xt7rxw47qj0z https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7rxw47qj0z/data/mets.xml Shearin, Hubert Gibson, 1878- 1911 books b92-129-29188497 English Transylvania Printing Co., : Lexington, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Folk songs Kentucky Bibliography.Combs, Josiah Henry, 1886-1960. Syllabus of Kentucky folk-songs / by Hubert G. Shearin and Josiah H. Combs. text Syllabus of Kentucky folk-songs / by Hubert G. Shearin and Josiah H. Combs. 1911 2002 true xt7rxw47qj0z section xt7rxw47qj0z

Transylvania University Studies in English

AIkIllnaus of Kntur y Nolk-ougsi

By
HUBERT G. SHEARIN, A. M. Ph. D.
Professor of English Philology in Transylvania University

and

JOSIAH H. COMBS, A. B.
Editor of The Transylvanian

Transylvania Printing Company
Lexington, Kentucky
1911

TO
R. M. S.

INTRODUCTION

This syllabus, or finding-list, is offered to lovers of folk-
literature in the hope that it may not be without interest and
value to them for purposes of comparison and identifica-
tion. It includes 333 items, exclusive of 114 variants, and
embraces all popular songs that have so far come to hand as
having been "learned by ear instead of by eye," as existing
through oral transmission song-ballads, love-songs, number-
songs, dance-songs, play-songs, child-songs, counting-out
rimes, lullabies, jigs, nonsense rimes, ditties, etc.
There is every reason to believe that many more such
await the collector; in fact, their number is constantly being
increased even today by the creation of new ones, by adapta-
tion of the old, and even by the absorbtion, and consequent
metamorphosis, of literary, quasi-literary, or pseudo-literary
types into the current of oral tradition.
This collection, then, is by no means complete: means
have not been available for a systematic and scientific search
for these folk-songs, which have been gathered very casually
during the past five years through occasional travel, acquaint-
anceship, and correspondence in only the twenty-one, follow-
ing counties: Fayette, Madison, Rowan, Elliott, Carter,
Boyd, Lawrence, Morgan, Johnson, Pike, Knott, Breathitt,
Clay, Laurel, Rockcastle, Garrard, Boyle, Anderson, Shelby,
Henry, and Owen-all lying in Central and Eastern Ken-
tuckv.
All of the material listed has thus been collected in this
State, though a variant of The Jew's Daughter, page 8,
has come by chance from Michigan, and another of The
Pretty Mohee, page 12, was sent from Georgia. The Cumn-
berland Mountain region, in the eastern part of the State,
has naturally furnished the larger half of the material, be-
cause of local conditions favorable to the propagation of folk-
song. However, sections of Kentucky lying farther to the
westward are almost equally prolific. The wide extension of
the same ballad throughout the State argues convincingly for
the unity of the Kentucky stock-a fact which may be con-
firmed in more wavs than one.

The arrangement is as follows: The material in hand
is loosely grouped in eighteen sections, according to origin,
chronology, content, or form. Though logically at fault, be-
cause of the cross-division thus inevitably entailed, this
plan has seemed to be the best. No real confusion will result
to the user in consequence. In fact, no matter what system
be adopted, certain songs will belong equally well to two or
more different categories.
Under each of these eighteen main divisions the treat-
ment of the individual song-ballad is in general as follows:
First, stands the title, with variant titles in parentheses.
Should this be unknown, a caption coined by the editors is
placed in brackets. Secondly, a Roman numeral immediately
follows the above to denote the number of versions, if variants
have been found. Thirdly, the prosodical character of the
song is roughly indicated by a combination of letters and
numerals. Each letter indicates a line; the variation in the
letters indicates, in the usual fashion, the rime-scheme of the
stanza. Each numeral indicates the number of stresses in
the line (or lines) denoted by the letter (or letters) imme-
diately succeeding it. When a chorus, burden, or refrain is
present, the metrical scheme of this stands immediately after
an "and;" as, for example, in The Blue and the Gray, page
14. In the case of the refrain, the letters used are independ-
ent of those immediately preceding the "and", and denoting
the rime-scheme of the stanza proper. Fourthly, an Arabic
numeral follows to indicate the number of stanzas in the sone,
exclusive of the refrain, should one be present. If the num-
ber of stanzas in a ballad is indeterminable, because its form
is fragmentary, or because its variant versions differ in length,
this fact is indicated by an appended ca (circa). Sixth, and
last, is a synopsis. or other attempt to give briefly such data
as may serve to complete the identification.
Illustration of the third item above may be helpful.
Thus in Pretty Polly, on page 7, 4aabb indicates a
quatrain riming in couplets, with four stresses in each line.
In Jackaro, page 9, 3abob indicates a quatrain riming al-
ternately, with three stressed syllables in each line. In The
King's Daughter, page 7, 4a3b4c3b indicates a quatrain,
with only the second and fourth lines riming and with four

stresses in the first and third lines and three stresses in the
second and fourth. In Johnnie Came from Sea, pag_ 14,
6aa denotes a rimed couplet, with six stresses in each line.
It has, naturally, been difficult at times to decide whether
certain stanzas should be counted as couplets, or as quatrains
half as long. In such cases, the air, or tune, and other data,
often rather subtle, have been employed in making decision.
The quatrain form has in uncertain instances been given the
benefit of the doubt. Even thus, certain minor inconsistencies
will perhaps be noted. It is hardly necessary to add that
assonance freely occurs in the place of rime, and as such it
is considered throughout.
All attempt to indicate the prevailing metrical unit, or
foot, within the line has been frankly given over. Iambs,
dactyls, and their ilk receive scant courtesy from the com-
poser of folk-song, who without qualm or quaver will stretch
one syllable, or even an utter silence (caesura), into the time
of a complete bar; while in the next breath he will with equal
equanimity huddle a dozen syllables into the same period.
Consequently, this item, even if it could be indicated, would
have scant descriptive value.
It is a pleasant duty to acknowledge gratefully the as-
sistance of those who have transmitted to our hands many of
the songs: Mesdames J. W. Combs, W. T. Phillips, Jennie
L. Combs, Richard Smith, Martha Smith, Ruth Hackney,
W. F. Hays, Ollie Huff, Robin Cornett, Lucy Banks, Sarah
Burton, Kittie Jordan, and Ruby Martin; Misses Martha
Jent, Maud Dean, Virginia Jordan, Jessie Green, Lizzie
Cody, Margaret Combs, Barbara Smith, Helena E. Rose,
Sarah Burton, Sarah Hillman, Cordia Bramblett, Nannie S.
Graham, Myrtle Wheeler, Melissa Holbrook, Rosetta Wheeler,
Ruth Hackney, Ora McDavid, Jeannette McDavid; Messrs.
Wm. W. Berry, Chas. Hackney, S. B. Wheeler, R. L. Mor-
gan, Enoch Wheeler, Thos. H. Hackney, James Goodman, W.
S. Wheeler, Harry M. Morgan, Henry Lester, T. G. Wheeler,
C. F. Bishop, and John C. Jones.
Especially helpful as collaborators have been Messrs.
Winfred Cox, Emory E. Wheeler, Roud Shaw, A. B. .John-
ston, C. E. Phillips, and H. Williamson.

Kind words or letters of appreciation and, in some cases,
of suggestion, from the following have encouraged the prep-
aration of this syllabus: Professors Alexander S. Mackenzie,
of the Kentucky State University; Clarence C. Freeman, of
Transylvania University; John A. Lomax, of the University
of Texas; Albert H. Tolman, of the University of Chicago;
John M. McBride. Jr., of the University of the South; George
Lyman Kittredge, of Harvard University; Henry M. Belden,
of the University of Missouri; and Katherine Jackson, form-
erly of Bryn Manr College, who has most generously given
the use of her manuscript collection. None of the shortcom-
ings of this brochure, however, can be imputed to them in the
slightest degree.

SYLLABUS

I.
The songs in this group are the survivors of English and
Scottish originals, found for the most part in the Child col-
lection. Certain of those given in sections II to XVIII below
could doubtless, with due effort, be identified in like manner.

THE KING'S DAUGHTER (SIX PRETTY FAIR MAIDS,
PRETTY POLLY), iv, 4a3b4c3b, 9ea: Variants of Lady
Isabel and the Elf Knight, Child, No. 4. By a stratagem
she drowns the lover just as he is about to drown her.
PRETTY POLLY, iv, 4aabb, 9ca: Parallel in general plot
to the above, save that she is led by the lover to an open grave
and there slain. (Cf. 5, page 28.)
FAIR ELLENDER, 4a3b4c3b, 10: A variant of the Earl
Brand cycle, Child, No. 7.
LORD OF OLD COUNTRY, 4aa, with refrain as below,
lOca: A variant of The Two Sisters, Child, No. 10.

The miller was hung upon Fish-gate, Bosodown,
The miller was hung upon Fish-gate,
(These sons were sent to me)
The miller was hung upon Fish-gate
For drowning of my sister Kate!
I'll be true, true to my true-love,
If my love'll be true to me.

THE ROPE AND THE GALLOWS (LORD RANDAL), 4aa,
12ca: A variant of Lord Randal, Child, No. 12.
EDWARD. 4a3b4c3b, 10: A variant of the Old World
ballad of the same name, Child, No. 13.
THE GREENWOOD SIDtE (THREE: LITTLE BAES), ii,
4a3b4c3b, 9: Variants of The Cruel Mother, Child, No. 20.
LITTLE WILLIE, 4a3b4c3b, 5: A variant of The Two
Brothers, Child, No. 49.
LORD BATEMAN (THE TURKISH LADY), ii, 4abcb, 17ca:
Variants of Young Beichan, Child, No. .53.

LOVING H:ENRY (SWEET WILLIAM AND FAIR ELLENDER),
iii, 4a3b4c3b, lica: Variants of Young Hunting, Child,
No. 68.
LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ELLENDER, iii, 4a3b4c3b, 17ca:
Variants of Lord Thomas and Fair Elinor, Child, No. 73.
FAIR MARGARET AND SWEET WILLIAM, iv, 4a3b4c3b,
1ica: Variants of the Old World ballad of the same name,
Child, No. 74. (Published by Combs in Jour. Am. Folk-
lore, 23.381.)
LORD LOVELY, 4a3b4c3b, 9: A variant of Lord Lovel,
Child, No. 75.
COLD WINTE'S NIGHT (Bosom FRIEND, LOVER'S FARE-
WELL), vii, 4a3b4c3b, 9ca: Variants of The Lass of Loch
Royal, Child, No. 76. (Published by Shearin, Mod. Lang.
Review, Oct., 1911, p. 514.)
LORD VANNER'S (DANIEL's) WIFE, ii, 4a3b4c3b, 17ca:
Variants of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard, Child,
No. 81.
BARJBARA ALLEN, vi, 4a3b4c3b, 11ca: Variants of
Barbara Allen's Cruelty, Child, No. 84.
THE BAILIFF'S DAUGHTER OF ISLINGTON, 4a3b4c3b,
12: A variant of the Old World ballad of the same name,
Child, No. 105,
THE JEW's DAUGHTER, ii, 4a3b4c3b, 12ca: Variants
of Sir Hugh, Child, No. 155. One of the Kentucky versions
makes the murdered boy's mother go seeking him switch in
hand, to punish him for not returning home before night-
fall. (Communicated by Dr. Katherine Jackson.)
THE HOUSE CARPENTER, iii, 4a3b4c3b, 13ca: Variants
of The Demon Lover, Child, No. 243.
DANDOO: A fragmentary variant of The Wife Wrapt in
Wether's Skin, Child, No. 277, as follows:

He put the sheepskin tq his wife's back, Dandoo;
He put the sheepskin to his wife's back,
Clima cli clash to ma lingo,
He put the sheepskin to his wife's back
And he made the old switch go whickity-whack,

Then raram scarum skimble arum
Skitty-wink skatty-wink
Clima cli clash to ma clingo.

THE GREEN WILLOW TREE, metre as below, 11: A
variant of The Golden Vanitee, Child, No. 286.

There was a ship sailed for the North Amerikee,
From down in the lonesome Lowlands low-
There was a ship sailed for the North Amerikee,
And she went by the name of the Green Willow Tree,
And she sailed from the Lowlands low.
THE DRIVER BoY (YOUNG EDWIN), 4a3b4c3b, 12: The
above adapted to a recital of Emily's love for the mail-
driver boy and of his untimely murder.
PRETTY PEGGY 0, metre as below, 6: A fine lilting lyric
of the Captain's love for his lass; his farewell; and his death.
It begins:

As we marched down to Fernario,
As we marched down to Fernario,
Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove,
And they called her by name Pretty Peggy, 0.

(Cf. Child, No. 299, Trooper and Maid. Published by
Shearin, Sewanee Review, July; 1911, p. 326.)
LADY GAY, 4a3b4c3b, 9: An English woman sends her
three children to America. They die on board ship, their
shades return to the mother at Christmas and warn
her against pride. (Cf. Child, No. 79, The Wife of
Usher's Well, and a close variant from North Carolina in
Kittredge's Edition, p. 170.)
JACKARO, iv, 3abcb, 17ca: The daughter of a London
silk merchant loves Jack, the sailor-boy, against her father's
will. Disguised as a man, she follows him to "the wars of
Germany," finds him wounded on the battle-field, and nurses
him back to health; then they are married. (Cf. Child, 1857
ed.; iv, p. 328, The Merchant's Daughter of Bristow, 4abab,
65: Maudlin disguised as a seaman follows her lover to
Padua; they are married, and return to England.)

THE FAN, ii, 4abcb, 12: A sea-captain and a lieutenant
woo a lady. To test their love she throws her fan into a den of
lions. The sea-captain recovers it and wins her. (Published
by Shearin, Mod. Lang. Notes, 26. 113; for British originals
see Belden, Sewanee Review, April, 1911, p. 218, and Kit-
tredge, Mod. Lang. Notes, 26. 168.)
THE APPRENTICE Boy, iii, 4abcb, 12ca: Like Keats's
Isabella, the daughter of a merchant in a post-town loves her
father's apprentice. He is slain by her brothers and his body
hidden in a valley. His ghost reveals the murderers, who,
striving to flee, are lost at sea. (Identified by Belden with
an English version, The Constant Farmer's Son, in The
Sewanee Review, April, 1911, p. 222.)

II.
The songs in this group are apparently of British origin.
Material has not been at hand to justify an attempt to estab-
lish their identity.

THE RICH MARCENT [MERCIIFANT, 2abcb, 12: Dinah,
daughter of a rich London merchant, loves Felix contrary to
her father's wishes. Going into the garden she drinks poison.
Felix arrives and drains the rest of the potion. Both are
buried in one grave.
BENEATH THE ARCIH OF LONDoN BRIDGE, 4aab4c3b and
4aaaa, 5ca: Here a man, whose son has recently died, finds
a waif. Struck by his resemblance to his own heir, he adopts
'he orphan boy.
JACK WILSON, ii, 4a3b4c3h, 9: The confession of Jack
Wilson, a Thames boatman, awaiting execution in Newgate
prison for robbery done in Katherine Street, and his denun-
ciation of the "false deluding girl" for whose sake he had
done the wrong.
THE OLD WO0WSN OF LoNDoN, 3abcb, 6: She causes her
husband to suck two magic marrowbones, which blind him;
then leading him to the river, she essays to push him in to
drown. But he steps aside, and she dies in his stead. The
refrain is:
Sing tidri-i-odre-erdri-um,
Sing fol-de-ri-o-day!

THE GOLDEN GLovE, ii, 4aabb, 9: A mariner's daughter,
about to be married to a young squire of London, feigns ill-
ness, goes a-hunting on the estate of her favored lover, a
farmer, intentionally drops her glove, and vows she will
marry only the man who can return it. Of course, the farmer
is the lucky finder.
SHEARFIELD, 3abcb, 15: An apprentice in Sheffield re-
cites his running away to London, where he enters the service
of an Irish Lady, who falls in love with him. He, however,
cares only for Polly Girl, her maid. His jealous mistress, by
a stratagem, causes him to be hanged for theft.
FAIR NOTAMON [NOTTINGHAM] TowN, 4aabb, 7: An
absurd recital, full of obvious contradictions, of a country-
man's visit to the city, where he sees the royal progress:

I called for a quart to drive gladness away
To stifle the dust-it had rained the whole day.

LOVELY CAROLINE OF OLD EDINBORO (EDDINOSBURG
TOWN), ii, 3abcb, 9: She weds young Henry, "a Highland
man," and goes with him to London. Deserted by him, she
wanders forlorn to a sea-cliff and plunges in, to drown.
WHO'LL BE KING BUT CHARLIE, metre as below, 3: A
rally-song upon the landing of Charles Stuart, The Young
Pretender, at Moidart, in Inverness-shire, July, 1745. be-
ginning:
There's news from Mordart came yestreen,
Will soon yastremony (sic) ferly,
For ships o'er all have just come in
And landed royal Charlie.

(Published by Shearin, Sewanee Review, July, 1911,
p. 323.)
CUBECKS [CunP'sJ GARDEN, 3abcb, 16: The poet
overhears a ladv and her fathers apprentice a-courting in
"Cubeck's Garden." The angry parent banishes the lad, who
goes to sea, is promoted, draws forty thousand pounds in a
lottery, returns and marries his fair love.
WILLIAM HALL, ii, 4abeb, lica: He is a young farmer

of "Domesse-town" and loves a "gay young lady" of "Per-
shelvy-townn" against her parents' wishes. Banished by them
to sea, he returns, finds by a ruse that the lady is yet faith-
ful, and marries her.
ROSANNA, 4aabb, 6ca (fragmentary): Silimentary, the
lover, bids Rosanna farewell, and is later lost at sea; at the
news she stabs herself with a silver dagger.
MARY OF THE WILIu MOOR, 3ab4c3b, 8: She, with her
babe, returns one winter night to her father's door to seek
forgiveness and protection, is rebuffed by him, and perishes
in the snow.
BETSY BROWN, 4aabb, 8: John loves Betsy, the wait-
ing-maid; his old mother objects and packs her off across the
sea. He dies of grief.
THE ROMIsH IADY, 6aabb (or 3abcb', 12 (or 24):
"Brought up in popery," she obtains a Bible and turns Prot-
estant, is tried before the Pope, is condemned, bids farewell
to mother, father, and tormentors, and is burned at the stake.

III.

The songs of this group are connected more or less
closely with American colonial times. For most of them it
is fair to infer a British origin.

[To AMERICA], ii, 4aabb, 8ca: An [English] sailor,
bound for America to serve his King, is forgotten by his
sweetheart. Returning to her father's hall, he finds her mar-
ried, and vows to return to Oharlestown, where cannon-balls
are flying.
THE SILK MERCHANT'S DAUGHTER, 2aa, 17: A Lon-
don lad and his sweetheart set sail for America. The ship
springs a leak, the passengers drift in a long-boat. Lot falls
to the girl to be slain, her lover takes her place. A passing
ship carries them back to London, and they are married.
THE PRETTY MOHEE (MAUMEE), iii, 4aabb, 7: An In-
dian maid falls in love with a young adventurer and wooes
him. He tells her he must return to his love across the sea.
This he does, but dissatisfied returns to the "pretty Mohee."

SWEET JANE. 4a3b4cab, 12:
ica "to dig the golden ore," "loads
after many trials reaches home,
claims his bride.

Her lover sails for Amer-
up" his trunk with it, and
across the main, and re-

IV.

The songs of this group find their common bond in their
reference to Ireland, where some of them undoubtedly had
their origin.

IRISH MOLLY 0. 6aabb and 6aabb( ), 7: A Scotch laddie,
MacDonald, falls in love with "Irish Molly." Scorned by
her parents, he wanders about, signifying his intention to
die for her, and suggests an appropriate inscription for his
tombstone. (See an Old World variant in Brooke and
Rolleston's Treasury of Irish Poetry, p. 15, Macmillan,
1905.)
WILLIAM RILEY, 6aabb, 7: Eloping with Polly Ann,
he is brought back to trial by her irate father, is defended by
an aged lawyer, is transported, and departs wearing the maid-
en's ring. (See an Old World variant in the volume just
named, p. 6.)
ROVING IRISH BoY, 4a3b4c3b, 12: He lands in Phila-
delphia and "makes a hit" with the ladies. Then he visits
"other parts"-among the Dutch of Bucks County, he meets
an inn-keeper's daughter, and leaves off rambling.
THE WAXFORD GIRL, 4a3b4c3b, 6: A youth murders
his sweetheart and throws her into a stream. He tells his
mother, who sees the blood on his clothes, that his nose has
been bleeding. He is haunted by the ghost of the dead girl
(Cf. Lizzie Wan, Child, No. 51, and Miller-boy, page 28.)
PATTY ON THE CANAL, 3abcb and 3abcb, 9: Pat lands
in "Sweet Philadelphy" and soon "makes himself handy" on
the canal, likewise among the girls, whose mothers become
anxious. He is a "Jackson man up to the handle."
MOLLY, 6aabb, 4: An Irish lad comes to America, courts
Molly, but against her parents' will. He goes to serve a for-
eign king for seven years, returns, and finds that Molly has
died of grief.

JOHNNIE CAME FROM SEA, Gaa, 10: Irish Johnnie es-
capes a shipwreck and lands in America. Thinking him pen-
niless, a landlord refuses him his daughter's hand. Johnnie
"draws out handfuls of gold" and departs, to drink "good
brandv."
IRISH GIRL, a fragment, as follows:

So costly were the robes of silk
The Irish girl did wear-
Her hair was as black as a raven,
Her eyes were black as a crow,
Her cheeks were red as roses
That in the garden grow.

The songs of this group are based upon incidents or
events of the Civil War.

BOUNTY JUMPERS. 3abcb, 9: Sam Downey, a soldier,
"jumps his bounty," and is apprehended in Baltimore. Re-
fusing to return the money, he is shot by the military au-
thorities.
HIRAM HUIBBERT, 3abcb, 9: Hiram Hubbert is taken
by the Rebels in the guerrilla warfare in the Cumberland
Mountains, tried, tied to a tree and shot. He leaves a last
letter of farewell to his family.
THE GUERRILLA MAN, 3a3b4c3b, 5: A Southern soldier
goes to Shelby County, Kv., and falls in love with a "Rebel
girl," who loves him in spite of the opposition of her mother,
and determines to follow him.
MURFREFSBORO, ta3b4c3b, 7: A Union soldier lies dy-
ing on the battlefield. He sends to his mother and sweet-
heart a message recounting his bravery.
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG (THE Two SoLDIRn8), ii,
4a3b4c3b, 13: Two comrades promise each other to bear
messages, in the event of death- to either of them on the field
-one to a sweetheart, the other to a mother.
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY, 4a3b4c3b4d3e4f4e and

4a3b4c3b3e4f3e, 2: A mother has lost two sons in gray, at
Appomattox and at Chickamauga. Her third has just died
in blue at Santiago.
ZOLLICOFFER: A fragment as follows:

Old Zollicoffer's dead, and the last word he said
Was, "I'm going back South; they're a-gaining."
If he wants to save his soul, he had better keep his hole,
Or we'll land him in the happy land of Canaan.

I'M GOING TO JOIN TITE A1131y, 3abcb, 12: A volun-
teer's farewell to his sweetheart as he leaves for Pensacola,
her fears, and his promise to return.
[COME ALL YE SOUTHERN SOLDIER ], 3abcb, 8: A
volunteer, aged sixteen, from Eastern Tennessee, describes
the march into Virginia and his feelings at his first sight of
the "Yankees."

VI.

The songs of this group relate to the days of pioneer
migration Westward. The one exception is The Sailor's Re-
quest, placed here in order to bring it into proximity with its
later variant, The Dying Cowboy.

ARKANSAS TRAVELLER (SANTFORD BARNES0. ii, 4ta3b-
4c3b, 14ca: A laborer's humorous recital of his hard expe-
riences in Arkansas. He leaves the state, vowing that if he
sees it again it will be "through a telescope from hell to Ar-
kansaw."
STARVING TO DEATH ON A GOVERNMENT CLAIM, 4aa and
4aabb, 20: "Ernest Smith" recites humorously his hard ex-
periences as claim-holder in Beaver County, Oklahoma. He
resolves to go to Kansas, marry, and "life on corn-dodgers
the rest of his life."
THE DYING CowBoyY. ii, 4abcb and 4abcb, 6: A cow-
boy, shot while gambling, laments his career and fate, gives
warning to his comrades, sends a farewell to his family and
sweetheart, and gives directions for his funeral.
THE LONE PRAIRIE, 4aabb, 10: A dying cowboy re-

quests that he be buried not on the lone prairie, but at home
beneath the cotton-wood boughs, near his mother. His com-
rades ignore his petition. (Cf. The Sailor's Request.)
THE SAILOR'S REQUEST, 4aabb, 9: A dying sailor re-
quests that he be buried not at sea, but at home in the
churchyard, near his father. His comrades ignore his peti-
tion. (Cf. The Lone Prairie.)
CALIFORNIA JOE, 3abcb, 17: A prospector during the
California gold-fever, in 1850, saves a girl of thirteen years
from Indians, and gives her over to her uncle, Mat Jack Rey-
nolds. Later, she almost shoots, by accident, her saviour,
thinking him a Sioux.
POILY, MY CHARMER, 4aa, 9): An adventurous youth,
on the point of going West, is detained by the charms of
"Polly." He wishes he were like Joshua, in order to prolong
his moments with his love, by making the sun stand still.
JESSE JAMES, 2aa3b2cc3b and 2aa3b2cc3b, 4: A lyric
concerning the robbing of "the Danville train" and "the
Northfield raid"; the escape of Jesse and Frank James to
the West, and Jesse's death at the hand of "Bob Ford."
HANDsoMFE FLORA, 3abcbdefe, 6: Her lover, in prison
for stabbing his rival, tells his yet constant devotion to the
"Lily of the West," the "girl from Mexico."

VII.

The songs of this group are of the "good-night" type,
being the meditations or confessions of criminals, while in
prison and, usually, under sentence of death.

MACAFEF'S CONFESSION (BETTY STOUT), ii, 4aabb, 17ca:
Orphaned at five years of age and reared by his uncle, Mac-
Afee becomes wayward; later he marries, but falls in love
with Betty Stout, poisons his wife, and speaks this confession
under sentence of death.
BEAUCHAMP'S CONFESSJON, 4aabb, 7: Under sentence
of death by Judge Davidge, for the murder of Sharpe (see
VIII, end), Beauchamp pictures the meeting of himself and
his victim in hell.

JACK COMBS'S DREATH SONG, ii, 4abcb and 4abcb, 3:
Jack Combs, dying, tells of his murder by an unknown man,
and gives directions for his burial rites. (Based upon The
Dying Cowboy, page 15.)
Tom SMITH'S DEATH SONG, ii, 3a(bis)4b3c and 3a(bis)
4b3c, 2: The condemned man, standing on the scaffold, asks
his friends not to lament his death, since he is leaving them
in peace on earth.
THE RICH AND RAMBLING Boy, iii, 4aabb, 8ca: He
marries a wife whose "maintenance" is so great that he is
compelled to "rob on the broad highway." He is sent to
Frankfort [Kv.] prison, but in this song he pictures his
pardon and return home.
[IN ROWAN COUNTY JAIL], 3abcb, 6: While here
awaiting trial for robbery, the prisoner is visited by his
sweetheart Lula, with "ten dollars in each hand," tlo "go
on his bail."
LAST NIGHT AS I LAY SLEEPING, 3abob, 6: A prisoner
in the Knoxville [Tenn.] jail dreams of his home and sweet-
heart, but is rudely awakened by the turnkey to hear his
death-sentence passed.
EDWARD HAWKINS, 4abeb, 9ca: Under sentence of
death for murder, he warns his comrades by his example,
welcomes death bravely, and invites them to see his execu-
tion twenty-eight days henc
ROWDY Boys, metre as below, 5: A "rowdy" youth
scorns his mother's warning, serves a term in the Frankfort
State Prison for homicide, and comes back home still a
"rowdy." The first stanza is:

I heard my mother talking; I took it all for fun.
She said I would ride the Frankfort train, before I was
twenty-one.

VIII.

The songs of this group are epic; rather than lyric as
are those in VII, above. They are recitals of local tragedies
-murders, assassinations, feudal battles, and disasters.

THE CAUSE AND KRLNnG OF JESSE ADAMS, ii, 3abcb,
25: A detailed recital of a domestic tragedy on the Brushy
Fork of Blaine: Adams, overhearing his wife and her para-
mour, shoots her and attempts suicide.
FLOYD FiAEzu. 3abcb, 16: A recital of Frazier's mur-
der of Ellen Flannery: he hides her body under a pile of
stones; later, is arrested, makes confession, and is placed in
Pineville, Ky., jail to await execution.
TALT HALL, ii, 3abcb. 8: A recital of Hall's murder of
Frank Salyers, his arrest in Tennessee, his confinement in
the Gladeville, Va., jail, and his execution in Richmond, Va.
WILLIAM BAKER, 3abcb, 12: A recital of Baker's mur-
der of one Prewitt in Clay County, Ky.: he hides the body
in the woods and tells Prewitt's wife that her husband had
deserted her.
POOR GOENs, 4aabb, 5: A recital of the betrayal and
murder of Goens for the purpose of robbery, on Black-spur
Mountain.
THE ROWAN COUNTY TRAGEDY, ii, 3abcb, 26: A de-
tailed account of a feudal battle in Morehead, Ky., on elec-
tion day, and of the succeeding events connected with the
arrest of the participants.
JoiiN T. PARKER, 4aabb, 12: An account of the drown-
ina of Parker in the Kentucky River one winter night, as,
with three companions, he essays to cross, but their boat is
capsized in the wash from the steamboat Blue Wings.
[JEEMS BRAGos], 4a3b4c3b, 8: A protest against the
Governor's pardon of Braggs, upon the eve of his execution,
for the murder of one Prewitt.
THE ASSASSINATION OF J. B. MxAcum, Saa6b3cc6b and
3aa6b3cc6b, 13: A detailed recital of the shooting of Mar-
cum as he stood in -the court-house door at Jackson, Ky., with

animadversions upon the identity of his slayers and an
account of their various trials.
THE IRISH PEDDLER, 4a3b4c3b, 7: An account of the
murder of an old peddler and his wife, shot from ambush one
June morning for the purpose of rifling their wagon.
JOHN HARDY, iii, 4a3b4c3b, 6: An account of Hardy's
shooting a man in a poker game, of his arrest, trial, convic-
tion, conversion and baptism, and of his execution and burial
on the Tug River.
JEREBOAM BEAuCHAMP, 3abcb, 33: A recital of the
murder of Beauchamp done upon Solomon P. Sharpe, Attor-
ney-General of Kentucky, at Frankfort in the winter of 1824.
(Cf. William Gilmore Simms' novel of the same name, and
see VII, 2.)

Ix.
The songs of this group relate to various occupational
pursuits. Of course, many of those listed elsewhere could be
placed here also.

THE MOONSHINER, 4aa, 3: "For seventeen years I've
made moonshine whiskey for one dollar per gallon, at my
still in a dark hollow. I wish all would attend to their busi-
ness and leave me to mine. God bless the moonshiner !"
WALKING-BOSS, metre as below, 3: A teamster's song
in couplets, with refrain, beginning:

Get up in the morning 'way before day,
Feed old Beck some corn and hay.
Get up in the morning soon, soon;
Get up in the morning soon.

THE STEEL-DRIVER, ii, 4a3b4c3b, 11: John Henry, proud
of his skill with sledge and hand-drill, competes with a mod-
ern steam-drill in Tunnel No. Nine, on the Chesapeake
Ohio Railroad. Defeated, he dies, asking to be buried with
his tools at his breast.
ROSIN THE Bow, 3abeb, 4: A lvric of an old fiddler
buoyant even in the face of approaching death: he asks for
wine and women at his funeral rites.

RosIN THE Bow: a fragment as follows:

I'll tune up my fiddle, I'll rosin my bow,
And make myself welcome wherever I go.

THE OLD SHOEMAKER, 4a3b4c3b and 4a3b4c3b, 4:
Lately become a freeman, with five pounds laid up, and half
a side of leather, he sings of Kate, the woman to make his
content complete.
THE FARMER'S Boy. ii, 4a3b4c3b, 9: An orphan lad, he
obtains employment from the farmer, later to marry his
daughter and inherit thus the farm.
OLD GRAY. 6aabb, 5: Song of a teamster, who, lured
by the still-house, hauls four loads of coal per day, instead
of six; becoming drunk, he rides Old Gray off to a country
frolic one night, whither his father follows him, and brings
him back to his duty in the morning.
THE WAGGONER'S LAD, ii, 2abcb (or 4aa), 15: A com-
plaint, arranged as a debat, of a lorn and loving lass against
the teamster lad, as he departs from her.
OLD NUMBER Four (THE F. F. V., STOCKYARD GATE),
ii, 6aabb. 1Oca: George Allen, engineer, stays at the throttle
as train Number Four on the Chesapeake Ohio Railroad
plunges into a fallen boulder near Hinton, W