Saint Peter's Day Was A-Dawning" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: "Brunswickers" is a synonym here for "Orangemen." There is another apparent reference to Orangemen: "the Black Hare of Luther"; Luther is clear enough but I don't understand "the Black Hare" in this context [there is a reference to "these Luthers black" in Tunney-StoneFiddle: "The Defender's Song"]. "Orange Lie Down" may not be a real song; in any case, that title is a reference to "Croppies Lie Down," one of the Orange songs most resented by the nationalists. - BS
File: TSF127

When Shall We Be Married

See The Country Courtship (File: K127)

When Shall We Get Married

See The Country Courtship (File: K127)

When Shall We Meet Again?

DESCRIPTION: The singer hears, through his window, a sailor and his wife and child parting in the rain. "Perhaps," he says, "we'll part for years, perhaps for evermore." Later the boy dies saying "When shall we meet again"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (GreigDuncan6)
KEYWORDS: love parting death children wife sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1250, "When Shall We Meet Again?," GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "When Shall We Meet Again?" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #6786
File: GrD61250

When Sherman Marched Down to the Sea

See Sherman's March to the Sea (File: SBoA248)

When Silent Time, Wi' Lightly Foot

See The Nabob (File: Ord361)

When Sorrows Encompass Me 'Round

DESCRIPTION: "When sorrows encompass me 'round, And many distresses I see, Astonished, I cry, 'Can a poor mortal be found Surrounded with troubles like me?'" The weary singer hopes for peace, and expects at last to find it with Jesus
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Warner 94, "When Sorrows Encompass Me 'Round" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 217-218, "Death-Bed Song" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 22, #1 (1973), p, 19, "When Sorrows Encompass Me 'Round" (1 text, 1 tune, from the singing of Tommy Jarrell)
ST Wa094 (Partial)
Roud #16402
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Am I Born to Die? (Idumea)" (tune)
File: Wa094

When That Great Ship Went Down

See The Titanic (I) ("It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down") [Laws D24] (Titanic #1) (File: LD24)

When the Battle it was Won (Young Jimmy and the Officer) [Laws J23]

DESCRIPTION: Jimmy deserts (in the face of the enemy!) when he hears his mother is dying. An officer arrives, hauls him from his mother's bedside, and orders him to face a firing squad. The officer may have wanted Jimmy's sweetheart (but she shoots him)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Mackenzie)
KEYWORDS: war family death trial execution
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws J23, "When the Battle it was Won (Young Jimmy and the Officer)"
Greenleaf/Mansfield 178, "Young Jimmy and the Officer" (1 text)
Peacock, pp. 994-995, "The Deserter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Mackenzie 117, "When the Battle It Was Won" (1 text)
DT 553, BATLEWON
Roud #1890
File: LJ23

When the Boys Go A-Courting (Over the Mountain, Poll and Sal)

DESCRIPTION: The young man goes out courting; the girl thinks him too poor. He borrows his master's horse to impress her. Later, he and his (cousin) go courting together. The girls' mother kicks them out. His mistress punishes him. He keeps chasing girls
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1817 (Journal from the Herald)
KEYWORDS: love courting disguise trick sex mother apprentice
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 312-314, "Poll and Sal" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, POLLSAL*
Roud #385
NOTES: The final verses of this seem to be from "The Keyhole in the Door" or something similar, but the whole song is rather disjointed. What's clear is the motivation: The singer devotes his whole attention to courting and watching girls -- and pays for it, until at last he gets married. - RBW
File: SWMS312

When the Caplin Come In

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, now is the time when the men are all ready ... And live on the beach while the caplin is in." The crowd nets caplin from the beach; row boats and motor boats and horses "full breeds and ponies" haul the netted fish away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (Doyle)
KEYWORDS: moniker fishing commerce
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doyle3, pp. 85-86, "When the Caplin Come In" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7318
RECORDINGS:
Omar Blondahl, "When the Caplin Come In" (on NFOBlondahl02)
NOTES: Caplin are small deep water fish that come to shore in June and July to spawn. They are netted for bait, food or manure [per GEST Songs of Newfoundland and Labrador site]. - BS
File: Doyl3085

When the Curtains of Night Are Pinned Back

DESCRIPTION: "When the curtains of night are pinned back by the stars And the beautiful moon sweeps the sky, I'll remember you, love, in my prayers." "When the curtains of night are pinned back by the stars And the dew drops of heav'n kiss the rose, I'll remember...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Sandburg, p. 259, "When the Curtains of Night Are Pinned Back" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Fife-Cowboy/West 90, "Curtains of Night" (1 text, 1 tune)
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 196, "I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers" (1 text)
Roud #4367
RECORDINGS:
Emry Arthur, "I'll Remember You Love In My Prayers" (Vocalion 5206, c. 1928)
Blue Ridge Mountain Singers, "I'll Remember You in My Prayers" (Columbia 15550-D, 1930)
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "I'll Remember You Love" (King 550, 1946)
Betsy Lane Shepherd, "I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers" (Edison 80484, n.d.)
Floyd Skillern, "I'll Remember You Love in My Prayers" (Melotone 7-07-60, 1937)
Walter Smith, "I'll Remember You Love In My Prayers" (Champion 15730, 1929)
Tenneva Ramblers, "The Curtains of Night" (Victor 21289, 1928)
NOTES: Hazel Felleman's 1936 book The Best Loved Poems of the American People, p. 32, has a long version of this with the title "I'll Remember You, Love, in My Prayers." That version looks very composed, but she lists no author. It's not clear whether that is the original or if it is based on traditional materials. - RBW
File: San259

When the Day Is on the Turn

See When the Day's on the Turn (File: Ord279)

When the Day's on the Turn

DESCRIPTION: "Though the house be couth and warm, And aye a blazing fire, The lang nichts o' winter Maks everybody tire." They look forward to the time when "the day be on the turn." Then "the fair maid in the evening gaes lichtly..," "the cotter sits contented," etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad work
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan3 545, "When the Day is on the Turn" (1 text)
Ord, p. 279, "When the Day's on the Turn" (1 text)
Roud #5598 and 6021
File: Ord279

When the End of the Month Rolls Around

DESCRIPTION: A coarse description of women's monthly troubles
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1963
KEYWORDS: bawdy nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cray, pp. 346-348, "When the End of the Month Rolls Around" (2 texts, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "As the Caissons Go Rolling Along (Field Artillery Song)" (tune)
File: EM346

When the Flippers Strike the Town

DESCRIPTION: "You may talk about the pancakes That your mother used to fry... But this I got to tell you... The pancakes won't be 'in it' When the flippers 'strike the town.'" The song describes the enjoyable times when the flippers come back to home and family
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Newfoundland Ballads and Stories)
KEYWORDS: sea hunting reunion food
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ryan/Small, p. 70, "When the Flippers Strike the Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: The reference is to eating seals, and to the sealers coming back from the ice with their carcasses. According to Bob Bartlett (who should know; see his biography under "Captain Bob Bartlett"), "The flesh [of the seal] is by no means disagreeable, though it has a general flavor of fish, which constitutes the seal's chief food" (see p. 54 of The Last Voyage of the Karluk, as told to Ralph T. Hale; published 1916; now available with a new introduction by Edward E. Leslie as The Karluk's Last Voyage). - RBW
File: RySm070

When the Golden Sun Is Setting

DESCRIPTION: "When the golden sun is setting And your face I cannot see, Will you step before the looking-glass And kiss yourself for me?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Henry, from Mary King)
KEYWORDS: love separation
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 231, (third of several "Fragments from Tennessee") (1 fragment)
File: MHAp231C

When the Ice Worms Nest Again

DESCRIPTION: "There's a dusky husky maiden in the Arctic, And she waits for me but it is not in vain, For some day I'll put my mukluks on and ask her If she'll wed me when the ice-worms nest again." There follows a description of a wedding feast in an igloo
AUTHOR: unknown (various copyright claims)
EARLIEST DATE: 1938
KEYWORDS: Eskimo marriage humorous
FOUND IN: US(Alaska) Canada(NW,West)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 186-188, "When the Ice Worms Nest Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 189-191, "When the Ice Worms Nest Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 169, "When the Iceworms Nest Again" (1 text)
DT, ICEWRM
Roud #4537
RECORDINGS:
Wilf Carter, "When the Ice Worms Nest Again" (Bluebird [Canada] 58-0129, c. 1950)
Loewen Orchestra, "When the Iceworms Nest Again" (on SaskMan1)
NOTES: Often associated with Robert W. Service (who did publish the song), Fowke thinks this piece "may date back to the Klondike gold rush of 1898." It was apparently first published in 1938, by the "Yellowknife Prospector" (which credited it to four men working along the Yukon River around 1919) and by Service in "Bath-Tub Ballads." Service reported that he wrote it in Dawson in 1911 -- but Fowke reports his version shows significant differences from the "common" text and tune.
"Ice worms" seemingly first appeared in "ice worm cocktails" (a term which may go back to Service). They were simply strands of pasta with eyes drawn on -- but the legend goes that they were used to intimidate inexperienced travellers who visited the Yukon, and who thought they were actual living things.
To be sure, there are actual creatures called "ice worms" (creatures that live on glaciers, coming out mostly at night, and somehow are able to increase their metabolism as temperatures go down. It is feared that global warming will render them extinct). But, based on a National Public Radio report at the end of 2005, even now, no one knows how these creatures reproduce, or how long they live; the author of this poem probably didn't know the real creatures even existed. - RBW
File: FJ186

When the King Comes O'er the Water (Lady Keith's Lament)

DESCRIPTION: "I may sit in my wee croo hoose, Wi' my rock and my reel tae toil, fu' dreary," but the singer is certain things will be better "The day our king comes o'er the water." Though old, she will rant and dance when he comes -- and she again becomes Lady Keith
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1819 (Hogg)
KEYWORDS: Jacobite return exile hardtimes work nobility age
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Hogg1 27, "When the King Comes O'er the Water " (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LDYKEITH
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 42, #1 (1997), p, 118-119, "Lady Keith's Lament" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: There seem to be no traditional collections of this (unless Hogg's is one) -- but it has become fairly popular in pop folk circles (presumably because of the magnificent if hard-to-sing tune). I have indexed it on that basis.
The notes in Sing Out! state that this is a Bonnie Prince Charlie song. I frankly don't think so. There are no explicit references to the name of the exiled Stuart king (as the song says, "there is one I will not name"), but there is no mention of a young prince, or a young prince's father. And remember that the singer was, at some time, Lady Keith, but now has lost the title. The strong implication is that she had the title in 1688 ("when Royal Stuart held the sway And none heard tell of Whig or Tory" -- the terms were first widely used in the Exclusion Crisis of the period around 1680, according to HistTodayCompanion, pp. 297, 747, 804). If the song were being sung in 1745, the singer would be probably in her seventies at least. Far more likely that she is referring to the Old Pretender, perhaps around 1715. It could even be earlier -- she refers to a "foreign King," which sounds like George I and the Hannoverians, but William III was known as "Dutch William," so he was foreign too.
Ir seems likely that the Lady Keith of the song was the wife of the ninth Earl Marischal. The Keith family, which had been granted the Marischal earldom by James II in the 1450s, had a long history of Jacobite activity; at the time of the execution of Charles I, William Keith, the seventh Earl Marischal (died 1670?), was keeper of the Scottish crown jewels, and his son John Keith saved them for Charles II (Magnusson, p. 469). After the death of William, George Keith became the eighth Earl Marischal, dyingin 1694.
William Keith, the ninth Earl Marischal was also a confirmed Jacobite; he died in 1712, and his sons George Keith the tenth earl (c. 1693-1778) and James Keith (1696-1758) fought at Sheriffmuir in 1715, joined the 1719 rising, and then fled to Germany (OxfordCompanion, pp. 542, 618-619; Magnusson, p. 572, blames some of the problems of the 1719 on George Keith's stubbornness). In 1743, the French had contemplated having George Keith invade England as part of a pro-Jacobite move, but that came to nothing, and Keith did not play a rple in the 1745 rising.
The wife of the ninth earl was Mary Drummond, daughter of the fourth Earl of Perth; her mother was the daughter of the Earl of Douglas. Thus the description of Lady Keith as having a good lord's son and an earl's daughter as parents would fit Margaret Drummond.
The Keiths were a family of long and distinguished lineage -- Sir Robert Keith had led the Scottish cavalry at Bannockburn (McNamee, p. 62) -- but by the time of the Jacobite conflicts, they seem to have become rather ineffective. William the ninth earl, based on the information on Wikipedia, seems to have been a very inconsistent character. - RBW
Bibliography

HistTodayCompanion: Juliet Gardiner & Neil Wenborn, Editors, The History Today Companion to British History, Collins & Brown, 1995
Magnusson: Magnus Magnusson, Scotland: The Story of a Nation, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000
McNamee: Colm McNamee, The Wars of the Bruces: Scotland, England and Ireland 1306-1328, Tuckwell, 1997
OxfordCompanion: John Cannon, editor, The Oxford Companion to British History, Oxford, 1997

Last updated in version 2.5
File: Hogg1027

When the King Enjoys His Own Again

DESCRIPTION: The singer scorns the prognostications of prophets and the like; "all will be well When the King enjoys his own again." He points out the age and quality of the Stuart monarchy. He says he will "never rejoyes" until the king (Charles I) returns to power
AUTHOR: Words: Probably Martin Parker
EARLIEST DATE: 1671 ("The Loyal Garland")
KEYWORDS: royalty political rebellion
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1603 - James I (James VI of Scotland), the first of the Stuart monarchs, succeeds Elizabeth I as monarch of England
1625 - Charles I succeeds James I
1628 - Charles I comes in conflict with Parliament. He is forced to grant Civil Rights (the "Petition of Rights") in return for money.
1629 - Charles I dissolves Parliament and attempts to rule England directly
1640 - Charles I is forced to summon a Parliament (the "Short Parliament") to raise money. When it refuses to grant subsidies, he dissolves it and summons what would become the "Long Parliament"
1642 - Charles attempts to arrest five members of parliament. Eventually Parliament goes to war against Charles
1645 - Battle of Naseby. Charles decisively defeated.
1646 - Charles surrenders to the Scots. They eventually give him to the English, but Charles twists and turns and escapes before the English finally get him firmly in custody.
1649 - Trial and execution of Charles I. England formally a commonwealth.
1660 - Commonwealth dissolved. Accession of Charles II
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 210-214, "When the King Enjoys His Own Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, KINGNJOY*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. The King Shall Enjoy His Own Again (tune) and notes there
SAME TUNE:
Come brave England, be of good cheare/England's Joyful Holiday, Or, St. Georges Day (BBI ZN559)
The Whigs are small, and of no good race/ .. The Unfortunate Whigs (BBI ZN2905)
Cheer up your hearts, and be not afraid/The Cavaliers Comfort (BBI ZN481)
All you that do desire to know/The last Newes from France (BBU ZN126)
Good people all sing and rejoyce/The Christian Conquest [over Turks at Vienna, 1683] (BBI ZN1040)
What Booker can Prognosticate/Englands Great Prognosticator (BBI ZN2787)
NOTES: An obviously political piece, evidently written in the early 1640s. (This is proved both by the politics of the piece and by the "forty years" the house of Stuart is said to have reigned.) The oldest broadside copies do not indicate a printer; no doubt they were printed secretly. After the Restoration (1660), of course, the song was openly circulated.
It's hard to say which side in the Civil War was worse. Charles tried to be an absolute monarch, claiming powers no English king had exercised since Edward I (died 1307) -- indeed, he demanded some powers no king had ever had.
Even after the Roundheads had defeated Charles's Cavaliers, he could have salvaged most of his power by simply working with Parliament. But he continued to oppose them at every step of the way. Even when on trial for his life, he refused to recognize the validity of the court.
On the other hand, the members of the Long Parliament were no great bunch either. More or less forced into rebellion, they eventually turned into an unrepresentative group of bigots (by the end of the Parliament, over half those originally elected were retired, dead, imprisoned) who sought to enforce their Puritan opinions almost as aggressively as Charles had pursued his royalist agenda.
The Martin Parker who wrote this was also responsible for "A True Tale of Robin Hood" [Child 154]. That piece, apart from being a compilation of the worst of the Robin Hood legends, is almost breathtakingly bad. Apparently Parker learned something about poetry in the eight or so years between the compositions. This is merely simplistic, not openly dreadful. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: ChWI214

When the Kye Come Hame

DESCRIPTION: The singer says "the greatest bliss" for shepherds when "his ewes are in the fold and his lambs are lying still" "'tis to woo a bonnie lassie when the kye comes hame ... beneath the spreading birch in the dell"
AUTHOR: James Hogg (1770-1835) (Bodleian notes to broadside Firth b.26(194) and others; NLScotland commentary to L.C.Fol.70(5a))
EARLIEST DATE: 1822 (Hogg's novel _The Three Perils of Man_ and revised with music in 1823 in _Blackwood's Magazine_, according to NLScotland commentary to L.C.Fol.70(5a))
KEYWORDS: sex nonballad animal sheep shepherd
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Bord))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Charles W. Eliot, editor, English Poetry Vol II From Collins to Fitzgerald (New York, 1910), #448, pp. 765-767, "When the Kye Comes Hame" (by James Hogg)
Roud #12919
RECORDINGS:
Willie Scott, "When the Kye Comes Hame" (on Voice20)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(194), "When the Kye Come Hame" ("Come all ye jolly shepherds"), John Ross (Newcastle), 1847-1852; also 2806 d.31(51), Harding B 11(4129), Harding B 11(4131), Harding B 11(3410), 2806 c.14(123), Harding B 11(4132), Harding B 26(670), Harding B 26(672), "When the Kye Come Hame"
LOCSheet, sm1846 410220, "When the Kye Come Hame," G. P. Reed (Boston), 1846; also sm1876 11358, "When the Kye Come Hame" (tune)
Murray, Mu23-y4:028, "When The Kye Come Hame," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(5a), "When the Kye Come Hame," unknown, c.1875
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blathrie O't" (tune, per broadside Bodleian 2806 c.14(123))
NOTES: The cover to broadside LOCSheet sm1846 410220 states "Written by Hogg, the Etrick Shepherd Music by Wm Rogers." - BS
File: RcWTKCHa

When the Logs Come Down in the Spring

DESCRIPTION: Singer is lonesome for her lover, a logger who is off in the woods. She prays for his safety, and vows that she will rush to embrace him "when the logs come down in the spring."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Beck)
KEYWORDS: loneliness lumbering lover logger separation work love
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 47, "When the Logs Come Down in the Spring" (1 text)
Roud #8875
File: Be047

When the New York Boat Comes Down

See The Glendy Burk (File: MA109)

When the Old Dun Cow Caught Fire

DESCRIPTION: Friends are in a pub "playing dominoes" when it is declared that the pub is on fire. Several serious imbibers, rather than flee, head for the cellar to drink the unprotected spirits. Eventually the firemen break into the cellar -- and join the fun
AUTHOR: Harry Wincott
EARLIEST DATE: 1893 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous fire
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, OLDUNCOW*
ADDITIONAL: _Sing Out_ magazine, Volume 31, #2 (1985), pp, 40-42, "When the Old Dun Cow Caught Fire" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5323
NOTES: Mostly a popular song, of course -- but the Copper Family sang it, and what more could anyone want? Also, the idea was quite popular; there is a New Zealand song, "The Day the Pub Burned Down" (DT DAYPBBRN) on the same idea -- only more extreme, because in it, the fire brigade uses the booze to fight the fire, and are attacked by the townsfolk for doing so. "Pub Burned Down" is clearly a composed song (inspired, I suspect, by the "Dun Cow"), but it has perhaps taken on a life of its own, since the DT version has substantial variants from the version I've heard.
I do not know if it is significant that the pub is named the "Dun Cow," but it is interesting to note that one of the monsters fought by Guy of Warwick was said to be a dun cow of enormous size (see Roy Palmer, The Folklore of Warwickshire, Rowman and Littlefield, 1976, p. 133). Palmer also notes a Dun Cow Inn in Dunchurch, first referred to in 1655 and still in business at the time he wrote. There is also a famous Irish miscellany, "The Book of the Dun Cow," but I doubt that that would be known in England. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: DTolddun

When the Outport Member's Family Comes to Town

DESCRIPTION: A family from a remote outport had a successful season fishing, so they have moved to the town that is busily waiting for them and their money. They exchange outport ways for city habits.
AUTHOR: M. A. Devine
EARLIEST DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: recitation money vanity
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doyle2, p. 76, "When the Outport Member's Family Comes to Town" (1 text)
Roud #7319
NOTES: The social satire in this song seems to be directed more at the vanities of urban life than outport life. Outports are small fishing villages outside of the cities and there have always been marked social distinctions between the inhabitants of the two. - SH
File: Doy76

When the Rebels Come A-Marchin' (The Turncoat Piece)

DESCRIPTION: "When the rebels come a-marchin' I'm a Southern man, And I feed their horses my best. When the Yankees come a-marchin' I'm a Northern man, And I feed their horses what the rebels left." The singer describes how he cooperates with both sides
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar humorous horse betrayal
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', p. 68, (no title) (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Vicar of Bray" (theme)
NOTES: Collected in Kentucky, where sentiments of course were split at the time of the Civil War and where both sides occasionally were in control. - RBW
File: ThBa068

When the Roses Bloom Again Beside the River

See I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again (File: RcIBWYWt)

When the Saints Go Marching In

DESCRIPTION: "O when the saints go marching in (x2), Lord I want to be in that number, When the saints...." Similarly "When the sun refuse to shine"; "When the moon goes down in blood"; "We are traveling in the footsteps of those who've gone before"; etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1896 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US Bahamas
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 236, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 154, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 369, "When The Saints Go Marching In" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, pp. 641-642, "When the Saints Go Marching In"
Roud #13983
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "When The Saints Go Marching In" (Bluebird B-5560, 1934)
Chosen Gospel Singers, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (Nashboro 567, n.d.)
Chuck Wagon Gang, "When The Saints Go Marching In" (Columbia 20630, 1949)
Blind Willie Davis, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (Paramount 12658, 1928; Herwin 93005 [as Blind Willie Jackson], 1929; on Babylon)
Slim Ducket & Pig Norwood, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (OKeh 8899, 1931; rec. 1930)
Eureka Jubilee Singers, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (Sharon X-507, n.d.)
The Georgia Peach [Clara Belle Gholston] "When the Saints Go Marching In" (Banner 32654/Oriole 8191/Romeo 5191/Perfect 0221 [possibly as Clara Belle Gholston]/Melotone 12571, 1933; rec. 1932; on Babylon)
Elder Ella Hall, Effie Fitts, Jennie Jackson & congregation "When the Saints Go Marching" (on MuSouth10)
Eureka Band, "When the Saints Go Marching In" [instrumental version] (on MuSouth10)
Frank & James McCravy, "When the Saints Go Marching Home" (Brunswick 196, 1928; rec. 1927) (OKeh 45435, 1930)
Monroe Brothers, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (Montgomery Ward M-7142, 1937)
Mozelle Moore, "When the Saints Go Marching" [instrumental version] (on MuSouth10)
John D. Mounce et al, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (on MusOzarks01)
Pace Jubilee Singers w. Hattie Parker, "When The Saints Go Marching In" (Victor 21582, 1928)
Paramount Jubilee Singers, "When All The Saints Come Marching In" (Paramount 12073, 1923)
Snowball & Sunshine, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (Columbia 15722-D, 1932; rec. 1931)
Horace Sprott & group "When the Saints Go Marching Home" (on MuSouth02)
Wheat Street Female Quartet, "When the Saints Go Marching In" (Columbia 14067-D, 1925)
NOTES: This song was published twice in 1896, once (according to the copyright records; no copies of the music survive) as by J. M. Black and once with words credited to Katherine E. Purvis and music by Black. (We should note, however, that Eldar Hasund, who has seen the copy which survives, does not consider it the same in either text or tune).
The song is very likely older in any case, as it was collected in Nassau by the McCutcheons in 1917 (again in a form unlike modern pop versions, though recognizably the same song and with much the same tune), and may have originated in the Bahamas. - RBW
File: LoF236

When the Shantyboy Comes Down

See The Lumberman in Town (File: LxU051)

When the Snow Was Deep (Feeding the Birds)

DESCRIPTION: "When the snow was deep, I sprinkled crumbs for the birds to eat. They would chirp for food -- The bluebirds and sparrows were in pleasant mood. They would go and come back, but not all would go, Some would stay... and eat the crumbs...."
AUTHOR: George Mefford Bell?
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: bird food nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', p. 255, "When the Snow Was Deep (Feeding the Birds)" (1 text)
NOTES: Reportedly written when Bell was only seven years old. - RBW
File: ThBa255

When the Stars Begin to Fall

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "My Lord, what a morning (x3) When the stars begin to fall." Verses: "You'll hear the sinner moan...." "You'll hear the gambler groan...." "You'll hear the sinner pray...." "You'll hear the Christians sing...." "You'll see my Jesus come...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious Jesus nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, pp. 25-26, "Stars Begin to Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 237, "When the Stars Begin to Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 360, "My Lord, What A Mourning" (1 text)
DT, STARFALL
Roud #3408
RECORDINGS:
Blue Sky Boys, "When The Stars Begin to Fall" (Bluebird B-7472, 1938)
Campbell College Quartet, "My Lord What a Morning" (OKeh 8900, 1931; rec. 1930)
Pace Jubilee Singers, "My Lord What a Morning" (Victor 20225, 1926)
Frank Proffitt, "Oh, Lord, What a Morning" (on FProffitt01)
Rambling Kid and the Professor, "When the Stars Begin to Fall" (Melotone 7-08-71, 1937)
Preston & Hobart Smith, "When the Stars Begin to Fall" (on LomaxCD1704)
Sunset Jubilee Quartet, "Oh Lord What a Morning" (Paramount 12285, 1925; as Down Home Jubilee Quartette, Herwin 92008, n.d.)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sinners Will Call for the Rocks and the Mountains" (words)
File: LoF237

When the Stormy Winds do Blow

See Ye Gentlemen of England (I) [Laws K2] (File: LK02)

When the Taters Are All Dug

DESCRIPTION: "Way up in Aroostook County, Where in winter falls the nows... There's a smile all o'er the Couny Till then 'taters are all dug." The residents discuss the size of the potatoes. Pickets come from all around. Couples court and men drink during the season
AUTHOR: Words: E. J. Sullivan
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Gray, from a broadside)
KEYWORDS: food courting drink money nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Gray, pp. 172-175, "When the Taters Are All Dug" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mother's Appel to Her Boy" (tune)
File: Gray172

When the Train Comes Along

DESCRIPTION: "I may be blind and cannot see, But I'll meet you at the station when the train comes along. "When the train comes along (x2), I'll meet you at the station when the train comes along." The singer looks forward to meeting Jesus and a happy life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Odette Jacson and Ethel Grainger)
KEYWORDS: religious train nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 633-635, "When the Train Comes Along" (2 texts, 1 tune)
ST LSRai633 (Full)
Roud #11525
RECORDINGS:
Uncle Dave Macon, "When the Train Comes Along" (Champion 16805/Champion 45105/Decca 5373/Decca 34317, 1934)
NOTES: Cohen notes that Dave Macon significantly modified this song from the usual version recorded several times in the 1920s and 1930s. In this case, though, Macon actually made the song more full and coherent. Which perhaps tells you how short most of the other known versions are. - RBW
File: LSRai633

When the Wild Roses Bloom Again Beside the River

See I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again (File: RcIBWYWt)

When the Work is Done This Fall

See When the Work's All Done This Fall (File: LB03)

When the Work's All Done This Fall [Laws B3]

DESCRIPTION: A cowboy tells of his plans to at last go home and see his mother "when the work's all done this fall." Soon after, the cattle stampede. The cowboy controls the herd but is fatally injured in the process. He will not see his mother; he sends tokens home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1893 (published by D. J. O'Malley in _Stock Grower's Journal_)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work death mother
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So,Ro) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Laws B3, "When the Work's All Done This Fall"
Sandburg, pp. 260-262, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 264, "When the Work is Done This Fall" (1 text)
Fife-Cowboy/West 81, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 282-283, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 97, "The Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 263, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text)
DT 371, WORKDONE*
Roud #450
RECORDINGS:
Jules Allen, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Victor V-40263, 1930; rec. 1929)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Dixie Cowboy" (OKeh 7004, 1924)
The Cartwright Brothers, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Columbia 15346-D, 1929)
Bill Childers, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (OKeh 45203, 1928)
Al Cramer [possible pseud. Vernon Dalhart], "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Broadway 8060, n.d.)
Vernon Dalhart, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Banner 6086/Domino 0192, 1927; Challenge 683/Challenge 688, 1928; Conqueror 7737, 1931)
J. D. Farley, "I'm a Lone Star Cowboy" (Victor V-40269, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4300, 1933; rec. 1929; on WhenIWas2)
Harry Jackson, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (on HJackson1)
Bradley Kincaid, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Gennett 6989, 1929) (Brunswick 403/Supertone S-2017, 1930)
Frank Luther, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Grey Gull 4264 [as Jeff Calhoun]/Van Dyke 74264 [as Jeff Calhoun]/Radiex 4264 [as Carlton Boxill], 1929; Madison 5013 [as Tom Cook], c. 1930) (Melotone M-12143 [as Phil & Frank Luther]/Vocalion 5483 [as Luther Bros.], 1931)
Claude Moye, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Champion 15688 [as Asparagus Joe]/Supertone 9351 [as Pie Plant Pete], 1929; Champion 45064 [as Asparagus Joe], c. 1935)
Aulton Ray, "The Dixie Cowboy" (Challenge 335 [as Charlie Prescott]/Champion 15277/Silvertone 5084, 1927; Supertone 9250, 1928) (Herwin 75552, c. 1927)
George Reneau, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Vocalion 15150/Vocalion 5079, 1925)
Rodeo Twins, "When the Work's All Done this Fall" (Victor V-40186, 1930; rec. 1929)
Carl T. Sprague, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" Victor 19747, 1925; Montgomery Ward M-8060, 1939; on AuthCowboys, BackSaddle)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Edison 51788, 1926) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5188, 1926)
Taylor's Kentucky Boys "The Dixie Cowboy" (on WhenIWas1, KMM) [Note: As Aulton Ray sang the lead on this recording, it's possible, maybe even likely, that it is identical with the recording on Challenge/Champion/Supertone. But until I've verified that, I'm keeping them separate]
Vagabonds, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Bluebird B-5300/Montgomery Ward M-4442, 1934)
Frankie Wallace, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Romeo 913, 1929)
Frank Wheeler & Monroe Lamb, "A Jolly Group of Cowboys" (Victor V-40169, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4470, 1934)
Marc Williams, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Brunswick 244, 1928; Supertone S-2054, 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Virginia Strike of '23" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Virginia Strike of '23 (File: LSRA591)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
After the Roundup (published by D. J. O'Malley under that title)
NOTES: The most likely author of this is D. J. O'Malley, who seems to have been responsible for the earliest printed version. But Laws does not mention the attribution to O'Malley, and notes that J. Frank Dobie attributes it to Marshall Johnson of Texas. I know of no verifiable field collection before the Carl T. Sprague recording from 1925. - RBW
File: LB03

When the World Is on Fire

DESCRIPTION: "The world is on fire. What are you going to do? What are you going to do When the world is on fire?" "I am going to fly... I am going home... I am going to shout." "Sinners want to pray... I am going to fly." A "very fluid" song.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 653, "When the World is On Fire" (1 text)
Roud #11789
File: Br3653

When the World's on Fire

See My Lovin' Father (When the World's On Fire) (File: R637)

When Things Go Wrong with You

DESCRIPTION: "I love you, baby, I ain't gonna lie, Without you, honey, I just can't be satisfied. Cause when things go wrong, so wrong with you, Well, it hurts me too." The singer hopes to be the girl's man, and wants to make her happy. He promises to treat her well
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: love nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 78, "When Things Go Wrong With You" (1 text)
NOTES: This comes from the singing of Big Bill Broonzy, and he probably had at least some hand in the text, but it is generally not listed as his composition. - RBW
File: FSWB078

When This Cruel War is Over (Weeping Sad and Lonely)

DESCRIPTION: The girl asks her soldier, "Dearest love, do you remember, when we last did meet, How you told me that you loved me...." She fears for him, but urges him to fight. She is "weeping sad and lonely... When this cruel war is over, pray that we meet again."
AUTHOR: Words: Charles C. Sawyer / Music: Henry Tucker
EARLIEST DATE: 1863 (published by Sawyer & Thompson (Brooklyn))
KEYWORDS: Civilwar soldier separation injury battle
FOUND IN: US Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (8 citations):
GreigDuncan1 103, "Weeping Sad and Lonely" (1 text)
Belden, p. 381, "When This Cruel War is Over" (1 text)
BrownIII 390, "When This Cruel War is Over" (1 text plus 1 excerpt, 1 fragment, and mention of 2 more; the one full text is the Southern adaption of the song)
Silber-CivWar, pp. 42-43, "Weeping Sad and Lonely" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hill-CivWar, pp. 232-233, "When This Cruel War Is Over" (1 text)
Arnett, pp. 88-89, "When This Cruel War is Over" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 276, "Weeping Sad And Lonely (When This Cruel War Is Over)" (1 text)
DT, WHENOVER*
ST SCW42 (Full)
Roud #3446
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 18(735), "When This Cruel War is Over" ("Dearest love, do you remember," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also Harding B 26(673), "A new song call'd When This Cruel War Is Over"[, P. Brereton (Dublin)]; 2806 c.8(225), "A much-admired American song called Cruel War Is Over"[, Haly (Cork)]
LOCSinging, sb40571b, "When This Cruel War Is Over," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864; also cw106550, cw106560, cw106570, cw106580, hc00032c, "When This Cruel War Is Over"
NOTES: This is widely believed to be the most popular of the war songs (at least among Union troops). After the war, however, its rather maudlin sentiments caused it to lose its place to songs such as "Tenting Tonight." (For details, as well as a sample stanza, see Bruce Catton, Mr. Lincoln's Army, p. 171). - RBW
Note the Irish broadsides.
There is a cover sheet, at Historic American Sheet Music, "Weeping, Sad and Lonely; When This Cruel War Is Over," Music A-4826, Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, published by Sawyer & Thompson (Brooklyn), 1863.
See the parody broadsides: Bodleian, Harding B 31(96), "When This Cruel Draft Is Over!" ("Dearest William, they will draft you"), H. De Marsan (New York) , 1861-1864; Bodleian, Harding B 31(116), "Parody on When This Cruel War Is Over ("Och, Biddy dear, do you remember"), H. De Marsan (New York) , 1861-1864; also Harding B 31(130), Harding B 18(394)["As written and sung by Joseph Murphy, in San Francisco"], "Parody on 'When This Cruel War is Over'"
See the parody broadside LOCSinging, cw104560, "Parody on When This Cruel War Is Over," Johnson (Philadelphia), no date
"See also broadside, Bodleian, Harding B 18(564), "Yes, I Would the War Were Over. Answer to 'When this cruel war is over'"" ("Yes, I would the war were over"), C. Magnus (New York), 1863, attributed to Alice Hawthorne.
Broadsides LOCSinging sb40571b, Bodleian Harding B 18(735), Harding B 31(96) and Harding B 31(116): 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.
Broadsides LOCSinging sb40571b and Bodleian Harding B 18(735) are duplicates. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: SCW42

When This Old Hat Was New

DESCRIPTION: A litany of complaints about the days "When this old hat was new." Subject can seemingly vary as long as it talks about long ago. At least one version talks about the evolution of American politics (used during the 1840 campaign)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Dec 2, 1840 - William Henry Harrison defeats Martin Van Buren
Mar 4, 1841 - Harrison (the first Whig to be elected President) is inaugurated. He gives a rambling inaugural address in a rainstorm and catches cold
April 4, 1841 - Harrison dies of pneumonia, making him the first president to fail to complete his term. After some hesitation, Vice President John Tyler is allowed to succeed as President
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden, p. 336, "When This Old Hat Was New" (1 text)
Roud #7841
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mullnabeeny (Mill of Boyndie)" (the concept of "When this old hat was new")
NOTES: Although the only version of this I can pin down is Belden's, a campaign piece from the 1840 Harrison/Van Buren election, the catch phrase is much more common (see Roud #1693). It seems as if the idea was too good to let alone.
The "locos" are the "loco-foco" faction of the Democratic party, a radical group which emerged 1835. (They were so-called for the matches, or "loco-focos," they used to light candles after the Tammany Hall group tried to suppress them by turning out the gas lights at a convention.) They didn't have a clear platform so much as a desire to clean up government, monopolies, and banking.
The statement that "Van Buren was a Fed" is a reference to the Federalist party -- hardly a fair criticism, since the Democratic party did not exist in his youth. - RBW
File: Beld336

When This Old Hat Was New (II)

DESCRIPTION: "When my auld hat was new" at harvest the master provided drink and set a feast; his wife "gie every one their due." Now the master's wife wears fine silk. Instead of a feast harvest workers are treated like beggars and "near their hoose ye dauna gang."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: farming nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #101, pp. 1-2, "When My Auld Hat Was New" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 540, "The Auld Hat" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Roud #1693
File: GrD3540

When This Old Hat Was New (III)

DESCRIPTION: "When this old hat was new": "provisions now are twice as dear"; "men could take each other's word." "Now the people are so poor ... plenty, aye, did then abound" "The commons they are taken in, and cottages pull'd down, And Moggy has no wool to spin"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1825 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 28(56))
KEYWORDS: poverty commerce hardtimes nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 541, "I Am Now a Poor Auld Man in Years" (1 fragment)
Roud #1693
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(56), "When My Old Hat Was New ("I am a poor old man in years, come listen to my song"), W. Armstrong (Liverpool), 1820-1824; also Harding B 25(1408)[some words illegible], Harding B 22(228), "[The] Old Hat"
NOTES: GreigDuncan3 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian Harding B 28(56) is the basis for the description. - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD3541

When This Old Hat Was New (IV)

DESCRIPTION: "This old hat was new once" "The rich then gave out food and coals to keep the poor ... the poor did never want." "Our tars were never press'd For they did boldly volunteer." "Husbandmen ... did work both soon and late But now ... are forced to emigrate."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 2006 (Bodleian broadside indexed)
KEYWORDS: poverty emigration commerce hardtimes nonballad pressgang
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
Roud #1693
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4138), "When This Old Hat Was New" ("This old hat was new once, but I cannot tell you when"), unknown, no date
NOTES: I have to think this particular "Old Hat" the work of a propagandistic poet. There was *never* a time when tars "were never pressed"; conditions in the Royal Navy were consistently worse than those in the merchant service. It is true that sailors were unusually likely to desert in the period between the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars (which seems the most likely date for the song). This is because inflation was eating away at the always-inadequate pay of the sailors, and dishonest contractors were feeding them garbage. These conditions improved, at least somewhat, after the Spithead and Nore mutinies, for which see "Poor Parker." - RBW
File: GrD354A

When Uncle Sam's Doughboy Roped a Wild Irish Rose

DESCRIPTION: An "Uncle Sam's Doughboy" goes to Ireland and pursues a "wild Irish rose" who "ran through the trees like a wild mountain deer." But now she "gets tamer each day" and is becoming willing to return to the West with him
AUTHOR: Rusty Holman (?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: courting cowboy
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ohrlin-HBT 79, "When Uncle Sam's Doughboy Roped a Wild Irish Rose" (1 text)
File: Ohr079

When We Do Meet Again

DESCRIPTION: "When we do meet again (x3), 'Twill be no more to part." "Brother Billy, fare you well (c2), We'll sing hallelujah, When we do meet again."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious separation reunion nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 41, "When We Do Meet Again (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11995
File: AWG041B

When We Get Our Tuppence Back

DESCRIPTION: The bosses at Lithgow lower the pay rate for coal by a tuppence. The miners go on strike: "We will never work for you Till you give that tuppence back, Charlie dear." The strike is bitter, with many scabs brought in. But the miners hold firm
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: mining scab strike work Australia
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1911 - Strike at the Hoskin Mine near Lithgow, New South Wales. The miners asked for a raise of tuppence per load; mine boss Charles Hoskin responded by lowering pay rates the same amount. Hoskin brought in scabs and resorted to intimidation, but eventually the miners won.
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 208-209, "When We Get Our Tuppence Back" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: FaE208

When We Were Two Little Boys

DESCRIPTION: Two boys are playing; one's hobby-horse breaks; his brother says "I couldn't bear to see you crying/When there's room on my horse for two." They become soldiers; one is wounded, the other rescues him, saying "I couldn't bear to see you dying...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (recording, Billy Murray)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Two boys are playing; one's hobby-horse breaks; his brother comforts him, saying "I couldn't bear to see you crying/When there's room on my horse for two." They grow up and become soldiers; one is wounded, the other rescues him, saying "I couldn't bear to see you dying/When there's room on my horse for two." They remember when they were two little boys
KEYWORDS: love army battle fight war reunion rescue injury brother family soldier
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Dixon Brothers, "Two Little Boys" (Montgomery Ward M-7336, c. 1937)
Billy Murray, "When We Were Two Little Boys" (Monarch [Victor] 2468, 1903)
NOTES: Although the text doesn't say so, this song is almost certainly set in the Civil War. - PJS
And it has the sickeningly saccharine sound of songs of that era, too. - RBW
File: RcWWW2LB

When wild War's deadly Blast was blawn

See The Deadly Wars (File: SOv23n3)

When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower) [Laws O23]

DESCRIPTION: Janie asks what Jamie will bring her when he crosses the sea. He promises a new gown, then a "gallant gay." She wants only him. He submits that he has a wife and children. She is distressed; he promises to marry her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan5); related text from 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: courting clothes trick marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar) US(NE)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Child 232, "Richie Story" (9 texts; the text in the Appendix is this song)
Bronson 232, "Richie Story" (9 versions, but #9 is "When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)" [Laws O23], and #7 and #8 may be as well)
Laws O23, "When Will Ye Gang Awa'? (Huntingtower)"
GreigDuncan5 1052, "Huntingtower" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 217-218,"When Will Ye Gan Awa'?" (1 text, 1 tune) {Bronson's #9}
Flanders-Ancient3, pp. 273-277, "Huntingtower" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT 482, DATHOL
Roud #345
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, RB.m.143(127), "Hunting Tower, Or when ye Gang Awa' Jamie," Poet's Box (Dundee), unknown
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Richie Story" [Child 232]
SAME TUNE:
The Laird of Dalziel's Leman (File: AdLaDaLe)
NOTES: For the relationship of this song to "Richie Story" [Child 232], see the notes on that song. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LO23

When Ye Gang Awa Johnnie

DESCRIPTION: Jennie wants Johnnie to give up drinking. He is unconvinced until she cries because the children will learn to drink from him. He resolves "that never mair I'll touch the barley bree." She is happy.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan3)
KEYWORDS: drink dialog husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan3 589, "Fin Ye Gang Awa Johnnie" (2 texts)
Roud #6042
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell to Whisky (Johnny My Man)" (theme)
File: GrD3589

When You and I Must Part

See My Dearest Dear (File: SKE40)

When You and I Were Young, Maggie

DESCRIPTION: The singer recalls the days when he and Maggie were young -- the creek and the mill they wandered by, the meadows they wandered, the birds they heard. Now the mill is still, and the flowers are gone, but she is still just as beautiful in his eyes
AUTHOR: Words: George W. Johnson / Music: J. A. Butterfield
EARLIEST DATE: 1866
KEYWORDS: love courting age nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE) Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 237-240, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, p. 159, "When You And I Were Young" (1 text)
Dean, pp. 93-94, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (1 text)
BrownII 137, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (1 text plus mention of 1 more)
Silber-FSWB, p. 248, "When You And I Were Young, Maggie" (1 text)
Gilbert, p. 22, "When You and I Were Young Maggie" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 643, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie"
DT, YOUNGMAG*
ST RJ19237 (Full)
Roud #3782
RECORDINGS:
Archie Anderson, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (Columbia A-1447, 1913)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "When You And I Were Young, Maggie" (Okeh 40020, 1924; rec. 1923)
Frank & James McCravy, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (Brunswick 197, 1928; rec. 1927)
McMichen's Melody Men, "When You and I Were Young" (Columbia 15247-D, 1928; rec. 1927)
[?] Morgan & [Frank] Stanley, "When You and I Were Young Maggie" (Victor 4428, 1905)
Roy Newman's Boys, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (Vocalion 03598, 1937)
Will Oakland, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (CYL: Edison 9980, 1908) (CYL: Edison [BA] 1873 [as Will Oakland & chorus], n.d.)
Riley Puckett, "When You And I Were Young, Maggie" (Columbia 15005-D, c. 1924)
George Reneau, "When You And I Were Young, Maggie" (Vocalion 14814, 1924)
Howard Shelley, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (Bell 1117, c. 1923)
Walter Van Brunt, "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" (CYL: Edison [BA] 3130, n.d.)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sweet Genevieve" (theme)
cf. "Silver Threads among the Gold" (theme)
cf. "The Old Rustic Bridge by the Mill" (theme)
File: RJ19237

When You Feel Like Moaning

DESCRIPTION: "When you feel like moanin', it ain't nothin' but love... It must be the Holy Ghost comin' down from above.... When you hear me prayin', that ain't nothin' but love.... When you love everybody... Do you love your preacher...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, Rich Amerson)
KEYWORDS: religious clergy nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Courlander-NFM, pp. 238-240, "When You Feel Like Moaning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10963
RECORDINGS:
Rich Amerson, "When You Feel Like Moaning" (on NFMAla4)
File: CNFM238

When You Go A-Courtin'

See Come All You Virginia Girls (Arkansas Boys; Texian Boys; Cousin Emmy's Blues; etc.) (File: R342)

When You Go to Get Your Shears

DESCRIPTION: "When you go to get your shears You're not allowed to pick. The first pair that you collar, Then it's to that pair you stick. It is the boss's orders; If you do not like the trick, You can go somewhere else to look for shearing."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: sheep work Australia boss
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 281-282, "When You Go to Get Your Shears" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA281

When You're In Love

DESCRIPTION: "Kissing's a nice celebration," "squeezing's a funny sensation," "it's better to have loved once and lost," "So haste and get married and no longer tarry, When you're in love"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: love marriage nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan5 930, "When You're In Love" (1 text)
Roud #6746
File: GrD930

When Young Men Go Courting

See Bachelor's Hall (II) (File: AF120)

Whene'er I Take My Walks Abroad

DESCRIPTION: "Whene'er I take my walks abroad How many poor I see; What shall I render to my God For all his gifts to me?" "No more than others I deserve, Yet God has given me more, For I have food while others starve Or beg from door to door."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious poverty
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 652, "Whene'er I Take My Walks Abroad" (1 short text plus an excerpt from a parody)
Roud #7573
NOTES: Although Randolph collected this piece in 1936, it is obviously older, as a parody was reported in 1904.
File: R652

Where am I to go, M' Johnnies?

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Where am I to go me Johnnies, where am I to go? To me way hey, hey, high, roll an' go. For I'm a young sailor boy, and where am I to go?" subsequent verses answer "way up the t'gallant yard," "around Cape Horn," "through the ice and snow," etc...
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor travel
FOUND IN: Britain US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 169-170, "Where am I to go, M' Johnnies?" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbEd, p. 137]
NOTES: Gordon Bok's book Time and the Flying Snow seems to imply that he learned this song from Hugill -- but his tune is slightly different, and his text also differs. Hugill's seems to be the only field collection; I don't know if Bok modified the song or if others did it before him. - RBW
File: Hugi169

Where Am I to Go?

See Where am I to go, M' Johnnies? (File: Hugi169)

Where Are You Going To, My Pretty Maid?

See Rolling in the Dew (The Milkmaid) (File: R079)

Where Are You Going, My Good Old Man?

See My Good Old Man (File: R426)

Where Are You Going, My Pretty Fair Maid? (I)

See Seventeen Come Sunday [Laws O17] (File: LO17)

Where Are You Going, My Pretty Fair Maid? (II)

See Rolling in the Dew (The Milkmaid) (File: R079)

Where Derry Meets Tyrone

DESCRIPTION: "Have you ever been to Ireland where Derry meets Tyrone?" The singer describes the beauty of the country, the "queen of nature," the kindly welcome a visitor may expect.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: home nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H601, pp. 174-175, "Where Derry Meets Tyrone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13535
File: HHH601

Where Did You Get That Hat?

DESCRIPTION: The singer, to inherit his grandfather's property, is required to wear grandfather's hat. Now, wherever he goes, people cry out to him, "Where did you get that hat?... Isn't it a nobby one, and just the proper style...."
AUTHOR: Joseph J. Sullivan
EARLIEST DATE: 1888 (Copyright)
KEYWORDS: clothes humorous marriage
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Geller-Famous, pp. 42-44, "Where Did You Get That Hat?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 137-138, "Where Did You Get That Hat?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, p. 151, "Where Did You Get That Hat?" (1 text)
ST SRW137 (Full)
Roud #4877
RECORDINGS:
Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers, "Where Did You Get That Hat" (Columbia 15097-D, 1926)
Edith Perrin, "Where Did You Get That Hat?" [excerpt?] (on USWarnerColl01)
BROADSIDES:
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(97b), "Where Did You Get That Hat," Poet's Box (Glasgow), c. 1880-1900
NOTES: According to Gilbert, Sullivan, a blackface minstrel, found a very tall hat one day while rummaging through his parents' attic. He being short, he thought the tall hat would make a humorous addition to his act. To test this, he went out one day wearing the hat. A gang of urchins harassed him, asking "Where did you get that hat?" Hence this song.
We should note, however, that there are variations on this legend: All agree that Sullivan found a hat and tried it in his act -- but according to James J. Geller, the humor lay in the fact that the hat was small and Sullivan quite hefty; the hat didn't fit him. - RBW
File: SRW137

Where Did You Sleep Last Night?

See In the Pines (File: LoF290)

Where Does Father Christmas Go To?

DESCRIPTION: We know about Mary and her lamb, servant girl Maria blown through the roof, Burglar Bill of Pentonville on the scaffold, the rich man on the Continent and the poor man on the dole. But [chorus] "where does Father Christmas go to in the summertime?"
AUTHOR: Fred Schuff (source: Yates, Musical Traditions site _Voice of the People suite_ "Notes - Volume 16" - 13.9.02)
EARLIEST DATE: 1978 (recording, Sam Bond)
KEYWORDS: Christmas humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
Roud #12927
RECORDINGS:
Sam Bond, "Where Does Father Christmas Go To?" (on Voice16)
NOTES: Musical Traditions note has this song written in 1926. - BS
File: RcWDFCG

Where Have You Been Today, Billy, My Son

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

Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?

DESCRIPTION: Singer (presumably the mother, although it's not stated) weeps for her wandering boy, saying he was once "my joy and light". She begs the listener to find her boy and "tell him I love him still"
AUTHOR: Robert Lowry
EARLIEST DATE: 1896 (recording, J. W. Myers)
KEYWORDS: grief loneliness rambling separation mother children
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Silber-FSWB, p. 270, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Henry Burr, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" (Little Wonder 226, 1915) (Resona 75016, 1919) (Standard 199, n.d.)
Vernon Dalhart, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight" (Columbia 15072-D, 1926; Harmony 767-H, 1928)
Edison Mixed Quartet, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" (CYL: Edison Blue Amberol 2125, n.d.)
Giddens Sisters, "Where Is My Wandering Boy?" (OKeh 45143, 1927)
Hall & Ryan, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight" (Globe 4066, c. 1924)
Sid Harkreader, "Where Is My Boy Tonight" (Vocalion 15075, 1925)
Harry Macdonough, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight" (CYL: Edison 1559, c. 1898)
J. W. Myers, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" (CYL: Columbia 31357, c. 1900) (Berliner 0918, rec. 1896)
Peerless Quartet, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight" (Paramount 33010, 1919)
Riley Puckett, "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight" (Columbia 15004-D, rec. 1924)
Unidentified baritone "Where Is My Wandering Boy To-Night" (Busy Bee 1120, c. 1906)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Blue Ridge Mountain Blues" (quotes this song)
SAME TUNE:
Where Is My Wandering Boy (IWW) (Greenway-AFP, p. 176)
NOTES: This should not be confused with "The Wandering Boy," a different song from the looks of it. - PJS
They are indeed different, though the concept is similar. - RBW
File: FSWB270

Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children, The Promised Land)

DESCRIPTION: "Where oh where is old Elijah? (x3) 'Way over in the Promised Land. He went up in a fiery chariot (x3) 'Way over in the promised land. By and by we will go and see him...." Unrelated verses on Biblical themes, e.g. "Where are the Hebrew children"
AUTHOR: Peter Cartwright?
EARLIEST DATE: 1832 (Sacred Harp)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
BrownIII 646, "Way Over in the Promised Land" (1 text)
Belden, pp. 457-459, "The Promised Land" (2 texts, 1 tune, the second text purporting to be a translation into an Indian language though neither Belden nor I can say which one)
Fuson, pp. 205-206, "Safe at Home in the Promised Land" (1 text)
Sandburg, pp. 92-93, "Where O Where Is Old Elijah?" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 160, "(Where, Oh, where is Elijah?" (1 short text)
ST San092 (Partial)
Roud #4213
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Paw-Paw Patch" (tune & meter)
NOTES: Elijah's transportation to heaven in a fiery chariot is described in 2 Kings 2:11.
Absalom's rebellion against his father David occupies 2 Samuel 15-18 (Absalom's death occurs in 18:9-18); the extended story of David's sin and its consequences, including the rebellion, occupies 2 Samuel 11-19.
According to the Sacred Harp, the tune is by Peter Cartwright (1785-1872), and is known as "Hebrew Children." No author is listed for the words, however, and the versions show strong variations. Fred W. Allsopp, in Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II, p. 160, says that it has been sung by "professional minstels." - RBW
File: San092

Where Moyola Waters Flow

DESCRIPTION: The singer describes the "little cot I've never seen" (!) at home by the Moyola. Living in America, he misses Ireland, "Where a dear old mother's mourning As she keeps the home fires burning For the emigrants returning."
AUTHOR: James O'Kane
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration separation homesickness
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H787, p. 215, "Where Moyola Waters Flow" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH787

Where O Where Is Old Elijah?

See Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children, The Promised Land) (File: San092)

Where Shall I Be?

See O Where Will Ye Be? (File: ChFRA083)

Where the Bravest Cowboys Lie

DESCRIPTION: The singer, a mountain resident, courts a girl; she agrees to marry him if he becomes a cowboy. Despite his parents' advice, he takes to the trail -- and suffers cold, snow, and Indian attacks. The singer wishes to "fly to where the bravest cowboys lie."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966
KEYWORDS: love courting travel cowboy fight death Indians(Am.)
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 55, "Where the Bravest Cowboys Lie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11086
NOTES: I have to suspect that the Fife version of this piece is a fusion of two pieces, one in which an Indian attack was foiled and another in which it succeeded. (The introduction, about loving the girl, might even be a third piece). As the song stands, it doesn't really make sense. But since I can't identify the earlier pieces, I have to list it as one. - RBW
File: FCW055

Where the Gadie Rins (I)

DESCRIPTION: The singer wishes she were "Where the Gadie rins." She recalls her (ane/twa) richt love(s). "The ane he was killed at the Lowrin fair, and t'ither wis drowned in Dee." She has twice been a bride but never a wife. She recalls her mourning
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Ord)
KEYWORDS: love marriage death wife mourning
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan6 1223, "Gin I Were Where the Gadie Rins" (6 texts, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 347-348, "Oh! Gin I Were Where Gaudie Rins" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Ord347 (Full)
Roud #(5404)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Where the Gadie Rins" (II), etc. (tune, chorus)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Where the Gaudie Rins
NOTES: The melody "Where (the) Gadie Rins" is said to be a common pipe tune in Scotland. (MacColl and Seeger date it to 1815; Ord suspects the eighteenth century.) Like some other pipe tunes (e.g. "The Flowers of the Forest), it seems to have picked up various texts.
One may suspect that, like some fiddle tunes, it had a mnemonic verse or two. All the texts seem to have a lyric similar to:
Oh, gin I were whaur the Gadie rins,
The Gadie rins, the Gadie rins,
Oh, gin I were whaur the Gadie rins
At the back o Bennachie
or
But there's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins,
The Gadie rins, the Gadie rins,
But there's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins
At the back o Bennachie.
Ord calls the air "one of the best-known songs in the North of Scotland," but says that most people know only fragments of verses. This text gets pride of place as the only one I've heard recorded.
The "Lowrin fair" or "Lowren'-fair" is described by Kinloch as "a market held at Lawrence-kirk, in Mearnshire."
This has one of the saddest themes I can think of for a woman prior to the twentieth century, when it was hard to accomplish anything when unmarried:
Noo it's twice I hae been a bride,
Hae been a bride, hae been a bride,
Noo it's twice I hae been a bride,
But a wife I'll never be.
I cannot help but note the similarity of this to a couplet composed by Margaret of Austria to lament her fate:
Ci gist Margot la gentille demoiselle
Mariee deux fois,et si mourut pucelle.
("Here lies Margot, the willing bride, Twice married, but a virgin when she died." See Garrett Mattingly, Catherine of Aragon, 1941 [I use the 1990 Book-of-the-Month club edition], p. 17). - RBW
Imlah, writing in 1827, in a note to his own "O! Gin I Were Whare Gadie Rowes!," has the usual chorus and says it is the chorus of "a jacobite ditty, but of which I am in no further possession than the chorus" (source: John Imlah, May Flowers (London, 1827 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 230). - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: Ord347

Where the Gadie Rins (II)

DESCRIPTION: Singer finds that his girl's "kilt (is) short and I could see." She tells his he's being unfair; she's going home to her mother. He muses that when her mother finds out what he's done, he'll have to fly. He laments that he can't go and see her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (collected from Maggie McPhee)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer takes his girl on his knee; "her kilt was short and I could see." She tells his he's being unfair; they've slept together, but he doesn't care, so she's going home to her mother. If her baby's a boy, she'll call him Jock. He tells her to go home, and muses that when her mother finds out what he's done, he'll have to fly. He laments that he can't go and see her, and says he'll live with his mother until he dies "at the back o' Bennachie." Chorus: "There's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins/At the back o' Bennachie."
KEYWORDS: sex rejection parting pregnancy baby lover mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MacSeegTrav 46, "Where Gadie Rins" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #(5404)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Back o' Bennachie
I Wish I Were Where Gadie Rins
NOTES: The melody "Where (the) Gadie Rins" is said to be a common pipe tune in Scotland. (MacColl and Seeger date it to 1815; Ord suspects the eighteenth century.) Like some other pipe tunes (e.g. "The Flowers of the Forest), it seems to have picked up various texts.
One may suspect that, like some fiddle tunes, it had a mnemonic verse or two. All the texts seem to have a lyric similar to:
Oh, gin I were whaur the Gadie rins,
The Gadie rins, the Gadie rins,
Oh, gin I were whaur the Gadie rins
At the back o Bennachie
or
But there's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins,
The Gadie rins, the Gadie rins,
But there's meal and there's ale whaur the Gadie rins
At the back o Bennachie. - RBW
I was tempted to use "The Back o' Bennachie" as the title for the main entry; however, there seem to be several songs under that name (including versions of "Locks and Bolts") whose plots are quite different from this one, and from each other. So I stuck with Maggie McPhee's title. - PJS
File: McCST046

Where the Grass Grows Green

DESCRIPTION: "I'm Denny Blake, from County Clare" to sing in praise of Erin. The Irishman is painted poor but "his heart and hospitality Has much to do with that." He's foolish but not vicious and has a weakness for drink. Wish for "better days to Erin"
AUTHOR: Harry Clifton (1824-1872)
EARLIEST DATE: before 1867 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(4145))
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad patriotic poverty
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
O'Conor, p. 144, "Where the Grass Grows Green" (1 text)
Roud #8213
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(4145), "Where the Grass Grows Green", Hopwood and Crew (London), 1840-1866; also Firth b.25(186), Harding B 26(674), "Where the Grass Grows Green"; 2806 c.8(246), 2806 c.8(308), "The Grass Grows Green"
LOCSinging, as105770, "I Can't Forget Old Erin Where the Grass Grows Green", unknown, 19C
NOTES: Broadside Bodleian Harding B 11(4145) notes "written and sung by Harry Clifton, Words and Music published by Hopwood & Crew 42, New Broad Street, London"
For information about Harry Clifton, early music hall singer and song writer, see Mudcat Cafe and Frederick Denny's World of the Music Hall sites entries for Harry Clifton - BS
See also the notes to "The Good Ship Kangaroo" for information on Clifton. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: OCon144

Where the Moorcocks Grow (The Mountain Stream; With My Dog and Gun)

DESCRIPTION: The singer sets out "with my dog and gun o'er the blooming heather." He meets a girl, and begs her to marry him, offering to give up roving if she does. She decides to wait "another season," both to test his love and to gain her parent's consent
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: rambling courting love marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Kennedy 136, "The Mountain Stream" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H32, pp. 269-270, "Where the Moorcocks Grow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-StoneFiddle, pp. 20-21, "The Mountain Streams Where the Moorcocks Crow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tunney-SongsThunder, p. 181, "The Mountain Streams" (1 text)
OBoyle 18, "The Mountain Streams" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, DOGNGUN
Roud #2124
RECORDINGS:
Eddie Butcher, "The Mountain Streams Where the Moorcock Crows" (on IREButcher01)
Sheila Stewart, "Mountain Streams Where the Moorcocks Crow" (on Voice17); "MyDog and Gun" (on SCStewartsBlair01)
Brigid Tunney, "The Mountain Streams" (on IRTunneyFamily01)
Paddy Tunney, "The Mountain Streams" (on FSB1; as "The Mountain Streams Where the Moorcocks Crow" on Voice06); "The Mountain Streams Where the Moorcocks Crow" (on IRPTunney02)
NOTES: Kennedy, based mostly on the affinity of this piece with "The Corncrake," argues that the song comes from Ayreshire in Scotland; Henry claimed that "the song was composed about 70 years ago [i.e. c. 1855] by a roving sportsman in honour of a young lady of Letterloan." I know of no solid evidence for either claim. - RBW
File: K136

Where the River Shannon Flows

DESCRIPTION: "There�s a pretty spot in Ireland, I always claim for my land, Where the fairies and the blarney Will never, never die." The singer recalls the land and the girl by the Shannon. He will not send a letter; he will sail home himself with news of his return
AUTHOR: James I. Russell
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (from Russell's production "The Irish Serving Girls")
KEYWORDS: love home reunion Ireland
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Dean, pp. 112-113, "Where the River Shannon Flows" (1 text)
DT, RSHANNON
Roud #9579
NOTES: Another of Dean's pop songs; the Digital Tradition says that it was recorded by none other than Bing Crosby! - RBW
File: Dean112

Where the Soul Never Dies (Canaan's Land)

DESCRIPTION: "Kind friends there'll be no sad farewell There'll be no tear-dimmed eyes Where all is peace and joy and love And the soul of man never dies." Singer is bound to Canaan's land. A love-light guides his way; a rose blooms there, etc.
AUTHOR: William M. Golden (Dolden?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (songbook, publ. by R. E. Winsett, Dayton, TN)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer says s/he is on the way to Canaan's land, where the soul never dies. A love-light guides his way; a rose blooms there for him/her, and there s/he will spend eternity. His/her life will end in deathless sleep, and s/he'll reap eternal joys. Ch.: "Kind friends there'll be no sad farewell/There'll be no tear-dimmed eyes/Where all is peace and joy and love/And the soul of man never dies"
KEYWORDS: farewell death dying nonballad religious
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, CNAANLND
Roud #5722
RECORDINGS:
Anglin Twins, "Where The Soul of a Man Never Dies" (Vocalion 04692=Conqueror 9243, 1939, rec. 1938)
Blue Sky Boys, "Where The Soul Never Dies" (Bluebird B-6457, 1936)
Burchfield Brothers, "Where the Soul Never Dies" (Capitol 40011, 1947)
Jim & Sarah Garland, "Canaan Land Where The Soul of Man Never Dies" (AFS 2022 B, 1938)
Jack & Leslie "Where The Soul of Man Never Dies" (Decca 5589, 1938)
Oak Ridge Sacred Singers, "Where The Soul Never Dies" (Supertone 9501, 1929)
Renfro Family, "Where the Soul Never Dies" (Kentucky 600, n.d.)
Rev. M. L. Thrasher & his Gospel Singers, "Where The Soul Never Dies" (Columbia 15271-D, 1928)
NOTES: The song is typically sung in parts, with one part singing a simplified chorus under the main words: "No sad....farewells/No tear.....dimmed eyes/Where all.....is love/And the soul.....never dies." In that form it's become popular in bluegrass, folk-revival and C & W circles (following Hank Williams' recording). - PJS
File: DTcnaanl

Where the Sun Don't Never Go Down

DESCRIPTION: "I want to see my mother sometime (x2), where the flowers will bloom forever, and the sun don't never go down... Don't you feel like shouting sometimes, sometimes?" Repeat with father, brother, sister, Savior
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (recording, Dock Reed)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad family
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Warner 88, "Where the Sun Don't Never Go Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, p. 72, "(The Sun Will Never Go Down)" (1 text); p. 238, "The Sun Will Never Go Down" (1 tune, partial text)
ST Wa088 (Partial)
Roud #5717
RECORDINGS:
George Herod, "O, The Sun Don't Never Go Down (Don't you feel like cryin' some time)" (on MuSouth07)
Dock Reed, "Where The Sun Will Never Go Down" (on NFMAla5) (on ReedWard01)
File: Wa088

Where the Wattles Are Blooming (Holiday Song)

DESCRIPTION: "Sunshine is over the meadow, Sunshine is over the hill..." "Come with me, merry and free, Gay as a bird on the spray, Grief and care, come if you dare, We will be happy today." "Come where the wattles are blooming, Down in the flowery glade"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987
KEYWORDS: lyric nonballad
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Covell/Brown, pp. 182-183, "Where the Wattles are Blooming"; "Holiday Song" (2 texts, 1 tune)
NOTES: Meredith/Covell/Brown compares this to the William Blake poem "The Echoing Green." - RBW
File: MCB182

Where They Were

See The Old Barbed Wire (I Know Where They Are) (File: San442)

Where Was You Last Night?

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, where was you last night (x3), Under them bilers sleeping." "I wend in the valley, Lord, I didn't go to stay, Under them bilers sleepin, My soul got happy... Under them boilers..." "The head mate hollered and the captain squalled..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MWheeler, pp. 77-79, "WHere Wuz You Las' Night" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10026
NOTES: Almost all the lyrics of this song have parallels elsewhere (e.g. from "Down in the Valley to Pray," "The Bayou Sarah," and others), but the "Under them bilers [boilers] sleeping" chorus seems unique, so I have listed the song separately. - RBW
File: MW077

Where'd You Get Yo' Whisky?

See Jinny Go Round and Around (File: R272)

Where's Your License?

DESCRIPTION: "The inspector of traps said, 'Now, my fine chaps, We'll go license-hunting today.'" The inspectors set out to find illegal traps and diggers. But they find few traps, and the illegal diggers all make their escape
AUTHOR: Charles Thatcher
EARLIEST DATE: 1854
KEYWORDS: hunting escape technology law
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 102-103, "Where's Your License?" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA102

Which Side Are You On?

DESCRIPTION: The Union comes to town to protect the miners from boss J.H. Blair. The workers are told "In Harlan County, there are no neutrals there," and asked, "Which side are you on (x4)." They are reminded "Us poor folks haven't got a chance unless we organize."
AUTHOR: Words: Florence Reece / Music: Traditional
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (recording, Almanac Singers) (reportedly composed 1931)
KEYWORDS: mining labor-movement nonballad boss
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 342-343, "Which Side Are You On?" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 94, "Which Side Are You On?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, pp. 170-171, "Which Side Are You On?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 134, "Which Side Are You On?" (1 text)
DT, WHCHSIDE*
Roud #15159
RECORDINGS:
Almanac Singers , "Which Side Are You On?" (on Almanac04, PeteSeeger1, PeteSeeger48) (on Selma)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Am a Union Woman" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
I Am a Union Woman (by Aunt Molly Jackson) (File: Arn174)
NOTES: The radical National Miners' Union (N.M.U.) attempted to organize miners in the 1930s, but were defeated by the mine owners after bitter and bloody conflicts. The United Mine Workers of America (U.M.W.), part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (C.I.O.) succeeded a few years later, again after terrible struggle. - PJS
File: SBoA342

Whigs Are A'Rinnin', The

DESCRIPTION: "Saw ye Holyrood? Saw ye him there? Saw ye him there? Saw ye him sittin' In his muckle chair? For the Whigs are a' rinnin' Rin, rin, rinnin', For the Whigs are a' rinnin' Fast awa' hame"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: nonballad political Jacobites
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan1 137, "The Whigs Are A'Rinnin'" (1 fragment)
Roud #5818
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "We're a' Noddin'" [i. e. presumably "We're All Nodding"] (tune according to GreigDuncan1)
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan1 fragment.
GreigDuncan1: "Holyrood is the royal palace in Edinburgh." - BS
According to McLynn: Frank McLynn, Bonnie Prince Charlie: Charles Edward Stuart, 1988 (I use the 1991 Oxford paperback edition), p. xix, the one real Jacobite occupation of Edinburgh came during the 1745 rebellion, The Jacobites took Edinburgh of September 17, 1745. Clennell Wilkinson Bonnie Prince Charlie, (Lippincott, no copyright listed but after 1932), p. 93, says that Charles went to Holyrood almost at once. So the likeliest date for this song, by far, is September 1745. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1137

While Gamekeepers Were Sleeping

DESCRIPTION: Singer has a dog. "She'd run a hare of a moonlit night, While gamekeepers were sleeping." A policeman catches him poaching but he gets off with a trick. The policeman retires. Poacher gives him broth for his sick wife and a pup. Now he is also a poacher.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1977 (recording, Bob Roberts)
KEYWORDS: poaching hunting healing trick dog animal police wife
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, GAMESLEP
Roud #363
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "While Gamekeepers Were Sleeping" (on Voice18)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping" (lyrics)
NOTES: The first verse is "Dogs and Ferrets" [indexed as "Gamekeepers Lie Sleeping" - RBW] but the plot is entirely different. - BS
Many versions share more than the first verse; many scholars lump them, and I did so also until Ben pointed out the differences. But that song is entirely about poaching and success in that venture. The characteristic of this is the subversion of the gamekeeper. - RBW
File: TcWGaLSl

While Hanging Around Town

DESCRIPTION: The singer (a G.I.) gives a woman ten dollars for sex, then nine days later suffers the wages of sin.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1947
KEYWORDS: bawdy disease soldier whore
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cray, pp. 194-195, "While Hanging Around Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, HANGARND*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fire Ship" (plot) and references there
cf. "The Strawberry Roan" (tune & meter)
File: EM194

While I'm at the Wheel

DESCRIPTION: Poem, apparently based on Harlow's experiences aboard the Akbar when she encountered 30 days of heavy weather while carrying coal from Australia. Written as if addressing the ship, each verse begins "Ship of the seas..." and ends with "I'm at the wheel."
AUTHOR: Frederick Pease Harlow
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (_American Neptune_, v.1)
KEYWORDS: nonballad sailor ship storm
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Harlow, pp. 235-238, "While I'm at the Wheel" (1 text)
File: Hugi235

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

DESCRIPTION: "While shepherds watched their flocks by night, All seated on the ground, The angel of the Lord came down" to announce the birth of Jesus. They are directed to find the child in the manger in Bethlehem
AUTHOR: Words: Nahum Tate (1652-1715)
EARLIEST DATE: 1696 (Tate and Brady)
KEYWORDS: Bible Jesus religious
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
OBC 33, "While Shepherds Watched" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 611, "Mary Bowed" (1 short text, with a verse "I wonder where Sister Maryy's gone... She's gone to some new buryin' ground For to lay her feeble body down" and a second verse from "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks")
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 322, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night" (1 text)
Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, _The Oxford Book of Irish Verse_ (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 1-2, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night" (1 text)
Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #99, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night" (1 text)
Roud #936
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 7(4), "While Shepherds Watch'd", J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 7(38), Harding B 7(17), Harding B 7(35), "While Shepherds Watched"; Harding B 45(3) View 3 of 3, "While Shepherds Watch'd Their Flocks by Night"; Harding B 7(37), "Watched Their Flocks"; Douce adds. 137(51), "Christmas Hymn" ("While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night"); Douce adds. 137(45), "While Shepherds"; Firth b.26(538), [None] ("While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night"); Harding B 7(79), "While Shepherds Watch"
LOCSheet, sm1843 390300, "While Shepherds Watch'd Their Flocks by Night", A. Fiot (Philadelphia), 1843; also sm1880 18274, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night!"; sm1879 16295, sm1883 22668, "While Shepherds Watched" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
While Shepherds Washed Their Socks (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 38, 158)
NOTES: An unusual nativity hymn, in that every word of it comes from Luke, without reference to the conflicting account in Matthew. The song is essentially a paraphrase of Luke 2:8-14. It successfully nuances its way around a major variant in the text in 2:14; this is probably luck, as the inaccuracy of the Received Text and the King James Bible in this passage would not have been known in the seventeenth century.
In the Sacred Harp, this is set to the tune "Sherburne," credited to Daniel Read; the Missouri Harmony also uses this tune, though without credit.
I must admit to finding Hoagland's claim that this song is Irish rather funny. Yes, Nahum Tate was born in Dublin (NewCentury, p. 1055) -- but he spent his entire working career in England, and became Poet Laureate in 1692 (Benet, p. 1102). Apart from this song, he was most noteworthy for abusing Shakespeare, primarily by grafting happy endings onto the Tragedies.
Kunitz/Haycraft, pp. 508-509, offer a capsule biography, noting that he was "dramatist, poet, poet laureate." Born in Dublin, the son of one Faithful Teate (the spelling Tait himself used until he went to England), he studied in Dublin and earned his B.A. in 1672.
Almost all of his plays were revisions; Kunitz/Haycraft credit him with only one or two original dramas. They declare that "his best poem is 'Panacea, a Poem on Tea' (1700), and that is none too good." Dryden did solicit his help on "Absalom and Achitophel," but the final form is Dryden's. They declare that the general level of Tate's and Nicolas Brady's New Version of the Psalms "very low, and it is unbearably dull, ut the less intolerable portions in it are believed to be Tate's."
They also add that he was "not an engaging personality; he was taciturn, grumpy, and given to heavy drinking."
So little do they think of him that "There has been some question whether he was the worst or only nearly the worst of the poets laureate."
The bottom line is, this is his only piece to have survived with any popularity at all. It is perhaps unfair to blame him for being a poor poet (although he could have avoided afflicting it on the world). But what does one say about a man who cuts the Fool out of King Lear and gives that play a happy ending? I'd have to say his place in Pope's Dunciad was deserved. - RBW
Bibliography

Benet: William Rose Benet, editor, The Reader's Encyclopdedia, first edition, 1948 (I use the four-volume Crowell edition but usually check it against the single volume fourth edition edited by Bruce Murphy and published 1996 by Harper-Collins)
Kunitz/Haycraft: Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft, Editors, British Authors Before 1800: A Biographical Dictionary, H. W. Wilson, 1952 (I use the fourth printing of 1965)
NewCentury: Clarence L. Barnhart with William D. Haley, editors, The New Century Handbook of English Literature, revised edition, Meredith Publishing, 1967

Last updated in version 2.5
File: OBC033

While Shepherds Were Watching Their Flocks By the Night

DESCRIPTION: "While shepherds were watching" angels shouted "Cheer up, faithful shepherds, and be not afraid ... The saviour is born." "I went to behold him. I asked them his name. His name it was Jesus; from Bethlehem came"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (recording, George Dunn)
KEYWORDS: carol Christmas religious shepherd Jesus
FOUND IN: Britain(England(West))
Roud #16898
RECORDINGS:
George Dunn, "While Shepherds Were Watching Their Flocks By the Night" (on Voice16)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" (subject)
NOTES: Like "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks," this is clearly based on Luke 2:8-14. I can't help but suspect there is some sort of relationship between the two. A rewrite for a different sect? A retranslation of a version translated into Welsh or some such? To this I have no clue. - RBW
File: RcWSWWTF

While the Boys in Blue Were Fighting

See Break the News to Mother (File: GrMa179)

While the Organ Pealed Potatoes

See I Know a Boarding-House (File: R479)

Whinny Knowes, The

See The Echo Mocks the Corncrake (File: HHH018b)

Whip and the Spurs, The

DESCRIPTION: "'One hundred pounds,' the master said, 'To you, my boy, I'll pay If you win this race for me in which you ride today.'" Horse and rider are eager for the task. In the race, the horse does fairly well; at last the rider spurs her, and she wins
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1968
KEYWORDS: horse racing
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 93-94, "The Whip and the Spurs" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: MA093A

Whip Jamboree (Whup Jamboree)

DESCRIPTION: Stanzas on the life of a sailor, characterized by the line "(whip/whup) jamboree." The lash is likely to be prominently mentioned, as is the sailors' happiness upon seeing the girls (whores?) of home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (Smith/Hatt)
KEYWORDS: sailor ship hardtimes punishment home whore
FOUND IN: US(SE) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
BrownIII 230, "Whip Jamboree" (1 short text, linked to this song only by the chorus line)
Smith/Hatt, p. 13, "Arriving Back at Liverpool" (1 fragment)
Harlow, pp. 106-108, "Johnny Get Your Oatcake Done (Jamboree)," "Early in the Morning" (2 texts, 1 tune - second text "Early in the Morning" has different words though a similar theme, Harlow says it was sung to the same tune but when bound for London)
Hugill, pp. 382-384, "Jamboree" (4 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 290-292]
Sharp-EFC, IX, pp. 10-11, "Whip Jamboree" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WHIPJAMB* WHIPJAM2*
Roud #488
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Jinny, Keep Yer Ringtail Warm
Jinny Git Yer Oatcake Done
Bristol Channel Jamboree
NOTES: "Jinny" is alternately spelled "Jenny" in the choruses. The versions that Hugill give have a bit more coherent storyline (just a bit) involving coming home (or at least to port), meeting up with Jinny and briefly deciding to stay, then taking off to sea again. - SL
File: Br3230

Whip-poor-will

See Whippoorwill (File: R833)

Whippoorwill

DESCRIPTION: "In the starry night so soft, Listen to the whippoorwill, Forest shades repeat his song... Sadness fills and thrills his lay, Singing all the summer away... Whippoorwill, sad whippoorwill." A description of the sad times evoked by the bird's sad call
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942
KEYWORDS: bird nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Randolph 833, "Whip-poor-will" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 532-534, "Whippoorwill" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 833)
Roud #7445
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Where the Whippoorwill Is Whispering Good-night" (theme)
cf. "The Whip-poor-will's Song" (theme)
NOTES: I had difficulty deciding whether this should or should not be identified with "The Whip-poor-will's Song" as recorded by Uncle Eck Dunford. The theme is the same, and both work around the call of the bird. But they haven't a word in common other than "Whip-poor-will," so I split them. - RBW
File: R833

Whirly Whorl, The

DESCRIPTION: Bridesmaid describes a bride's problems with an elderly groom. The bride modestly turns her back, then her front, but he gives no comfort. She berates her mother for marrying her to an old fool, and vows to find a young man "to play at the whirly whorl"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: age disability marriage sex wedding bawdy
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
Roud #12573
RECORDINGS:
Anne Briggs, "The Whirly Whorl" (on BirdBush1, BirdBush2, Briggs3)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man" (theme) and references there
File: RcTWW

Whiskey For My Johnnie

See Whiskey Johnny (File: Doe015)

Whiskey Is My Name (Donald Blue)

DESCRIPTION: A smith has a drinking wife, often found drunk in the street. One day, as his wife is asleep, he is called out to rescue her. He finds a drunken woman who looks so like his wife he cannot tell them apart. His wife quits drinking as a result
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford)
KEYWORDS: drink husband wife
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 47-49, "Donald Blue" (1 text)
Greig #77, p. 2, "Donal' Blue" (1 text)
GreigDuncan3 581, "Donald Blue" (10 texts, 10 tunes)
SHenry H835a, p. 512, "Whiskey Is My Name"; H835b, pp. 512-513, "Whiskey Is My Name/The Blacksmith" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Ord, pp. 52-53, "My Name is Donald Blue" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST HHH835 (Full)
Roud #3799
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 c.14(117), "Donald Blue" ("My names Donald Blue, you ken me fu' we'll"), unknown, no date
Murray, Mu23-y3:014, "Donald Blue," unknown, 19C
NLScotland, RB.m.168(145), "Donald Blue," unknown, c. 1870
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Wee Wifikie"
cf. "Peggy in the Mornin'" (tune, per GreigDuncan3)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Smith's Drunken Wife
NOTES: What does "Donald Blue" have to do with this song? The singer is Donald Blue, who makes it clear that he is whiskey but that drunken mothers vex him. He says, "I'll tell you a trick I played" on the smith's wife who "liked me so well she put so muckle in her mouth, She was often carried home in the morning." He then goes on to spin the tale summarized above. - BS
Greig: "Like other lays with an 'in the mornin'" owreword, it sings to a variant of 'Johnnie Cope.'" - BS
Ford too lists this as being sung to "Johnnie Cope," but his text will not fit that tune without drastic violence, and Ord uses another tune.
John Baynes with John Laffin, Soldiers of Scotland, Brassey's, 1988 (I use the 1997 Barnes & Noble edition), p.105, lists "Donald Blue" as a lights-out tune for several Scottish regiments, including the famous Black Watch; it's not clear which melody is meant.
For another song about Donald Blue, see "Did You Never Hear of Donald Blue?" - RBW
Broadsides Murray , NLScotland RB.m.168(145) and Bodleian 2806 c.14(117) are triplicates. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: HHH835

Whiskey Johnny

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. Characteristic line: "Whiskey, Johnny, / Whiskey for me Johnny." The song details the sailor's love affair with whiskey: "Whiskey is the life of man / It always was since the world began...." "Whiskey killed my dear old dad..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (mentioned in 1867)
KEYWORDS: shanty drink nonballad
FOUND IN: US(MA,NE,SW) Canada(Mar,Ont)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Doerflinger, pp. 15-16, "Whiskey Johnny" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm/Murdock, pp. 64-65, "Whiskey, Johnny" (1 composite text, 1 tune)
Bone, p. 82-83, "Whis-key John-nie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Colcord, pp. 49-50, "Whiskey Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 21, 63-66 "Whiskey" (3 texts, 2 tunes)
Hugill, pp. 274-280, "Whisky Johnny" (4 texts & several fragments, 1 tune) [AbEd, pp. 202-206]
Sharp-EFC, XLVIII, p. 53, "Whiskey For My Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 151-152, "Whisky Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, p. 55, "Whiskey for My Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, p. 403, "Whiskey Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Smith/Hatt, p. 30, "Whiskey For My Johnnie" (1 text)
Mackenzie 106, "Whisky Johnny" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Darling-NAS, pp. 311-312, "Whiskey Johnny" (1 text)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 486-487, "Whisky Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 231, "Whiskey Johnny" (1 text)
DT, WHSKJHN* WHISKJON*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "Whisky for My Johnny" is in Part 3, 7/28/1917.
Roud #651
RECORDINGS:
Bob Roberts, "Whisky Johnny" (on LastDays)
Minster Singers, "Whiskey Johnny" (Victor 61147, n.d., prob. c. 1903)
Capt. Leighton Robinson w. Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur & Leighton McKenzie, "Whiskey Johnny" (AFS 4232 B1, 1939; on LC27 as "Whisky Johnny"; in AMMEM/Cowell)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rise Me Up from Down Below" (chorus, theme)
cf. "Supen Ut, En Dram Pa Man" (similar theme)
NOTES: Hugill specifies four versions of this, each with a distinct story line though all using the same refrain: a) The advantages & disadvantages of drinking; b) the Shanghaiing version; c) The limejuice skipper; and d) the Crab, Crayfish or Lobster version (i.e. "The Sea Crab"). Harlow cites yet another version, of a barber and a lady who are trying to impress one another and who eventually do get together despite the barber's drunkenness. - SL
Last updated in version 2.4
File: Doe015

Whiskey Seller, The

DESCRIPTION: "Of all the crimes that ever has been, Sellin' whiskey is the greatest sin...." The troubles caused by liquor-sellers are described: "You rob the strong man of his strength" "You rob the statesman of his brains" "You rob the children of their bread"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: drink hardtimes nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 312, "The Whiskey Seller" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 263-265, "The Whiskey Seller" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 312)
DT, WHSKSELL
Roud #7789
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "Whiskey Seller" (on NLCR08)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Little Brown Jug" (tune)
File: R312

Whisky in the Jar (The Irish Robber A) [Laws L13A]/The Irish Robber B (McCollister) [Laws L13B]

DESCRIPTION: The robber finds a victim on the road, whom he relieves of his valuables. He returns to his sweetheart's home and goes to sleep. He is awakened by the law. He reaches for his pistol, but the girl has rendered it useless. He is taken (and hanged/escapes)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (broadside, Murray Mu23-y1:137)
KEYWORDS: robbery prison love trial punishment execution death gallows-confession outlaw
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland) US(Ap,MW,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Ireland Australia
REFERENCES (14 citations):
Laws L13, "Whisky in the Jar (The Irish Robber A) [Laws L13A]/The Irish Robber B (McCollister) [Laws L13B]"
Meredith/Anderson, p. 51, "Whiskey in the Jar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warner 51, "Gilgarrah Mountain" (1 text, 1 tune)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 139-140, "McCollister" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-Labrador 117, "There's Whiskey in the Jar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-NovaScotia 88, "Whiskey in the Jar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 6, "Whisky in the Jar" (1 text, 1 tune)
SHenry H792, p. 122, "Whiskey in the Jar" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 12, "There's Whiskey in the Jar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ord, pp. 368-369, "There's Whiskey in the Jar" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 90, "Whiskey in the Jar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 107-108, "Captain Devin" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 201, "Whiskey In The Jar" (1 text)
DT 326, GILGARRY KILGARMT*
Roud #533, 534
RECORDINGS:
Seamus Ennis, "Whiskey in the Jar" (on Lomax42, LomaxCD1742)
Lena Bourne Fish, "Gilgarrah Mountain" [excerpt] (on USWarnerColl01)
Warde Ford, "McAllister" (AFS 4196 B2, 4196 B3; in AMMEM/Cowell)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads 612A , "Whiskey in the Jar," E.M.A. Hodges (London), 1846-1854; Harding B 11(980), "Sporting Hero" or "Whiskey in the Bar," J. Cadman (Manchester), 1850-1855; also Firth c.17(314)[some words illegible], "The Sporting Hero", Harding B 15(372a), Harding B 11(4152), 2806 b.10(109), "Whiskey in the Jar"
LOCSinging, as113620, "There's Whiskey in the Jar," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also sb40503b, "There's Whiskey in the Jar"
Murray, Mu23-y1:137, "Whiskey in the Jar," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1855
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.70(123b), "There's Whisky in the Jar," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1871
NOTES: In the Australian version, Colonel Pepper or his equivalent becomes Sir Frederick Pottinger, a local policeman laughed at for his inability to capture Ben Hall. For background on Pottinger, see the notes to "Ben Hall." - RBW
Paul Stamler comments on the "McCollister" texts of this song, "I think this deserves splitting, as although it's related to 'Whisky in the Jar,' it is missing the betrayal theme -- at least in this version."
Paul goes on to provide this description of the Warde Ford version: "McCollister [McAllister] sees two merchants and robs them. As he's walking up to the gallows, he says, "I have robbed many but I never killed any/And I think it is a shame to be hanged for stealing money."
However, the versions cited by Laws *do* include the betrayal; it appears that the characteristic of the "B" texts is rather the hanging, plus perhaps the robber's name. But it is almost impossible to distinguish short versions of the songs, so we continue to lump them. - PJS, RBW
In addition, Murray, Mu23-y1:131, "The Sporting Hero," Poet's Box (Glasgow), 1852, states "Along with this song, and in the same style, the Poet['s Box] has that splendid song, called 'Whiskey in the Jar.' Generally those who buy the one, buys the other, you see." "The Sporting Hero" is another version of "Whiskey in the Jar" with a new ending: [The singer meets] Molly and shoot[s] her dead, forgive[s] her because "though Molly has deceived me, yet I thought it not her intention, Though she has proved faithless to me, a sporting hero, I have left her far sleeping far behind, and I have nothing more to fear, O." He ends by recommending himself to girls who "want a fancy man."
In broadside Bodleian, Firth c.17(314), "The Sporting Hero" ("I am a sporting hero, that never yet was daunted"), J. Bentley (Bradford), n.d. Molly is not murdered and the self-advertisement at the end goes on for more verses.
Broadside LOCSinging as113620: 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
File: LL13

Whisky You're the Devil

DESCRIPTION: Whiskey leads the singer astray. "We're on the march and off to Portugal and Spain" "The French are fighting boldly, men dying hot and coldly ... love fare thee well" A mother threatens to haunt the singer if he takes her daughter from her.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (IRClancyMakem01)
KEYWORDS: courting war separation drink Spain nonballad mother soldier ghost
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Moylan 180, "Whiskey You're the Devil" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Hugill, p. 454, "Whisky, You're My Darling" (1 fragment, 1 tune - taken from the Journal of the Folk Song Society, 1924. He only gives one verse, which deals with emigration to America, and which is filed here only tentatively)
RECORDINGS:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, "Whisky You're the Devil" (on IRClancyMakem01)
NOTES: The references "now, brave boys, we're on the march and off to Portugal and Spain" and "the French are fighting boldly, men dying hot and coldly" seem to be a reference to the Peninsular campaign of the Napoleonic wars. On the other hand, it's a stretch to imagine a consistent story line: the chorus has whiskey leading the singer "O'er the hills and mountains and to Amerikay" - BS
The above is actually barely possible; soldiers in the Peninsula might have been sent to fight the United States in the War of 1812. But it's much easier to believe that it would happen in a songwriter's head than to an actual soldier. - RBW
Moylan attributes this to 1809 on the basis of something found in Winstock's Songs and Music of the Redcoats. I have searched that book at length and cannot identify the basis for this attribution, so I have not changed the Earliest Date. - RBW, (BS)
The ballad is recorded on one of the CD's issued around the time of the bicentenial of the 1798 Irish Rebellion. See:
Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "Whiskey in the Jar" (on Franke Harte and Donal Lunny, "My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte," Hummingbird Records HBCD0027 (2001)) - BS
File: RcWYTD

Whisky, You're My Darling

See Whisky You're the Devil (File: RcWYTD)

Whisper Your Mother's Name

DESCRIPTION: The singer is "seated one day in a beautiful cafe" when he sees his sister in the street. His mother's words, "If you should see your sister, do not reproach her, Dwayne," cause him to invite her back to her still-faithful love and her mother's grave
AUTHOR: Lottie Gilson?
EARLIEST DATE: 1896
KEYWORDS: reunion sister brother mother family separation
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 98-100, "Seated One Day in a Beautiful Cafe" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4774
NOTES: Popularized by Lottie Gilson (1869-1912), a tragicomic singer of the 1890s. This piece entered her repertoire in 1896. McNeil speculates that this may be the only traditional song to have a person named "Dwayne" as a hero; given the piece's overblown sentimentality, one is inclined to hope so. - RBW
File: MN1098

Whispering Hope

DESCRIPTION: "Soft as the voice of an angel... Hope with a gentle persuasion, Whispers her comforting word." "Hope for the sunshine tomorrow After the shower is gone." "Whispering hope, how welcome thy voice, Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice."
AUTHOR: "Alice Hawthorne" (Septimus Winner)
EARLIEST DATE: 1868
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
RJackson-19CPop, pp. 241-245, "Whispering Hope" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
The Blue Sky Boys, "Whispering Hope" (Bluebird 8401, 1940)
NOTES: Alice Hawthorne was a leading pseudonym of Septimus Winner; he also listed her as the author of "Listen to the Mockingbird." (The name was a tribute to his mother.) For some reason, Winner published such trivia as "Oh Where Oh Where Is My Little Dog Gone" under his own name. - RBW
Is there any indication that this entered tradition, as we use the term? Or, to put it bluntly, are you sure this belongs in the Index? - PJS
If the question is, can it be proved that this song was popular in oral tradition, the answer is no. However, the material in Jackson claims to be bestsellers in popular music, and so presumably widely played in parlors. That strikes me as sufficient reason for inclusion. A lot of kids must have suffered through this song in their lives. - RBW
File: RJ19241

Whistle Owre the Lave O't

DESCRIPTION: Verses begin "my mother sent me" and end "so whistle for the rest of it": sent to the well the singer fell in; to the stack with a basket her bones crack; to the sea a sailor fell in; to the moss to gather clods "a thing sprang up atween my legs"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
GreigDuncan7 1414, "Whistle Owre the Lave O't" (5 texts plus a single verse on p. 522, 2 tunes)
ADDITIONAL: David Herd, editor, Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc. (Edinburgh, 1870 (reprint of 1776)), Vol II, p. 208, "Whistle O'er the Lave O't"
Roud #506
NOTES: The Herd text is brief enough not to include verses unfit to print. The GreigDuncan7 texts begin with Herd's and some mildly suggestive verses beside.
See also Robert Burns, The Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (New Lanark,2005), p. 260, "Whistle O'er the Lave O't" and Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs (Edinburgh, 1829), Vol II, p. 456, "Whistle Owre the Lave O't." Chambers: "Burns wrote this song for a very old and very popular Scottish air, which was formerly unprovided with verses that were fit for print." The description for Burns's song would be "The singer recalls being beguiled by Maggie when they met and they still love -- 'I carena by how few may see' -- now that they are married." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71414

Whistle, Daughter, Whistle

DESCRIPTION: The mother offers her daughter a (cow) if she will whistle. The daughter says she cannot. The request is repeated with (sheep, etc.); each time the daughter refuses. Finally the mother offers a man; the daughter engages to whistle with all her might
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1868 (Notes & Queries); a manuscript copy said to be from 1740 was cited in _Folklore_ in 1901
KEYWORDS: dialog mother bargaining children
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So) Britain(England,(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Randolph 109, "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 2 tunes)
Sharp-100E 59, "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan7 1334, "Oh, Whistle, Whistle, Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownII 186, "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (1 text plus mention of 2 more)
Lomax-FSNA 107, "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 134, "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 138-139, "Lolly Too Dum" (2 texts, 1 tune, with the first actually being this song)
Opie-Oxford2 128, "Whistle, daughter, whistle" (3 texts)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #255, p. 158, "(Whistle, daughter, whistle)"
MHenry-Appalachians, pp. 219-220, "Spin, Meine Liebe Tochter" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 343, "Whistle, Daughter, Whistle" (1 text)
BBI, ZN1781, "Mother let me Marry, I long to be a Bride"
ADDITIONAL: Robert Chambers, The Popular Rhymes of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1870 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 25, ("Whistle, whistle, auld wife")
ST R109 (Partial)
Roud #1570
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lazy Mary (She Won't Get Up)" (theme)
cf. "La Jeune Fille Sans Amant (The Young Girl Without a Lover)" (theme)
cf. "Sixteen Years, Mama" (subject)
NOTES: This song has a close German parallel known, e.g., as "Spinn Spinn"; note that this was actually collected in Pennsyvania and printed in Henry. Newell also claims Flemish and French parallels. - RBW
In Chambers's text the conversation is not between a mother and daughter, though the outcome is the same. - BS
[Sharp reports of his version,] "The words given me by the singer were a little too free and unconventional to be published without emendation, but the necessary alterations have, nevertheless, been very few and unimportant." - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: R109

Whistling at the Ploo

DESCRIPTION: "It's to the girls of Peterhead that these few lines I write": Ploughing the ocean is what brave sailors do; "lazy lubber landsmen go whistling at the ploo"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan4)
KEYWORDS: farming work nonballad sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan4 922, "Whistling at the Ploo" (1 text)
Roud #6240
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hearts of Gold" (theme)
cf. "I Love My Sailor Boy" (theme)
File: GrD4922

Whistling Rufus

DESCRIPTION: Whistling Rufus goes to parties whatever the weather. After devouring the chicken and wine, he settles down to whistling, producing a sound that makes the spectators think "the angels' harps were a-playing."
AUTHOR: Words: W. Murdock Lind/Music: Kerry Mills
EARLIEST DATE: (tune composed 1899; words are later)
KEYWORDS: Black(s) music
FOUND IN: US(SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 285, "Whistling Rufus" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 241-243, "Whistling Rufus" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 285)
DT, WHSTRFUS*
Roud #5065
SAME TUNE:
My Mother Told Me that She Would Buy Me a Rubber Dolly If I'd Be Good (cf. Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America, p. 299)
File: R285

Whistling Thief, The

DESCRIPTION: Pat visits Mary and whistles to announce his arrival. Mary's mother hears, and rejects Mary's explanations (the dog is howling at the moon, pigs can see the wind, etc.). The mother forces Mary off to bed, pointing out that she hasn't lost her ears
AUTHOR: attributed to Samuel Lover
EARLIEST DATE: 1839 (Songs and Ballads)
KEYWORDS: love courting mother
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (3 citations):
SHenry H710, pp. 264-265, "The Whistling Thief" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor, p. 154, "The Whistling Thief" (1 text)
DT, PATHILL*
Roud #2738
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, 2806 b.11(210), "The Whistling Thief," The Poet's box (Glasgow), 1864; also Harding B 11(1366), Firth b.25(430), Harding B 11(4156), Harding B 11(4157), Firth c.20(106), Firth c.26(241), "The Whistling Thief"
LOCSinging, sb40586a, "The Whistling Thief," H. De Marsan (New York), 1861-1864
ALTERNATE TITLES:
When Pat Came Over the Hill
NOTES: Broadside LOCSinging sb40586a: 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: HHH710

White Cal, Yaller Gal, Black Gal

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

White Captive, The

See Olban (Alban) or The White Captive [Laws H15] (File: LH15)

White Cockade, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer describes her handsome young love. He has taken the white cockade and joined Prince Charlie's armies. She promises to sell her possessions to equip him well. Some versions describe how Prince Charles was displaced
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1803 (_Scots Musical Museum_ #272)
KEYWORDS: love Jacobites separation
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1745-1746 - Jacobite rebellion of 1745
FOUND IN: US(Ap,NE,So) Australia Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Hogg2 18, "The White Cockade" (1 text, 1 tune)
GreigDuncan1 124, "The White Cockade" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Randolph 120, "Prince Charles He Is King James's Son" (1 text)
Combs/Wilgus 144, p. 149, "Ranting Roving Lad" (1 text -- from West Virginia, but still with clear traces of Scots dialect)
Linscott, pp. 115-118, "Virginia Reel" [medley of "The Irish Washerwoman," "The White Cockade," and "Yankee Doodle"] (1 tune for each of the three melodies, plus dance instructions); p. 120, "The White Cockade" (1 tune)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 88, "The White Cockade" (1 tune)
DT, WHTECOCK*
ADDITIONAL: James Kinsley, editor, Burns: Complete Poems and Songs (shorter edition, Oxford, 1969) #306,, p. 423, "The White Cockade" (1 text, 1 tune, from 1790)
Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), pp. 181-182, "The White Cockade" (1 text, translated from the Gaelic with some lines surely inspired by "King William was King James's Son"; the rest is not the usual "White Cockade" though it has similarities; I rather suspect two-way translation)
ST R120 (Full)
Roud #709
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Johnson Ballads fol. 26, "The White Cockade" ("My love was born in Aberdeen"), J. Catnach (London), 1813-1838; also Harding B 11(3341), Harding B 11(4160), "The White Cockade"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "King William is King James's Son" (lyrics)
cf. "The Old Settoo" (tune)
cf. "Fat'll Mak a Bonny Lassie Blythe an' Glad?" (tune, per GreigDuncan5) and references there
SAME TUNE:
The Green Cockade (Healy-OISBv2, pp. 40-41)
The Wind Blew the Bonnie Lass's Plaidie Awa' (File: RcWBTBLP)
The Old Settoo (File: OLcM026A)
NOTES: The white cockade was, of course, a Jacobite emblem. Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart, 1720-1788) was the son of James (III), himself the son of James II, the English king deposed in 1689/90.
This piece is often found as a fiddle tune. It may be that it lost its words because people dared not sing a Jacobite song, but liked the melody. But this is probably beyond proof. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: R120

White Coral Bells

DESCRIPTION: "White coral bells upon a slender stalk, Lilies of the valley (line/grace) my garden walk. Oh don't you wish that you could hear them ring? That will only happen when the (angels/fairies) sing."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (as "May Bells," in the "Fourth Year" volume of the "Hollis Dann Music Course")
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 268, "White Coral Bells" (1 text)
NOTES: One of the tiny handful of songs in my mother's singing tradition. Seems to be a genuine folk song, even if no one knows what it's supposed to be about.
Jack Manischewitz, who did the research leading to the 1916 date for the May Bells variant, has found a number of people who also know the song from early life. He notes that the 1916 publication listed no author, although authors were listed for most of the other pieces. This would imply, at minimum, that the copyright had expired by 1916, which would hint at a nineteenth century origin. - RBW
File: PHCFS268

White Fisher, The [Child 264]

DESCRIPTION: Willie learns that a "popish priest" fathered his wife's baby. She tells Willie to cast the babe in the sea; he instead gives the child to his mother. Willie's wife weeps for the babe and reviles him; Willie tells her the babe is alive; both are happy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1878
KEYWORDS: pregnancy bastard death drowning return adultery abandonment disguise clergy infidelity
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 264, "The White Fisher" (1 text)
Bronson 264, comments only
DBuchan 60, "The White Fisher" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 197, GreigDuncan8 Addenda, "The White Fisher" (3 texts, 1 tune)
DT 264, WHITFISH
Roud #3888
NOTES: Bronson notes that Child's view of this ballad is distorted by his single text, and believes that it should be modified in view of the collections by Grieg. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: C264

White Folks Go to College

See Hard to Be a Nigger (File: LxA233)

White Folks in the Parlor

DESCRIPTION: "White folks in the parlor, Talking 'bout jelly and jam... Didn't say a word about ham." "Ham, ham, ham is good and sweet... Nothing better'n old ham meat." "Possum in the corn fields... Rabbit say, 'You dirty dog,' Possum blew the horn."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: animal food
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 476, "White Folks in the Parlor" (1 short text)
Roud #11864
File: Br3476

White Hare, The

DESCRIPTION: Near Oldham town lived an old white hare that has escaped beagles and greyhounds. Jim Smith or Jemmy the huntsman and Tom the whipper-in take out horsemen and beagles to hunt this hare. "There was twenty good beagles that caused this hare to die"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908 (recording, Joseph Taylor)
KEYWORDS: death hunting animal dog horse
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond))
Roud #1110
RECORDINGS:
Joseph Taylor, "The White Hare" (on Voice18)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(306a), "White Hare," unknown, n.d.; also Harding B 11(3425), Firth c.19(105), Harding B 11(1725), "White Hare"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Creggan White Hare" (subject)
cf. "The Innocent Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The Hare of Kilgrain" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The Granemore Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
cf. "The White Hare" (theme: fatal hare hunt)
NOTES: The town in the Bodleian broadsides is Maxfield or Maxwell. Oldham is in Lancashire, England. I don't know about Maxwell or Maxfield. - BS
File: RcTWhiHa

White House Blues (I)

See Mister McKinley (White House Blues) (File: LoF143)

White House Blues (II)

DESCRIPTION: Singer says Hoover let the country go to ruin; now Roosevelt's "doing his best," but times are still hard -- long hours for poor wages (if they're working at all), bad clothes, poor food. The refrain says of Hoover, "Now he's gone, I'm glad he's gone."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: poverty hardtimes political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1929-1933: Presidency of Herbert Hoover
1933-1945: Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 228, "White House Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 382-383, "White House Blues" (1 text)
DT, WHITHOU2*
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "White House Blues" (on NLCR09) (on NLCR12)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mister McKinley (White House Blues)" (tune, structure, words)
NOTES: The Great Depression is generally considered to have extended from the stock market crash of 1929 to the beginning of World War II in 1939. However, it is worth noting that conditions for farmers had already been depressed for several years before this. - PJS (This was due in part to the revival of European agriculture after World War I. In Minnesota, the political side effects are still felt to some extent today, in the relative strength of third party politics. Minnesota voted for Roosevelt in all four of his elections -- the first time the state had ever voted for a Democrat. Quite a sea change. - RBW)
This song is obviously a topical adaptation of "Mister McKinley (White House Blues)." -PJS
In one sense this song is unfair; Herbert Hoover was not the cause of the Depression (which began very shortly after he came into office; if any President is to be blamed, it is his predecessor, Calvin Coolidge). On the other hand, Hoover (a conservative Republican) took only the most hesitant steps to help the poor, so he arguably does deserve their scorn. - RBW
File: CSW228

White Man, Let Me Go

DESCRIPTION: The Indian begs to be allowed to return to his land: "Let me go to my home in the far distant west... Let me go to my father... Let me go to the hills... Let me go to... my dark-eyed maid... And there let my body in ashes lie low"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1844 (Journal from the Marcus)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) lament homesickness
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Australia
REFERENCES (5 citations):
BrownIII 270, "The Indian Hunter" (1 text)
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 180-181, "The Indian Hunter" ( text)
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 32-34, "White Man, Let Me Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 164-165, "White Man, Let Me Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 228-229, "White Man, Let Me Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST FJ032 (Partial)
Roud #2055
NOTES: The notes in Brown cite Kittredge to the effect that this was printed in 1835. The source involved, however, is not listed. - RBW
File: FJ032

White Marble Stone, The

DESCRIPTION: "Sister Dolly light the lamp, and the lamp light the road, And I wish I been there for to yedde Jordan roll." "O the city light the lamp, the white man he will sold, And I wish...." "O the white marble stone, and the white marble stone...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1866 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 42, "The White Marble Stone" (1 text, 1 tune with a variation)
Roud #11996
NOTES: My guess (only a guess) is that this refers to the "white stone" given to the believers in Pergamum who "conquer" in Revelation 2:17. The King James Version does not use the word "marble" to describe this stone, but interestingly the word "stone" used in this verse is unusual (psephos, used elsewhere only in Acts 26:10 of casting a vote. It also refers to small round stones that might be used on an abacus -- as opposed to some random rock you find in the ground).
The use of the word in this context is significant: when voting for or against conviction, a Greek juryman would drop a white stone to acquit, a black one to convict. Thus to give someone a white stone (psephos) was to declare not guilty.
J. Massyngberde Ford, Revelation (being volume 38 of the Anchor Bible), Doubleday, 1975, p. 399, says of the white stone, "The stone mentioned here is probably the tessera of ancient times, which was used variously as a voting ballot or a ticket to public functions. It was also used when drawing lots in a criminal case; the white stone was a favorable verdict, i.e. life.... Another interpretation may be that this stone is an entrance ticket into the promised land or paradise."
There is no reason to think that the stones mentioned in the Apocalypse were marble. It may just be a sort of logic: "If God is giving out a stone, it must be a high-quality one."
Don't ask me if slaves would know about the use of the word psephos, and if so, how they would have found out. In addition to Ford, I needed three Biblical concordances (Young's, for the KJV, Kohlenberger's, for the NRSV, and Moulton & Geden for Greek) and two grammars (Bauer and Liddell & Scott), plus some knowledge for Greek history, to write this note. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: AWG042A

White Oak Mountain

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

White Paternoster

See Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (I) (File: FO033)

White Pilgrim, The

DESCRIPTION: "I came to the tomb where the white pilgrim lay And pensively stood by his tomb, And in a low whisper I heard someone say How peaceful he sleeps there alone." The pilgrim's farewell to his family after his call, and his courage in death, are recalled
AUTHOR: Rev. Jonathan Ellis?
EARLIEST DATE: 1850 (Sacred Harp)
KEYWORDS: religious death clergy disease request travel children family wife
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
BrownIII 542, "The Lone Pilgrim" (1 text plus a fragment)
Hudson 81, p. 209, "The White Pilgrim" (1 text)
Randolph 619, "The White Pilgrim" (2 short texts plus 2 excerpts, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 433-434, "The White Pilgrim" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 619)
Brewster 97, "The White Pilgrim" (1 text in two parts, the second tells the sorrows of the widow)
ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), p. 205, "(The White Pilgrim)" (1 fragment)
Roud #2841
RECORDINGS:
Aunt Molly Jackson, "The Lone Pilgrim" (AAFS 2580 B, 1939)
Buell Kazee, "The White Pilgrim" [fragment] (on Kazee01)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "The Lone Pilgrim" (AAFS 1826 A3, 1935)
Doc Watson & Gaither Carlton, "The Lone Pilgrim" (on Watson01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Braes of Balquidder" (most common tune)
cf. "Lily Dale" (alternate tune)
NOTES: It's not absolutely clear whether this was originally called "The White Pilgrim" or "The Lone Pilgrim"; Randolph's notes imply the latter, but the notes in Brown and Hudson seem to imply the reverse. The best argument is perhaps the text in Brewster, which is exremely full (seemingly a basic text and a sequel), which was learned probably around 1870 by O. F. Kirk; in that, it's called the "White Pilgrim."
At least two authors are listed: The Reverend Ellis (elsewhere called Elder John Ellis), mentioned above, fl. 1789; he is said to have set it to the tune Lily Dale; he's also listed as writing it in 1838. But the Sacred Harp (in which it's listed as "The Lone Pilgrim") credits it to B. F. White in 1850.
A reasonable supposition is that Ellis wrote the words and White set a new tune, but that's not proof of anything.
Randolph also mentions a clergyman called "The White Pilgrim" (after his clothing, not his skin color) who lived before the Civil War. Paul Stamler found a reference to a "White Pilgrim" named Joseph Thomas who lived around 1835.
For complete arguments, see D. K. Wilgus's article "The White Pilgrim: Song, Fact, and Legend" -- an item I, unfortunately, have not seen. - RBW
It's clear that "The White Pilgrim" and "The Lone Pilgrim" are essentially the same song, although one is told in third person while the other is in first. - PJS
File: R619

White Slave, The

DESCRIPTION: A pretty girl, who works in a laundry and sleeps in the street because she is so poor, is recruited to be a prostitute with promises of wealth. Five years later, she has lost her looks and is diseased. Who is to blame? "The boss who pays starvation wages"
AUTHOR: Words: Joe Hill (Music by Leo Friedman?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1913 (Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent)
KEYWORDS: IWW whore money disease
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
DT, WHITSLAV
ADDITIONAL: (Barrie Stavis and Frank Harmon, editors), _The Songs of Joe Hill_, 1960, now reprinted in the Oak Archives series, pp. 30-31, "The White Slave" (1 text, 1 tune -- not the tune Hill used, which was copyrighted)
Roud #7990
NOTES: For the life of Joe Hill, see "Joe Hill."
Although not the best-known of Hill's songs, I'd have to say that I regard it as the best of those I know. It is also quite true-to-life.
I thought of this piece while reading Steve Oney's And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank (2003; use the 2004 Vintage Books edition), especially pp. 56-60, describing conditions in Atlanta in the years leading up to 1913 (when Mary Phagan was murdered and this song was written). Child labor was the standard in the town -- the factory in which 13-year-old Mary worked employed primarily teenage girls, paying them no more than ten to fifteen cents an hour and working them 56 hours a week -- and there was a vast prostitution industry. Had Mary not been murdered, this might have been her story: She was very pretty, and the only choices life held for her (unless she managed to find a rich man to marry her) were life in the factory or prostitution.
At the time she died, the Atlanta papers were carrying advertisements calling for the ending of the White Slave trade (Oney, p. 57). I gather that, for a while after Mary was murdered, there was speculation that she had been attacked because she refused to join the prostitution industry. I don't know what Joe Hill knew about this -- but I wonder if it didn't somehow inspire his song.
Hill's description also fits what we know about how women fell into prostitution in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. David Cordingly, Women Sailors and Sailors' Women, Random House, 2001 (I use the undated, but later, paperback edition), pp. 19-20, cites the work of Dr. William Sanger, whose work was published in 1858, Sanger took case histories of some 2000 prostitutes. And "of the 2,000 women... 933 had been servants before becoming prostitutes, 499 had lived with parents or friends, and most of the rest were dressmakers, tailoresses, or seamstresses," The single most common reason for becoming a whore was, of course, poverty.
Cordingly on pp. 20-22 cites a London chaplain, G. P. Merrick, who interviewed many imprisoned women and compiled similar statistics about British prostitutes. Again, the picture is one of women driven to ruin by poverty
It appears that the five year working life cited in this song is if anything high, since "the great majority of adult prostitutes were between the ages of eighteen and 23" (Cordingly, p. 20, quoting Sanger). Sanger found that the typical prostitute lasted only four years; Merrick computed the average time in the profession as just barely more than three years (Cordingly, p. 21). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: DTwhitsl

White Steed, The

See The Wonderful Grey Horse (File: Zimm044A)

White Wings

DESCRIPTION: "White wings, they never grow weary, They carry me cheerily over the sea, Night comes, I long for my dearie, I'll spread out my white wings and fly home to thee." The singer longs for his Maggie Darrow, and hopes the winds will carry him to her.
AUTHOR: Banks Winter ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: love bird reunion
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 779, "White Wings" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Geller-Famous, pp. 48-52, "White Wings" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 144-145, "White Wings" (1 text)
ST R779 (Full)
Roud #1753
SAME TUNE:
Black Socks (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 34-35)
NOTES: Randolph quoted Jay House to the effect that this song was written by Banks Winter in 1884. Gilbert offers the story that Winter bought it from another singer for $20. James J. Geller lists this other singer as Joseph Gullick, and dates the composition to 1882. Little supporting evidence is offered for either story.
The title is reported to derive from the novel White Wings by William Black. (The final wife of the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh was also named, in translation, "White Wing," but I doubt many people in the late nineteenth century knew that.) - RBW
So *this* is what "Black socks, they never grow dirty" is a parody of! - PJS
File: R779

White-Headed Boy, The

See Cupid Benighted (File: FO180)

Whitehills Harbour

DESCRIPTION: Tonight we gather to help "the good folks" for "their harbour is nane o' the best." When the singer looked "it nearly upset me To ken whare a place ca'd a harbour could be." At night the sweethearts "are toddlin'" along with the rabbits and hares.
AUTHOR: William Park (source: GreigDuncan8)
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: fishing disaster nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1891, "Whitehills Harbour" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #13235
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lass o' Glenshee" (tune, per GreigDuncan8)
NOTES: "Whitehills [Banff on Moray Firth], a village on the west side of Knock head ... has a small harbour ... defended by short piers facing northward, but it is rendered unsafe by the rage that is thrown in during northwesterly gales. It has 83 herring-boats, employing 170 men and boys. Population, 920 in 1881" (source: North Sea Pilot Part II. North and East Coasts of Scotland (London, 1885 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 144).
"Wrecks between the Firths of Forth and Moray are more frequent than on any other part of the coast of Scotland. This may possibly be accounted for by the great number of vessels passing and repassing along that coast. In the month of December 1799, a strong gale from the south-east occasioned serious disasters on these shores, when upwards of seventy sail were wrecked on the eastern coast of Scotland, and many of their crews perished" (source: David Stevenson, Life of Robert Stevenson Civil Engineer, (London, 1878 ("Digitized by Google")), p. 260).
Greig #153, p. 2: "There are not many traditional songs dealing with fisher folk; and as for fisher folk themselves they do not seem to have any old minstrelsy dealing with their special calling and interests." (See only "The Thurso Fishing Boat Disaster" and "The Bonnie Fisher Lass.")
GreigDuncan8: "Made up for Mr Quirrie by William Park blacksmith and sung by John Quirrie at concert in aid of Whitehills Harbour."
The last line of GreigDuncan8 is "But toddlin' aboot was the rabbits and bawds [hares]." The Dictionary of the Scots Language site quotes, as an illustration of the word "bauds," "And toddlin' about were the rabbits and bauds." The citation is "A. Cumming, Tales of the North (1896) 96." That site's bibliography dates the book publication as 1847.
Steve Roud sends the following information, if anyone can follow up on Tales of the North: "I have at last tracked down Cumming -- it's published by the Banffshire Journal (1896) so it's probably one of those newspapers articles-published-as-books numbers. The only copy I can find is in Aberdeen Univ Lib, see this link [http://tinyurl.com/tbdx-CummingNorth]." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81891

Whitney's Camp

DESCRIPTION: "It's of a brave young shantyboy, brave-hearted, true, He left his home near Ottawa and to Whitney's camp did go." He will return home when winter ends. "He worked until that fatal day When a hanging limb fell down on him and squashed him to the clay."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: logger death lumbering work derivative
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-Lumbering #35, "Whitney's Camp" (1 fragment, tune referenced)
Roud #4468
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Harry Dunn (The Hanging Limb)" [Laws C14] (tune, plot)
NOTES: Fowke notes the obvious similarity of this song to "Harry Dunn." The similarity extends to the tune; it is clear that the one is modeled on the other. And, since this song is known only from Nelson Lewis's one fragment, this is probably the parody. - RBW
File: FowL35

Whittingham Fair

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

Who Am Dat a-Walkin' in de Corn?

DESCRIPTION: "Who am dat a-walkin' in de co'n?.... How long O Lawd, nobody knows, I pray I'll rise on judgment day...." The singer mentions several who might be among the corn: "Joshua de son ob Nun Er King David come to fight Goliar," Petuh, Gabriel, God
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924
KEYWORDS: religious Bible nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Combs/Wilgus 325, p. 192, "Who Am Dat a-Walkin' in de Corn?" (1 text)
Roud #4304
File: CW192

Who Built the Ark?

DESCRIPTION: Amalgamation of floating verses about Noah, the ark, the animals, etc.. Noah builds the ark from hickory (hemlock, gopherwood), leads the animals two-by-two. Chorus: "Who built the ark? Noah, Noah," sometimes "The old ark's a movin', a-movin', a movin'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: travel sea ship flood Bible religious floatingverses humorous gods
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 222-223, "Norah" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 158, "No-e in the Ark" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5355
RECORDINGS:
The Four Wanderers, "Animals Coming In" (Victor 23370, 1932; rec. 1929; on CrowTold01)
A. A. Gray & Seven Foot Dilly, "The Old Ark's a-Moving"(Vocalion 5458, 1930; on CrowTold02, Babylon)
Norfolk Jubilee Four [or Quartet] "Who Built the Ark?" (OKeh 4400, 1921; Parlophone [Australia] A2062, n.d.)
Governor Alf Taylor & his Old Limber Quartet, "Brother Noah Built an Ark" (Victor 19451, 1924)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Old Uncle Noah" (subject)
cf. "One More River to Cross" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Old Ark's A-Moverin'" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This shares verses and choruses with so many other Noah songs that it's hard to parse it out, but the distinguishing mark of the "Who built the ark?" chorus is a useful delineator. The Gray-Dilly version, despite the title, is not "The Old Ark's A-Moverin'"; the verses are quite different, and so is the overall tone. As a final note, it's only appropriate that a song about Noah should be composed entirely of floating verses. - PJS
File: RcWBTA

Who Dat?

DESCRIPTION: "Who dat tappin' at de window? Who dat knockin' at de do' Mammy tappin' at de window, Pappy knockin' at de do'."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: lullaby nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 154, "Who Dat?" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #11597
File: ScNF154A

Who Did Swallow Jonah?

DESCRIPTION: "Who did (x4), Who did swallow Jo-Jo-Jonah?... Who did swallow Jonah down?" "Whale did... swallow Jonah whole." "Noah in the arky... bailed." "Daniel... in the lion's den." "David... killed Goliath."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1912 (recording, Fisk University Jubilee Quartette)
KEYWORDS: Bible religious humorous
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
MHenry-Appalachians, p. 196, "Jonah and the Whale" (1 text)
BrownIII 346, "Jonah and the Whale" (6 texts and/or fragments, but only the "D" and "E" texts and the "F" fragment are this piece; "A" and "B" are "Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble)" and "C" is "Hide Away")
Silber-FSWB, p. 386, "Who Did Swallow Jonah" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Fisk University Jubilee Quartette, "Peter on the Sea" (Edison Amberol 978, 1912)
Mustard and Gravy, "The Whale Did, I Know He Did" (Bluebird B-7905, 1938)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Daniel in the Den of Lions" (on NLCR16)
North Carolina Cooper Boys, "Daniel in the Den of Lions" (OKeh 45174, 1927; on CrowTold02)
Utica Institute Jubilee Singers, "Peter on the Sea" (Victor 21925, 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale)" (subject) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Daniel in the Den of Lions
The Whale Did, I Know He Did
NOTES: This may actually be two songs; I have a recording by the Brandy Snifters claiming to derive their piece from two 78s, "Daniel in the Den of Lions" by the North Carolina Cooper Boys and "The Whale Did, I Know He Did" by Mustard and Gravy. The verses of this collated version, however, are almost all found in the Folksinger's Wordbook text, though with differences in order. Pending more examples, I'm treating the piece as a unity.
The story of the fish (NOT a whale!) which swallowed Jonah is related in Jonah 2. The Hebrews in the fiery furnace ("Shadrack, Meshak, Abindigo" -- all misspelled, be it noted) are a reference to Daniel 3. The story of Noah and the Ark (actually two stories collated) is in Genesis 6-8. David and Goliath (again, two stories collated) occupy 1 Samuel 17. - RBW
Listening to "Daniel in the Den of Lions," it's clearly the same song as, "Who Did Swallow Jonah?" - PJS
But that still leaves the mystery of "The Whale Did, I Know He Did." - RBW
I'd guess that "The Whale Did" is essentially the same song, with the title changed. - PJS
File: FSWB386B

Who Is At My Window Weeping

See The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: LM04)

Who Is My Neighbor?

DESCRIPTION: "'Who is my neighbor?' Hear the poor Jew cry. 'Who will a-yescort me? Help me ere I die.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Jew
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 60, "Who is my Neighbor?" (1 text)
Roud #7845
NOTES: The editors of Brown do not seem to have noted the connection with the parable of the Good Samaritan, but it seems to me nearly certain that this is an excerpt from a song about that story. - RBW
File: Br3060

Who Is on the Lord's Side

DESCRIPTION: "Let me tell you what is nat'rally the fact. Who is on the Lord's side, None o' God's children nebber look back, Who is on the Lord's side." "Way in the valley, who is... Way in the valley...." "Weeping Mary...." "Mourning Martha." "Risen Jesus."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison, p. 56, "Who Is on the Lord's Side" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12015
NOTES: The phrase "Who is on the Lord's side" comes from Exodus 32:26, though I'm not sure it's a context I'd like to quote -- Moses is encouraging the Levites to consecrate themselves by killing their relatives! - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG056

Who Is Tapping at My Bedroom Window?

See The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: LM04)

Who is the Lady?

DESCRIPTION: Dan'l Mooney's father died and left him money if, the will said, he would marry. He sees a lady and thinks "if she would only wed me I'd be happy." He'd give her diamonds, they'd go to Ireland, they'd have a baby boy who'd become "just like his old Papa"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1972 (Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan)
KEYWORDS: marriage lastwill money Ireland
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 7, "Who is the Lady?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5227
RECORDINGS:
Tom Lenihan, "Who is the Lady?" (on IRTLenihan01)
NOTES: Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan: "American music-hall whimsey." - BS
File: RcWITLad

Who Killed Cock Robin?

DESCRIPTION: "Who killed Cock Robin? I, said the sparrow, with my little bow and arrow." "Who saw him die? I, said the fly, with my little streaky eye." Various creatures, mostly birds, describe their parts in the death and burial of Cock Robin
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1744 (Tom Thumb's Pretty Song Book volume II)
KEYWORDS: bird death burial
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (11 citations):
GreigDuncan8 1679, "Cock Robin" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
SharpAp 213, "Cocky Robin" (4 texts, 4 tunes)
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 74, "Tommy Robin (Cock Robin)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson, pp. 56-57, "Who Killed the Robin?" (1 text)
Ritchie-Southern, p. 66, "The Death of Cock Robin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 87, "Cock Robin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chase, pp. 177-178, "Cock Robin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 69-70, "Who Killed Cock Robin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Opie-Oxford2 110, "Who killed Cock Robin?" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #22, pp. 36-37, "(Who did kill Cock Robbin?)"
DT, COCKROBN*
Roud #494
RECORDINGS:
Edith Harmon, "Who Killed Poor Robin?" (LC AAFS 2907 A2, 1939)
Buell Kazee, "Cock Robin" (on Kazee01)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Who Killed Poor Robin?" (on NLCR17, NLCRCD2)
NOTES: Wild theories swirl about this piece -- e.g. that it is linked with political ministry of Robert Walpole (which ended in 1742), or that it is a retelling of the Norse Balder legend (!). However, there are European analogues, and earlier illustrations which may belong with the story, so any theory must be considered speculative at best. Chase reports that it is a Shoshone night chant.
The Baring-Goulds argue that the piece must go back to Middle English times, because it rhymes "owl" and "shovel." This, however, appears to be in error on two counts: First, the ancient spelling "shouel" was not pronounced "showel" (in Old English, it's "scofl"). And there are English dialects which confuse "v" and "w." The Opies note that there are still people who pronounce the word "showel."
Opie-Oxford2 #109, "Cock Robin got up early, at the break of day," describes the courtship of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren (who are traditionally linked as husband and wife although this is of course physiologically impossible). The Opies mention a speculation that this was published as a prequel to "Who Killed Cock Robin?" - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: SKE74

Who Killed Cock Robin? (II)

DESCRIPTION: Questions and answers. "What came of 82?": The name. "Whence came the shout of freedom?": o'er the Atlantic. "Who drove the people mad?": Pitt. "Who picketed the Croppies?": Captain Swayne. "When shall [Union] be repealed?": When the people are united.
AUTHOR: "Ierne" (R.R. Madden) (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1887 (Madden's _Literary Remains of the United Irishmen of 1798_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: rebellion violence Ireland nonballad patriotic questions
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 168, "Who Killed Cock Robin?" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: There are thirty-eight verses. The form follows "Who Killed Cock Robin?" Each verse has a question and an answer about eighteenth and nineteenth century Irish history. More villains than heroes of that period are among the answers.
Here is an example of the form (Dublin Town Major Sirr [for whom see "The Major"] is the villain again):
Who shot Lord Edward?
The Major said demurely,
I took my aim securely,
I shot Lord Edward!
[The references to "82" is to] April 16, 1782 [when] Henry Grattan moved a declaration of the independence of the Irish parliament. Grattan: "Ireland is now a nation!" (source: "Henry Grattan" at the Ireland Information Guide site). [See also the notes to "Ireland's Glory." - RBW]
Pitt and Union are discussed, among other places in this index, in the notes to "The Game of Cards" (II).
Captain Swayne appears briefly in "The Song of Prosperous," in which he dies in the fire. He is one of the people accused of "pitch capping": filling a cap with boiling pitch and putting it on a peasant's head. (source: "The Search for Weapons" in 1798 Rebellion at Rathregan National School site). - BS
Madden's pen-name of "Ierne" is one of the sundry ancient names for Ireland. - RBW
File: Moyl168

Who Killed Poor Robin?

See Who Killed Cock Robin? (File: SKE74)

Who Killed the Robin?

See Who Killed Cock Robin? (File: SKE74)

Who Said I Was a Bum?

DESCRIPTION: Singer, called a bum, takes exception to the name. He tells of life as a hobo, says "I never work, I never have, and I never will by gum/I know I'm a hobo, but who said I was a bum?" My shoes are worn, my pants are torn, there's holes in both my knees."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1927 (recording, Carson Robison)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer is called a bum, but takes exception to the name. He tells of life as a hobo, says "I never work, I never have, and I never will by gum/I know I'm a hobo, but who said I was a bum?" "Whenever I see a stack of wood, I go the other way" He also notes that "My shoes are worn, my pants are torn, there's holes in both my knees" and that the wind blows through his BVDs
KEYWORDS: poverty pride work nonballad hobo
FOUND IN: US
RECORDINGS:
Frank Luther, "Who Said I Was A Bum?" (Victor 21686 [as Bud Billings], 1928) (Broadway 1226, 1929)
Carson Robison, "Who Said I Was a Bum?" (Herschel Gold Seal 2021, c. 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "You Wonder Why I'm a Hobo" (subject, attitude)
File: RcWSIWAB

Who Will Care for Mother Now?

DESCRIPTION: "Why am I so weak and weary? See how faint my heated breath.... Tell me, comrades, is this death?" The dying soldier asks "Who will care for mother now?" He hopes someone will care for her, and hopes to die as a soldier should
AUTHOR: Charles Carroll Sawyer
EARLIEST DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: soldier death mother Civilwar
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-CivWar, pp. 76-77, "Who Will Care for Mother Now?" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, WHOCARE*
NOTES: The fact that this song achieved some success probably tells us more about the nineteenth century than about the quality of the song. - RBW
File: SCW76

Who Will Play the Silver Whistle?

See The Silver Whistle (File: K009)

Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot

DESCRIPTION: Floating verses found in sundry other songs: "Oh who will shoe your pretty little foot, And who will glove your hand...." "(Papa) will shoe my pretty little foot, (Mama) will glove my hand...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: (undatable as the key lyrics probably predate the song as an independent entity)
KEYWORDS: floatingverses clothes nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (20 citations):
Bronson 76, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (23 versions, of which #6, #7, #9, #10, #14, and #15 must be placed here)
BarryEckstormSmyth pp. 149-150, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (2 fragments)
Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 174-177, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (2 fragments, one of which is probably "The Lass of Roch Royal" but the second being "Pretty Little Foot"; 1 tune)
Randolph 18, "Oh Who Will Shoe My Foot?" (8 texts, 5 tunes; the "B" and "H" versions are of this sort) {H=Bronson's #7}
BrownIII 259, "I'll Hang My Harp on a Willow Tree" (2 fragments, named for that key line from "Tavern in the Town" which occurs in both fragments, but the "A" text is mostly "Pretty Little Foot"); also 301, "High-Topped Shoes" (2 texts, both mixed; "A" is mostly "Pretty Little Foot" with verses from "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" while "B" is a hash of "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down," ""More Pretty Girls Than One," "In the Pines," and others); also 306, "By By, My Honey" (1 text, mostly this though with several floating verses, e.g. from "Lonesome Road")
Hudson 13, pp. 91-93, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (1 fragments, of which "A" is the "Pretty Little Foot" with a chorus from "Careless Love" and "B" is two "Pretty Little Foot" stanzas artificially and wrongly extracted from "Wild Bill Jones")
Davis-Ballads 21, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (21 texts, every one of which is this piece rather than the longer ballad; additional texts appear in the Appendices, though some of these file with other songs; 4 tunes, of which the first 3, "Lass of Roch Royal," "Love Gregory," "and "Lass of Roch Royal," are among the pieces which belong here; 22 more versions mentioned in Appendix A) {#21A=Bronson's #9, #21U=Bronson's #10}
Scarborough-SongCatcher, p. 124, (no title) (1 fragment, filed under Child #76 along with a text of "New River Train/Honey Babe" and a version of "I Truly Undertand That You Love Some Other Man")
Brewster 13, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (1 text plus 8 fragments; the "A" text is "Fare You Well, My Own True Love"; "B"-"I" are "pretty little foot" fragments of one to three stanzas)
Fuson, p. 131, "The Gambling Man" (1 text, built around "The Roving Gambler (The Gambling Man)" [Laws H4] but also with these verses)
Friedman, p. 78, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (3 texts, 1 tune, with the "B" text belonging here)
Niles 31, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (2 texts, 2 tunes, the second clearly "The Lass of Roch Royal" but the first goes here)
Sandburg, 98-99, "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" (3 texts, 1 tune; the "A" text goes here) {Bronson's #14}
Lomax-FSNA 109, "Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" (1 text, 1 tune, with some additional stanzas which might be from "Fare You Well, My Own True Love" but which one has to suspect of being Lomax additions)
JHCox 13, "The Lass of Roch Royal" (2 texts, with the "B" text being a short fragment of this song)
Darling-NAS, pp. 269-270, "Who Will Shoe" (assorted sample stanzas)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 65, "Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot?" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rorrer, p. 92, "When I'm Far Away" (1 text, with an altered form: "Who will shoe your little foot (x3) When I am far away?")
Silber-FSWB, p. 191, "Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot?" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Walter de la Mare, _Come Hither_, revised edition, 1928; note to #50, (no title) (1 text)
Roud #49
RECORDINGS:
Frank Bode, "Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot?" (on FBode1)
Carolina Tar Heels, "Who's Gonna Kiss Your Lips, Dear Darling" (Victor 40100, 1929)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "When I'm Far Away" (No known Columbia release; recorded 1930)
Pete Seeger, "Poor Boy" (on PeteSeeger18)
Arthur Smith, "Green Valley Waltz" (on McGeeSmith1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lass of Roch Royal" [Child 76]
cf. "Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove)"
cf. "Mary Anne"
cf. "My Dearest Dear" (floating lyrics)
cf. "The Lover's Lament" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Who's Gonna Love You, Honey?" (theme)
cf. "Six Months in Jail Ain't So Long" (theme)
cf. "Must I Go to Mississippi?" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: It is common to classify any song containing the "pretty little foot" stanzas as part of "The Lass of Roch Royal" [Child 76]. However, they have been widely associated with at least two other songs (designated in the Ballad Index as "Fare You Well, My Own True Love (The Storms Are on the Ocean, The False True Lover, The True Lover's Farewell, Red Rosy Bush, Turtle Dove)" and "Mary Anne"). In addition, the stanzas can simply float.
For that matter, the verses are not an required part of "Roch Royal"; many versions (e.g. of the "Lord Gregory" group) omit them, and they are not an integral part of the plot of that ballad.
For this reason we have decided to classify these verses separately. If these verses stand in isolation, they will be listed here; if they are part of a longer ballad, they will be listed with that ballad. Note, however, that any particular fragment containing these verses could be part of one of the longer ballads.
Note also that some of the ballads listed under the other titles could have been misclassified by the authors and belong here. - RBW
I classify [the Seeger recording "Poor Boy"] here for want of a better place. - PJS
File: C076A

Who Would Have Tho't Harmon

DESCRIPTION: "Who would have tho't Harmon, that hum drum old fox, Who looks so bemeaning with his tousled locks, Would have had resolution to stand to the tack?" The speakers (Ned [Fanning] and Frank [Nash] ?) lament the troubles the regulators cause
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: political nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownII 280, "Who Would Have Tho't Harmon" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "From Hillsborough Town the First of May" (subject)
cf. "When Fanning First to Orange Came" (subject)
cf. "Said Frohock to Fanning" (subject)
NOTES: One of four "regulator" songs in Brown. The regulators were a group of protesters against high taxes and fees, found mostly in North Carolina though some also were active in South Carolina. For more on the Regulators, see the notes to "When Fanning First to Orange Came."
The "Ned" of this song is probably Edmund Fanning; again, see the notes to "When Fanning First to Orange Came" for background.
The editors of Brown think "Frank" is probably Francis Nash, the county clerk; I have no reason to think otherwise. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BrII280

Who'll Be King but Charlie

See Wha'll Be King but Charlie (File: DTwhakin)

Who's Goin' to Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot

See Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot (plus related references, e.g. The Lass of Roch Royal [Child 76]) (File: C076)

Who's Gonna Love You, Honey?

DESCRIPTION: "Who's gonna love you, honey, when I'm away? Who's gonna stay and say sweet things every day? Who's gonna look into your eyes divine? Who's gonna kiss those lips that I call mine?... Who's gonna love you when I'm gone?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: love separation questions
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 302, "Who's Gonna Love You, Honey?" (1 short text)
Roud #16862
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot" (theme)
File: Br3302

Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot?

See Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot (plus related references, e.g. The Lass of Roch Royal [Child 76]) (File: C076A)

Who's That at My Bedroom Window?

See The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: LM04)

Who's That Knocking?

See The Drowsy Sleeper [Laws M4] (File: LM04)

Who's That Tapping at the Garden Gate?

See Tapping at the Garden Gate (File: GrD4807)

Who's the Fool Now?

See Martin Said To His Man (File: WB022)

Who's the Pretty Girl Milkin' the Cow?

See The Pretty Girl Milkin' Her Cow (File: San040)

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What Brought the Blood?

What Can A Young Lassie Do Wi' An Auld Man

What Care I for the Laird o' Drum

What Child Is This?

What Do You Think o' Me Noo, Kind Sirs?

What Do You Think of Me Noo, Kind Sirs?

What Do You Think of My Darling?

What Does the Deep Sea Say?

What Folk Are Made Of

What Folks Are Made Of

What Gives the Wheat Fields Blades of Steel?

What Harm Has Jesus Done?

What Irish Boys Can Do

What is a Home Without Love?

What is Home Without Babies?

What is Home Without Love?

What Kin' o Pants Does the Gambler Wear?

What Kind of Crowns Do the Angels Wear

What Month Was Jesus Born In?

What Put the Blood?

What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?

What the Old Hen Said

What Was Your Name in the States?

What Will We Do When We'll Have No Money?

What Will You Do, Love

What Will You Give Me If I Get Up?

What You Going To Do With a Drunken Sailor

What You Gon'er Do That Day?

What You Gwina Do When the World's on Fire?

What'll I Do with the Baby-O

What's Little Babies Made Of?

What's Poor Mary Weepin' For (Poor Jenny Sits A-Weeping)

What's Poor Mary Weeping For?

What's That Blood On Your Sword?

What's the Lady's Motion? (Skip O'er the Mountain)

What's the Life of a Man?

What's the Matter Now?

What's the Rhyme to Porringer?

Wheel of Fortune (Dublin City, Spanish Lady)

Wheels of the World, The

Wheelwright, The (John Hunter)

When a Chap Comes Hame

When a Man's in Love [Laws O20]

When a Man's In Love He Feels No Cold

When a Woman Blue

When A' the Lave Gaed to Their Beds

When Adam in the garden woned

When Adam Was Created (Wedlock)

When Barney Flew Over the Hills

When Bucks a Hunting Go

When Carbine Won the Cup

When Clon Came Home

When Cockle Shells Make Silver Bells

When Cockle Shells Turn Silver Bells

When de Good Lord Sets You Free

When Fanning First to Orange Came

When First I Seen This Lovely Queen

When First Into this Country

When First To This Country (I)

When First To This Country (II)

When First Unto This Country

When Fortune Turns Her Wheel

When He Comes, He'll Come in Green

When He Who Adores Thee

When I Am On the Sea Sailing

When I Can Read My Titles Clear (Long Time Traveling)

When I Die (I)

When I Die (II)

When I Die Don't Wear No Black

When I Dream of Old Erin

When I First Came To This Land

When I Get On My Bran' New Suit

When I Get on Yonder Hill

When I Go Up to Shinum Place

When I Landed in Glasgow

When I Leave These Earthly Shores

When I Lie Doon

When I Saw Sweet Nellie Home

When I Set Out for Glory

When I Wake in the Morning