Willie and Johnny- Younger (AR-OK) c1889 Moores, Version B
[From the Moores, Ballads and Folk Songs of the Southwest, 1964. Despite the 1964 date of publication, most of the ballads are old from the early 1900s. If the information supplied by the Moores is correct, then John Younger (the informant) had an outlaw father named Robert Ewing "Bob" Younger (October 29, 1853 – September 16, 1889) the brother of Cole Younger, who both teamed up with Jesse James. Apparently after his father died the family moved to Oklahoma and I'm guestimating a date of 1889 with no real basis in fact. After the Moores' notes is a bio on Robert Younger, the informants father.
R. Matteson 2014]
Moores: 14. The Twa Brothers
Most of the versions of this ancient Scottish ballad (Child, No. 49) were recorded in the first part of the nineteenth century. Jamieson's text (I, 59-65) is quite complete, "as it was taken down from the recitation of Mrs. Arrott." The ballad is well preserved in the United States and is widespread. Texts and references are in the following: Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, 99-106; Belden, 33-34; Brewster, 55-57; Chappell, 17; Child, I,435-44; Cox, 33-35; Creighton and Senior, 25-26; Davis, A6-57; Eddy, 26-28; Hudson, 73-74; Journal, Vol. XXVI, 361 (Pound), Vol. XXIX, 158 (Tolman), Vol. XXX, 294 (Kittredge), Vol. LII, 35 (Treat); Linscott, 278-80; McGill , 54; Morris, 254-57; Motherwell, I, 211-16; Pound , 45; Randolph , I, 76-80; Scarborough, Song Catcher, 166-67 ; and Sharp, I, 65-7 6.
Wiki: Robert Ewing "Bob" Younger (October 29, 1853 – September 16, 1889) was an American criminal and outlaw, the younger brother of Cole, Jim and John Younger. He was a member of the James-Younger gang.
Born in Missouri on October 29, 1853, Robert was the thirteenth of fourteen children born to Henry Washington Younger and Bersheba Leighton Fristoe. During the Civil War his brothers Cole and Jim rode with Quantrill's Raiders. Bob was only 8 when the war broke out in 1861. He saw his father killed by Union soldiers and his home burned to the ground.
After the war, his brothers formed the James-Younger gang with Frank and Jesse James. For ten years the gang robbed banks, trains, and stage coaches across Missouri, Kansas, and other nearby states. Bob Younger is believed to have first joined the gang in 1873.
In September 1876 the gang attempted to rob the First National Bank in Northfield, Minnesota. The townspeople decided to fight back, and in the ensuing shootout all three of the Younger brothers were captured. Bob was wounded in the elbow and later in the chest. Two Northfield citizens were killed in the botched raid.
Bob Younger was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died of tuberculosis in prison at Stillwater, Minnesota on September 16, 1889 aged 35 years.
B. "Willie and Johnny" was sung by John Younger, Tulsa. Mr. Younger, born in Searcy County, Arkansas, moved to Stroud in 1889. He is a nephew of Cole Younger, his father being the "other Younger boy," Robert Younger.
Willie had a great penny knife,
Both ready sharp and keen;
He pierced poor John through and through,
And through poor Johnny's heart.
"Pull off, pull off your cashmere shirt,
And tear it from gore to gore;
And wrap up my bleeding wounds,
So they will not bleed no more."
He pulled off his cashmere shirt,
And tore it from gore to gore;
And he wrapped up poor Johnny's wounds,
So they could not bleed no more.
"Go pick me up all on your back,
And carry me low and mild;
And dig my grave both wide and deep,
And lay your brother down."
He picked him up all on his back,
He carried him low and mild;
And dug his grave both wide and deep,
And laid poor Johnny down.
"Go put my Testament under my head,
My Bible at my feet;
And put my sword by *y right side,
So soundly may I sleep."
He put his Testament under his head,
His Bible at his feet;
And put his sword by his right side,
So soundly might he sleep.
"If you meet with my old father,
And he inquires of me;
Tell him I'm off with some schoolmates,
A-keeping them company.
"If you meet with my old mother,
And she inquires of me;
Tell her to come to some foreign land,
And there she will meet with me.
'If you meet with my sweetheart,
And she inquires of me;
Tell her I'm dead and buried at Chester town,
Where many a poor boy is lying."