The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

Ballad

Casey Jones an engineer
Tried to get to heaven on a bottle of beer
The bottle broke and down he fell
Instead of going to heaven, he went to hell.

Submitter comment:

Heard some time ago from another student. Approximately 10 years ago.

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector are the same person.

Where learned: Heard from student

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Ballad

Frog went a courtin' he did ride
Sword and a pistol by his side - uhhm! uhhm!
Knocked upon Miss Mousy's door
Saw Miss Mousy sittin' on the floor - uhhm! uhhm!
Took Miss Mousy upon his knee
Said Miss Mousy would you marry me - uhhm! uhhm!
Not without Mr. Rat's consent
Would I marry the president - uhhm! uhhm!

Submitter comment:

Told at informant's home.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

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Black Is the Color

Black, black, black is the color of my true love's hair
His lips are something wond'rous fair
The purest eyes and the bravest hands
I love the ground whereon he stands
Black, black, black is the color of my true love's hair

Love my love and well he knows
I love the ground whereon he goes
And if my love no more I see
My life quickly fade away

Black, black, black is the color etc.

Submitter comment:

This version of Jean Ritchie and Jacob Niles is from southern Appalachia.

Data entry tech comment:

Joan Baez's version of a folksong from southern Appalachia.

Where learned: Joan Baez tape ; southern Appalachia

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Bold Brennan on the Moor

It's of a fearless highway-man a story I'll tell:
His name was Willie Brennan and in Ireland he did dwell.
'Twas on the Limerick mountains he commenced his wild career.
Where many a wealthy gentlemen before him shook with fear.

Brennan on the Moor, Brennan on the Moor
Bold and yet undaunted stood young Brennan on the moor.

A brace of loaded pistols he carried night and day,
He never robbed a poor-man upon the King's Highway.
But what he'd taken from the rich, like Turpin and Black Bess,
He always did divide it with the widow-in-distress.

Chorus.

One night he robbed a packman, his name was Peddler Brown,
They traveled on together, 'till day began to dawn.
The pedlar seeing his money gone, likewise his watch and chain,
He at once encountered Brennan and robb'd them back again.

Chorus.

When Brennan saw the pedlar was a good man as he,
He took him on the highway, his companion for to be.
The pedlar threw away his pack without any more delay,
And proved a faithful comrade until his dying day.

Chorus.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

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Camp Song

Johnny and  Willie went to school one day, one fine afternoon
Johnny said to Willie do you want to fight or watch the girls play ball; or watch the girls play ball

Willie had a little white knife the end of it was sharp
He stuck it in poor Johnny's heart and the blood came gushing out; and the blood came gushing out

If mommie asks where I am tell her I'm dead and gone tell her I want my coffin brown. Six white angels all around. Two to dance and two to sing and two to carry my soul away

Johnson, Johnson is my name and Brooklyn is my station and Heaven is my resting place and God is my salvation and God is my salvation

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector share same surname.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

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Song about Creation

Now this is the story bout Adam and Eve
And if you don't like it please don't leave
The lord he thought he'd make him a man
So he took a little water and he took a little sand
Now old Adam was feeling powerful blue
Poor fellow he didn't know what to do
So he took a rib from Adam's side
And made Miss Eve to be his bride

Chorus after every two lines: I know knowed it, knowed it
Indeed I knowed it brother

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Dem Bones

OH, the Lord He thought He'd make a man.
Dem bones gonna rise again.
So He took a little water and he took a little sand,
Dem bones gonna rise again.

CHORUS: (repeated after every stanza).
I knowed it, knowed it,
Indeed I knowed Lordy,
I knowed it - Whee!
Dem bones gonna rise again.

Now Adam felt so powerful blue
Dem bones, etc.
He didn't know exactly what to do.
Dem bones, etc.
Chorus.

So the Lord took a rib from Adam's side
And He made Miss Eve to be his bride

He put them in a garden fair.
He thought they'd be most happy there.

There's pears an' plums and that there such
But that there tree you mustn't touch.

Around that tree old Satan slunk
And at Miss Eve his eyes he wunk.

So she took a pick and she took a pull
And then she filled her stockings full.

The next day when the Lord came round
He spotted them cores all over the ground.

Adam says, "I'm left holdin' the sack
Gee, I wish I had my old rib back."

"Adam, you're gonna have to leave this place
And earn your bread by the sweat of your face!"

"Come on, Eve, while we're still sane,
Come on, Eve, let's raise a little Cain!"

So he took his pick and he took his plow
And that's why we're all working now.

That's all there is, there ain't no more
Eve got the apple and Adam got the core.

The moral of this story be
Don't leave no cores for the Lord to see.

Submitter comment:

Miss Damin heard a middl-aged woman sing this song from memory at Ivory Polo Farms, near Detroit, this fall. She asked the lady to repeat it and copied it down just out of interest, but the lady's name is unknown.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; Ivory Polo Farms

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Japanese Love Song

Once upon a time there was a peasant who fell in love with the daughter of a rich nobleman. She also fell in love with him but she was betrothed to a wealthy friend of her father. So they were forced to meet secretly and one night her father caught them and ordered the poor peasant boy off the property forever. The boy was so desolate that he killed himself because he could not live without his love.

Submitter comment:

Paraphrased.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

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Mr. Johnny Grebeck

REFRAIN:
Mr. Johnny how could you be so mean
One day you invented a wonderful sausage machine
Now all the neighbors' cats and dogs will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausages in Johnny Grebeck's machine.

One day a boy went walking, he walked into a store
He bought a pound of sausages and laid them on the floor
The boy began to whistle, he whistled up a tune
And all the little sausages went dancing round the room.

REFRAIN

One day the thing got busted, the darn thing wouldn't go
So Johnny Grebeck he crawled inside to see what made it so
His wife was having a nightmare, a'walking in her sleep
She gave the crank a heck of a yank
And Johnny Grebeck was meat.

Data entry tech comment:

Informant is same as collector.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

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I Never Will Marry

I never will marry I'll be no man's wife
I intend to live single all the days of my life

Some say that love is a gentle thing
It only has brought me pain
And the only boy I ever loved
Is gone on the midnight train
I never will marry etc.

Your company your company
Your company unto me
It makes me feel wile I'm away
That every day is three
I never will marry etc.

You'll see the grass whereon you
Arise and grow again
But love it is a killin thing
Did you ever feel the pain
I never will marry etc.

I wish my heart were made of glass
Wherein you might behold
All the wonders of my love
The letters are writ in gold
I never will marry etc.

Submitter comment:

This is part of the British ballad known in America as "down by the sea shore."

Data entry tech comment:

Joan Baez's version.

Where learned: Joan Baez tape ; British ballad

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Lady Mary

He came from his palace grand, He came to my cottage door
His words were few, but his looks will linger forever more

The look in his sad dark eyes, More tender than word could ever be,
But I was nothing to him and he was the world to me

There in her garden she stand All dressed in fine satin and lace, Lady Mary so cold and so strange, Who finds in his heart no place

He knew I would be his bride, With a kiss for a lifetime fee
But I was nothing to him and he was the world to me

And now in his palace grand, On a flower strewn bed he lies
His beautiful lids are closed O'er his sad dark beautiful eyes

And among the mourners who mourn, Why should I a mourner be
For I was nothing to him, But he was the world to me

Submitter comment:

This song comes from the Ozark Mts. as collected by Vance Randolph and May Kennedy.

Data entry tech comment:

Joan Baez's version.

Where learned: Joan Baez tape ; Ozark Mountains

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Wagoner's Lad

Oh, hard is the fortune of all womenkind
She's always controlled, she's always confined
Controlled by her parents until she's a wife
A slave to her husband for the rest of her life.

Oh, I'm just a poor girl, my fortune is sad
I've always been courted by the wagoner's lad
He's courted me daily by night and by day
And now he is loading and going away

Oh my parents don't like him because he is poor
They say he's not worthy to enter my door
He works for a living his money's his own
And if they don't like it they can leave him alone

Oh your horses are hungry go feed them some hay
Then sit down beside me as long as you may
My horses ain't hungry they won't eat your hay
So fare thee well darlin I'll be on my way

Oh your wagon need greasing your whip is to mend
Then sit down beside me as long as you can
My wagon is greasy my whip in my hand
So fare thee well darlin no longer to stand

Submitter comment:

The lyrics and verses of this ballad are from Appalachia

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Wagoner's Lad

Oh, hard is the fortune of all womenkind,
She's always controlled, she's always confined
Controlled by her parents until she's a wife
A slave to her husband for the rest of her life.

Oh, I'm just a poor girl, my fortune is sad
I've always been courted by the wagoner's lad
He's courted me daily by night and by day
And now he is loading and going away

Oh my parents don't like him because he is poor
They say he's not worthy to enter my door
He works for a living his money's his own
And if they don't like it they can leave him alone

Oh your horses are hungry go feed them some hay
Then sit down beside me as long as you may
My horses ain't hungry they won't eat your hay
So fare thee well darlin I'll be on my way

Oh your wagon need greasing your whip is to mend
Then sit down beside me as long as you can
My wagon is greasy my whip in my hand
So fare thee well darlin no longer to stand

Submitter comment:

The lyrics and verses of this ballad are from Appalachia.

Data entry tech comment:

Joan Baez's version.

Where learned: Joan Baez tape ; Appalachia

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Mr. Dunderback

There was an old man from Germany
His name was Dunderback
He opened up a butcher-shop
To sell sauerkraut and fat.
One day this Mr. Dunderback
Invented a machine
For grinding all the cats and dogs
To sausage meat so fine.

Chorus: O-oh, Mr. Dunderback, ain't you awful mean?
Ain't you awful sorry you invented that machine?
For the long-tailed rats and the pussycats
No longer can be seen,
They've all been ground to sausgage-meat
In Dunderback's machine.

One day a little boy came, a-walking in the shop,
He ordered him a head of cheese,
And walked around the room,
And while he was a'waitin',
He whistled a merry tune,
And all the cats and the long-tailed rats,
Came skippin' around the room.

Chorus

One day something the matter was,
The machine, it wouldn't go.
So, Dunderback, He climbed inside
To see what made it so.
Now, Mrs. Dunderback had been walking in her sleep,
She gave the machine an awful crank,
And Dunderback was meat!

Chorus

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector share the same surname.

Where learned: Gradeschool

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English Ballad

The cottage was a thatched one,
The outside old and green;
Yet everything within that place
Was wonderous neat and clean.

A little worn out creature
Whose once bright eyes grew dim;
He was a collier's only child,
They called him "Little Jim."

Submitter comment:

There is more to the ballad but informant couldn't recall it.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; HARPER WOODS ; collector's home

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A Fun Song

I was off the coast of China, in the good ship Cantalope,
When with creak we sprung a leak with a cargo of Ivory soap.
I was 50,000 miles from shore perhaps a trifle more.
But we lost no hope, for we took that soap and washed ourselves ashore.

Submitter comment:

Sung by Mrs. Wittig in her youth.

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector share the same surname.

Where learned: sung in youth

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Left My Gal in the Mountains

Left my gal in the mountains
Left her standing in the rain
Went down to the railroad
Caught myself a midnight train

Beat my way to Georgia
Landed in a gamblin' town
Got myself in trouble
Shot a county sheriff down

They put the handcuffs on me
Put me on a pullman train
Took me to Atlanta
Tied me with a ball and chain

The jury read the verdict
Murder in the first degree
The judge says take this prisoner
To the penitentiary

Left my gal in the mountains
Left her standing all alone
Last night I dreamed I got a letter
Saying honey won't you please come home

She said she was lonely
Told me that her love was true
Then I dreamed I wrote a letter
Saying I'm a-comin' home to you

Then I woke up this morning
Lying in the Atlanta jail
No one here to love me
No one here to go my bail

Prison walls all around me
Guards a-walking by my door
My heart's so sad and lonely
'Cause I won't see my baby no more

Submitter comment:

Informant heard approximately 35 years ago in lumber camp at South Haven, Michigan.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; South Haven ; lumber camp

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The Little Skunk's Hole

I put my head in a little skunk's hole
And the little skunk said "Well bless my soul!"
Take it out, take it out, take it out,
Remove it."

I didn't take it out and the little skunk said,
"If you don't take it out, you'll wish you were dead.
Take it out, take it out,- "S-s-s-s-s-"
I removed it.

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector are the same person.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT

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The Mouse on the Hill

There was a little mouse who lived on a hill,
Um hum, Um hum.
There was a little mouse who lived on a hill
And he walked and he talked like Buffalo Bill,
Um hum, Um hum.

One day he thought he'd take a ride,
Um hum, Um hum.
One day he thought he'd take a ride
With his sword and his pistol by his side,
Um hum, Um hum.

He rode up to Miss Mousie's door,
Um hum, Um hum.
He rode up to Miss Mousie's door
And he knocked and he knocked till his fist got sore,
Um hum, Um hum.

He sat Miss Mousie on his knee,
Um hum, Um hum.
He sat Miss Mousie on his knee
And he said, "Miss Mousie will you marry me?"
Um hum, Um hum.

Miss Mousie said, "I can't do that."
Um hum, Um hum.
Miss Mousie said, "I can't do that,
I'll have to ask my brother rat."
Um hum, Um hum.

Now brother rat had gone to town,
Um hum, Um hum.
Now brother rat had gone to town
To buy Miss Mousie a wedding gown,
Um hum, Um hum.

The wedding took place at the old oak tree,
Um hum, Um hum.
The wedding took place at the old oak tree,
With the birds and the black eyed peas,
Um hum, Um hum.

The first to come was Mrs. Chick,
Um hum, Um hum.
The first to come was Mrs. Chick,
And she ate so much that she got sick,
Um hum, Um hum.

The second to come was Doctor Fly,
Um hum, Um hum.
The second to come was Doctor Fly,
And he said Mrs. Chick would surely die,
Um hum, Um hum.

They had six kids that looked like rats,
Um hum, Um hum.
They had six kids that looked like rats,
Some tall, some short, some skinny, some fat,
Um hum, Um hum.

That's all there is there ain't no more,
Um hum, Um hum,
That's all there is there ain't no more,
If I told you more you might get sore,
Um hum, Um hum.

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector are the same person.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

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Peanut Butter

Peanut sat on a railroad track
His heart was all a-flutter
A train came rolling down the track
TOOT! TOOT! Peanut-butter!

Data entry tech comment:

Informant and collector share same surname.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ROYAL OAK

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