Young Kitty Lee (Letty Lee)
DESCRIPTION: A man sees "Young Kate." He is "shivering and shaking" and tells Kitty her kiss will cure him. She is eventually won over by his glib tongue. She says a husband may beat her, destroy all his earnings, or leave her but she agrees to marry anyway.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage dialog disease
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peacock, pp. 605-606, "Young Kitty Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-SNewBrunswick 28, "Letty Lee" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea605 (Partial)
Roud #2282
File: Pea605
Young Ladies
See Fair and Tender Ladies (File: R073)
Young Ladies in Town
DESCRIPTION: "Young ladies in town, and those that live 'round, Wear none but your own country linen." Homemade clothes may not be as grand, but it avoids sending money to Britain. The ladies are advised that the young men will love them all the same
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1769 (in the "Boston Newsletter")
KEYWORDS: clothes patriotic commerce
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1767 - Passage of the Townshend Acts. Britain attempts to raise money from the colonies by imposing taxes on various products (lead, paint, glass, tea). The Americans responded by boycotting British goods (the taxes, except for that on tea, were removed in 1770).
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 57-58, "Young Ladies in Town" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, YNGLADIE*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Homespun Dress" (theme)
NOTES: After the end of the Seven Years' War, the British government had been determined to make the American colonies pay for the troops stationed there. The first attempt had been Grenville's Stamp Act -- which was so hated and so unjust that it had to be repealed almost instantly.
But England still needed the money. George III had tried to form a more reasonable government by bringing in William Pitt the Elder (1708-1778). But Pitt almost immediately was incapacitated, leaving the government in the hands of the inexperienced Duke of Grafton (1735-1811; he became Prime Minister in 1766) and Charles Townshend (1725-1767), Chancellor of the Exchequer and the government's primary representative in the House of Commons.
Assessments of Townshend vary; Don Cook, in The Long Fuse, for instance, calls him a "loose cannon" and accuses him of setting his own interests ahead of the state's (p. 115) an says he "figured out nearly every way he could incite troubles with the Americans." On the flip side, he made major improvements in the administration of Ireland; a balanced assessment would say that he did both harm and good.
But, with respect to colonial relations, the Townshend Acts were a disaster. They were not as onerous as the Stamp Act, but they were definitely burdensome. Had the Stamp Act not come first, the colonists might have grumbled but complained. But the Stamp Act had precipitated opposition, and the Townshend Acts caused more grumbling -- the more so since, as with the Stamp Act, the colonies had not been consulted.
Townshend did not live to see the effects of his unfortunate measure, dying almost at once. The duties would be repealed in 1770. - RBW
File: SBoA057
Young Laird o' Logie, The
See The Laird o' Logie [Child 182] (File: C182)
Young Laird of Craigstoun, The
See A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing) [Laws O35] (File: LO35)
Young Les Darcy
DESCRIPTION: The singer notes that everyone wants to roam. One who falls victim to this is boxer Les Darcy, who wants "to fight at the Golden Gate." (He goes to the U.S. and died), leaving his family to mourn.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1957
KEYWORDS: fight Australia death
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 24, 1917 - Death of Les Darcy in Memphis, Tennessee
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 75-76, "Young Les Darcy" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Les Darcy" (plot, subject)
NOTES: Les Darcy was an Australian boxer of whom great things were expected. He did not live long, and so his major bouts were few, but the Australians made him one of their great heroes. When he died in 1917, the Americans gave the cause of death as pneumonia; Australians claim he was poisoned.
Two songs about Darcy are found in the tradition; this one, more literary, has eight lines per stanza and begins "We all get a craving to roam, Far from home, o'er the foam...." The other, based on "Way Down in Tennessee," begins, "In Maitland cemet'ry (or "Way down in Tennessee") lies poor Les Darcy...." - RBW
File: MA075
Young Lovers, The
See The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)
Young M'Tyre
DESCRIPTION: Nancy loves M'Tyre, her father's servant. Her father plans to transport M'Tyre. She gives him money and he escapes. She tells her father she will only marry M'Tyre. Father says she can call M'Tyre back. They marry and M'Tyre is made a lord.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: courting love marriage parting reunion father servant
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Karpeles-Newfoundland 71, "Young M'Tyre" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2299
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Matt Hyland" (plot)
NOTES: This is so close in plot to "Matt Hyland" (itself a piece of mysterious origin) that I wonder if they mightn't be derived at several removes from the same lost original. - RBW
File: KaNew071
Young MacDonald
DESCRIPTION: "He is young and fair and handsome, he's my fancy late and early..." Chorus in Gaelic. Love song to the young MacDonald who was brought up in Glengarry, fought battles, and is now off to Colorado.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (Fowke/MacMillan)
KEYWORDS: love battle travel
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/MacMillan 54, "Young MacDonald" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4536
NOTES: [The version in Fowke/MacMillan is from] Mrs. A. Fraser of Lancaster, Ontario, who said she learned it from her brother-in-law, Mr. John A. MacDonald. MacDonald is one of the commonest names in Ontario's Glengarry county.
The [version in Fowke/MacMillan] has a mix of English and Gaelic lyrics, though the Gaelic has become too garbled to be correctly translated. - SL
File: FowM054
Young Maid's Love, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer loves a rich merchant's daughter, but her father arranges for him to be inducted into the navy. His ship wins a great victory at sea, and the prize money makes him rich. He returns home and is allowed to marry the girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1924 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: love separation sailor navy reunion money marriage
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
SHenry H58, p. 446, "Eliza/When I Landed in Glasgow" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 45, "The Young Maid's Love" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #3019
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.18(160), "The Young Maids Love," unknown, n.d.
NOTES: Sam Henry theorizes that this song dates to the period of the Spanish Armada, because in his text the ship fights "twenty-two sail of Spaniards." The internal evidence opposes this; in the same text, the singer meets the girl outside Glasgow -- but at the time of the Armada, Scotland and England were still separate countries. - RBW
File: HHH058
Young Man Badly Walked, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer comes to Belfast and meets a girl. They stop for drinks. She takes him "home." He pays the landlady, planning to marry next day. He wakes alone, with no watch, chain, money, coat, or boots. A man throws him out. "Simple country lads," beware.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1989 (Leyden)
KEYWORDS: love sex violence beauty drink theft whore
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leyden 30, "The Young Man Badly Walked" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Gold Watch [Laws K41]" (plot) and references there
cf. "The Reason Why" (plot)
NOTES: Leyden: "A song set in High Street and York Street [Belfast] in the late 1870s." - BS
File: Leyd030
Young Man Who Travelled Up and Down, The
DESCRIPTION: "Once there was a young man who travelled up and down... And they told me there that the wars were o'er." Various workers enter, are described, and declare what they will or won't do "till the wars are o'er."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: drink worker war
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
JHCox 172, "The Young Man Who Travelled Up and Down" (1 text)
Roud #139
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "When Jones's Ale Was New"
NOTES: Cox speculates that this is an "imitation" of "Jones's Ale," in that both involve various people wandering in. As the chorus, form, setting, and characters are all different, however, I've agreed with Cox in listing this as a separate song. Roud lumps them. - RBW
File: JHCox172
Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn, The [Laws H13]
DESCRIPTION: A lazy young farmer will not hoe his corn, with the result that the corn is choked by weeds and destroyed by frost. When he goes courting, his suit is rejected because he wouldn't hoe his corn
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: farming courting rejection work
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES (21 citations):
Laws H13, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn"
Belden, p. 440, "The Young Man who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Randolph 441, "The Lazy Young Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy 106, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
BrownIII 216, "The Man Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn" (1 text)
Flanders/Brown, pp. 74, "The Young Man Who Couldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Hudson 73, pp. 200-201, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Brewster 68, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn" (1 text)
McNeil-SFB1, pp. 164-165, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
SharpAp 182, "Harm Link" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 46-47, "The Young Man Who Couldn't Hoe Corn (The Lazy Man)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 66, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 38 "A Lazy Farmer Boy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 874, "Young Man Who Wouldn't How Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
LPound-ABS, 46, pp. 110-111, "The Man That Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
JHCox 173, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Darling-NAS, pp. 229-230, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
Arnett, p. 10, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 42, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 120, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (1 text)
DT 636, HOECORN
Roud #438
RECORDINGS:
Buster Carter & Preston Young, "A Lazy Farmer Boy" (Columbia 15702-D, 1931; on AAFM1, BefBlues3)
Edna & Jean Ritchie, "The Young Man That Wouldn't Raise Corn" (on Ritchie03)
Pete Seeger, "Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (on GrowOn3) (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
Vern Smelser, "The Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" (on FineTimes)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lazy Man
File: LH13
Young Man's Dream, The
DESCRIPTION: Singer dreams of Granu who says "Relate most true what you did view when you fought for liberty." She shows him "the heroes that have bled for the sake of liberty." St Patrick addresses the crowd: "Your Cross maintain ... It will lead you to paradise"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1862 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 13(10)); first half 19C (Zimmermann)
KEYWORDS: Ireland dream nonballad patriotic religious
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Zimmermann 28, "The Young Man's Dream" (1 text, 1 tune)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 13(10), "Young Man's Dream" ("It happened one night as I lay on my bed"), J.O. Bebbington (Manchester), 1858-1861; also Harding B 11(3610), 2806 c.17(378)[some words illegible], "Young Man's Dream"
NOTES: From National Library of Scotland commentary on broadside NLScotland RB.m.143(013), "Shiel's Rights of Man": "Granua (also spelt Grainne). The daughter of the mythical Irish warrior and folk hero, Finn McCool, Granua is also used as a symbol for Ireland - much like the figure of Britannia is employed as a symbol for Great Britain." - BS
File: Zimm028
Young Man's Lamentation, The
DESCRIPTION: An unconstant lover is worse than a thief." The singer would have married her but "she's not constant to any." "Like a ship on the ocean I am tost too and fro." He hopes wine will make him jolly. "She is mistaken if she think that I'll mourn"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1697 (broadside, Bodleian Douce Ballads 2(261b))
KEYWORDS: courting infidelity nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan6 1697, "Now My Love's Forsaken Me" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #6823
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Douce Ballads 2(261b)[a few verses are barely legible; see notes for legible copy], "The Young-Mans Lamentation" ("Meeting's a pleasure, but parting's a grief"), P. Brooksby (London), 1683-1696
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell He" (theme) and references there
NOTES: GreigDuncan6 is a fragment; broadside Bodleian Douce Ballads 2(261b) is the basis for the description.
The GreigDuncan6 fragment is "Now my love's forsaken me, for him he thinks I'll mourn. But he is quite mistaken, for I'll do my own turn. I'll go as saucy by him as he's fit to do by me, And I'll get another sweetheart, and that he soon shall see." In the few places I have found that, or similar verses, in the US it always goes with "The cuckoo she's a pretty bird ...." See, for example, Sharp, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Vol II, p. 177 [confirmed by Steve Gardham], both Hudson and Belden [confirmed by RBW and indexed here with "On Top of Old Smoky"], Ritchie-SingFam [indexed here with "The Cuckoo"] and Thomas and Leeder, The Singin' Gatherin' (1939), p. 25. Most US versions of "The Cuckoo" do not have the GreigDuncan6 verse. I posted a question to the Ballad List asking whether anyone had seen the pair of verses linked outside the US and where else the "Now my love's forsaken me" verse occurred. I have the following answer from Steve Gardham}
"The verse occurs in no British versions of the Cuckoo. British versions are pretty much based on the broadside 'The Forsaken Nymph'.
Oscar Brand's version in Reprints from Sing Out vol4 p42 has the stanza. Cox p425 has a whisper of it. Hudson has a Mississippi full stanza tagged onto the end of the standard 4-stanzas of the Cuckoo. As mentioned Sharp in EFSSA vol2 has the stanza only in the first version of the 13 given.
"Just checked and this stanza dates back to the 17th century. It is the last stanza in 'The Young-Man's Lamentation' , the first stanza being the 'Meeting is a Pleasure' stanza. It obviously is related to the early versions of 'Farewell He/She'. See Bodleian website Douce Ballads 2 (261b) although the image is very poor. (I have a full transcription courtesy of Mike Heaney of the Bodl)
Tho' I am forsaken yet she is forsworn,
Yet she is mistaken if she think that I'll mourn,
I'll set as slightly by her as e'er she did me,
And for ever will deny her, let her go, farewell she.
"Note the change of gender which is common in these lover's laments.
"Several possibilities present themselves as to the evolutions of American variants.
1)Some American variants must be based on variants older than the late 18th century standard broadside version.
2) The stanza has become attached to other songs like 'Farewell He' and become attached to 'The Cuckoo' in America.
"As I'm sure you are all aware, the numerous 'Lover's Laments' borrow stanzas from each other frequently and have done so from the earliest times, probably pre 17thc. Martin Parker occasionally uses them in his ballads of the 17thc."
Steve's Cox reference, Cox 143, "A Forsaken Lover," is a perfect US -- West Virginia, in this case -- example. The final two verses are "The cuckoo is a pretty bird ...." and "Forsaken, forsaken ....," respectively.
For another example see Arthur Palmer Hudson, "Ballads and Songs from Missippi" in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. XXXIX, No. 152 (Apr 1926 (available online by JSTOR)), #37 p. 149, "Jimmy."
For a counter-example see G.L. Kittredge, editor, "Ballads and Songs" in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. XXX, No. 117 (Jul 1917 (available online by JSTOR)), pp. 349-351, "An Inconstant Lover" which includes some American texts, including one without the cuckoo. My impression, though, is that in the case where the cuckoo is absent it has just been forgotten.
For a discussion of "The Young-man's Lamentation," including the complete text of broadside Bodleian Douce Ballads 2(261b), see Steve Gardham, "The Young-Man's Lamentation," article 17 in the collection "A Veritable Dungheap" at the Musical Traditions site. The article includes comments on the travels of verses, and parts of verses, to other songs [like "The Cuckoo'].
The first verse is "Meeting's a pleasure But parting's a grief, An Unconstant Lover Is worse than a Thief; A Thief he can Rob me, And take what I have, But an Unconstant Lover Will bring me to the grave." Nevertheless, the remaining ten verses are not associated with "On Top of Old Smoky," unless you include GreigDuncan6, "Lamentation"'s last verse. I could not see my way clear to lumping the GreigDuncan6 verse with "The Cuckoo" since it has not been found that way outside the US, nor with "On Top of Old Smoky," since it seems almost always to have been found attached to "The cuckoo she's a pretty bird ...." as an add-on.
"The Fair Damsel" - from Ruth Ann Musick, "The Old Album of William A. Larkin" in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. LX, No. 237 (Jul 1947 (available online by JSTOR)), #25 pp. 229-230 - floats "never place your affections on a green willow tree" and "if I am forsaken oh he is foresworn" onto the end of a ballad having nothing to do with either "The Cuckoo" or "Old Smokey": a young man abandons his sweetheart in favor of a rich widow and is turned away by his old sweetheart when he calls on her, saying "all though I am marryed I will visit you still."
Similarly, "Forsaken" - from E.C. Perrow, "Songs and Rhymes from the South" in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. XXVIII, No. 108 (Apr 1915 (available online by JSTOR)), #25 pp. 169-170 - floats "never place your affections on a green willow tree" and "if I am forsaken oh he is foresworn" after a verse in which the singer's sweetheart is "out on the water, he'll sink or he'll swim" and she says "if he can live without me, I can live without him." That is similar to "Forsaken" from G.L. Kittredge (cited above), pp. 351-352 - but without either "never place your affections on a green willow tree" and "if I am forsaken oh he is foresworn." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD61144
Young Man's Love, A
See Kissing Song (I) (File: R374)
Young Mannon
See Bold Manan the Pirate [Laws D15] (File: LD15)
Young Mary from Kilmore
DESCRIPTION: John's father promises him houses and land, and approves of his proposal to Mary. She refuses him: her parents are opposed, or she would rather ramble. He hears that three men from Rosslea would "banish" him from Rosslea. He says "she has deceived me"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (Morton-Maguire)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection home
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morton-Maguire 18, pp. 42,109,164, "Young Mary from Kilmore" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #2918
NOTES: Morton-Maguire: The singer's name may be John O'Brien or John Smith. The three "heroes" that might banish him -- apparently on Mary's behalf -- are Gunn, McIlroy and Maguire.- BS
File: MoMa018
Young Mary of Accland
See Mary Acklin (The Squire's Young Daughter) [Laws M16] (File: LM16)
Young McCance
See David's Flowery Vale (File: HHH212)
Young McFee
See McAfee's Confession [Laws F13] (File: LF13)
Young Melvyn
DESCRIPTION: Melvyn shoots Mary. He ties her to a stone and sinks her in the river. Nevertheless he is convicted and hanged. Girls "be careful in your friendship, and chose a proper mate." Young men, "think on Young Melvyn ... locked in his lonesome cell"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: murder prison punishment lover
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, pp. 643-644, "Young Melvyn" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST Pea643 (Partial)
Roud #9798
File: Pea643
Young Men and Maids
See The Silver Dagger (I) [Laws G21] (File: LG21)
Young Men, Come Marry Me
See The Old Maid's Song (II) (File: FJ162)
Young Men, The
See To Men (File: GrD3649)
Young Millman
See The Millman and Tuplin Song (File: IvDC046)
Young Molly Ban
See Molly Bawn (Shooting of His Dear) [Laws O36] (File: LO36)
Young Monroe
See The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
Young Monroe at Gerry's Rock
See The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
Young Munro
DESCRIPTION: A girl sings about Charlie Munro of the Forty-Second Highlanders, whom she loves. She describes his clothes, his appearance ("everything so neat about him," "that handome fellow") If she had an Indian treasure she would give it to the 42nd for his sake.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: love clothes nonballad soldier
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont) Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1339, "Young Munro" (2 fragments, 1 tune)
Roud #2316
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wha Saw the Forty-Second" (subject: 42nd Highlanders or Black Watch) and references there
NOTES: The description follows Edith Fowke, Traditional Singers and Songs from Ontario, (Hatboro, 1965), pp. 74-75, 177, "Young Munro."
Fowke: "This unusual song does not seem to have been reported before in anything like this form, although two Nova Scotia songs have the same melody and refrain."
GreigDuncan7: "Mrs Gillespie, learnt from her father forty-five years ago; learnt by him about the thirties or forties. Noted 1905." - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD71339
Young Munroe
See The Jam on Gerry's Rock [Laws C1] (File: LC01)
Young Peggy [Child 298]
DESCRIPTION: Young Peggy and Jamie have been seen together. When her parents call him rogue and loon, she vows to rest in his arms forever. The lovers agree to run off in the middle of the night. Her father awakes in the night and pursues, but they are already married
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1827 (Kinloch)
KEYWORDS: courting father mother marriage elopement love
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 298, "Young Peggy" (1 text)
Bronson 298, "Young Peggy" (1 version)
Leach, pp. 683-684, "Young Peggy" (1 text)
DT 298, YNGPEGGY
Roud #3875
NOTES: There are several curious notes about the history of this ballad. Bronson's sole tune is from Christie, and he thinks it fiddled with. Plus Emily Lyle says on p. 225 of Fairies and Folk: Approaches to the Scottish Ballad Tradition, (Wissenschaflicher Verlag Trier, 2007) that Child had access to a second text, from the Murison collection, but did not print it. Perhaps this is simply because he was so close to the end of his project that he did not bother, but it makes me wonder if he had additional thoughts on this ballad which he did not record. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C298
Young People, Take Warning
DESCRIPTION: "Young People all, attention give And hear what I shall say, I wish your soul with Christ to live In everlasting day." The singer warns against the pleasures of the flesh and tells of the dangers of Hell. He reminds them that death is coming
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1920
KEYWORDS: religious warning
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 653, "Young People, Take Warning" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7574
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Blind Man's Regret" (lyrics)
NOTES: Although this shares stanzas with "The Blind Man's Regret," they don't really seem to be the same song. The latter describes how the blind man went blind; this song seems a pure warning. It seems more likely that the verses floated. At the very least, it's uncertain enough that we split. - RBW
File: R653
Young Prince of Spain, The
See The Prince of Morocco (The Sailor Boy II) (File: LN18)
Young Rambleaway
See Rambleaway (File: ShH31)
Young Riley (I)
See O'Reilly from the County Leitrim (File: HHH580)
Young Riley (II)
See Riley's Farewell (Riley to America; John Riley) [Laws M8] (File: LM08)
Young Roger Esquire
See The Gray Mare [Laws P8] (File: LP08)
Young Rogers, The Miller
See The Gray Mare [Laws P8] (File: LP08)
Young Ronald [Child 304]
DESCRIPTION: Young Ronald loves the king's daughter. She says she can only obey her father's will. The king offers his daughter and great wealth to anyone who can slay a six-headed giant. Ronald slays the giant "wi ae sweep o his hand" and wins the princess
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1828 (Buchan)
KEYWORDS: royalty monster love courting death marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Child 304, "Young Ronald" (1 text)
Roud #3914
NOTES: Child's comments on this ballad amount to little more than an extended snort of disgust. He certainly has his point, but there may be folk elements in the tale; at least, it reminds me (rather loosely) of the Welsh tale of Culhwch and Olwen. - RBW
File: C304
Young Sailor Bold (I), The (The Rich Merchant's Daughter) [Laws M19]
DESCRIPTION: The merchant threatens his daughter's lover with death. She dresses as a sailor to warn him of the danger, and promises to go away with him. Her father meets her and kills her by mistake. He discovers the mistake and kills himself; the lover dies of grief
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Karpeles-Newfoundland)
KEYWORDS: love death exile suicide disguise murder cross-dressing
FOUND IN: US(MA,MW) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Laws M19, "The Young Sailor Bold I (The Rich Merchant's Daughter)"
FSCatskills 59, "The Rich Merchant" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gardner/Chickering 35, "The Rich Merchant's Daugher" (1 text)
Copper-SoBreeze, pp. 194-195, "Rich Merchant and his Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 218-220, "Willie" (1 text plus 2 fragments, 3 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 72, "The Rich Merchant's Daughter" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 432, RCHMRCH*
Roud #548
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Reuben Wright and Phoebe Brown" (plot)
File: LM19
Young Sailor Lad, The
See Rue and the Thyme, The (The Rose and the Thyme) (File: Ord187)
Young Sally Monro
See Sally Monroe [Laws K11] (File: LK11)
Young Sally Monroe
See Sally Monroe [Laws K11] (File: LK11)
Young Sally Munroe
See Sally Monroe [Laws K11] (File: LK11)
Young Sam Bass
See Sam Bass [Laws E4] (File: LE04)
Young Sea Prentice, The
DESCRIPTION: "I was a young sea-prentice bound, Bound by indenture, And fain I would go seek my love, If I only dared to venture"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan8)
KEYWORDS: love apprentice sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan8 1758, "The Young Sea Prentice" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #13135
NOTES: The current description is all of the GreigDuncan8 fragment. - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: GrD81758
Young Serving Man, The
See The Iron Door [Laws M15] (File: LM15)
Young Shepherd (I), The
DESCRIPTION: A shepherd courts "a rich merchant's daughter." Her father shoots the shepherd. She finds him dying. She puts on his hat and plaid and keeps his sheep; "her father shall die For the loss of his daughter and the murder besides"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: love murder cross-dressing dying sheep father shepherd
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 108, "The Young Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ives-DullCare, pp. 104-105,255, "The Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #103, p. 1, "The Squire's Daughter" (1 text)
GreigDuncan2 223, "The Unfortunate Shepherdess" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Roud #1151
BROADSIDES:
Murray, Mu23-y1:046, "The Unfortunate Shepherdess," James Lindsay Jr. (Glasgow), 19C
ALTERNATE TITLES:
In the County of Exeter
NOTES: Greig: "This pastoral ditty seems to hail originally from England, and has likely found its way north per some broadside." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: CrMa108
Young Shepherd (II), The
See Sheepcrook and Black Dog (File: HHH030a)
Young Ship's Carpenter, The
See The Daemon Lover (The House Carpenter) [Child 243] (File: C243)
Young Spanish Lass, The
See The Little Mohee [Laws H8] (File: LH08)
Young Susan (I)
DESCRIPTION: Susan joins the Royal Navy to follow Willie "where he was called And face his mortal enemies on board of a man o' war." She is slightly wounded by cannon fire. He goes to help and she reveals herself. They are married when they reach England.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (GreigDuncan1)
KEYWORDS: war love marriage cross-dressing sea ship injury sailor
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Greig #23, pp. 1-2, #25, p. 2, "Young Susan" (1 text plus a fragment)
GreigDuncan1 179, "Young Susan" (4 texts, 3 tunes)
Roud #1533
NOTES: This seems to me to be the same as Kidson, Traditional Tunes, "On Board of a Man-of-War," pp. 102-103, but not at all the same as SHenry H556, p. 326, "On Board of a Man-of-War." - BS
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1179
Young Susan (II)
See On Board of a Man-of-War (Young Susan) (File: HHH556)
Young Turtle Dove, The
See The Daemon Lover (The House Carpenter) [Child 243] (File: C243)
Young Virgin, A
DESCRIPTION: "I am a young virgin just come on board...." The prosperous, available girl is courted by various suitors. Merchant, doctor, apothecary, etc. offer their skills to gain her hand; she rejects each. She gives her love to a sailor.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1817 (Journal from the Herald)
KEYWORDS: love courting sailor worker humorous
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 100-102, "A Young Virgin" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2034
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Thing Is My Own" (theme)
cf. "I'll Not Marry at All" (theme)
NOTES: This really, really reminds me of "My Thing Is My Own." I don't think there is kinship, but I suspect a common inspiration. - RBW
File: SWMS100
Young Waters [Child 94]
DESCRIPTION: Because the queen has admitted that Young Waters has the fairest face of all the lords and lairds and knights she's seen, the king has him beheaded.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy)
KEYWORDS: beauty death execution
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Child 94, "Young Waters" (2 texts)
Bronson 94, "Young Waters" (1 version)
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 228-231, "Young Waters" (1 text)
OBB 82, "Young Waters" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 156-158+334, "Young Waters" (1 text)
ST C094 (Full)
Roud #2860
NOTES: Various suggestions have been offered for the identity of Young Waters. Percy suggested none other than the Bonny Earl of Murray, while Buchan offered one David Graham of Fintray (executed 1592). These and all other suggestions must be labelled simply, "Possible, but not really likely."
Although Bronson reports a tune, he notes, "It cannot be proved that this ballad was ever traditionally sung in Scots or English." The source of the tune is dubious, and Bronson has some cutting remarks about the stanzas of the English-language texts (though there is little doubt that the story exists in traditional forms in other languages -- indeed, the idea is not far from the traditional notion that Eleanor of Aquitaine had Rosamund Clifford poisoned). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: C094
Young William's Denial
See The Banks of the Inverness (File: HHH205)
Young William's Return
See The Banks of the Inverness (File: HHH205)
Young Willie's Return, or The Token
See The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Fair Phoebe and her Dark-Eyed Sailor) [Laws N35] (File: LN35)
Youpe! Youpe! Sur la Riviere!
DESCRIPTION: French: "Youpe! Youpe! sur la riviere, Vous ne m'entendez guere." The singer and Francois call upon Gauthier; they visit his girlfriend Delima. She rejects him as untrue; "You tell your little Jeremie the same things." The friends leave uproariously
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: courting rejection foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 62-64, "Youpe! Youpe! Sur la Riviere!" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: Fowke writes, "Of all the paddling songs, [this] is the most thoroughly Canadian. Its hero is not a prince... but a habitant lad who goes to call on this girl and is rebuffed for being too fickle. It was especially popular among French-Canadian lumberjacks who adapted to their own use an earlier song called 'Le p'tit bois d'l'ail.'"
The correct title of the song is "Youpe! Youpe! Sur la Rivière!"- RBW
File: FJ062
Your Fingers Are Nimble
DESCRIPTION: Jack says to Jeannie: the ewes are not free so you'd better milk me. Jeannie: I never milked a ram; I won't "for fear of a lamb" until we are married when I'd milk you dry. When they marry he pleases her so well but she can't milk him dry.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (GreigDuncan7)
KEYWORDS: courting marriage sex husband wife shepherd
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
GreigDuncan7 1417, "Your Fingers Are Nimble" (1 text)
Roud #7157
File: GrD71417
Your Long Journey
DESCRIPTION: Singer tells loved one that they must now part; the singer is torn with grief, but they will eventually "walk hand in hand/As one in heaven in the family of God." Cho: "Oh my darling, my darling/My heart breaks as you take your long journey"
AUTHOR: Doc & Rosa Lee Watson
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (recorded by authors)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer tells loved one that although God has given them years of happiness together, they must now part; as the angels come, the singer is torn with grief, anticipating the coming years without him/her, but they will eventually "walk hand in hand/As one in heaven in the family of God". Chorus: "Oh my darling, my darling/My heart breaks as you take your long journey"
KEYWORDS: grief loneliness farewell parting death dying nonballad religious family husband wife
FOUND IN: US
RECORDINGS:
Doc & Rosa Lee Watson, "Your Long Journey" (on Watson01)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Long Journey
NOTES: Although this song is not traditional, and not -- quite -- a ballad, I include it here because of its enduring popularity in the folk revival, which may indicate that it is entering a new oral tradition. - PJS
File: RcDWLoJo
Youth and Folly
See Peggy Gordon (File: Gil127)
Youth's Companions
See Young Companions [Laws E15] (File: LE15)
Yowe Lamb, The (Ca' the Yowes; Lovely Molly)
DESCRIPTION: Molly agrees to marry Willie if her father consents. Willie asks the father for a "yowe lamb" to start a flock. Her father consents and tells Willie to "choose a yowe lamb." Willie chooses Molly. Her father is upset by the trick, but allows the match
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (Ford); the Burns version is #264 in the _Scots Musical Museum_
KEYWORDS: love marriage father trick
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Kennedy 124, "Ca the Yowes to the Knowes" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 187-188, "Lovely Molly" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greig #50, pp. 1-2, "Lovely Mallie" (2 texts)
GreigDuncan5 1014, "Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes" (7 texts, 4 tunes)
SHenry H175, p. 470, "The Yowe Lamb" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, p. 46, "Ca' the Ewes Unto the Knowes" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, CALEWE3*
Roud #857
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Waukin' o' the Claes" (tune, per GreigDuncan5)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Lovely Mollie
NOTES: This is apparently the original of the Burns song "Ca' the Ewes to the Knowes," but he changed it so substantially that they must be considered separate songs, and the reader must be careful to distinguish. - RBW
And despite the title, Kennedy's version really is "The Yowe Lamb." - PJS
Greig comments on the degree to which his versions differ. "Variation in fact is inevitable; but when it proceeds very far the operation of ordinary and recognized principles will hardly account for it, and we are driven to surmise that there are in such cases special circumstances connected with the origin and history of the song or ballad which if known would greatly help to account for the situation." The versions share two verses and a few other lines so the versions do not seem so different to me:
Mallie, on the way to meeting her shepherd father, meets Jackie. He comments that they would not be able to talk if her father were present. They go to her father. Jackie asks her father for "a ewe lamb to raise a new stock, o' the best may she be." Father says Jackie is "Freely as welcome as any other man" to choose the best. He takes Mallie's hand. Father, commenting on his foolishness "to sell my only daughter in place of a lamb; But since I have said it, then so let it be."
Johnnie meets Jeannie and offers her ribbons, rings, a silk mantle, and other fine things, if she'd go away with him. She answers that he can keep his presents; she'd go with him but he should ask her father's goodwishes and tell her what her father says. He asks her father to "grant me a ewe lamb for to raise a new stock." Her father agrees. Johnnie goes to Jeannie's chamber "and in spite of a father he's ta'en her away." "'Pox be on you, Johnnie, for ye hae me beguiled, Ye sought but ae ewe-lamb, and ye've taken my child; But since I once said it, e'en so let it be."
Greig: "It may be pointed out in passing how persistently editors of Scottish Song treat 'ca' in this and similar phrases as if it were simply the vernacular form of 'call.' It is, however, a quite different word, and means, as every Scotchman knows, 'drive.'" - BS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: K124
Yowie Wi' the Crookit Horn
See Ewie Wi' the Crookit Horn (File: K271)
Yr Hen wr Mwyn
See My Good Old Man (File: R426)
Ythanside
DESCRIPTION: "As I cam in by Ythanside, Where swiftly flows the rolling tide, A fair young maid passed by my side." They go to her home, and talk till very late. Man and girl kiss; he promises to return, at which time she will give him her hand. They marry
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906 (GreigDuncan5)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig #16, pp. 1-2, "Ythanside" (3 texts)
GreigDuncan5 951, "Ythanside" (11 texts plus 3 fragments on p. 596, two of which are from Greig #16; 12 tunes)
Ord, pp. 32-34, "Ythanside" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, BONYTHAN*
Roud #3783
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bonnie Ythanside
File: Ord032
Yuba Dam
DESCRIPTION: Conductor asks the singer where he wants to go; he replies "Yuba Dam." Conductor beats him up. His wife scolds him, asks, "Where'd you get that load?" "Yuba Dam!" After more such troubles, he opines that "the town of Yuba Dam has no right on the map"
AUTHOR: William D. Hall (according to Spaeth, _A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 611)
EARLIEST DATE: 1899 (recording, S. H. Dudley); Spaeth lists it as a major composition of 1898
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer is asked by train conductor where he wants to go, and replies "Yuba Dam." Conductor is upset, and beats him up. When he gets home, his wife scolds him, asks, "Where'd you get that load?" "Yuba Dam!" She slugs him; he flees. He returns the next day, not realizing he has a long blonde hair on his coat; she finds it and he leaves home. She sues for divorce; judge asks him, "What brought this all about?" "Yuba Dam!" he replies, and is jailed for contempt. He opines that "the town of Yuba Dam has no right on the map"
KEYWORDS: jealousy infidelity marriage accusation questions humorous wife judge wordplay
FOUND IN: US(MW)
RECORDINGS:
S. H. Dudley, "Yuba Dam" (Berliner 0466-J, rec. 1899)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. I Want to Go to Morrow (subject, such as it is, and general atmosphere)
NOTES: I assign the location thanks to Bob Bovee, whose father [uncle, according to the liner notes to Bob's album "The Roundup"] learned the song in Nebraska in the 1920s. After assiduous searching, I had been unable to locate a Yuba Dam, but a more recent Google search suggests that the congressional representative for the South Yuba River area is proposing that one be built. - PJS
Bob recorded this long enough ago that I have it on LP, but after many years of attending Bovee/Heil concerts, I can't recall ever hearing him sing it. (I won't swear to that.) Maybe Yuba Dam is still causing trouble. - RBW
File: RcYubaDa
Zaccheus Climbed the Sycamore Tree
DESCRIPTION: "Zaccheus climbed the sycamo' tree, Few days, few days! Zaccheus climbed the sycamo' tree, Few days, get along home. Oh, he's way up yondeh...." "Zaccheus climbed his lord fo' to see."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: Jesus religious
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 200, "Zaccheus Climbed the Sycamo' Tree" (1 text); cf. p. 286, "(Zaccheus)" (1 short text)
Roud #8871
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Few Days" (lyrics)
NOTES: Zaccheus (more properly transliterated Zakchaios; in most modern translations, Zacchaeus) is mentioned in Luke 19:1-10; he was a short tax collector who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Jesus went on to have dinner with him and declare him saved due to his charity -- a particularly noteworthy statement, given how reviled tax collectors were at the time.
This is doubtless inspired at least in part by "Few Days," but it has been adapted enough to list as a separate song. - RBW
File: ScNF200A
Zack, the Mormon Engineer
DESCRIPTION: Zack, the Mormon engineer, has a wife in every town along the D&RG, and so refuses to change lines.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952
KEYWORDS: marriage railroading humorous train
FOUND IN: US(Ro)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Botkin-RailFolklr, p. 444, "Zack, the Mormon Engineer" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ZACKMORM*
Roud #4761
RECORDINGS:
L. M. Hilton, "Zack, The Mormon Engineer" (on Hilton01)
Art Thieme, "Zack, The Mormon Engineer" (on Thieme03)
NOTES: Said to be based, loosely, on the life of one Zack Black who worked on the Denver and Rio Grande railroad. The tune is loosely based on "Oh, Susanna." - RBW
File: BRaF444
Zared, The
See The Dreadnought [Laws D13] (File: LD13)
Zeb Tourney's Girl [Laws E18]
DESCRIPTION: Dan Kelly thinks often of Zeb Tourney's daughter, even though his family is feuding with hers. Kelly keeps a promise made to his father by killing all the male Tourneys, but then brings home Zeb's daughter, whom he loves
AUTHOR: Carson J. Robison?
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (recording, Vernon Dalhart)
KEYWORDS: feud love murder
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Laws E18, "Zeb Tourney's Girl"
Hudson 108, pp. 247-248, "Zeb Tunney's Girl" (1 text)
Warner 112, "Don Kelly's Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burt, pp. 251-252, "(Zeb Turney's Girl)" (1 text)
Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 735, "Zeb Turney's [Turner's] Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 681, ZEBTURNY
ST LE18 (Full)
Roud #2249
RECORDINGS:
James Burke, "Zeb Turney's Gal" (Superior 2590, 1931)
Vernon Dalhart, "Zeb Turney's Gal" Domino 3643, 1925; Banner 1671, 1926; Conqueror 7074, 1928) (Broadway 8050, 1925) (Columbia 15049-D [as Al Craver], c. 1926; rec. 1925) (Edison 51656 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], 1925) (OKeh 40506, 1926; rec. 1925) (Victor 19867, 1925) (Vocalion 5087/Vocalion 15280, 1926) (Challenge 157/Challenge 316, 1927; rec. 1926)
Bradley Kincaid, "Zeb Turney's Gal" (Bluebird 8410, 1940)
Luther Ossenbrink, "Zeb Turney's Gal" (Supertone 9570, c. 1929; Supertone 2590, c. 1931; both as Arkansas Woodchopper; Champion 16053 [as West Virginia Railsplitter], 1929)
NOTES: Warner notes that a song of this name was copyrighted in 1925 by Marjorie Lamkin and Maggie Andrews, of which the latter at least is a pseudonym of Carson J. Robison (it was his mother's maiden name). And Laws points out that it sounds "suspiciously unlike a mountaineer's conception of a feud." We note also that no one seems able to list the event upon which it is based.
But wait, there's more. Vernon Dalhart recorded this in 1926, and at that time, the name "Dalhart" was worth hundreds of thousands of sales. And at least one of the traditional versions -- Hudson's -- is functionally identical to the Dalhart recording, with the only differences minor verbal variants easily explained as errors of hearing or memory. The other versions are also very similar to each other, implying a recent common source.
The almost inevitable conclusion is that this is a song "gone folk": Written by Robison, recorded by Dalhart -- and then picked up by folklorists who didn't bother checking its pedigree. - RBW
File: LE18
Zeb Tunney's Girl
See Zeb Tourney's Girl [Laws E18] (File: LE18)
Zeb Turney's Girl
See Zeb Tourney's Girl [Laws E18] (File: LE18)
Zebra Dun, The [Laws B16]
DESCRIPTION: A new man joins the cowboys, and proves expert on many things. The cowboys think he must be a greenhorn, and allow him to take on the wild Zebra Dun. To their surprise, he controls the horse and receives a job. Not all educated people are greenhorns...
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: cowboy
FOUND IN: US(MA,So,SW) Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (12 citations):
Laws B16, "The Zebra Dun"
Gray, pp. 98-101, "The Zebra Dunn" (1 text)
Larkin, pp. 49-52, "Zebra Dun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph 208, "Zebra Dun" (1 text)
Friedman, p. 427, "Zebra Dun" (1 text)
Thorp/Fife XII, pp.135-147 (27-29), "Educated Feller" (4 texts, 1 tune -- one of which, "Bow-Legged Ike," may be independent or an ancestor)
Fife-Cowboy/West 71, "The Educated Feller (Zebra Dun)" (2 text, 1 tune plus a tune reference)
Ohrlin-HBT 22, "Zebra Dun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logsdon 12, pp. 77-85, "Old Zebra Dun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 107, "The Zebra Dun" (1 text)
DT 383, ZEBRADUN*
ADDITIONAL: Hal Cannon, editor, _Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering_, Giles M. Smith, 1985, pp. 8-10, "The Zebra Dun" (1 text)
Roud #3237
RECORDINGS:
Jules [Verne] Allen, "Zebra Dun" (Victor V-40022, c. 1928; Montgomery Ward M-4464, 1934; on AuthCowboys)
Tex Fletcher, "The Zebra Dun" (Decca 5302, 1936)
Harry Jackson, "Zebra Dun" (on HJackson1)
Glenn Ohrlin, "Zebra Dun" (on Ohrlin01)
J. M. Waddell, "The Zebra Dun" (AFS, 1940s; on LC28)
NOTES: Larkin states, without evidence though it's a reasonable conjecture, that the horse in this piece was a dun with the Z bar brand, with the "Z bar dun" wearing down to the "Zebra dun." Her other conjecture, that the singer may have been an Englishman who learned to ride while hunting fox, seems much less likely.
Logsdon (who mentions Larkin's suggestion) notes that this is because, while "dun" is a recognized description of a horse's hide, "zebra" isn't. But he observes that a "zebra dun" would be a dun with stripes.
One of Logsdon's texts, interestingly, was sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"/"John Brown's Body," though there is no chorus and some of his lines must have taken some quick tongue-work to sing to the Battle Hymn. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.5
File: LB16
Zebra Dunn, The
See The Zebra Dun [Laws B16] (File: LB16)
Zek'l Weep
DESCRIPTION: "Zek'l weep, Zek'l moan, Flesh come a-creepin' off o' Zek'l bones... I know you goin' to miss me when I'm gone." "Star in the east, star in the west, Wish that star was on my breast" "Hush little baby don't you cry, Know that your mother was born to die"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BrownIII 657, "'Zekiel'll Weep and 'Zekiel'll Moan" (1 fragment)
Sandburg, pp. 449-450, "Zek'l Weep" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 209-210, (no title) (1 text)
ST San449 (Full)
Roud #12174
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "All My Trials" (floating lyrics) and references there
NOTES: Sandburg's first verse here may be a backward telling of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezek. 37:1-14. Or, again, it may not.
Scarborough's text never mentions Ezekiel, but the rest seems to belong here. I think. - RBW
File: San449
'Zekiel'll Weep and 'Zekiel'll Moan
See Zek'l Weep (File: San449)
Zekiel'll Weep and (E)zekiel'll Moan
See Zek'l Weep (File: San449)
Zion's Sons and Daughters
DESCRIPTION: "See the fountain opened wide That from sinning frees us, Flowing from the wounded side Of our Immanuel Jesus." Those who thirst are called; Jesus gives freely to the dying; the woman at the well is given a warming drink; the thief forgiven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1931 (Fuson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuson, pp. 214-215, "Zion's Sons and Daughters" (1 text)
ST Fus214 (Partial)
Roud #16373
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Boundless Mercy (Drooping Souls, No Longer Grieve)"
NOTES: I strongly suspect that this is a version of "Boundless Mercy (Drooping Souls, No Longer Grieve)," but the key lines are missing, and Fuson doesn't give tunes, so I have to classify it separately.
The story of the woman of Samaria and the well, in which Jesus promises "living water," is in John 4, though there are hints of the theme elsewhere.
The "thief... [who] fled to glory" is, I think, an allusion to Luke 23:39-43. - RBW
File: Fus214
Zip Coon
See Old Zip Coon (I) (File: RJ19258)
Zoological Gardens, The
DESCRIPTION: "Oh, thunder and lightning it's no lark When Dublin city is in the dark. If you've any money go up to the Park and view the Zoological gardens." The singer describes the odd behavior of the animals, often with a sexual subtext
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1982 (_Soodlum's Irish Ballad Book_)
KEYWORDS: wordplay animal travel sex
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Frank Harte _Songs of Dublin_, second edition, Ossian, 1993, pp. 66-67, "Zoological Gardens" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES: According to Soodlum's Irish Ballad Book, the Dublin Zoological Gardens are in Phoenix Park, and the song dates back to the nineteenth century. I rather doubt this; the reference in the first verse to Dublin being in the dark, which occurs in both the Soodlum's and Harte texts, sounds like it refers to a World War I blackout.
Robert Gogan, 130 Great Irish Ballads (third edition, Music Ireland, 2004), p. 84, has a version almost identical to Soodlum's but with a few minor variations. He explains the word "mot," which is frequent in his version, as being Dublin slang for "girlfriend." He also notes that the zoo dates back to 1830.
Is the song traditional? I know of no field collections -- but the Soodlum's and Harte texts differ significantly, and Harte says there are other variants he didn't record. So it probably does have some traditional life, though perhaps only on college campuses or such. - RBW
File: Hart066