Folk-Songs of the South- John Harrington Cox 1925

Folk-Songs of the South- John Harrington Cox 1925

[This page contains: Title Page; Preface; Contents; Introduction w/society officers then abbreviations; Indexes.

Individual songs including music are attached to this page on the left hand column]

[Currently only the first section of the book has been completed (See left hand column)- Upcoming]


Folk-Songs of the South

COLLECTED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE WEST VIRGINIA FOLK-LORE SOCIETY

AND EDITED BY JOHN HARRINGTON COX, Ph.D., Litt.D.

PROFESSOR IN WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

CAMBRIDGE

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

COPYRIGHT, I925
BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Second printing

PRINTED AT THE HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U.S.A.


TO GEORGE LYMAN KITTREDGE

MY MASTER AND FRIEND

________________

PREFACE

IT is a great satisfaction to be able to discharge a part of the trust  confided in me as Archivist and General Editor of the West Virginia Folk-Lore Society by presenting in permanent form that portion of our collection of the most intrinsic worth. There still remains  a large amount of interesting and valuable material to be arranged  and prepared for the press. It is hoped that this work may be prosecuted without undue delay, so that the industry, enthusiasm, and  loyalty of the members of the Society may be fully consummated.

I am profoundly indebted to Professor George Lyman Kittredge  of Harvard University, not only for his inspiring tuition in the popular ballad, but for his keen interest in the progress of this work from its inception, and for his wise guidance and direct contributions as  it developed, first, into a doctor's dissertation, and later, into a  book. My obligations to him appear on almost every page.

For courtesies and helps not recorded elsewhere, I am indebted to  Dr. Louise Pound, Dr. C. Alphonso Smith, Dr. H. M. Belden, Mr.  Phillips Barry, Honorable George M. Ford, and, finally, to my wife,  Annie Bush Cox, whose unwearied and efficient assistance of every  sort has made this book possible.

The map at the end of the volume is reproduced by permission  of the U. S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C.

John Harrington Cox.

West Virginia University.
January 16, 1924.

____________________

CONTENTS

 

Introduction XV

List of Abbreviations xxxii

BALLADS AND SONGS

1. Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight (Child, No. 4) . . . . . 3

2. Earl Brand (Child, No. 7)........... 18

3. The Twa Sisters (Child, No. 10)..... 20

4. Lord Randal (Child, No. 12)......... 23

5. The Cruel Mother (Child, No. 20) 29

6. The Three Ravens (Child, No. 26) 31

7. The Twa Brothers (Child, No. 49) 33

8. Young Beichan (Child, No. 53) 36

9. Young Hunting (Child, No. 68) 42

10. Lord Thomas and Fair Annet (Child, No. 73) 45

11. Fair Margaret and Sweet William (Child, No. 74).... 65

12. Lord Lovel (Child, No. 75) 78

13. The Lass of Roch Royal (Child, No. 76) 83

14. The Wife of Usher's Well (Child, No. 79) 88

15. Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard (Child, No. 81)..... 94

16. Bonny Barbara Allen (Child, No. 84) 96

17. Lady Alice (Child, No. 85) 110

18. The Maid Freed from the Gallows (Child, No. 95) . . . . 115

19. Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter (Child, No. 155). . . 120

20. The Bonnie House o' Airlie (Child, No. 199). . .  128

21. The Gypsy Laddie (Child, No. 200) 130

22. Bessie Bell and Mary Gray (Child, No. 201) 134

23. Geordie (Child, No. 209) 135

24. The Braes o' Yarrow (Child, No. 214) 137

25. James Harris (The Daemon Lover) (Child, No. 243) .... 139

26. Henry Martin (Child, No. 250) 150

27. The Suffolk Miracle (Child, No. 272) 152

28. Our Good Man (Child, No. 274) 154

29. The Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin (Child, No. 277) . . . 159

30. The Farmer's Curst Wife (Child, No. 278) 164

31. The Crafty Farmer (Child, No. 283) 166

32. The Sweet Trinity (The Golden Vanity) (Child, No. 286) . 169

33. The Mermaid (Child, No. 289) 172

34. Robin Hood 174

35. John Hardy 175

36. The Ashland Tragedy 189

37. McAfee's Confession 192

38. The Jealous Lover (Pearl Bryan; Florella) 197

39. A Tolliver-Martin Feud Song 203

40. A West Virginia Feud Song 205

41. The Vance Song 207

42. Logan County Court House 212

43. Black Phyllis 215

44. Jesse James 216

45. Ye Sons of Columbia (Fuller and Warren) 217

46. Maggie was a Lady (Frankie) 218

47. The Wreck on the C. & 0. 221

48. Mack McDonald 231

49. The Dying Californian 232

50. Joe Bowers 234

51. The Jam at Gerry's Rock 236

52. An Arkansaw Traveller 239

53. The Dying Cowboy 2424

54. The Lone Prairie 247

55. The Ocean Burial 250

56. The Dying Hobo 252

57. A Comical Ditty 253

58. The Tucky Ho Crew 254

59. Immortal Washington 255

60. The Constitution and the Guerriere (Hull's Victory) . . 257

61. The Battle of Bridgewater 256

62. James Bird 193

63. War Song (Texas Rangers) 262

64. The Dying Ranger 226

65. The Battle of Mill Springs 264

66. The Victory Won at Richmond 266

67. The Yankee Retreat 268

68. Bull Run 269

69. War Song 270

70. Jeff Davis (The Southern Wagon) 271

71. Old Glory 272

72. Brother Green 273

73. The Soldier's Poor Little Boy 275

74. Just Before the Battle, Mother 277

75. Mother, Is the Battle Over? 278

76. The Rebel Soldier 279

77. I'm a Good Old Rebel 281

78. Corporal Schnapps . . . . . 283

79. Old Joe Camp 285

80. Fair Charlotte 286

81. Springfield Mountain 292

82. The Drummer Boy of Waterloo 293

8s- The Sheffield Apprentice 294

84. The Boston Burglar 296

85. My Parents Reared Me Tenderly 300

86. Jackison and Dickison 3° 2

87. The Anford Wright 3°3

88. The Bramble Briar 3°5

89. Come, Pretty Polly (Polly's Love) 

90. The Wexford Girl (The Cruel Miller) 311

91. Rose Connoley 314

92. A Pretty Fair Maiden (The Single Sailor) 316

93. The Broken Ring 319

94. The Banks or Claudie 321

95. George Reilly 323

96. William Hall 326

97. Johnny Germany 328

98. Jackie Fraisure 330

99. The Silk-Merchant's Daughter 334

100. The Orphan Gypsy Girl 335

101. William Reilly 336

102. Mollie Vaughn 339

103. Charming Beauty Bright 342

104. The Rich Merchant 343

105. VlLIKINS AND HIS DlNAH 344

106. Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low 345

107. A Poor Stranger far from Home 346

108. The Drowsy Sleeper 348

109. The Silver Dagger 350

110. Sweet William (The Sailor Boy) 353

111. Early in the Spring 358

112. Caroline of Edinburgh Town 362

113. The Sailor and his Bride 364

114. Pretty Sally (Sally and her True Love, Billy) 366

115. A Gay Spanish Maid 371

116. The Pretty Mohea 372

117. The Soldier's Wooing 375

118. Lady Leroy 377

119. The Banks of Sweet Dundee 379

120. William Taylor 382

121. Dog and Gun 384

122. Pretty Polly 387

123. The Jack of Tar 389

124. Young Johnny, 390

125. The Milkmaid 392

126. My Pretty Maid (Seventeen Come Sunday) 394

127. Kitty Wells 395

128. The Yellow Rose of Texas 396

129. The Drunkard's Dream 398

130. Forward Boys, Hurrah! 401

131. Temperance Song 403

132. When I was One-and-Twenty 404

133. Jonah 405

134. The Little Family 407

135. The Twelve Joys 409

136. Wicked Polly 411

137. The True Lover's Farewell 413

138. The Green Willow Tree (The Sprig of Thyme) 415

139. The Green Laurels (The Orange and Blue) ........ 417

140. Young Ladies (Little Sparrow) 419

141. Youth and Folly 422

142. Maggie Goddon 424

143. A Forsaken Lover 425

144. Love has brought Me to Despair 427

145. The Butcher Boy 430

146. Farewell, Sweet Mary 433

147. Mary o' the Dee 435

148. Mary of the Wild Moor 437

149. The Gypsy's Warning 439

150. Fair Fanny Moore 441

151. Erin's Green Shore 442

152. Poor Little Joe 445

153. The Orphan Girl 446

154. The Blind Man's Regret 448

155. The Dishonest Miller 450

156. Father Grumble 455

157. An Old Woman's Story 464

158. The Spanish Lady 465

159. Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me? 467

160. A Bachelor's Lament 468

161. Little Johnny Green 469

162. The Frog and the Mouse 470

163. The Fox 474

164. The Ranger 476

165. The Three Farmers 478

166. The Three Rogues 480

167. The Skin-and-Bone Lady 482

168. Billy Boy 484

169. The Old Man Who came over the Moor 489

170. Old Grimes 490

171. The Cobbler's Boy 491

172. The Young Man Who travelled up and down 492

173. The Young Man Who would n't hoe Corn 494

174. Old Joe Clog 495

175. Old Sam Fanny 496

176. Ground Hog Song 498

177. Davy Crockett 499

178. Creation Song 501

179. The Arkansaw Traveller 503

180. The Nigger Tune 506

181. Old Noah 508

182. A Glorious Wedding 510

183. Hard Times 511

184. Putting on the Style 514

185. Get up and bar the Door (Child, No. 275) 516


FOLK TUNES (Music)

Six Kings' Daughters 521

The Miller's Two Daughters . 521

The Greenwood Siding 522

The Three Crows 522

Lady Margaret 522

Sweet William and Lady Margaret 523

Barbara Allen 523

The Gypsy Davy 524

The House Carpenter 524

McAfee's Confession 525

Ye Sons of Columbia 525

The Wreck on the C & 525,527

Joe Bowers 527

Young Charlotte 528

Young Beeham 528

William Hall 528

Mollie Vaunders 529

Charming Beauty Bright 529

The Squire 530

Young Ladies 530

The Butcher Boy 530

The Dishonest Miller 531

Frog went a-courtin' 531

The Fox 531

Three Farmers 532

Billy Boy 532

Index of Titles 535

Index of First Lines 539

ILLUSTRATIONS

Mr. George W. Cunningham 6

Mr. Luther Burwell 36

Residence of Mr. Luther Burwell 36

Mrs. Rachel Fogg 112

Mr. and Mrs. Sam Turman 280

Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Turman 280

Mr. John B. Adkins 330

Mrs. Nancy McDonald McAtee 382

Map of West Virginia

____________________

INTRODUCTION

IN the early part of 1913, Mr. E. C. Smith, a student in West Virginia University from Weston, Lewis County, procured for me a copy of the popular song, "John Hardy." It was promptly forwarded to Professor Kittredge, and was printed in The Journal of American Folk-Lore, April- June, 1913, pp. 180-182. That was the beginning of the West Virginia Folk-Lore Collection. Throughout  the campaign Mr. Smith continued to be one of our most ardent collectors, and at least seventeen songs are placed to his credit.

Little progress was made for a period of two years. In the summer of 1915, Dr. C. Alphonso Smith gave a series of lectures in the Summer School of West Virginia University. One of these was on the  survival of popular English and Scottish ballads in the South. It  was received with great enthusiasm by a large audience made up  mostly of school teachers from various parts of the state. In answer  to queries by Dr. Smith, it was discovered that several persons present either knew or had heard some of the ballads mentioned. Before  he left the platform, he urged that an organized effort be made to collect and preserve whatever of this material might be recovered.  Out of this suggestion grew the West Virginia Folk-Lore Society,  which was organized July 15, 1915. The following officers were  elected: President, Archivist, and General Editor, Professor John Harrington Cox, West Virginia University, Morgan town; Vice-President, Dr. Robert Allen Armstrong, West Virginia University; Secretary-Treasurer, Professor Walter Barnes, Fairmont Normal School, Fairmont.

Our first annual meeting was held at Morgan town in connection  with the Summer School. There was a large audience present to hear the programme, which consisted of a reading and discussion, by the  President, of the following songs and tale: "Fair Annie and Gregory," "Dandoo," "John Hardy," "The Dying Cowboy," "Father Grumble," "De Blue-Tail Fly," "De Hebbenly Road," "A Burial  Song," and "The Witch Bridle." Professor Barnes sang several of  the old ballads, among them "Barbara Allen." The officers for the  first year were reelected for three years. No other election of officers  has ever been held.

In his first annual report the President acknowledged the obligation of the Society to the President of West Virginia University, Dr. Frank Butler Trotter, whose sympathy with the movement had  enabled the Editor to make numerous addresses in different parts of the state, and to the managing editor of the West Virginia School  Journal and Educator, Dr. Waitman Barbe, who had afforded space  for monthly articles. Much valuable material of all sorts had been  collected, including twenty-five old ballads, one hundred and seventy-seven songs, thirteen ghost stories and witch tales, and a large  number of counting-out rhymes, riddles, singing games, negro melodies, and so forth.

On the evening of June 28, 191 7, at West Virginia University, the  Folk-Lore Society held its second annual meeting. The programme  consisted of a brief report of progress, a reading of specimens of  West Virginia popular ballads, old songs, witch tales, local legends,  negro melodies and spirituals by the President, and a singing of three  of the old popular ballads by Professor Barnes. Sixty-five persons  sent in material during the year, fifty-four of these being new contributors, thus making a total membership of one hundred and eighty. Five more of the popular English and Scottish ballads were found, bringing the number up to thirty. A large mass of  other material was also sent in, making the total number of individual communications approximately two hundred and forty.

As it turned out, the second annual meeting was the last. The  methods for collecting material were proving so successful that it was  not worth while to hold annual meetings. From the beginning, the  organization was of a very loose nature, and it soon became little  more than a name under which we worked. The interest, though  widespread, was chiefly individual, and gradually the activities of the Society centered in its President.

The state of West Virginia holds its County Teachers' Institutes  during the months of July, August, and September, and our first objective was to get the movement presented at each of these institutes.  Dr. C. Alphonso Smith had left with the Editor a bulletin issued by  the United States Bureau of Education, which he had been instrumental in getting out, in which was printed an article by him entitled, "A Great Movement in which Every One can Help." This  article gave information about the English and Scottish Popular  Ballads and suggestions as to how one might help in collecting them.  It was followed by a complete list of the three hundred and five titles  with their variants. A mimeograph copy was made of them and sent  to one of the instructors in each of the County Institutes. The Editor knew many of these instructors personally, and the request to  have the plans and purposes of the Society presented at the institutes received prompt and courteous attention. Almost immediately contributions began to come in. The enthusiasm of Professor Barnes  did much to insure the early success of the movement. Including variants, twenty-nine ballads and songs are placed to his credit.

Without doubt the greatest single factor in our success was the  West Virginia School Journal and Educator, then owned by Drs. Robert Allen Armstrong and Waitman Barbe of West Virginia University, and the Hon. M. P. Shawkey, State Superintendent of Schools. These men were all interested in the success of the Society.  Dr. Barbe was the Managing Editor, and his unfailing courtesy in  providing space whenever it was wanted deserves our profound  gratitude. Since this periodical reached a large proportion of the  teachers of the state, the Society was able to get its appeal voiced  in practically every community.

The campaign through the state educational paper opened with  the September number, 1915, and the last of the folk-lore articles  appeared in the July issue, 1919, having run through a period of four  years and numbering altogether thirty-seven.

From the inception of the movement, the President of the Society  by personal letters and interviews sought the assistance of students  and others throughout the state. The immediate response in enthusiasm and help was one of the greatest factors in our success.  The diligence and methods of some of these persons were so notable  that they deserve special mention.

Mr. Fred M. Smith of the Glenville Normal School by continuous  assignments of such topics as folk-songs, superstitions, and local legends to his various composition classes throughout a year, secured a  great mass of excellent material. He found also that the eagerness of  the students to discover such things and to put them into good form  furnished a motive not easily secured for composition work. Moreover, these exercises developed a keenness and an originality in getting material and organizing it which are seldom obtained. Thirty-eight contributions are accredited to Mr. Smith. Miss Sallie Evans of the Elkins High School pursued the same methods with equally good  results. Her contributions number thirty-one. In addition, she enlisted especially the interest of the Sophomore Class, which, in order  to secure a lecture on West Virginia folk-lore, dramatized the story  of Silas Marner. With the proceeds of their performance, they obtained their lecturer, paid the expenses of him and his wife to  Elkins, entertained them royally, and had some money left over with  which they bought books for the library.

Miss Maud I. Jefferson, the teacher of English in the West Liberty Normal School, by talks on West Virginia folk-lore aroused the  interest of thirteen girls. These girls, by searching the community  and by writing home to their parents and friends, found a large number of valuable songs. They then prepared an original entertainment,  made up in large part of songs, superstitions, and so forth, which  they presented before the school and the people of the community.  At this entertainment, the President of the Folk-Lore Society gave  an address.

In response to a personal request, Mrs. W. M. Parker, Hinton,  Summers County, with laborious and painstaking care hunted up  people, interviewed railroad men, ferreted out data, wrote letters,  and made it possible to secure complete information as to names,  dates, and places concerning the wreck that occurred near that place  on October 23, 1890, out of which grew the ballad, "The Wreck on  the C. & 0." She also secured other valuable material in the way of  old songs and negro spirituals.

Mr. E. I. Kyle, a student in West Virginia University from Welch,  McDowell County, performed like valuable service in the case of  "John Hardy." He not only secured accurate information as to  names, dates, places, and incidents, but by searching the court records he discovered the sentence pronounced upon the man by the  Judge. Without his aid, the case would probably never have been  entirely cleared up.

Mrs. Hillary G. Richardson, Clarksburg, Harrison County, who  had long been an ardent folk-lorist, made a unique contribution of  some thirty ballads and songs, practically all of which were procured  from two genuine old ballad-singers, Mrs. Rachel Fogg and Mrs.  Nancy McAtee, of whom full account is given below. She arranged  also for a lecture by the President of the Society before the Woman's  Club of Clarksburg, and later made it possible for him to become  acquainted with the old ballad-singers, to hear them sing, and to  secure pictures of them.

One of the most persistent and successful of our co-laborers was  Miss Lily Hagans, Morgantown, Monongalia County. She not only  inspired others with her enthusiasm but made directly nineteen contributions.

The first genuine ballad-singer discovered was Mr. George W.  Cunningham, Elkins, Randolph County. He was attending the Summer School in the session of 1915 when the Society was organized. He not only knew some of the traditional ballads but he sang  them to Professor Barnes, who communicated both words and music.  These songs were, "The House Carpenter" (Child, 243), "The Greenwood Siding" (Child, 20), "Six Kings' Daughters" (Child, 4), and "Barbara Allen" (Child, 84). Five other songs were reported  by Professor Barnes as having come from him. His interest in the  movement prompted his appointment as an Official Correspondent.  Eight songs secured from other persons were communicated by him, making a total of seventeen contributions. I heard him sing some of  the old songs on one occasion only. He sang in a loud, strong voice  that had good carrying qualities. His personality and character can  best be gathered from his photograph and his autobiography, which  is as follows:

[Dated at Elkins, Randolph County, January 8, 1922.] I was born February  8, 1858, close to the Upper Fork of Cheat River, in Randolph County, West  Virginia, then Virginia. My father was Jackson Cunningham, a poor man of unsettled, roving disposition. He removed eight or ten times during the nine-  teen years of his married life, my mother dying when I was sixteen years of age.

I was about ten years old when I started to school, but I had learned at home  so that I could go with about the most advanced classes, and when school closed  in about seven weeks, I "stood head" in an advanced spelling class many of  whom were nearly twice as tall as I. I soon knew the multiplication table on  "Hagerstown Almanac" to 25 times 25, and could do any common problem in  fundamental rules or fractions, much more quickly mentally than I can now by  figures. The morning I was eight years old I tried to calculate how many seconds old I was, but could not well remember the result.

During my narrow life between ten and twenty years, I managed to attend  the crude country schools for about fifteen months, mostly under poorly prepared teachers; but I attended county Normals in Barbour County for four  months in 1878, making a first grade certificate that fall in a text book test fully  as exacting as I 've ever seen under the uniform system.

This is my fortieth year as teacher and grade school principal, and my sixty-fifth term of school, three of which were subscription terms; my first three terms  were taught in Barbour County, all the rest in Randolph County.

I have lived in Randolph County all my life, practically, except four years I  lived in Barbour County. Living upon small farms owned by me in Dry Fork  and Leadville districts successively, I made an honest though frugal and restricted living by teaching and farming in combination, as circumstances allowed.

When nearly twenty-six years old, I married Miss Mollie Hamrick of Barbour County, whose father, Graham Hamrick, emigrated in the late fifties from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Barbour County, rearing there a family of eight  children by teaching singing schools, and by other strenuous employments. In  his old age he discovered a wonderful process of embalming, but was too handicapped and feeble to handle it successfully.

My wife and I reared eight children, five girls and three boys, to mature age,  the girls all being successful and popular teachers for some years. The mother  passed to her reward on October 4, 1921.

My grandfather, Stephen Cunningham, was a native of Highland County,  Virginia, and was of Irish descent. His father, William Cunningham, came  across from either Ireland or Scotland, and had many awful adventures with the Indians. My mother was Eleanor Wimer, a native of Pendleton County, West  Virginia. Her father and mother were of Dutch or German descent. Her father,  George Wimer, reared a steady, industrious family of twelve children, and her  grandfather, Henry Wimer, was one of four brothers who came to Virginia from  either Holland or Germany.

I am near sixty-four years old, five feet ten inches tall, weigh now one hundred  eighty-five pounds; complexion dark, blue eyes, fair skin, hair fast turning gray.  I was really never under the care of a physician, never had a fever, never had a
dentist in my mouth except to extract a few teeth, never danced, never drank  spiritous liquors of consequence. I pay my debts, try to attend to my own business, and am vitally concerned in the welfare of my posterity and of our country.

My father was a charming singer, though he knew nothing of the science of  music. He sang many thrilling folk-songs and ballads. My mother could carry  but few tunes. I was deeply interested in music from early childhood, learning all the songs and hymns that I could find. My people and acquaintances were  mostly singers of songs. One of father's sisters, who never married, lived with us  and taught me sketches of several rich old English ballads. Laban White, of  Dry Fork District, taught me a few, but Ellen Howell, a noted woman who it worked round and mingled freely in social pastimes, often lived with us, and freely taught me many folk-songs, ballads, and ghost stories. She, late in life,  married an old widower named John Eye.

The social gatherings and entertainments of my early days were rather restricted and crude, and rough, yet they were generally real and impressive, and  though my chance of mingling in them was narrow until I was about seventeen, yet I got a peep sometimes as most people do, ofttimes to their regret. House-raisings, log-rollings, corn-huskings, apple and pumpkin-cuttings, bean-stringings, kissing-plays, and last, but not least, drunken frolics were the order of the times among most of the people. Very generally the gatherings ended with a dance or play-party. Of course there was often some rough and lewd conduct, though I doubt whether there was really as much vicious conduct then as now, except in the line of drinking, which was almost universal then.

Mrs. Nancy McAtee, whom I visited December 10, 1921, is a genuine old ballad-singer living in Clarksburg, Harrison County. Her little house stands on the bank of the West Fork of the Monongahela River. A railroad passes in front of it, some ten or a dozen feet away. In several houses of the same style, stretched along a cinder path, live children and grandchildren. The place is known as "McAtee Row."

In answer to my knock, Mrs. McAtee appeared at the door. She had evidently just arisen from her morning meal and was still munching part of it. To my query as to whether I could get some breakfast she replied, "No, I hain't got nothin' in the house to feed a stranger." As she stood in the doorway, I beheld a woman about sixty-five or seventy years old, slightly above the medium height, lean, and with small, grayish-blue eyes. She was poorly clad, her shoulders a little stooped, and her cheek bones a trifle prominent.

She showed some hesitancy in inviting me into the house, volunteering the information that her husband was sick in bed. When I mentioned the name of Mrs. Richardson, her attitude became immediately one of friendliness, and she appeared greatly pleased at my saying I had come a long way to see her and to hear her sing. She began at once to say that she could not remember "them old things," and to talk of her husband and her family, a considerable number of whom had crowded into the room, from a stalwart son-in-law to a tousled baby in arms. Without delay the son-in-law took the lead in the conversation and told me a regular hard-luck story about unemployment. It took no little tact and patience to manage it so as to be alone with Mrs. McAtee and to get her to talk of things I wished to know about. Having seen the stranger and found in him nothing of great interest, the relatives gradually retired and gave me the opportunity sought.

Our common acquaintance with Mrs. Richardson was an open sesame, and soon Mrs. McAtee was talking freely and with ease. Of average natural intelligence, she was innocent of all knowledge outside of her little world. Her father was Morris McDonald, born in Ireland and brought to this country while still a baby. The family eventually made its way to Randolph County, West Virginia, where her father located on a farm. Her mother's name was Emsey Barnett. There were nine children in the family, of whom she was the seventh. She had evidently led a hard life, as was indicated by the lines in her face. While I was getting all the information I could, I felt that she was calculating whether she could not get something out of me. This judgment turned out to be correct, for when the subject of pictures was broached she asked, "You're goin' to give me Christmas gift, ain't ye?" A prompt reply in the affirmative removed all barriers of reluctancy. She told me about her own family, six children, two dead, the others "married and living right here in the Row." She mentioned Lucy, Maude, and Mamie, and their husbands, Eli Murphy, Sylvester Ashcraft, and John Hoop. There had been twenty-six grandchildren, now only thirteen. One of them was called in and exhibited by the proud father as a prodigy seven years old that had never had any front teeth. She and her family had been "right here over fifty years" where her "old man" had worked on the streets until he was too old and feeble to get about. She jerked her head toward a mound of bedclothes on one of the beds, saying, "That 's him," who, during all the time I was there, made not the least movement nor manifested the slightest sign of life.

I did not try to secure any songs from her because Mrs. Richardson had previously communicated to me what she knew. I was interested in seeing her, hearing her sing, and in getting her picture.  Upon request she sang for me what she called "McAtee" ("Mc-Afee's Confession") in a low, monotonous tone, with little modulation, in a voice not unpleasant, but with an inclination to be a little  whiny, an approximation to a chant. The one song was all that she  could remember at the moment, but Mrs. Richardson reports that  she knows in whole, or in part, twenty-four ballads and songs. The  ballads sent to me from her are "Barby Ellen" (Child, 84), "Lord  Leven" (Child, 75), "Lady Margaret" (Child, 74), "Fair Ellender" (Child, 73), and "Geordie" (Child, 209). All these old things she  said she had learned from the "kids" back in Randolph County.

It is evidently the custom of Mrs. McAtee to comment on the  story as she sings or narrates, as is evidenced by the manuscripts  sent me by Mrs. Richardson, in which Mrs. McAtee's remarks are  enclosed in parentheses. Many like the following are to be found:

McAtee's Confession

All this day for you I 've sought. (Lettin' on he 's been thinkin' about her.)
All on her throat my hands I laid. (He 'lowed to give her a good chokin'.)

The Sheffield Apprentice

About half way through the ballad:
(That's a dog-gone long ballet.)

A gold ring on my finger,
Just as I passed by,
She slipped into my pocket,
And fur this I must die.

(You see they hung 'em then fur that.)

A Pretty Fair Maid in a Garden

And if he stays for seven years longer,
No man on earth shall marry me.

(It was him a-talking to her but she did n't know it.)
You'll never see his face again (He was jus' foolin' her.)

Davy Crockett

I'll tell you where I come from,
And where I got my learning.
(This is a funny one!)

And he'll pretty quick show you,
How to grin a coon crazy.
(This is jus' fun!)

In a letter dated February 7, 1918, Mrs. Richardson writes: "Poor old Mrs. McAtee! the one whose son was ' not redimpted ' came up  yesterday to tell me she had had a telegram saying he was down by the water front/ and it was ' sure some big water/ and if they  did n't send him soon ' he'd swim across an' git that Kaiser.' When  he left he did not even know why, but told some one they were  1 goin' to git that feller they 're sendin' us after.' So, you see, maybe  in some ways he is being ' redimpted ' after all."

Leaving " McAtee Row," I hastened across the city to South Water Street to see Mrs. Rachel Fogg, the other old ballad-singer
whose songs had been sent to me by Mrs. Richardson. Turning off  the street and going up a little alley about five feet wide for a short  distance, I found her house crowded in among others of its kind. In answer to my knock, the door was opened by a short, very stout,  elderly woman, clad in a checked flannel dress of one piece, wearing  on her head a sort of wool cap. She looked the picture of woe, and to my inquiry as to whether I could come in and visit with her a little while, she replied in a slow voice that drawled just a trifle that it was  a mighty bad time for her to see me. Her son's wife, who lived at  Akron, Ohio, had died just a few days before, and she was sorely troubled because none of the family living in and around Clarksburg had gone to the funeral. Her son was a cripple, and she was in great distress as to how he managed without any of his relatives at hand. Two of her daughters came in while I was there, and the matter was discussed in detail, while from time to time tears poured down the cheeks of the old ballad-singer when she thought of her best-beloved son among strangers in his hour of grief. Truly, it was a bad time for one to call on such a mission as mine.

But in the midst of all her perturbations, this old ballad-singer showed a remarkable composure, and again the mention of the name of Mrs. Richardson gained me entrance to a confidence that I fear would otherwise have been closed. Mrs. Richardson was her good angel, and from listening to her praises for a time it was easy to lead off into the story that I wanted.

She was "born and raised," she said, in Upshur County, between Flatwoods and the Little Kanawha, just a little way from Centersville, and had attended the public schools. At the age of sixteen, she was married to a whiskey-drinking, card-playing man named Erastus Fogg. He spent most of his time when they lived in the country in hunting and got a little money by shipping furs and turtles. Not long after their marriage they moved into Harrison County, where she had been for over forty years. Her husband was a blacksmith by trade, but did not work much. Her family had consisted of six sons and three daughters, one son and one daughter now dead. Of grandchildren she had seven living and six dead. Her father was Sam
Eakles, "born and raised" in Bath County, Virginia, who had been in the war between the North and the South. Her mother was Elizabeth Ann Poling, born in Barbour County, West Virginia. She told me that her great-great-grandmother, Anna Easter, "came over the ocean in the time of the Indian wars. I think it was from Germany. She was German-Dutch. Her husband had come from Green County, Pennsylvania. He was Dutch-English." An incident of her childhood had left a strong impression on her memory. Once when she had been sent for the cows, she got lost while hunting for flowers. "It was on Sunday, and I got scairt and run on and on and could not get back home. When they found me and got me back, I couldn't sleep none that night. I was crazy in my head."

When I visited this old ballad-singer, December 10, 1921, she was sixty-three years old. Her large dark eyes, still fine, must have been beautiful in her youth, eyes which readily lit up with the trace of a twinkle at the suggestion of humor. She made her living, she told me, by washing, begging, and selling off things that she could get along without. Times were hard, men were out of work, and women were doing their own washing instead of sending it out. She readily sang at my request, two songs, "Jesse James" and "Johnny Collins," in a low contralto voice, heavy and mournful. She carried the tunes well. She had had an excellent voice once, she said, but it had been ruined by sickness, "measles, broncheetis, and tonsileetis." Diphtheria had visited her twice also. Formerly she had been an ardent member of the Salvation Army, but latterly she seldom attended.

A small Christmas gift voluntarily bestowed caused her to hasten into another room and bring out some pictures of her family and one of herself, taken when she was "dressed up" and using crutches on account of a serious accident. She impressed me as having a strong personality that in some way would weather all the storms of adversity.

Another West Virginia ballad-singer is John B. Adkins, whose post-office is Branchland, Lincoln County, in the far southern part of the state, and so I have never had the good pleasure of seeing him or hearing him sing. Thirteen contributions are placed to his credit, among them three of the traditional ballads, namely, "Little Willie" (Child, 49), "Lady Gay" (Child, 79), and "Lord Batesman" (Child, 53). At my request he wrote the following sketch and sent me his picture and a picture of his house.

I am thirty-three years old, born October 14th, 1888, in Cabell County, West Virginia, on the farm where I now live. My situation is the extreme southeast corner of Cabell County, near the Wayne and Lincoln County lines, about twenty-five miles southeast of Huntington. Have never lived anywhere else. I weigh a hundred seventy-five pounds, six feet tall, medium light complexion, black hair and brown eyes. Education limited, as I was forced to leave school at an early age (at sixteen) and have been an invalid and semi-shut-in ever since. For a livelihood I have a small hand printing plant on which I do very creditable
work, such as printing letter-heads, envelopes, cards, tags, etc., and my trade comes mostly by the mail-order route. I also do photograph work on a small scale and have a magazine subscription agency with my shop, and also do repair work on watches, clocks, guns, telephones, phonographs, and other portable machinery that is brought to me, so you see I have quite a variety of things going on at times, and my place is known as "Sundry Service Station," but after all, my earning capacity is small, owing to isolated conditions and ill health.

My parents were both born and raised in Cabell County; Mother is Irish and Father is of English descent. His fore-parents came here from Giles County, Virginia, many years ago. Mother's maiden name was Keenan. She is the granddaughter of Patrick Keenan, an Irish emigrant who came to this country over one hundred years ago and settled at Kanawha Falls, Virginia (now West Virginia).

The old songs which I sent you I learned when a boy, by hearing them sung by different people, some at log-rollings, others at house-raisings, parties, dances, etc., which was the most popular place for some singer to be called upon to render some one or more selections of these old-time songs. Like all boys the "doings" of these older people naturally interested me and I learned some of the old songs by trying to imitate them.

In addition to the activities already mentioned, the President of the Society performed important duties in various other directions. Scores of lectures were delivered throughout the campaign to colleges, normal schools, high schools, grade schools, colored schools, teachers' institutes, round table meetings, women's clubs, commencements, entertainments, and social functions of different kinds. The large Summer School at the University gave him an admirable opportunity to speak to many students and teachers from every corner of the state. At some time during the first semester of each college year, he delivered a lecture on folk-lore to all the numerous sections of freshmen in the University. This personal touch had
much to do with keeping the interest alive.

At the annual meeting of the Ohio Valley Historical Association in Pittsburgh during the Christmas holidays in 1917, it was decided that at the next meeting to be held at Berea, Kentucky, in the autumn of 1919, there should be a session devoted to folk-lore. Through the suggestions of Dean J. M. Callahan of West Virginia University, and the Hon. Wilson M. Foulk, State Historian and Archivist of West Virginia, the President of the West Virginia Folk-Lore Society was invited to read a paper at that meeting. In order that he might secure certain material in the extreme southern part of the state, the Department of History and Archives appropriated seventy-five dollars toward the expenses of such a trip and the State Department of Free Schools arranged for him to help conduct several institutes in that section. The venture turned out well. The material was secured and the paper read at Berea as planned.

Some of the incidents of this tour are worth recording and some of the personages worth describing as an essential part in the history of this movement. The last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August were devoted to the work. The field, only partially covered, was the counties of Mingo, Welch, Boone, and Clay. In the last two of the counties named the work was all done at the county institutes. In the other two it was more important and needs to be told in detail.

Leaving Huntington, Cabell County, on Sunday morning, I made my first stop at Richards, a small station on the Norfolk and Western Railroad, on the West Virginia side of the Big Sandy River. I had previously been informed by Mr. A. C. Davis, Superintendent of Schools at Williamson, Mingo County, that on the opposite side of the river from Richards lived a Mr. Sam Turman, who knew many old ballads and songs.

I arrived at his house about noon and met with a most cordial reception. A good portion of the afternoon was spent in walking about, looking at the place, and in getting acquainted. During the late afternoon and all the evening, I wrote down the words of old songs as he sang or recited them. Country people go to bed early, and we planned to finish the work in the morning. But alas! "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley," and so did ours. While we
were at breakfast the next morning, we heard a crash and loud
shrieks. A freight train had struck a gasoline hand-car right in front
of his house. We all rushed to the door where a most horrible sight
greeted us. Men scattered in all directions, some of them literally
masses of flame, burning, alive. It is not necessary to give details.
In spite of all our efforts, four of the men were dead in a short time
and others terribly mangled. It was almost noon before they were all transported to a hospital at some place several miles up the river. Dinner was a solemn affair. No more ballad-collecting that day, and in the afternoon I continued my journey up the river, crossing back  into West Virginia.

In a letter dated December 1, 1921, Buchanan, Kentucky, Mr. Turman furnishes the following data concerning himself:

I was born and raised here at what has always been known as Turman's Ferry, on the Big Sandy, twelve miles east of Cattletsburg, Ky., and thirteen miles west of Louise, Ky. My father owned the first farm in Boyd County, adjoining Lawrence County, Ky., which farm I now own. We had a three months school each year when I was a boy, a log school house with hewed logs for seats. I attended those schools until I was sixteen years old. I never got farther than long division in arithmetic. Reading and writing was about all that was taughtat that day.

Our country back of the river was almost a virgin forest, so old settlers would have a log-rolling and a quilting and a play or dance at night. So the folks would all gather in and play and sing and dance all night. We just went from one neighbor's house to another's in winter. My grandfather, John Turman, came from old Virginia. My grandmother's maiden name was Jones. My grandfather on my mother's side was German and English. Grandfather Turman was English.

In 1880 1 began to assist the old soldiers in getting their pensions. I gave that
a study and I don't guess there ever was or ever will be another man that has
done for those old widows and orphans as I have done. I have always taken their
claims, furnished the money and time to work up their claims, and few there are
that were not placed on the roll. I have been for the last fifteen years connected
with two law firms, who call me into some big cases for my advice and opinion.
Although I never had a licence to practice law there are but few lawyers who
know more than I do. The man that you and I. cut and tore the clothes off that
was burning, died before they got him to the hospital. His wife employed me to
look after her interest, and two other of the men who were injured employed me,
so I furnished, the money and fought it all through the courts; came out with
$23,000 damages. The man that was burning down under the railroad in the
field died. His wife and the four got only $4000 each.

Mr. A. C. Davis, mentioned above, furnishes additional information:

Mr. Turman is seventy years old. He is a very shrewd man in his work as
Pension attorney. Some people have accused him of overdoing his shrewdness.
I do not know whether this is true or not, but even if he has, I think he makes up
when he finds some one in trouble or needing help. I have never known any one
more willing to help in trouble than Mr. Turman.

He is always jolly and in a good humor, has reared a family of boys who are
also jolly and are doing well in their professions.

You remember that the railroad runs near his house and through his farm.
Ever since I have known him he has been in some suit with the railroad com-
pany for some sort of damage and I have never known him fail in winning a ver-
dict. He helped some of the widows and other defendants in their suit against
the railroad which came as a result of the wreck while you were at his home, win-
ning some pretty big damage suits.

A joke which is told of him I know you will enjoy. He was assisting a certain
soldier in getting a pension and the fellow was supposed to be deaf or nearly so.
The time for the medical examination came and one of the examiners suspicioned
that there might be some fixing up, so some time during the procedure this ex-
aminer began talking to this fellow and telling him jokes. At last he said he wanted to tell him one concerning Mr. Turman, so he whispered it. When he  was through with the joke the applicant gave a very hearty laugh. As a result, the applicant did not get as high a rate of pension as he had planned.

Mr. Turman weighs one hundred and sixty-five pounds, is about  five feet seven inches high, and has very bright, keen blue eyes. He  sings the old songs in a loud, stentorious voice, with much gusto, and  in a style approaching what is characterized in Mr. McKenzie's  "Quest of the Ballad'' as roaring.

On a previous trip to the southern part of the state I had made the
acquaintance of Mr. Charles H. Ellis, County Superintendent of
Schools of Mingo County. He belongs to the famous Hatfield family
of West Virginia, the one that carried on the feud for so many years
with the McCoys. His mother was Nancy Hatfield, daughter of Ali,
who married Ballard Ellis. She died when her son Charles was three
months old, and he was taken and brought up by his uncle, Joseph
Hatfield. It was a great privilege to hear from Mr. Ellis the history
of the feud as the Hatfields knew it. The notes taken, however, are
confidential and at this time of writing may not be made public. Mr.
Ellis contributed the Tolliver-Martin Feud Song contained in this
volume and gave valuable aid toward furthering the search. He
planned to make a trip with me over the mountains to visit " Devil
Anse" Hatfield, the famous leader of the Hatfield feudists, but on
account of its being war times we found it impossible to secure horses
for the trip. Since then "Devil Anse" has died, and I feel that fate
has cheated me out of a bit of experience really worth while.

One man only was found in Williamson who could sing any of the
old songs. He knew "Logan County Court House," in this volume,
and several fragments. Not much was learned about him. He was a
store-keeper, a man about sixty years old, strong and vigorous. He
had a good voice and sang in a loud tone. His name was J. D. James.

Mr. W. C. Cook, County Superintendent of McDowell County,
was also very courteous and helpful. Through him introductions
were secured to various county officers, and men previously in office,
some of whom had known John Hardy and had been present at his
trial and hanging. Some important data were secured from these
men about the famous negro criminal. He also introduced me to a
prominent negro, Mr. James Knox Smith, of Keystone, from whom
I got some of the most valuable information concerning John Hardy
and a version of "The Vance Song," all of which is recorded in the
proper place in this volume.

Mr. Smith was a practising lawyer. He was born in Tazewell County, Virginia, near the courthouse. His parents were slaves. His early legal knowledge was acquired by studying in the law office of  Judge Christian. When he applied to the circuit judges for an ex-
amination for admission to the bar, he was refused on the ground that
he was a negro. He then read law some further under Major Cecil,
who advised him to apply to the supreme court of West Virginia for
admission to practice. He did so in 1894 and was admitted. The
judges who admitted him were Brandon, Holt, and English. Ever
since, he has practised in the circuit and federal courts of West Vir-
ginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. These statements
are given on the authority of Mr. Smith himself.

Mr. Smith is a good-looking negro, about sixty years old, of aver-
age height, stockily built, and very black. He has an easy manner,
plenty of self-confidence, and is a fluent speaker. I called on him one
afternoon in his office in Keystone and found hanging on one of his
walls a photograph of John Hardy on the gallows. It had formerly
hung for many years in the City Hall in Keystone, but when that
building burned Mr. Smith rescued it. It seemed to give him much
pleasure to present it to the Folk-Lore Society.

On a Sunday morning Mr. Cook drove me over from Welch to
English, where I took the train for Barclay, at which place I was to
see a Mr. A. C. Payne. He was sixty-seven years old when I saw him,
a big, raw-boned man, over six feet tall. In his younger days he had
been handsome, with strong, fine features, and raven-black hair, now
streaked with gray. He had been born near English and had always
lived in McDowell County. He was one of the jurymen that con-
victed John Hardy.

Mr. Payne was an old-time fiddler, whose fame is ever green in that
part of our state and no doubt will be so for a long while to come.
Although he bore traces of his sixty-seven years and the ravages of
rheumatism, he had about him something of the air of everlasting
youth. I spent the whole Sunday with him, listening to him play the
fiddle, sing snatches of old songs, and get off some of the "lingo"
that he used to give at dances, song or fiddle tune interspersed with
comments. His voice was still fairly good and he sang with apprecia-
tion and in a manner not out of the ordinary. He was living with his
daughter, who kept a sort of boarding-place.

The last place at which a genuine singer was found on this trip was
Matewan, Mingo County, a place since made notorious on account
of the battle between Sid Hatfield and his followers on one side and
the Baldwin-Felts detectives on the other. This man was W. E.
Boggs, a short, somewhat fleshy man with a round, smooth face,
jolly and good-natured as the day is long. I discovered him as I walked along the railroad. He was driving a mule- team hitched to a  wagon-load of coal. He sang because he could not help it, I judge, in
a high tenor voice, very penetrating and far-reaching. He was just
a hired man of the old-time sort, never expected to be anything dif-
ferent, nor cared for anything different. He was happy at his work,
enjoyed a song and a jest, or a glass of " moonshine," which might be
readily had from Kentucky just across the river. He told me that he
learned the songs he sang from his brother, thirty-five years ago, who
was afterward killed in Ashland, Kansas, by cowboys. His memory
was not very good and he knew nothing perfectly. When he lost the
exact words he gave the thought in prose and did not seem to be able
to extemporize in the least.

Mr. Burwell Luther, another of the genuine ballad-singers whose
contributions appear in this volume, lived at Shoals, Wayne County,
West Virginia. His niece, Anna Copley, writes of him under date of
March 4, 1922, as follows:

Mr. Burwell Luther was born in i860 and died.in 1920, just before his sixtieth
birthday. Height, five feet, ten inches; weight, close to two hundred pounds
when in health; complexion, dark; brown eyes, brown hair. Born in Wayne
County, West Virginia. Lived here most of his life. Has been in the West but
not for long periods. Was attendant and Supervisor at Spencer Hospital several
years and at West Virginia Asylum at Huntington. Farming was the main oc-
cupation of his life. He was interested in politics and kept well up on current
events. He was very fond of children. Was never married. His father was Eng-
lish. His mother was a Stephenson before marriage, and this family was sup-
posed to have come from the Carolinas, and was Scotch, or half Scotch. His
parents were both born in Wayne County. He was a great reader, mostly the
Bible, religious books, history and fiction. He was interested in religion and
always attended church and Sunday School. He seemed inclined to the Chris-
tian faith but late in life joined the M. E. Church. He was fond of social life,
was a good dancer, and often "called" for the old-time square dances. These
dances were often preceded by log-rollings, corn-huskings, house-raisings, etc.
He often talked of these things but I do not remember anything of particular
interest. He was fond of dogs and horses, but was what you might call an in-
different sportsman.

He learned the old songs when a child from his mother. He had a tenor voice,
sang loud, and carried the tune well. This may have been only his way of sing-
ing, as he sang rather loudly any song.

Another old-time fiddler, whom I discovered at Fairmont, Monon-
galia County, was a blind man by the name of J. T. Doolittle. I
think he must have been in the neighborhood of sixty years of age
when I saw him in June, 19 18 — a man of large frame, well built, and
having a fine head. He had a genius for making musical instruments,
and had made in his day, so he told me, ninety riddles, fifty-four guitars, thirty mandolins, seven bass viols, five dulcimers, and one  ukelele. He had no fiddle at the place where I met him, nor did he  sing for me.

Official correspondents of the Society are as follows:

John B. Adkins, Branchland, Lincoln Go.

I. O. Ash, Middlebourne, Tyler Co.

Miss Sarah A. Barnes, Bruceton Mills, Preston Co.

Wallie Barnett, Leon, Mason Co.

Anna Copley, Shoals, Wayne Co.

G. W. Cunningham, Elkins, Randolph Co.

Miss Fannie Eagan, Hinton, Summers Co.

Miss Maude Groves, Deepwell, Nicholas Co.

Miss Lily Hagans, Morgantown, Monongalia Co.

Rex Hoke, Second Creek, Monroe Co.

Mrs. E. A. Hunt, Belington, Barbour Co.

Miss Sallie D. Jones, Hillsboro, Pocahontas Co.

Miss Lalah Lovett, Bulltown, Braxton Co.

J. Harrison Miller, Wardens ville, Hardy Co.

Mrs. W. M. Parker, Hinton, Summers Co.

George Paugh, Thomas, Tucker Co.

Miss Mabel Richards, Fairmont, Marion Co.

Mrs. Hilary G. Richardson, Clarksburg, Harrison Co.

Miss Elizabeth Sarver, West Liberty, Ohio Co.

E. C. Smith, Weston, Lewis Co.

Fred M. Smith, Glen ville, Gilmer Co.

W. H. S. White, Piedmont, Mineral Co.

J. H. C.

ABBREVIATIONS

Barry: Phillips Barry, Ancient British Ballads [etc.]. [A privately printed list.]

Belden: H. M. Belden, A Partial List of Song- Ballads and Other Popular Poetry
known in Missouri. Second Edition. [1910.]

Brown: F. C. Brown, Ballad- Literature in North Carolina. Reprinted from Pro-
ceedings and Addresses of the Fifteenth Annual Session of the Literary and
Historical Association of North Carolina, December 1-2, 1914.

Bulletin: The Virginia Folk-lore Society, Bulletin.

Campbell and Sharp: Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil J. Sharp, English Folk
Songs from the Southern Appalachians. New York, 1914.

Child : Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Boston,
[1883 ff J.

Cox: John Harrington Cox, contributions to The West Virginia School Journal
and Educator. Morgan town.

Gray: Roland Palmer Gray, Songs and Ballads of the Maine Lumberjacks with
Other Songs from Maine. Cambridge, 1924.

Jones : Bertrand L. Jones, Folk-Lore in Michigan . Reprint from Kalamazoo Nor-
mal Record, May, 1914, Western State Normal School, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Journal: The Journal of American Folk-Lore.

Lomax: John A. Lomax, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads. New York,
1910, 1922.

McGill: Josephine McGill, Folk-Songs of the Kentucky Mountains. New York,
copyright 191 7.

Mackenzie: W. Roy Mackenzie, The Quest of the Ballad, Princeton, 1919.

Pound (with page reference only) : Louise Pound, Folk-Song of Nebraska and
the Central West, A Syllabus. Nebraska Academy of Sciences, Publications,
Vol. IX, No. 3.

Pound (with number reference), or Pound, Ballads: Louise Pound, American
Ballads and Songs. New York [1922].

Shearin and Combs: Hubert G. Shearin and Josiah H. Combs, A Syllabus of
Kentucky Folk-Songs. (Transylvania Studies in English, II.) Lexington,
Kentucky, 191 1.

Shoemaker: Henry W. Shoemaker, North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy. Altoona,
Pennsylvania, 191 9.

Smith: C. Alphonso Smith, Ballads Surviving in the United States. Reprinted
from the January, iqi6, Musical Quarterly.

Wyman and Brockway: lonesome Tunes, Folk-Songs from the Kentucky Moun-
tains. The Words collected and edited by Loraine Wyman ; the Pianoforte
Accompaniment by Howard Brockway. New York [1916].

FOLK TUNES (Music)

Edited by Miss Lydia I. Hinkel, Head of the Department of Public School Music in West Virginia University, Morgantown, West
Virginia.

INTRODUCTION

Folk -music is the product of a people, portraying the thoughts,  feelings, and tastes that are communal rather than personal. It is  always in the process of solution, its creation is never complete, and,  owing to the manner in which it is perpetuated, it is liable to all sorts  of modifications in the course of time and the process of transmission from one locality to another.

Certain conditions are favorable to the production of folk music,  such as sparse settlements, isolation, oppression, hardship, lack of  education, and so forth. These conditions existed in West Virginia in  the early days. People were huddled back in the hills, cut off from  communication with others, living far apart, enduring hardship, and  having little opportunity for education. Consequently they entertained themselves, and one of the ways was by relating the old stories  and singing the old songs which their grandparents and relatives had
handed down to them. It is mainly from the oldest residents of
West Virginia that we have been able to obtain these tunes, either
by writing them down as these folk sing them, or having them write
them down as best they can. Many of the tunes were sent in with-
out any indication of time, with queer and incorrect note values, and
without any key signature. Most of them were sung in a very low
pitch, and, in all cases where they have not been too low for the
average singer, I have adhered to the original key.

Lydia I. Hinkel.

INDEXES

INDEX OF TITLES

Anford- Wright, The, 303.
Arkansaw Traveller, An, 239, 240.
Arkansaw Traveller, The, 503.
Ashland Tragedy, The, 189.

Bachelor's Lament, A, 468.

Bamboo Briers, The, 305.

Bandoo, 162.

Banks of Claudie, The, 321.

Banks of the Sweet Dundee, The, 379.

Barbara Allan, 109.

Barbara Allen, 96, 104, 107, 523.

Barbara Ellen, 98, 100, 105.

Barbary Ellen, 103.

Barby Ellen, 101.

Battle of Bridgewater, The, 259.

Battle of Mill Springs, The, 264.

Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, 134.

Bill Harman, 133.

Bill Stafford, 241.

Billy Boy, 484, 485, 486, 487, 532.

Black Phyllis, 215.

Blind Man's Regret, The, 448.

Blue-Eyed Ella, 199.

Bomberry Brier, The, 306.

Bonnie House o' Airlie, The, 128.

Bonny Barbara Allen, 96.

Boston Burglar, The, 296, 298.

Braes o' Yarrow, The, 137.

Bramble Brier, The, 305.

Bridgewater, 259.

Bright Sunny South, The, 280.

Broken Ring, The, 319.

Brother Green, 273, 274.

Brown Girl, The, 46, 60.

Bull Run, 269.

Butcher Boy, The, 430, 431, 530.

Butcher's Boy, The, 430.

By a Lover Saved, 118.

C. & O. Wreck, 230.

Caroline of Edinburgh Town, 362.

Carpenter's Wife, The, 148.

Charlotte, 291.

Charming Beauty Bright, 342, 529.

Clody Banks, 321.

Cobbler's Boy, The, 491.

Cold Winter's Night, A, 437.

Come, Pretty Polly, 308.

 

Comical Ditty, A, 253.

Constitution and the Guerriere, The, 257.

Corporal Schnapps, 283.

Cowboy, The, 244, 245.

Crafty Farmer, The, 166.

Creation Song, 501.

Cruel Miller, The, 311.

Cruel Mother, The, 29.

Daemon Lover, The, 139.

Dandoo, 159, 160, 161.

Davy Crockett, 499.

Death of Lazarus, The, 408.

Dishonest Miller, The, 450, 454, 531.

Dog and Gun, 384, 385.

Down by the Green Willow Tree, 116.

Down by the Greenwood Siding, 29, 30.

Down by the River Side, 356.

Drowsy Sleeper, The, 348.

Drummer Boy of Waterloo, The, 293.

Drunkard's Dream, The, 398, 399.

Dying Calif ornian, The, 232.

Dying Cowboy, The, 242, 243, 245, 247,

248.
Dying Hobo, The, 252.
Dying Ranger, The, 263.

Earl Brand, 18.

Early in the Spring, 358, 359, 360, 361.

Erin's Green Shore, 442, 443.

Fair Annie and Gregory, 83.

Fair Charlotte, 286, 291.

Fair Damsel, The, 318.

Fair Elendar and the Brown Girl, 50.

Fair Ellender, 52.

Fair Ellender and the Brown Girl, 48.

Fair Ellenger, 58.

Fair Fanny Moore, 441.

Fair Maiden, A, 317.

Fair Margaret and Sweet William, 65.

False Lover, The, 13.

Farewell, Sweet Mary, 433.

Farmer's Bride, The, 386.

Farmer's Curst Wife, The, 164.

Father Grumble, 455, 458, 459, 460,461.

Forsaken Lover, A, 425.

Forward Boys, Hurrah! 401.

Fox, The, 474, 531. 

Frog and the Mouse, The, 470.

Frog Went A-Courting, The, 470, 472, 473, 531.

Frozen Girl, The, 288.

Gay Spanish Maid, A, 371.

Gentle Virginia, 162.

Geordie, 135.

George Alley, 226, 227, 229, 230.

George Collins, 112, 113.

George Reilly, 323.

Georgie Allen, 223.

Get Up and Bar the Door, 516.

Glorious Wedding, A, 510.

Golden Vanity, The, 169.

Golden Willow Tree, The, 171.

Green Grows the Wild Isle, 418.

Green Laurels, The, 417.

Green Willow Tree, The, 169, 170, 415.

Greenwood Siding, The, 30, 522.

Ground Hog Song, 498.

Gypsy Daisy, The, 131.

Gypsy Davy, The, 130, 132, 524.

Gypsy Laddie, The, 130.

Gypsy's Warning, The, 439.

Hangman's Tree, The, 115, 116, 117, 118.

Hard Times, 511.

Henry Martin, 150.

Home Came the Old Man, 154, 156, 158.

Honest Miller, The, 453.

House Carpenter, The, 139, 141, 142, 144,

146, 147, 148, 149, 524-
House Carpenter's Wife, The, 149.
Hull's Victory, 257.

I'm a Good Old Rebel, 281.
Immortal Washington, 255, 256.
In London City, 432.
Irish Dream, The, 444.
Irishman's Dream Song, The, 444.
It Rained a Mist, 1 20.
It Rained, It Mist, 121.
It's of a Squire, 386.

Jack Monroe, 238.

Jack of Tar, The, 389.

Jackie Frasure, 330.

Jackie was a Sailor, 333.

Jackison and Dickison, 302.

Jail at Morgan town, The, 297.

Jam at Gerry's Rock, The, 236, 237.

Jam on Jerry's Rock, The, 238.

James Bird, 261.

James Harris, 139.

Jealous Lover, The, 197, 198, 200, 202.

 

Jeff Davis, 271.

Jesse James, 216.

Jew's Daughter, The, 122, 123, 125, 127.

Jew's Lady, The, 124.

Joe Bowers, 234, 527.

John Collins, 114.

John Hardy, 175, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182

183, 184, 185, 186.
John Reilly, 325.
John the German, 325.
Johnnie Randal, 25.
Johnny Collins, 111.
Johnny Germany, 328.
Johnny McDowell, 312.
Johnny Ramsay, 27.
Johnny Randolph, 24, 27.
Johnny Reeler, 28.
Jonah, 405.
Just Before the Battle, Mother, 277.

Katy Wells, 395.

King's Daughter, The, 13.

Kitty Wells, 395.

Lady Alice, no.

Lady Gay, 89, 90.

Lady Gay, A, 93.

Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight, 3.

Lady Leroy, 377.

Lady Margaret, 67, 72, 74, 522.

Lady Margaret's Ghost, 71.

Lady Near New York Town, A, 152.

Lass of Roch Royal, The, 83.

Little Family, The, 407.

Little Johnnie Green, 109.

Little Johnny Green, 469.

Little Maumee, The, 373.

Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard, 94.

Little Sparrow, 419.

Little Willie, 34.

Logan County Court House, 212, 214.

Logan County Jail, 213.

Lone Prairie, The, 247.

Lord Bateman, 36, 40.

Lord Batesman, 38.

Lord Daniel's Wife, 94.

Lord Henry, 42.

Lord Leven, 80.

Lord Lovel, 78, 79, 81, 82.

Lord Lover, 82.

Lord Randal, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28..

Lord Thomas, 41, 56, 62.

Lord Thomas and Fair Annet, 45.

Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor, 64.

Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender, 64.

Lost Lover, The, 357.

Love Has Brought Me to Despair, 427.

Love Henry, 44.

Love of Barbara Ellen, The, 106.

Low Lands Low, 345.

Loyd Thomas, 54.

McAfee's (McAphee's, McA tee's) Con-
fession, 192, 194, 196, 525.

Mack McDonald, 231.

Maggie Goddon, 424.

Maggie was a Good Little Girl, 219.

Maggie was a Lady, 218.

Maid Freed from the Gallows, The, 115.

Marriage of the Frog and the Mouse, The,
471.

Mary o' the Dee, 435.

Mary of the Wild Moor, 437, 438.

Merchant's Daughter, The, 332, 344.

Mermaid, The, 172.

Milkmaid, The, 392, 393.

Miller's Two Daughters, The, 20, 21, 521.

Mollie Vaughn, 339, 341.

Mollie Vaunders, 339, 529.

Molly Vaunder, 340.

Moment's River Side, 353.

Moravian Song, A, 88.

Mother, Is the Battle Over? 278.

My Lady's Slipper, 87.

My Parents Reared Me Tenderly, 300.

My Pretty Maid, 394.

Nigger Tune, The, 506.

Ocean Burial, The, 250.

Old Glory, 272.

Old Grimes, 490.

Old Grumble, 462.

Old Joe Camp, 285.

Old Joe Clog, 495-

Old John Jones, 516.

Old Man Who Came Over the Moor, The,

489.
Old Man Who Lived in the Woods, The,

456.
Old Miller, The, 451, 452, 454.
Old Noah, 508.
Old Sam Fanny, 496.
Old Woman's Story, An, 464.
On the Banks of Sweet Dundee, 379.
Once I Had Plenty of Thyme, 415.
Orphan Girl, The, 446.
Orphan Gypsy Girl, The, 335.
Our Goodman, 154.

Pearl Bryan, 200, 201, 202.
Polly and Sweet William, 309.

 

Poor Little Joe, 445.

Poor Stranger Far from Home, A, 346.

Pretty Fair Maid, 318.

Pretty Fair Maiden, A, 316.

Pretty Fair Maiden All in the Garden, A,

318.
Pretty Maumee, The, 372, 374.
Pretty Mohea, The, 372.
Pretty Polly, 3, 8, 10, 11, 15, 387.
Pretty Sally, 366, 368.
Putting on the Style, 514.

Ranger, The, 476.
Rebel Soldier, The, 279.
Rich Irish Lady, A, 367, 369.
Rich Irish Lady, The, 370.
Rich Merchant, The, 343.
Robin Hood, 174.
Rose Connoley, 314, 315.
Royal Fair Damsel, A, 370.

Sailor and his Bride, The, 364.

Sailor Boy, The, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357,

365.
Sailor's Sweetheart, The, 356.
Salt Water Sea, 149.
Salt- Water Sea, The, 14.
Seven Sleepers, The, 18.
Sheffield Apprentice, The, 294.
Silk-Merchant's Daughter, The, 334.
Silver Dagger, The, 349, 350, 351.
Sinking Ship, The, 172.
Sir Hugh, or, The Jew's Daughter, 120.
Six Kings' Daughters, 6, 16, 521.
Skin-and-Bone Lady, The, 482, 483.
Soldier Boy, A, 276.
Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me?

467.
Soldier's Poor Little Boy, The, 275.
Soldier's Wooing, The, 375.
Spanish Lady, The, 465.
Springfield Mountain, 292.
Squire, The, 385, 530.
Suffolk Miracle, The, 152.
Sweet Trinity, 169.
Sweet William, 65, 69, 75, 353, 355, 356,

380.
Sweet William and Lady Margaret, 523.
Sweet Willie, 357.

Temperance Song, 403.
Three Brothers of Scotland, 150.
Three Crows, The, 31, 32, 522.
Three Farmers, The, 478, 532.
Three Little Babes, 91.
Three Ravens, The, 31.

INDEX OF TITLES

Three Rogues, The, 480.

Toad Went A-Courting, A, 473.

Tolliver-Martin Feud Song, A, 203.

Tragedy, The, 311.

True Lover's Farewell, The, 413.

Tucky Ho Crew, The, 254.

Twa Brothers, The, 33.

Twa Sisters, The, 20, 22.

Twelve Joys, The, 409.

Two Brothers, The, 33.

Vance Song, The, 207, 208, 209, 211.
Victory Won at Richmond, The, 266.
Vilikins and his Dinah, 344.

War Song, 262, 270.

Warning Deaths, The, 352.

West Virginia Feud Song, A, 205.

Wexford Girl, The, 311.

When I was One-and-Twenty, 404.

Wicked Polly, 411.

Wife of Usher's Well, The, 88, 93.

Wife Wrapped in Wether's Skin, The, 159.

Wild Cowboy, The, 242.

William Hall, 326, 327, 528.

William Reilly (Riley), 336.

William Taylor, 382.

Winds that Blow across the Wild Moor, The, 438.

Wreck on the C. & O., The, 221, 222, 224, 230, 525, 527.

Wreck on the C. & O. Road, The, 230.

Yankee Retreat, The, 268.

Ye Sons of Columbia, 217, 525.

Yellow Rose of Texas, The, 396.

Young Beeham, 310, 528.

Young Beichan, 36.

Young Charlotte, 286, 291, 528.

Young Charlotte's Fate, 291-.

Young Collins, no, in.

Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low, 345.

Young Hunting, 42.

Young Johnny, 390.

Young Ladies, 419, 420, 530.

Young Man Who Travelled Up and Down, The, 492.

Young Man Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn, The, 494.

Youth and Folly, 422.

INDEX OF FIRST LINES

A charming youth in Conway dwelled 292

A fair maid all in the garden 317

A gay Spanish maid, at the age of sixteen 371

A pretty fair maid out in a garden 316

A rich man once lived near Bridgewater 306

About the age of sixteen I joined this jolly band 262

Across Bridgewater a rich man lived 305

Along came the (old) F. F. V., the fastest (swiftest) on the line 222, 223, 224,

226,227,525,527

And then came black Phyllis, his charger astride 215

As I passed by Tom Sherman's bar-room 242

As I rode up to McFinegan's bar-room 245

As I walked out one evening, all in the month of May 321

As I walked out one morning, all in the bloom of spring 336

As I was a-roving (a-roaming) for pleasure one day 3 73? 3 74

As I was walking all alone 468

As I went out rambling for pleasure one day 372

Away down in Belden Green 269

Away down on yon river side 355

Behind a Western water tank a dying hobo lay 252

Bessie Bell and Mary Gray 134

Bill Harman came home at night 133

Bright Phoebus had risen and shines on the sea 377

Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride 137

Columbia's greatest glory 255, 256

Come all of you bold shanty -boys and list while I relate 236

Come all of you young men 499

Come all ye fair and handsome ladies 419,420,530

Come all ye jolly sailors brave that wear the jackets blue 303

Come all ye young fellows who delight in a gun 339, 529

Come all you fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters too 203

Come all you feeling lovers, come listen to my song 345

Come all you good people, I pray you draw near 253

Come all you jolly sportsmen who delight in a gun 340

Come all you young men and ladies, and fathers and mothers too ... 205

Come all young men and maidens, and listen to my rhyme 362

Come all young men and pretty fair ladies, and warning take from me . 315

"Come in, come in, Love Henry," she said 44

Come my fairest, come my dearest 389

" Come, pretty Polly, come go with me " 308

Come riddle, come riddle to me (us both), dear mother" 46,50

 

a

 

540 INDEX OF FIRST LINES

Dear father, mother, sister, come listen while I tell 189

Do not trust him, gentle lady 439

Down in a low green valley, where the fairest flowers grow .... 200, 201

Down in Bowling Green, such a sight was never seen 270

Down in yon lonely meadow, where the violets fade and bloom .... 198
Draw nigh (near), young men, and learn from me 192, 194, 525

Early, early in one spring 360

Early, early in the spring 100, 101

Eighteen hundred seventy-one 514

"Farewell, farewell, my pretty maid" 413

Father Grumble said, as sure 460

For seven long years I served my king 529

Frog went a-courting, he did ride 470,471,531

From London came a beautiful lady, called Sally by name 367

George Collins rode home one cold rainy (winter) night 112,113

Go saddle me up my milk-white steed 135

Go 'way, old fiddle 508

" Good morning, good morning, my pretty fair maid!" 327

Green are the woods where Sandy flows 208, 209

Gypsy came riding down this way 132

Gypsy Daisy crossed the sea 131

"Hangman, hangman, go slack your rope " 116

"Hangman (hangsman), hangman, hold your rope" 115,117

He called up his eldest son 452

He followed her up, he followed her down 10,11

He followed me up, he followed me down . 3,6,8,521

He helped her on the bonny, bonny black 16

He stepped up to her with a knife in his hand 528

Her father says to Sweet William 72

"Hold up your hands, O Joshua," she cried 118

Home came the old man 154, 156, 158

I am a Boston Burglar, the truth to you I'll tell 298

I am a cobbler's boy 491

I am a cow-herder 245

I am a man, a pretty man 506

I married me a wife 162

I oftentimes have wondered how women loved men 417

I once had a sweetheart, but now I have none 418

I saw a man at early dawn 403

I shouldered up my gun and whistled for my dog 498

I walked out one morning in spring . 346

I was born in Boston, a city you all know well 296

I was born in West Virginia, a place we all know well 297

I was brought up in Sherefield, not of high degree 294

I will sing you a song of a comical style 510

I will sing you a song that won't detain you long 494

I wish I was once a-sailing 424

I wish I were a-sitting in a chair 495

I'll sing you a song, the best song yet 254

I 'm right from Old Virginia, with my head full of knowledge 502

In England lived an English lord 38

In Jersey City there did dwell 530

In Jersey City, where I did dwell 430

In New York City used to dwell 43 1

In Scarland Town where I was bound 107

In Scarlet Town, where I was born 96

In Scotland I was bred and born 98

In the Bible we are told 405

In the bright sunny South, where is peace atid content 280

In the good Old Colony times 480

Instead of getting married she went sick to bed 530

It fell on a day, a bonnie summer day 128

It happened on one evening late 42

It often has been told that the British seamen bold 257

It rained a mist, it rained a mist 120,122,123

It rained, it mist, it rained, it mist 121,125

It rains our mist, it rains 124

It was down in the valley so early one morning 243

It was early in the spring 359

It was in the early spring 105

It was Mack McDonald owned a big saloon 231

I 've killed a man and I don't deny it 211

Jackison and Dickison walked out one morning in May 302

Jeff Davis built a wagon and put on it his name 271

Jesse James was a robber, he robbed many a man 216

John Hardy was a bad, bad (brave little) man 178, 186

John Hardy was a desperate man (boy) 181,183

John Hardy was a little farmer boy 182

John Hardy was but three days (two years) old 179,180,184

Just before the battle, mother 277

Lady Nancy Belle was standing in her door 80

Last Saturday night I went by the house 511

Lay up nearer, brother, nearer 232

Little old man he lived in the West 161

'Long came the F. F. V., the fastest on the line 229

Lord Bateman was in (of) England born 36,40

Lord Lovel he stood (was standing) at his (own) castle gate 79, 81

Lord Thomas he was a gay gentleman 52

Lord Thomas, Lord Thomas was a fine young man 60

Maggie was a lady (a good little girl) 218,219

Mine heart is proken into little pits 283

Mollie Vaughn was a-walking, when a shower came on 341

"Mother, is the battle over?" 278

 

542 INDEX OF FIRST LINES

My father he is a wealthy knight . 428

My father is king of the gypsies, my mother is queen of the Jews . . . 335

My friends and relatives in Boston I left them 244

My grandmother lived on yonder little green 469

My name it is Bill Stafford (Staffato), I came from Buffalo (a Western) Town 239,240,241

My name it is Joe Bowers, I have a brother Ike 234, 527

My parents reared me tenderly, they had no child but me 300

" No home, no home!" plead a little girl! 446

"0 baby, baby, if you were mine" 30,522

O brother Green, do come to me, for I am shot and bleeding 274

"0 bury me not in the deep, deep sea!" . . . 250

"O bury me not in (on) the lone prairie!" 247,248

O come to me, my brother Green, for I am shot and bleeding 273

"O come with me, my fair, fair lad" 13

"O Demrid, you look so healthy now" 398

" do you remember down in town " 106

" Ed, you look so happy now " 399

"O hangsman, hangsman, slack your rope" 116

O I 'm a good old rebel 281

O Johnny is on the water 425

"O Mary, go and ask your mother" 349

"0 mother, O mother, come riddle (to me ) us all (two) " 48, 54, 62

"0 mother, O mother, come tell unto me" 56,58

"0 pity your infant and spare my sweet life" 310

"0 Polly, Polly, Polly," said he 309

O Robin Hood was a forrester good 174

O, when I was a little boy, I worked in Market Square 212

"O where are you going, my pretty maid?" 394

"0 where have you been, Johnny Randolph, my son?" 24

"0 where have (ha') you been, Lord Randal, my son?" 23,25

" who will shoe my bonny feet " 83

Old Grimes is dead, that good old man 490

Old Grumble he came in from work 462

Old Grumble (he did swear) swore by the light of the moon .... 459, 461

Old Joe Camp when he came to town 285

Old Joe Finley had a little pig, uh, huh! 496

Old Sam Fanny had a pig, uh, huh ! 496

On the twenty-fifth of July, as you may hear them say 259

Once I courted a fair beauty-bride 342

Once I had plenty of thyme 415

Once there was a lady gay 89

Once there was a ship and it sailed on the sea 169

Once there was a young man who travelled up and down 492

Once there was an old woman 93

One bright summer morning, the weather being clear 323

One evening for pleasure I rambled 443,444

One evening so late as I rambled 442

One morning, one morning in May 279

One morning, one morning, one morning in May 1 14

One night the moon shone brightly, the stars were shining too .... 200

Poor Jackie was a sailor with trouble on his mind 333

Pray, men and maids, all lend attention 351

Pretty Polly lay musing on her downy bed 387

"Ropeman, ropeman, slack your rope" 117,118

Rose Connoley loved me as dearly as she loved her life 314

"Rouse up, rouse up, you drowsy sleeper" . 348

Say, have you heard the joyful news of Burnside's expedition 272

She mounted on the bonnie, bonnie brown 15

She placed her foot against a rock 30

She rode upon her bonny, bonny brown 14

So early, early in the spring 358

"Soldier, soldier, won't you marry me" 467

Sweet William arose one (merry) May (misty) morning . 65, 69, 71, 74, 523
Sweet William rose (rode) one morning bright 67,75,522

The first came down all dressed in red 94

The first I saw was a maiden 476

The fox peeped out one moonlight night so bright 474,531

The Gypsy Davy crossed the plain 130,524

The miller's two daughters brisk and gay 20, 521

The moon had climbed the highest hill 435

The moon had risen on the eastern hill 364

The silk-merchant's daughter of London I be 334

The snow was fastly falling 275,276

The Southern boys may longer lie 266

The sun was slowly sinking, and filled with brightest ray 263

The very first blessing that Mary had 409

The very next morning we marched very slow 268

The wind it blew from east to west 516

There is a ship in the North Countree 171

There is a yellow rose in Texas 396

There lies a wounded soldier on the battle-field 264

There lived an old lady in the North Country 22

There lived in London a lady gay 90

There once lived a rich merchant 330

There was a fair damsel, from London she came 368

There was a farmer's daughter, a beauty to behold 380

There was a frog lived in a well 472

There was a jolly brisk young farmer 326,528

There was a lady, a fair lady 88

There was a lady, a lady gay 91

There was a lady all skin and bone 483

There was a lady lived in York 29

There was a lady near New York Town 152

There was a little familee that lived in Bethanee 407,408

There was a little man, he lived in the West 159

There was a rich lady, from London she came 369

There was a rich merchant, in London did dwell 343*344,384

There was a rich merchant, in London he did dwell . . 332

There was a rich old farmer in Wexford divine 311

There was a royal damsel, from London she came 366

There was a ship a-sailing off North America 172

There was an old lady named skin-and-bones 482

There was an old man and he lived all alone 450, 531

There was an old man (who) lived in the West 160, 162

There was an old man lived on Dundee 451

There was an old man lived under the hill 164

There was an old man who came over the moor 489

There was an old man who lived in the woods 455, 456, 458

There was an old woman who lived near the seashore 21

There were three crows sat on a tree (limb) 31, 32, 522

There were two brothers in a foreign land 33

These temperance folks do crowd us awfully 401

These two couples rode to church, and returning back again 375

This story I 'm going to sing 166

Three farmers went a-hunting 478,532

Three loving brothers in Scotland did dwell 150

'T is an old woman's story I will tell 464

'T is of a comely young lady fair 319

'T is of a girl in London, most beautiful untold 379

'T was all on a cold winter's night 437

'T was early in the month of May 103,104,523

'T was early spring, the year was young 365

'T was in the town of Woxford, where I did live and dwell 312

'T was of a brisk young sailor, as I have heard it said 328

Traveller (riding up to the house) . Hello, stranger! 503

Two little boys a-going to school . 34

Up stepped the captain of our gallant ship 172

Wake up, wake up, my seven sleepers 18

Way down in yonder valley, where the early violets bloom 199

Way down on Moment's river side 353,354

"Well met, well met, my old (own) true love" . . . 139, 141, 142, 144, 146

" Well met, well met, my pretty fair maid" 524

When battle roused each warlike band 293

When I was a little boy, I worked on Market Square 213

When I was one-and-twenty my daddy set me free 404

When I was the age of sixteen, I rode the Madison Square 213

When John Henry was a little babe 185

"Where are you going, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?" 485,487

"Where are you going, my pretty (fair) maid?" 392,393

"Where have you been all day, Henry, my son?" 26

"Where have you been, Billy Boy?" 484,533

"Where have you been, charming Willie?" 486

"Where have you been, Johnnie Randal, my son?" 25

"Where have you been, Willie, O Willie, my son?" 27

Where is Bird? The battle rages 261

While strolling one night mid New York's gay throng 445

"Who will shoe your pretty little feet?" 87

William Taylor and his own true lovyer 382

Ye sons (heroes) of Columbia, (your) attention I do crave . . . . 217,525

Yonder stands a cottage, deserted and alone 441

Yonder stands a Spanish lady 465

You might ask what causes me to weep 395

Young Charlotte lived on (by) the mountain side 286, 288, 528

Young Collins rode out from his fields one day no

Young Collins went forth one morning in May in

Young Johnnie sailed from London 390

Young men and maidens lend attention 350

Young people attention give 448

Young people, hear, and I will tell 411

Your parents don't like me 433

Youth and folly make youngsters marry 432

______________

Raw Text

308 FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH



8 9

COME, PRETTY POLLY

The three West Virginia texts represent "Polly's Love, or, The Cruel Ship
Carpenter," an English song in eleven stanzas, which is a condensation of "The
Gosport Tragedy; or, The Perjured Ship Carpenter," a long broadside ballad
that goes back at least to the middle of the eighteenth century (Ebsworth, Rox~
burghe Ballads, vm, 143, 173). Polly's lover is a ship carpenter. After the
murder he goes to sea, but the ship "cannot sail on," because he is on board.
The captain suspects that there is a murderer among the crew. William, like
the rest, protests innocence, but he is torn to pieces by Polly's ghost. In "The
Gosport Tragedy" the ghost appears before the ship sails, and the captain is
afraid to leave port with a murderer as shipmate; the ghost causes the guilty
man to die raving distracted. For references see Kittredge, Journal, xx, 261.
Add Ashton, Real Sailor-Songs, 86, and A Century of Ballads, p. 101 ; Sharp,
Folk-Songs from Somerset, rv, 8; broadsides by Catnach, Such (No. 142), Dalton
(York, No. 17), Gilbert (Newcastle, No. 59), Cadman (Manchester, No. 213),
Bebbington (Manchester, No. 343). A comic version of "Polly's Love" called
"Molly the Betrayed, or The Fog-bound Vessel" was popular on the English
stage about the middle of the last century (broadsides by Bebbington, Manches-
ter, No. 477; W. S. Fortey; Sam CowelVs Budget from Yankee Land, p. [12]; cf.
Ebsworth, Roxburghe Ballads, vm, 143).

For American texts from oral tradition see Journal, xx, 262 (Kentucky);
Campbell and Sharp, No. 39 (Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee); Mac-
kenzie^. 55 (NovaScotia: " The Gaspard Tragedy ") . " The Gosport Tragedy "
was printed in this country as a chapbook (at Philadelphia?) in 181 6, and
again (at Philadelphia) in 1829 (Harvard College Library, 25276, 43, 81). It
occurs also in The New American Song Book (Philadelphia, 181 7), p. 69, in
The Forget Me Not Songster (New York, Nans & Cornish), p. 232, and elsewhere.
There is an American broadside of about 1820, "The Ship Carpenter, or, The
Gosport Tragedy" (Harvard College Library).

" Come, Pretty Polly." Contributed by Miss Esther M. Jarrell, Van, Boone
County, June, 191 6; learned from her sister, Miss Gladys Jarrell.

1 "Come, pretty Polly, come go with me,
Come, pretty Polly, come go with me,
Come, pretty Polly, come go with me,
Before we get married some pleasure to see."

2 He led her o'er hills and dark valleys so deep,
He led her o'er hills and dark valleys so deep,
He led her o'er hills and dark valleys so deep,
And then pretty Polly began to weep.



FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH 309

3 "O Willie, O Willie, I'm afraid of your way,
O Willie, O Willie, I 'm afraid of your way,
O Willie, O Willie, I 'm afraid of your way,
I'm afraid you are leading me astray."

4 "Polly, pretty Polly, you've guessed just right,
Polly, pretty Polly, you 've guessed just right,
Polly, pretty Polly, you 've guessed just right,
For I dug on your grave a part of last night!"

5 No time to study, no time to stand,
No time to study, no time to stand,
No time to study_, no time to stand,

He drew his knife out all in his right hand.

6 He stabbed her to the heart, and the blood did flow,
He stabbed her to the heart, and the blood did flow,
He stabbed her to the heart, and the blood did flow,
And into her grave pretty Polly did go.

7 He threw some dirt o'er and turned to go home,
He threw some dirt o'er and turned to go home,
He threw some dirt o'er and turned to go home,
Leaving no one but the birds to mourn.

8 Come, gents and ladies, I bid you good-night,
Come, gents and ladies, I bid you good-night,
Come, gents and ladies, I bid you good-night,
And raving distracted he died that same night.



"Polly and Sweet William." Contributed by Miss Polly F. McKinney,
Sophia, Raleigh County, 1919.

1 "O Polly, O Polly, O Polly," said he,

"You had better consent and be married to me."
"O William, O William, O William," said she,
"I am too young to be married to thee."

2 He took her by the hand and away he did go,

He led her over the mountains and the valleys so low;

He led her a little farther and she began to cry;

The grave was ready dug, and the spade a-standing by.



310 FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH

3 She threw her arms around him, saying, "I am in no fear.
How could you kill a poor girl who loves you so dear?"
He pulled out her breast, just as white as any snow,

He pulled out his knife and the blood began to flow.

4 Now down in the grave this poor lady did go,

Left nothing but a small bird to tell poor Polly's woe;

"I once loved as pretty a woman as ever the sun shone on;

I once enjoyed her beauty, but now my fair one's gone."



C

"Young Beeham." Contributed by Professor Walter Barnes; obtained
from Mr. G. W. Cunningham, Elkins, Randolph County.



"O pity your infant and spare my sweet life,
And I'll go distressed and not be your wife."

He stepped up to her with a knife in his hand,
Saying, "Come, fairest Polly, no time for to stand."
He pierced her to the heart, the blood it did flow;
He covered her over and home he did go.

Charles Green, a bold sailor, of courage so brave,
Was hunting one night and he stepped on her grave,
And a beautiful woman to him did appear,
And she in her arms held a baby so fair.

"O captain, O captain, some murder's been done!
Far away from this harbor our ship ne'er can run;
For a beautiful woman to me did appear,
And she in her arms held a baby so fair."

--------------------

48 FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH

108
THE DROWSY SLEEPER

Two variants of this song have been recovered in West Virginia, one having the
title, "The Silver Dagger," probably because the last two stanzas of it belong to
that song (see p. 350, below).

"The Drowsy Sleeper" an interesting variant of a song known, in a Nithsdale
version, to Allan Cunningham, and given in part in a note to "0, my hive's like
a red, red rose" in his edition of Burns, 1834, iv, 285 (Kittredge, Journal, xx,
260).

For American texts see Journal, xx, 260 (Kentucky), xxrx, 200 (Georgia);
xxx, 338 (Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska or Utah) ; xxxv,
356 (Ohio) ; Belden, Herrig's Archiv, cxrx, 430 (Missouri, Arkansas) : Campbell
and Sharp, No. 47 (North Carolina); Sturgis and Hughes, Songs from the Hills
of Vermont, p. 30; Pound, No. 21 (A, Nebraska; B, thesame as Journal, xxx,
342); Sharp, Folk-Songs of English Origin Collected in the Appalachian Moun-
tains, 2d Series, p. 48; Minish MS., 11, 63 (North Carolina); broadside, H. J.
Wehman (New York), No. 518 (mixed with "The Silver Dagger").

For English and Scottish references see Journal, xx, 260; xxx, 338; xxxv,
356; Campbell and Sharp, p. 330. See also the Hudson MS. of Irish airs,
Volume 1, No. 181 (Boston Public Library).

There is an extremely interesting paper on " English Songs on the Night
Visit," by Baskervill, in the Publications of the Modern Language Association,
xxxvi, 565-614 (see p. 585 for the present piece).

"The Drowsy Sleeper." Communicated by Miss Violet Noland, Davis,
Tucker County, March 24, 1916; obtained from Mr. John Raese, who learned
it when a boy and wrote it down in 1880.

1 " Rouse up, rouse up, you drowsy sleeper;

Rouse up, 't is almost day;
Open your doors, let down your window,
What your true love has to say."

2 "Go away from my window, you'll waken my mother;

This thing you call courting, she does despise;
Go way, go way, and court some other,
For what I say, I mean no harm."

3 " I won't go way nor court no other,

For you are the one that I love best;
For you are the one that I love dearly,
And in your arms I hope to rest."



FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH 349

4 "Go way from my window, you'll waken my father,

Who is taking of his rest;
For under his pillow there lies a weapon,
To kill the one that I love best."

5 "Down in yon meadow there lies a sharp arrow;

I'll draw it across my peaceful breast;
It will cut off all love and sorrow,
And send my peaceful soul to rest."

"The Silver Dagger." Communicated by Miss Maud I. Jefferson, West
Liberty, Ohio County, 191 7; obtained from Miss Roberts.

1 "O Mary, go and ask your mother

If you my wedded bride may be;
And if she says no, pray come and tell me,
And I'll no longer trouble thee."

2 "I dare not go and ask my mother,

For she said she would part us;

Then, Willie, go and ask another,"

She gently whispered in his ear.

3 "Then, Mary, go and ask your father

If you my wedded bride may be;
And if he says no, pray come and tell me,
And I'll no longer trouble thee."

4 "I dare not go and ask my father,

For at night he lies at rest,
Close to his side there lies a dagger,
To pierce the heart that I love best."

5 Then William drew a silver dagger,

And pierced it to his aching heart,
Saying, "Here's farewell, my own true lover,"
Saying, "Here's farewell, for we must part."

6 Then Mary drew that bloody dagger,

And pierced it in her snow-white breast,
Saying, "Here's farewell to father and mother;
Farewell to all that I love best."


50 FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH

IO9
THE SILVER DAGGER

Three good copies of this song have been recovered in West Virginia, one of
them going under the title of "The Warning Deaths." A and C are almost
exactly alike in arrangement and phraseology. B is different from the other
two in that the crossing of the lovers is due to the girl's parents.

For texts and references see Journal, xx, 267 (Kentucky) ; xxx, 362 (Mis-
souri); Pound, Ballads, No. 52 (Wyoming and Illinois). For contamination of
"The Silver Dagger" with "The Drowsy Sleeper" see Journal, xxx, 388. The
text of the latter published by Wehman as a broadside (New York, No. 518:
"Who's at my Bedroom Window?") shows this mixture, and the same is true
of "The Shining Dagger" in Sturgis and Hughes, Songs from the Hills of Ver-
mont, p. 30, of Campbell and Sharp's No. 47 C, and Pound's, No. 21 B (Ballads ,
p. 52).

No local title. Communicated by Mr. W. H. S. White, Piedmont, Mineral
County, January 21, 1916; obtained from Mr. S. G. Yoke, Morgantown, who
says that it was a favorite among the young folks of Stone Coal Creek, Lewis
County, more than sixty years previously.

1 Young men and maidens lend attention,

While unto you these lines I write,
Of a comely youth that I will mention,
Who courted a lady bright.

2 But when his parents came to know it,

They strove against him night and day;
To keep their son from a mesalliance,
" She's a poor girl," they oft did say.

3 But this fair damsel being handsome,

She knew the grief that he went through;
She wandered away and left the city,

Some pleasant fields and groves to view.

4 She rambled down by a flowing river,

She leaned her back against a tree,
And then she sighed, "O shall I ever,
Ever my true love see?"

5 She then pulled out a silver dagger,

And pierced it through her snow-white breast;
These words she spake and as she staggered:
"Farewell, my love! I'm going to rest."



FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH 351

6 He being low down in the city,

And hearing of this female voice,
He ran, he ran like one distracted,
Saying, "Alas, alas, I am undone!"

7 But when he came just up unto her,

Her coal-black eyes like stars did shine;
She says, "My love, O come and meet me,
Where joy and love are both combined."

8 He then picked up the bloody weapon,

And pierced it through his tender heart,
Saying, "Let our ends be a dreadful warning,
To all who do true lovers part."



"The Silver Dagger." Communicated by Anna Copley, Shoals, Wayne
County, December 28, 1915; obtained from Mr. Luther Burwell, who learned it
when a child from his mother.

1 Pray, men and maids, all lend attention

To these few lines I'm going to write;
It is something concerning a youth whom I'll mention;
He courted a lady, beauty bright.

2 And when her parents came to know it,

They strove to part them, both night and day;
They strove to part them from her own dearest jewel,
"He's poor, he's poor," they often cried.

3 Her bended knees to them she bowed,

Crying, "Father, O pray pity me!
And don't let my true lover go denial,

For without him what's this world to me?"

4 She turned her back unto the city,

To view those fields and meadows round;
She wandered away to some clear, broad river,
And under the shade of a tree sat down,

5 Saying, "Will I now or shall I ever,

Shall ever I enjoy my true love's charms?
Shall ever I enjoy my own dearest jewel,
Or see the man whom I love best?"



352 FOLK-SONGS OF THE SOUTH

6 Then she pulled out a silver dagger,

And pierced it through her milk-white breast;
And under those few lines she began to stagger,
Saying, "Fare you well, I'm going to rest."

7 Her true love not being far behind her,

He heard her make her love-sake moan;
He ran on like a man distracted,

Saying, "I'm ruined, lost, I'm left undone."

8 Her deep-blue eyes to him she opened,

Crying, "True love, you have come too late!
But prepare to meet me on Mount Zion,
Where all our joys will be complete."

9 Then he picked up this bloody weapon,

And pierced it through his poor tender heart,
Saying, "Let this day be a dreadful warning,
To all who doth true lovers part."



C

"The Warning Deaths." Communicated -by Mr. E. C. Smith, Weston,
Lewis County, December 18, 191 5; obtained from an old manuscript in the
possession of Mr. J. W. Smith, who lives near Weston. Eight stanzas, almost
identical with A.