US & Canada Versions 9B. "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss" (Fly Around) Roud 5720 ("Fare You Well my Pretty Little Miss," "Fare You Well, My Blue-Eyed Girl" "That Blue-Eyed Girl," "Daisy" "Western Country," "Susanna Gal," "Fly Around My Pretty Little Pink (Tennessee Ernie Ford- 1959)," "Betty Anne," "Way Down Yonder (Wheevily Wheat B)," "Your Blue Eyes Drive Me Crazy," "Pretty Little Pink," "I'm Going To Georgia," )
* * * *
[Although the identifying stanza, "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss" [hereafter "Fly Around"], can be traced to Scottish versions[1] of "Seventeen Come Sunday" [hereafter "Seventeen"] the "Fly Around" stanza has become autonomous in the Southern United States, where it has been primarily found. The few examples of "Fly Around" with the "Seventeen" identifying stanza, "How old are you, my pretty little miss" have been forgotten and the folk song has become a play-party song and an up-tempo fiddle and instrumental tune and dance song. The result is that "Fly Around" is a floating stanza combined with other floating stanza from a variety of play-party songs-- the most common titles include "Shady Grove," "Pretty Little Pink, Coffee Grows, The Higher Up the Cherry Tree" "Marching to Quebec/Mexico/New Orleans," and "Wheevily Wheat." Stanzas are borrowed from virtually any play-party source including "Swing a Lady," "Bile Dem Cabbage," "Woah Mule," "Cindy," "Old Joe Clark" etc. & etc. These stanzas "Pretty Little Pink," "Coffee Grows," "The Higher Up the Cherry Tree" and "Marching to Quebec/Mexico/New Orleans," which can also be songs, are associated with "Fly Around" in a variety of ways.
The melody and tune, also played instrumentally, have two parts AABB with the vocal sung of the A parts. Instrumental versions are usually known by these titles "Fly Around my Pretty Little Miss" (or "Fly around" for short), "Blue Eyed Girl/Gal" "Susanna Gal" and "Western Country." The titles are represented by earlier recordings made in the 1920s.
Versions of "Fly Around" have been called "composites" by the Brown Collection editors and others but unfortunately, they do not have any idea what the original stanzas are and have not supplied its provenance. Simply stated, "Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss" is derived from "Seventeen" and those stanza would be part of the original[2] or ur-ballad. Since the original stanzas do not tell a story and are randomly arranged-- "Fly Around" is simply a song, not a ballad. The original stanzas include these from the four forms of Seventeen. I've taken them from US versions of "Seventeen" instead of British ones:
[opening] As I walked out one morning in May
Just as the day was dawning,
There I spied a pretty little Miss
So early in the morning. [Sharp A, 1918, Virginia]
[opening] Way down yonder in the Maple [Cedar] swamp,
The water's deep and muddy.
There I spied my pretty little miss,
O there I spied my honey. [Thompson, 1916 Texas]
[core] How old are you, my pretty little Miss?
How old are you, my honey?
She answered me, te hee hee hee,
I'll be sixteen next Sunday." [Sharp A, 1918, Virginia]
[identifying- original form] So fare you well, my pretty little Miss,
So fare you well, my honey.
It's all I want to know of you,
You've got one darned old mummy. [Sharp A, 1918, Virginia]
Will you marry me my pretty little miss,
Will you marry me my honey?"
She answered me with a "Uh, uh, huh,
I would if it wasn't for mommy." [My Pretty Maid, Oklahoma before c.1950.]
[Variant] Will you marry me, my pretty little Pink?
Will you marry me, my honey ?
Will you marry me, my pretty little Pink?
I'll marry you next Sunday. [Tennessee, about 1930 Henry A]
"Where are you going, my pretty pretty maid?
Where are you going, my darling?
Down to the river to water my geese
and over the river to Charlie." [My Pretty Maid, Oklahoma before c.1950.]
These fundamental stanzas from US versions of "Seventeen" are some of the presumed original stanzas and include several courting questions. Without demonstrating the evolution of these "Seventeen" stanzas to become "Fly Around" stanzas (see main Headnotes), two examples with be given of early versions. This first example is from the Brown Collection of NC Folklore, Volume 3 (1952). It was learned by Bascom Lamar Lunsford from Fletch Rymer in 1898:
A. 'That Blue-Eyed Girl.' Sung by Fletch Rymer, a banjo-picker, in "The Beats" near the mouth of Newfound Creek in Buncombe county.
1. How old are you, my pretty little miss?
How old are you, my honey?
She looked at me with a smiling look:
'I'll be sixteen next Sunday.'
Chorus: It's fly around, my blue-eyed girl,
It's fly around, my daisy ;
It's fly around, my pretty little miss —
You've done run me crazy.
2 Will you marry me, my pretty little miss?
Will you marry me, my honey?
She looked at me with a smiling look:
'I'll marry you some Sunday.'
3 It's every day and Sunday too,
It seems so dark and hazy,
I'm thinking about my blue-eyed girl—
She's done run me crazy.
4 It's every day and Sunday too
I hang my head and cry ;
I'm thinking about my blue-eyed girl—
Oh, surely I will die !
5 If I had no horse at all,
I'd be found a-crawlin'
Up and down the rocky branch
Looking for my darlin'.
The chorus is the identifying stanza, a variant of Seventeen and the first two stanzas are also from Seventeen. The "blue eyed gal' is same as "pretty little miss" and stanzas 3 and 4 are based on the "Sunday" from "Seventeen" although they are new stanzas. The 5th stanza is a floating stanza found in several "Fly Around" versions. Thus there are two stanzas and the chorus which are original "Fly around" core stanzas and they are composite with the last three stanzas, two of which are somewhat related. I now give the full Wheevily Wheat B version from "Round the Levee" edited by Stith Thompson, 1916. He comments:
Another version of "Weevily Wheat," collected by Miss Mary S. Brown of Gatesville, Texas, from Wallace Fogle, a famous play-party singer of Coryell County, runs as follows. The boys and girls line up opposite each other; the boys begin swinging at one end, and girls at the other, each swinging his or her partner.
1. Way down yonder in the maple swamp,
The water's deep and muddy.
There I spied my pretty little miss,
O there I spied my honey.
2. How old are you, my little miss,
How old are you, my honey?
She answered with a ha-ha laugh,
"I'll be sixteen next Sunday."
3. The higher up the cherry tree,
Riper grows the cherry,
Sooner a boy courts a girl,
Sooner they will marry,
4. So run along home, my pretty little miss,
Run along home, my honey,
Run along home, my pretty miss,
I'll be right there next Sunday.
5. Papa's gone to New York town,
Mama's gone to Dover,
Sister's worn her new slippers out
A-kicking Charley over.
The opening stanza may be considered a later revision of the Scottish (see Maid and Soldier) it's also found in the US in the related song "Swing a Lady" (see first stanza of US Seventeen examples above). The second stanza is the identifying stanza of "Seventeen." Notice that in stanza 4 "Fly Around" is "run along." Although it's titled "Wheevily Wheat B," there are no stanzas specifically from "Wheevily Wheat"-- the only association with "Wheevily Wheat" is the "Charley" in the last line, which is reference to Bonny Prince Charlie (see details of this stanza in main Headnotes). My contention is that "Wheevily Wheat" is a different dance or play-party song (see also "Charlie's Sweet" in main Headnotes) with Scottish roots which are part of the song, "Over the River to Charlie." Unfortunately the title became a generic title after Thompson's Texas version and Lomaxes versions were printed[3].
These two examples will suffice as they demonstrate some of the "core" original stanzas so that when other stanzas are added a better analyzation may be made. Interesting is this African-American play party song which, although not a version, shows the meaning of "fly around (come around; go around; run along)." It's taken from Grace Porter, Negro Folk Singing-Games (1914) pp.16-17:
FLY ROUN'. Southern Folk-tune.
Children form a circle, no one in centre. They then join hand* and go dancing round while singing. At the words "honor yo' partner; make yo' obedient"(obeisance) all stop and let go hands, girls curtsey and boys bow, first to the one on the right and then to the one on the left, then all join hands again and go flying round until the end of the song.
Fly 'round, fly 'round, young ladies,
Fly 'round, fly 'round.
Fly 'round, fly 'round, young ladies,
Fly 'round, fly 'round.
If yo' can't fly,
I'll fly myself.
Fly 'round, fly 'round,
Honor yo' partner,
Make yo' obedient,
Fly 'round, fly 'round.
Even though this is a different song possibly based on "Fly Around, my Pretty Little Miss," this play-party song and other variants of "Fly around" demonstrate the meaning of the title (see also Owens: "Oh, come along, my pretty little Miss,").
Another song with the "Fly Around" stanza, which further demonstrates the association with "Seventeen," is Black Jack Davy (Child 243). Here are the opening stanzas from a version in the James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/4/C, p. 07174:
Fly around my pretty little miss,
Fly around my daisy;
Every time I see my pretty little miss,
She nearly drives me crazy.
Will you forsake your house and land?
Will you forsake your baby/
Will you forsake your husband dear
And go with the Blackjack Davy?
This was taken from a woman singer in Boone, NC about 1930 and shows that the "Fly Around" identifying stanza has replaced the "Seventeen" identifying stanza in a version of Gypsy Davy.
Versions of "Fly Around" from the old-time music recording era of the 1920s show that a fiddle and instrumental form evolved from the one-part folk song. Now there were two parts, the AA part was sung and the BB part was instrumental. The song tempo was sped up and lyrics were secondary to the music itself. The identifying stanza was sometimes eliminated and songs titled, "Western Country" or "Susanna Gal" with the same form and melody were sung with floating lyrics. Whether these songs should be included in any text based system of identification is questionable. Several of them are included here.
The myriad associations of text found in many of these play-party songs at times defies categorization. However, a variety of like stanzas are found which are usually associated with "Fly Around." Most of these similar stanzas were listed in the opening paragraph of these headnotes. Older versions of "Fly around" and "Seventeen" have a close association with the play-party song and nursery rhyme, "Pretty Little pink" which was included in a song[4] by Robert Burns which may be dated to the late 1700s. In the US the stanza was printed in 1833 (Mother Goose) in Boston and the three stanza song was printed by Wells in 1883 and by Sandburg (see American Songbag, 1927, p. 166) who says "My Pretty Little Pink" was popular in Kentucky in the late 1840's. Versions of "Fly Around" composite with Pretty Little Pink have been given by Bradley Kincaid in 1929 which appear to be the main source for the versions from the mid-1900s on. For more information on Pretty Little Pink see Main Headnotes.
I have not found a version of "Fly Around" from the Northern states or from Canada but one may exist. The date of "Fly Around" is similar to that of "Seventeen" in the US and is estimated to be late 1700s or early 1800s. For more information please see Seventeen headnotes and the main Fly Around headnotes.
R. Matteson 2018]
__________________________
Footnotes:
1. The last stanza of Waukrife Mammy. This postulation is covered in the Main Headnotes.
2. In this case the ur-ballad would have been formed in the US south from a version of "Seventeen."
3. The Lomaxes printed a version titled "Wheevily Wheat 2" in 1934 that reprinted Thompson's stanzas and added a few more. Both versions were influential in establishing "Fly around" as a version of "Wheevily Wheat" which it is not- although they are related.
4. "Here's to thy Health, my Bonnie Lass"--some of the text is traditional as heard in Aryshire when Burns was young.
_____________________
ADD: Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss (TW, BH)
http://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/show/39566
Tab Ward, NC
______________________________
Far in the Mountains : Volumes 3 & 4
of Mike Yates' 1979-83 Appalachian Collection
7. Little Betty Ann (Roud 5720)
(a. Sung by Dellie Norton at her home in Sodom Laurel, Madison County, NC, 29.8.80. b. Sung by Inez Chandler at her home in Marshall, Madison County, NC, 28.8.80)
(a) It's fly around my pretty little miss,
Fly around I say.
Fly around my little Betty Ann,
Girl I'm a-going away.
You slighted me all last Saturday night
And all the night before.
If I live 'til next Saturday night
You'll slight me no more.
Sixteen hundred miles away from home,
The chickens are crowing for day.
Me in the bed with another man's wife,
I'd better be a-getting away.
There's an old train a-coming, love,
She's a-giving the station blow.
Said, 'Give me a hand, my little Betty Ann,
Girl I'm bound to go.'
You slighted me all last Saturday night
And all the night before.
If I live 'til next Saturday night
You'll slight me no more.
(b) 'Til I went down to my little Betty Ann's
And I hadn't been there before.
She fed me out of the little pig trough
And I'll go there no more.
Reel and rock my little Betty Ann,
Reel and rock I say.
Reel and rock my little Betty Ann,
For love I'm going away.
Sixteen years a cannonball,
It's I've been around this line.
Sweethearts is plenty, little love,
But a good wife's hard to find.
Went up on the mountain top,
I give my horn a blow.
Yonder come my pretty little girl,
Yonder come my beau.
The hardest work I ever done
Was working in the rain.
Easiest thing I ever done
Was loving Liza Jane.
Cecil Sharp collected one set of Little Betty Ann from Ellie Johnson of Hot Springs, Madison County, NC, in 1916. As Inez explained to me, the song really comprises a collection of 'floating' verses which are often used as mnemonics for fiddle-tunes. Inez Chandler's final verse is more often associated with the song Liza Jane.
_______________________-
Related
Cedar Swamp (Swing a Lady) Cora and Alice Turner Pine Mountain kentucky. 1927
Way down yonder in the cedar swamp,
The water's deep and muddy,
There I saw my pretty little miss,
There I kissed my honey.
"How old are you, my pretty little miss,
How old are you, my honey?
How old are you, my pretty little miss,
"Sweet sixteen next Sunday."
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Roud #7408
Swing a Lady Sung by Miss Lizzie Abner at Oneida School, Heptatonic. Mixolydian influence. Clay Co., Ky., Aug. 20, 1917
1. Away down yonder in the cedar swamp,
Where the water's deep and muddy,
There I spied my pretty little miss,
And there I spied my honey.
Swing a la - dy up and down, swing a la - dy home.
Swing a la -dy round, Swing a la-dy up and down, Swing
2 Build my wife a fine brick house,
Build it in the garden,
And if you don't mind, she'll jump out,
So fare you well, my darling.
Swing a lady, etc.
3 The love of one is better than none,
The love of two is a-plenty,
The love of three it can't agree,
You'd better not love so many.
4 The blue-eyed boy's gone back on me,
The brown-eyed boy won't marry ;
Before I'd take the cross-eyed girl,
old maid I'll tarry
From Jean Ritchie, Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians (second
edition), p. 76. Apparently from family tradition.
Way low down in the cedar swamp,
Waters deep and muddy,
There I met a pretty little miss,
There I kissed my honey.
(Chorus) Swing a lady up and down,
Swing a lady home,
Swing a lady up and down,
Swing a lady home.
Build my love a big fine house,
Build it in the garden,
Put her in and she jumped out,
Fare you well, my darlin'.
Way down low in the cedar swamp, waters deep and muddy,
There I met a pretty little miss, there I kissed my honey.
Refrain
: Swing a lady up and down, swing a lady home,
Swing a lady up and down, swing a lady home.
Built my love a big fine house, built it in the garden,
Put her in and she jumped out, fare you well my darlin’,
Refrain
Black-eyed girl is mad at me, blue-eyed girl won’t have me,
If I can’t get the one I love
I guess I’ll never marry.
Refrain
The older she gets the prettier she gets,
I tell you she’s my honey,
Makes me work all through the week and get stove wood on Sunday.
Refrain
Way low down in the cedar swamp, waters deep and muddy,
There I met a pretty little miss, there I kissed my honey.
Refrain
Jean Ritchie's Swapping Song Book - Page 16
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0813109736
Jean Ritchie - 2000 - Preview - More editions I Built My Love a Big Fine House
Built it in the gar - den. Put her in and she jumped out.
Fare jou well, my dar - lin*. Swing a la - dy up and down, swing a la - dy home, Swing a la -dy up and down, swing a la- dy home I built.
Swing a lady up and down, swing a lady home, Swing a lady up and down, swing a lady home.
Way low down in the cedar swamp, Water's deep and muddy, It's there I met my pretty little miss, There I met my honey. Swing a lady up and down, swing a lady home, Swing a lady up and down, swing a lady home. Black-eyed girl is mad at me, Blue-eyed girl won't have me. If I can't get the one I love I guess I'll never marry. Swing a lady up and down, swing a lady home, Swing a lady up
On the Trail of Negro Folk-songs - Page 115
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0674012623
Dorothy Scarborough - 1925 - Preview - More editions
Chorus Oh, swing a lady ump-tum, Swing a lady round, Swing a lady ump-tum, Promenade around. The stanza is its own description of the gay movement of the old dance. One can fairly see the spirited swing to and fro. Two dance-songs were given to Miss Gulledge in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Negro women who said that they had danced to them years ago. The words are rather nonsensical, but the women, Bertha Merion and Esther Mackey, said that they indicated the dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbMNa1QjqWI
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[related]
Philadelphia- see EFFSA II 374- in "Coffee Grows"
First Line
Philadelphia is a handsome town
Roud No
5720 [Search for 5720 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Source
Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes p.4059
Performer
Smith, Hillard
Place
USA : Kentucky : Hindman
Collector
Sharp, Cecil J.
Date collected
1917 (20 Sep)
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Little Betty Ann
First Line
It's fly around my pretty little miss
Roud No
5720 [Search for 5720 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Source
Musical Traditions MTCD 324 ('Far in the Mountains 4')
Performer
Norton, Dellie
Place
USA : N. Carolina : Sodom Laurel
Collector
Yates, Mike
Date collected
1980 (29 Aug)
Format
Sound recording
Src Contents
Audio; Text in booklet
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Fly Around My Blue-eyed Girl
Fly around my blue-eyed girl, fly around my daisy
Riverside RLP 12-645 ('Minstrel of the Appalachians')
Performer Lunsford, Bascom Lamar
Place USA : N. Carolina
Date collected
1956 (Sep)
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Flying Around My Pretty Little Miss
Flying around my pretty little miss
Roud No
5720 [Search for 5720 in the current indexes]
Other nums
Source
Folk-Legacy FSA 23 (`Traditional Music of Beech Mountain 2')
Performer
Hicks, Buna
Place
USA : N. Carolina : Beech Mountain
Collector
Paton, Sandy
Date collected
1961c
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Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
[no text, 1924]
First Line
Fly around my pretty little miss, fly around my honeys
Riverside RLP 12-610 ('Banjo Songs of the Southern Mountains')
Performer Bumgarner, Aunt Samantha
Place USA : N. Carolina : Sylva
Date collected 1955 (Aug)
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Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
Went to town the other day didn't go to stay
Source Riverside RLP 12-650 ('Pickin' and Blowin')
Performer Pegram, George / Parham, Walter
Place USA : N. Carolina
Collector Goldstein, Kenneth S.
Date collected 1957 (Aug)
-----------------
Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
Harbison, A Study in the Song Tradition of Metcalfe County, Kentucky (MA thesis Southern Illinois Univ, 1971) p.171
USA : Kentucky : Metcalfe County
Collector Harbison, David(?)
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This is a Southwestern play-party song. Play party songs were designed to protect young people from the evil business of square dancing. Any number of couples would join hands and form a ring. The ladies would march around a single man and sing the first part of the song at a slow tempo. The man would chose a partner from the ring and the dancers would skip around them singing 'Two in the middle and I can't dance Josie.' This would continue until all couples were In the center. They would swing left and Right.
[D] Coffee grows on white [Bm] Oak trees
[D] The river flows with [Em] brandy O[A]
[D] Go choose someone to [Bm] roam with you
[Em] Sweet as lasses [A] candy O
[D] Two in the middle and I [Bm] can't dance Josie
[D] Two in the middle and I [C] can't get [A] around
[D] Two in the middle and I [Bm] can't dance Josie
[G] Hello [A] Susan [D] Brown
Four in the middle and I can't dance Josie
Four in the middle and I can't get around
Four in the middle and I can't dance Josie
Hello Susan Brown
[D] Railroad, [F#m] steamboat, [Bm] river and [G] canal
I lost my [Em] true love on that [A] ragin' canal [D]
[D] O shes gone, gone, gone,
O shes gone, gone, gone, [A]
O shes gone on that ragin' [D] canal (X2)
Fiddler's drunk and I can't dance Josie
Fiddler's drunk and I can't get around
Fiddler's drunk and I can't dance Josie
Hello Susan Brown
Cow in the well and can't jump Josie
Cow in the well and can't get around
Cow in the well and can't jump Josie
Hello Susan Brown
Railroad, steamboat, river and canal
I lost my true love on that ragin' canal
O she's gone, gone, gone,
O she's gone, gone, gone,
O she's gone on that ragin' canal
(X2)
--------------
Collected by Mary Celestia Parley; Transcribed by Neil Byer W. T. Dethero Batesville April 12, 1955 Reel 227, Item 1
Coffee Grows On White Oak Trees ("This is an old ring play called Coffee Grows on White Oak Trees. They all ring up and two in the middle, and choose them in, and there's four in the middle, and they swing, and finally they all begin to swing, and they march around...")
Coffee grows on white oak trees,
The river flows with brandy,
Choose the one as we go round,
Sweet as 'lasses candy.
Four in the middle and you better get around,
And a four in the middle and swing,
Four in the middle and you better get around,
And I love Miss Susie Brown. (repeat four lines)
All in the middle and you better get around,
And a all in the middle and swing,
All in the middle and you'd better get around,
And I love Miss Susie Brown. (repeat four lines)
("Next choose in, and they go over it, over and over, until they all get a chance to choose in."
--------------------------
Old Time String Band Songbook
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1783234512
John Cohen, Mike Seeger, Hally Wood - 1964 - Preview - More editions
Rufus Crisp from Kentucky recorded his version for the Library of Congress; Jean Ritchie has another. ing practices. Banjo in open C tuning (GCGCE) and frailed hard; also fiddle, tuned standard and played in D. Al Hopkins, Grandpa Jones, and Tom Ashley have CHORUS: Fly around, my pretty little miss, Fly around, my daisy, Fly around, my pretty little miss, You almost drive me crazy. The higher up the cherry tree, The riper grows the cherries, The more you hug and kiss the girls,
Southern Folklore Quarterly - Volume 10 - Page 243
https://books.google.com/books?id=EUJLAAAAYAAJ
1946 - Snippet view - More editions
The Higher up the Cherry-Tree Variant A was supplied by Hannah D. Duty, December 27, 1925. She learned it from her mother, Elizabeth (Dyer) Sutherland. Verified by William B. Sutherland, Sylvia (Sutherland) Owens, and Eliza J. (Counts) Sutherland. Variant B was supplied by Polly Anne Sutherland, February 26, 1926. Verified by Arpie (Sutherland) Deel, Phoebe (Sutherland) Owens, and Jonas B. Grizzle. A 1
The higher up the cherry-tree
The riper grows the berry;
The more you
English folk songs from the Southern Appalachians - Page 377
https://books.google.com/books?id=b9Y4AAAAIAAJ
Cecil James Sharp, Olive Dame Campbell, Maud Karpeles - 1952 - Snippet view - More editions
The Higher Up the Cherry Tree Sung by Mrs. Jane Gentry Pentatonic. Mode 3. at Hot Springs, Madison Co., N. C, July 27, 1917 . (a) 1. The higher up the cherry tree,
The riper grows the berry;
The sooner a young man courts a girl,
The sooner they will marry.
2 I went over to my love's house,
But I'm going back no more,
For my foot slipped and I went down,
And my head went under the floor.
Sing and Swing from Southern Illinois - Page 24
https://books.google.com/books?id=lV878RJrL2sC
David Seneff McIntosh - 1948 - Snippet view
The higher up the cherry tree,
The riper are the cherries;
The sooner a young man courts a girl,
The sooner they will marry.
2. First on the door-step
And then through the door;
My foot slipped and I fell down;
I ain't gonna' marry no more.
3. Ain't gonna' marry no more my love
Ain't gonna' marry no more;
My foot slipped and I fell down;
I ain't gonna' marry no more.
Formation : Single circle. Action: All circle left while singing the first verse e
All do the Grand Right and Left during the
My pretty liddle pink (Roud 735) Talley
Pass one window tidy O
Charles Wolfe (1991) states that printed versions of this song/tune have been found as far back as 1846.
All Around Those Pretty Little Pinks
ALL AROUND THOSE PRETTY LITTLE PINKS A (Kathryn C. Nicolett, Bache, Pittsburg County.) For the term "pretty little pinks," see PRETTY LITTLE PINK. 1 All around, all around those pretty little pinks, (Three times.)
Long the Days of Sorrows
Long the Days of Sorrows
Rt - All Around Those Pretty Little Pinks
Parr, Mae. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume III, Humorous & Play-Party ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p394/#589 [1942/01/06]
--------------
MY PRETTY LITTLE PINK
See Brown, p. 10; Sandburg, p. 166; Journal, XLIV, 89 (the same text). Mrs. Fannie Hardly Eckstorm sent the following comment: "The song is
worthless as literature, yet I should include it.....It is an extreme example
of the patchwork of odds and ends so often found in these 'love lorn songs'.
.........It is really nothing at all but an illustration of the way minds
of a certain sort work when they meet reverses in love; they think they are making poetry � instead they make up thr sort of thing."
A
Obtained from Austin Harmon, Varnell, Georgia, 1929.
1. My pretty little pink,
So fare you well. You slighted me,
But I wish you well.
2. The prettiest face,
And the meanest hand; I love the ground
Whereon she stands.
3.1 saw you the other day: You looked so loving And you were so gay;
You fooled and trifled your time away.
4. If on earth
No more shall see, I can't serve you
As you serve me.
5.1 love me love
And well she knows
6.1 would rather build my home On some icy hill Where the sun refuses to shine; A trusting girl is hard to find.
7. But when you find one
Just and true, Forsake not the old one For the new.
8. On the twenty-ninth of May
The prison doors flew open wide With guns and guards on ever side, And on my coffin made ride.
9. Come, welcome, death,
I will go with you; The roads are dark And lonesome too.
10. Come on, my dear,
And see me die, And meet sweet Jesus In the sky.
11. The rope is bought,
The bolt is swung, A innocent man,
You all have hung.
12. Before they thought
He was quite dead, Down came a little dove,
Hovered around his head, And they thought it was
The Saviour dear.
---------------------
Marching down to New Orleans
Author(s): David S. McIntosh
Source:
Midwest Folklore,
Vol. 4, No. 3, Illinois Issue (Autumn, 1954), pp. 139-148
Published by: Indiana University Pres
Marching Down To New Orleans*
By DAVID S. MCINTOSH
The puLrpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the singing
game, "Marching Down to New Orleans." -Six Illinois versions are
examined for similarities and contrasts between the lyrics, tunes and
actions for playing the games. The Illinois versions are also briefly
compared with published versions from other states. All the versions
are compared with reference to historical events suggested by the
lyrics.
The accompanying chart is intended to show the relationship of
the different versions with regard to phrase similarity and difference.
Stanzas common to the six Illinois versions are shown in the
chart. In the Strickland version, there is a stanza beginning "My
pretty little Pink" that occurs before the stanza in the chart. In
both the Strickland and Mescher versions there is a stanza beginning
"Where coffee grows on a white oak tree" that occurs after the
stanzas shown on the chart. Most surprising of all is the final stanza
of the Strickland version borrowed from the song "The girl I left
behind me."
It was discovered in checking the published versions that similar
stanzas to those in the chart occurred in all of them.
The stanza beginning "Where coffee grows, on a white oak tree"
is often fouind to be associated with another game appearing under
various titles suich as "Green Coffee," or "Coffee Grows in a White
Oak Tree;"2 however, it was found to be a part of "We are marching
down to New Orleans," in Owens', in Sandburg4, and in Warnick5,
where it was changed to "Where money grows on white oak trees."
This change mav have taken place recently and been caused by the
high price of coffee. I am told that in the early days the pioneers
made coffee by roasting acorns. From the persistence of the phrase
* Read at the Annual Conference of the National Folk Festival Association
under the auspices of Washington University, April 7, 1953.
1 William A. Owens. Swing and Turn: Texas Play-Party Games (Tardy
Publishing Company: Dallas Texas, 1936), p. 37.
2Leah Jackson Wolford, The Play-Party in Indiana (Indiana Historical
Commission: Indianapolis, 1916), p. 65.
8 William A. Owens, Texas Folk Songs (University Press in Dallas: 1950),
pp. 197-198.
4 Carl Sandburg, The American Songbag (Harcourt, Brace, & Company:
1927), p. 166.
5 Florence Warnick, "Play-Party Songs in Western Maryland," Journal
of American Folklore, Vol. 54, p. 163.
DAVID S. MCINTOSH 141
"White oak trees," it must have been the white oak acorns that were
used.
"We are marching down to New Orleans" could qualify under
two large divisions of folk songs, first as a play-party tune and second
as an American soldier marching tune.
In the six versions discovered in Southern Illinois, reference is
made to soldiers marching to New Orleans and to Quebec.
In the War of 1812 the American soldier marched down to New
Orleans and defeated the British; they also marched against Quebec
in Canada but did not take the city. There is a possibility that
the song may have been sung by marching men as far back as 1759
when Wolfe, with his Redcoats and his American Auxiliaries, took
Quebec from the French.
SandburgG gives a version collected in Illinois in his The American
Son gbag under the title "Pretty Little Pink" in which reference is
made to marching away to the Rio Grande. Sandburg makes the
following observation: "A dance song known in Kentucky, Indiana,
and Illinois became a knapsack and marching tune with Mexican
War references."
Owens'7 version from Texas entitled "My Pretty Little Pink"
has the soldiers marching down to Mexico.
Warnick's Version8 from Maryland entitled "My Pretty Little
Pink" mentions Mexico as the troops' destination.
Newell" includes a version from east Tennessee entitled "My
Pretty Pink" which also mentions Mexico.
The following collectors include versions that give Quebec as
the destination of the marching men:
Newell" includes versions from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
Maine, and North Carolina.
Wedgwood'0 presents a version from Nebraska.
Kittredge"1 gives a version from Kentucky.
Wolford12 includes a version from Indiana.
6 Carl Sandburg, loc. cit.
7 William A. Owens, Texas Folk Songs, loc. cit.
8 Florence Warnick, loc. cit.
9 William Wells Newell, Games and Songs of American Children Collected
and Compared (Harper and Brothers: New York and London, 1883).
'0 Harriet L. Wedgwood, "The Play-Party," Journal of American Folklore,
Vol. 25 (1912), p. 271.
11 G. L. Kittredge, "Ballads and Rhymes from Kentucky," Journal of
American Folklore, Vol. 20, p. 275.
12 Leah Jackson Wolford, loc. cit
142 MIDWEST FOLKLORE, IV: 3
Randolph's'3 version A is from Missouri.
Among the published collections examined the only version that
gives New Orleans as the destination of the troops is Version B in
Randolph's'4 Ozark Folksongs, contributed by Miss Rena Smithers of
Springfield, Missouri. Of the eighteen versions examined, ten use
the phrase "Marching to Mexico" or "The Rio Grande."
It is significant to note that three of the versions using Quebec
as the destination of the troops came from the northeastern states;
of the five versions tusing New Orleans, four came from Illinois and
one from Missouri, and of the three using Mexico, one came from
Texas.
It is possible that the soldiers from the East were used in the
campaign against Quebec either in 1759 or 1812, that the men from
Illinois were used in the campaign against New Orleans in 1812,
and that Texas men were used in the Mexican War in 1846.
Many singing games discovered in Southern Illinois can be
traced back across the Ohio and Wabash rivers, because the early
settlers came into Southern Illinois from the south and the east. The
Obermark version came from the vicinity of Metropolis, which is
located up the Ohio River about forty miles from the place where
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers flow together, just below the city
of Cairo. The Mescher version also came from Metropolis.
The Benson version came from the almost forgotten village of
Makanda, located about forty-five miles north of Cairo. Makanda
is one of the early inland towns that was once an important trading
center; now it is just a place to go through on the way to Giant City
State Park.
The Stevenson version came from the vicinity of Sparta, located
about fifty miles northeast of Makanda. Mrs. Stevenson, a charming,
spritely lady near eighty, taught this game and another called "Chase
the Squirrel" to a group of us back in 1942. "Chase 'the Squirrel"
is a chasing game in which boy chases girl, and if he catches her,
he can kiss her. It is too bad that these kissing games have gone out
of style because they muist have had considerable merit.
The Strickland version came from Mt. Vernon, located about one
hundred twenty miles north of Cairo.
The Wilson version came from McLeansboro, thirty miles east
and twenty miles south of Mt. Vernon, not far from the Wabash
13 Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs (The State Historical Society of
Missouri: Columbia, Missouri, 1949), Ill, 296-297.
14 Randolph, loc. cit.
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DAVrID S. MCINTOSH 143
River. Mr. Wilson's folks came into Southern Illinois from Indiana.
He sings many of the old-time songs that he learned from his mother.
He said that he believed that his mother was the sweetest singer that
he had ever heard. He also remembers many of the old singing
games and dances. His singing of the old songs is marked by ex-
cellent musicianship.
The practice of adapting well-known tunes to new lyrics is
very common in folk music. In the Wilson version we find that this
has been done. The tune is the Morris dance tune entitled "The
Blue Eyed Stranger" in the publication by Novello of Morris Dance
Tunes by Cecil Sharp, Set 11. From an examination of the tunes
found in various collections, it was found that many of them show
the definite influence of this tune. I have tried to show the re-
lationship by writing the "Obermark" tune directly beneath the
"Wilson" tune. It will be noticed that many of the passing tones and
alternating tones have been deleted from the "Obermark" version.
The "Wilson" tune uses only the first, second, third, fifth and
sixth tones of the scale of E, omitting the fourth and seventh tones.
This scale is generally recognized as the pentatonic scale and can
be played on the pipe for one hand permitting freedom to the other
hand to beat the tabor (drum), as was the practice in playing music
for the Morris dance"' in the early days.
The "Obermark" tune omits only the fourth tone of the scale
and sounds much more conventional because of the cadential use of
the seventh scale tone.
The pipe being, used to play the "Wilson" tune is an adaption of
the "Shepherd's Pipe," made for the purpose of playing this tune and
to demonstrate the practicality of a pipe for one hand. Perhaps with
enough practice one could beat a drum with the left hand, in the
style of a real "Morris Dance" musician.
THAT PRETTY LITTLE PINK
-Obtained from
Martha Strickland,
Mt. Vernon, Illinois.
That pretty little pink, I used to think,
That she and I would marry,
But I've lost all hope of doing that,
So fare thee well forever.
15 Cecil J. Sharp, The Morris Book Part I, Novello and Company, Lt
144 MIDWEST FOLKLORE, IV: 3
I'll take my knap-sack on my back,
My gun upon my shoulder,
And go away to New Orleans,
And pass for a valiant soldier.
Where coffee grows on white oak trees,
And the rivers flow with brandy,
Where the rocks are overlaid with gold,
And the girls are sweet as candy.
CHORUS:
Oh, that girl, that pretty little girl,
The girl I left behind me,
The more I drink, the less I think
Of the girl I left behind me.
MARCHING DOWN To NEW ORLEANS
-Obtained from
Bill Benson,
Makanda, Illinois,
by Ora Snyder.
I'll take my knapsack on my back,
My gun upon my shoulder,
March away to New Orleans
To be a Rebel soldier.
Quack, quack, quack, and we'll turn back,
To the place where we first started,
Arise you up and choose a couple in
And leave them broken hearted.
WE ARF. MARCHING To QUEBEC
-Obtained from
Mrs. Edna Mae Stevenson,
Sparta, Illinois, 1942.
We are marching to Quebec,
Where the drums are loudly beating.
The Americans have gained the day,
And the British are retreating.
The war is all o'er and we will turn back
To the place where once we started.
We will open up the ring and call a couple in,
For we know they will come true-hearted
DAVID S. MCINTOSH 145
The "Mescher" tune was not included in the comparison of the
"Wilson" and "Obermark" tunes, because it has very little melodic
relationship to them. It, like the "Wilson" tune, uses only the first,
second, third, fifth and sixth tones of the scale. To date it has not
been possible to relate it to any published folk tune. It can also be
played on the pipe for one hand.
It was not possible to obtain the tunes for the "Stevenson",
"Benson", and "Strickland" versions.
Manner of playing:
People have been verv ingenious in adapting songs to various
game formations. rhe simplest form discovered that is used in
"Marching Down to New Orleans" is a march.
Imagine if you will the largest room in a pioneer home, with
all of the furniture moved out either into another room or out of
doors; the guests are standing around the room close to the walls,
the boys together and the girls together; everyone is anxious to
play but all a bit timid to begin. One couple with hands joined
behind their backs in skating position start marching around the
room, singing, "We are marching down to New Orleans, etc."
When they sing the words, "We'll all turn back", they reverse
their direction by turning away from each other, without letting go
of their hands. Thev continue to march alone until they sing
"We'll choose a couple in," when they either nod to a couple stand-
ing around the room or some eager couple joins them in the march.
Now both couples march around the room. Eventually everyone
gets up nerve enough to venture out on the floor.
This is one of the least painful ways to break the ice and get
everyone to participate. At most play-parties or for that matter at
any other party, "breaking the ice" was a problem.
Versions using this manner of playing the game are the Wilson
version and the Stevenson version.
In the Obermark version, all the players are in a double circle
of couples with hands in the same position as in the Wilson version.
There are several extra men in the center of the circle. All march in
counter-clockwise direction until the words "They all turn back" are
sung, when all couples reverse direction in the same manner as
is done in the Wilson version. When the words "We'll open up
the ring and choose a couple in" are sung, the extra gentlemen in
the center tap any gentleman in the double circle on the shoulder
and change places with him.
In the Mescher version, all the couples are seated side by side
in two rows of chairs placed back to back in the center of the room.
One extra couple, with hands joined behind their backs in skating
position, march around the row of seated couples as everyone sings.
On the words, "We'll turn back," the marching couple reverse
direction and continue marching. On the words "Rise you up,"
every seated couple must change seats, and in the scramble the
marching couple get a seat
146 MIDWEST FOLKLORE, IV: 3
No directions for playing the game could be secured from Mr.
Benson or from Martha Strickland.
In this paper an attempt has been made to present certain
facts and speculations abotut an almost forgotten song that, at one
time in the cultural historv of our country, played a minor but an
important part in the recreational life of our people.
Going Down To New Orleans
Obtained trom Mrs. Edith Travis Mescher, 1946.
<F>- ?r 1I # ' ~ ri J* * J ,82 ; '' ?' l
I'll take my knap-sack on my back, my ri-fle on my
+~~~~~~
shoul-der and march a-way to New Or-leans to be a Re-bel
sol-dier. Quack, quack, quack and we'll turn back to the
L X
place where we first- start-ed, oh, rise you up and
N. 2 I ' E
choose a cou-ple in and leave us brok-en heart-ed. Where
cof-fee grows on a white oak tree and the riv-ers flow
>1;~~~~~ 1% P.2
14 K~~~~~~~~~~~~~7
with bran-dy, all the boys are as good as a lump of
'4- .1er 4' p } RRaIF
gold, the girls as sweet as sug-ar can-dy.
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DAVID S. MCINTOSH 147
~ ison
We are march-ing down to New Or-leans where the
Obermark
~~~AI 4. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
4 m~ ~ ~~ A' rI- I r:: g12 r ,r I
We are march-ing down to Old quy-bei the
Wilson
dms and fifes are a- bat-inge the A-
Obermark
drums are loud- ly beat-ing, the A-
, ltlson
mer-i-can boys have gained the day and the
4bermark
mer-i-can boys have gained the day, the
M4s on
Brit-ish are re- treat-ing. The
Obe rm a..
Brit-ish are re- treat-ing . The
ls on
A'A r ,s , P et ? -<>;!;
A A' L~! .~J I 1
war is all ov-er and we'll turn back to the
Obermnark
'i&f E ,2 S t IL
boys all armed and wetll turn back to the
place where we first start-ed, we'll
[be r-mark
place where they first start-ed, we'll
Wilson
Mf t k W *! t FtI S F $ $ > WI I
O W, .
op-en up the ring and choose a cou-ple in, to re-
Obermark
op-en up a ring and choose a cou-ple in, and
Wilson
$r I S S .91 t2,0 11
leave the brok-en heart-ed.
Obermark
leave them brok-en heart-ed
----------------
4. WE'RE MARCHING DOWN TO OLD QUEBEC.
Sandburg (American Songbag, 1927, p. 166) refers the last two verses
of this song to "My Pretty Little Pink," which was popular in Kentucky
in the late 1840's, and is decribed as "a knapsack and marching tune with
Mexican War references." Newell (Games and Songs, 1903, p. 125) prints
a Massachusetts version which he traces back to 18oo, and thinks may be
of Revolutionary origin. Van Doren (JAFL 32: 491.) found this song in
Eastern Illinois, and Kittredge (JAFL 20: 275.) reports an almost
identical version from Kentucky. Hamilton (JAFL 24: 303) calls her
Missouri variant "Old Quebec," and it is not very different from my
Ozark song. See also Wolford (Play-Party in Indiana, 1916, p. 65),
Mooney (JAFL 2. 104) and Wedgwood (JAFL 25: 27). The present
version was contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Allen Woods, Pack, Missouri.
This game is played very much like "The Miller Boy," but whenever
the words "an' we'll turn back" are sung each couple does an about-face
The Ozark Play-Party. 207
as quickly as possible. Two regularly appointed judges decide which
couple is slowest in making the turn, and this couple is turned out of the
circle. At the words "we'll open up th' ring" the circle is broken for a
moment, and the boy and girl outside rush to get in before it can be
closed against them.
We're march-in' down to ol' Que- bec, Whar th'
drums is loud - ly beat - in', Th' 'Mer - i - can boys hev
won th' day, an' th' Brit-ish are re - treat - in'.
Th' war's all over an' we'll turn back
To th' place whar we first started,
We'll open up th' ring an' receive a couple in
To relieve th' broken-hearted.
My purty leetle pink, I used to think
I couldn't live well without you,
But I'll let you know before I go
Thet I don't keer much about you.
I'll put my knapsack on my back
My rifle on my shoulder,
An' I'll march away to New Orleans
An' jine a band o' soldiers.
5. WEEVILY WHEAT.
Sandburg (American Songbag, 1927, p. 161) reports this as an early
play-party song from Indiana, and says that the game was "somewhat
like the Virginia Reel." Emma Bell Miles (Harper's Magazine, 1o9, 1904,
p. 121) found the same dance-song used at play-parties in Tennessee and
Kentucky, "It is not impossible," she writes, "that the Charlie of these
songs is the Prince Charlie of the Jacobite ballads. 'Over the river,
Charlie' may or may not be an echo of 'Over the waters to Charlie,' for a
large proportion of the mountain people are descended from Scotch
Highlanders who left their homes on account of the persecutions which
harassed them during Prince Charlie's time, and began life anew in the
wilderness of the Alleghanies." Mark Sullivan (Our Times, 1927, pp.
158-159) gives texts from Indiana and North Carolina, and he also
208 7ournal of American Folk-Lore.
suggests that the song refers to "Bonnie Prince Charlie, of whom the
Scots sang so much, and loved better than he deserved." Wolford
(Play-Party in Indiana, 1916, pp. o02-io6) prints many verses, and
says that the game was frowned upon as being too much like dancing.
Newell (Games and Songs, 1903, p. 171) describes a children's game called
"Charlie Over the Water" which seems to be a degenerate version of
"Weevily Wheat." Richardson (American Mountain Songs, 1927, p. 30)
has a "Weevily Wheat" song from the Southern Appalachians. Blair
(JAFL 40: 98--99) reports a Kentucky variant - she spells it "Weavily
Wheat." For other texts see Hamilton (JAFL 27: 290), Piper (JAFL
28: 278), Hofer (Children's Singing Games, 1901, p. 38) and Van Doren
(JAFL 32: 488). The following stanzas were supplied by Mrs. Carrie
Baber, Pineville, Missouri, and the melody by Mrs. Mary Grant, Anderson,
Missouri.
The players form in two parallel rows, with the girls on one side and
the boys on the other. The boy and girl at the opposite ends of their
respective lines swagger out to the center and swing, then return to their
places, to be followed by the next couple. When all have swung, the whole
party parades about, swinging at intervals, after which the original lines
are re-formed and the whole performance repeated. Sometimes a sort of
Virginia Reel figure is introduced into the game.
Oh I don't want none o' your weev'-ly wheat, an' I
don't want none o' your bar-ley, But I want some flour in
half a hour, To bake a cake for Char - lie.
Oh Charlie he's a fine young man,
Oh Charlie he's a dandy,
Charlie likes t' kiss th' gals
An' he kin do it handy.
Th' higher up th' cherry tree
Th' sweeter grows th' cherry,
Th' more you hug and kiss a gal
Th' more she wants t' marry.
Yes, Charlie he's a fine young man,
Oh Charlie he's a dandy,
An' Charlie is th' very lad
Thet stole th' striped candy.
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The Ozark Play-Party. 209
Over th' river t' feed them sheep
On buckwheat cakes an' barley,
We don't keer whut th' ol' folks says ---
Over th' river t' Charlie
------------------
Play-Party Songs in Western Maryland
Author(s): Florence Warnick
Source:
The Journal of American Folklore,
Vol. 54, No. 213/214 (Jul. - Dec., 1941), pp. 162-
166
Published by: American Folklore Society
Play-Party Songs in Western Maryland
My pretty little pink, I once did think
That you and I would marry,
But now I've lost all hopes of you
And I can no longer tarry.
I'll take my knapsack on my back
And my rifle on my shoulder,
And away I'll go to Mexico
To be a Union soldier.
Where money grows on white oak trees
And rivers flow with brandy
And the hills are covered with gingerbread
And the girls are sweet as candy.
1 Mrs. Fannie Hardy Eckstorm sent the following interesting comment on songs of this class: "Songs of this kind can not be placed with any certainty. They arc what we call 'fluid ballads/ still in the making and exceptionally unstable, altered at any time by anybody. Some of them are composed of fragments belonging to half a dozen songs which ordinarily are semi-stable�songs that we can name with some expectation that others may recognize them by title, though the contents vary much."
----------------
Title Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
Primary Performer / Group Holt, David; Smith, Betty;
Description Song sung by David Holt and Betty Smith at the 1980 Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music.
Holt, David
Smith, Betty
Date 1980/11/01
Fly around
Higher up
Fly Around
Creator Dutch Cove String Band
Description The Dutch Cove String Band performs during a concert featuring musicians from Canton, North Carolina. The concert is part of a series organized by David Holt and takes place in Warren Wilson College's Kittredge Theater. The band consists of Lynn Shaw (vocals, fiddle), Liz Smathers Shaw (fiddle), Quay Smathers (guitar), June Smathers (banjo), and Cynthia Smathers (bass).
Subject Fiddle music
DLA Category Music
Date April 14, 1978
Time Period 1970-1979;
Place Swannanoa NC
[instrumental banjo]
CHORUS: Fly around my pretty little miss,
Fly around my daisy,
Fly around my pretty little miss,
You almost drive me crazy.
The higher up the cherry tree,
The riper grows the cherry,
The more you hug and kiss the girls,
The sooner they will marry. CHORUS: