1861 Anti Confederation Song, An

See Anti-Confederation Song (File: FJ028)

1913 Massacre

DESCRIPTION: In Calumet, Michigan, striking copper miners and their children are having a Christmas celebration; strike-breakers outside bar the doors then raise a false fire alarm. In the ensuing stampede, seventy-three children are crushed or suffocated
AUTHOR: Woody Guthrie
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (recording by author)
KEYWORDS: lie strike death labor-movement mining disaster children
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Greenway-AFP, pp. 157-158, "1913 Massacre"
Silber-FSWB, p. 306, "The 1913 Massacre" (1 text)
DT, MASS1913*
RECORDINGS:
Woody Guthrie, "1913 Massacre" (Asch 360, 1945; on Struggle 1, Struggle2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "One Morning in May (To Hear the Nightingale Sing)" (tune)
Notes: In the late 19th/early 20th century, the rapid expansion of the electrical industry created great demand for copper, for which the chief source was the mines in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Bitter strikes resulted as the miners, under the leadership of the Western Federation of Miners, demanded decent pay and safer working conditions.
Guthrie's description of the events of 1913 is dead-on accurate, according to the residents of Calumet; Italian Hall, where the disaster occurred, was still standing in the early 1980s, but has since been torn down. - PJS
File: FSWB306A

'31 Depression Blues

DESCRIPTION: Coal miner tells of hard times in the Depression. Miners go to work hungry, ragged and shoeless and are cheated of their pay. The Supreme Court rules the National Recovery Act unconstitutional. The singer urges listeners to join the U.M.W.
AUTHOR: Credited to Ed Sturgill
EARLIEST DATE: 1968 (recording, New Lost City Ramblers)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer, a coal miner, tells of hard times in the Great Depression of the 1930s. Miners go to work hungry, ragged and shoeless; when they go to the office for scrip, they're told they're behind and owe the company as the scale boss cheats them of their pay. The National Recovery Act offers hope, but the Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional. Roosevelt declares a bank holiday; John L. Lewis wins the miners' battle; the singer urges listeners to join the U.M.W., saying the Depression is now gone
KEYWORDS: strike mining work hardtimes labor-movement
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
RECORDINGS:
New Lost City Ramblers, "'31 Depression Blues" (on NLCR15, NLCRCD2)
Ed Sturgill, "'31 Depression Blues" (Big Pine 677M-7157, n.d.)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bright Sunny South" (tune)
cf. "Sixteen Tons" (lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
Three Stripped Gears, "1931 Depression Blues" (OKeh 45553, 1931)
Notes: Well, we have a conundrum here. I'd be prepared to suggest that the Sturgill song is based on the Three Stripped Gears' recording, but not having heard the latter, I refrain for now. If this turns out to be the case, I suppose it should get its own listing.
Sturgill's last verse incorporates lines from Merle Travis's "Sixteen Tons." - PJS
File: Rc31DB

900 Miles

See Nine Hundred Miles (File: LxU073)

A Begging We Will Go

See A-Begging I Will Go (File: K217)

A Chur Nan Gobhar As A' Chreig (For Herding the Goats from the Rock)

DESCRIPTION: Gaelic. For herding the goats from the rock I would prefer the kilt. If I could have my choice I would prefer the kilt.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1950 (Creighton-Maritime)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage clothes nonballad animal
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-Maritime, p. 177, "Flushing the Goats" (1 text, 1 tune)
Notes: The translation is from the Celtic Lyrics Corner site. - BS
File: CrMa177

A Diller, A Dollar

DESCRIPTION: "A diller, a dollar, A (ten o'clock) scholar, What makes you come so soon? You us'd to come at ten o'clock, and now you come at noon."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1784 (Gammer Gurton's Garland)
KEYWORDS:
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Opie-Oxford2 465, "A diller, a dollar" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #81, p. 82, "(A diller, a dollar)"
Notes: I know of absolutely no traditional collections of this item, and I have no idea what it means. But reading it in Baring-Gould, I remember the first two lines from somewhere, with a fragment of a tune (plus, according to Cyn Collins, West Bank Boogie, Triangle Park, 2006, there was in the Sixties and Seventies a folk music bar/club at the University of Minnesota called the "Ten O'Clock Scholar"), so I am very tentatively including the piece in the Index. - RBW
File: BGMG081

A Drink in the Morn

DESCRIPTION: Dan O'Reilly explains to the judge the benefits of drinking "twenty or thirty" poteen between morning, when it "is good for the sight," and night. "In winter or summer, in June or July, I'll be punching all day till I die"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (for USBallinsloeFair, according to site irishtune.info, Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: Alan Ng's Tunography, ref. Ng #2615)
KEYWORDS: drink humorous nonballad
FOUND IN:
RECORDINGS:
Packy Dolan and The Melody Boys, "A Drink in the Morn" (on USBallinsloeFair)
File: RcADItM

A Fal-De-Lal-Day

See The Girl In Portland Street (File: Hugi054)

A Is for Apple Pie

DESCRIPTION: Alphabet song, beginning "A is/stands for apple pie, B baked/bit it" and perhaps ending "And don't you wish you had a piece of apple pie?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1671 (Some Observations upon the Answer to an Enquiry into the Grounds & Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy)
KEYWORDS: food nonballad wordplay
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 874, "A Is for Apple Pie" (3 texts plus an excerpt, but the "D" text is "The Average Boy")
Opie-Oxford2 1, "A was an apple-pie" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #611, pp. 240-241, "(A was an apple-pie)"
Roud #7539
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Logger's Alphabet" (subject) and references there
Notes: The first six lines of this piece appear in John Eachard's 1671 pamphlet "Some Observations upon the Answer to an Enquiry into the Grounds & Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy."
It first appears as an educational tool in Mary Cooper's 1743 spelling book, "The Child's New Play-thing," and was common in nineteenth century texts (often under the title, "The Tragical Death of an Apple Pie" or similar). - RBW
File: R874

A Is for Apple Pie (II)

See The Average Boy (File: R874A)

A La Claire Fontaine

DESCRIPTION: French: The singer wanders by a clear fountain. He bathes, and hears a bird's song in the trees. He tells the nightingale that it has no cares. He, on the other hand, lost his love because he refused to give her the roses he had picked
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1865 (apparently referred to in 1608)
KEYWORDS: courting love separation foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Canada(Que) France
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 134-135, "A La Claire Fontaine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 55, "A La Claire Fontaine" (1 English and 1 French text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 333, "A La Claire Fontaine (By Yonder Flowing Fountain)" (1 French text with English translation by Arthur Kevess)
Kennedy 97, "Au Bord d'une Fontaine ['Twas There Beside a Fountain]" (1 text + English translation, 1 tune)
DT, ALACLAIR*
ADDITIONAL: Grace Lee Nute, _The Voyageur_, Appleton, 1931 (reprinted 1987 Minnesota Historical Society), pp. 105-107, "A La Claire Fontaine" (1 text plus English translation, 1 tune)
Notes: This song has been called "The unofficial anthem of French Canada."
The correct title of this song is "À La Claire Fontaine." - RBW
File: FJ134

A Robin, Jolly Robin

DESCRIPTION: "(Ah/Hey) Robin, (jolly/gentle) Robin, Tell me how thy (lady/leman) doth And thou shalt know of mine." "My lady is unkinde, perdie, Alack why is she so?" One singer says his lady is constant; the other says women change like the wind
AUTHOR: Sir Thomas Wyatt?
EARLIEST DATE: 1765 (Percy) (quoted by Shakespeare in "Twelfth Night")
KEYWORDS: love nonballad betrayal
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 185-187, "A Robyn Jolly Robyn" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Noah Greenberg, ed., An Anthology of English Medieval and Renaissance Vocal Music, pp. 84-87 (1 text, 1 tune with harmonization)
DT, HEYROBIN*
ST Perc1185 (Full)
Notes: Often (though not universally) credited to Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503?-1542), and obviously well-known by the time Shakespeare wrote "Twelfth Night" (circa 1600); it is quoted by the Clown in IV.ii.71f. The music is credited to Williams Cornysh(e) (died c. 1523). The Cornysh(e) music first appears in British Library MS. Add. 31922.
It's not likely that this is a traditional song, but there are strong variations in the words (and Shakespeare's version does not look original); I include it because it was recorded on the "New Golden Ring," and people might think it traditional.
Wyatt had an incredibly complex career during the reign of Henry VIII (among other things, he was involved with Anne Boleyn before Henry noticed her), and is credited, among other things, with introducing the sonnet to England. - RBW
File: Perc1185

A Robyn Jolly Robyn

See A Robin, Jolly Robin (File: Perc1185)

A Saint-Malo, Beau Port de Mer (At Saint Malo Beside the Sea)

DESCRIPTION: French: Three ships are at anchor at St. Malo. Three women come to buy grain. They ask the merchant what his prices are. He asks for more than they can pay. They say so; he says he will give the grain away if he can't sell it that day. The women approve
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946
KEYWORDS: bargaining commerce foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 16-17, "A Saint-Malo, Beau Port de Mer (At Saint Malo Beside the Sea)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/Mills/Blume, pp. 14-15 "A St. Malo, beau port de mer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Notes: Fowke report that St. Malo was the home port of Jacques Cartier, the French explorer who in 1534 named the St. Lawrence river. For this reason, the very name of the port evokes Quebec's history and patriotism.
The town itself is in Brittany, on the coast not far from the border with Normandy, and was often used as a privateering base for raids on Britain and the like.
The correct title of the song is "À Saint-Malo, Beau Port de Mer." - RBW
File: FJ016

A St. Malo, beau port de mer

See A Saint-Malo, Beau Port de Mer (At Saint Malo Beside the Sea) (File: FJ016)

A Stor Mo Chroi (Treasure of My Heart)

DESCRIPTION: The singer to his/her love: You'll soon leave for a strange land "rich in its treasures"; "the lights of the city may blind you ... turn away from the throng and the bliss ... come back soon To the love that is always burning" and Erin's shore.
AUTHOR: Brian O'Higgins (Brian na Banban) (1882-1949) (source: notes to IRClare01)
EARLIEST DATE: 1973 (IRClare01)
KEYWORDS: love emigration parting Ireland nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #3076
RECORDINGS:
Ollie Conway, "A Stor Mo Chroi" (on IRClare01)
Notes: Brian O'Higgins is also sometimes credited with "Moses Ritoora-li-ay." Quite a stretch from here to there. - RBW
File: RcAStMC

A was an apple-pie

See A Is for Apple Pie (File: R874)

A-Begging I Will Go

DESCRIPTION: "Of all the trades in England, The begging is the best, For when the beggar's tired, he can lay him down and rest...." The beggar describes the various pleasures of his profession, and declares that he will continue begging
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1684
KEYWORDS: begging nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North,Lond),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Kennedy 217, "A-Begging I Will Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
Logan, pp. 164-166, "The Jovial Beggar, a-begging we will go" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 42-43, "A Begging We Will Go" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 267-270, "A-Begging We Will Go" (1 text, 1 tune, very long and conflate)
Ord, pp. 381-382, "To the Beggin' I Will Go" (1 text)
DT, ABEGGIN*
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 265, "The Happy Beggarman"
Roud #286
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "To the Begging I Will Go" (on ENMacCollSeeger02)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 28(287), "The Beggar," C. Croshaw (York), c.1817
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Let the Back and Sides Go Bare" (theme)
cf. "The Old Settoo" (theme and some lines)
SAME TUNE:
Age Renewed by Wedlock/Come All Ye Ancient Women (BBI ZN511)
The Merry Beggars of Lincolns-Inn-Fields/Three beggars met together (BBI ZN2603)
The Papist Prayers/There Is a Holy Father (BBI ZN2427)
The Rambling Roman Catholick/I am a Roman Catholick (BBI ZN1225)
Tradesman's Complaint, "Come hither, brother tradesmen, And hear the news I bring, 'Tis of a Tory minister" (song against the British policies leading to the American Revolution; see Stanley Weintraub, _Iron Tears: America's Battle for Freedom, Britain's Quagmire 1775-1783_, pp. 20-21)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
To the Begging I Will Go
Notes: Logan has this from a broadside "Be Valiant Still," with the tune listed as "The old carle to daunton me." Whatever that is; a tune "To Daunton Me" is #182 in the Scots Musical Museum.
The notion of begging songs predates even this quite ancient piece; in A Poetical Rhapsody, published 1602, we find "In Praise of a Beggar's Life" ("Bright shines the sun; play, beggars, play! Here's scraps enough to serve to-day"), credited to "A.W." - RBW
File: K217

A-Cruising We Will Go

DESCRIPTION: "Behold upon the swelling seas With streaming pennants gay, Our gallant ship invites the waves, While glory leads the way." "And a-cruising we will go." The singer asks the girls to be kind, recalls "Hardy's flag," and hopes for peace with America
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Shay)
KEYWORDS: navy ship nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 118-119, "A-Cruising We Will Go" (1 text)
Roud #8825
Notes: Shay gives no information about the origin of this piece, and no tune; I doubt it is traditional, or even a song. It looks to me like some broadside poet's praise of the British navy.
"Hardy" is presumably Thomas Masterson Hardy (1769-1839), Nelson's chief captain, who was made rear admiral in 1825, served as First Sea Lord 1830-1834, and finally reached the rank of vice admiral in 1837. - RBW
File: ShaSS118

A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing) [Laws O35]

DESCRIPTION: The girl rebukes her father for marrying her to a much younger boy. He tells her the lad is growing. She sends him to school in a shirt that shows he's married, for he is a handsome lad. She soon bears his son. He dies young; she sadly buries him
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1792 (as "Lady Mary Anne"), based on a text in the Herd manuscript (c. 1776)
KEYWORDS: marriage youth death mourning clothes
FOUND IN: US(Ap,NE) Canada(Mar,Newf) Britain(Scotland,England(All)) Ireland Australia
REFERENCES (23 citations):
Laws O35, "A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing)"
Flanders/Olney, pp. 196-197, "Young But Daily Growing" (1 text, 1 tune)
OBB 156, The Trees So High" (1 text)
Warner 60, "Young but Daily Growing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, p. 177, "My Bonny Love is Young" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peacock, pp. 677-678, "He's Young but He's Daily Growing" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Karpeles-Newfoundland 29, "Still Growing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Creighton/Senior, pp. 107-109, "He's Young but He's Daily A-Growing" (2 texts plus 1 fragment, 1 tune)
Creighton-Maritime, pp. 100-101, "He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
SharpAp 72, "Still Growing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-100E 25, "The Trees They Do Grow High" (1 text, 1 tune)
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, p. 99, "The Trees They Grow So High" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 16-18, "The Trees They Grow So High (The Bonny Boy)" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hodgart, p. 147, "Still Growing" (1 text)
Kennedy 216, "Young and Growing" (1 text, 1 tune)
Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 40, "The Trees They Do Be High" (1 text, 1 tune)
DBuchan 40, "The Young Laird of Craigstoun" (1 text)
Ord, p. 112, "My Bonnie Laddie's Lang, Lang o' Growing" (1 text)
MacSeegTrav 23, "Long A-Growing" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Darling-NAS, pp. 132-133, "The Trees They Grow So High" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 217, "Daily Growing" (1 text)
DT 307, DAILYGRO* LANGGRO*
ADDITIONAL: Maud Karpeles, _Folk Songs of Europe_, Oak, 1956, 1964, pp. 40-41, "The Trees They Do Grow High" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #31
RECORDINGS:
Sean 'Ac Donnca, "The Bonny Boy" (on TradIre01)
Liam Clancy, "Lang A-Growing" (on IRLClancy01)
Nathan Hatt, "He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing" (on MRHCreighton)
Mary Anne Haynes, "Long A-Growing" (on Voice06)
Lizzie Higgins, "Lady Mary Ann" (on Voice17)
Fred Jordan, "The Bonny Boy" (on Voice03)
Tom Lenihan, "The Trees They Do Be High" (on IRTLenihan01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 16(156d), "My Bonny Lad is Young, But He's Growing", H. Such (London), 1849-1862; also Firth c.21(19), Harding B 11(4066), "My Bonny Lad is Young, But He's Growing"; Harding B 11(2216), "My Bonny Lads Growing"; Harding B 11(1685), Harding B 15(210b), "My Bonny Lad is Young and Growing"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Days Are Awa That I Hae Seen" (lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Daily Growing
Lady Mary Ann (a rewrite by Robert Burns)
My Bonnie Laddie's Young (But He's Growing Yet)
Young Craigston
Notes: [A. L. Lloyd writes,] "It is sometimes said that the ballad is based on the actual marriage of the juvenile laird of Craigton to a girl several years his senior, the laird dying three years later in 1634. But in fact the ballad may be older; indeed, there is no clear evidence that it is of Scottish origin. Child marriages for the consolidation of family fortunes [or other political reasons - RBW] were not unusual in the Middle Ages and in some parts the custom persisted far into the seventeenth century. The presenting and wearing of coloured ribbons, once common in Britain, still plays a prominent part in betrothal and marriage in Central and Eastern Europe." - PJS
MacColl and Seeger report this song from 1670 in the Guthrie manuscript. We have been unable to verify this, and they are lumpers. - PJS, RBW
Lizzie Higgins's "Lady Mary Anne" on Voice17 is very close to the Robert Burns text (source: "Lady Mary Anne" on Burns Country site). Munnelly/Deasy-Lenihan 40 is [also] close to "Lady Mary Anne."
Also collected and sung by Ellen Mitchell, "Lady Mary Ann" (on Kevin and Ellen Mitchell, "Have a Drop Mair," Musical Tradition Records MTCD315-6 CD (2001)) - BS
File: LO35

A-Lumbering We Go

See Once More A-Lumbering Go AND Bung Yer Eye (File: Wa031)

A-Rolling Down the River (The Saucy Arabella)

DESCRIPTION: Shanty. "Arabella set her main top-s'l (x3) ... a rollin' down the river." Verses list a full-rigged ship's sails: "The Arabella set her main gans'l/main royal/main skys'l, etc." Second chorus: "Oh, a pumpkin pudden an' a bulgine pie, aboard the Arabella"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: sailor ship shanty
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hugill, pp. 178-179, "A-Rolling Down the River" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbrEd pp. 144-145]
Roud #8343
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "So Early in the Morning" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Arabella
Shenandoah
Dave Crockett
Notes: Hugill says the tune is similar to a minstrel song "So Early in the Morning." - SL
File: Hug178

A-Rovin'

DESCRIPTION: In this cautionary tale, a sailor meets an Amsterdam maid, fondles portions of her body progressively, has sex with her, and catches the pox. She leaves him after he has spent all his money.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917
KEYWORDS: bawdy disease sailor warning whore
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(MA,NE,So,SW) Australia
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Colcord, pp. 87-88, "A-Roving" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 49-52, "A-Roving" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Hugill, pp. 48-52, 101, "A-Roving" (6 texts plus 3 fragments, 4 tunes; the 5th text is "Go Rowing," a 1916 Norwegian adaptation by Henrik Wergelands taken from Brochmann's "Opsang Fra Seilskibstiden." p.101 is a version of "A Long Time Ago") [AbrEd pp. 46-48]
Sharp-EFC, XXV, pp. 28-29, "A-Roving" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cray, pp. 64-67, "A-Rovin'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 124-125, "The Maid of Amsterdam" (1 text, 1 tune)
Doerflinger, pp. 56-58, "A-Roving" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Bone, pp. 99-103, "Amsterdam" (1 censored text, 1 tune)
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 80-81, "Maid of Amsterdam (A-Roving)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott, pp. 125-130, "Amsterdam" [1 fragment, 1 tune, censored by the informant)
Meredith/Covell/Brown, p. 96, "A-roving" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHJohnson, p. 51, "The Amsterdam Maid" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 89, "A-Roving" (1 text)
DT, AROVIN1* AROVIN2*
ADDITIONAL: Captain John Robinson, "Songs of the Chantey Man," a series published July-August 1917 in the periodical _The Bellman_ (Minneapolis, MN, 1906-1919). "A'Rovin" is in Part 1, 7/14/1917.
Roud #649
RECORDINGS:
Richard Maitland, "A-Roving" (AFS, 1939; on LC26)
Stanley Slade & chorus: "A'Roving" (on Lomax41, LomaxCD1741)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fire Ship" (plot) and references there
cf. "All Under the New Mown Hay"
cf. "Yo Ho, Yo Ho" (theme, lyrics)
cf. "Tickle My Toe" (theme)
cf. "The Girl in Portland Street" (plot, theme)
cf. "Baltimore (Up She Goes)" (theme)
Notes: This is a partial formula song in that the sailor begins at the knee, moves up to the thigh, and then to the "snatch." See "Yo Ho, Yo Ho" ("I Put My Hand") for extended treatment of this formula. - EC
Some similar lines are found in Thomas Heywood's "The Rape of Lucrece" (c. 1607), and Shay traces this piece back to that time, but Doerflinger states that they are not the same song.
The version collected by Meredith from Wally Marshall has an unusual ending; when the singer places his hand upon the girl's breast, she breaks wind, seemingly causing him to abandon the venture. - RBW
File: EM064

A-Roving on a Winter's Night

See My Dearest Dear (File: SKE40)

A-Walking and A-Talking

See The Cuckoo (File: R049)

A, U, Hinny Bird

DESCRIPTION: "Its O, but aw ken well -- A, U, hinny burd, The bonny lass o' Benwell, A, U, A." "She's lang-legg's and mother-like... See, she's raking up the dyke." "The Quayside for sailors... The Castle Garth for tailors...." Additional places round out the song
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1900 (Stokoe/Reay)
KEYWORDS: nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Stokoe/Reay, pp. 160-161, "A, U, Hinny Burd" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST StoR160 (Partial)
Roud #235
File: StoR160

A. R. U.

DESCRIPTION: "Been on the hummer since ninety-four, Last job I had was on the Lake Shore, Lost my job in the A.R.U. And I won't get it back till nineteen-two And I'm still on the hog train flagging my meals Ridin' the brake beams close to the wheels."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: railroading hardtimes unemployment strike labor-movement
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
June 20, 1893 - Socialist Eugene Debs (1855-1926) organizes the A.R.U. (American Railway Union)
June 27, 1893 - A severe decline in the stock market leads to the Panic of 1893. The next year will see severe labor troubles as workers try to survive the economic contraction
May 11, 1894 - The Pullman Strike. The Pullman employees have been squeezed by the company to the point where they can no longer survive
June 26, 1894 - Eugene Debs calls the A.R.U. strike to support the Pullman workers. Roughly 60,000 workers go off the job.
July 2, 1894 - Attorney General Olney, who works with railroad interests, convinces President Cleveland to break the Pullman Strike. Cleveland orders Debs to call off the strike on the grounds that it interferes with the U.S. mail. (Pullman cars, however, do not carry mail.)
July 6, 1894 - Troops fire on the railroad strikers in Kensington, IL
July 10, 1894 - Debs is indicted for defying President Cleveland's injunction (on Dec. 14 he will be sentenced to six months in prison)
Aug 3, 1894 - The Pullman strikers give in
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 190-191, "A. R. U." (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 57, "A.R.U." (1 text)
Notes: After the A.R.U. strike of 1894, most of the strikers were blacklisted by the railroad companies. With little else to do, they rode the rods or tried to get jobs under false names -- only to be fired if they were discovered. - RBW
File: San190

A'body's Like to be Married but Me

DESCRIPTION: "As Jenny sat down wi' her wheel b the fire... She said to herself... "Oh! a'body's like to be married but me." She recalls the companions of her youth, perhaps interested then but no longer. She concludes they are worthless -- but still feels unhappy
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford); said to have been printed in the 1802 _Scots Magazine_
KEYWORDS: oldmaid rejection loneliness
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 299-300, "A'body's Like to be Married but Me" (1 text)
Roud #7160
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Maid's Song (I)" and references there
File: FVS299

Aaron Burr

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Aaron Burr, what have you done? You've shot great General Hamilton! You hid behind a Canada thistle And shot him with your old hoss-pistol!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Burt)
KEYWORDS: murder political
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 11, 1804 - Duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, resulting in the wounding of the latter; he died the next day
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burt, p. 257, (no title) (1 short text)
Notes: The duel between Vice President Aaron Burr (1756-1836) and former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton (c. 1756-1804) is the subject of so much folklore that I am not even going to try to cover it. The duel itself arose out of Burr's resentment at Hamilton's (successful) efforts to prevent his election as governor of New York.
Burt claims that this is a "quatrain which was popular for more than half a century," though I can't recall seeing it elsewhere. - RBW
File: Burt257

Abalone

DESCRIPTION: "In Carmel Bay the people say we feed the lazzaroni On caramels and cockle-shells and hunks of Abalone." The virtues of this mollusk are extolled: It cures pain, tastes better than the finest foods, and can be transmitted faster than electricity (?!)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: nonsense nonballad animal
FOUND IN: US(SW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sandburg, p. 333, "Abalone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10113
Notes: The anonymous Book of Vulgar Verse credits a version of this to George Sterling. But the book is apparently some five decades newer than Sandburg, and does not list a more detailed source. In support of this claim, K. LaRoe writes, "I had recently read a reference to The Abalone Song, written by the poet George Sterling in the early 1900s while staying in an artist's colony in Carmel California." - RBW
File: San333

Abandonado, El

DESCRIPTION: Spanish: "The Abandoned." First line: "Me abanonastes, jujer, porque soy muy pobre." The singer's girl is leaving him because he is poor. He admits to character faults. He asks "What am I to do if I am the abandoned one?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: love courting poverty drink gambling abandonment Mexico foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: US(So) Mexico
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 295-297, "El Abandonado" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 364-366, "El Abandonado (The Abandoned One") (1 text plus prose translation, 1 tune)
File: San295

Abdul Abulbul Amir

See Abdul the Bulbul Emir (I) (File: LxA341)

Abdul the Bulbul Emir (I)

DESCRIPTION: The heroic Moslem Abdul and the gallant Russian Ivan Skavinsky Skevar chance to meet. It doesn't take them long to begin duelling, which inevitably results in the deaths of both. Their burials and the mourning for them are described
AUTHOR: credited to Percy French
EARLIEST DATE: 1877 (copyright under the title "Abdulla Bulbul Ameer")
KEYWORDS: humorous death foreigner
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1853-1854 - Crimean War
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 344-346, "Abdul, the Bulbul Ameer" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 341-343, "Ye Ballade of Ivan Petrofsky Skevar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 128-131, "Abdul Abulbul Amir" (1 text, 2 tunes)
Silber-FSWB, p. 21, "Abdul, The Bulbul Amir" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 84, "Abdulla Bulbul Ameer"
DT, ABDULBUL*
Roud #4321
RECORDINGS:
Ernest Hare, "Abdul Abulbul Amir" (Edison 52284, 1928)
Frank Crumit, "Abdul Abulbul Amir" (Victor 20715, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Abdul the Bulbul Emir (II)" (tune & meter)
SAME TUNE:
Frank Crumit, "The Return of Abdul Abulbul Amir" (Victor 22482, 1930)
Frank Crumit, "The Grandson of Abdul Abulbul Amir" (HMV [UK] B-4331, 1933)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Abdul, The Bulbul Ameer
Ivan Skavinsky Skevar
Notes: Often listed as being of unknown authorship -- probably because French's original composition (set in the Crimean War) was stolen and printed without his name.
Conflict between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was almost constant in the nineteenth century, as the Tsar sought to expand his realm and the feeble Turks tried to hold onto their European possessions. Full-fledged wars were few, however, making it clear that this song refers to the Crimean War (which pitted England, France, and the Ottomans against the Russians).
Abdul's cry, "Allah Akbar," means "God is great," and is a common Islamic slogan. "Bülbül Amîr" means "nightingale chieftain" in Turkish -- but it is far from certain that French knew this. - RBW
File: LxA341

Abdul the Bulbul Emir (II)

DESCRIPTION: Abdul the Bulbul Emir and Ivan Stavinsky Stavar engage in a duel to see who can have intercourse with the greatest number of women. At the moment of triumph, Ivan bends over, with dreadful results.
AUTHOR: original version credited to Percy French, 1877
EARLIEST DATE: original version copyright 1877 as "Abdulla Bulbul Ameer"
KEYWORDS: bawdy parody humorous sex contest homosexuality
FOUND IN: Australia Canada England New Zealand US(NE,SW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cray, pp. 210-212, "Abdul the Bulbul" (2 texts, 1 tune)
DT, ABDULBL2*
Roud #4321
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Abdul the Bulbul Emir (I)" (tune & meter)
Notes: The ballad here is a bawdy parody of the original, reportedly written by French at Trinity College, Dublin. - EC
For a discussion of the Crimean War setting of the original "Abdul," see that song - RBW
File: EM210

Abe Lincoln Stood at the White House Gate

DESCRIPTION: "Abe Lincoln stood at the White House Gate... When along came Lady Lizzie Tod, Wishing her lover good speed." Lincoln tries several times to take Richmond, and is foiled each time
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Davis)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar parody humorous horse
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Davis-Ballads 20, (No title, but filed as an appendix to "Lord Lovel") (1 text)
Friedman, p. 97, "Lord Lovel" (2 texts, but the "B" text is this)
Darling-NAS, pp. 46-47, "Abe Lincoln Stood at the White House Gate" (1 text, filed under "Lord Lovel")
Roud #6867; also 48
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Lord Lovel [Child 75]" and references there
Notes: Abraham Lincoln's wife was Mary Todd; this apparently become "Lizzie Tod[d]" in the ballad.
The song as collected by Davis appears to be a fragmentary account of the various Federal attempts to take Richmond in 1861-1862. The first attempt lasted only "one or two days," seemingly referring to McDowell's Bull Run campaign of 1861. This was followed by McClellan's Peninsular campaign of spring and summer 1862, seemingly not mentioned in the song.
The final stanza refers to Lincoln's "Burnside horse," which "stuck tight in the mire." Ambrose Burnside was in charge at the Battle of Fredericksburg, which may or may not be alluded to, and also commanded the "mud march," clearly the subject of the last line. - RBW
File: DarNS046

Abel Brown the Sailor

See Bollochy Bill the Sailor (File: EM081)

Abie's White Mule

DESCRIPTION: About a moonshiner and how he outwits a marshal. After the revenuer finds the still and starts to take it home, but Abe and "Hanner" (Hannah?) rescue it. Chorus: "Corn liquor [or other drink, e.g. peach brandy] can (get/pull/blow) (a man/you) down."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: drink police rescue
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', pp. 117-118, "Abie's White Mule" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bad Ale Can Blow a Man Down" (lyrics)
File: thBa117

Abilene

DESCRIPTION: "Abilene, Abilene, prettiest town (you) ever seen, (folks) there don't treat you mean In Abilene, my Abilene." The singer complains about life in the big city, hears the trains, and wishes they were carrying (him) back to Abilene
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1973
KEYWORDS: home train nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 48, "Abilene" (1 text)
DT, ABILNE*
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ohio River, She's So Deep and Wide" (floating lyrics)
Notes: Some sources credit this to John D. Loudermilk; others call it traditional. I'm not really sure what to think. There are verses which I think must be composed, and I have yet to see a truly traditional version. But Loudermilk could have touched up a traditional song. - RBW
The song has also been credited to the folk-revival performer Bob Gibson. - PJS
File: FSWB048

Aboard of the Kangaroo

See The Good Ship Kangaroo (File: MA060)

Aboard the Henry Clay

DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. Verses tell of a "lime-juice jay" that got drunk and went into a fit. The mate kicks him off the boat and he drowns. Later the mate is found with a knife in his back. Refrains repeat last lines of verses.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: shanty sailor murder drink
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Harlow, pp. 207-208, "Aboard the Henry Clay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #9160
File: Harl207

Aboard the Kangaroo

See The Good Ship Kangaroo (File: MA060)

Aboot the Bush Willy

See About the Bush Willy (File: StoR097)

About the Bush, Willy

DESCRIPTION: "Aboot the bush, Willy, aboot the bee-hive, Aboot the bush, Willy, I'll meet thee belyve." "Then to my ten shillings Add you but a groat; I'll go to Newcastle And buy a new coat." The singer describes the prices of clothing
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1882 (Bruce/Stokoe)
KEYWORDS: clothes nonballad
FOUND IN: Britain(England(North))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Stokoe/Reay, p. 97, "Aboot the Bush, Willy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #240, pp. 153-154, "(About the bush, Willy)"
DT, BUSHWILI
Roud #3149
File: StoR097

Abraham Lincoln Is My Name

DESCRIPTION: "Abraham Lincoln is my name, From Illinois I did came, I entered the city in the night, And took my seat by candlelight."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939 (Thomas)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar playparty
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1861 - Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Thomas-Makin', p. 65-66, (no title) (1 fragment)
Notes: This is probably a fragment of a song about Abraham Lincoln's sneaking into Washington for his inauguration (there were threats of violence, so he arrived in secret and disguise). But all that is left in Thomas is a fragment seemingly used as a singing game.
The likelihood is high that it is based on a traditional item of some sort:
(Name) is my name
(Country) is my nation
(Somewere) is my dwelling (place)
And Christi is my salvation OR And Death's my destination.
Walter de la Mare, Come Hither, revised edition, 1928; prints a version of this as (32) in the notes on poem #470 (with Elizabeth Waters of Wales being the protagonist), and Alfred Bester's acclaimed science fiction novel The Stars My Destination also uses this framework as the career summary of the main character Gully Foyle. - RBW
File: ThBa065

Abram Brown the Sailor

See Bollochy Bill the Sailor (File: EM081)

Abroad As I Was Walking

See Down By Blackwaterside (File: K151)

Absalom, My Son

See David's Lamentation (File: FSWB412B)

Accident down at Wann, The

DESCRIPTION: A train hits a buggy sitting on the tracks. The buggy's inhabitants are killed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1981 (Cohen); apparently first printed 1909
KEYWORDS: train wreck death
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-LSRail, p. 272, "The Accident down at Wann" (notes only)
File: LSRa272F

According to the Act

DESCRIPTION: The song details shipboard life, and how conditions are kept tolerable, for "There's nothing done on a limejuice ship contrary to the Act." The most obvious example is the ration of limejuice, but other rules are also cited
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Hugill)
KEYWORDS: work law sailor ship
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Fahey-Eureka, pp. 42-43, "According to the Act" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 58-59, "The Limejuice Ship" (1 text, 1 tune) [AbrEd pp. 54-55]
Roud #8341
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Son of a Gambolier" (tune & meter) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Limejuice and Vinegar
The Limejuice Ship
Notes: The British Merchant Shipping Acts regulated most parts of a sailor's life, including the regular rations of lime juice (to prevent scurvy). Hence the title "limey" for British sailors, the word "limejuice tubs" for British ships -- and hence also this song.
Ironically, for the most part it was not lime but lemon juice that was given to sailors. They called it limejuice anyway, probably to make it sound more palatable. - RBW
File: FaE042

Account of a Little Girl Who Was Burnt for Her Religion, An

See The Romish Lady [Laws Q32] (File: LQ32)

Acres of Clams (The Old Settler's Song)

DESCRIPTION: The prospector reports on the sad fate of the gold rush men: "For each man who got rich by mining... hundreds grew poor." He decides to abandon digging and head out to be a farmer near Puget Sound. This, too, proves hard, but he is too poor to move again
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1940
KEYWORDS: gold farming poverty settler derivative
FOUND IN: US(NW)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Lomax-FSUSA 55, "The Old Settler's Song" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, pp. 283-284, "Acres of Clams" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 48, "Acres of Clams" (1 text)
DT, OLDSETLR*
Roud #10032
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "The Old Settler's Song" (on PeteSeeger47); "Acres of Clams, " [parody] (on PeteSeeger47)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rosin the Beau" (tune) and references there
cf. "A Hayseed Like Me" (tune, lyrics)
File: LxU055

Across the Blue Mountain

DESCRIPTION: A married man asks (Katie) to marry him and go "across the Blue Mountain to the Allegheny." Katie's mother tells her to let him stay with his own wife. Katie answers, "He's the man of my heart." (The confused ending may tell of her poverty or abandoment)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: love courting travel abandonment infidelity mother children
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Abrahams/Foss, pp. 14-16, "Across the Blue Mountain" (4 texts, 1 tune)
DT, BLUEMNTN
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "High Germany" (floating lyrics)
Notes: Abrahams and Foss note that the several versions of this song (they print four, all of which reportedly use the same tune) are from the same area -- central Virginia, on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge. (The Alleghenies can indeed be seen from the crest of the Blue Ridge.)
Their four versions were all collected in 1962, from an interesting list of sources: Florence Shiflett of Wyatt's Mountain; David Morris, also of Wyatt's Mountain; Effie Morris, of Shiflett Hollow; and Marybird McAllister, of Brown's Cove.
The four versions fall into two types. The two from Wyatt's Cove end with a moralising conclusion (the girl ends up "lame" and perhaps abandoned, and regrets her ending). These stanzas have a slightly different feel from the rest of the song, and are much poorer poetry; one suspects a later addition.
On the other hand, the other two versions do not have a proper resolution; the girl simply wishes she could be with the fellow and "valleys" (envys?) the woman who will be with him.
Portions of the song seem older (e.g. all four versions have as their second verse the stanza "I'll buy you a horse, love, and a saddle to ride," which comes from "High Germany" or something similar). One suspects that a local Blue Ridge balladeer reshaped an older song to describe a now-forgotten local event.
At least, it's probably forgotten. There is a story in Walter R. Borneman's 1812: The War That Forged a Nation, p. 15, about Harmon Blennerhasset (1765-1831). Born in Ireland, he eloped in 1796 with an 18-year-old girl. Meeting disapproval at home, he sold his estates, moved to the Americas, and after a brief residence in the east, crossed the Alleghenies with the girl. Reading the story, I was instantly and strongly remined of this song.
Of course, the details differ. One difference is substantial: The reason Blennerhasset was shunned was because the girl he eloped with was his niece. And he ended up returning home to England; he was caught up in Aaron Burr's Louisiana conspiracy. I don't really think Blennerhasset inspired this song, but it was interesting enough to form the basis for an idle footnote. - RBW
File: AF014

Across the Hall

DESCRIPTION: "Go straight across the hall To the opposite lady, Swing her by the right hand, Right hand round and back to the left, And balance to your partner."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 536, "Across the Hall" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #7646
File: R536

Across the Rocky Mountain

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

Across the Western Ocean

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the times are hard and the wages low, Amelia, where you bound to? The Rocky Mountains is my home Across the western ocean." The emigrants leave poverty behind to set out for better conditions in America. Unusual passengers may be described
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: emigration poverty hardtimes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (9 citations):
Colcord, p. 118, "Across the Western Ocean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow, pp. 58-59, "Across the Western Ocean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill, pp. 292-293, "Across the Rockies," "Across the Western Ocean" (2 texts, 1 tune) [AbrEd pp. 215-216]
Sandburg, p. 412, "Leave Her, Bullies, Leave Her" (2 text, 1 tune, but the "A" text is "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her")
Shay-SeaSongs, pp. 71-72, "Across the Western Ocean" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 150-151, "Across the Western Ocean" (1 text, tune referenced)
SHenry H96, p. 96, "It's Time for Us to Leave Her" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment, short enough that it could be this or "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her")
Silber-FSWB, p. 88, "Across the Western Ocean" (1 text)
DT, WSTOCEAN*
Roud #8234
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her" (floating lyrics; tune)
cf. "Uncle Bill Teller" (form, lyrics)
Notes: Shay attempted to find a ship Amelia that might have been the inspiration for the chorus. He found none that fit, and suggested "O'Malley" as a possible emendation. Of course, the other possibility (as he himself admits) is that Amelia is just a girl.
Shay also has an unusual verse, in which the sailor heads across the ocean "To join the Irish army." Shay does not connect this with any sort of militarism; he thinks it applies simply to the mass emigration of the Irish to America. - RBW
File: San412

Across the Western Ocean (II)

See Yellow Meal (Heave Away; Yellow Gals; Tapscott; Bound to Go) (File: Doe062)

Across the Western Ocean I Must Wander

See Here's to the Grog (All Gone for Grog) (File: K274)

Across the Wide Missouri

See Shenandoah (File: Doe077)

Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly [Child 116]

DESCRIPTION: Three outlaws live in the forest. William visits his wife, is arrested, is rescued by the others. They seek pardon from the king, succeed by the queen's intervention, then show their archery prowess, including cleaving an apple on a child's head.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1536
KEYWORDS: outlaw pardon royalty
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Child 116, "Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly" (2 texts)
Bronson 116, "Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly" (1 version, though Bronson questions its connetion with this song)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 153-179, "Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudesley" (1 text)
OBB 114, "Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly" (1 text)
Roud #3297
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Auld Matrons" [Child 249] (theme)
Notes: For the connection of this song with the Robin Hood legend, see the notes on "A Gest of Robyn Hode" [Child 117]. - RBW
File: C116

Adam Gorman

See Captain Car, or, Edom o Gordon [Child 178] (File: C178)

Adam in the Garden Pinning Leaves

DESCRIPTION: Chorus "Oh Eve, where's Adam? (x3) Adam in the garden pinning leaves." "I know my God is a God of war/He fought the battle at the Jericho wall"; "The first time God called/Adam refused to answer/And the next time God called/God hollered louder."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (field recording, Alberta Bradford & Becky Elsey)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious gods
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 126-127, "Adam in the Garden Pinnin' Leaves" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 43-44, (no name) (partial text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 24, "Adam In The Garden Pinning Leaves" (1 text)
DT, ADAMGRDN
Roud #15647
RECORDINGS:
Alberta Bradford & Becky Elsey, "Adam in the Garden Pinnin' Leaves" (AFS 105 B1, 1934)
McIntosh County Shouters, "Eve and Adam" (on McIntosh1)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Adam in the Garden" (on NLCR10)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "John the Revelator" (theme)
Notes: The mention of Adam making clothing of fig leaves occurs in the Bible in Gen. 3:7; God comes after Adam in 3:8-9. The siege of Jericho is described in Joshua 6, with a foreshadowing in Joshua 2. - RBW
File: CSW126

Adams and Liberty

DESCRIPTION: Written for the John Adams campaign, but in praise of American freedom (it never mentions Adams): "Ye sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought For those rights which unstained from your sires have descended" (and so on, for nine weary stanzas)
AUTHOR: Words: Robert Treate Paine, Jr.
EARLIEST DATE: 1798 (composed)
KEYWORDS: patriotic political nonballad America
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1796 - John Adams's first (successful) Presidential campaign
1797-1801 - Adams's Presidency
1800 - Adams is defeated for re-election by Thomas Jefferson
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 11-14, "Adams and Liberty" (1 text, tune referenced)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Star-Spangled Banner" (tune) and references there
cf. "Jefferson and Liberty" (concept)
cf. "Lincoln and Liberty" (concept)
Notes: It may reasonably be questioned if anyone actually survived reading (let alone singing) this piece. Paine (whom Spaeth says was regarded as "vain, lazy, and vicious," and a "literary hack") was nonetheless paid $750 for his efforts. (And you thought the Defense Department overpaid for the goods it received.)
If this song has any distinction at all, it is that it is probably the version of the "Anacreon" tune known to Ferdinand Durang, who later fitted the tune to "The Star Spangled Banner." - RBW
File: SRW011

Adams's Crew

DESCRIPTION: A few of the characters on Adams's crew of lumberjacks are described.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1886
KEYWORDS: lumbering work logger cook humorous nonballad moniker
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Beck 67, "Adams's Crew" (1 text)
Roud #8843
Notes: The "moniker song" consists mostly of listing the names of one's compatriots, and perhaps telling humorous vignettes about each; it's common among lumberjacks, hoboes, and probably other groups. This song was collected from two of the characters chronicled in it. - PJS
File: Be067

Adelita

DESCRIPTION: First line: "Adeilta se llama la ingrata Le qu' era duena de todo mi placer." The soldier says that Adelita is the source of "all my pleasures" who "drives all men to distraction." Now he must go to war; if she deserts him, he will pursue her anywhere
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Sandburg)
KEYWORDS: Mexico love separation soldier foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Mexico US(MW,SW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Sandburg, pp. 300-301, "Adelita" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 335, "Adelita" (1 text)
File: San300

Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)

DESCRIPTION: Latin: "Adeste fideles, laeti triumphantes, venite, venite in Bethlehem." English: "O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem."
AUTHOR: probably John Francis Wade
EARLIEST DATE: 1760 (Anglican church office manual); probably written c. 1740
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (6 citations):
RJackson-19CPop, p. 1, "Adeste Fideles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 380, "O, Come, All Ye Faithful" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 86, "Adeste Fideles"
DT, ADESTFID*
ADDITIONAL: Charles Johnson, One Hundred and One Famous Hymns (Hallberg, 1982), p. 45, "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (1 text, 1 tune)
Ian Bradley, _The Penguin Book of Carols_ (1999), #5, "Adeste, Fideles" (1 text); #53, "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Criterion Quartet, "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful" (Victor 16197-B, 1908)
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1871 08939, "Adeste Fideles," Wm. J Bonner & Co (Philadelphia), 1871(tune)
Notes: The first American printing of this piece (A Latin version of c. 1803) subtitles it "The favorite PORTUGUESE HYMN On the NATIVITY," but there is no particular reason to consider it Portuguese; according to Scholes in The Oxford Companion to Music, this title derives in fact from the Portugese Chapel in London.
The piece is believed to have been composed in the early 1740s by John Francis Wade, who also wrote the Latin words. Scholes reports an Irish manuscript of the tune dated 1746, and a variation on the theme was listed as an "Air Anglais" in the French Vaudeville "Acajou" in 1744. The rather loose English translation by Frederick Oakley appeared in 1852, based on Oakley's earlier 1841 translation.
Fuld gives details on other possible sources for both text and tune; all are possible, but not particularly likely. Substantiating details are lacking.
Recent scholarship has brought an interesting twist on this history. According to the Penguin Book of Carols, there are six manuscripts of this in the handwriting of John Francis Wade. The one of these thought to be oldest contains a reference to "regem nostrum Jacobum" -- "our King James," i.e. the Jacobite Old Pretender. And, of course, "regem angelorum" is quite close to "regem Angliorem," "King of England." There are also hints of Catholic practice in this manuscript. Whether all this really amounts to anything is, of course, an open question. - RBW
File: RJ19001

Adieu de la Mariee a Ses Parents (The Married Girl's Farewell to her Parents)

DESCRIPTION: French. To make a household you must work to get money to feed a wife and children. Father, you married me to a pig of a drunkard. Cherish and caress him, daughter, and in a short time he will change and you will have your household.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Peacock)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage marriage drink father
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Peacock, p. 492, "Adieu de la Mariee a Ses Parents" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: Pea492

Adieu Lovely Nancy

See Farewell, Charming Nancy [Laws K14] (File: LK14)

Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy

DESCRIPTION: "Adieu sweet lovely Nancy, ten thousand times adieu." The sailor must go over the sea "to seek for something new." He promises (to write, and tells) Nancy that, "Let my body go where it will, my heart will love you still." He hopes for a safe return
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1939
KEYWORDS: sailor separation
FOUND IN: Britain(England) US(MW) Australia Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Eddy 153, (fourth of several "Fragments of Irish Songs")
Peacock, p. 877, "Good-bye My Lovely Annie" (1 text, 1 tune)
Meredith/Anderson, pp. 178-179, "Lovely Nancy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Huntington-Whalemen, p. 260, "(Mary's Cot)" (1 text, mostly from this song though the first verse is "The Rose of Allandale")
DT, SWTNANCY
Roud #165
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Whale-Catchers" (lyrics)
cf. "Old Kitarden" (lyrics)
cf. "The Bold Privateer" [Laws O32] (lyrics)
cf. "I Love My Sailor Boy" (lyrics)
File: E153D

Adieu to Bogie Side

DESCRIPTION: The singer calls on the muses to help him "sing sweet Huntly's praise. I leave a girl behind me Whose joy is all my pride, And bid farewell to Huntly And adieu to Bogie side." He bids farewell to friends and lands and hopes the girl will be safe
AUTHOR: possibly John Riddell
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Ford); said to have been printed in _The People's Journal_ in 1878
KEYWORDS: love separation rambling farewell
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ford-Vagabond, pp. 265-266, "Adieu to Bogie Side" (1 text)
Ord, pp. 363-364, "Adieu to Bogie Side" (1 text)
Roud #4593
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Bogie's Bonnie Belle" (lyrics)
Notes: For the complicated relationship between this song and "Bogie's Bonnie Bell," see the notes to that song. - RBW
File: FCS265

Adieu to Bon County

DESCRIPTION: "It's a great separation my friends they have caused me." The singer says his friends will regret driving him away. He bids farewell to friends and love. He says he will ramble and seek pleasure. When money is short, he will "chop wood and get more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Lomax)
KEYWORDS: separation drink party rambling
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 178-179, "Adieu to Bon County" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ADIEUBON
Roud #15553
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Farewell, Charming Nancy" [Laws K14] (floating lyrics)
cf. "Farewell to Old Bedford" (floating lyrics)
Notes: The only version of this song I have seen so far is that in the Bayard collection, and it appears incomplete. Why is the singer leaving home? (Parents' opposition?) Why is there so little mention of his lost love?
I have to suspect that this is a worn-down, possibly reworked, version of something else (e.g. "Farewell, Charming Nancy") -- but I can't identify with any real probability what the original song was. It may well go back to the same ancestor as "Farewell to Old Bedford," but there has been a lot of drift in between. - RBW
File: LxA178

Adieu to Cold Weather

See Farewell He (File: FSC41)

Adieu to Dark Weather

See Farewell He (File: FSC41)

Adieu to Erin (The Emigrant)

DESCRIPTION: "Oh when I breathed a last adieu To Erin's vales and mountains blue...." The singer loves Mary, but Mary "deplores" him; he responds by leaving the country. "Can I forget the fateful day... When nought was left me but to say Farewell my love farewell"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (Journal of William Histed of the Cortes)
KEYWORDS: love separation emigration rejection
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 255-256, "Adieu to Erin" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST SWMS255 (Full)
Roud #2068
File: SWMS255

Adieu to Lovely Garrison

DESCRIPTION: The singer is far away from home. He bids adieu to the places he spent his youth, describing their beauty. He would return to see them all.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1977 (IRHardySons)
KEYWORDS: farewell Ireland nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
Roud #17892
RECORDINGS:
Packie McKeaney, "Adieu to Lovely Garrison" (on IRHardySons)
Notes: Notes to IRHardySons: "Garrison is in the north of Fermanagh, on the shores of Lough Melvin, just on the border with Co Leitrim."
The places named that I can find are all in Northern Ireland or northern Eire: in Co Fermanagh (Aghamuldowney, Farrancassidy, Lough Erne, Lough Melvin), Co Donegal (Belleek, Camlin Groves, Bundoran, Ballyshannon), Co Leitrim (Kiltyclogher), Co Down (Kilcoo) and Co Louth (Carranmore). The remaining names are Brolagh Bog, Sheehan Mountain and Knockareven. - BS
File: RcAtLoGa

Adieu to Maimuna

DESCRIPTION: Capstan shanty. "The boatmen shout, 'tis time to part, no longer can we stay� Twas then Maimuna taught my heart how much a glance can say." Four verses describing a tearful farewell, the last two lines of each repeated are as a chorus.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: shanty parting farewell
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Harlow, pp. 169-170, "Adieu to Maimuna" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #8226
File: Harl169

Adieu to Prince Edward's Isle

See Peter Amberley [Laws C27] (File: LC27)

Adieu to the Banks of the Roe

DESCRIPTION: The singer, admitting his "happiest moments are flown," prepares to depart Ireland and his home. He bids farewell to everything he can think of -- the countryside, relatives, pastor. He will dig gold in Australia, and hopes he can return home
AUTHOR: James Maxwell ?
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Sam Henry collection)
KEYWORDS: emigration farewell gold
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
SHenry H245, pp. 197-198, "Adieu to the Banks of the Roe" (1 text, 1 tune)
File: HHH245

Adieu, Sweet Lovely Jane

See Sweet Jane [Laws B22] (File: LB22)

Admiral Benbow

DESCRIPTION: Despite being badly outnumbered, Benbow prepares for battle (against the French), but captains Kirkby and Wade flee the contest. In the fight that follows, Benbow loses his legs, but orders his face to be turned toward the fight even as he dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1841
KEYWORDS: battle sea death abandonment
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1702 - Death of Admiral John Benbow in battle in the West Indies
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (5 citations):
PBB 76, "The Death of Admiral Benbow" (1 text)
Sharp-100E 87, "Admiral Benbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
Chappell/Wooldridge II, pp. 92-93, "Admiral Benbow" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, ADBENBOW* ADBENBW2
ADDITIONAL: C. H. Firth, _Publications of the Navy Records Society_ , 1907 (available on Google Books), p. 149, "The Death of Admiral Benbow" (1 text)
Roud #227
Notes: The story outlined here is true in its general details. John Benbow (1653-1702), commanding the British in the West Indies, and was mortally wounded in battle with the French after two of his captains deserted him (the two were later tried and hanged for cowardice). The battle took place off Cartagena (the one in Columbia, not the one in Spain; see Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, p. 207). Benbow became a naval hero, and several later battleships were named for him.
One version of the story is briefly told in Arthur Herman, To Rule the Waves, pp. 245-246. Herman argues that Benbow was wrong and his captains right: The British squadron of six ships was not strong enough to fight the French. But Benbow (who lost only his right leg, not both) lived long enough to order the court martial of the rebellious officers. The leader, Richard Kirkby of the Defiant, was executed, as was one of the other captains. This firmly established the principle of obedience to orders no matter how stupid.
Not everyone agrees with Herman's interpretation. Richard Woodman, A Brief History of Mutiny, Carroll & Graf, 2005, devotes pp. 48-58 to Benbow and his subordinates, and draws a very different picture.
Benbow was a very unusual admiral, in that he was a "tarpaulin" officer -- that is, one drawn from the ranks of the sailors, rather than a noble who went straight into the officer class (Woodman, p. 48). He spent time as a merchant sailor and a privateer as well as in the navy, and seems to have developed a very high opinion of his own judgment as a result (Woodman, p. 49). Woodman, p. 49, says that the French fleet under Ducasse had a fleet with a total of 258; Benbow's force he lists as having 456 guns.
Anthony Bruce and William Cogar, An Encyclopedia of Naval History, 1998 (I use the 1999 Checkmark edition) on p. 40 sum up Benbow's career as follows: "Although Benbow came to be regarded as a hero in popular legend, there remains a doubt about his place in British naval history and whether his high reputation was well deserved."
G. N. Clark, The Later Stuarts 1660-1714, corrected edition, Oxford, 1944, p. 317, summarizes the whole incident as follows: "Vice-Admiral John Benbow, with seven English ships, had a good opportunity of attacking a weaker French squadron which remained to operate against English and Dutch commerce. Unfortunately four of his captain failed to join the fight, and it was a failure. Benbow was mortally wounded. Two of the captains were court martialed and shot. There is a still popuar folk-song about this dramatic but unimportant event."
Most texts of this fit the tune of "Captain Kidd" (and the only one I've seen which doesn't appears to have been fiddled with), though the tune in Chappell isn't quite the standard "Captain Kidd." It is also said to be used for "A Virgin Most Pure." We might note that Kidd went to the scaffold at the time Benbow was fighting his fight with the French.
This is not the only song about Benbow; Firth (who calls this one "The Death of Admiral Benbow") prints another, "Admital Benbow," on p. 148. This is said to date from at least 1784, though it appears less popular than this (which seems to have first been printed in Halliwell's Early Naval Ballads). - RBW
File: PBB076

Advice to Girls

See On Top of Old Smokey (File: BSoF740)

Advice to Paddy

DESCRIPTION: "Paddy ... join with your protestant brother." "Your foes have long prided to see you divided." If together, your foes won't oppose you. "Then your rights will be granted"; "keep asunder ... you shall live and die slaves"
AUTHOR: Edward Lysaght (source: Moylan)
EARLIEST DATE: 1887 (Madden's _Literary Remains of the United Irishmen of 1798_, according to Moylan)
KEYWORDS: Ireland nonballad political
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Moylan 40, "Advice to Paddy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Notes: This is one of those sadly ironic songs: Most of the early Irish agitation for independence was led by Protestants (e.g. Wolfe Tone was Protestant). Their attempts at rebellion failed in no small part because the Catholic peasantry was indifferent. (Understandably, since their problems were with landlords; the English government had no direct impact on their hardscrabble lives).
If Moylan's dating is right, though, by the time this was written, the situation had changed. By the late nineteenth century, Britain would have been willing to grant Home Rule in some form -- but the idea always died due to the opposition of Irish Protestants, especially in Ulster. Those people, once at the heart of the rebellion, had by then started to cling to Britain as protection for their rights. - RBW
File: Moyl040

Advice to Sinners

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Sinner, you'd better take heed to the Savior's word today. You will follow the Christian round and still you will not pray." "Your body has to lie in the ground." "When Gabriel sounds his trumpet, you'll be lost." You get the idea
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious death sin
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 64, "Advice to Sinners" (1 text)
Roud #7847
Notes: Evidently the author, like so many other "hymn" writers, had read every verse in the Bible except those dealing with judgment ("Judge not, that you be not judged," Matt. 7:1, etc.), forgiveness ("For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive... neither will your Father forgive," Matt. 6:14-15, etc.), and punishment ("Let the one without sin cast the first stone", John 8:7).
It never ceases to amaze me how many Bibles there are in the world with those verses left out. - RBW
File: Br3064

Advice to the Boys

See The Bald-Headed End of the Broom (File: FaE190)

Ae May Morning

See Tripping Over the Lea [Laws P19] (File: LP19)

Aeroplane Song, The

See The Heavenly Aeroplane (File: R660)

Afore Daylight

DESCRIPTION: The wife complains her husband urinates on the floor rather than in the chamber pot. He replies that his first wife allowed him to defecate in the bed.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: scatological husband wife
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph-Legman II, pp. 590-591, "Afore Daylight" (1 text)
File: RL590

African Counting Song

DESCRIPTION: "Ninni nonni simungi, Ninni nonni simungi, Ninni nonno sidubi sabadute simungi. Ninni nonni simungi, Ninni nonni simungi, Ninni nonno sidubi sabadute simungi."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 19, "African Counting Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Notes: Scarborough's informant claimed that this was a counting song from Africa, but if he gave either a translation or a reference to the *part* of Africa, Scarborough failed to record it.
I do note that there are five words. Given what it known about some African counting systems, this raises the possibility that they stand for "one," "two," "three," "four," and "many." But I frankly doubt the whole business. - RBW
File: ScaNF019

After Aughrim's Great Disaster

DESCRIPTION: ""After Aughrim's great disaster, When our foe in sooth was master," a few survivers escape and hope to continue the struggle. The survivors go their separate ways (perhaps into exile), wishing success to their king
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962
KEYWORDS: battle death disaster rebellion Ireland separation
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
July 12, 1691 - Battle of Aughrim. Decisive defeat of Irish Catholic forces
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
PGalvin, pp. 17-18, "After Aughrim's Great Disaster" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #16907
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. " Sean a Duir a'Ghleanna" (form)
Notes: The Battle of the Boyne in 1690 (for which see "The Battle of the Boyne (I)") marked the real end of Jacobite hopes; James II fled to the continent following that battle, the French reduced their already limited commitment, and William III (who had overthrown James) returned to Britain. (It didn't help that the remaining Irish leaders despised each other.)
Many Irish, however, continued in rebellion, retreating to Athlone and Limerick. The British command was turned over to General Ginkel (the "Dutchman" of the song), who captured Athlone on June 30. Most Irish leaders wanted to concentrate on a holding action at Limerick, but St Ruth, the French commander, wanted to fight. He picked a position at Aughrim and waited for Ginkel.
Aughrim was a near-fought thing, but when the English won, they won decisively. St Ruth was dead, Tyrconnell died in August, and only Limerick was left in Irish hands. Sarsfield (Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan c. 1655-1693), the last real Irish leader and the best soldier of the lot, decided to seek terms while he still had a bargaining position.
On October 3, an agreement was secured under which the rebels could either swear allegiance to William or go into exile. Although William's guarantees included religious freedom, many chose to leave their country. The flight of "The Wild Geese" was in many ways the worst disaster in Irish history to this time. The anniversary of Aughrim continues to be a bitter day in Irish memories.
Sarsfield, having done what he could, joined the French service, and was killed at the Battle of Landen in 1693.
Not everyone was impressed with Sarsfield, to be sure. R. F. Foster, Modern Ireland 1600-1972 Penguin, 1988, 1989, p.
148, notes that he came to everyone's attention for his bravery at the Boyne, but adds that "He was celebrated for his bravery but was notoriously not very bright; jealousy aroused by the Sarsfield mystique exacerbated the indiscipline an dissensions that already rent the Jacobites. On the other hand, his inspirational leadership helped raise Irish morale...."
This should not be confused with the Honorable Emily Lawless's poem 'After Aughrim," for which see, e.g., Donagh MacDonagh and Lennox Robinson, The Oxford Book of Irish Verse (Oxford, 1958, 1979), pp. 100-101. - RBW
File: PGa017

After the Ball

DESCRIPTION: A girl asks her uncle why he never married. He recalls the sweetheart he took to a ball. After leaving for a moment, he sees her kissing another man. He abandons her; years later, after she is dead, he learns that the other man was her brother
AUTHOR: Charles K. Harris
EARLIEST DATE: 1892 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: love courting separation death abandonment
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Cambiaire, p. 105, "After the Ball" (1 text)
Spaeth-ReadWeep, pp. 169-175, "After the Ball, the Deluge" (1 text plus variants, 1 tune)
Geller-Famous, pp. 64-69, "After the Ball" (1 text, 1 tune)
Gilbert, pp. 260-262, "After the Ball" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 268, "After The Ball Is Over" (1 text)
Fuld-WFM, p. 87, "After the Ball"
DT, AFTRBALL* (UNFORTU6* -- a parody)
Roud #4859
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "After The Ball (Okeh 45669, c. 1933; rec. 1930)
Homer Christopher & Wife, "After the Ball" (OKeh 45041, 1926
Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers, "After the Ball" (Brunswick 394, rec. 1929)
Vernon Dalhart, "After the Ball" (Columbia 15030-D, 1925) (Edison 51610 [as Vernon Dalhart & Co.], 1925)
Dixon Brothers, "After the Ball" (Montgomery Ward M-7577, 1938)
Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton, "After the Ball" (Columbia 15254-D, 1928)
Humphries Brothers, "After the Ball" (OKeh 45478, 1930)
Bradley Kincaid, "After the Ball" (Supertone 9648, 1930) (Conqueror 7984, 1932)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "After the War Is Over" (tune)
cf. "Tragic Romance" (plot)
cf. "Fatal Rose of Red" (theme)
SAME TUNE:
After the War is Over (File: R855)
Poor Nellie (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 143)
Notes: Gilbert describes how Harris (at the time, according to Geller, an impoverished banjo teacher) wrote this song by blowing an actual incident all out of proportion (he saw a girl distressed at a fight with her lover, but there is no evidence that the quarrel ended their relationship).
The song was one of the most popular of its era; sales of the sheet music earned Harris $48,000 in just its first year in print. - RBW
File: SRW169

After the War Is Over

DESCRIPTION: "Angels are weeping o'er the foreign war... But still they are calling young men to war.... After the war is over, after the world's at peace, many a heart will be aching After the war has ceased. Many a home will be vacant, many a child left alone...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: war death derivative
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 855, "After the War is Over" (1 short text)
Roud #7530
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "After the Ball" (tune)
File: R855

Afternoon Like This, An

DESCRIPTION: "An afternoon like this it was in tough old Cherokee An outlaw come a-hornin' in an' ask who I might be...." The singer boasts of Indians and outlaws in his background (e.g. Jesse James was his uncle), of learning to swear before learning to talk, etc.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (Hoofs and Horns)
KEYWORDS: cowboy outlaw bragging family
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fife-Cowboy/West 35, "Cowboy Boasters" (5 texts, 2 tunes; this is the "E" text)
Roud #11217
File: FCW035E

Aged Indian, The (Uncle Tohido)

DESCRIPTION: A hunter, his wife, and his daughter live near Indians. One day, when the hunter is gone, an Indian comes and takes the child from the frantic mother. The child never returns, but teaches the Indian to love and revere the Bible
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Belden)
KEYWORDS: Indians(Am.) abduction Bible
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Belden, pp. 294-295, "Uncle Tahiah" (1 text)
LPound-ABS, 53, pp. 124-125, "The Aged Indian" (1 text)
Roud #6553
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fair Captive" (plot elements)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Uncle Tahia
Notes: Your guess is as good as mine as to whether this is pro- or anti-Indian. - RBW
File: LPnd124

Aghaloe Heroes

See The Aughalee Heroes (File: Zimm098)

Agincourt Carol, The

DESCRIPTION: King Henry (V) travels to France "wyth grace and myght of chyvalry," captures Harfleur, and wins a great victory at Agincourt, "Wherfore Englonde may call and cry, 'Deo gracias (x2) anglia Rede pro victoria.'"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1500 (Bodleian MS Selden B. 26); hints in chronicles imply that it was sung at Henry V's return to England 1415/16
KEYWORDS: England France battle royalty
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1413 - Accession of Henry V
Aug 11, 1415 - Invasion of France
Sept 22, 1415 - Surrender of Harfleur
Oct 25, 1415 - Battle of Agincourt. Henry V, outnumbered by about 10 to 1, defeats the French, inflicting casualties in the same 10:1 ratio
1422 - Death of Henry V
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (6 citations):
Percy/Wheatley II, pp. 29-31, "For the Victory at Agincourt" (1 text)
Stevick-100MEL 51, "(The Agincourt Carol)" (1 text)
Chappell/Wooldridge I, pp. 25-30, "The Song of Agincourt" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Brown/Robbins, _Index of Middle English Verse_, #2716
Noah Greenberg, ed., An Anthology of English Medieval and Renaissance Vocal Music, pp. 62-65 (1 text, 1 tune with harmonization)
DT, AGINCRT1*
ST MEL51 (Full)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "King Henry Fifth's Conquest of France" [Child 164] (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
For the Victory at Agincourt
Notes: The Latin refrain means, "Thank God, England, for victory."
Henry V had a legitimate claim to the throne of France derived from his great-grandfather Edward III (whose mother had been a French princess). Under English law, he was rightful King of France (or would have been, were it not for the fact that Henry had cousins who were proper heirs to both the thrones of England and France. But that's another story).
The French, however, didn't want an English king, and eventually dredged up the "Salic Law" to prevent succession through the female line. Henry V's predecessors Richard II and the usurper Henry IV had been too busy to do anything about that, but Henry V had the leisure to invade France.
The invasion of 1415 was the first and most spectacular of Henry's campaigns. After taking Harfleur to give him a base in Normandy, he engaged in a great chevauchee (destructive raid in which he burned everything in his path).
The enraged French pursued, and even appeared at one point to have Henry trapped; he reportedly offered terms, which the French foolishly ignored (they thought ten to one odds in their favor were enough to win the day). Henry found a good position and waited for the French to show up. He then used his longbowmen to shatter their army. He proceeded to Calais to return his army to England and prepare his next campaign.
Henry reportedly forbade any musical odes to Agincourt, preferring to give credit to God. He got them anyway (though the clever author here never explicitly credits Henry).
This, the most famous Agincourt piece, appeared very shortly after the campaign. Two copies survive, the more important being MS. Selden B.26 (Bodlian library, with music); the other is at Cambridge.
There is no evidence that this song ever entered oral tradition; it's almost unsingable. But the frequency with which it is quoted argues for its presence here. - RBW
File: MEL51

Agricultural Irish Girl, The

DESCRIPTION: Mary Ann Malone is a big, strong, agricultural Irish girl. At 17, she is not educated -- "doesn't speak Italian" -- but knows "all befits a lady." "She neither paints nor powders, and her figure is her own" She's aggressive. She will strike for her wages.
AUTHOR: J. F. Mitchell (words and music) (source: broadside, LOCSheet sm1885 05879)
EARLIEST DATE: 1885 (broadside, LOCSheet sm1885 05879)
KEYWORDS: work humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (2 citations):
OLochlainn-More 66, "The Agricultural Irish Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Kathleen Hoagland, editor, One Thousand Years of Irish Poetry (New York, 1947), p. 244, "The Agricultural Irish Girl"
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1885 05879, "Mary Ann Malone The Agricultural Irish Girl," Chas. D. Blake (Boston), 1885 (tune)
Notes: The sheet music version takes place in New York. As O Lochlainn suspects, "probably American" - BS
File: OLcM066

Ah Roop Doop Doop

DESCRIPTION: "'Tis very well done, says Johnny Brown, Is this the way to London town? I'll stand you thus, I'll stand you by, Until you hear the watchman cry: A roop doop doop doop doodle doodle do, A roop doop doop doop doodle doodle do!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: travel
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 448, "Ah Roop Doop Doop" (1 text)
Roud #7607
File: R448

Ah-Hoo-E-La-E

DESCRIPTION: Javanese sea shanty. "Ah hoo-e, la-e, ah hoo-e, la-e, ah-e, hoo-e, ah hoo-e, la-e ung!" Used as a hauling and loading shanty, with the pull on the syllable "Ung."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1945 (Harlow)
KEYWORDS: shanty foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Indonesia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Harlow, p. 115, "Ah-Hoo-E-La-E" (1 text, 1 tune)
Notes: Harlow says he took it down from the coolies singing and can't vouch for the translation. - SL
File: Harl115

Ah! Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser!

DESCRIPTION: French: The young woman wants a monk (the word also means a spinning top) to dance. She offers him a cap, a gown, etc., then a psalter; he apparently refuses each. She says she would offer him more, but he has taken a vow of poverty
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1865
KEYWORDS: playparty clergy dancing foreignlanguage
FOUND IN: Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Fowke/Johnston, pp. 106-107, "Ah! Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser!" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan 40, "Ah! Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser!" 1 English & 1 French text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 327, "Ah! Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser!" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Grace Lee Nute, _The Voyageur_, Appleton, 1931 (reprinted 1987 Minnesota Historical Society), pp. 136-138, "Ah! Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser" (1 text plus English translation, 1 tune)
File: FJ106

Aiken Drum

DESCRIPTION: Aiken Drum lives in the moon, plays with a ladle, dresses in food including breeches of haggis bags. Willy Wood lives in another town, plays on a razor, eats Aiken Drum's clothes but chokes on the haggis bags
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1863 (Halliwell)
KEYWORDS: clothes death food humorous talltale
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Opie-Oxford2 7, "There was a man lived in the moon, lived in the moon, lived in the moon" (1 text)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #254, pp. 157-158, "(There was a man lived in the moon, lived in the moon, lived in the moon)"
Montgomerie-ScottishNR 97, "(There came a man to our town)" (1 short text)
DT, AIKDRUM* AIKDRUM3*
Roud #2571
Notes: A haggis bag, I guess, would be a sheep's stomach lining. - BS
The dating on this song is a bit uncertain. The Opies apparently cite 1821 on the basis of Hogg's Jacobite Relics -- but that is the other "Aikendrum" ("Ken ye how a Whig can fight, aikendrum, aikendrum). It is generally claimed that the word "Aikendrum" in that song is derived from the character in this, which would of course make this older -- but I know of no proof of that assertion. Hogg does quote a snippet of what appears to be this song, but the whole thing is awfully thin. - RBW
File: OO2007

Aikendrum

DESCRIPTION: "Ken ye how a Whig can fight?" The ballad gives examples that Whigs can't fight, that Sunderland, who had sworn to clear the land, cannot be found. The song imagines "the Dutchmen" drowned, Jacobite victory, and King James crowned.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1821 (Hogg's Jacobite Relics, according to Opie-Oxford2)
KEYWORDS: rebellion Scotland humorous nonballad patriotic Jacobites
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
DT, AIKNDRUM*
Roud #2571
RECORDINGS:
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, "Aikendrum" (on SCMacCollSeeger01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ye Jacobites By Name" (tune)
Notes: Opie 7 quotes the first lines of this song noting that it is "a ballad about the opposing armies before the battle of Sheriffmuir (1715)." The Battle of Sheriffmuir took place November 13, 1715 between the Jacobites and Hanoverians. Told from the Jacobite viewpoint this song does not reflect the outcome of the battle. Both sides claimed victory in this biggest battle of the 1715 Jacobite uprising. - BS
The Digital Tradition lists this to the tune of "Captain Kidd." The two are related, I think, but Ewan MacColl's tune is shifted to minor and has other differences.
I suspect that the song may have been mistranscribed by Hogg. The first line was clearly heard as "Ken ye hoo a Whig can fight, Aikendrum, aikendrum." But "hoo" can be either "how" (as Hogg and the above description) or "who"; the latter makes more sense.
The song refers to "Sunderland," which on its face would appear to be Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland (1674-1722), a Whig politician who had been one of the leaders of the governments from 1706-1710, and who intrigued for high office under George I as well. In this period, though, he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and doing very little other than trying to get higher office out of George I.
It is generally agreed that "Sunderland" is in fact "Sutherland," a Hannoverian general in Scotland who was responsible for guarding Scotland but who was outmanuevered by the Jacobite Sir Donald MacDonald.
Not that the Jacobite success did much good. John Erskine, Earl of Mar (1675-1732), had been part of the government under Queen Anne, but was dismissed after George I took the throne in 1714. He finally cast his lot with the Jacobite forces, and commanded the rebels at Sheriffmuir, the great battle of the 1715 rebellion.
According to Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson, Blood Royal: The Illustrious House of Hanover (Doubleday, 1980), p. 53, Sheriffmuir took place on a "bitterly cold day." The Jacobites had an overwhelming numerical advantage (usually listed as on the order of 9000 men to the Duke of Argyll's 3500 or so), but Mar had no idea what to do with his troops and the battle -- the only serious clash of the 1715 Jacobite rebellion -- was a tactical draw, with both armies gaining ground on the right and yielding it on the left. Mar, still possessed of his big numerical advantage, didn't even try to hold the field. He proceeded to wander around Scotland for a while, then fled into exile with the Old Pretender James (III).
As for James himself, he hadn't made it to Scotland at the time, and Susan Maclean Kybett (who is, to be sure, rather an anti-Stuart biographer) "wonders why James came to Scotland at all" (Kybett, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Dodd Mead, 1988, p. 16). She also notes that James came to be called "Old Melancholy" (which fits), adding that his presence largely quelled what enthusiasm for rebellion there remained. - RBW
File: RcAikDr1

Aim Not Too High

See references under Fortune My Foe (Aim Not Too High) (File: ChWI076)

Aimee McPherson

DESCRIPTION: Aimee McPherson, radio evangelist, vanishes after a camp meeting; later claiming she was kidnapped. A grand jury investigation uncovers a "love-nest" at Carmel-by-the-Sea. She's jailed and bailed out; her paramour vanishes.
AUTHOR: Words: Unknown/Music: Cab Calloway
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (recording, Pete Seeger)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Aimee McPherson, radio evangelist, vanishes after a camp meeting; upon returning, she claims she was kidnapped. A grand jury investigation uncovers a "love-nest" at Carmel-by-the-Sea, where "the dents in the mattress fitted Aimee's caboose." She's jailed and bailed out; her paramour vanishes. Last lines: "If you don't get the moral then you're the gal for me/'Cause there's still a lot of cottages down at Carmel-by-the-Sea"
KEYWORDS: sex abduction bawdy humorous clergy
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1926 - The "disappearance" of Aimee Semple MacPherson
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 189, "Aimee McPherson" (1 text)
DT, AIMEEMC*
Roud #10296
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Aimee McPherson" (on PeteSeeger39)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hi-De-Ho Man" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Aimee Semple McPherson
The Ballad of Aimee McPherson
Notes: The song tells the story pretty accurately. - PJS
Aimee Semple MacPherson (1890-1944) was truly larger than life. Born Aimee Kennedy, she married Robert Semple in 1908; he died in China on missionary work in 1910. In 1912 she married Harold MacPherson, whom she divorced in 1921. In 1918, she founded the Foursquare Gospel church (a Pentecostal sect which still exists, though it's not overly large). 1926 saw her disappearance. A third marriage failed in 1931. She died in 1944, of a heart attack or drug overdose. - RBW
File: FSWB189A

Ain' Go'n to Study War No Mo

See Down By the Riverside (Study War No More) (File: San480)

Ain' No Mo' Cane on de Brazos

See Ain't No More Cane on this Brazos (File: LxA058)

Ain' No Mo' Cane on dis Brazis

See Ain't No More Cane on this Brazos (File: LxA058)

Ain't Goin' to Worry My Lord No More

See Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More (File: R300)

Ain't Going to Rain No More

See Ain't Gonna Rain No More (File: R557)

Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more...." Verses give conditions for getting into heaven, e.g. "You can't get to Heaven on roller skates, You'll roll right by them pearly gates." Instructs the listener to help the singer get to heaven
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: religious clergy
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 300, "Oh You Caint Go to Heaven" (1 text)
BrownIII 549, "Ain't Goin' to Worry My Lord No More" (1 text, perhaps somewhat adapted (e.g. the second verse is "If you get there before I do... Punch a little hole and pull me through"), but too short and too similar to this to separate)
Silber-FSWB, p. 22, "Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 82-84, "I Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More" (1 text, 1 tune -- probably composite, though the conflation may be the work of the informant rather than the Pankakes)
DT, GRIEVLD
Roud #12801
RECORDINGS:
Commonwealth Quartet, "I Ain't Gonna Grieve" (Conqueror 7079, 1928)
Walter "Kid" Smith & Norman Woodlief with Posey Rorer, "I Ain't Gonna' Grieve My Lord Anymore" (Champion 15812 [as by Jim Taylor and Bill Shelby]/Supertone 9494 [as by Jordan & Rupert]/Conqueror 7277, 1929)
File: R300

Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round

See Keep On a-Walking (Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round) (File: SBoA374)

Ain't Gonna Rain No More

DESCRIPTION: Verses held together by the refrain, "It ain't gonna rain no more." (Either between lines or as a standalone chorus). Examples: "What did the blackbird say to the crow? It ain't gonna...." "We had a cat down on our farm; it ate a ball of yarn...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonsense nonballad animal
FOUND IN: US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Randolph 557, "Ain't Going to Rain No More" (1 short text, 1 tune); also perhaps 275, "The Crow Song" (the "D" fragment might be this piece)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 409-410, "Ain't Going to Rain No More" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 557)
BrownIII 430, "Ain't Gonna Rain No More" (5 short texts)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 107, "'Tain't Gwine Rain No Mo'" (1 text, 1 tune); also p. 108 (no title) (1 text; the chorus at least goes here though the verses may be from a rabbit-hunting song)
Sandburg, p. 141, "Ain't Gonna Rain" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 212-213, "T'ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld-WFM, p. 307, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'"
DT, AINTRAIN
Roud #7657
RECORDINGS:
Al Bernard, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Puritan 11305, 1923)
[Al] Bernard & [Frank] Ferera, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Cameo 487, 1924)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (OKeh 40204, 1924)
Ed Clifford [pseud. for Vernon Dalhart], "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Bell P-279, 1924)
Wendell Hall, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Victor 19171, 1923) (Edison 51261, 1923) (Gennett 5271, 1923) (CYL: Edison [BA] 4824, n.d.)
Ernest Hare, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (OKeh 40140, 1924)
[Billy] Jones & [Ernest] Hare "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Columbia 87-D, 1924) (Edison 51430, 1924) (CYL: Edison [BA] 4935 [as "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More"], n.d.).
Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Columbia 15447-D, 1929)
Tune Wranglers, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (Bluebird B-7272, 1937)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ain't No Bugs on Me" (tune, structure)
cf. "Ain't Got to Cry No More"
SAME TUNE:
The States Song ("What Did Io-way?") (Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 206-207)
Notes: A popular version of this piece was published in 1923 as by Wendell W. Hall. Even the cover, however, admits that it was an "old southern melody" -- and since we have traditional versions at least from 1925, there is little doubt that the song is traditional. - RBW
File: R557

Ain't Gonna Study War No More

See Down By the Riverside (Study War No More) (File: San480)

Ain't Got No Place to Lay My Head

DESCRIPTION: "Ain't got no place to rest my head, Oh baby..." "Steamboat done put me out of doors..." "Steamboat done left me and gone." "Don't know what in this world I'm going to do." "Sweetheart's done quit me and he's gone." "Out on the cold frozen ground"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1944 (Wheeler)
KEYWORDS: river work unemployment home separation
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MWheeler, pp. 80-81, "Ain't Got No Place to Lay My Head" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10027
File: MWhee080

Ain't Got to Cry No More

DESCRIPTION: "AInt got to cry no more (x2), Blackberries growin' round mah cabin door; Ain't got to cy no more." "I ain't got to cry no more... Pickaninnies rollin' on mah cabin door (sic.)." "Ain't got to cry no more... Possum gittin' fat behin' my cabin door."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: nonballad animal
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 431, "Ain't Got to Cry No More" (1 text)
Roud #11774
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Ain't Gonna Rain No More"
File: Br3431

Ain't Gwine to Work No More

DESCRIPTION: "Ain't gwin to work no more, Labor is tiresome shore, Best occupation am recreation, Life's mighty short, you know.... Peter won't know if you're rich or poor, So I ain't gwin to work no more." The singer asserts they need not worry about the future
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: work money
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 234, (no title) (1 short text)
File: ScNF234A

Ain't It a Shame

See It's A Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday (File: CSW078)

Ain't It Great to Be Crazy?

DESCRIPTION: Nonsense with chorus: "Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy (x2), (Silly and foolish) all day long, Boom, boom...." Example: Way down where the bananas grow, A flea stepped on an elephant's toe... Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1988
KEYWORDS: nonsense humorous animal nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 192, "Ain't It Great to Be Crazy" (1 text)
DT, GRTCRAZY*
Roud #15691
File: DTgrtcra

Ain't It Hard to Be a Nigger

See Hard to Be a Nigger (File: LxA233)

Ain't No Bugs on Me

DESCRIPTION: Nonsense and topical verses; "The night was dark and drizzly/The air was full of sleet/The old man joined the Ku Klux/And Ma she lost her sheet"; Chorus: "There ain't no bugs on me (x2)/There may be bugs on some of you mugs/But there ain't no bugs on me."
AUTHOR: assembled by Fiddlin' John Carson
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Fiddlin' John Carson)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Nonsense and topical verses; "The night was dark and drizzly/The air was full of sleet/The old man joined the Ku Klux/And Ma she lost her sheet"; "Billy Sunday is a preacher/His church is always full/For the neighbors gather from miles around/To hear him shoot the bull"; "The monkey swings by the end of his tail/And jumps from tree to tree/There may be monkey in some of you guys/But there ain't no monkey in me." Chorus: "There ain't no bugs on me (2x)/There may be bugs on some of you mugs/But there ain't no bugs on me."
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad nonsense bug
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 226, "Ain't No Bugs on Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 244, "There Ain't No Bugs On Me" (1 text)
DT, AINTNOBG*
Roud #17569
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson, "Ain't No Bugs on Me" (OKeh 45259, 1928)
Fiddlin' John Carson & Moonshine Kate, "Ain't No Bugs on Me" (Bluebird 5652, 1934)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Ain't No Bugs on Me" (on NLCR06) (NLCR16)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'" (tune, structure)
cf. "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel" (words)
cf. "The Barefoot Boy with Boots On" (floating lyrics)
Notes: In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan attained great influence in the Southeast and Midwest; it took a certain courage to make fun of them in public. Also in the 1920s, the Scopes trial turned Darwinian biology into a courtroom circus; Carson vents anti-evolution sentiments in the "monkey" verse. And Billy Sunday was a popular evangelist of the time. - PJS
This seems to be a modification of "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More," with topical and floating verses inserted by Carson. The resulting song may have gone into oral tradition due to its use in camps.
Incidentally (and not too surprisingly, considering), the bit about humans and monkeys is wrong. While neo-Darwinism does posit that humans are descended from apes, and from monkey-like creatures before that, we are not descended from any living ape species, nor indeed any living monkey. Rather, humans are descended from a sort of proto-ape, which was descended from a proto-primate somewhat like a monkey. According to Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale, Mariner, 2004, p. 137, the last monkeys split from the ape lineage about 25 million years ago, and the earliest split from monkeys was some 40 million years ago (p. 141). The oldest surviving monkey species that still exist are thought to be some 15 million years old. Thus there are a total of some 35 million years of evolution separating us from the existing monkey most closely related to humans. Note that apes aren't monkeys either. Not that that would satisfy an I-don't-do-science type.... - RBW
File: CSW226

Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down

DESCRIPTION: Singer has heard of a city with streets of gold. He has found a throne of grace. Jesus, on the cross, tells his disciples to take his mother home. Cho: "When the high trumpet sounds/I'll be getting up, walking around/Ain't no grave can hold my body down"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1942 (recording, Bozie Sturdivant)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer has heard of a beautiful city -- heaven -- with streets paved with gold. He has found a throne of grace, "it will 'point my soul a place." Jesus, hanging on the cross, hears Mary moan. He tells his disciples to take his mother home; singer laments the crucifixion of Jesus. Ch.: "When the high trumpet sounds/I'll be getting up, walking around/Ain't no grave can hold my body down"
KEYWORDS: death dying Bible religious mother Jesus
FOUND IN: US(SE)
Roud #12182
RECORDINGS:
Caudill Family, "Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down" (Champion 902, n.d.)
Brother Claude Ely, "There Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold This Body Down" (King 1311, 1954) [he may have also recorded it in 1947]
Bozie Sturdivant, "Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down" (AFS 6639 B1, 1942; on LC10, LCTreas)
Notes: This is very close to being a nonballad, but there's just enough narrative in the second verse for it to squeak in. It's also one of the masterpieces of the human spirit. - PJS
The reference to the (beloved) disciple caring for Mary mother of Jesus is to John 19:26-27, "When Jesus saw his mother... he said to the [beloved] disciple, 'See! Your mother.' And from then on the disciple took her to his own home." - RBW
File: RcANGCHM

Ain't No More Cane on this Brazos

DESCRIPTION: The singer remarks, "There ain't no more cane on this Brazos, oh-oh-oh; They done ground it all down to molasses, oh-oh-oh." He describes the dreadful conditions faced by the prisoners and wishes he could escape such horrors
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (field recording)
KEYWORDS: prison abuse punishment death
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Scott-BoA, pp. 305-306, "No More Cane on this Brazos" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSUSA 92, "Ain't No Mo' Cane on dis Brazis" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 58-59, "Ain' No Mo' Cane on de Brazos" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 144, "No More Cane on This Brazos" (1 text, 1 tune)
Courlander-NFM, pp. 132-133, (no title) (1 text, heavily modified to produce a blues feel)
Darling-NAS, pp. 326-327, "No More Can on this Brazos" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 65, "Ain't No More Can On This Brazos" (1 text)
DT, CANEBRAZ*
Roud #10063
RECORDINGS:
Mose "Clear Rock" Platt, "Ain' No More Cane on the Brazos" (AFS 2643 B1, 1939)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Go Down, Old Hannah"
cf. "Oughta Come on the River"
Notes: The amount of common material in this song and "Go Down, Old Hannah" makes it certain they have cross-fertilized. They may be descendants of a common ancestor. But the stanzaic forms are different, so I list them separately. - RBW
File: LxA058

Ain't No Use O' My Workin' So Hard

See Ain't No Use Workin' So Hard (File: DarNS329)

Ain't No Use Workin' So Hard

DESCRIPTION: "Ain't no use of my workin' so hard, darlin' (x2), I got a gal in the (rich/white) folks' yard, She kill me a chicken, She bring me the wing, Ain't I livin' on an easy thing..." "She thinks I'm workin', I'm layin' in bed...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: work food floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Colcord, p. 185, "In De Mornin'" (1 short text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 478, "You Shall Be Free" (1 text, with three verses of this plus one apparent floater and the "Oh, nigger, you shall be free" chorus)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 235, "Ain't No Use O' My Workin' So Hard" (1 text, 1 tune; also as a floating verse in the song preceding this one; see also the fragment following) also p. 236, (no title) (1 fragment)
Darling-NAS, pp. 328-329, "Ain't No Use Workin' So Hard" (1 text);
RECORDINGS:
Carolina Tar Heels, "There Ain't No Use Working So Hard" (Victor 20544, 1927)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sugar Babe (III)" (lyrics)
cf. "Mourner, You Shall Be Free (Moanish Lady)" (lyrics)
cf. "Dat's All Right" (lyrics)
cf. "Tell Old Bill" (structure, refrain)
cf. "Cocaine (The Furniture Man)" (lyrics)
Notes: This is a floating fragment which often joins songs such as the "Talking Blues," "You Shall Be Free," and perhaps "Raise a Ruckus." But it's here because it apparently exists on its own also. - RBW
Yep -- see the Carolina Tar Heels' recording, for one example. - PJS
File: DarNS329

Air Force Alphabet

DESCRIPTION: "A is for those Air Force boys, with hearts so brave and true ... Z is for ... Of all the letters in my song the one that beats them all Is V for Victory, the letter that won't let the old flag fall"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (Leach-Labrador)
KEYWORDS: nonballad wordplay
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Leach-Labrador 67, "Air Force Alphabet" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #159
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Logger's Alphabet" (subject) and references there
Notes: Leach-Labrador: "composed in the Canadian Air Force during World War II." - BS
File: LLab067

Airy Bachelor, The (The Black Horse)

DESCRIPTION: The singer warns all bachelors against his mistake. He wanders into town and meets a sergeant, who asks him to enlist. At first he refuses, but the soldier wears him down; at last he accepts. He bids farewell to home, family, and girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian Harding B 11(816))
KEYWORDS: soldier drink separation bachelor
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (4 citations):
SHenry H586, p. 80, "The Black Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
OLochlainn 17, "The Black Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
McBride 8, "The Black Horse" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hayward-Ulster, pp. 58-60, "The Airy Bachelor" (1 text)
Roud #3027
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(816), "The Black Horse," T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899; also 2806 b.9(231), 2806 c.8(141), Harding B 19(8), 2806 c.15(181), 2806 c.8(276), 2806 b.11(12)[some words missing], Harding B 26(60)[lines missing], "The Black Horse"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Cashelnagleanna" (tune)
Notes: Sam Henry gives a brief history of the Black Horse, the regiment named in the song, which was raised in 1688 as the Earl of Devonshire's Horse. Henry reports that it fought at the Boyne, though this is not listed among its battle honours.
It was formally recognized for its part at Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Warburg, various colonial affairs, and finally the First World War, where it fought from 1914 to 1918 (including the Somme and Cambrai). The regiment became the Princess Royal's Own (7th Dragoon Guards) in 1788. The regiment's separate history ended in 1922 when it was combined with the 4th Royal Dragoon Guards; the unit is now the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, and no longer has the Princess Royal as its honorary colonel. - RBW
File: HHH586

Al Bowen

See The Wreck at Maud (Al Bowen) (File: LSRa272H)

Alabama

See John Cherokee (File: Hugi439)

Alabama Bound (I) (Waterbound II)

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, the boat's up the river And the tide's gone down; I believe to my soul She's (Alabama/water) bound." Lovers are reunited by boat and train, Alabama bound. The Arctic explorer Cook is also mentioned as being Alabama bound to escape the cold.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, Charlie Jackson)
KEYWORDS: home return love separation floatingverses
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1776-1779 - Third and last exploratory voyage of Captain Cook, which in 1778 explored the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia and Alaska
1908 - Dr. Frederick Cook claims to reach the North Pole
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 598, "Alabama Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
MWheeler, pp. 27-28, "I'm the Man That Kin Raise So Long" (1 text, 1 tune); p. 53, "Ferd Harold Blues" (1 text, 1 tune); pp. 113-114, "Big Boat's Up the Rivuh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 236, (no title) (1 text, which appears more a collection of blues stanzas than an actual song, but verses from songs such as "Boat's Up the River" and "I Got a Gal in de White Folks' Yard")
RECORDINGS:
Arthur "Brother-in-Law" Armstrong, "The Boat's Up the River" (AFS 3979 B3, 1940)
Delmore Brothers, "I'm Alabama Bound" (Bluebird B-8264, 1939)
Roscoe Holcomb, "Boat's Up the River" (on Holcomb1, HolcombCD1)
Charlie Jackson, "I'm Alabama Bound" (Paramount 12289, 1925)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Train That Carried My Girl from Town" (floating verses)
Notes: Not to be confused with the Lead Belly song "Alabama Bound." - RBW
I assign the Holcomb recording to "Alabama Bound (I)" reluctantly, and for want of a better place to put it. He sings the same first verse (with "waterbound" rather than "Alabama bound"); the rest of the song is composed of floating blues verses. - PJS
That seems to be pretty typical, actually. This isn't so much a song as a first verse, a tune, and a bluesy feel. Wheeler's three assorted texts are examples of the same phenomenon, and Scarborough's has the one verse and four other unrelated blues verses. - RBW
There is also a popular song, "Alabamy Bound," with words and music by Bud De Sylva, Bud Green, and Ray Henderson, published in 1925. As far as I can determine, it's not related to this song. - PJS
There is an interesting problem here in figuring out who is meant by the reference to the Arctic explorer Cook. The Botkin text, from Coleman and Bregman, reads
Doctuh Cook's in town,
Doctuh Cook's in town,
He foun' de No'th Pole so doggone cole
He's Alabama boun'.
This version comes from a book copyright 1942.
But there are two Cooks who explored the Arctic. Admittedly only one was entitled to be called "Doctor," but in the time of the first Cook, the term was used rather more loosely.
Captain James Cook (1728-1779) explored the Labrador and Newfoundland areas in the 1760s, and the Alaskan and Siberian coasts on his last voyage (1776-1779) -- though of course never came anywhere near the North Pole; he only briefly made it above 70 degrees north. Still, his penetration of the Bering Strait in 1778 brought him north of the Arctic Circle and opened the way for exploration of Alaska's North Shore; it was the "Farthest North" in that part of the world for many years, and it would be half a century before anyone made it much north of that mark in any part of the world. Thus it is reasonable to refer to Cook as at leasts approaching the North Pole.
Cook had aslo explored the Antarctic on his previous voyage (1772-1775); that probably brought back more useful information than the third voyage. It wasn't the Arctic, of course, but it was at least as cold. And he lived through it.
On the other hand, Dr. Frederick Cook (who was in fact a medical doctor) made several visits to the Arctic, and in 1908 claimed that he and two Eskimos had reached the North Pole. His claim was subjected to much question (see the notes to "Hurrah for Baffin's Bay"), and is probably to be rejected. He nonetheless ended up as something of a nine day wonder; we have to guess whether his brief fame, or Captain Cook's enduring fame, is more likely to have inspired this song. This would obviously be easier if we had more and better texts of the relevant verse. - RBW
File: BMRF598

Alabama Bound (II)

DESCRIPTION: "I'm Alabama bound, I'm Alabama bound/And if the train don't stop and turn around/I'm Alabama bound"; "Don't you leave me here... If you must go... leave me a dime for beer"; "Don't you be like me... You can drink... sherry wine and let the whiskey be."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Lomax), but elements at least were part of the 1925 Trixie Smith recording
KEYWORDS: nonballad floatingverses train travel drink abandonment
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 206-209, "Alabama-Bound" (1 text, 1 tune, probably composite)
MWheeler, pp. 54-55, "I'm Alabama Bound" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 237, "If the Seaboard Train Wrecks I Got a Mule to Ride" (1 4-line text with lyrics seemingly from three different songs, but filed here because of the final line)
Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 213-214, "Shine Reel" (1 fragment, 1 tune, mentioning being "Alabama Bound" but also mentioning some being on a boat that sank, so it might be part of "Shine and the Titanic")
Cohen-LSRail, pp. 450-451, "Railroad Blues (I)" (1 text, 1 tune, which Cohen apparently considers a separate song by Trixie Smith, but her song seems to have no independent circulation and shares enough lyrics with this piece that I file it here, pa

1861 Anti Confederation Song, An

1913 Massacre

'31 Depression Blues

900 Miles

A Begging We Will Go

A Chur Nan Gobhar As A' Chreig (For Herding the Goats from the Rock)

A Diller, A Dollar

A Drink in the Morn

A Fal-De-Lal-Day

A Is for Apple Pie

A Is for Apple Pie (II)

A La Claire Fontaine

A Robin, Jolly Robin

A Robyn Jolly Robyn

A Saint-Malo, Beau Port de Mer (At Saint Malo Beside the Sea)

A St. Malo, beau port de mer

A Stor Mo Chroi (Treasure of My Heart)

A was an apple-pie

A-Begging I Will Go

A-Cruising We Will Go

A-Growing (He's Young But He's Daily A-Growing) [Laws O35]

A-Lumbering We Go

A-Rolling Down the River (The Saucy Arabella)

A-Rovin'

A-Roving on a Winter's Night

A-Walking and A-Talking

A, U, Hinny Bird

A. R. U.

A'body's Like to be Married but Me

Aaron Burr

Abalone

Abandonado, El

Abdul Abulbul Amir

Abdul the Bulbul Emir (I)

Abdul the Bulbul Emir (II)

Abdul, the Bulbul Ameer

Abdul, the Bulbul Amir

Abdulla Bulbul Ameer

Abe Lincoln Stood at the White House Gate

Abel Brown the Sailor

Abie's White Mule

Abilene

Aboard of the Kangaroo

Aboard the Henry Clay

Aboard the Kangaroo

Aboot the Bush Willy

About the Bush, Willy

Abraham Lincoln Is My Name

Abram Brown the Sailor

Abroad As I Was Walking

Absalom, My Son

Accident down at Wann, The

According to the Act

Account of a Little Girl Who Was Burnt for Her Religion, An

Acres of Clams (The Old Settler's Song)

Across the Blue Mountain

Across the Hall

Across the Rocky Mountain

Across the Western Ocean

Across the Western Ocean (II)

Across the Western Ocean I Must Wander

Across the Wide Missouri

Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly [Child 116]

Adam Gorman

Adam in the Garden Pinning Leaves

Adams and Liberty

Adams's Crew

Adelita

Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)

Adieu de la Mariee a Ses Parents (The Married Girl's Farewell to her Parents)

Adieu Lovely Nancy

Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy

Adieu to Bogie Side

Adieu to Bon County

Adieu to Cold Weather

Adieu to Dark Weather

Adieu to Erin (The Emigrant)

Adieu to Lovely Garrison

Adieu to Maimuna

Adieu to Prince Edward's Isle