|
Charleston Gals/Charleston Girls
Old-time and minstrel song; lyrics J. P. Carter
Link: https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/30182
ARTIST: Thomas Daddy Rice “Hi! Ho! Charleston Gals” also found in "Songs of the Virginia Serenaders as "Charleston Gals." Songs of the Author: J. W. Turner (arranger); J. P. Carter (composer) from Levy Sheet Music Collection, Box 018, Item 044
Listen: Panther Hollow String Band; Charleston Gals
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: 1844
RECORDING INFO: A Mixolydian. AABB. The melody is similar to (and perhaps a variant of) Henry Reed’s “Texas” and to a tune in Phil Rice's Banjo Instructor (1858) appearing under the title “Hi! Ho! Charleston Gals.” John Heine reports it apparently was in minstrel tradition under the later title and appears in sheet music from the mid-1840’s. West Virginia fiddler Melvin Wine plays a crooked version and sings a few words to it. Source for notated version: Melvin Wine (W.Va.) [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 46.
RELATED TO: "Billy Patterson” “Fire on the Mountain” “The Humors of Bantry” "Poor Old Man"
OTHER NAMES: "Charleston Girls” “Hi! Ho! Charleston Gals”
SOURCES: Kuntz; Levy site; Songs of the Virginia Serenaders
NOTES: Listed in The Fiddler’s Companion as an Old-Time fiddle tune and breakdown; A Mixolydian. AABB. The old-time versions (see link to listen above) I've heard are different than the minstrel sheet music by Rice (Version 1) and that collected and publish in 1867 (Version 3). See Version 2 (fiddle tune) for similar lyrics to the recording. I haven't heard West Virginia fiddler Melvin Wine's version or seen his lyrics (according to Kuntz he sings a verse).
The melody is similar to (and perhaps a variant of) Henry Reed’s “Texas” and to a tune in Phil Rice's Banjo Instructor (1858) appearing under the title “Hi! Ho! Charleston Gals.” John Heine reports it apparently was in minstrel tradition under the later title and appears in sheet music from the mid-1840’s. Source for notated version: Melvin Wine (W.Va.) [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 46. Some lyrics are also found in the Chorus of Daniel Emmett’s Billy Patterson:
Bill Patterson rode bye (sic),
Old Bill your horse will die.
“He dies, I’ll tan his skin,
He lives I’ll ride agin.”
From Major William S. Marshall; The Singing Major; Fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry: The interesting story below comes from Andersonville by civil war veteran and Andersonville survivor, John McElroy. In chapter eighty, he refers to a major from the Fifth Iowa Infantry who was held as a prisoner at the Columbia Military Prison for Union officers, in Columbia, South Carolina. The date would have been circa 1863:
“The Glee Club had several songs which they rendered in regular negro minstrel style, and in a way that was irresistibly ludicrous. One of their favorites was "Billy Patterson." All standing up in a ring, the tenors would lead off:
"I saw an old man go riding by,"
and the baritones, flinging themselves around with the looseness of Christy's Minstrels, in a "break down," would reply: "Don't tell me! Don't tell me!"
Then the tenors would resume:
"Says I, Ole man, your horse'll die."
Then the baritones, with an air of exaggerated interest:
"A-ha-a-a, Billy Patterson!"
Tenors: "For if he dies, I'll tan his skin;
An' if he lives I'll ride him agin,"
All-together, with a furious "break down" at the close: "Then I'll lay five dollars down, And count them one by one; Then I'll lay five dollars down, If anybody will show me the man That struck Billy Patterson." The shanty Poor Old Man from the singing of Richard Maitland found in Doerflinger - Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman - p 14, has similar lyrics:
POOR OLD MAN
(Doerflinger - Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman - p 14)
As I walked out up-on the road one day,
[for they say so, and they know so,]
I saw 'n old man with a load of hay,
[Oh, poor old man!]
Says I, old man, your horse is lame,
Says I, Old man that horse will die
Now if he dies he'll be my loss
And if he lives he'll be my horse.
And if he dies I'll tan his skin
If he live I'll ride him again
Similar lyrics can be found in other songs such as Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers 'Jaw Bone' recorded February 6, 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee, and issued as Victor 21577 in October 1928:
Little old man come riding by
Say, 'Old man, your horse will die'
'If he dies, I'll tan his skin
'If he lives, I'll ride him again'
Chorus: Walk jaw bone and walk away
Walk jaw bone both night and day
To what extent Daniel Emmett (Virginia Serenaders) 1844 song was an influence on the fiddle tune today is uncertain. It was popular during the Civil War period. It seems likely that Emmett wrote similar verses and the chorus was arranged from existing folk/minstrel lyrics such as the ones found in Ol’ Ridin’ Hoss and other songs.
Charleston Gals- Minstrel lyrics (edited for racial content and errors in the original) Songs of the Virginia Serenaders. Charleston Gals. Author: J. W. Turner (arranger); J. P. Carter (composer) Levy Sheet Music Collection, Box 018, Item 044
I am a man from down in the south,
I come from dere in de time of de drouth.
Times are so hard in dis old place
Dat a man dare not show his face.
CHORUS: Hi, oh, de Charleston gals
Hi, oh, de Charleston gals
Some are high, some are low,
But they've got all de money to come to de show.
I went one night to play at a ball,
De black folk was dere, white folk an' all.
Playing seven up with old black Joe,
To raise some money to come to de show.
Old Joe swore he'd stock de cards,
He dar'd me out to square de yards.
Says I, "Old Joe you can't fool me,
I play seven-up by the double rule of three."
CHORUS:
The old hoss stood up to de rack,
I buckled de saddle to his back.
I foch him a lick, "Get up, gee oh,
To carry me to town for to see de show.
I got to de door all covered with dust,
I couldn't get in till I paid dem fust.
A quarter ob a dollar for to see de show,
To hear Southern Brag with his old banjo.
When I got in I took my seat,
A Charleston gals ax'd me to treat.
She found it no go, and begin to frown,
Dats de way with de gals in Charleston Town.
The people* dance upon de board,
De fiddle played up Sugar in de Gourd.
When dey got done dey fell on the back,
An' knock all de putty off ob de crack.
|