Texas Folk Songs / Edition 2

by William A. Owens

Overview

“This volume is,” in Owens’s words, “a sampling of a rich experience in a richer land.” The 135 songs included, a number of them in versions by more than one singer, are divided into nine chapters containing British popular ballads, Anglo-American ballads, Anglo-American love songs, Anglo-American comic songs, songs and games for children, play-party songs and games, Anglo-American spirituals, African-American spirituals, and African-American secular songs. The British ballads were brought to America in the seventeenth century and later were carried westward to Texas by the adventurous pioneers who settled the state.

The American ballad section is full of the stories of battles, crimes, and catastrophes that appealed as subjects to our country’s folk singers when they adapted the British ballad traditions to their own use. There is heroism aplenty in these ballads; but when it came to love, the American singers deserted the heroically tragic tales of British balladry for mournful, plaintive songs in which the sad lover has nothing much to do but waste away in sorrow. Songs like these helped Texas pioneer women—and men also—to find release from the sternness of frontier life by “having a good cry.” On the other hand, humor, too, helped—raw, rugged, raucous humor, as the section of comic songs demonstrates.

New musical transcriptions of the melodies have been provided by musicologist Jessie Ann Owens from the original recordings, with guitar chords indicated where the singer provided accompaniment. Bibliographical source notes are included for the benefit of the scholar; but this is not a book just for scholars. These songs have been collected, as Owens has written, “for those who love to sing them as well as for those who have an interest in the past.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781574411140
Publisher:	University of North Texas Press
Publication date:	06/01/2000
Series:	Publications of the Texas Folklore Society Series , #23
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

WILLIAM A. OWENS, folklorist, author, and professor, was born in the Lamar County. The author of This Stubborn Soil, A Season of Weathering, Tell Me a Story Sing Me a Song, and several novels, he also wrote Slave Mutiny: The Revolt of the Schooner Amistad, which provided much of the material for the Steven Spielberg film, Amistad.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
	Notes on Musical Transcriptions	xv
	Introduction	xix
	British Popular Ballads	3
	Rosemary One Time	4
	Pretty Polly	6
	Billy Boy	10
	How Come That Blood on Your Shirt Sleeve	11
	Three Black Crows	14
	Loving Henry	16
	Fair Ellender	17
	Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot	20
	The Three Little Babes	21
	Barbara Allen	23
	The Hangman's Rope	26
	The Four Marys	27
	Gypsy Davy	29
	The House Carpenter	31
	The Drunkard's Song	33
	Ti Risslety Rosslety	34
	The Devil's Song	36
	The Merry Golden Tree	38
	A Rich Irish Lady	40
	Anglo-American Ballads	42
	William Hall, or the Brisky Young Farmer	43
	A Pretty Fair Maid	46
	Late One Sunday Evening	48
	Lovely William	50
	Once I Courted a Fair Beauty Bride	51
	Come All You Pretty Fair Maids	52
	The Little Sparrow	52
	I Dreamed Last Night of My True Love	54
	Come, All You Jolly Cowboys	55
	On the Red River Shore	56
	Lovely Mary	57
	As I Walked Out on a May Morning	58
	All in the Scenes of Winter	59
	I Was Out Walking	60
	Oh, Willie	61
	Young Johnnie	62
	The Oxford Girl	64
	The Drummer Boy of Waterloo	65
	Young Charlottie	66
	The Butcher's Boy	68
	The Wild Moor	69
	Little Mohea	71
	The Jealous Lover	72
	The Banks of Cloddie	73
	Fair Fannie Moore	75
	Brother Green	77
	I Was Standing on Pickets	77
	Jesse James	78
	Cole Younger	80
	The Boston Burglar	81
	The Two Orphans	82
	The Grog Shop Door	84
	The Roving Gambler	85
	Anglo-American Love Songs	87
	The Sailor Boy	88
	Nora Darling	89
	The Irish Girl	90
	Fond Affection	90
	Bury Me beneath the Willow	91
	The Birmingham Jail	92
	My Blue-eyed Boy	93
	They Say It Is Sinful to Flirt	94
	Too Late	94
	Lorene	96
	On Top of Old Smoky	97
	The Bright Sherman Valley	98
	Goodbye, Little Bonnie Blue Eyes	99
	My Pretty Little Pink	101
	Jack and Joe	102
	Anglo-American Comic Songs	103
	The Widow of McCarty	104
	Noddingham Town	105
	It Was a Young Man	106
	Come All You Fair Maidens	107
	Dear John	108
	Brynie O'Linn	110
	Come All You Mississippi Girls	110
	Went Out A-Sparkin'	112
	Hard Times	113
	The Young Men They'll Dress Up	115
	Not the Only Turtle in the Tank	116
	Old Kincaid	117
	Jennie Jenkins	118
	There Was an Old Man That Lived on the Hill	119
	Devilish Mary	121
	Blue-eyed Boy Is Mad at Me	121
	Rolly Troodum	122
	I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again	123
	I Wish to My Lord I Was Single Again	124
	The Blue-tailed Fly	125
	I Don't Like to See Boys	126
	Who Will Hold My Stovepipe Hat	127
	The Lazy Man	128
	Hurrah for Arkansas	129
	Pompey Smash and Davy Crockett	130
	Joe Bowers	132
	Songs and Games for Children	134
	Come All You Jolly Hunters	135
	Frog Went A-Courting	136
	Way Down South Where I Was Born	139
	When I'se a Little Boy	140
	Prettiest Little Tree	141
	Hunting the Wren	143
	Saw an Old Crow	145
	Old Jay Bird	145
	The Brown Duck	146
	Play-Party Songs and Games	148
	Shoot the Buffalo	149
	I'm on My Way to Georgy	150
	Weevily Wheat	151
	Little Brass Wagon	153
	The Girl I Left behind Me	153
	Going to Boston	154
	Old Dan Tucker	155
	Hog-Drovers	155
	Dance Josey	156
	Old Joe Clark	157
	Buffalo Girls	159
	Skip to My Lou	159
	Tideo	160
	Anglo-American Spirituals	161
	The Hebrew Children	163
	I Will Arise and Go to Jesus	163
	On Canaan's Happy Shore	164
	And Am I Born to Die	164
	There'll Be No Dark Valley	164
	No, Never Alone	165
	Come, Humble Sinners	166
	The Wicked Daughter	167
	The Orphan Girl	168
	The Romish Lady	168
	Afro-American Spirituals	170
	I've Been Listenin' All Day Long	171
	Travelin' Shoes	172
	By and By	173
	Oh, My Lovin' Brothuh	174
	Afro-American Secular Songs	175
	Oh, Mou'nuhs	176
	Oh, Hear That Trumpet Sound	177
	You Shall Be Free	178
	Go to Sleep, Little Baby	179
	Well, the Day I Left My Po' Mama's Door	180
	Go to Sleepy	181
	Source Notes	183
	Index of Titles	187
	Index of First Lines	189