UNIVERSITY
C 468,763 III.iii.
015 03100 8264
821.1 U.S., LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, DIVISION OF MUSIC ARCHIVES OF
U575F AMERICAN FOLK SONG, FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES,
©2 |, |
Q st 54- THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Y\o."), 2. MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
ALBUM XXII
OR
LONG-PLAYING RECORD L22
Songs of the Chippewa
Recorded and Edited by
FRANCES DENSMORE
Preface
The albums (or long-playing records) of Indian songs, edited by
Miss Frances Densmore, make available to students and scholars the
hitherto inaccessible and extraordinarily valuable original recordings
of Indian music which now form a part of the collections of the Archive
of American Folk Song in the Library of Congress. The original
recordings were made with portable cylinder equipment in the field
over a period of many years as part of Miss Densmore's research for
the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution.
The recordings were subsequently transferred to the National Ar-
chives, and, finally, to the Library of Congress, with a generous gift
from Eleanor Steele Reese (Mrs. E. P. Reese) which has made possi-
ble the duplication of the entire 3,591 cylinders to more permanent
16-inch acetate discs and the issuance of selected recordings in the
present form. The total collection is unique and constitutes one of
the great recorded treasures of the American people.
Miss Frances Densmore of Red Wing, Minn., was born May 21,
1867, and has devoted a rich lifetime to the preservation of Indian
music. Her published works include volumes on Chippewa Music,
Teton Sioua: Music, Northern Ute Music, Mandan and Hidatsa Music,
1 Certain of the cylinders transferred to the Library of Congress were made by other field collectors of the
Smithsonian Institution, but the great bulk of them—2,385 to be exact—were recorded by Miss Densmore,
and these have been designated as the Smithsonian-Densmore Collection.
886417–50—1 (1) -
#šlity ºf sºcittaan
a
Tº ºval. Likº
Papago Music, Pawnee Music, Yuman and Yaqui Music, Cheyenne
and Arapaho Music, Choctaw Music, Music of the Indians of British
Columbia, Nootka and Quilente Music, Music of the Tule Indians of
Panama, and other related subjects. Now, as a fitting complement
to these publications, Miss Densmore has selected from the thousands
of cylinders the most representative and most valid—in terms of the
sound quality of the original recordings—songs of the different Ind-
ian tribes. With the recordings, she has also prepared accompany-
ing texts and notes—such as those contained in this pamphlet—
which authentically explain the background and tribal use of the
music for the interested student.
This album (or long-playing record), and the series of which it forms
a part, is a valuable addition to the history, folklore, and musicology
of our North American continent. Its value is increased for us with
the knowledge that much of the music has, unfortunately, disappeared
from the American scene. To Miss Densmore, and other Smithson-
ian collectors, as well as to the Indian singers who recorded for them,
we must be grateful for rescuing this music from total oblivion.
DUNCAN EMRICH,
Chief, Folklore Section.
Contents
Pages
List of Songs . 3
Phonetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Dream Songs (AAFS 106A and B; L22A1–6). . . . 6
War Songs (AAFS 107A and B; L22A7–10) . . . . . . . . 8
Miscellaneous Songs (AAFS 108A; L22A11–14). . . . 10
Songs Used in the Treatment of the Sick (AAFS 108B;
L22B1–3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Songs of the Mide/wiwin (AAFS 109A and B; L22B4–9) . . 13
Love Songs (AAFS 110A and B; L22B10–16). . . . . . . . 16
LIST OF SONGS
N. B. The selections available in Album XXII are also available on one long-
playing disc, the first of its kind to be issued by the Recording Laboratory
of the Library of Congress. This has necessitated a double numbering
which, it is believed, is clear and simple. In the numerical columns below,
the discs playable at 78 rpm are listed on the left and continue the num-
bering long established for AAFS recordings. The location of songs on
the long-playing disc (33% rpm) can be ascertained from the right hand
column, the figures following the A or B indicating the proper band or
strip of playing surface. The number L22 is used, since it is anticipated
that the preceding 21 albums issued by the Library of Congress will be
reissued on long-playing discs.
EPOSITs; D BY THE
13 Nº TED STAT:S C ; ;
a rºº lºa
> * (
DEC1 450 . . . / ºf
DREAM SONGS (106A and B; L22A1–6) we | º
Record No. --> -->
AAFS Title Singer
106A1 L22A1 “One wind.” Ki’miwón -
106A2 L22A2 Dream Song (a) Awón'akūm’ſgickūfī’
106A3 L22A3 Dream Song (b) Awān'akūm'ígíckūfī’
106B1 L22A4 Song of the thunders Ga'gandac'
106B2 L22A5 “The approach of the storm” Ga’gandac'
106B3 L22A6 “My voice is heard” Ga’gandac'
WAR SONGS (107A and B; L22A7–10)
107A1 L22A7 “I will start before noon” Ga’tcitcigi'cíg
107A2 L22A8 Song in Honor of Cimau'ganic Ga’tcitcigi'cíg
107B1 L22A9 War Song F'niwáb'e
107B2 L22A10 “In the south” E’niwab'e
MISCELLANEOUS SONGS (108A; L22A11–14)
108A1 L22A11 “The entire world” Ki’miwón
108A2 L22A12 Woman’s Dance Song A’jide'gij(g
108A3 L22A13 Moccasin Game Song Nita'miga'bo
108A4 L22A14 “We have salt.” Henry Selkirk
SONGS USED IN THE TREATMENT OF THE SICK (108B; L22B1–3)
108B1
108B2
108B3
109A1
109A2
109A3
109B1
109E2
109B3
110A1
110A2
110A3
110B1
110B2
110B3
110B4
Vowels have the Continental sounds, except 0 as in but.
L22B1 “The approach of the thunderbirds” Ki’miwan
L22B2 “Going around the world” Maifi'gans
L22B3 “Sitting with the turtle” Ki’miwón
SONGS OF THE MIDE'WIWIN (109A and B; L22B4–9)
L22B4 Song of the Manido Maifi'gans
L22B5 Dancing Song Maifi'gans
L22B6 Escorting the Candidate for Initiation Maifi'gans
L22B7 Song of the Fire-charm O'déni'gún
L22B8 Song of the Flying Feather O'déni'gún
L22B9 Burial Song for a Member of the Na’waji'bigo'kwe
Miſde’wſwín
LOVE SONGS (110A and B; L22B10–16)
L22B10 “You desire vainly” Mec'kawiga'bau
L22B11 “Work steadily” Maifi'gans
L22B12 “Weeping for my love” Dji'siã'sſno'kwe
L22B13 “I have found my lover” Julia Warren Spears
L22B14 Love Song (a) Manido'gicſgo'kwe
L22B15 Love Song (b) Manido'gicigo'kwe
L22B16 “I am going away” Gage'bīnās
PHONETICS
The diphthong ai
is pronounced as in aisle, and au is pronounced like ow in allow.
Consonants are pronounced as in English, except that c represents the sound
of sh, j the sound of zh, to the sound of tch in watch, and dj the sound of j in judge.
The letter fi, or fig, represents the sound of ng in thing. .
3
\ \ , . . .
) * /
Songs of the Chippewa
by FRANCES DENSMORE
INTRODUCTION
The songs presented herewith were selected from 340 songs
recorded and transcribed in a study of Chippewa music made for the
Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, by the
writer." They were recorded in 1907–10 on the principal reservations
in Minnesota and the Lac du Flambeau Reservation in Wisconsin.
It was an opportune time for the work as a few of the old leaders and
warriors were still living. These men realized that the old songs were
disappearing and consented to record them when told “their voices
would be preserved in Washington, in a building that would not
burn down.” In fulfilment of that promise, the American people
may now have copies of their recordings—songs of their dreams,
dances and games, songs of the warpath and camp, love songs and the
songs with which they treated the sick, as well as songs of their
religious organization, the Mide' wivin (Grand Medicine Society).
These songs, thirty in all, were recorded by sixteen singers, four
of whom were women. Several of the men and three of the women
spoke practically no English, and, with few exceptions, the singers
were about 70 years of age, several being much older.
A favorable approach to the Minnesota Chippewa was aided by
certain men and women of mixed blood, living on the White Earth
Reservation. Most of these were relatives of William W. Warren,
the historian of the tribe.” His sister, Mrs. Mary Warren English,
was my principal interpreter; another sister, Mrs. Julia Warren
Spears, gave information; and his niece, Mrs. Charles W. Mee, com-
mended the work to the Indians and interpreted when necessary.
They also recorded songs, one of which, recorded by Mrs. Spears, is
included in this album (110B1; L22B13). I became acquainted with
these members of the tribe and with some of the singers in June
1905, when attending a certain celebration at White Earth.
The recording of Chippewa songs was begun in September 1907,
at Onigum on the Leech Lake Reservation. I had visited this locality
the previous June and heard the members of the Míde’wiwin sing their
songs around Flat Mouth, their dying chief. His death took place a
1 Densmore, Frances. Chippewa Music, Bull. 45, Bur. Amer. Ethn., 1910; Chippewa Music II, Bull. 53,
Bur. Amer. Ethn., 1913.
* Warren, William Whipple. History of the Ojibway Nation. Collections of the Minnesota Historical
Society, vol. 5, pub. by the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn., 1885. Reprinted Feb. 1897.
4.
few days later, and I remained for his burial. All this was remembered
by the Indians when I returned and asked them to record songs.
My first recording equipment was an Edison phonograph which was
then the best equipment available. The next summer, it was re-
placed by a Columbia gramophone with four heavy springs. At that
time the Indians were not generally accustomed to phonographs and
few, if any, had seen the making of records. One Chippewa woman,
after hearing a record of her own voice, looked at the phonograph and
exclaimed, “How did it learn that song so quick? That is a hard
song.”
Each class of Chippewa song has its accompanying instrument.
The hand-drum which is common to many tribes is used with game
songs and by a man when singing alone; a large drum is used at dances,
the singers sitting on the ground around it, each with his own drum-
stick; the doctor uses a gourd or disc-shaped rattle; and a water-
drum and gourd rattle are used in the ceremonies of the Mide/wiwin.
Indians are accustomed to singing with some form of accompaniment,
but the drum and rattle overpower the voice if used when songs are
recorded. Therefore it was necessary to find, by experiment, some
form of accompaniment that would satisfy the Indian singer and also
record the rhythm of the drum or rattle. Pounding on a pan was
too noisy, but this and other forms of accompaniment will be heard
in the present series. Songs were often recorded in an Indian school-
room during vacation, and an empty chalk box was found an excellent
substitute for a drum. Inside the box I put a crumpled paper that
touched the sides of the box but did not fill it. The box was closed
and struck sharply with the end of a short stick, producing a sound
that was heard clearly on the record. This was percussion without
resonance, and made possible the transcribing of the rhythm of the
native accompaniment.
The wishes of the singer were consulted, as far as possible, in the
recording of his songs. One singer might insist that no one should
hear him sing, while another might ask that a friend be present or
that the record be played for his friends. The songs of Eniwáb'e were
recorded in his home at Lac du Flambeau. The activities of the
family went on as usual but did not disturb him.
The songs heard at Indian dances are generally small in compass,
but a tabulated analysis of 340 Chippewa songs shows that 3 percent
have a compass of 14 tones, 30 percent have a compass of 12 tones, 11
percent have a compass of 10 tones, and 21 percent have a compass of
an octave.”
In listening to these records it should be borne in mind that they
were made in the field and intended only for the use of the collector.
Also, that sounds recorded on wax cylinders are amplified by electric
copying. The purpose was to preserve the old melodies and, so far
* Chippewa Music II, Bull. 53, Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 21.
5
as possible, the old technique in singing them. The several renditions
of a song often show slight differences, and it is impossible to indicate
in musical notation the by-tones and embellishments that are heard
in some songs. Such freedom is allowed an expert singer of our own
race and is not shown in our notation. The Indians value skill in
singing, but they appreciate the fine old songs, though sung by men
with weak voices. The words of Chippewa songs are generally few
in number but many songs are highly poetic.
With an understanding of these peculiarities, Chippewa music may
be recognized as part of the native culture of the tribe.
DREAM SONGS (106A and B; L22A1-6)
Many Indian songs were not composed in our use of that term, but
were said to come to the mind of the Indian when he was in a “dream”
or trance, often induced by fasting. The Indian believed this condi-
tion put him in communication with supernatural powers that would
help him in some undertaking, and that he could restore the communi-
cation by singing the song and complying with some other conditions.
In this way he could secure the help of supernatural powers at any
time. He might sing his “dream song” when going to war, when
treating the sick, or giving demonstrations of various sorts to show
his power. The meaning of the words of the dream song were known
only to himself and referred to the subject of his dream. In time the
song became familiar and others might sing it, but the song would
not have its old power. Some songs of this sort are very old, and the
words have been forgotten. Such are many songs of today—the
dream songs of forgotten men.
The first three dream songs were recorded at a small Chip-
pewa village in northern Minnesota. This village is located on a
long point of land which divides the upper and lower portions of
Red Lake and is called Waba'cífig by the Chippewa, meaning “where
the wind blows from all sides.” The white people call it Cross Lake
as it is across the lake from the Red Lake Agency. The first encroach-
ment of civilization on this isolated group of Indians was in 1901 when
the Government started a day school in that locality. The Indians
opposed it with all their power, but after it was established they
became adjusted to it and were interested in keeping their children
in school. In 1909, when these songs were recorded, most of these
Indians were members of the Míde'wſwin, observing its rites and
ceremonies. They seldom heard the music of the white race, and
were comparatively free from its influence. The village was reached
only by an occasional steamboat, but an opportunity occurred to go
on a government boat from the Red Lake Agency in July. I remained
only a few days until the boat returned, but forty songs were recorded
by five singers. Eight of these songs, recorded by three of the singers,
are presented in Album XXII (long-playing record L22).
6
106A1 (L22A1) “ONE WIND” (Cat. no. 298, no. 149, Bull. 53.)
This is evidently a dream song, the words referring to the dream in
which it was received. The song was recorded at Waba'cífig, Minne-
sota, in 1909, by Kiſmiwān (Rainy), a man of middle age who was
prominent in the tribal councils. -
WORDS
be'jig One
no'din wind,
ninga'nawéndan' I am master of it.
106A2 (L22A2) DREAM SoNG (a) (Cat. no. 321, no. 130, Bull. 53.)
This and the song next following were recorded by Awān'akūm'-
igickáñ’ (Fog covering the earth) at Waba'cífig, Minnesota, in 1909.
His home was in Canada but he was with a group of Chippewa who
came down to attend the recent Fourth of July celebration and were
camping on upper Red Lake. He was about 30 years of age and the
youngest Chippewa who recorded songs. He appeared to be a full-
blood Chippewa, spoke no English, and said, through the interpreter,
that his people have rarely heard a piano, organ, or any other tuned
instrument. When he was a little boy he “sat with the old men,”
listening to their singing and learning their songs. Now he “sings
the songs that the old men made up in their dreams.” He sang with
an artificial tone which is heard in his recordings. It is a throaty
tone with a vibrato quality. He discovered the ability to sing with
this tone when he was a boy and had cultivated it ever since. No
information was obtained with this song except that it was a dream
song, used in the Woman's dance.
106A3 (L22A3) DREAM SoNG (b) (Cat no. 325, no. 136, Bull. 53.)
Like the song next preceding, this was recorded at Waba'cífig,
Minnesota, in 1909, by Awón'akúm’īgīckúñ’ who said it was used in
the Woman's dance.
The second three dream songs were recorded by Ga’gandac'
(One whose sails are driven by the wind), who was commonly known
by his English name, George Walters. He was a man of middle age,
living at White Earth, Minnesota, and was a prominent singer at all
tribal gatherings. His songs were recorded circa 1908.
106B1 (L22A4) Song of THE THUNDERs
(Cat. no. 207, no. 113, Bull. 45.)
In this song the dreamer feels himself carried through the air.
WoRDS
na'ningo'dinunk’ Sometimes
ninbaba'cawen'dan I go about pitying
niyau' myself,
baba'maciyan' while I am carried by the wind
gicſguñ' across the sky.
7
106B2 (L22A5) “THE APPROACH of THE STORM”
(Cat. no. 209, no. 115, Bull. 45.)
The Indian generally approaches in silence unless he announces his
coming by making some sound. This song concerns a manido'
(spirit) that lives in the sky and rules the storm. He is friendly, and
the distant thunder is his manner of letting the Indian know of his
approach. Hearing this, the Indian will hasten to put tobacco on
the fire so that the smoke may ascend as a friendly signal or response
to the manido’.
This song was recorded by a younger singer about a year before it
was recorded by Ga’gandac'. On comparing the two records it is
found that they differ less in rhythm than in melodic progressions.
The younger singer used the same tones, but in some parts of the
song he used the intervals in a slightly different order. The char-
acteristic rhythm is identical in the two records.
WoRDs
abitſ' From the half
gicíguñ' of the sky
ebigwén' - that which lives there
kabide’bwewidufi' is coming, and makes a noise.
106B3 (L22A6) “My VoICE Is HEARD" !
(Cat. no. 208, no 114, Bull. 45.)
No explanation was given of the words in this song but it seems
probable that the thunder is speaking. It is one of the dream songs
that are surrounded by mystery but sung in gatherings of the people.
This melody has a compass of 12 tones and contains interesting
mannerisms of rendition. The tempo of the drum is slightly faster
than that of the voice.
WORDS
misiw8’ All over
akīfī’ the world
nin’ debwe'widºm' my voice resounds.
WAR SONGS. (107A and B; L22A7–10)
In war as in all his undertakings, the Chippewa depended upon help
from supernatural powers. He appealed to these powers by means of
songs and he carried “war charms” as well as combinations of herbs
known as “war medicine.” The song came to him in a dream and
the herbs were secured from old men of the tribe who were generally
members of the Mide/wiwin. A personal war song was recorded by
Odjib'we, the leader of the Chippewa warriors during the time of
Hole-in-the-day, who was assassinated in 1868. After recording this
song the aged man bowed his head, saying that he feared he would
not live long as he had given away his most precious possession.
8
The tribal war songs included those that were sung before the de-
parture of a war party, songs of the warpath and battle, songs of the
victorious return and the scalp dance. Examples of these are presented.
107A1 (L22A7) “I WILL START BEFORE Noon”
(Cat. no. 276, no. 129, Bull. 45.)
This and the song next following were recorded in 1907–10 at
White Earth, Minnesota, by Ga’tcitcigi'cíg (Skipping a day), who
selected his songs with care. He recorded six songs comprising three
war songs, a love song, a dance song, and the popular “folk song”
concerning We’mabo'jo and the ducks. The singer said that he
learned this war song from his father who was a warrior and in the
old days was often sent in advance of the war party as a scout.
Before starting on such an expedition he sang this song. The Chip-
pewa words on the record are not correctly pronounced and contain
many interpolated syllables. The song has a compass of 12 tones
the highest tone being A, second space, treble staff. The tones are
those of a major triad and sixth.
WoRDS
teinau'hwakweg" I will start on my journey before noon,
teibwa’wabūmi'igoyan' before I am seen.
107A2 (L22A8) SoNG IN HoNor of CIMAU'gANfc
(Cat. no. 277, no. 130, Bull. 45.)
In the old days it was customary for a woman to go out and meet a
returning war party. If a scalp had been taken, she received it at the
hand of the leader and danced in front of the war party as it neared
the camp, singing and waving the scalp. This song concerns such an
event. The singer said that he had heard it sung by a woman on
such an occasion. Sometimes several women went to meet the
warriors, but one always preceded the others and received the scalp.
The return to the camp was followed by the scalp dance. Each scalp
was fastened to a hoop at the end of a pole and passed from one man to
another, each man holding it aloft as he danced around a pile of gifts.
This is an old song in which the name of Cimau'ganic has replaced
the name of a former warrier. This was in accordance with custom,
one melody often containing the names of several warriors in succes-
sion, the words of praise being the same for each. The words mean
“Cimau'ganic killed in war.”
In recording this song Ga’tcitcigi'cíg imitated the singing of a
woman. The same technique was used in love songs and in songs of
the scalp dance. It is characterized by a peculiar nasal tone and a
gliding from one pitch to another (Cf. 110B2, 110B3; L22B14, L22B15).
The nucleus of this performance consists of five measures, in which the
words occur. This is heard four times in the recording. The inter-
886417–50–2 9
vening measures show a similar basic rhythm with various melodic
progressions.
107 B1 (L22A9) WAR SoNG (Cat. no. 411, no. 88, Bull. 53.)
This song was recorded at Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, by
F'niwab'e (Sits farther along) in 1910. He is a conservative Indian,
respected by all who know him, and is the owner of two houses, one in
the Indian village and the other on his farm where he spends the
summer. He did not remember the fighting between the Chippewa
and Sioux in Wisconsin, but his father, said to be 90 years of age,
recalled the war dances of that time.
No information was obtained concerning this song.
107B2 (L22A10) “IN THE SOUTH’’ (Cat. no. 426, no. 87, Bull. 53.)
This, like the song next preceding, was recorded at Lac du Flambeau,
Wisconsin in 1910 by É'niwáb'e (Sits farther along). No information
concerning it was available. A peculiarity in the manner of rendition
is the sounding of a tone slightly above the intended pitch and descend-
ing downward in a glissando. This is heard clearly in the second
Iſle&SUll’e.
WoRDS
ca’wſ\nofig' In the south
bInê'sſwóg the birds
ge’binonda'goziwa” are heard singing.
MISCELLANEOUS SONGS (108A; L22A11–14)
108A1 (L22A11) “THE ENTIRE WoRLD”
(Cat. no. 297, no. 167, Bull. 53.)
This was said to be the music of a very old dance and no informa-
tion was available concerning the dance or the meaning of the words.
The rhythm is vigorous and the song has a compass of 13 tones. It
was recorded at Waba'cífig, Minnesota, by Ki’miwān (Rainy) in 1909.
WORDS
ë'négokwag' The entire
aki' world
nima’wimigun’ weeps for me.
108A2 (L22A12) Woman’s DANCE SoNG
(Cat. no. 295, no. 164, Bull. 53.)
The Woman's dance is a feature of every gathering of the Minne-
sota Chippewa and is said to have been learned from the Sioux. Both
men and women take part and the dancers face the drum, side by
side, moving clockwise in a circle with a shuffling step. An invitation
to join the dance is accompanied by a gift, and the first invitation
10
is usually given by a woman, the man responding with a gift of about
the same value. The gifts are generally some form of beadwork and
the dancers hold them up for all to see as they dance, making a
picturesque scene. The songs of this dance have no general charac-
teristics and are rather simple in melody and rhythm. This song
has no words. A'jide'gijig (Crossing Sky) recorded it at Waba'cífig,
Minnesota, in 1909.
108A3 (L22A13) MoccASIN GAME SoNG
(Cat. no. 203, no. 144, Bull. 45.)
The moccasin game is the principal form of gambling practiced by
the Chippewa at the present time. In this game four bullets or balls
are hidden under four moccasins. One bullet or ball is marked and
it is the object of the opposing players to locate this with as few
“guesses” as possible. A characteristic of moccasin game songs is
a rapid drumbeat with slower tempo of the voice, as in this song.
The drumbeat of these songs is a strongly accented stroke followed
by a very short unaccented stroke.
This is the song of a determined player. It is the only song that was
recorded by Nita'miga'bo (Leader standing), and was recorded at
White Earth, Minnesota, 1907–10.
WoRDS
nin'gagiwá' I will go home,
niwe'nigoyan' if I am beaten,
nin'genadin' after more articles
minawa'geatc’igeyan’ to wager.
108A4 (L22A14) “WE HAVE SALT.”
(Cat. no. 268, no. 168, Bull. 53.)
The age of this song is indicated by the words. In the early days the
Chippewa had no salt. A treaty known as the “Salt Treaty” was
concluded at Leech Lake, Minnesota, on August 21, 1847, with the
Pillager Band of Chippewa. This treaty stipulated that the Indians
should receive five barrels of salt annually for five years. This is the
song of a member of the Pillager Band, boasting of the salt they have
received by this treaty. The song was recorded about 1909 by
Henry Selkirk, a man of Scotch-Chippewa ancestry living at White
Earth, Minnesota.
WORDS
ma'no Let
kigadefin'awen'imigo'min them despise us,
ji’wita'gón salt
gi'dayamin' we have
a'jawa'kwa here, beyond the belt of timber
gi'dayamin' we live.
11
SONGS USED IN THE TREATMENT OF THE SICK
(108B; L22B1–3)
Two classes of native doctors treated the sick among the Chippewa,
both using songs in their treatment. One class comprised the older
members of the Mide/wiwin who used the songs and secret herbs of
that organization. Members of the second class did not always
belong to the Mide'wiwin. They claimed to receive their power in
personal dreams and gave demonstrations to impress the people with
that power. Both classes used affirmations, one affirming the great
power of the Mide/wiwin and the other affirming the power of their
own supernatural helpers. Several healing songs of the Míde’wiwin
were recorded but the three songs presented here were selected from
songs of the second sort recorded at White Earth and Waba'cífig,
Minnesota. One of the singers (Maifi'gans) treated the sick in the
manner that will be described; the other (Ki’miwān) was familiar
with the custom. Such a doctor treated the sick by singing, shaking
his rattle, passing his hands over the body of the patient, and ap-
parently swallowing one or more tubular bones which he afterward
removed from his mouth. Each of these actions was considered in-
dispensable to the treatment. There is a similarity in the melodic
pattern of these three songs. This adds to their interest as they were
attributed to different sources.
108B1 (L22B1) “THE APPROACH of THE THUNDERBIRDs”
(Cat. no. 311, no. 141, Bull. 53.)
This song was said to have been sung after a demonstration with
the tubular bones and the treatment which followed. The words
refer to the dream in which the doctor received his power. The
recording is realistic. After the second rendition a sharp, hissing
sound was made by the singer who said that the Chippewa doctor
makes such a sound as he breathes or “blows” on the person whom
he is treating. After the third rendition there is recorded a shrill
whistle which he is said to make when the bones issue from his mouth.
The song was recorded by Ki’miwān (Rainy) at Waba'cífig, Min-
nesota, in 1909.
WoRDS
kabide’bwewe'damowad’ The sound approaches,
bInê'sſwäg the (thunder) birds draw near.
108B2 (L22B2) “GoING AROUND THE WoRLD”
(Cat. no. 246, no. 110, Bull. 45.)
This song was recorded by Maifi'gans (Little Wolf) of White Earth
who treated the sick in the manner that has been described. He said
that he sang three songs when treating a sick person, the melody
being the same in the first and third songs. He sang the first song
after he had looked at the sick person and decided that he could help
12
him. The words are translated: “I am singing and dreaming in my
poor way over the earth, I who will again disembark upon the earth.”
Then he sang a song which indicates that he received his power from a
bear, the words being, “The big bear, to his lodge I go often.” His
third song is here presented. As stated, the melody is the same as in
the song which preceded his treatment. The song was probably
recorded in 1908.
WORDS
ka'wita'kūmi'gickaman’ I am going around
aki' the world,
midwe’kūmi'gickaman’ I am going through
aki' the world.
108B3 (L22B3) “SITTING WITH THE TURTLE”
(Cat. no. 309, no. 139, Bull. 53.)
No information was obtained concerning this song except that it
was used by the same medicine man as the first song in this group.
It is evidently the song of a man who received his power from the great
turtle (mikinak'). The form of the words suggests a lengthy
conference with the turtle and, perhaps, a return to the turtle for the
renewing of his power. The story of the dream, like the name of the
medicine man who received the song, has been lost, but the melody
and words remain a tradition among his people. Like his former
songs for the sick (108A1, 108B1; L22A11, L22B1), this was recorded
by Ki’miwān (Rainy) at Waba'cífig, Minnesota, in 1909.
WORDS
mikinak’ Turtle,
niwi'tabimú’ I am sitting with him.
SONGS OF THE MIDE/WIWIN. (109A and B; L22B4-9)
The native religion of the Chippewa is the Mide” (Grand Medicine),
and its organization is the Mide'wiwin (Grand Medicine Society)
which consists of eight degrees. Both men and women may become
members and are advanced from one degree to another on receiving
certain instructions and bestowing valuable gifts. There are series of
songs for initiation into each degree, and such songs for initiation into
the first, second, third and sixth degrees were recorded. There are
also songs for treating the sick, which is an important function of the
society, and songs for success in various undertakings. The songs of
the Míde’wiwin are estimated as several hundred in number. All are
recorded in mnemonics on strips of birchbark.
A peculiarity of Míde’ songs is the use of meaningless vowel syllables
between the words and interpolated in the words. Explosive vowel
syllables are often given between renditions of songs, similar to the
ejaculations that take place during an initiation ceremony.
* This term is applied to individual members of the organization and is also used as an adjective."
13
This series opens with three songs of initiation into the first and
second degree of the Mide/wiwin, recorded in 1907–10 by Maifi'gans
(Little Wolf), a prominent member of the organization at White
Earth, Minnesota.
109A1 (L22B4) SoNG of THE MANIDo'
(Cat. no. 238, no. 2, Bull. 45.)
Maifi'gans (Little Wolf) said this song was taught him by the old
man who initiated him into the Míde’wiwin and that he sang it him-
self when acting as an initiator. In explanation of the song he said,
through the interpreter, that the Chippewa lived on Lake Superior
before coming to Minnesota and therefore many traditions of the
Míde’wiwin are connected with water. Long ago a manido' (spirit)
came to teach the Mide' to the Indians and stopped on a long point
of land which projects into Lake Superior at the present site of Duluth.
The words of this song refer to that incident. Between the words
may be heard the meaningless vowel syllables that characterize Míde'
Songs.
WORDS
nawaii’ On the center of a peninsula
ni'bawiyān’ I am standing.
109A2 (L22B5) DANCING SoNG (Cat. no. 239, no. 3, Bull. 45.)
This is similar to the song next preceding except that the person to
be initiated would dance while it was sung. It may also be sung in
the ceremonial lodge after the initiation.
WoRDs
o'gotcitci'yane' In form like a bird
siwa'wigane' it appears.
109A3 (L12B6) EscorTING THE CANDIDATE FOR INITIATION
(Cat. no. 237, no. 10, Bull. 45.)
In the middle of the ceremonial lodge is a pole with symbolic decora-
tions and beside this pole is a pile of blankets to be used as gifts. The
leader of the ceremony escorts the candidate to a seat on the pile of
blankets, facing west. He moves slowly at first, then very rapidly,
ejaculating we ho ho ho and shaking his rattle while this song is sung.
Like the two songs next preceding, this was recorded by Maifi'gans
(Little Wolf) at White Earth, Minnesota, in 1907–10.
WORDS
nikán’ Our Míde’ brother,
giva'ninosé’ you are going around
MIde’wigán the Mide' lodge.
14
109B1 (L22B7) SoNG of THE FIRE-CHARM
(Cat. no. 197, no. 86, Bull. 45.)
This and the song next following are examples of the songs that are
sung in the lodges during the evenings that precede an initiation of
the Míde' wiwin and at the dances which follow the ceremony. They
are connected with the use of “rare medicines”, the term “medicine”
being applied to any substance connected with mysterious power.
Their use may be to accomplish some definite purpose or to impress
the people with the power of the Mide'. The songs can be sung only
by those who received them in dreams or purchased the right to sing
them from someone who received them in that manner. O'déni'gún
(Hip bone) who recorded this and the song next following was
said to be one of the most powerful medicine men on the White Earth
Reservation. His songs were recorded in 1908.
Concerning the next song, O'déni'gún said that fire, like every-
thing else, came to the people through the Mide'. At first they were
afraid of it but soon learned that it was useful. Once an old medicine
man showed that he could stand in a fire and not be burned. He put
“medicine” on his feet and stood in the fire, chewing “medicine” and
spitting the juice on his body. The flames came up to his body but
he was not harmed. O’déni'gún said that probably some of the oldest
Míde' still know the secret of this medicine and could take hold of
hot stones without being burned. The words are continuous through-
out the melody. A slow voice-rhythm and rapid drum-beat are noted
in this as in some other songs of mental stress.
WoRDs
nia'kone' The flame goes up
niyāwīfī’ to my body.
109B2 (L22B8) SoNG of THE FLYING FEATHER
(Cat. no. 191, No. 81, Bull. 45.)
Before recording this song O’déni'gún related its story, saying that
a man and wife lived in a wigwam, but after a time the woman ran
away. The man went to an old Míde' and asked him to bring her
back. The old man replied “Your wife will come back tonight. I am
sure of this because the sound of my drumming is heard all over the
world, and when she hears it she cannot help coming back.” So he
began to drum and sing this song and the man's wife came back to
him. Then the old man gave him a charm so that his wife could never
run away again.
WORDS
migwěn' The feather
o'dono'djiigon' is coming toward
endimo'nondjiigin' the body of the Mide'winſ’nſ (member of the
Mide’wſwin).
15
109B3 (L22B9) BURIAL SONG FOR A MEMBER OF THE MIDE'wfwfn
(Cat. no. 284, no. 175, Bull. 53.)
Two burial songs for members of the Mide' wiwin were recorded by
Na’waji'bigo'kwe (Woman dwelling among the rocks) who had taken
four of the eight degrees in the Míde’wiwin. Her home was on the
White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, where her songs were recorded
about 1908. There is a peculiar gentleness in both the burial songs.
They are cheerful, yet plaintive, and do not contain the ejaculations
that occur in the ceremonial songs of the Mide' wivin. The first song
(not presented) contained the words, “You shall depart. To the
village you take your steps.” The “village” of departed spirits seems
to have been considered a pleasant place as another song contained the
words, “Toward calm and shady places I am walking on the earth.”
This is the second burial song recorded by Na’waji'bigo'kwe and
is addressed to Néniwa', a member of the Mide'wiwin.
WORDS
Něniwa” Něniwa' (name of a man),
ni'bawida' let us stand,
gi'gawa’bandan' and you shall see
niau’ my body
ënën'daman’ as I desire.
LOVE SONGS (110A and B; L22B10–16)
A favorite form of musical expression among the Chippewa is the
love song and many such songs are known to be very old. Thirty-four
love songs were recorded and transcribed, these having been collected
at White Earth, Red Lake and Waba'cíňg in Minnesota and on the
Lac du Flambeau Reservation in Wisconsin. The love songs are
freer in melodic progressions and generally slower in tempo than other
classes of Chippewa songs, and also differ from a majority of other
songs in having the words continuous throughout the melody. Words
are often improvised to familiar melodies. The love songs are sung
by older men and women with a strained, drawling, nasal tone that
cannot be imitated by young singers. The same technique was
formerly used in songs of the scalp dance. In addition to the love
songs commonly known and sung by the people were the songs con-
nected with “love charms” that formed part of the magic of the
Míde' wiwin.
The words of Chippewa love songs are generally expressive of sad-
ness, loneliness and disappointment. The only instances of love songs
expressing personal affection were a few songs with improvised words
said to be addressed by a wife to her husband.
The three songs next following are typical Chippewa love songs.
16
110A1 (L22B10) “You DESIRE WAINLY” (Cat. no.430, no. 107, Bull. 53.)
This song was recorded at Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, in 1910 by
Mec'kawiga'bau (Stands firmly). Sixteen songs were recorded by
this singer including songs of the Drum-presentation ceremony in
which he was a leader. He owned a house and a few acres of land
near the Indian village. The phonograph was taken to his house for
recording his songs and two that were recorded by his wife (Cf. 110A3).
WORDS
gi'daga'wadañ’ You desire vainly
djſ'mīsāwī'nonan' that I seek you;
a'nica' the reason is
gici’mé I come
baún'djikayan’ to see your younger sister.
110A2 (L22B11) “WoRK STEADILY” (Cat. no. 270, no. 170, Bull. 53.)
Many of the Chippewa love songs can be sung by either a man or
a woman but this is a woman's song. It was recorded by Maifi'gans
(Little Wolf) at White Earth, about 1908. The tempo is slow, as in
a majority of Chippewa love songs, the fourth above the apparent
keynote is prominent and the melody has a peculiar, pleading quality.
WoRDS
ayañgwa'miſsin' Be very careful
teiàno'kiyún' to work steadily;
gegama'kamigo' I am afraid they will take you
niau away from me.
110A3 (L22B12) “WEEPING For My LovE” (Cat.no.443, no.110,Bull.53)
This song was recorded by Dji'siā'sino'kwe (Deceiving woman) the
wife of Mec'kawiga'bau. As stated, they recorded songs in their
home at Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, in 1910. She recorded two
love songs, naively insisting that her husband depart while she re-
corded them and be recalled to hear them, when they were played on
the phonograph.
WORDS
(Free translation)
I go around weeping for my love
110B1(L22B13) “I HAVE Found My LovER”
(Cat. no. 286, no. 177, Bull. 53)
Mrs. Julia Warren Spears, who recorded this and one other love
song, was a sister of William W. Warren, historian of the tribe.
(Cf. footnote p. 4.) She was born in 1833 at La Pointe, the Chippewa
village on Madeline Island in Lake Superior. When she was 17 years
of age her brother William was employed to escort the first party of
Chippewa that came to Minnesota. They numbered about 800 and
17
she was the only woman. She never returned to La Pointe to live,
and in later years made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Charles W.
Mee, at White Earth, where the songs were recorded, probably in 1908.
Mrs. Spears said that when she was a little girl on Madeline Island,
about 15 years of age, her friend and playmate was a pretty Indian
girl, the only daughter of a chief. This Indian girl “was always
singing two songs.” The writer heard Mrs. Spears sing them at
intervals over a period of several years and the renditions never varied
in any respect. One was a song of happiness and the other was a sad
little song, said to be sung when the girl's lover was leaving on a long
journey. The first song is presented and expresses the girl's joy at
finding her lover. Attention is directed to the compass of the melody
which includes 12 tones, beginning on the highest and ending on the
lowest tone of the compass, a melodic pattern noted in many Chippewa
love songs. Niā is a woman's exclamation of surprise.
WORDS
niä Oh,
nin'dinën'dúm I am thinking,
niä Oh,
nin’dinén'dúm I am thinking
me’kawiá'nin I have found
nin'imucén my lover;
niä Oh,
nin’dinën'dúm I think it is so.
The two songs next following were recorded by a woman of unique
personality whose name was Manido'gicigo’kwe (Spirit day woman).
She was a member of the Mide'wſwin and recorded two Míde’ songs
connected with the use of “love medicine”. Like other songs of that
organization, they were represented by “song pictures,” and she drew
these when she recorded the songs. In one of these pictures a woman
is drawing a man by the hand, though he appears reluctant. Neither
of these songs is in the present series.
This interesting woman lived alone in a log cabin, on a point of land
extending into a small lake. Back of the cabin stretched the forest,
broken only by a wagon road whose single track was marked by stumps
beneath and drooping branches overhead. There she and her dogs
guarded the timber of her government allotment, and there I called
upon her, being allowed to photograph her in the door of her cabin
and to take pictures of the lake, with her boat at the shore. In her
hand she usually carried a small hatchet and there was a smoldering
fire in her small eyes, but her voice in speaking was low and musical
and she laughed like a child. It was said that she gathered roots from
which she made love powders and sold them to white people but no
mention of them was made in connection with the songs. She re-
corded her songs at White Earth, Minnesota, probably in the summer
of 1908.
18
110B2 (L22B14)
This was said to be a very old song and was recorded with the
peculiar quality of tone used by the old Chippewa in their love songs.
A similar quality is heard in the record of the song in honor of Cimau'-
ganic (107A2; L22A8) which was sung in imitation of the singing of
a woman. This style is used in love songs and songs of the scalp
dance. The present song has a compass of two octaves and moves
freely within that compass. The tempo is rubato.
110B3 (L22B15) LovE SoNG (b) (Cat. no. 99, no. 134, Bull. 45.)
This song, recorded by the same woman as the song next preceding,
has the same peculiar manner of rendition but not so large a compass.
The melody moves freely and the tones have little feeling for a keynote.
LovE SONG (a) (Cat. no. 98, no. 133, Bull. 45.)
110B4 (L22B16) “I AM GoING Away” (Cat.no. 151, no. 166, Bull.45.)
This series closes with a plaintive love song that lacks only one
tone of having a compass of two octaves. It is a typical love song
with freedom of melodic movement and flexibility of tempo. The
tonality is minor with prominence of the third and fifth above the
keynote. The song was recorded by Gage’bíněs (The Everlasting
Bird) who was a young man of mixed blood with pleasing manner.
He recorded eight songs, five of which were plaintive love songs. His
home was at Red Lake, Minnesota, where his songs were recorded
in 1908. -
WORDS
First verse
umbe’ Come,
ma'noni'gamadja' I am going away;
ma'no I pray you
bin'a let me go
nin'gama'dja go.
neyab'ninga'wicin I will soon return,
ge'go do not
mawi'micikën' weep for me.
Second verse
In 8, Behold,
tei’miwánda'min we will be very glad
teiwa'bundiyung' to meet each other
dagnic'ina’n when I return;
ge'go do not
mawi'micikën' weep for me.
19 U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE * 1930
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MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
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FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
31 A. & B. 1. THE GOLDEN WILLOW TREE
Sung with banjo by Justus Begley at Hazard, Kentucky,
1937. Recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax.
HIS is P. g. the best-known, if not the best, of the
English and Scottish ballads dealing with the sea. In
spite of the queer losses of meaning which Old World
names and events have suffered, the story of the brave
cabin boy and his betrayal by the false captain has lost
none of its º: for American singers and their audi-
ences. The ship that “went by the name of the Golden
Willow Tree” (more commonly, the Golden Vanity) was
originally the Sweet Trinity, built by Sir Walter Raleigh.
The Lowlands, or Low Countries, have become the “low-
land lonesome low” (sometimes, the “lonesome sea”),
while the ship itself sails against the “British Roverie” in
“South Amerikee.” In , some versions the cabin boy,
instead of being left to drown, is rescued; in others he is
given a sea burial by his shipmates.
Many listeners will find Justus Begley's vigorous accom-
paniment on the five-string banjo not the least attractive
part of his performance. He sang the ballad while
running for sheriff of Perry County, Kentucky.
For texts and notes, see The English and Scottish
Popular Ballads, edited by Francis James Child, Part IX
(Boston, 1894), No. 286. B. A. B
1. There was a little ship in South Amerikee,
Crying, O the land that lies so low.
There was a little ship in South Amerikee,
She went by the name of the Golden Willow Tree,
As she sailed in the lowland lonesome low,
As she sailed in the lowland so low.
2. We hadn’t been a-sailing more than two weeks or three,
Crying, O the land that lies so low.
We hadn’t been a-sailing more than two weeks or three
Till we came in sight of the British Roverie,
As she sailed in the lowland lonesome low,
As she sailed in the lowland so low.”
3. Up stepped a little carpenter boy,
Crying, O the lonesome land so low.
Up stepped a little carpenter boy,
Says, “What will you give me for the ship that I'll
destroy 7
And I’ll sink 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
And I’ll sink 'em in the lowland so low.”
*The following stanza lias been omitted by the singer at this point:
Up stepped the Captain, says, “What we going to do?”
Crying, O the lonesome land so low.
. Up stepped the Captain, says, “What we going to do?
If we overtake them, they'll cut us in two,
And they'll sink us in the lowland lonesome low,
They'll sink us in the lowland so low.”
4. “I’ll give you gold or I'll give thee”—
Crying, O the lonesome land so low—
“I’ll give you gold or I'll give thee
The fairest of my daughters as she sails upon the sea,
If you’ll sink 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
If you’ll sink 'em in the land that lies so low.”
5. Then he turned upon his back and away swam he,
Crying, O the lonesome land so low.
He turned upon his back and away swum he.
He swum till he came to the British Roverie,
As she sailed in the lowland lonesome low,
As she sailed in the lowland so low.

6. He had a little instrument fitted for his use,
Crying, O the lonesome land so low.
He had a little instrument fitted for his use.
He bored nine holes and he bored them all at once,
And he sank her in the lowland lonesome low,
And he sank her in the lowland so low.
7. Well, he turned upon his breast and back swum he,
Crying, O the lonesome land so low.
He turned upon his breast and back swum he.
He swum till he came to the Golden Willow Tree,
As she sailed in the lowland lonesome low,
As she sailed in the lowland so low.
8. “Captain, O Captain, come take me on board”—
Crying, O the lonesome land so low— -
“O Captain, O Captain, come take me on board,
And do unto me as good as your word,
For I sank 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
I sank her in the lowland so low.”
9. “Oh, no, I won’t take you on board”—
Crying, O the lonesome land so low—
“Oh, no, I won’t take you on board,
Nor do unto you as good as my word,
Though you sank 'em in the lowland lonesome low,
Though you sank 'em in the lowland so low.”
10. “If it wasn't for the love that I have for your men”—
Crying, O the land that lies so low—
“If it wasn’t for the love that I have for your men,
I’d do unto you as I done unto them.
I’d sink you in the lowland lonesome low,
I’d sink you in the lowland so low.”
11. He turned upon his head and down swum he,
Crying, O the lonesome land so low,
He turned upon his head and down swum he.
He swum till he came to the bottom of the sea,
Sank himself in the lowland lonesome low,
Sank himself in the lowland so low.
ALBUM 7–ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
31 B. 2. THE RAMBLING BOY
Sung with banjo by Justus Begley at Hazard, Kentucky,
1937. Recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax.
HE central theme of this “rake's farewell” (of British
provenience) is that of the “rake and rambler” who
has been driven by marriage to a highwayman's career
and is now condemned to die. As in most ballads about
condemned men, there are the usual sentimental refer-
ences to the pretty sweetheart and the weeping mother.
The boastfully defiant close, however, distinguishes the
“Rambling Boy” type from the “Claude Allen” type
(Record 35 B), with its parting advice to “take warning.”
Most American versions of “The Rambling Boy” are given
a local setting; but some still refer to London City or
Dublin City instead of Cumberland City or Columbus City.
For texts and notes, see Ballads and Songs Collected by
the Missouri Folk-Lore Society, edited by H. M. Belden
(Columbia, Missouri, 1940), pp. 136–137; Ballads of the
Kentucky Highlands, by Harvey H. Fuson (London, 1931),
pp. 63–64; Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, col-
lected and edited by Mellinger Edward Henry (New York,
1938), pp. 327–328; and Our Singing Country, collected and
compiled by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, Ruth
Crawford Seeger, music editor (New York, 1941),
pp. 314–315.
B. A. B.
1. I am a poor and a ramblin' boy.
To many other shores I have been.
In Cumberland City I paid my way
To spend my money at the balls and play.
2. In Cumberland City I married me a wife.
I loved her as I love my life.
She treated me kind both night and day
And caused me to rob on the road highway.
So, my pretty little miss, now fare you well.
I love you so well no one can tell.
If pleasure no more on earth I feel,
I wouldn’t serve you as you served me.
. Oh, my pretty little miss, sixteen years old,
Her hair just as yellow as the shining gold,
The prettiest face, oh, the sweetest hands—
Bless the ground on where she stands.
. Now my mother sits and weeps and moans.
My sister says she’s left alone.
My true love cries in deep despair,
With her dark brown eyes and her fair and curly hair.
. So I'll get me some paper and it’s I’ll sit down,
Drop a few lines to my Governor Brown,
And every word shall be the truth.
Oh, pray for the governor to turn me loose.
... I'll buy me a ticket in Greenville town,
Get on the train and it’s I’ll sit down.
Oh, the wheels will roll and the whistle will blow,
And it'll take me six months to get back home.
. Come, young and old, and stand around,
To see me laid in this cold ground.
I’m not ashamed or afraid to die,
But I hope to meet you a bye and bye.
ALBUM 7–ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
32 A. THE TWO BROTHERS
Sung by Mrs. Texas Gladden at Salem, Virginia, 1941.
Recorded by Alan Lomax.
Fº: sheer pathos “The Twa Brothers” is unsurpassed
among ballads of domestic tragedy. Some versions
... show a marked resemblance to “Edward” in the closing
stanzas, in which the murderous brother, after protesting
that the blood on his knife is that of his hawk, greyhound,
or steed, confesses it to be that of the slain brother. In
other versions the killing is accidental. Stripped of all
semblance of the murderer's remorse, the present version
compresses the harrowing story into nine graphic stanzas,
preserving a nice balance between narrative and dialog
elements.
For texts and notes, see The English and Scottish
... Popular Ballads, edited by Francis James Child, Part II,
(Boston, 1884), No. 49.
B. A. B.
1. “Oh, brother, oh, brother, can you play ball
Or roll a marble stone?”
“No, brother, no, brother, I can’t play ball
Nor roll a marble stone.””
2. He took his tomahawk from him
And hacked him across the breast.
“Say, now, brother, I reckon you can’t play ball
Nor roll a marble stone.”
3. “Oh, take my hunting shirt from me
And tear it from gore to gore,
And wrap it around my bleeding breast
That it might bleed no more.”
4. He took his hunting shirt from him
And tore it from gore to gore,
And wrapped it around his bleeding breast,
But it still bled the more.
5. “Oh, brother, when you go home to-night,
My mother will ask for me.
You must tell her I’m gone with some little schoolboys.
To-morrow night I'll be at home.
6. “My dear little sister will ask for me.
The truth to her you must tell.
You must tell her I’m dead and in grave laid
And buried at Jesseltown.
7. “Oh, take me up, oh, on your back,
And carry me to Jesseltown,
*The last two lines of each stanza are repeated.
And dig a hole and lay me in
That I might sleep so sound.”
8. He took him up, oh, on his back
And carried him to Jesseltown,
And dug a hole and laid him in
That he might sleep so sound.
9. He laid his bible under his head,
His tomahawk at his feet,
His bow and arrow across his breast
That he might sleep so sweet.
32 B. THE FOUR MARYS
Sung by Mrs. Texas Gladden at Salem, Virginia, 1941.
Recorded by Alan Lomax.
HE tragic ballad of “The Four Marys” (“Mary Ham-
ilton”) is based on a confusion of stories, resulting
from a confusion of names. When the young Mary Stuart
was in France from 1548 to 1561, she was attended by four
gentlewomen, all named Mary, of the houses of Fleming,
Livingston, Seton, and Beaton of Creich, here referred to
as Carmichael, Hamilton, Seton, and Beaton. In 1718, at
the court of Peter the Great, another Mary Hamilton,
maid-of-honor of the Empress Catharine, was executed for
the murder of her natural child. In some mysterious fash-
ion her crime became attached to the Mary Hamilton of
the ballad. In this connection, it is likely that the ballad-
maker also had in mind a similar child-murder committed
in 1563 at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots, by her
French waiting-maid, who had become involved with the
Queen's apothecary.
On the lips of our Virginia singer (who learned the song
from Miss Alfreda M. Peel, of Salem) the Scottish names
have a sweetly strange sound, and the tragedy has a stark
beauty that recalls Child’s comment: “It is remarkable
that one of the very latest of the Scottish popular ballads
should be one of the very best.”
For texts and notes, see The English and Scottish
Popular Ballads, edited by Francis James Child, Part VI
(Boston, 1889), No. 173. B. A. B

1. Word has come from the kitchen
And word has come to me
That Mary Hamilton drowned her babe
And throwed him into the sea.
2. Down came the old Queen,
Gold tassels around her head.
“Oh, Mary Hamilton, where's your babe
That was sleeping in your bed 2
ALBUM 7–ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
. “Oh, Mary, put on your robe so black
And yet your robe so brown,
That you might go with me this day
To view fair Edinburgh town.”
. She didn’t put on her robe so black,
Nor yet her robe so brown,
But she put on her snow-white robe
To view fair Edinburgh town.
. As she passed through the Cannogate [Canongate],
The Cannogate passed she,
The ladies looked over their casements and
They wept for this lady.
. As she went up the Parliament steps,
A loud, loud laugh laughed she.
As she came down the Parliament steps,
She was condemned to dee [die].
7
10.
. “Oh, bring to me some red, red wine,
The reddest that can be,
That I might drink to the jolly bold sailors
That brought me over the sea.
. “Oh, tie a napkin o'er my eyes,
And ne'er let me see to dee,
And ne'er let on to my father and mother
I died way over the sea.
. “Last night I washed the old Queen's feet
And carried her to her bed,
And all the reward I received for this—
The gallows hard to tread.
“Last night there were four Marys,
To-night there’ll be but three.
There was Mary Beaton and Mary Seton
And Mary Carmichael and me.”
ALBUM 7—ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
33 A. THE TWO SISTERS
Sung by Horton Barker at Chilhowie, Virginia, 1939.
Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
N THE United States, the “romantic and mournful
song” of “The Twa Sisters” has become pure melo-
drama, with the miller (who originally came to the
younger sister's rescue) displacing the elder sister as the
villain of the piece. Gone, too, is the folk-tale motif of
the singing bones. This has to do with fitting the hair
and other parts of the drowned girl's body into a harp or
other musical instrument, whose “voice” exposes the
jealous sister's guilt.
Horton Barker #. the song a slightly droll turn, and
makes the most of the dance-like refrain. In this connec-
tion it is interesting to note that the use of the ballad as
a dance-song has been reported from Nebraska by Louise
Pound, from Kentucky by Jean Thomas, and from Missis-
sippi by A. P. Hudson. (See The American Play-Party
Song, by B. A. Botkin, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1937, pp. 59–61.)
For texts and notes, see The English and Scottish Popu-
lar Ballads, edited by Francis James Child, Part I (Boston,
1882), No. 10. B. A. B
1. There was an old woman lived on the seashore,
Bow and balance to me.
There was an old woman lived on the seashore,
Her number of daughters one, two, three, four,
And I’ll be true to my love if my love’ll be true to me.
2. There was a young man came by to see them,
And the oldest one got struck on him.
3. He bought the youngest a beaver hat,
And the oldest one got mad at that.
4. “Oh, sister, oh, sister, let's walk the seashore,
And see the ships as they sail o’er.”
5. While these two sisters were walking the shore,
The oldest pushed the youngest o'er.
6. “Oh, sister, oh, sister, please lend me your hand,
And you may have Willie and all of his land.”
10. “Oh, miller, oh, miller, here's five gold rings,
To push the maiden in again.”
11. The miller received those five gold rings,
And pushed the maiden in again.
12. The miller was hung at his own mill gate,
For drowning little sister Kate.
33 B. LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLENDER
Sung by Horton Barker at Chilhowie, Virginia, 1939.
Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
XT to “Barbara Allen,” “Lord Thomas and Fair
Ellender,” or “The Brown Girl,” has become the
“most widely distributed of all the ballads surviving in
America.” (See South Carolina Ballads, by Reed Smith,
Cambridge, 1928, p. 109.) Like “Barbara Allen,” it has
the sentimental appeal of a story of unhappy love, with
the added thrill of wholesale slaughter. The horror of
the tragedy is relieved by a decorative, nursery-tale qual-
ity, enhanced by such archaisms as “tingled the rein”
(ring) and such stock ballad phrases as “milky white
steed” and “lily-white hand.” Some versions of the
ballad end with the motif made familiar by “Barbara
Allen”—that of the rose and the brier growing out of the
lovers’ graves to entwine in a true-lover's knot. For all
its grimness, the business of kicking the severed head of
the brown girl against the wall is apt to strike the listener
as humorous. At the same time, lines like “They took her
to be some queen” have the ring of folk poetry.
Reed Smith (ibid.) explains the brown girl’s rôle of
villainess as growing out of the preference for blondes
found in Germanic folklore.
For texts and notes, see The English and Scottish Popu-
lar Ballads edited by Francis James Child, Part III
(Boston, 1885), No. 73.
B. A. B.
1. “Lord Thomas, Lord Thomas, take my advice.
Go bring the brown girl home,
For she has land and a house of her own;
Fair Ellender she has none.”
2. He called it to his waiting maids,
By one, by two, by three.
“Go bridle, go saddle my milky white steed;
Fair Ellender I must see.”
7. “I never, I never will lend you my hand,
But I’ll have Willie and all of his land.”
8. Sometime she sank and sometime she swam,
Until she came to the old mill dam.
9. The miller he got his fishing hook,
And fished the maiden out of the brook.
3. He rode and he rode till he came to her gate.
So loudly he tingled the rein.”
And none was so ready as fair Ellender herself
As she rose to let him in.
* Ring.
ALBUM 7—ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
. “I’ve come to ask you to my wedding to-day.”
“Bad news, Lord Thomas,” says she,
“For I your bride I thought I would be.
Bad news, Lord Thomas,” says she.
. She called it to her father and mother
To make them both as one.
“Shall I go to Lord Thomas's wedding
Or tarry at home alone?”
. She dressed herself so fine in silk,
Her very maids in green;
And every city that she rode through,
They took her to be some queen.
. She rode and she rode till she came to his gate.
So loudly she tingled the rein.
And none was so ready as Lord Thomas himself
As he rose to let her in.
. He took her by the lily-white hand;
He led her through the hall;
He sot her down at the head of the table
Among the quality all.
10.
11.
12.
13.
. “Lord Thomas,” says she, “is this your bride?
I’m sure she looks very brown.
You might have married as fair a young lady
As ever the sun shone on.”
The brown girl had a penknife in her hand,
It keen and very sharp.
Between the long ribs and the short,
She pierced Fair Ellender to the heart.
He took the brown girl by the hand;
He led her through the hall;
And with his sword he cut her head off,
And kicked it against the wall.
He placed the handle against the ground,
The point against his breast,
Saying, “Here's the death of three true lovers.
God send their souls to rest.
“I want my grave dug long and wide,
And dig it very deep.
I want Fair Ellender in my arms,
The brown girl at my feet.”
ALBUM 7–ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
34 A. BOLAKINS (LAMKIN)
Sung by Mrs. Lena Bare Turby fill at Elk Park, North
Carolina, 1939. Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
HE jingle and the singsong of “Bolakins” may seem
inappropriate to a grisly tragedy of blood, but they
have a certain appropriateness of ironic contrast. In the
same key is the name, Lamkin, of which Bolakins is one
of many forms, described by Child as an “ironical desig-
nation for the bloody mason, the terror of countless nurs-
eries.” “Foster” may be a corruption of “false nurse”;
“many marigolds” is “as much red gold”; and the “stake
of stand-by” is the “stake a-standing by.”
For virtually the same text and tune by the same
singer, see Beech Mountain. Folk Songs and Ballads, by
Maurice Matteson and Mellinger Edward Henry (New
York, 1936), pp. 20–21. For other texts and notes, see
The English and Scottish Ballads, edited by Francis James
Child, Part IV (Boston, 1886), No. 93. B. A. B
1. Bolakins was a very fine mason
As ever laid stone.
He built a fine castle
And the pay he got none.
2. “Where is the gentleman?
Is he at home?”
“He’s gone down to Marion
For to visit his son.”
3. “Where is the lady?
Is she at home 2*
“She’s upstairs sleeping,”
Said the foster to him.
4. “How will we get her down
Such a dark night as this?”
“We'll stick her little baby
Full of needles and pins.”
They stuck her little baby
Full of needles and pins.
5. The foster she rocked,
And Bolakins he sung,
While blood and tears
From the cradle did run.
6. Down come our lady,
Not thinking any harm.
Old Bolakins,
He took her in his arms.
7. “Bolakins, Bolakins,
Spare my life one day.
I’ll give you many marigolds
As my horse can carry away.
8. “Bolakins, Bolakins,
Spare my life one hour.
I'll give you daughter Bessie,
My own blooming flower.”
9. “You better keep your daughter Bessie
For to run through the flood,
And scour a silver basin
For to catch your heart’s blood.”
10. Daughter Bessie climbed up
In the window so high,
And saw her father
Come riding hard by.
11. “Oh, father, oh, father,
Can you blame me?
Old Bolakins
Has killed your lady.
12. “Oh, father, oh, father,
Can you blame me?
Old Bolakins
Has killed your baby.”
13. They hung old Bolakins
To the sea-gallows tree
And tied the foster
To the stake of stand-by.
34 B. THE THREE BABES
Sung by I. G. Greer of Thomasville, North Carolina, with
dulcimer by Mrs. I. G. Greer. Recorded at Greensboro,
North Carolina, 1941, by Fletcher Collins.
NE of the few English and Scottish ballads on reli-
gious themes, “The Wife of Usher's Well” (as it
was originally entitled) has the genuine thrill of the
supernatural. In American versions (known as “The
Three Babes” or “The Lady Gay”), the effect is all the
more poignant because the “three stout and stalwart
sons” have become “three little babes” and the mysticism
is clothed in a homely vernacular.
For texts and notes, see The English and Scottish Popu-
lar Ballads, edited by Francis James Child, Part III
(Boston, 1885), No. 79. B. A. B
1. There was a lady of beauty rare,
And children she had three.
She sent them away to the North Countree
For to learn their grammaree.
ALBUM 7—ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
. They hadn’t been gone so very long,
Scarcely three months and a day,
When there came a sickness all over the land
And swept them all away.
. And when she came this for to know,
She wrung her hands full sore,
Saying, “Alas, alas, my three little babes,
I never shall see any more.
. “Ain’t there a king in heaven,” she cried,
“Who used to wear a crown 2
I pray the Lord will me reward
And send my three babes down.”
. It was a-come near Christmas time,
The nights was long and cold,
When her three little babes come a-runnin’ down
To their dear mammy’s home.
. She fixed them a bed in the backmost room,
All covered with clean white sheets,
And o'er the top a golden one
That they might soundly sleep.
. “Take it off, take it off,” said the oldest one,
“Take it off, we say again.
A woe, a woe, to this wicked world,
So long since pride began.”
. She spread a table for them there,
All covered with cakes and wine,
And said, “Come, eat, my three little babes,
Come, eat, and drink of mine.”
. “We do not want your cakes, mammy,
We do not want your wine,
For in the morning by the break of day
With the Savior we must dine.”
ALBUM 7—ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
"... . . . ." THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
35 A. SANFORD BARNEY
Sung by I. G. Greer of Thomasville, North Carolina, with
dulcimer by Mrs. I. G. Greer. Recorded at Greensboro,
North Carolina, 1941, by Fletcher Collins.
HIS native ballad belongs to the general class of
Western songs of “hard times” or “poor country,”
which describe pioneer conditions with realism and humor.
It is also related to the literature of local satire, of which
Arkansas seems to have had more than its share. Accord-
ing to H. M. Belden, (Ballads and Songs Collected by the
Missouri Folk-Lore Society, Columbia, Missouri, 1940, pp.
424–426), it was “originally a song of Irish navvies im-
ported to work on railroads in Arkansas.” In most ver-
sions, however, including the present one, the traveler
(known also as Sanford Barnes and Bill Stafford) has be-
come a migratory worker or hobo, employed by his un-
prepossessing hotel-keeper to dig drainage ditches. For
all its doggerel form and vaudeville style, the song is a
genuine bit of Americana and American humor.
For another tune, see Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier
Ballads, collected by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax
(New York, 1938), pp. 283—285. For texts and notes, see
Tall Tales of Arkansaw, by James R. Masterson (Boston,
1943), pp. 255–268. B. A. B
1. My name is Sanford Barney, and I came from Little
Rock Town.
I’ve traveled this wide world over, I’ve traveled this
wide world round.
I’ve had many ups and downs through life, better days
I’ve saw,
But I never knew what misery was till I came to
Arkansas.
2. 'Twas in the year of '82 in the merry month of June,
I landed at Hot Springs one sultry afternoon.
There came a walking skeleton, then gave to me his paw,
Invited me to his hotel, 'twas the best in Arkansas.
3. I followed my conductor unto his dwelling place.
It was starvation and poverty pictured on his face.
His bread it was corn dodgers, and beef I could not
chaw.
He charged me fifty cents a meal in the state of
Arkansas.
4. I started back next morning to catch the early train.
He said, “Young man, you better work for me. I have
some land to drain.
I'll give you fifty cents a day, your washing and all
chaw. • *
You'll feel quite like a different man when you leave old
Arkansas.”
5. I worked for the gentleman three weeks, Jess Harold
was his name.
Six feet, seven inches in his stocking length, and slim as
any crane. *
His hair hung down like ringlets beside his slackened
JaW.
He was a photygraft of all the gents that 'uz raised in
Arkansas.
6. His bread it was corn dodgers as hard as any rock.
It made my teeth begin to loosen, my knees begin to
knock.
I got so thin on sage and sassafras tea I could hide
behind a straw.
I’m sure I was quite like a different man when I left old
Arkansas.
7. I started back to Texas a quarter after five;
Nothing was left but skin and bones, half dead and half
alive.
I got me a bottle of whisky, my misery for to thaw;
Got drunk as old Abraham Linkern when I left old
Arkansas.
8. Farewell, farewell, Jess Harold, and likewise darling
wife,
I know she never will forget me in the last days of her
life.*
She put her little hand in mine and tried to bite my jaw,
And said, “Mr. Barnes, remember me when you leave old
Arkansas.”
9. Farewell, farewell, swamp angels, to canebrake in the
chills.
Fare thee well to sage and sassafras tea and corn-dodger
pills.
If ever I see that land again, I’ll give to you my paw,
It will be through a telescope from here to Arkansas.
*This line was fumbled by the singer.
35 B. CLAUDE ALLEN
Sung with guitar by Hobart Smith at Saltville, Virginia,
1942. Recorded by Alan Lomax.
CCORDING to information furnished by Professor
Fletcher Collins, of Elon College, North Carolina,
Claude Allen is still something of a local hero in the vicinity
of Hillsdale, Virginia, where, with his brother Sidney and
several others, he was arrested one Saturday night in 1912,
ALBUM 7—ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
“for drinking and carrying on in the streets.” At the trial
º the arrest, the prisoners were fined one dollar
each and sentenced to one day in jail. “Claude said right
off he'd pay the fine but he was ‘--- ------ * if he'd take a
sentence, ‘No, sir!” The Allens began shooting; so did the
high sheriff and the other officials; and the Allens escaped
through the windows. Claude was electrocuted for killing
the sheriff; Sidney Allen was exiled from the state after
his 35-year prison sentence had been commuted, and an-
other brother was captured only years later when his sweet-
heart—to get a reward—told the police of his letters to her,
written from somewhere out West.”
For texts and notes, including the ballad of “Sidney
Allen,” see Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, col-
lected and edited by Mellinger Edward Henry (New York,
1938), pp. 316–320. For a historical note on the “court-
house massacre,” see Folksongs of Mississippi and Their
Background, by Arthur Palmer Hudson (Chapel Hill,
North Carolina, 1936), p. 242.
1. Claude Allen he and his dear old pappy
Have met their fatal doom at last.
Their friends are glad their trouble's ended
And hope their souls are now at rest.
2. Claude Allen was that tall and handsome,
He still had hopes until the end
That he’ll some way or other
Escape his death from the Richmond pen.
. The governor being so hard-hearted,
Not caring what his friends might say,
He finally took his sweet life from him.
In the cold, cold ground his body lay.
. Claude Allen had a pretty sweetheart,
She mourned the loss of the one she loved.
She hoped to meet beyond the river,
Her fair young face in heaven above.
. Claude’s mother's tears was gently flowing,
All for the one she loved so dear.
It seemed no one could tell her troubles,
It seemed no one could tell but her.
. How sad, how sad, to think of killin’
A man all in his youthful years,
A-leaving his old mother weepin’
And all his friends in bitter tears.
. Look up on yonder lonely mountain,
Claude Allen sleeps beneath the clay.
No more you’ll hear his words of mercy
Or see his face till Judgment Day.
. Come all young boys, you may take warning.
Be careful how you go astray,
Or you may be like poor Claude Allen
And have this awful debt to pay.
ALBUM 7—ANGLO-AMERICAN BALLADS
º THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
39 A. HAMMER, RING
Sung by Jesse Bradley and group at State Penitentiary,
Huntsville, Texas, 1934. Recorded by John A. and Alan
Lomax. -
HE most dynamic of Negro work rhythms are to be
found in the hammer songs. Of “Hammer, Ring,”
John A. Lomax has written: “The men who drove the
spikes that fastened the long steel rails to the wooden ties
sang the most thrilling tune of all—the hammer song,
song of the ten-pound hammer with its two heads scarcely
more than a couple of inches in diameter, that was swung
free from the shoulder in a complete circle about the
head ... that song with its own individual vibrant and
stirring tune.”
The Bible story of Noah and the ark, which is also the
theme of spirituals, is here used to dramatize the work,
with echoes of ballad and game-song usage.
For another version see American Ballads and Folk
Songs, collected and compiled by John A. Lomax and Alan
Lomax (New York, 1934), pp. 61–62. B. A. B
CHORUS:
Won’t you ring, old hammer?
Hammer, ring.
Won’t you ring, old hammer?
Hammer, ring.
1. Broke the handle on my hammer,
Hammer, ring.
Broke the handle on my hammer,
Hammer, ring.
. Got to hammerin’ in the Bible.
. Gonta talk about Norah.
... Well, God told Norah.
You is a-goin’ in the timber.
. You argue some Bible.
... Well, Norah got worried.
. What you want with the timber?
. Won’t you build me a ark, sir?
... Well, Norah asked God, sir.
. How high do you want it?
. Build it forty-two cubits.
. Every cubit have a window.
... Well, it started in to rainin’.
. Old Norah got worried.
. He called in his children.
... Well, Norah told God, sir.
. This is a very fine hammer.
. Got the same old hammer.
. Got to hammerin’ in the timber....
39 B. I WONDER WHAT’S THE MATTER
Sung by “Lightning” and group at Darrington State Farm,
Sandy Point, Texas, 1934. Recorded by John A. and
Alan Lomax.
HIS slow-drag prison song is an unusual example of
certain qualities of declamation associated with Negro
sermons and religious services. Most striking, perhaps,
is the use of rhythmic interjections which resemble the
exclamations and interpolations in Negro sermons. In its
blending of solo and group voices and its handling of pause
and repetition in the call and response passages, it is more
akin to a religious chant than a work song.
B. A. B.
Leader: I wonder what’s the matter.
Chorus: Oh-o, Lawd!
L. and C.: Well, I wonder what’s the matter
With my long time here.
Awright.
L.: Boys, I woke up early this mornin’.
C.: Hey, Lawd!
L. and C.: Boys, I woke up early this mornin’.
Awright, a wright.
L. and C.: 'Bout the break of day.
The break of day.
Hear it, hear it.
L. : Well, the big bell sho was tonin’.
C.: Oh-o, Lawd.
L. and C.: Well, the big bell sho was tonin’.
Sho was. Good Lawd.
L. and C.: Just a while fo' day.
Judge right.
Oh, yah!
Everybody talk.
L. : Well, the bully turn over in the bed a-grumblin’.
: Oh-o, Lawd.
L. and C.: Bully turn over in the bed a-grumblin’.
'Bout that night so short.
Oh, Lawd.
Don' hurt nobody.
Night 80 8hort.
L. : Well, it look like it been one hour.
.: Oh-o, Lawd.
L. and C.: Well, it look like it been one hour.
Oh, Lawd.
L. and C.: Pardner, since I lay down.
Oh, Lawd, since I lay down....
C.
O
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38 A. OLD RATTLER
Sung by Moses (Clear Rock) Platt and James (Iron Head)
Baker at Central State Farm, Sugarland, Texas, 1934.
Recorded by John A. and Alan Lomax.
OSES (CLEAR ROCK) PLATT–the “Old Rock” and
“Big Foot Rock” of the song—sings of a dog named
Rattler, famed in Negro folk song as (in Clear Rock's
own words) “de fastes’ an’ de smellin'es’ bleedhoun’ in de
South.” Clear Rock himself has an almost legendary
reputation for being fleet-footed. Once, in running away
from a “ghost,” as he told John A. Lomax, his “eyes was
stickin’ out an’ shinin’ like the º on a locomobile.
I was goin' so fas’ when I crossed the T. P. tracks in Fort
Worth that my shirt tail catch afire and made me run
faster. That’s what I call runnin' yourself lost. Before
I could protect myself I had run clear outa Texas over into
Oklahoma.”
For another version, see American Ballads and Folk
Songs, collected and compiled by John A. Lomax and Alan
Lomax (New York, 1934), pp. 66–67. B. A. B
CHORUS:
Here, Rattler,
Here, Rattler, here,
Here, here, Rattler,
Here, Rattler, here.
1. Oh, b'lieve to my soul there's a nigger gone,
Here, Rattler, here.
Oh, b'lieve to my soul there's a nigger gone,
Here, Rattler, here.
2. Oh, he went right through the corn.
I heard old horn blow.
3. Go and get the dog man.
Go and get the dog man.
4. Run that nigger to the river side.
Run that nigger to the river side.
5. Go and call old Rattler.
Call old Rattler.
6. Old Rattler come a-yelpin'.
Go and call old Rattler.
7. Old Rattler come a-yelpin'.
Old Rattler come a-yelpin'.
8. Oh, put that nigger right up that tree.
Old Rock couldn't get to three.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
16.
17.
18.
Sung by James (Iron Head) Baker, Will Crosby, R. D.
Allen, and Moses (Clear Rock) Platt at Central State
Farm, Sugarland, Texas, 1933. Recorded by John A.
. Oh, he set so long with the sympathy.
Oh, run that nigger right lost his mind.
Go and call old Rattler.
Go and call old Rattler.
Oh, he run that nigger till he went stone blind.
Oh, cross the river to the long leaf pine.
Oh, he run so far he didn’t leave no sign.
Oh, got a baby here, got a baby there.
Oh, believe to my soul it’s the Worldy Fair.
Oh, they didn’t 'low no black folks there.
Oh, trip this time, I'll trip no mo’.
Oh, goin’ to the North where you can’t go.
. Goin’ ring the sergeant.
Goin’ ring the sergeant.
Old Rattler's good, old Rattler's bad.
Believe to my soul it's another one gone.
Oh, if you can hold it up you can hold right on,
Run that nigger right through that corn.
Oh, Big Foot Rock is surely gone!
Oh, Big Foot Rock is surely gone!
38 B. GO DOWN, OLD HANNAH
and Alan Lomax.
HIS is one of the best-known of the slow-drag work
songs sung by Negro prisoners in South Texas. James
(Iron Head) Baker says that he first sang it in 1908, on
long hot summer days when, about three o'clock in the
afternoon, the sun (Old Hannah) seemed to stop and “just
hang” in the sky.
For another version, sung to a similar tune, see Our
Singing Country, collected and compiled by John A. Lomax
and Alan Lomax, Ruth Crawford Seeger, music editor
(New York, 1941), pp. 356–358.
1. Go down, old Hannah,
Won’t you rise no more?
Go down, old Hannah,
Won’t you rise no more?
ALBUM 8—NEGRO WORK SONGS AND CALLS
. Lawd, if you rise, 5. Oh, go down, old Hannah,
Bring Judgment on. Won’t you rise no more?
Lawd, if you rise, Won’t you go down, old Hannah,
Bring Judgment on. Won’t you rise no more?
. Oh, did you hear 6. Oh, long-time man,
What the captain said 2 Hold up your head.
Oh, did you hear Well, you may get a pardon
What the captain said? And you may drop dead.
. That if you work 7. Lawdy, nobody feels sorry
He'll treat you well, For the life-time man.
And if you don’t Nobody feels sorry
He'll give you hell. For the life-time man,
ALBUM 8–NEGRO WORK SONGS AND CALLS
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
37 A. 1. ARWHOOLIE (CORNFIELD HOLLER)
Sung by Thomas J. Marshall at Edwards, Mississippi, 1939.
}ourts TIME SONGS: I & II
Sung by Samuel Brooks at Edwards, Mississippi, 1939.
4. MEALTIME CALL
Called by Thomas J. Marshall at Edwards, Mississippi,
1939. Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
A* THE TIME of this recording Thomas J. Marshall
and Samuel Brooks were students at the Southern
Christian Institute, Mount Beulah College, Edwards. They
were brought up together in Edwards and often worked
together on the same job. According to Mr. Marshall, the
“original name” of the cornfield holler is “arwhoolie” or
“hoolie.” Of the “Quitting Time $oºk. Mr. Brooks says:
“They sing it late in the evening. About the time they
quit, they generally feel good and they like to sing this
kind of thing.... They usually sing it on a plantation...
if one man starts, well, across maybe another field close by,
why, they sing that same tune back to him .... Then
maybe another man may answer him another tune.”
“Mealtime Call” originated among the students at the
Institute, where meals were served “on the bell” by Miss
Wright, the dining-hall matron.
For a discussion of “call” and “response” in field calls,
see Negro Folk Rhymes, by Thomas W. Talley (New York,
1922), pp. 264 f.
B. A. B.
ARWHOOLIE
Oh, etc.
I won’t be here long.
Oh, etc.
Oh, dark gonna catch me here,
Dark gonna catch me here.
Oh, etc.
QUITTIN TIME SONG: I
Ooooh, the sun going down,
And I won’t be here long,
Ooooh, the sun going down,
And I won’t be here long.
Ooooh, then I be going home.
Ooooh, I can’t let this dark cloud catch me here.
Ooooooh, I can’t stay here long,
Ooooooooooh, I be at home.
MEALTIME CALL
Oh, Miss Wright,
Why don’t you ring that bell?
Oh, Miss Wright,
Why don’t you ring that bell?
I can tell
The way those greens smell.
37 B. 1. POSSUM WAS AN EVIL THING
2. COME ON, BOYS, AND LET’S GO
TO HUNTIN?
Sung by Henry Truvillion at Burkeville, Texas, 1940. Re-
corded by John A. and Ruby T. Lomax.
N ORDER to appreciate these children’s songs, one must
visualize the setting in the cotton fields, where children
have been picking cotton and are thinking of a feast of fat
possum baked with sweet potatoes. “Along toward sun-
down,” says Henry Truvillion, “we’d all leave and go on
home, and you can hear sometimes twenty-five boys and
twenty-five girls all going home through the woods and
across the fields, and they’re all singing the same song
back at one another.” B. A. B
POSSUM WAS AN EVIL THING
Possum was a evil thing,
He rambles in the dark.
He didn’t know what the trouble was,
Until he hear old Rover bark.
Ooooh, baby, who”-oh-hoo!
Ooooh, baby, who-oo-hoo-hool
That's my baby, who-oh-oo-oo-oh!
Ooooh, baby, who-oh-hoo!
Old Aunt Dinah, who-oo-oo-oo!
Old Aunt Dinah, who-ho-oo-oo-ho!
Ooooh, baby, who-oh-hoo!
Ooooh, baby, who-oo-hoo-hoo!
That's me a-talkin', who-ho-hoo-hoo-oh!
Who-ho-hoo-hoo-oh-who-ho-hoo-hoo-oh!
Oooh, Dinah, who-oh-ee!
Old Aunt Dinah, who-oo-hoo-hoo!
Old Aunt Dinah, who-oh-oo-hoo-oh!
Ooooh, baby, who-oh-hol
Possum was a evil thing,
He rambles in the dark.
He didn’t know what the trouble was,
Until he hear old Rover bark
Ooooh, Rover, who-oh-oo!
Who-oh, Rover, who-oo-hoo-hoo!
That’s me a-talkin', who-oh-hoo-hoo-oh!
COME ON, BOYS, AND LET’S GO TO HUNTIN'
1. Come on, girls, and let's go to huntin', (2)
Dog in the woods, and he done treed sump'n. (2)
(Repeat.)
* Pronounced “Whoa.”
ALBUM 8–NEGRO WORK SONGS AND CALLS
2. Yo’ dog bark, he don’t see nothin’, (2) 4. Possum up a gum stump, coon in the holler.
When my dog bark, he done treed sump'n. Rabbit give a backtrack and stole a half a dollar.
Come on, boys, let's go to huntin’. Come on, boys, let's go to huntin’.
Dog in the woods, and he done treed sump'n. Dog in the woods, and he done treed sump'n.
Come on, boys, let's go to huntin', (2)
3. The woods is wet, the roads is muddy. Dog in the woods, and he done treed sump'n.
I’m so drunk till I can’t stand steady.
Come on, boys, let's go to huntin', 5. Possum up a gum stump, coon in the holler,
Dog in the woods, and he done treed sump'n. Rabbit give a backtrack and stole a half a dollar. (2)
Come on, boys, let's go to huntin', (2) Come on, boys, let's go to huntin', (2)
Dog in the woods, and he done treed sump'n. Dog in the woods, and he done treed sump'n. (3)
ALBUM 8–NEGRO WORK SONGS AND CALLS
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
36 A. 1. UNLOADING RAILS
2. TAMPING, TIES
Called by Henry Truvillion at Wiergate, Texas, 1940. Re-
corded by John A. and Ruby T. Lomax.
ENRY TRUVILLION (now Reverend Henry Truvil-
lion, pastor of a small country church near Newton,
Texas) grew up on a farm in Mississippi, and has at various
times been railroad section-hand, boss of a construction
gang on Southern railways, driver of a “two-horse wheeler”
on Mississippi River levee-building jobs, and roustabout on
Mississippi River steamboats. For nearly twenty years
he was head track-layer for the Wiergate Lumber Com-
pany, where, according to John A. Lomax, “track-laying
goes on the year round. Railways must be built to drag
the big logs out of the woods miles from the mills.”
The problems presented by recording railroad construc-
tion songs and calls on the job are such that most attempts
are unsuccessful. In spite of a certain loss of authenticity
that results from “staging” the work, the present record
has considerable documentary value—for its language and
style of declamation as much as for what is said. Only
excerpts from Mr. Truvillion's rapid-fire monolog for un-
loading steel rails are given below.
For a track-lining holler (“Sis Joe”) by Henry Truvillion,
see Our Singing Country, collected and compiled by John A.
Lomax and Alan Lomax, Ruth Crawford Seeger, music
editor (New York, 1941), pp. 262—264.
A number of steel-laying, tie-shuffling, and tie-tamping
chants are given in American Ballads and Folk Songs,
collected and compiled by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax
(New York, 1934), pp. 10–20. B. A. B
UNLOADING RAILS
... All right now, listen to me right good.
Walk up until you’re almost to the car.
Inside men, step back.
Outside, pull up good and strong.
Head high!
Throw it away!
That's all right!
I heard it ring.
Come on back and get another one now....
Walk to the car, steady yourself.
Head high!
Throw it away!
That’s just right.
Go back and get another one.
You got the wrong one that time . . . .
Walk humble and don’t you stumble,
And don’t you hurt nobody.
Walk to the car and steady yourself.
Stand a minute.
Head high!
Good-by, rail!
Good iron!
I heard it ring-nnng . . . .
Go back and get another one ....

All right, steady.
Stand a minute.
Get your wind a minute.
Head high!
Good-by, old rail!
That's all right, son.
Go back and get another one . . . .
Walk humble and don’t you stumble.
Don’t let me hurt nobody.
This is the safety first company.
Steady!
Head high!
Good-by!
That's all right!
I heard it ring!
Now let's go back and get another one....
TAMPING, TIES
Tamp 'em up solid,
All the livelong day.
Tamp 'em up solid,
Then they'll hold that midnight mail.
The captain don’t like me.
Won’t allow me no show.
Well, work don’t hurt me,
Don’t care where in the world I go.
Work don’t hurt me,
Like the early rise.
Well, work don’t hurt me,
But that’s the thing that hurts my pride,
That hurts my pride,
That hurts my pride,
That hurts my pride.
ALBUM 8—NEGRO WORK SONGS AND CALLS
36 B. 1. HEAVING THE LEAD LINE
Called by Sam Hazel at Greenville, Mississippi, 1939.
2. MISSISSIPPI SOUNDING CALL : I
3. MISSISSIPPI SOUNDING CALL : II
Called by Joe Shores at Greenville, Mississippi, 1939. Re-
corded by Herbert Halpert.
HIS record will be interesting to all readers of Mark
Twain, especially of his Life on the Mississippi.
On February 2, 1863, according to George D. Lyman, in
The Saga of the Comstock Lode (New York, 1941), p. 213,
Samuel L. Clemens, then a reporter on the Territorial
Enterprise, of Washoe, Nevada, dropped his undistinguished
pen-name, “Josh,” and first signed himself “Mark Twain.”
This was originally the “nom de plume of one Capt. Isaiah
Sellers, who used to write river news over it for the New
Orleans Picayune” (according to a letter of Twain's dated
June 24, 1874). “Mark twain” is the sounding call for two
fathoms, or 12 feet—“just enough draft for the boat to get
over.” In his chant Sam Hazel, 86 years old, calls the
sounding calls the “old way,” as he heard them while roust-
abouting on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Joe Shores,
52 years old, uses “newer” calls. At the time of this
recording, he was pilot on the night-run of the A. C. Jaynes,
a ferryboat plying between Greenville, Mississippi, and
Arkansas City, Arkansas.
The sounding calls are called by the leadsman to a deck-
hand (the word-passer) on the hurricane deck, who relays
them to the pilot. “Quarter less twain” means two
fathoms less a quarter, or 10% feet. Similarly, “quarter
less four” is 22% feet, and “quarter less five” is 28% feet.
“Half twain” is 2% fathoms or 15 feet.
B. A. B.
HEAVING THE LEAD LINE
Now we’re stuck there—?—
For the lead line drapped off right now.
Well, old deck hand, when you git on top
I’m gonna hear that line—?—
Let the old boat draw.
Lord, I’m throwin’ lead line on the la'board side.
Quarter less twain,
Don’t you change your mind.
Heave it in the water just-a one more time.
Eight feet and a half, Mr. Pilot, will you change your
mind.
Run him on a slow bell,
Run him on a slow bell.
Quarter less twain on the sta’board side.
Mr. Pilot, will you change your mind.
Drap it on over on the left-hand side.
Tell me there’s a buoy, a buoy right on the bar.
The light is twisted, and you can see just how.
Pull a little over to the la'board side.
Lawd, Lawd.
Quarter less twain,
Quarter less twain,
Quarter less twain,
Quarter less twain,
Lawd, Lawd, now send me quarter less twain,
Throw the lead line a little higher out.
I’ve gone low down, so mark twain,
Mark twain.
Come ahead, Mr. Pilot, a little bit strong.
I’ve done got over, and I believe we’re gonna
Throw the lead line over
No bottom here.
MISSISSIPPI SOUNDING CALLS
I
No bottom,
Mark four,
Quarter less four,
Quarter less five,
Half twain,
Quarter twain.
II
Quarter less four,
Half twain,
Quarter twain,
Mark twain,
Quarter less twain,
Nine and a half feet,
Nine feet,
Eight and a half feet.
ALBUM 8–NEGRO WORK SONGS AND CALLS
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
40 A. ROLL *IM ON DOWN
(Bahaman Launching Song)
Sung by David Pryor and group of Andros Island men at
Nassau, Bahamas, 1935. Recorded by Alan Lomax and
Mary E. Barnicle.
AVID PRYOR comes of a family of singers. “My
mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, and all
their children sang all the time.” A native of Nassau, he
used to follow sponge fishing (until recently one of the
principal industries of the island) as a bowman, who
“sights the sponges with his glass and hooks them.” The
launching described in this song is a community affair,
which takes place in October or November, after the hurri-
cane season, when the sailboats are hauled down the beach
galn.
“Roll "Im on Down” is the type of work song whose
words describe the action and whose rhythm suggests the
movement of the work. It is also a good example of the
#.”; of fitting new words to an old tune (“Blow the
an Down”) which is just suited to them. Moreover, its
words are such as might have been composed by a group.
For two other Bahaman launching songs (versions of
the shanties, “Round the Bay of Mexico” and “Bowline”),
sung by David Pryor and Henry Lundy, see Album V,
Record 21 A, in this series. B. A. B
1. So pull 'im along,
Well, we pull 'im along,
Hey, ay, pull 'im along.
Now we pull 'im along from this old shipyard,
Give me some time to roll 'im along.
2. Now we jerk 'im along,
Well, we jerk 'im along,
Hey, ay, jerk 'im along.
Come and give me some time for to jerk 'im along,
Give me some time to roll 'im along.
3. Well, we kick 'im along,
Well, we kick 'im along,
Hey, ay, kick’im along.
Now we kick'im along from this old Captain's ground,
Give me some time to kick 'im along.
10.
... Well, we roll 'im along,
Well, we pull 'im along,
Hey, ay, pull 'im along.
Well, we pull 'im along from this old shipyard,
Give me some time to pull 'im along.
... Well, we slide 'im along,
Well, we push ’im along,
Hey, ay, push 'im along.
Oh, come and give me a little bit of time for to push
'im along,
Give me some time to push 'im along.
. Oh, come roll 'im along,
Well, we slide 'im along,
Hey, ay, slide 'im along.
Well, we slide 'im along down to the old seaside.
Give me some time to slide 'im along.
. Oh, as we roll 'im along,
Then we’ll roll 'im along,
Hey, ay, roll 'im along.
Give me some time for to slide 'im along,
Give me some time to slide 'im along.
... Well, we jerk 'im along,
Well, we kick 'im along,
Hey, ay, slide 'im along.
Give me a little time for to kick 'im along,
Give me some time to pull 'im along.
... Well, we roll 'im along,
And we pull 'im along,
Hey, ay, pull 'im along.
Give me some time for to pull 'im along,
Give me some time to push 'im along.
Oh, well, we roll 'im along,
Well, we swing 'im along,
Hey, ay, swing 'im along.
Well, we swing 'im along down to the old seaside,
Give me some time to push 'im along.
ALBUM 8–NEGRO WORK SONGS AND CALLS
40 B. 1. THE ROCK ISLAND LINE
Sung by Kelley Pace, Charlie Porter, L. T. Edwards, Willie
Hubbard, Luther Williams, Napoleon Cooper, Albert
Pate, and Willie Lee Jones at Cumins State Farm, Gould,
Arkansas, 1934. Recorded by John A. Lomax.
2. TFACK-LINING SONG
Sung by Allen Prothero at State Penitentiary, Nashville,
Tennessee, 1933. Recorded by John A. and Alan Lomax.
S A SONG about a railroad, “The Rock Island Line”
(sung both as a spiritual and as a field song) is pre-
sented here for contrast with a railroad work song like
“Track-Lining Song.” In the one the train is a symbol
of speed and escape, with a tall tale twist that makes it
arrive forty-one minutes before it started. In the other
the men sing about their troubles on the job and their
pleasures off it, with one biblical allusion.
Allen Prothero, himself a railroad worker, died of tuber-
culosis in the Nashville penitentiary just before receiving
his parole. Only a portion of his “Track-Lining Song” is
reproduced here because of defects in the original record.
or another version, by Henry Truvillion, see American
Ballads and Folk Songs, collected and compiled by John A.
Lomax and Alan Lomax (New York, 1934), pp. 14–17.
B. A. B.
THE ROCK ISLAND LINE
CHORUS:
I says the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road.
I says the Rock Island Line is the road to ride.
I says the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road.
If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you’re flyin'.
Buy your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line.
1. Well, Jesus died to save me in all of my sin.
Well-a, glory to God, we goin’ to meet Him again.
2. Well, the train left Memphis at half pas’ nine.
Well, it made it back to Little Rock at eight forty-nine.
... Well, Jesus died to save me in all of my sin.
Well-a, glory to God, we goin’ to meet Him again.
TRACK-LINING SONG
. Hey, boys, joint ahead.
I’m gonna tell you something now.
Oh, all I want—my navy beans,
A big fat woman and a wheeler team.
Hi, hi, won’t you line 'em 2
Hi, hi, won’t you line 'em 2
Ho, ho, won’t you line 'em 2
See Eloise go lining track.
. If I could, I surely would
Stand on the rock where Moses stood.
Oh, boys, in the morning,
Hi, hi, a’ternoon,
Hi, boys, in the evening,
I’d be standing there all the time.
. Oh, boys, want to tell you something now.
Oh, way down yonder in the harvest field,
Angels working at the chariot wheel.
Oh, boys, won’t you line 'em,
Oh, boys, won’t you line 'em,
Oh, boys, won’t you line 'em,
See Eloise go lining track.
. Oh, if I'd known my cap'n was blind,
Wouldn’t went to work till the clock struck nine.
Ho, boys, he can see.
Hi, hi, he ain’t blind.
Hi, hi, got a Waterbury.
Hi, hi, he can tell time. . . .
ALBUM 8—NEGRO WORK SONGS AND CALLS
Z. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
... • * , MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
41 A. 1. HASTE TO THE WEDDING, OFF SHE GOES,
JIG (MEDLEY)
2. IRISH WASHERWOMAN
3. PIGTOWN FLING
B. 1. DEVIL’S DREAM
2. NANCY'S FANCY
Played on the dulcimer by Thomas Mann at Ortonville,
Iowa, 1937. Recorded by Mrs. Sidney Robertson Cowell.
OST of us, when we hear the world “dulcimer,” think
of the plucked dulcimer, of the zither type, which is
common in the Southern Appalachians. Mr. Mann's dul-
cimer is of the cymbalum variety, struck with two padded
hammers, and has 62 strings instead of from three to
eight, as in the case of the other. The cymbalum is a
forerunner of the modern pianoforte. This unique record
derives added importance from the fact that the jigs and
reels played by Mr. Mann are a direct link with the tra-
ditional dance music of England.
In answer to an inquiry, Mr. Mann writes as follows of
his instrument and his repertoire:
“I learned to play the dulcimer from my father. He
came from England and the family brought over the old
English dulcimer player. My playing, I think, is Ameri-
can. The dulcimer that I made the record with was made
by myself. I have built seven dulcimers. [Dulcimer]
Number 4 made these records. The first I built I scrapped.
All the rest are in use. Number 4 was built in 1935 out
of native lumber I got at the sawmill and was seasoned
four years before being assembled. I play at dances, jigs
and reels, and also on other occasions.... I consider all
types of music as suited to the dulcimer, as I play all
types—classical, semi-classical, waltzes, etc. ... I have
played in an orchestra, and my favorite is a trio consisting
of violin, accordion, and dulcimer. ... I built my first
dulcimer in 1912 as I had an old one that did not suit me
and would not tune up true, so began to improve on them.
The first was almost a failure, but the rest are good.
Numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 are wonderful instruments.”
The Amateur's Song Book (Part First, Boston, 1843,
pp. 4–5) gives a text for the tune, “Come, Haste to the
Wedding,” beginning:
Come, haste to the wedding, ye friends and ye neighbors,
The lovers their bliss can no longer delay,
Forget all your sorrows, your cares and your labors,
And let every heart beat with rapture to-day;
Ye votaries all,
Attend to my call,
Come revel in pleasures that never can cloy,
Come, see rural felicity, which love and innocence ever
enjoy.
According to a New Jersey legend, the fiddle tune,
“Devil's Dream,” was so named because it “was learned
by a fiddler from the Devil himself.” (Herbert Halpert,
“The Devil and the Fiddle,” Hoosier Folklore Bulletin,
Volume II, December, 1943, p. 42). Ira W. Ford (Tra-
ditional Music of America, New York, 1940, p. 62) gives
these words with the tune:
Forty days and forty nights
The Devil was a-dreaming.
Around the bark, old Noah's ark,
The rain it was a-streaming.
The monkey washed the baboon's face,
The serpent combed his hair.
And up jumped the Devil -
With his pitchfork in the air.
B. A. B.
ALBUM 9–PLAY AND DANCE SONGS AND TUNES
" * - . . . . THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
42 A. 1. OLD BLUE SOW
Played by Enos Canoy on the fiddle, Tim Canoy on the
mandolin, and Lola Canoy on the guitar at Magee,
Mississippi, 1939.
2. WHERE’D YOU GET YO' WHISKY?
3. PORE LITTLE MARY SETTIN? IN THE
CORNER
Sung with fiddle by Enos Canoy, with beating of straws by
Jim F. Myers, at Magee, Mississippi, 1939. Recorded
by Herbert Halpert.
HE three Canoys (Enos, his cousin, Tim, and the
latter's wife, Lola) had been playing together as the
Canoy Band for about two years previous to the time of
this recording. Enos Canoy has played the fiddle since he
was 12 years old. He constructed his first fiddle out of
a pine box, and decorated his present instrument with
hand-tooled and painted figures. In the last two pieces,
Jim Myers (who has been playing the fiddle since he was
nine) furnishes a rhythmic accompaniment by “beating”
or “knocking” two straws on the strings which the fiddler
is not using at the time.
“The Old Blue Sow” (played in A) is an old tune which
Enos Canoy learned from his uncle, an old-time fiddler.
“Where'd You Get Yo' Whisky?” was learned from Robert
Runnels, of Simpson County, and “Pore Little Mary Settin’
in the Corner,” from Robert Runnels and Love Kennaday.
A version of “Where Did You Git Yo' Whisky?” appears
as a stanza of “Cindy,” in Bascom Lamar Lunsford’s 30
and 1 Folk Songs from the Southern Mountains (New
York, 1929), pp. 42–43. B. A. B
WHERE’D YOU GET YO' WHISKY 7
1. Where'd you git yo” whisky?
Where'd you git yo' dram?
Stole it from a bootlegger
Way down in Bootleg Town.
CHORUS:
Got a little home to go to
2. Where'd you git yo' whisky, etc.
CHORUS:
Got a little home to go to, (3)
Way down in jailhouse now.
42 B. 1. SALLY GOODIN
Played on the banjo by Justus Begley at Hazard, Kentucky,
1937. Recorded by Alan and Elizabeth Lomax.
2. OLD SALLY BROWN
Sung with banjo by Calvin Cole, assisted by Dan Tate, at
§ Gap, Virginia, 1941. Recorded by Fletcher
lilse
3. OH, FLY AROUND, MY PRETTY LITTLE MISS
Sung with banjo by O. L. Coffey of Shulls Mills, North
Carolina. Recorded at Blowing Rock, North Carolina,
1936, by John A. Lomax.
HESE three “frolicking” songs have been selected to
represent various styles of Southern banjo playing
in the hoedown class.
The most familiar of the pieces, “Sally Goodin,” is
more commonly played as a fiddle tune, to which the
following verses are often sung:
Gimme a piece o’ pie,
Gimme a piece o' pudding;
Give it all away
To hug Sallie Goodin.
(Harvey H. Fuson, Ballads of the
Kentucky Highlands, p. 158)
“Oh, Fly Around, My Pretty Little Miss” (recorded
through the courtesy of the late Frank C. Brown) is
related to the play-party song known variously as “Pretty
Little Pink” and “Shady Grove.” B. A. B
OLD SALLY BROWN
1. Old Sally, young Sally, cousin Sally Brown,
Hollow of her foot kept a-diggin' in the ground.
Ho, babe, and-a come on down.
Ho, boys, and you better get around.
CBORUS:
Swing old Adam and swing old Eve,
Swing once more before you leave.
2. 2
3. Ho, babe, and-a come on down.
Ho, babe, and you better get around.
CHORUS:
Swing old Adam and swing old Eve,
Swing once more before you leave.
Ho, babe!
OH, FLY AROUND, MY PRETTY LITTLE MISS
1. Oh, fly around, my pretty little miss,
Oh, fly around, my daisy,
Oh, fly around, my pretty little miss,
You almost drove me crazy.
2. Every time I go that road,
It looks so dark and dreary [hazy].
Every time I go that road,
I go to see my daisy.
3. If I had no horse a-tall,
I’d be found a-crawlin’
Up and down the rocky branch
A-huntin’ for my darlin’.
ALBUM 9–PLAY AND DANCE SONGS AND TUNES
* . . . . THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
43 A. 1. SOLDIER'S JOY
Played by Nashville Washboard Band (James Kelly on
the mandolin, Frank Dalton on the guitar, Tom Carroll
on the tin can, and Theopolis Stokes on the washboard)
at Nashville, Tennessee, 1941. Recorded by Alan Lo-
max and John W. Work.
2. BILE DEM CABBAGE DOWN
Played by E. C. Ball on the guitar and Blair C. Reedy on
the mandolin, with singing by E. C. Ball, at Rugby,
Virginia, 1941. Recorded by Alan Lomax.
T. old English dance tune, “Soldier's Joy,” has been
considerably transformed in this breakdown arrange-
ment. But, in spite of “hot licks” on the lard-can bull
i. and the washboard, the performance is in true folk
style.
For additional stanzas and the tune of the minstrel
song, “Bile Dem Cabbage Down,” see On the Trail of
Negro Folk-Songs by Dorothy Scarborough (Cambridge,
1925), pp. 124–125, 168, where it is given both as a dance
song and as a song about animals. B. A. B
BILE DEM CABBAGE DOWN
1. Went to see my gal last night,
I done it kinda sneakin’.
Kissed at her mouth and hit her nose,
And the doggone thing was leakin’.
CHORUS:
Bile dem cabbage down [Bile dem cabbage, bile dem
cabbage],
Turn the hoe-cake round [Bile dem cabbage down].
The only song that I can sing
Is bile dem cabbage down.
2. Went up on the mountain and
I give my horn a blow.
Thought I heard my true love say,
Yonder comes my beau.
3. Took my girl to the blacksmith shop
To have her mouth made small.
She turned around a time or two
And swallowed shop and all.
43 B. 1. THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME
2. SALLY GOODIN
Played by Oscar Harper on the fiddle, Harman Clem on
the guitar, Homer Peters on the banjo, and Ray Hanby
on the bass viol, with calling by Bob McClary, at Dallas
Square Dance Club, Dallas, Texas, 1942. Recorded by
John A. Lomax.
OB McCLARY, a caller “from away back,” demon-
strates the hearty Southwestern style of singing and
half-singing dance calls, to which a tune like “The Girl I
Left Behind Me” is excellently suited. The figures for
the two dances, only excerpts of which are given here, are
as follows: 1. Swing the girl you left behind you; 2. All
four gents swing Sally Goodin at the same time.
The Dallas Square Dance Club is typical of the many
local groups of square-dance enthusiasts which have
sprung up all over the country. John Lomax, who re-
corded these dances, notes: “The Dallas Square Dance
Club, with Dr. Ramsey Moore president, is composed of
young married couples popular in society, who gather
twice a month for the fun of square dances at the Dallas
Tennis Club Building. Bob McClary, of Farmers Branch,
calls the turns ... the recordings catch the spirit of the
dance; the ‘band' plays in genuine old style, and the caller's
couplets are fairly clear.” B. A. B
THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME
Break and trail home,
Lady in the lead and the gents follow up.
Circle eight and you'll all get straight,
And everybody dance.
Don’t be lazy, do-si-do, and a little more dough.
Chicken in the bread tray scratchin’ out dough.
Granny, will your dog bite? No, child, no.
And everybody dance.
Swing your partners, promenade,
And-a home you go and you meet your taw.
Everybody dance just as pretty as you can.
Four young gents swing out to the right,
And swing them by the right hand.
Swing your partners by the left
And promenade the girl behind you.
Oh, that girl, that pretty little girl,
The girl I left behind me,
With the rosy cheeks and the curly hair,
Oh, the girl I left behind me.
Everybody rest.
ALBUM 9–PLAY AND DANCE SONGS AND TUNES
Four young gents swing out to the right,
And swing them by the right hand.
Swing your partners by the left
And promenade the girl behind you.
Oh, that girl, that pretty little girl,
The girl I left behind me,
With the rosy cheeks and the curly hair,
Oh, the girl I left behind me.
Four young gents swing out to the right, etc.
Four young gents swing out to the right,
And swing them by the right hand.
Swing your partners by the left
And promenade the girl behind you.
Oh, that girl, that pretty little girl,
The girl I left behind me.
I’ll weep and cry till the day I die
For the girl I left behind me.
Circle eight and you’ll all get straight,
And everybody dance.
Don’t be lazy, do-si-do, and a little more dough . . . .
SALLY GOODIN
Four gents up and swing Sally Goodin with the old right
hand,
Now your taw with your left hand,
Now the old lady with your right hand,
Now your taw with your left hand.
Don’t forget that girl from Arkansas.
Two-hand swing,
Everybody dance.
Partners to the left, and the left all around.
Promenade your corner as you come down.
One foot up and the other one down,
Make that big foot jar the ground.
Amazing grace, how sweet it sounds.
The jaybird kicked the snowbird down.
Everybody rest.
Four gents up, etc.
Don’t forget to swing grandmaw.
Two-hand swing.
Everybody dance just as pretty as you can.
Partners to the left, etc.
One foot up and the other one down,
Make that big foot jar the ground.
Four gents up, etc.
Don’t forget that girl from Arkansas.
Two-hand swing.
Everybody dance just as pretty as you can.
Amazing grace, how sweet it sounds.
The jaybird kicked the snowbird down.
One foot up and the other one down,
Make that big foot jar the ground.
Everybody dance.
Do-si, around your corner.
Back around your partner.
Corner left with the old left hand,
Partner right with the grand right and left.
Everybody dance.
Watch your partner and-a watch her close.
You meet her on the corner, double the dose.
Once and a half and treat 'em all alike
If it takes all night, and everybody dance.
Get hot!
Everybody dance just as pretty as you can.
Hooray! boys. Swing your taw.
Swing your partner and promenade the hall.
Everybody dance.
Circle eight and you’ll all get straight.
And everybody dance.
Don’t be lazy, do-si-do, and a little more dough.
Chicken in the bread tray scratchin’ out dough.
Granny, will your dog bite? No, child, no.
And everybody dance.
Swing your partner and promenade,
And-a home you go, the old last time,
And you know where.
ALBUM 9–PLAY AND DANCE SONGS AND TUNES
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
Folk MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
44 A. DEVIL’S DREAM
B. MISSISSIPPI SAWYER
Played by J. C. Fowler, Elic Buckner, and Alva Ruffner,
with calling by S. C. Simon, at Lubbock, Texas, 1936.
Recorded by John A. Lomax.
LTHOUGH this record has been selected for listening
rather than for dancing, it is hard to keep one’s feet
still while “sitting out this one.” Mr. Simon’s calls—
spoken, half-sung, or sung—are more than calls; they are
a new kind of musical performance, for which the string
band furnishes a sort of merry-go-round accompaniment
and the interpolated cries of the dancers and other sounds
of the dance provide a vivid background. The picture
evoked makes one feel like an eye-witness if not an actual
participant.
The figures for the two dances are as follows:
A. Wave the ocean, wave the sea,
Wave that pretty girl back to me.
B. Right hand cross and how do you do?
Left hand back and how are you? B. A. B
DEVIL’S DREAM
All promenade, single file.
Right back, Indian style.
Swing the corner, two-hand swing.
Now your partner, promenade the ring.
First couple lead.
Dance the ocean wave.
Wave the ocean, wave the sea,
Wave that pretty girl back to me.
Gents left, ladies right.
Swing your corner by the right, half way around;
Back to the left and all the way around;
Promenade your corner and you come around.
Same boy, same girl.
Wave the ocean, wave the sea,
Wave that pretty girl back to me.
Gents left, ladies right.
Swing right, a half way around;
Back to the left and all the way around;
Promenade your corner and you come around.
Same old boy, different girl.
Wave the ocean, wave the sea,
Wave that pretty girl back to me.
Gents left, ladies right.
Swing right, half way around;
Back to your left and all the way around;
Promenade your corner, you come around.
Same boy, different girl.
Wave the ocean, wave the sea,
Wave that pretty girl back to me.
Gents left, turn to the right.
Swing right, half way around;
Back to your left and all the way around;
Promenade your corner, you come around.
All wait till you get straight.
Pass left, you go right,
Change left and right,
Forward around,
And swing your corner, you come around.
Do-si, boys, you all know.
Swing your corner like you’re swinging on a gate.
Swing your partner, pull your freight.
First gent lead.
Wave the ocean, wave the sea,
Wave that pretty girl back to me.
Change left, change to the right,
Swing right, half way around;
Back to your left and all the way around;
Promenade your corner, you come around.
Gents left; ladies to the right.
Swing right, a half way around;
Back to your left and all the way around;
Promenade your corner, you come around.
Same boy, different girl.
Wave the ocean, wave the sea,
Wave that pretty girl back to me.
Gents left, ladies to the right.
Swing your right and a half way around;
Back to your left and all the way around;
Promenade your corner, you come around.
All wait till you get straight.
Do-si, boys, you all know.
Chicken in the bread pan picking up dough.
Come on, boys, don’t be so slow.
Grab your partner and around you go.
Same eight till you get straight.
(Git hot!)
Swing your corner by the right,
Partner by the left.
Grab 'em right along, all night long.
Come on, boys, don’t be so slow,
Swing your corner, swing her twice.
Treat 'em all alike.
Swing that girl, that pretty little girl.
Swing your corner, swing her twice.
Swing your corner like you’re swinging on a gate.
Now your partner; pull your freight.
ALBUM 9–PLAY AND DANCE SONGS AND TUNES
First gent lead.
Wave the ocean, wave the sea,
Wave that pretty girl back to me.
Gents left, ladies to the right.
Swing right, half way around;
Back to your left and all the way around;
Promenade your corner, you come around.
MISSISSIPPI SAWYER
Eight hands across, form a ring.
Everybody dance, everybody swing.
Turn down, right back, Indian style.
Swing corner, two-hand swing,
Honor partners, promenade the ring.
First couple lead.
Ring up four, in the middle of the floor.
Right hand across, how d'you do?
Left hand back and-a how are you?
Swing your corner by the right,
Partner by the left.
Balance all, all night long.
Same four, middle of the floor.
Do-si, boys, you all know.
Chicken in the bread pan, picking up dough.
Come on, boys, don’t be so slow.
Swing your partner, and around you go.
Same four, the middle of the floor.
Change, six and two.
Ring up six till you get fixed.
Gents swing right, leads pass back.
Do-si round, swing your corner till you come around.
Honor partners, balance all.
Ring up six till you get fixed.
Gents swing right, leads pass back.
Do-si round.
Swing your corners till you come around.
Honor partners, balance all.
Same six till you get fixed.
Change, six and two.
Ring up eight till you get straight.
Right hand across and how d'you do?
Left hand back and-a how are you?
Swing corner by the right,
Partner by the left.
Balance all, all night long.
Ring up eight till you get straight.
Swing your corner by the right,
Partner by the left.
Pass right along, all night long.
Come on, boys, don’t be so lazy.
Dip that hunk in a whole lot of gravy.
Swing that corner like swinging on a gate.
Honor partner, and pull your freight.
Same eight till you get straight.
Four ladies change.
Change once more.
Change this time, you all know.
Change this time and no more.
Honor your partners and bow, balance all.
First gent lead.
Ring up four in the middle of the floor.
Right hand across and-a how d'you do?
Left hand back and-a how are you?
Swing corner by the right,
Partner by the left.
Balance all, all night long.
Same four, middle of the floor.
Swing corner by the right, half way around;
Back to the left and all the way around;
Promenade the corner, you come around.
Same four, middle of the floor.
Ring up six till you get fixed.
Gents pass left, to the right, leads pass back.
Do-si round and swing your corner, you come around.
Honor partners, balance all, all night long.
Ring up six till you get fixed.
Do-si, boys, you all know.
Chicken in the bread pan picking up dough.
Come on, boys, I see you’re so slow.
Swing your corner, round you go.
Ring up eight till you get straight.
Swing corner by the right,
Partner by the left.
Pass right along—all night long.
Come on, boys, don’t be so lazy.
Dip that hunk in a whole lot of gravy.
Rope the bell, bell the calf.
Swing your corner once and a half.
Treat 'em all alike.
Come on, boys, don’t be so slow.
Whip that babe, and around you go.
Honor partners, balance all.
ALBUM 9–PLAY AND DANCE SONGS AND TUNES
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
45. NEGRO GAME SONGS
A. 1. WE’RE GOIN’ AROUND THE MOUNTAIN
Sung by Eva Grace Boone and group at Brandon, Missis-
sippi, 1937. Recorded by John A. Lomax.
2. OLD LADY SITTIN? IN THE DINING ROOM
3. LITTLE SALLY WALKER
4. ALL AROUND THE MAYPOLE
Sung by Eva Grace Boone and group at Brandon, Missis-
sippi, 1939. Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
B. 1. SISSY IN THE BARN
2. LITTLE ROSA LEE
Sung by Eva Grace Boone and group at Brandon, Missis-
sippi, 1939. Recorded by Herbert Halpert.
3. GWAN ROUN’, RABBIT
4. SATISFIED
Sung by Anne Williams and group of Dundee, Mississippi.
Recorded at Moorhead Plantation, Lula, Mississippi,
1942, by Alan Lomax and Lewis Jones.
ETHER singing the older English games, such as
“Sally Walker,” or the newer games of Negro origin,
these Mississippi Negro school children bring to their per-
formance the rhythmic and mimetic qualities that belong
to folk drama and ritual. These traits emerge most strik-
ingly in games that combine clapping with a marked
degree of repetition, as in “Gwan Roun', Rabbit” and
“Satisfied.” The latter is a particularly good example of
the “call” and “response” (solo and chorus) structure of
N º: folk songs, including work songs and spirituals as
ell as game songs. In Negro Folk Rhymes (New York,
1922), pp. 264 f., Thomas W. Talley relates this phase of
play and dance songs to field calls. John W. Work, in
American Negro Songs (New York, 1940), pp. 4–5, cites
evidence of African origin. The usage, however, is also
found among other peoples.
For another text and tune of “Old Lady Sittin’ in the
Dining Room,” see Our Singing Country, collected and
compiled by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, Ruth Craw-
ford Seeger, music editor (New York, 1941), p. 70. For
a variant of “All around the Maypole,” see On the Trail of
Negro Folk-Songs, by Dorothy Scarborough (Cambridge,
1925), p. 142. B. A. B
WE’RE GOIN? AROUND THE MOUNTAIN
1. We’re goin’ around the mountain, two by two,
We're goin’ around the mountain, two by two,
We're goin’ around the mountain, two by two,
So rise, Sally, rise.
2. Let me see you make a motion, two by two.
3. That’s a pretty po’ motion, two by two.
4. Let me see you make a better one, two by two.
Directions: The players in couples walk around in a ring,
º: hands on the second and fourth stanzas. The
odd player in the center, who is squatting as the game
begins, rises as bid and makes a motion of some sort, like
3. Ola Il Cé.
OLD LADY SITTIN’ IN THE DINING ROOM
Old lady sittin’ in the dining room,
Sittin' by the fire.
Her foot slipped and she fell down,
Raise up higher and higher.
Choose the one the ring go round,
Choose the one the morning,
Choose the one with the coal black hair,
And kiss her and call her honey.
(Repeat.)
Directions: The players join hands in a ring and skip
about, while the player in the center acts out the words—
squatting, falling, rising, choosing and kissing a partner.
The game is repeated, with the one chosen taking the
center, while the other joins the ring.
LITTLE SALLY WALKER
Little Sally Walker,
Sittin’ in the saucer,
Rise, rise, little Sally, rise.
Oh, cry, Sally, cry,
Oh, wipe yo’ cheek,
Oh, shake it to the east,
Oh, shake it to the west,
Oh, shake it to the very one you love the best.
(Repeat.)
Directions: The players join hands in a ring, singing,
while the player in the center suits the action to the words.
At the ..f of the song, the player chooses another one “in”
and the game is repeated.
ALL AROUND THE MAYPOLE
All around the maypole, maypole, maypole,
All around the maypole,
And now, Miss Sally, won’t you shout for joy!
Shout for joy, shout for joy, shout for joy?
And now, Miss Sally, won’t you shout for joy 7
And now, Miss Sally, won’t you bow 2
(Repeat.)
Directions: The players join hands in a ring and walk
around, stopping and clapping hands while the player
skipping in the center bows and chooses a partner to
“jump” or dance with.
ALBUM 9–PLAY AND DANCE SONGS AND TUNES
SISSY IN THE BARN
Sissy in the barn, barn, the levee,
Prettiest little couple I ever did see.
Oh, barn, barn, put your arms all around me,
Say, little sissy, won’t you marry me?
Oh, step back, gal, don’t come near me.
All those sassy words you say.
Oh, barn, barn, put your arms all around me,
Say, little sissy, won’t you marry me?
LITTLE ROSA LEE
1. Ah, little Rosa Lee,
Little Rosa Lee, little Rosa Lee,
Ah, little Rosa Lee,
Come go with me to Tennessee.
2. Ah, little Rosa Lee,
I got a horse and buggy, too.
Ah, little Rosa Lee,
I got a buggy can pull me through.
3. Ah, little Rosa Lee,
What did the hen duck say to the grey [drake?] 7
Ah, little Rosa Lee,
No more cross you have to lay.
4. Ah, little Rosa Lee,
Little Rosa Lee, little Rosa Lee,
Ah, little Rosa Lee,
Come go with me to Tennessee.
5. Ah, little Rosa Lee,
I got a horse and buggy, too.
Ah, little Rosa Lee,
I got a buggy can pull me through.
6. Ah, little Rosa Lee . . . .
Directions: The players couple up in a ring, while the
odd player in the center tries to steal a partner. The odd
player sings the verses, the others sing the refrain: “Ah,
little Rosa Lee.” The first stanza serves as a chorus.
GWAN ROUN’, RABBIT
1. My dog treed a rabbit,
My dog treed a rabbit.
Now watch that critter sittin' on that log,
Now watch that critter how he do that dog.
CHORUS:
Now gwan roun’, rabbit,
Now gwan roun’, rabbit.
. Gonna milk my cow, gonna catch her by the tail,
Gonna milk her in the coffee pot, pour it in the pail.
. My dog treed a rabbit,
5.
My dog treed a rabbit.
Now watch that critter sittin' on that log,
Now watch that critter how he do that dog.
My dog treed a rabbit,
My dog treed a rabbit.
Gonna catch my cow, gonna catch her by the tail,
Gonna milk her in the coffee pot, and throw it in the
pail.
. My rabbit's gittin',
My rabbit's gittin’ my turnip top.
SATISFIED
I never been
I never been
Satisfied. Satisfied.
I never been Went to the river,
Satisfied. Satisfied.
Went down in, Been baptized.
Satisfied, Satisfied.
New ground field, That didn’t make me
Satisfied. Satisfied.
Rattlesnake bit me, I never been
Satisfied, Satisfied.
On my heel, I never been
Satisfied. Satisfied.
That didn’t make me Went down in,
Satisfied. Satisfied,
That didn’t make me New ground field,
Satisfied. Satisfied.
I never been Rattlesnake bit me,
Satisfied. Satisfied, -
I never been On my heel,
Satisfied. Satisfied.
Been to the river, That didn’t make me
Satisfied. Satisfied.
Been baptized, Mamma can’t make me
Satisfied. Satisfied. g
That didn’t make me Papa can’t make me
Satisfied. Satisfied.
That didn’t make me I never been
Satisfied. Satisfied.
I never been I never been
Satisfied. Satisfied.
ALBUM 9–PLAY AND DANCE SONGS AND TUNES
. . . . THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
46 A. 1. DO, LORD, REMEMBER ME
Sung with banjo by Jimmie Strothers and Joe Lee at State
Farm, Virginia, 1936.
2. HOUSE DONE BUILT WITHOUT HANDS
3. OH, THE LAMB OF GOD, THE LORD
DONE SANCTIFIED ME
Sung by Joe Lee at State Farm, Virginia, 1936.
B. 1. WE ARE ALMOST DOWN TO THE SHORE
Sung with banjo by Jimmie Strothers at State Farm, Vir-
ginia, 1936.
2. SHINE LIKE A STAR IN THE MORNING
Sung by Joe Lee at State Farm, Virginia, 1936. Recorded
by John A. Lomax and Harold Spivacke.
LIND Jimmie Strothers learned his hearty minstrel
style of gospel-singing while traveling with a medi-
cine show. Joe Lee sings jubilee songs in truly spiritual
fashion. Both have considerable showmanship. In the
first selection Joe Lee beats two pieces of wire on the
finger-board of the banjo, deftly avoiding the fingers of
the player.
For “Do, Lord, Remember Me,” see Spirituals Trium-
phant, Old and New, by Edward Boatner and Mrs. Willa A.
Townsend (Nashville, Tennessee, 1927), No. 54, and Ameri-
can Negro Songs, by John W. Work (New York, 1940), p. 82.
For another version of “We Are Almost Down to the
Shore” (“Fighting On! Hallelujah!”), see Jubilee and
Plantation Songs (Boston, 1887), p. 53. B. A. B
DO, LORD, REMEMBER ME
CHORUS:
[Oh, I Do, Lord, do, Lord, Lord, remember me,
Do, Lord, do, Lord, oh, Lord, remember me.
Hallelujah!
Do, Lord, do, Lord, oh, Lord, remember me.
Oh, do, Lord, remember me.
1. Oh, when I’m in trouble,
Down on my knees,
When I was in trouble,
Lord, remember me.
Oh, when I’m in trouble,
Lord, remember me,
Lord, do, Lord, remember me.
2. Oh, when I am dyin',
Lord, remember me,
Oh, when I am dyin',
Lord, remember me,
Oh, when I am dyin',
Lord, remember me,
Oh, do, Lord, remember me.
Aº
3. Oh, I’m gonna take a little journey,
Lord, remember me.
I’m gonna take a little journey,
Lord, remember me.
Oh, I’m gonna take a little journey,
Lord, remember me,
Oh, do, Lord, remember me.
HOUSE DONE BUILT WITHOUT HANDS
That was Mary and Martha in the garden,
º
Sister Mary took wings of the eagle,
Sailed away to Galilee.
Oh, Mary, may I go out with you?
Oh, Mary, may I go out with you?
Where you goin' up yonder?
House done built without hands.
Up yonder,
House done built without hands,
Who told you?
House done built without hands,
Jesus told me,
House done built without hands.
Walk in,
House done built without hands.
Walk in,
House done built without hands,
Sit down, -
House done built without hands,
Sit down,
House done built without hands,
With the Father,
House done built without hands.
And the Son,
House done built without hands.
Talk about
House done built without hands.
Where you from ?
House done built without hands.
Oh, Mary, may I go out with you?
Oh, Mary, may I go out with you?
OH, THE LAMB OF GOD, THE LORD DONE
SANCTIFIED ME
CHORUS:
[Children,) Oh, the Lamb of God,
The Lord done sanctified me.
Oh, the Lamb of God [Oh, that holy Lamb],
He done sanctified my soul.
ALBUM 10—NEGRO RELIGIOUS SONGS AND SERVICES
1. Let me tell you what some people will do,
The Lord done sanctified me.
Go all about and talk about you,
He done sanctified my soul.
2. Some say silver, some say gol’,
The Lord done sanctified me.
But I say Jesus Christ to my soul,
He done sanctified my soul.
WE ARE ALMOST DOWN TO THE SHORE
CHORUS:
Fight on, fight on,
Children, and don’t turn back.
We are almost down to the shore.
. Peter, Peter, on the sea,
Drop your nets and follow me.
We are almost down to the shore.
. Moses died in the days of old.
Where was he buried, never been told.
We are almost down to the shore.
. God called Moses on the mountain top.
Praise the Lord, said Moses’ heart.
We are almost down to the shore.
. His commandments in Moses’ mind,
Said Moses, “Gonna leave my children behind.”
We are almost down to the shore.
SHINE LIKE A STAR IN THE MORNING
1. I John was standing alone one day,
Heard a voice behind him say,
I am Alpha Omega, the first and last
To conquer death in hell did cast.
CHORUS:
Shine, shine, shine like a star in the morning,
Shine, shine all day around the throne of God.
God knows I’m going to shine,
Shine, shine like a star in the morning,
Shine, shine all day around the throne of God.
2. There's what I see right in the book,
For from old death that St. John took
John turned to see that voice repeat.
He begin to tremble, he begin to quake.
3. Then at first he opened, first he said,
He too risen from the dead,
Nailed to the cross and as he fell,
Went through that grave down into hell.
4. Then second he opened, then second he said,
Jesus rose up from the dead,
Right up that road, he said,
God gonna take me from that earthly board.
ALBUM 10—NEGRO RELIGIOUS SONGS AND SERVICES
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
47 A. AIN’T NO GRAVE CAN HOLD MY BODY DOWN
Sung by Bozie Sturdivant at Silent Grove Baptist Church,
Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1942. Recorded by Alan Lo-
max and Lewis Jones.
& G A IN’T No Grave Can Hold My Body Down” is an
excellent example of the intrusion of jazz into
Negro religion. In many cases a jazz singer or musician
simply carries his art over from secular entertainment
into the religious service, where it still partly serves the
purpose of entertainment. The song itself illustrates the
new kind of gospel song growing out of the union of jazz
and religion.
B. A. B.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down, my body down.
When the first trumpet sound,
I'll be gettin' up, walkin’ round.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down, my body down.
Now when that first trumpet sound,
I'll be gettin' up, walkin’ round.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
When I heard of a beautiful city,
The street was paved with gold.
Then I had not been to Heaven.
Oh, Lord, I’ve been told.
Then I found this throne of grace.
It’s gonna 'point my soul a place.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
Ain’t no grave can hold my body down.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
When that first trumpet sound,
I'll be gettin' up, walkin’ round.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
When Jesus was hangin’ on the cross,
It made poor Mary moan.
He looked down on His disciples.
“They’ve taken my mother home.”
Ain’t that a pity and dark shame,
How they crucified the Name!
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
When the first trumpet sound,
I’ll be gettin' up, walkin’ round.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
47 B. 1. DOWN ON ME
Sung by Dock Reed at Livingston, Alabama, 1940.
2. CERTAINLY, LORD
Sung by Dock Reed and Vera Hall at Livingston, Ala-
bama, 1940. Recorded by John A. and Ruby T. Lomax.
6 6 OWN on Me” has the quality of a man talking to
himself, but it speaks for a whole class of those
whom the “world is down on.” In a simple baptizing song
like “Certainly, Lord” the more formal type of Negro
spiritual may be seen in the making.
For the former, see American Negro Songs, by John W.
Work (New York, 1940), p. 115; for the latter, Spirituals
Triumphant, Old and New, by Edward Boatner and Mrs.
Willa A. Townsend (Nashville, Tennessee, 1927), No. 86.
B. A. B.
DOWN ON ME
CHORUS:
Oh, down on me,
Down on me,
Looks like everybody in this whole round world down on
Iſle,
1. One of these mornings, bright and fair,
Hitch on my wings and try the air.
Looks like everybody in this whole round world down
On Iſle,
2. Mary and Martha, Luke and John,
All God's prophets dead and gone.
Looks like everybody in this whole round world down
On Iſle.
3. Ain't been to heaven, but I been told
Gates is pearl and the streets is gold.
Looks like everybody in this whole round world down
On Iſle,
4. God is God, God is God, rain is rain,
God’s a man don’t never change.
Looks like everybody in this whole round world down
On Iſle,
CERTAINLY, LORD
1. [I’ve been to the pool,l
Certainly, Lord.
I’ve been to the pool,
Certainly, Lord.
I’ve been to the pool,
Certainly, Lord,
Ah, certainly, certainly, certainly, Lord.
ALBUM 10—NEGRO RELIGIOUS SONGS AND SERVICES
2. I’ve been baptized, etc. Ah, certainly, certainly,
Certainly, Lord.
3. My mother done told me, Ah, certainly, certainly,
Certainly, Lord, wº
If I should die, Certainly, Lord.
A newborn babe, Certainly, Lord.
Certainly, Lord, Ah, certainly, certainly, certainly, Lord.
A motherless child,
Certainly, Lord. 4. I’ve been redeemed, etc.
ALBUM 10–NEGRO RELIGIOUS SONGS AND SERVICES
- THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
48 A. THE MAN OF CALWARY
(Easter Day Service)
Spoken by Sin-Killer Griffin, with congregational re-
sponses and singing, at Darrington State Farm, Sandy
Point, Texas, 1934. Recorded by John A. Lomax.
FTER the Reverend Sin-Killer Griffin, Negro prison
chaplain, had heard the recording of his Calvary ser-
mon played back, he turned and said to John A. Lomax:
“Mr. Lomax, for a long time I’ve been hearing that I'm a
good preacher. Now I know it.” This remarkable Easter
Service points to the origin of all the arts of sound—
music, poetry, drama, and oratory—in rhythm. By a
similar process, the preacher and his sermon here become
one in poetic and dramatic intensity. In order to catch
the full beauty and significance of the cadenced prose
and the apocalyptic imagery, one should follow the printed
text closely.
For a longer version, see Our Singing Country, collected
and compiled by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, Ruth
Crawford Seeger, music editor (New York, 1941), pp. 9–13.
B. A. B.
. . . Roman soldiers come riding in full speed on their
horses and splunged Him in the side.
We seen blood and water came out.
Oh-h, Godamighty placed it in the minds of the people
Why the water is for baptism
And the blood is for cleansin’.
I don't care how mean you’ve been,
Godamighty's blood’ll cleanse you from all sin.
I seen, my dear friends,
How the times moved on.
Great God looked down,
He began to look at the temple—
Jesus said to tear down the temple
And in three days I’ll rise up again in all sight.
They didn’t know what He was talkin’ about.
Jesus was talkin’ about His templed body.
I seen while He was hanging,
The mounting began to tremble on which Jesus was
hanging on.
The blood was dropping on the mounting,
Holy blood, dropping on the mounting,
My dear friends, corrupting the mounting.
I seen about that time while the blood was drop-ping
down,
One—drop—after—another,
I seen the sun that Jesus made in creation;
The sun rose, my dear friends,
And it recognized Jesus hanging on the cross.
Just as soon as the sun recognized its Maker,
Why, it clothed itself in sack cloth-ing and went down,
Oh-h, went down in mournin'.
“Look at my Maker dying on the cross.”
And when the sun went down,
We seen the moon, that was his Maker, too,
Oh-h, he made the moo-oon,
My dear friends, yes, both time and seasons.
We seen, my dear friends,
When the moon recognized Jesus dying on the cross,
I seen the moon, yes, took with a judgment hemorrhage
and bled away.
Good God, looked down.
Oh-h, the dyin' thief on the cross
Saw the moon goin’ down in blood.
I seen, my dear friends,
About that time they looked at that,
And when the moon went down, it done bled away.
I seen the little stars, great God, that was there;
They remembered Jesus when He struck on the anvil of
time.
And the little stars began to show their beautiful ray of
light,
And the stars recognized their Maker dying on the
cross;
Each little star leaped out of its silver orbit,
Come to make the funeral torches of a dark and un-
benointed world.
It got so dark until the men who was puttin' Jesus to
death,
They said they could feel the darkness in their fingers.
Great Godamighty, they were close to one another.
And it was so dark they could feel one another,
They could hear one another talk, but they couldn’t see
each other.
I heard one of the centurions say,
“Sholy, sholy, this must be the Son of God.”
'Bout that time, we seen, my dear friends,
The prophet Isaiah said the dead in the grave would
hear His voice and come forward.
They saw the dead gettin' up out of the grave.
On the east side of Jerusalem,
Gettin' up out of the grave,
Walking about,
Going down in town.
Oh-h, 'way over on Nebo's mounting /
We seen the great lawgiver
Got up out of his grave and began to walk about, my
dear friends,
Walking because Jesus said it was finished.
We notice, my dear friends,
Here about that time, I shouldn’t wonder, my dear
friends,
The church will save you when you get into trouble.
ALBUM 10–NEGRO RELIGIOUS SONGS AND SERVICES
I heard the church so many times singing when you get
overwhelmed into trouble.
I heard the church said:
How cam I die while Jesus lives?
How can I die while Jesus lives?
48 B. WASN'T THAT A MIGHTY STORM
Sung by Sin-Killer Griffin and congregation at Darrington
State Farm, Sandy Point, Texas, 1934. Recorded by
John A. Lomax.
N STRUCTURE and style this song about the Galveston
tidal wave is in the tradition of ballads about disasters,
such as the more familiar “Sinking of the Titanic.” At
the same time it has the religious setting and flavor of a
song sermon on death, as Sin-Killer Griffin and his con-
gregation point up the awfulness of physical destruction,
with implied spiritual symbolism. B. A. B
1. [ Galveston] with a sea-wall
To keep the water down.
But the high tide from the ocean
Washed water over the town.
CHORUS:
Wasn’t that a mighty storm 1
Oh, wasn’t that a mighty storm with waterl
Wasn't that a mighty storm
That blew the people away!
2. Their trumpets give them warning,
“You’d better leave this place.”
They never thought of leaving
Till death looked them in the face.
. The trains they were loaded
With people leaving town.
The tracks give away from the ocean.
The trains they went on down.
. Death like a cruel master,
As the wind began to blow,
Rode out on a train of horses.
Said, “Death, let me go.”
. Now, Death, in 1900–
That was fifteen years ago—
You throwed a stone at my mother.
With you she had to go.
. Now, Death, your hands is icy,
You’ve got them on my knees.
You done carried away my mother,
Now come back after me.
. The trees fell on the island,
The houses give away.
Some people strived and drownded,
Some died 'most every way.
. The lightning played —?—
The thunder began to roar,
The wind it began blowing,
The rain began to fall.
. The sea it began rolling,
The ships could not land.
I heard the captain crying,
“Please save a drownding man.”
ALBUM 10—NEGRO RELIGIOUS SONGS AND SERVICES
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
49 A. HOLY BABE-PART I
B. HOLY BABE–PART II
Sung by Kelley Pace, Aaron Brown, Joe Green, Matthew
Johnson, and Paul Hayes at Cumins State Farm, Gould,
Arkansas, 1942. Recorded by John A. and Ruby T.
Lomax.
UMBER songs, counting either forward or backward,
are common in most languages. Most familiar are
the counting and counting-out rhymes of children. The
resent cumulative song is a version of “The Carol of the
elve Numbers” ..ſº known as “The Dilly Song”).
There is a good deal of variation in the symbolism of the
twelve numbers, and in the present song their significance
has often been lost.
For texts and notes, see “The Twelve Apostles,” by
Phillips Barry, Bulletin of the Folk-Song Society of the
Northeast, Number 9 (1935), pp. 3–4; “Ballads and Songs,”
by George Lyman Kittredge, Journal of American Folk-
lore, Volume xxx (July–September, 1917), pp. 335–337;
“The Carol of the Twelve Numbers,” by William Wells
Newell, ibid., Volume IV (July–September, 1891), pp. 215–
220; and “The Carol of the Twelve Numbers,” by Leah
Rachel Clara Yoffie, Southern Folklore Quarterly, Volume
IV (June, 1940), pp. 73–75. B. A. B
1. Children, I’m going, I will send [sing] thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee one by one.
Well, one was the Holy Baby,
Was borne by the Virgin Mary,
Was wrapped in the hollow of a clawhorn,
Was laid in a hollow manger,
Was born, born, Lordy, born in Bethlehem.
2. Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee two by two.
Well, two was the Paul and Silas,
And one was the Holy Baby, etc.
3. Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee three by three.
Well, three was the Hebrew children,
And two was the Paul and Silas, etc.
4. Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee four by four.
Well, four was the four come a-knockin’ at the door,
And three was the Hebrew children, etc.
5. Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee five by five.
Well, five was the Gospel writers,
And four was the four come a-knockin’ at the door, etc.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee six by six.
Well, six was the six that couldn't get fixed.
Oh, five was the Gospel writers, etc.
Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee seven by seven.
Well, seven was the seven came down from heaven,
And six was the six that couldn’t get fixed, etc.
Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee eight by eight.
Well, eight was the eight that stood at the gate,
And seven was the seven came down from heaven, etc.

Children, I'm going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee nine by nine.
Well, nine was the nine that dressed so fine.
Oh, eight was the eight that stood at the gate, etc.
Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee ten by ten.
Well, ten was the Ten Commandments,
And nine was the nine that dressed so fine, etc.
Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee eleven by eleven.
Well, eleven was the eleven riders,
And ten was the Ten Commandments, etc.
Children, I’m going, I will send thee.
What shall I send thee?
Lord, I shall send thee twelve by twelve.
Well, twelve was the twelve disciples,
And eleven was the eleven riders,
And ten was the Ten Commandments,
And nine was the nine that dressed so fine,
And eight was the eight that stood at the gate,
And seven was the seven came down from heaven,
And six was the six that couldn’t get fixed,
And five was the Gospel writers,
And four was the four come a-knockin' at the door,
And three was the Hebrew children,
And two was the Paul and Silas,
And one was the Holy Baby,
Was borne by the Virgin Mary,
Was wrapped in the hollow of a clawhorn,
Was laid in a hollow manger,
Was born, born, Lordy, born in Bethlehem.
ALBUM 10—NEGRO RELIGIOUS SONGS AND SERVICES
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
50 A. 1. MEET ME IN JERUSALEM
2. WHEN I LAY MY BURDEN DOWN
B. 1. IN NEW JERUSALEM
2. STEAL AWAY
Sung with harmonica by Turner Junior Johnson at Clarks-
dale, Mississippi, 1942. Recorded by Alan Lomax and
Lewis Jones.
HROUGH a whimsical mixture of harmonica and
voice, the former casually taking up where the latter
leaves off, Turner Junior Johnson achieves bizarre effects
with his street-corner performance of hymn tunes. On
the one hand, he is in the spontaneous, ejaculatory tra-
dition of the revival or camp-meeting singer. On the
other hand, he is like any number of self-trained musicians
who like to see what they can do with an inexpensive
harmonica. The result combines freedom and naturalness
with stirring fervor. B. A. B
MEET ME IN JERUSALEM
Where the blood washed on a crucified—
I’ll meet my mother—well, some place in—
WHEN I LAY MY BURDEN DOWN
CHORUS:
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
When I lay my burden down.
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
When I lay my burden down.
. I’ll see Jesus, hallelujah!
When I —
. I’m goin’ home there to live with my Jesus—
When I lay —
. I’m goin’ meet my lovin’ mother —
. I’m goin’ meet my lovin’ father —
IN NEW JERUSALEM
1. There's a bright—
There’s a bright—
2. My mother, my mother in—
STEAL AWAY
. My Lord He call me,
He call me by the lightnin’.
Well, the trumpet sounds down in-uh my soul.
Well, I ain’t got long to stay here.
. Dark clouds arising,
Po” sinner stands a-tremblin’.
If he ain’t got the love of God in his soul,
Well, he ain’t got long to stay here.
ALBUM 10—NEGRO RELIGIOUS SONGS AND SERVICES
. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
ALBUM XI
SACRED HARP SINGING
FROM THE ARCHIVE OF AMERICAN FOLK SONG
Edited by GEORGE PULLEN JACKSoN
HIS album of Sacred Harp songs, recorded at the
thirty-seventh annual session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at the court house in Birming-
ham, August, 1942, and issued on the occasion of the
hundredth anniversary of The Sacred Harp, presents a
cross section of a tradition which was born centuries ago
in the British Isles, crossed the Atlantic with the early
colonists, took on the colors of the eighteenth-century
singing school, and, after the Revolution, spread into the
remotest parts of the Southeast.
During the youth of our Republic, and notably in the
Southeast, the tradition was enriched by numberless songs
taken over from the “unwritten music” of the freer and
less trammeled groups of Baptists, Methodists, and Pres-
byterians. The new component consisted of homespun
verse (or its equivalent by such writers as Isaac Watts
and John Newton, who were close to the folk in mind and
feeling) set to ancient melodies borrowed from equally
hoary “lewd lays” like “Barbara Allen” and even from
the fiddle and bagpipe repertory.
The Sacred Harp is the title of a collection of sacred
songs compiled by B. F. White and E. J. King and pub-
lished by J. L. White at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1844. Its
tunes were printed in the American-invented four-shape
notes which conformed to the old English fa-sol-la-mi
solmization heard on these records as a prelude to the
singing of the words. This book soon became the “song
bible” of tens of thousands of country singers in a dozen
Southern states, and even now (its latest revised edition
appeared in 1936) shows few signs of obsolescence.
Are the Sacred Harp pieces “folk songs”? With group
singing like this, old notions as to “what is folk song”
have to be altered somewhat. The fascinating folk “style”
of the individual has to be sacrificed in a measure to the
exigencies of the group. Harmony comes in. Song styles
develop. But if any defense were needed for classing this
as folk music, the defender could merely point by way of
comparison to most of the so-called folk music of conti-
nental Europe. Such comparison would make clear that
these white spirituals and even the “fuguing” songs
(though perhaps not the anthems), if judged by their
modal, melodic, harmonic, and textual aspects, are far
more firmly rooted in tradition and far less affected by
urban trends.
In stressing the folk hymn and the “fuguing” song
types of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the
Sacred Harp folk have shown good sense. The other
types of songs in their book (camp-meeting spirituals and
religious ballads) do not lend themselves so easily to their
large-group part-singing undertaking.
Further information as to the Sacred Harp, its singers,
songs, and the broader picture of American religious folk
music may be found in four books by George Pullen Jack-
son: White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands (which tells
of the tradition chiefly in our times), University of North
Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1933; Spiritual Folk-Songs of
Early America (250 tunes and texts), J. J. Augustin, New
York, 1937; Down-East Spirituals and Others of Olden
Times (300 tunes and texts), J. J. Augustin, New York,
1943; and White and Negro Spirituals, Their Life Span and
Kinship (which treats of the whole 200-year movement in
religious folk song), J. J. Augustin, New York, 1943;
Annabel Morris Buchanan, Folk Hymns of America (50
songs arranged for choir), J. Fischer and Brother, New
York, 1938; John Powell (with Annabel Morris Buchanan
and Hilton Rufty), Twelve Folk Hymns from the Old
Shape Note Hymnbooks and from Oral Tradition (arranged
for choir), J. Fischer and Brother, New York, 1934; The
Old Harp Singers of Nashville, Tenn., Series of Old Ameri-
can Folk Songs (arrangements for chorus), J. Fischer and
Brother, New York, 1936. Two of the old compilations
are still obtainable in new editions: Original Sacred Harp
(Denson Revision), from which the songs of this album
were sung, Sacred Harp Publishing Company, Inc., Haley-
ville, Alabama, 1936; and The Southern Harmony Song-
book, edition of 1854, reproduced, with an introduction, by
the Federal Writers' Project of Kentucky, Works Progress
Administration, Hastings House, New York, 1939.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
HYMNS
51 A. 1. WINDHAM
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 38)
Led by “Uncle Dock” Owen of Sand Mountain, Marshall
County, Alabama. Recorded by Alan Lomax and
George Pullen Jackson at the Thirty-Seventh Annual
Session of the Alabama Sacred Harp Singing Conven-
tion at Birmingham, Alabama, August, 1942.
HE Sacred Harp editor attributes the tune to Daniel
Read (Massachusetts, 1757–1836). Charles Zeuner in
his Ancient Lyre calls the melody a chorale by Martin
Luther, arranged by Read. Note that the singers raise
the sixth tone of the scale and lower the seventh, thus
making over what is printed as E-minor into the Dorian
mode. The words are by Isaac Watts. For a variant
from oral folk tradition, see Jackson, Down-East Spir-
ituals, No. 103.
G. P. J.
1. Broad is the road that leads to death
And thousands walk together there;
But wisdom shows a narrow path
With here and there a trav’ler.
2. “Deny thyself, and take thy cross”
Is the Redeemer's great command;
Nature must call her gold but dross,
If she would gain this heav'nly land.
A. 2. MEAR
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 49)
Led by Paine Denson of Birmingham, Alabama. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
Th; tune is generally attributed to Aaron Williams
(England, 1734–1776). The words are by Jesse
Mercer.
G. P. J.
1. Will God forever cast us off,
His wrath forever smoke
Against the people of His love,
His little chosen flock?
2. Think of the tribes so dearly bought
With the Redeemer’s blood,
Nor let Thy Zion be forgot,
Where once Thy glory stood.
51 B. 1. WONDROUS LOVE
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 159)
Led by Lee Wells of Jasper, Alabama. Recorded by Alan
Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the Thirty-
Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred Harp
Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama, August,
1942.
HE tune is a version of a very old melodic pattern
best known by its association with the 250-year-old
ballad about Captain Kidd (see Jackson, Spiritual Folk-
Songs of Early America No. 88, and Down-East Spirituals,
No. 272). Like “Windham,” the tune is printed in the
natural minor and sung by the Sacred Harp singers in
the Dorian mode, as heard here. The author of the words
is unknown, but he was probably an American of the early
nineteenth century when the “Captain Kidd” song formula
began to be widely sung to easily made religious texts.
G. P. J.
1. What wondrous love is this l Oh, my soul! Oh, my
soul!
What wondrous love is this! Oh, my soul!
What wondrous love is this,
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
2. When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.
3. And when from death I’m free, I'll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on,
And when from death I’m free,
I’ll sing and joyful be,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.
B. 2. LOVER OF THE LORD
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 124)
Led by Lonnie P. Odem of St. Joseph, Tennessee. Re-
corded by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at
the Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama
Sacred Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Ala-
bama, August, 1942.
ALBUM 11—SACRED HARP SINGING
H. REEVES, Georgia fa-sol-la musician, made this
• song for the 1869 edition of the Sacred Harp out of
a gospel hymn then popular and subsequently widely
parodied, of which he used the infectious chorus without
change. Songs like this show that the Sacred Harp folk
were not completely immune to the gospel hymn virus
which was in the air during the last half of the nineteenth
century.
G. P. J.
Lovers of pleasure more than God,
For you He suffered pain;
For you the Savior spilt His blood,
And shall. He bleed in vain?
CHORUS:
Oh, you must be a lover of the Lord, (3)
Or you can’t go to heaven when you die.
(IRepeat.)
ALBUM 11—SACRED HARP SINGING
Z ~ *
Ó . . . .
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
“FUGUING” SONGS
52 A. 1. MONTGOMERY
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 189)
Led by Mrs. Delilah Denson Posey of Birmingham, Ala-
bama. Recorded by Alan Lomax and George Pullen
Jackson at the Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the
Alabama Sacred Harp Singing Convention at Birming-
ham, Alabama, August, 1942.
HE tune is attributed by the Sacred Harp editor to
David Morgan, “about 1805.” The words are by Isaac
Watts.
G. P. J.
Early, my God, without delay,
I haste to seek Thy face;
My thirsty spirit faints away
Without Thy cheering grace.
So pilgrims on the scorching sand
Beneath a burning sky
Long for a cooling stream at hand,
And they must drink or die.
A. 2. NORTHFIELD
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 155)
Led by Paine Denson of Birmingham, Alabama. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
HE tune is by Jeremiah Ingalls (Vermont, 1764–
1828). The words are by Isaac Watts. As to the
interesting character, Ingalls, and the story of the birth
of his “Northfield,” see Jackson, Down-East Spirituals,
p. 12, and White and Negro Spirituals, Their Life Span and
Einship, Chaper V. G. P. J.
How long, dear Savior, O how long
Shall this bright hour delay?
Fly swift around, ye wheels of time,
And bring the promised day.
-*—-º-º-
52 B. 1. MOUNT ZION
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 220)
Led by Mrs. Maud Moncrief of Birmingham, Alabama.
Recorded by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at
the Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama
Sacred Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Ala-
bama, August, 1942.
S to the maker of this “fuguing” song, nothing more
is known than the name Brown, which is found in
many of the old fa-sol-la song books. From its melodic
trend, along the lines of the natural horn tones, and from
its galloping movement one might suspect that it was
originally a hunting song; and it seems to have an
eighteenth-century flavor. G. P. J.
The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heav'nly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let your songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We're marching through Immanuel's ground,
To fairer worlds on high.
B. 2. MILFORD
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 273)
Led by Mrs. M. L. Mann of Opelika, Alabama. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
ORDS and tune are attributed to John Stephenson
(Ireland, 1772–1833). G. P. J.
If angels sung a Savior's birth,
On that auspicious morn,
We well may imitate their mirth,
Now He again is born.
—-a-ta-
ALBUM 11—SACRED HARP SINGING
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
53 A. 1. STRATFIELD
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 142)
Led by John M. Dye of Birmingham, Alabama. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
HE source of the tune is unknown. It is a good ex-
ample of the eighteenth century ºff. manner in
England and America. It is printed in F-minor but sung
in the Dorian mode (notice the raised sixth on the last
syllable of “eternal”). The words are by Isaac Watts.
G. P. J.
Through every age, eternal God,
Thou art our rest, our safe abode;
High was Thy throne ere Heav'n was made
Or earth Thy humble footstool laid.
A. 2. EVENING SEIADE
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 209)
Led by Euna Wee Denson Nail of Birmingham, Alabama.
Recorded by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at
the Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sa-
cred Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
T. composer is unknown. John Leland (Massachu-
setts, 1754–1841) is credited with the words. Leland
was a Baptist itinerant preacher who was active in Vir-
§: for fifteen years after the Revolutionary War. See
ackson, Down-East Spirituals, pp. 165 and 210.
1. The day is past and gone,
The evening shades appear;
O may we all remember well,
The night of death is near.
2. We lay our garments by,
Upon our beds to rest;
So death will soon disrobe us all
Of what we here possess.
53 B. 1. BALLSTOWN
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 217)
Led by Ernestine Tipton of Birmingham, Alabama. Re-
corded by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at
the Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sa-
cred Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
HE composer of this “fugue” is the early nineteenth-
century singing school master, Nehemiah Shumway.
It was common property in Southern fa-sol-la tune books
during the early decades of the nineteenth century. The
words are by Isaac Watts. This song is here intoned by
a male singer as is usual when a woman leads. G. P. J.
Great God, attend while Zion sings
The joy that from Thy presence springs;
To spend one day with Thee on earth
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.
B. 2. EDOM
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 200)
Led by Mrs. Delilah Denson Posey of Birmingham, Ala-
bama. Recorded by Alan Lomax and George Pullen
Jackson at the Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the
Alabama Sacred Harp Singing Convention at Birming-
ham, Alabama, August, 1942. -
TÉ. tune is by John Cole (1774–1855). He was an
Englishman who came to Baltimore as a boy and re-
mained there the rest of his life. The words are by Isaac
Watts. G. P. J.
With songs and honors sounding loud,
Address the Lord on high;
Over the heav'ns He spreads His clouds,
And waters veil the sky.
He sends His show’rs of blessings down
To cheer the plains below;
He makes the grass the mountains crown
And corn in valleys grow.
ALBUM 11—SACRED HARP SINGING
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
54 A. 1. FILLMORE
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 434)
Led by Ernestine Tipton of Birmingham, Alabama. Re-
corded by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at
the Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sa-
cred Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Ala-
bama, August, 1942.
OMPOSED for the 1869 edition of The Sacred Harp
by John P. Rees (1828–1900), prominent fa-sol-la
musician of Georgia. Like many another Southern sing-
ing master before and after his time, Rees composed faith-
fully in the eighteenth-century English and American
“fuguing” manner. Words are by O. Heginbothom (Eng-
land, 1744–1768). G. P. J
Great God, let all my tuneful pow'rs
Awake, and sing Thy mighty name;
Thy hand revolves my circling hours,
Thy hand from whence my being came.
Thus will I sing till nature cease,
Till sense and language are no more;
And after death Thy boundless grace
Through everlasting years adore.
A. 2. SARDIS
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 460)
Led by “Uncle Dock” Owen of Sand Mountain, Marshall
County, Alabama. Recorded by Alan Lomax and
George Pullen Jackson at the Thirty-Seventh Annual
Session of the Alabama Sacred Harp Singing Conven-
tion at Birmingham, Alabama, August, 1942.
OMPOSED after the eighteenth-century “fuguing”
manner by the Georgian, Miss Sarah Lancaster, for
the 1869 edition of The Sacred Harp. Although the au-
thor of the words is unknown, their familiar folk-hymn
character leads one to suspect that Miss Lancaster wrote
the words, too. G. P. J
1. Come on, my fellow pilgrims, come
And let us all be hast’ning home.
We soon shall land on yon blest shore,
Where pain and sorrow are no more;
There we our Jesus shall adore,
Forever blest.
2. No period then our joys shall know,
Secure from ev’ry mortal foe;
No sickness there, no want nor pain
Shall e'er disturb our rest again,
When with Immanuel we reign,
Forever blest.
54 B. 1. MISSION
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 204)
Led by A. Marcus Cagle of Atlanta, Georgia. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
O TRACE has been found of the author of the tune
ſº. in Jackson, Down-East Spirituals, No.
15). It has earmarks of the old English carol airs. The
text is a ballad of religious experience and exhortation.
Its type was widely popular among the country Baptists
of America for a century beginning before the Revolution-
ary War. The present example, in the New England tra-
dition, emerged in 1809. The religious ballads, being by
nature one-singer pieces, did not fit well into the four-part
musical setting offered by The Sacred Harp. G. P. J.
Young people, all attention give,
While I address you in God's name;
You who in sin and folly live,
Come, hear the counsel of a friend.
I’ve sought for bliss in glitt’ring toys
And ranged the luring scenes of vice;
But never knew substantial joys,
Until I heard my Savior's voice.
B. 2. WAIN WORLD ADIEU
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 329)
Led by A. Marcus Cagle of Atlanta, Georgia. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
HE tune and arrangement are attributed by the
Sacred Harp editors to Elder Edmund , primi-
tive Baptist preacher and fa-sol-la singer during the first
half of the nineteenth century. It was taken into the
1859 edition of The Sacred Harp. For a variant, see
Jackson, Spiritual Folk Songs of Early America, No. 6.
Elder Dumas' tune is a version of the old Irish melody,
“Rocks of Pleasure” (Journal of the Irish Folk Song
Society, xxii, 73). There is no clue to the authorship of
the text. A guess from internal evidence would place it
in eighteenth-century England. G. P. J.
When for eternal worlds we steer,
And seas are calm and skies are clear,
And faith in lively exercise,
And distant hills of Canaan rise,
The soul for joy then claps her wings,
And loud her hallelujah sings,
Vain world, adieu;
And loud her hallelujah sings,
Vain world, adieu,
Vain world, adieu.
ALBUM 11—SACRED HARP SINGING
. . . … THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
MUSIC DIVISION.—RECORDING LABORATORY
FOLK MUSIC OF THE UNITED STATES
Issued from the Collections of the Archive of American Folk Song
ANTHEMIS
55 A. HEAVENLY VISION
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 250)
Led by Paine Denson of Birmingham, Alabama. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
OMPOSED by the folk-minded William Billings (Mas-
sachusetts, 1746–1800). For a hundred years this
anthem was a high spot in the achievements of the down-
east singing school folk. Long since disappeared from
those parts, it is still a beloved show-piece of the Southern
fa-sol-la singers. Billings based his text on Revelation,
Chapters v-viii. G. P. J
I beheld, and lo a great multitude, which no man could
number:
Thousands of thousands, and ten times thousands,
Thousands of thousands, and ten times thousands, etc.,
Stood before the Lamb, and they had palms in their hands,
and they cease not day nor night, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
Which was, and is, and is to come,
Which was, and is, and is to come, etc.
And I heard a mighty angel flying through the midst of
Heav'n, crying with a loud voice,
Woe, woe, woe, woe,
Be unto the earth by reason of the trumpet which is yet
to sound.
And when the last trumpet sounded, the great men and
nobles, rich men and poor, bond and free, gathered
themselves together, and cried to the rocks and
mountains to fall upon them and hide them from the
face of Him that sitteth on the throne;
For the great day of the Lord is come, and who shall be
able to stand?
For the great day of the Lord is come, and who shall be
able to stand?
And who shall be able to stand 2
*—-a- -
* —t
55 B. 1. DAVID'S LAMENTATION
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 268)
Led by Howard Denson of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
. Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
OMPOSED by William Billings (Masachusetts, 1746–
1800). The text is based on II Samuel, xviii, 33.
G. P. J.
David the king was grieved and moved,
He went to his chamber, his chamber, and wept;
And as he went he wept, and said,
O my son! O my son!
Would to God I had died,
Would to God I had died,
Would to God I had died
For thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
O my son! O my son!
B. 2. SHERBURNE
(Original Sacred Harp, p. 186)
Led by R. M. Hornsby of Clay County, Alabama. Recorded
by Alan Lomax and George Pullen Jackson at the
Thirty-Seventh Annual Session of the Alabama Sacred
Harp Singing Convention at Birmingham, Alabama,
August, 1942.
OMPOSED by Daniel Read (Massachusetts, 1754–
1836). Words are by Nahum Tate (of Tate and
Brady, noted psalm book authors), first published 1698.
The words were subsequently widely sung to folk-carol
tunes for Christmas. G. P. J.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.
— —º
ALBUM 11—SACRED HARP SINGING