Soldiers and the Music of the Civil War

Transcription

Ceremonial, Popular,
and Soldier Music
of the Civil War
Lyston D. Howe
Drummer Boy
Enlisted in the Union Army
from Waukegan, Il
Age 10 years, 9 months
Died January 27, 1930, at age 80
“Far from being nameless, faceless, or powerless, these were very real human beings who
gave up the comforts of home, lost friends and family, loved and hated, celebrated and
censured, and did not know what the outcome of the conflict would be. The men and women
(who sang these songs) had dreams and plans for their lives until war interfered.”
Oﬃce of Continuing Education
1 University Plaza
Platteville, WI 53818
WEB: www.uwplatt.edu/continuing
PHONE: 608.342.1314 or 1.888.281.9472
2
Introduction
Reading and using original sources make history come to life for students.
Teasing out the spirit of an age by reading and singing the words they wrote
is inherently more interesting than reading a text book. The most readily
available original source materials for use in your classroom are the lyrics
of the songs they wrote. Singing and researching these songs helps your
students form a meaningful connection with American history.
Use this pamphlet to start your students on a journey to explore the
popular music and culture of the 1850 – 1870’s. Let them learn how the
music was played and use the lyrics to the popular songs of the time as a
pipeline to the love, life, politics, war, and social milieu of the young men and
women who were a part of these events.
There were numerous drummer boys in both armies who were 10 years old upon
enlistment. Most of you using this pamphlet will teach students that age or older. 3,000,000 men and women
served, a lot of them the ages of students sitting in your classroom.
Homefront Suffering
From the book: Wisconsin
Women In The War Between The States,
by Ethel Alice Hurn
Conditions at Home: Promises Forgotten
The promises of wealthy men in many
communities that the wives and families of
soldiers at the front should be cared for, were
not always redeemed. The following appeal
shows how the volunteers felt about this matter:
“Friends, please do not stand idle with your
unsoiled hands folded and witness these ladies
cut and haul their own wood, day after day and
week after week, as you have already done,
after urging their husbands to leave them in a
state of utter helplessness, promising and that
surely, to care for their wants; and also that you
would furnish them with comfortable homes and
wearing apparel. Please do your duty at home, if
you are not on the bloody battle-field.”
Some women had been criticized by the stay-athomes for gadding among the men, whereupon
an indignant soldier wrote: “Ah, how cruel! Being
forsaken by those who have promised to be their
protectors, having to sally forth themselves
to look after the humble pittance that Uncle
Sam allows them to support their little flock,
the heaven-daring, opprobrious epithet falls
upon their ears “gadding after the men.”
O shame! Where is thy blush? Let these
epithets rest where they belong.”
Sometimes the soldiers themselves came
to the aid of the destitute. A war-“Widow
of Lodi,” whose husband had died quite
suddenly of fever, leaving a wife and five
children, received a subscription from
the members of Company A in order to
keep her and the children from actual
want.
** *old., i, p. 152. SiI6i (f, p. 283. 82/A,vlii, p. 402 [67]
1
Table of Contents
Lincoln Campaign Songs
Ain’t You Glad You Joined the Republicans
Lincoln and Liberty Too
Old Abe Lincoln Came Out of the Wilderness
2
3
4
Abolition
Darling Nelly Gray The Abolitionist Hymn
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
We Wait Beneath the Furnace Blast
Oh Freedom
5-6
7
8-9
10
11
Northern Soldiers—Music of the Civil War
Origins of “John Browns Body”
John Browns Body Lies A-Moldering in the Grave
Garryowen
Irish Volunteers
The Vacant Chair (We Shall Meet But We Shall Miss Him)
Home Sweet Home- A story
Home Sweet Home- The song
The Girl I Left Behind Me
Aura Lee
The Battle Cry of Freedom
Army of the Free
Marching Along
Kingdom Coming (The Year of Jubilo)
Hard Tack Come Again No More
When This Cruel War Is Over
The Battle of Helena
Tenting on the Old Campground
Just before the Battle, Mother
Be My Mother ‘Til I Die
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Johnny, I hardly Knew You
Abe Lincoln Went to Washington
Skebaugh
Samples of Alternative Lyrics North and South Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Prisoner’s Hope) Union Version and Confederate
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Marching Through Georgia
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22-23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41-42
Southern Soldiers—Music of the Civil War
Lorena
Oh! Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny (De Floating Scow)
Ye Parliament of England Jeff Davis in the White House
Confederate Yankee Doodle Bonnie Blue Flag
Stonewall Jackson’s Way
My Southern Soldier Boy
Confederate When This Cruel War Is Over
The Homespun Dress
Eatin Goober Peas
Listen to the Minie Balls
Yellow Rose of Texas
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Prisoner’s Hope) O, I’m a Good Old Rebel
57-58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
Sea Songs
Blow the Man Down
Roll, Alabama, Roll (The Alabama)
Sailors Hornpipe (Instrumental)
What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor
73-74
75
76
77-78
Stephen Foster Oh! Susanna
Camptown Races
Hard Times Comes Again No More
My Old Kentucky Home Good Night
Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair
Beautiful Dreamer
79
80
81-82
83
84
85
86
Songs of the Period
Arkansas Traveler
Barbara Allen
Blue Tail Fly
I Gave My Love a Cherry (The Riddle Song)
Listen to the Mocking Bird
Oh Dear! What can the Matter Be?
Skip to My Lou
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
Northern National Anthems Hail Columbia
Star Spangled Banner
America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee)
Yankee Doodle
The Two Pickets
Berdan’s Sharpshooters
Columbia
43
44
45
46-47
48
49-50
51
52
Songs of the Period – Celtic Contributions
It’s All for Me Grog
The Ash Grove
Farewell to Whiskey
Green Grow the Lilacs
I’ll Tell Me Ma
Londonderry Air (Confession of Devorgilla) ( Danny Boy)
Minstrel Boy
The Wearing of The Green
Whiskey in the Jar
Southern National Anthems Dixie
The Southern Marseillaise 53
54-55
56
Cover Quote: This Wicked Rebellion, Wisconsin Civil War Soldiers
Write Home. John Zimm, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2012,
ISBN 978-0-87020-504-0, p xiii
94
95
96-97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
2
Music – Old Rosin the Bow
Our David’s good sling is unerring,
The Slavocrat’s giant he slew,
Then shout for the freedom preferring,
For Lincoln and Liberty, too.
Hurrah for the choice of the nation,
Our chieftain so brave and so true,
We’ll go for the great reformation,
For Lincoln and Liberty, too!
We’ll go for the son of Kentucky,
The hero of Hoosierdom through,
The pride of the “Suckers” so lucky,
Music – Old Rosin the Bow
They’ll find what by felling and mauling,
Our David’s good sling is unerring,
Hurrah for the choice of the nation,
Our rail maker statesman
can
do;
Our chieftain so brave and so true,
The Slavocrat’s
giant
he slew,
Then shout for the freedom preferring,
We’ll go for the great reformation,
For the people are everywhere
calling
Then up with the banner so glorious,
The star-spangled red, white, and blue,
We’ll fight till our banner’s victorious,
Then up with the banner so glorious,
They’ll find what by felling and mauling,
“Suckers”
star-spangledso
red,lucky,
white, and blue,
Our rail maker statesman canThe
do; pride of the The
For the people are everywhere callingFor Lincoln and
We’llLiberty,
fight till our banner’s
too! victorious,
February 21, 1861—Before the New Jersey State Senate, Lincoln
reminisced about his youth: “away back in my childhood, the
earliest days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book,
such a one as few of the younger members have ever seen,
‘Weems’ Life of Washington.’ . . . I recollect thinking then, boy
even though I was, that there must have been something more than
common that those men struggled for. I am exceedingly anxious
that that thing which they struggled for; that something even
more than National Independence; that something that held out a
great promise to all the people of the world to all time to come; I
am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the
liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the
original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most
happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the
Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating
the object of that great struggle.”
Abraham Lincoln, A Life, Volume Two, Michael Burlingame, The Johns Hopkins
University Press, Baltimore, 2008, p. 30
3
4
Abolition
“Darling Nelly Gray” tells the story of two young lovers whose romance ended when Nelly was sold and taken
to a plantation far away from that of her young man, Ned. The two had planned to escape together to Canada
and then to Owen Sound. Ned and Nelly lived on plantations close to each other. Due to the plantation
owners’ practice of keeping slaves segregated, they met through an intermediary, an old Scottish professor.
The professor was to help Ned escape to Canada, with a small amount of money and food. Ned was to find
work, make enough money--$200—to send to the professor, who would purchase Nelly’s freedom and send
her on to Canada to be with Ned.
However, on the night before the plan went into action, Nelly disappeared. Upon some careful enquiring, Ned
discovered a stranger had visited the plantation, leading one empty horse. He looked over the selection of
slaves, made Nelly his choice, and paid a substantial amount of money for her purchase. As no one recognized
him, it was believed he was from a fair distance away and tracing Nelly’s whereabouts would be impossible.
To complicate matters, slaves were known by their owner’s names, not their own, i.e. Jim Thompson’s Joe, So
and So’s Maggie and so on. Nelly would have a new name in her new home.
To express his and Ned’s sadness, the professor composed a little verse, and then added a melody. Sung
sorrowfully by his glee club, it soon became very popular and he eventually added more lyrics to create a fullblown song. The sheet music was soon for sale on newsstands, and, not long after, was sung, whistled, and
hummed in every state.
It is believed this little song was a major force in shaping public opinion on the issue of slavery, leading to the
election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States in 1860.
5
6
Abolition
Darling Nelly Gray
There’s a low green valley
on the old Kentucky shore
There I whiled many happy hours away
A sitting and a singing
by the little cottage door
Where lived my darling Nelly Gray
Oh my poor Nelly Gray,
they have taken you away
And I’ll never see my darling any more
I am sitting by the river
and I’m weeping all the day
For you’ve gone from the
old Kentucky shore
When the moon had climbed the mountain
and the stars were shining too
Then I’d take my darling Nelly Gray
And we’d float down the river
in my little red canoe
While my banjo sweetly I would play
I am sitting by the river and
I’m weeping all the day
old Kentucky shore
One night I went to see her
but she’s gone, the neighbors say
The white man bound her with his chain
They have taken her to Georgia
for to wear her life away
As she toils in the cotton and the cane
old Kentucky shore
My canoe is underwater
and my banjo is unstrung
I’m tired of living any more
My eyes shall look downward
and my songs shall be unsung
While I stay on the old Kentucky shore
old Kentucky shore
My eyes are getting blinded
and I cannot see my way
Hark, there’s somebody
knocking at the door
Oh, I hear the angels calling
and I see my Nelly Gray
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore
Oh my darling Nelly Gray,
up in heaven, there they say
That they’ll never take you
from me anymore
I’m a-coming, coming, coming,
as the angels clear the way
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore
Abolition
The Abolitionist Hymn
Tune, “Old Hundred.”
We ask not that the slave should lie,
As lies his master, at his ease,
Beneath a silken canopy,
Or in the shade of blooming trees.
We ask not “eye for eye,” that all
Who forge the chain and ply the whip
Should feel their torture, while the thrall
Should wield the scourge of mastership.
We mourn not that the man should toil.
‘Tis nature’s need. ‘Tis God’s decree.
But let the hand that tills the soil
Be, like the wind that fans it, free.
A hymn commonly sung to Old 100th is “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow,” often known simply
as The Doxology, written in 1674 by Thomas Ken, a clergyman in the Church of England.[1] This hymn was
originally the final verse of a longer hymn entitled “Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun,”[2] though it is most
commonly sung by itself as a doxology. The traditional text is thus, although a modernized version is also
widely used:
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The melody can be (and often is) used for any hymn text in long meter (four lines of eight syllables each). The
hymn From all that dwell below the skies, a paraphrasing of Psalm 117 by Isaac Watts with the above Doxology
as the final verse, is commonly sung to the tune.[3]
1.”Thomas Ken”. The CyberHymnal. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
2.”Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”. The CyberHymnal. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
3. Church Publishing (1985). The Hymnal, 1982, Volume 2. Church Publishing, Inc. p. 380.
7
8
Abolition
Abolitionism sprang from the church of the period. This
Abolitionist hymn exhorts parishioners of the period to
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus as part of the effort to free the
slaves.
George Duffield, Jr. (b. Carlisle, PA, 1818; d. Bloomfield, NJ,
1888), was inspired to write this text after hearing the dying
words of a Presbyterian colleague, Dudley A. Tyng.
Ousted from his own congregation for his strong antislavery stance, Tyng preached to large crowds in weekday
meetings sponsored by the YMCA. His work spearheaded
an evangelical revival in Philadelphia early in 1858. At
Tyng’s deathbed, caused by a farm accident in which he lost
an arm, Duffield and others asked if he had any final message. Tyng replied, ‘Tell them to stand
up for Jesus!” At Tyng’s memorial service on April 25, 1858, Duffield preached on Ephesians
6:14 and concluded his sermon by reading his new hymn text, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.”
The challenge of “Stand Up for Jesus” is proclaimed through the military metaphors Paul uses in
Ephesians 6:10-18. Although some decry the
warlike imagery, the spiritual battle that Christians
must fight is very real. Christ’s victory is assured
even if we do not always move “from victory unto
victory” in our earthly lives.
A graduate of Yale College and Union Theological
Seminary, Duffield served eight Presbyterian
churches in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Illinois, and Michigan. He was a regent for the
University of Michigan for seven years, served as
editor of the Presbyterian paper Christian
Observer; and promoted evangelistic work with
his personal wealth.
http://hymnopedia.com/Hymns:Stand_up_stand_up_for_Jesus
Abolition
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the solemn watchword hear;
If while ye sleep He suffers, away with shame and fear;
Where'er ye meet with evil, within you or without,
Charge for the God of battles, and put the foe to rout.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict, in this His glorious day.
Ye that are brave now serve Him against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, each soldier to his post,
Close up the broken column, and shout through all the host:
Make good the loss so heavy, in those that still remain,
And prove to all around you that death itself is gain.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle, the next the victor's song.
To him who over cometh a crown of life shall be;
They with the King of Glory shall reign eternally.
9
10
Abolition
We Wait Beneath the Furnace Blast
(Luther’s Hymn)
We Wait Beneath
the
John Greenleaf
WhittierFurnace Blast
Music: EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER
GOTT
- A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
(Luther’s
Hymn)
John Greenleaf Whittier
Music: EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT - A Mighty Fortress Is OurWhate’er
God
furnace-blast
the cross,
We wait beneath the
Shall they complain
The pangs of transformation;
Whate’er the cross,
We wait beneath the furnace-blast
Of present pain
Not painlessly doth God recast
Shall they complain
The pangs of transformation;
Who trust in God’s hereafter?
And mould anew the nation.
Of present pain
Not painlessly doth God recast
Hot burns the fire
Who
trust
God’s
And mould anew the nation.
For who that in
leans
on hereafter?
His right arm
Where wrongs expire;
Hot burns the fire
Was
ever
yet
forsaken?
Nor spares the hand
For who that leans on His right arm
Where wrongs expire;
What righteous cause can suffer harm
That from the land
Was ever yet forsaken?
Nor spares the hand
If he its part has taken?
Uproots the ancient evil.
What
righteous
cause can suffer harm
That from the land
Though wild and loud
If he its part has taken?
Uproots the
ancient
evil. feared
And dark the cloud
The hand-breadth
cloud
the sages
Though wild and loud
Behind its folds
Its bloody rain is dropping;
And dark the cloud
The hand-breadth cloud the sages feared
His hand upholds
The poison plant the fathers spared
Behind its folds
Its bloody rain is dropping;
The calm sky of to-morrow.
All else is overtopping.
His hand upholds
The poison plant the fathers spared
East, West, South, North,
Thethe
calm
sky of to-morrow.
All else is overtopping.
Above
maddening
cry for blood,
It curses the earth;
East, West, South, North,
Above the wild war-drumming,
All justice dies,
Above the maddening cry for blood,
It curses the earth;
Let
Freedom’s
voice be heard, with good
And fraud and lies
Above the wild war-drumming,
All justice dies,
The
evil
overcoming.
Live only in its shadow.
Let Freedom’s voice be heard, with good
And fraud and lies
Give prayer and purse
The evil overcoming.
in its shadow.
To stay the Curse
What givesLive
theonly
wheat-field
blades of steel?
Give prayer and purse
Whose wrong we share,
What points the rebel cannon?
To stay the Curse
What gives the wheat-field blades of steel?
Whose shame we bear,
What sets the soaring rabble’s heel
Whose wrong we share,
What points the rebel cannon?
Whose end shall gladden Heaven!
On the old star-spangled pennon?
Whose shame we bear,
What sets the soaring rabble’s heel
What breaks the oath
Whose
Heaven!
On the old star-spangled pennon?
In vainend
the shall
bells gladden
of war shall
ring
Of the men o’ the South?
What breaks the oath
Of
triumphs
and
revenges,
What whets the knife
In vain the bells of war shall ring
Of the men o’ the South?
While still is spared the evil thing
For the Union’s life?-Of triumphs and revenges,
What whets the knife
That severs and estranges.
Hark to the answer: Slavery!
While still is spared the evil thing
For the Union’s life?-But blest the ear
That severs and estranges.
Hark
to
the
answer:
Slavery!
That yet shall hear
Then waste no blows on lesser foes
But blest the ear
The jubilant bell
On strife unworthy freemen.
That yet shall hear
Then waste no blows on lesser foes
That rings the knell
God lifts today the vail, and shows
The jubilant bell
On strife unworthy freemen.
Of Slavery forever!
The features of the demon!
That rings the knell
God lifts today the vail, and shows
O North and South
Ofthe
Slavery
forever!
The features of the demon!
Then let
selfish
lip be dumb,
Its victims both,
O North and South
And hushed the breath of sighing;
Can ye not cry
Then let the selfish lip be dumb,
Its victims both,
Before
the joy of peace must come
“Let slavery die!”
And hushed the breath of sighing;
Can ye not cry
The
pains of purifying.
And union find in freedom?
Before the joy of peace must come
“Let slavery die!”
God give us grace
The pains of purifying.
unionthe
find
in freedom?
Each in his place
WhatAnd
though
cast-out
spirit tear
God give us grace
To bear his lot,
The nation in his going?
Each in his place
What though the cast-out spirit tear
And, murmuring not,
We who have shared guilt must share
To bear his lot,
The nation in his going?
Endure and wait and labor!
The pang of his o’erthrowing!
And, murmuring not,
We who have shared guilt must share
Whate’er the loss,
Endure and wait and labor!
The pang of his o’erthrowing!
Whate’er
the
loss, McClellan’s conciliatory policies toward the Confederates. This song helped moved the Union army
This poem was written in
response to
General
towards abolition.
http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/union/homefront/luthershymn.html
This poem was written in response to General McClellan’s conciliatory policies toward the Confederates. This song helped moved the Union army
towards abolition.
http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/union/homefront/luthershymn.html
Abolition
Oh Freedom
Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me
And before I’d be a slave I’ll be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free
No more moaning, no more moaning, no more moaning over me
No more crying, no more crying, no more crying over me
There’ll be singin’, there’ll be singin’, there’ll be singin’ over me
There’ll be glory, there’ll be glory, there’ll glory over me
11
12
Soldiers and the Music of the Civil War
Noncommissioned officers of the 93rd New York Infantry
Students need to be reminded the American armies who
fought the civil war were organizationally different than
America’s modern military. The volunteers who served in Civil
War armies, especially between 1860 – 1863, tended to elect
their officers. Individual soldiers served in military units that
consisted of their friends and neighbors from the same
village, city, or county. Soldiers conducted themselves in such
a way as to test their “manhood” and whose courage in battle
had as one of its sources not to be branded a coward and
thus disgraced “back home.”
We also forget that the Civil War was the only time when very
large, modern, armies fought on the North American
continent. We are 150 years removed from this experience.
And, unlike us, the participants did not know who would win.
All of these factors are important when we consider the
soldier music of period.
“Soldiers themselves exerted considerable influence on the
music of their day. The presence of large, organized armies in
constant contact with civilians fundamentally changed the
American cultural landscape. Civil War soldiers were highly
musical and constituted a huge market for new songs. As a
result, pieces with melodies, lyrics, and themes appealing to
fighting men found the widest audiences. This suggests sheet
music sales did not fully measure a song’s popularity, since
soldiers rarely purchased music-they simply sang and played
it for each other, and the civilians they encountered. In effect,
soldiers become not only music’s most enthusiastic
consumers but its most effective distributors.”
“Aside from being lyrically and ideologically malleable,
Civil War songs were decidedly “lowbrow” in nature. The
influence of the armies is again notable. Simple
melodies, steady rhythms, and easily memorable—if not
disposable—lyrics were preferred by soldiers who
relegated most “highbrow” music to the margins of
American culture. Even songs with likable melodies were
discarded or redrafted if the lyrics proved too literate.
Such was the case with “The Battle Hymn of the
Republic.” Critics helplessly watched as common soldiers
and citizens wrested control of the musical landscape,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Army 1
ensuring that lively minstrel ditties, maudlin sentimental
ballads, and chest-thumping patriotic numbers
dominated the day. . . .
The predominately “lowbrow” nature of Civil War music
illustrated one of its primary functions: connecting disparate
listeners and performers to the broader conflict. Some pieces
did this explicitly through lyrics directly referencing various
aspects of the war, but others were more subtle. Patriotic
songs taught Americans how to interpret the politics of the
war, while sentimental ballads helped them cope with the
spectrum of emotions a large and costly military struggle
could produce. Songs also allowed listeners and performers
1
to understand their roles in a war-torn society.
Finally, “Wartime conditions made it easier for a song to cross
class, community, and sectional barriers… it was soldiers, not
civilians, who most effectively distributed music during the
Civil War. Large armies on the march served a function
similar to modern concert tours. As they passed through
different communities, soldiers sang and played their favorite
2
songs and spread them throughout the country.
1, Battle Hymns – The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War, Christian McWhirter,
University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2012, ISBN: 978-0-8078-3550-0, p 3 – 4,
2. Ibid, p 17 – 18
13
Origins of “John Brown’s Body”
During the Civil War, “John Brown’s Body” was the Union army’s
national hymn. It enjoyed incredible popularity, especially among
soldiers. It was unquestionably the most beloved song in the Army
of the Potomac, and its only competitor in the western armies was
“The Battle Cry of Freedom”. In the Army of the Potomac ‘John
Brown’s Body’ was heard almost constantly.”
“(John Brown’s) origin can be traced to a specific time and place.
On April 29, 1861, the Second Massachusetts Infantry Battalion was
assigned to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. One of the singers (in a
glee club) was a Scottish sergeant named John Brown. . . . Sergeant
Brown’s sharing his name with the famous abolitionists martyr was
often fodder for jokes. As one member recalled, if Sergeant Brown
was ever late for roll, the other men would make wisecracks, such
as “Come, old fellow, you ought to be at it if you are going to help
us free the slaves,” or “This can’t be John Brown—why; John Brown
is dead.” . . . The version originally adopted by the Second Battalion
had three verses, each of which became standard. The first was
always the reference to Brown’s death, (a moldering in the grave)
and the second was usually “He’s gone to be a soldier in the army
of the Lord”. The third verse best reflected the song’s original
purpose of mocking Sergeant Brown. According to a member of
the glee club, the Scotchman “was short and (his) knapsack very
large, and the boys began to chaff him. ‘Say knapsack, where are
you going with that man?”
“Over the course of the war, soldiers and civilians created several
new verses, often spontaneously, to suit their specific situations or sentiments, and over time the song lost its
original context and subject. In the hands of soldiers and civilians, Sergeant John Brown was replaced by the
radical abolitionist and the song took on an antislavery tone”...
“It is hard to overestimate both the popularity and power of this song. Union solders sang the song as they
marched out of a burning Atlanta – they could be heard over the flames as the city burned. “John Brown’s Body”
remained a sort of anthem for Sherman’s army, most spectacularly performed again by twenty thousand men as
they marched into Columbia, South Carolina.” 1
1, Battle Hymns – The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War, Christian McWhirter, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2012, ISBN:
978-0-8078-3550-0, p 41 - 46
14
John Browns Body Lies A-Moldering in the Grave
John Browns Body Lies a-mouldering in the grave;
His soul’s marching on!
His pet lambs will meet him on the way;
They go marching on!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His soul’s marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His soul’s marching on!
He’s gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord!
They will hang Jeff. Davis to a sour apple tree!
They will hang Jeff. Davis to a sour apple tree!
They will hang Jeff. Davis to a tree sour apple!
As they march along!
John Brown’s knapsack is strapped upon his back!
Now, three rousing cheers for the Union;
As we are marching on!
Both John Brown’s Body and the Battle Hymn of the Republic were popular in the north.
Of the two, the troops preferred John Brown’s Body. Most of the lyrics the troops sang
have been lost to history.
Garryowen
Let Bacchus’ sons be not dismayed
We’ll break windows, we’ll break doors,
But join with me each jovial blade;
The watch knock down by threes and fours;
Come booze and sing, and lend your aid,
Then let the doctors work their cures,
To help me with the chorus.
And tinker up our bruises.
Instead of spa we’ll drink down ale,
We’ll beat the bailiffs out of fun,
And pay the reck’ning on the nail;
We’ll make the mayors and sheriffs run;
No man for debt shall go to jail
And are the boys no man dares run,
From Garryowen in glory.
If he regards a whole skin.
We are boys that take delight in
Smashing the Limerick lights when lighting,
Our hearts so stout have got us fame,
Through the streets like Sporters fighting,
For soon ‘tis known from when we came;
And tearing all before us.
Where’re we go they dread the name
Of Garryowen in glory.
Instead of spa we’ll drink down ale,
We’ll beat the bailiffs out of fun,
And pay the reck’ning on the nail;
We’ll make the mayors and sheriffs run;
No man for debt shall go to jail
And are the boys no man dares run,
From Garryowen in glory.
If he regards a whole skin.
The Regimental Song “Garryowen” came informally into the Army between 1861 and 1866 as a
quickstep, but its use was first documented by the 7th U.S. Cavalry Band about the time the
song became the regimental air. George Armstrong Custer did not, himself, bring the song to
the regiment, but Brevet Lieutenant Colonel (Captain) Myles W. Keogh and several other
officers with ties to the Fifth Royal Irish Lancers and the Papal Guard, two Irish regiments in the
British Army, were believed to be instrumental in bringing the air to the regiment.
15
16
Irish Volunteers
(As Sung by Joe English)
Music: The Irish Jaunting Car (Bonnie Blue Flag)
Not much is known today of Joe English, an Irishman and Civil War era music-hall performer /composer in New York City. He was
popular enough to have a “songster” of his material (a small book of song lyrics) , entitled “Joe English’s Irish and Comic Songster,”
published in 1864 by Dick & Fitzgerald, 18 Ann St., NY. Like comedians today, Joe English treated very serious subject matter with an
irreverent sense of humor, and captured the essence of the character of the Irish people of his day. Joe English frequented the many
inexpensive, lively, and often dingy music halls that dotted the New York of this era. It was in these theaters that the Irish found
expression for their many feelings concerning their forced immigration to America, and the anti-immigrant/anti-catholic sentiments
that abounded at this time.
http://www.hauntedfieldmusic.com/Lyrics.html#Irish%20Vol.
Irish service to the Union
Irish-Americans living in the Union states often formed their own regiments, notably the 69th New York State Volunteers. The
Volunteers flew a green flag with a golden harp on it, symbolizing Ireland.[1] 150,000 Irish-Americans fought for the Union during the
war. At the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg, the Union Irish Brigade charged up Marye’s Heights, suffering 41.4% casualties.[3] During
the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, the Irish Brigade held a Catholic mass before battling Confederate troops. http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Irish_Americans_in_the_American_Civil_War
My name is Tim McDonald, I’m a native of the Isle,
I was born among old Erin’s bogs when I was but a child.
My father fought in “ ‘Ninety-eight,” for liberty so dear;
He fell upon old Vinegar Hill, like and Irish volunteer.
Then raise the harp of Erin, boys, the flag we all revere-We’ll fight and fall beneath its folds, like Irish volunteers!
Chorus--Then raise the harp, etc.
When I was driven form my home by an oppressor’s hand, I
cut my sticks and greased my brogues, and came o’er to this
land. I found a home an many friends, and some that I love
dear; Be jabbers! I’ll stick to them like bricks and an Irish
volunteer.
Then fill your glasses up, my boys, and drink a hearty cheer,
To the land of our adoption and the Irish volunteer!
Chorus--Then fill your glasses, etc.
Now when the traitors in the south commenced a warlike
raid, I quickly then laid down my hod, to the devil went my
spade! To a recruiting-office then I went, that happened to
be near, And joined the good old “Sixty-ninth,” like and Irish
volunteer.
Then fill the ranks and march away!--no traitors do we fear;
We’ll drive them all to blazes, says the Irish volunteer.
Chorus--Then fill the ranks, etc.
When the Prince of Wales came over here, and made a
hubbaboo, Oh, everybody turned out, you know, in gold and
tinsel too; But then the good old Sixty-ninth didn’t like these
lords or peers--They wouldn’t give a d--n for kings, the Irish
volunteers!
We love the land of Liberty, its laws we will revere, “But the
divil take nobility!” says the Irish volunteer!
Chorus--We love the land, etc.
Now if the traitors in the South should ever cross our roads,
We’ll drive them to the divil, as Saint Patrick did the toads;
We’ll give them all short nooses that come just below
the ears, Made strong and good of Irish hemp by Irish
volunteers.
Then here’s to brave McClellan, whom the army now
reveres--He’ll lead us on to victory, the Irish volunteers.
Chorus--Then here’s to brave, etc.
Now fill your glasses up, my boys, a toast come drink
with me,May Erin’s Harp and the Starry Flag united ever
be;May traitors quake, and rebels shake, and tremble in
their fears,When next they meet the Yankee boys and Irish
volunteers!
God bless the name of Washington! that name this land
reveres; Success to Meagher and Nugent, and their Irish
volunteers!
Chorus--God bless the name, etc.
17
The Vacant Chair
(We Shall Meet But We Shall Miss Him)
(Words: Henry S. Washburn, Music: George F. Root)
John William Grout (1843–1861) was an American Civil War soldier from Worcester, Massachusetts and a graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover in 1859, who served with the Union’s 15th Massachusetts as a Second Lieutenant and was killed at age eighteen at the
Battle of Ball’s Bluff. His death inspired a famous poem that was later turned into a Civil War song. The poem (“The Vacant Chair”)
is an allegory that describes the pain suffered by the family of those killed in war when sitting at the Thanksgiving table. The poem
was written by Henry S. Washburn and was turned into song by George F. Root. “The Vacant Chair” was a hit in both the North and
the South. Lt. Grout’s body was recovered on November 5, 1861, after being washed 35 miles back to Washington, D.C. His remains
were identified by the name written on his clothing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Grout
We shall meet, but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our evening prayer;
When a year ago we gathered
Joy was in his mild blue eye,
But a golden chord is severed
And our hopes in ruin lie.
At our fireside, sad and lonely,
Often will the bosom swell,
At remembrance of the story
How our noble Willie fell;
How he strove to bear our banner
Through the thickest of the fight,
And uphold our country’s honor
In the strength of manhood’s night.
Chorus: We shall meet, but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our evening prayer;
Chorus:
True, they tell us wreaths of glory
Ever more will deck his brow,
But this soothes the anguish only
Sweeping o’er our heartstrings now.
Sleep today, Oh early fallen,
In thy green and narrow bed,
Dirges from the pine and cypress,
Mingle with the tears we shed.
Chorus:
http://www.8notes.com/scores/6775.asp?ftype=gif
THE VACANT CHAIR
The Northern Soldier Leaves Home
by Reid Mitchell
An insightful glance at the unique cultural and social milieu of the Union soldier. Relying extensively on diaries, letters, and other
primary sources, Mitchell (History/University of Maryland; Civil War Soldiers, 1988) discusses how the Union soldier understood his
military experience. Antebellum ideology used the family as a metaphor for one's country, emphasizing the ``Republican Mother'' who
educated her sons as self-sacrificing patriots; thus, ``the centrality of home and the family made them central to the Northern soldier's
understanding of the Civil War.'' Soldiers--serving under officers who often came from the same town and who were thought of as
equals--regarded their generals as fathers, their officers as elder brothers, and the war itself as a family quarrel. That men soldiered with
lifelong neighbors and friends meant that the Union soldier brought the value of the home front into battle with him, giving war a sense
of purpose: It also frequently weakened military discipline. Mitchell discusses in depth the Union soldier's distinctive view of manhood;
his complex relationships with white Southern women--and with black soldiers, who were generally excluded from the American
``family''; his peculiar brand of religion; and his attitude toward death in battle. Mitchell sees as significant the Union focus in the late Civil
War against Confederate civilian society, a focus that weakened the Southern soldier's will to resist: Observing that the Union soldier's
strength was that he fought the war with home in mind, he notes that ``the Confederate soldier fought the war the same way, and, in
the end, that proved part of his weakness.'' An eloquent revival of the simple verities of a vanished era- -idealism, patriotism, small-town
parochialism, sense of family and manhood, and fear of failing in the eyes of one's community--that drove the soldier of the North.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/reid-mitchell/the-vacant-chair/
18
Home! Sweet Home
Home! Sweet Home
Mid pleasures and palaces though I may roam,
Be pleasures
it ever so humble
there’s
no place
home;
Mid
and palaces
though
I maylike
roam,
from
the skies
seems
to hallow
us there,
BeA itcharm
ever so
humble
there’s
no place
like home;
Which,
seek from
through
world,
is to
ne’er
metus
with
elsewhere:
A charm
the the
skies
seems
hallow
there,
Which, seek through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere:
Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!
placesweet
like Home!
Home!There’s
Home!no
sweet,
Home!
There’s
no
place
like
Home.
There’s no place like Home!
There’s no place like Home.
An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain,
give
mehome,
my lowly
thatched
cottage
again;
AnOh,
exile
from
splendor
dazzles
in vain,
singing
that come
at my
call;
Oh,The
givebirds
me my
lowlygaily,
thatched
cottage
again;
GiveThe
mebirds
them,
with that
of mind,
dearer
singing
gaily,peace
that come
at my
call;than all.
Give me them, with that peace of mind, dearer than all.
placesweet
like Home!
Home!There’s
Home!no
sweet,
Home!
There’s
no
place
like
Home.
To thee, I’ll return, overburdened with care,
The
heart’s
solace will smile
on care,
me there.
To thee,
I’lldearest
return, overburdened
with
No more
from that
cottage
againonwill
The heart’s
dearest
solace
will smile
meI roam,
there.
Be itmore
everfrom
so humble,
there’s
no place
home.
No
that cottage
again
will I like
roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.
placesweet
like Home!
Home!There’s
Home!no
sweet,
Home!
There’s
no
place
like
Home.
“Home Sweet Home” was the most popular song in both armies during the war. In 1860 – 1861, they
could not wait to enlist but as soon as they left the farm or the neighborhood, family, friends, and
“Home Sweet Home” was the most
popular
song in both
the war. In 1860 – 1861, they
“the girl
left behind,”
they armies
becameduring
homesick.
could not wait to enlist but as soon as they left the farm or the neighborhood, family, friends, and
“the girl left behind,” they became homesick.
19
20
Aura Lee
Aura
AuraLee
Lee
The melody for "Love Me Tender" is based on "Aura
Lee", a ballad written in 1861 by W.W. Fosdick and
TheThe
melody
for for
"Love
Tender"
is based
on 1on
"Aura
melody
"Love
Me
Tender"
is based
"Aura
Geo
R. Poulton.
RCAMe
Records
received
over
million
Lee",
a ballad
written
1861
by W.W.
Fosdick
andand
Lee",
a ballad
written
in 1861
by W.W.
Fosdick
pre-orders
for
"LoveinMe
Tender",
making
it the
first
GeoGeo
R.
Poulton.
RCA
Records
received
over
1
million
R.
Poulton.
RCA
Records
received
over
1
million
single to ship as a gold record before it was released.
pre-orders
for for
"Love
MeMe
Tender",
making
it the
firstfirst
pre-orders
"Love
Tender",
making
it the
single
to ship
as aasgold
record
before
it was
released.
single
to ship
a gold
record
before
it was
released.
As the blackbird in the spring ‘neath the willow tree sat and piped
I heard him sing praising Aura Lee.
AsAs
thethe
blackbird
in the
spring
‘neath
thethe
willow
tree
satsat
and
piped
blackbird
in the
spring
‘neath
willow
tree
and
piped
I heard
him
sing
praising
Lee.
As the blackbird
in the
spring
‘neath
theAura
willow
tree sat and piped
I heard
him
sing
praising
Aura
Lee.
CHORUS:
I heard him sing praising Aura Lee.
Aura Lee! AuraCHORUS:
Lee!
Maid of golden hair
CHORUS:
CHORUS: Aura Lee! Aura Lee! Maid of golden hair
sunshine
came
along
with
thee
and
swallows
in the air.
Aura
Lee!
Aura
Lee!
ofswallows
hair
Aura
Lee!
Aura
Lee!
Maid
ofgolden
golden
hair
sunshine
came
along
withMaid
thee
and
in the
air.
sunshine
sunshinecame
camealong
alongwith
withthee
theeand
andswallows
swallowsininthe
theair.
air.
Take my heart and take my ring I give my all to thee
Take my heart and take my ring I give my all to thee
take
mefor
foreternity
eternity dearest
Lee!
take
me
dearestAura
Aura
Lee!
Take
mymy
heart
and
take
mymy
ring
I give
mymy
all all
to to
thee
Take
heart
and
take
ring
I give
thee
take
meme
forfor
eternity
dearest
Aura
Lee!
take
eternity
dearest
Aura
Lee!
Chorus
Chorus
In her
blush
the
rose
‘twasmusic
musicwhen
when
spoke
In her
blush
the
rosewas
wasborn
born ‘twas
sheshe
spoke
Chorus
Chorus
in her
eyes
thelight
lightof
ofmorn
morn sparkling
to to
break.
in her
eyes
the
sparklingseemed
seemed
break.
In her
blush
thethe
rose
was
born
‘twas
music
when
sheshe
spoke
In her
blush
rose
was
born
‘twas
music
when
spoke
in her
eyes
thethe
light
of of
morn
sparkling
seemed
to to
break.
in her
eyes
light
morn
sparkling
seemed
break.
Chorus
Chorus
Aura
LeeLee
the
the willow’s
willow’sgolden
golden
Aura
thebird
birdmay
mayflee
flee the
hairhair
Chorus
Chorus
then
wintrywinds
windsmay
may be
then
thethe
wintry
be blowing
blowingev’rywhere.
ev’rywhere.
Aura
LeeLee
thethe
bird
may
flee
thethe
willow’s
golden
hair
Aura
bird
may
flee
willow’s
golden
hair
then
thethe
wintry
winds
may
bebe
blowing
ev’rywhere.
then
wintry
winds
may
blowing
ev’rywhere.
Chorus
Chorus
YetYet
if thy
gloomwill
willsoon
soon
depart
if thyblue
blueeyes
eyes II see
see gloom
depart
Chorus
Chorus
sweetAura
Aura Lee
Lee is
heart.
forfor
to to
meme
sweet
is sunshine
sunshinetotothe
the
heart.
YetYet
if thy
blue
eyes
I see
gloom
willwill
soon
depart
if thy
blue
eyes
I see
gloom
soon
depart
forfor
to to
meme
sweet
Aura
Lee
is sunshine
to to
thethe
heart.
sweet
Aura
Lee
is sunshine
heart.
Chorus
Chorus
When
thethe
mistletoe
Midstthe
thewinter’s
winter’s
snows,
When
mistletoewas
wasgreen,
green, Midst
snows,
Chorus
Chorus
Sunshine
thyface
facewas
was seen,
seen, Kissing
of of
rose.
Sunshine
ininthy
Kissinglips
lips
rose.
When
thethe
mistletoe
was
green,
Midst
thethe
winter’s
snows,
When
mistletoe
was
green,
Midst
winter’s
snows,
Sunshine
in thy
face
was
seen,
Kissing
lipslips
of of
rose.
Sunshine
in thy
face
was
seen,
Kissing
rose.
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
21
22
“Battle Cry of Freedom” is a song written
in 1862 by American composer George F. Root
(1825-1895) during the American Civil War.
A patriotic song advocating the cause of the
Union, it became so popular that composer
H.L. Schreiner and lyricist W.H. Barnes
adapted it for the Confederate States of
America. The Union version was used as the
campaign song for the Lincoln-Johnson ticker
in the 1864 presidential election. The song
was so popular that the music publisher at
one time had 14 printing presses going at
one time and still could not keep up with
demand. It is estimated that over 700,000
copies of this song were put in circulation.
For more- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Cry_of_
Freedom
Yes, we’ll rally round the flag, boys,
Yes, we’ll
rally
round the flag, boys,
we’ll rally once again,
we’ll rally
once
Shouting
the battle
cry again,
of freedom,
Wethe
will rally
fromcry
the of
hillside,
Shouting
battle
freedom,
we’ll gather from the plain,
WeShouting
will rally
fromcrythe
hillside,
the battle
of freedom!
we’ll gather from the plain,
The
forever!
Hurrah,
boys,
hurrah!
Yes,Union
we’ll
rally
round
theof
flag,
boys,
Shouting
the
battle
cry
freedom!
Down with
therally
traitors,
upagain,
with the stars;
we’ll
once
While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom,
Shouting
the battle
cry of freedom!
The Union
forever!
Hurrah,
boys, hurrah!
We will rally from the hillside,
Down withwe’ll
the
traitors,
with
the stars;
fromup
We gather
are springing
tothe
theplain,
call
While we rally
round
the
flag,
boys,
rally
Shouting
the
battlegone
cry of
freedom!once again,
of our
brothers
before,
Shouting
the
battle
cry
of
freedom!
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
Andforever!
we’ll fill our
vacantboys,
ranks hurrah!
The Union
Hurrah,
with a million free men more,
Down with the traitors, up with the stars;
Shouting
the battle cryto
of the
freedom!
We
are springing
call
of our brothers
gone
before,
Shouting
the battle
cry of
freedom!
The Union forever!
Hurrah,
boys,
hurrah!
Shouting
thethebattle
of freedom!
Down with
traitors,cry
up with
the stars;
WhileAnd
we rally
round
the
flag,
boys,
once again,
We
arefill
springing
to therally
call
we’ll
our
vacant
ranks
Shouting
the battlegone
cry of before,
freedom!
of
our
brothers
Shouting
thebattle
battle cry
cry of
Shouting
the
offreedom!
freedom!
We will welcome to our numbers
We will welcome to our numbers
the loyal, true and brave,
the cry
loyal,
true and brave,
Shouting the battle
of freedom!
And although
they may
poor, cry of freedom!
Shouting
thebe
battle
not a man shall be a slave,
And
although
they may be poor,
Shouting the
battle
cry of freedom!
not a man shall be a slave,
The Union Shouting
forever!
We willHurrah,
welcome
tohurrah!
our
numbers
theboys,
battle
cry
of freedom!
Down with the traitors,
up
with
the
stars;
the loyal, true and
brave,
Shouting
the battleforever!
cry of freedom!
The Union
Hurrah, boys, hurrah!
And although they may be poor,
again,
not a to
man
be a slave,
So we’re springing
theshall
call from
While the
weEast
rally
the
boys, rally once
Shouting
thethe
battle
cry of freedom!
andround
from
West,flag,
Shouting
the
battle
cry
of
freedom!
AndThe
we’llUnion
hurl the
rebel crew
from boys, hurrah!
forever!
Hurrah,
the land we love best,
ShoutingSo
thewe’re
battle cry
of freedom!to the call from
springing
the East and from the West,
the battle
cry of freedom!
The Union Shouting
forever! Hurrah,
boys, hurrah!
battle
cry of freedom!
Down withShouting
the traitors, the
up with
the stars;
While we rally round
the
flag,
boys,
again,
So we’re
springing
toonce
the
call
from from
And
we’ll
hurlrally
the
rebel
crew
Shouting thethe
battle
of freedom!
Eastcryand
from the West,
Shouting the
battle
cry of
Shouting
the
battle
cryfreedom!
of freedom!
And we’ll fill our vacant ranks
And we’ll hurl the rebel crew from
Chorus (1864 Lincoln Election Campaign)
For Lincolnhurrah!
and Johnson, hurrah, boys, The
hurrah!
The Union
forever!
Hurrah,
Union forever!
boys, hurrah!
Shouting
the battle
cry of boys,
freedom!
Shouting
the battle Hurrah,
cry of freedom!
Down
with
the
rebellion
and
on
with
the
war,
While
we boys,
rally round
the cause, boys, we’ll rallyThe
in our
might,
The
Union
forever!
Hurrah,
hurrah!
Unionround
forever!the
Hurrah,
hurrah!
While we rally
flag,boys,
boys,
rally once again,
While we rally round the flag, boys, Singing
rally once
again,
the
holy
cause
of
freemen.
Chorus (1864 Lincoln Election Campaign)
For Lincoln and Johnson, hurrah, boys, hurrah!
Down with the rebellion and on with the war,
While we rally round the cause, boys, we’ll rally in our might,
Singing the holy cause of freemen.
Battle Cry of Freedom
Confederate Version
Our flag is proudly floating on the
land and on the main,
Shout, shout the battle cry of
Freedom!
Beneath it oft we’ve conquered, and
we’ll conquer oft again!
Freedom!
They have laid down their lives on the
bloody battle field.
Freedom!
Their motto is resistance -- “To the
tyrants never yield!”
Freedom!--
Our Dixie forever!
She’s never at a loss!
Down with the eagle and
up with the cross! (albatross)
We’ll rally ‘round the bonny flag,
Freedom!
Our Dixie forever!
Freedom!
Our gallant boys have marched to the
rolling of the drums.
Freedom!
And the leaders in charge cry out,
“Come, boys, come!”
Freedom!--
While our boys have responded and
to the fields have gone.
Freedom!
Our noble women also have aided
them at home.
Freedom!--
Our Dixie forever!
Freedom!
Our Dixie forever!
Freedom!
23
24
Army of the Free
the army of the Union,
In theInarmy
of the Union,
we are marching in the van,
we And
are will
marching
in the
van,us,
do the work
before
And will
do
the
work
before
if the bravest soldiers can; us,
Webravest
will drivesoldiers
the Rebelcan;
forces
if the
from
their
strongholds
to
sea,
We will drive the Rebel the
forces
And will live and die together
from their
strongholds to the sea,
in the Army of the Free.
And will live and die together
in the Army
ofofthe
Army
theFree.
Free,
We have Butterfield the daring
We have Butterfield the daring
and we’veand
Martindale
the cool,
we’ve Martindale
the cool,
Where could
we
learn
the art
of war
Where could we learn
the art
of war
a better school,
within a betterwithin
school,
to of
thenames,
list of names,
Add MorelAdd
to Morel
the list
and we must all agree,
and we must
all agree,
We have the finest Generals
We have the in
finest
Generals
the Army
of the Free,
in the Army of the Free,
The Army of the Free,
WeWe
willmay
liverust
and
die together
beneath
inaction,
weArmy
may sink
disease
in the
of beneath
the Free.
wethe
live Free.
in winter quarters now,
In the Though
Army of
We will live and die together
Army of the Free,
in the Army of the Free.
The summer sun may scorch us
or the winter’s blast may freeze,
We may
rust beneath inaction,
But whatever may befall us,
we may
beneath
disease
we sink
will let
the Rebels
see,
The
sun may
scorch
us
Thesummer
unconquered
we shall
remain
the Army blast
of the may
Free, freeze,
or the winter’s
The Army of the
Free,
The Army of the
Free,
In the
Army of the Free.
we’re waiting but the hour,
When Porter’s brave division
Though weshall
live go
in forth
winter
quarters now,
in all its power,
we’re waiting
but the
hour,
And when
on the
field of battle,
When Porter’s fighting
brave division
we shall be,
We’ll show
cannot disgrace
shall go forth
in allthat
its we
power,
the Army of the Free,
But whatever may befall us,
we will The
let Army
the Rebels
see,
of the Free,
TheUnconquered
unconquered
we
shall
remain
we shall remain
Theof
Army
the Free.
the Army
theofFree,
And when on the field of battle,
fighting we shall
Thebe,
Army of the Free,
We’ll show that
cannot
Thewe
Army
of thedisgrace
Free,
We’ll
showFree,
that we cannot disgrace
the Army
of the
We are the best division of
The Army
of the Free,
a half a million souls,
The And
Army
ofresting
the Free,
only
on our arms
Unconquered
weonward
shall rolls;
remain
till the war cry
When
our gallant
The
Army
of theGeneral
Free. Porter calls,
why ready we shall be,
To follow him forever
We are
the
of
with
thebest
Armydivision
of the Free,
The Army of
the Free,
Then hurrah for our division,
The Army ofmay
theit Free,
soon be called to go,
We’ll show
we cannot
disgrace
To addthat
its strength
to those
who have
to meet the foe;
The Army ofadvanced
the Free,
a half a million souls,
Theresting
Army ofon
theour
Free,
And only
arms
The
Army
of
the
Free,
till the war cry onward rolls;
We will follow him forever
WhenWith
ourthe
gallant
General Porter calls, why
Army of the Free.
ready we shall be,
To follow him forever
with the Army of the Free,
God bless it, for we know right well,
wherever it may be,
Then hurrah
ourfaildivision,
‘Twillfor
never
to honor our great
may it soon be called
go,Free,
Army oftothe
To add its strength to those who have
The Army
the Free,
advanced to meet
the of
foe;
God bless
it, for we know right well,
‘Twill never fail to honor our great
wherever it mayArmy
be, of the Free.
Army of the Free,
July 5Free,
message to Congress: Union war aims—the
as aof
“People’s
contest:” For Unionists, “it is a
Thewar
Army
the Free,
The Army of the
struggle
for maintaining in the world, that formThe
and Army
substance
of government,
whose leading object is,
of the
Free,
The Army of the
Free,
to elevate the condition of men—to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable
We will follow him forever
pursuit for all; to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life. Yielding to partial
of theobject
Free.of the government for whose exisWith the Army
the Free.departures, from necessity, this Army
andoftemporary
is the leading
tence we contend.”
Abraham Lincoln, A Life, Volume Two, Michael Burlingame, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2008, p.
168
25
26
“Kingdom Coming" or "The Year of Jubilo" is a
American Civil War song, written and composed by
Henry C. Work in 1862, prior to the Emancipation
Proclamation. The song celebrates promised freedom to
“Kingdom
or "The
offrightened
Jubilo" is aaway by the
slaves Coming"
whose master
hasYear
been
American
Civil
War
song,
written
and
composed
by
“Kingdom
Coming"
"The Year
of Jubilo"
is a heard
Union
militaryor
forces.
The lyrics
are
seldom
Henry
C. Civil
Work
inThe
1862,
to the
Emancipation
American
War
song,
written
andplayed
composed
by
nowadays.
songprior
is usually
as a lively
Proclamation.
The
song
celebrates
promised
freedom
to
Henryinstrumental.
C. Work in 1862, prior to the Emancipation
slaves
whose
master
has
been
frightened
away
by
the
Proclamation. The song celebrates promised freedom to
Unionwhose
military
forces.
lyrics
are seldom
heard
slaves
master
hasThe
been
frightened
away
bysee
theWikipedia
For
more,
nowadays.
The
song
is
usually
played
as
a
lively
Union military forces. The lyrics are seldom heard
instrumental.
nowadays.
The song is usually played as a lively
instrumental.
Say, darkies, hab you seen de massa,
Wid de muffstash on his face,
Go long de road some time dis mornin’,
Like he gwine to leab de place?
Say, darkies,
you seen
He seenhab
a smoke
wayde
upmassa,
de ribber,
Wid
de
muffstash
on
his
face,
Whar
deyou
Linkum
Say, darkies,
hab
seen gumboats
de massa, lay;
Go Wid
long
detook
road
some
time
mornin’,
Hede
his
hat,
an
lef’
berry
sudden,
muffstash on hisdis
face,
Like
he
gwine
to
leab
de
place?
An’
I
spec’
he’s
run
away!
Go long de road some time dis mornin’,
He
a smoke
way de
up place?
de ribber,
Likeseen
he gwine
to leab
Whar
de
Linkum
gumboats
lay;
De
massa
run,
ha!
He seen a smoke way up de ha,
ribber,
He
took
his
hat,
an
lef’
berry
sudden,
De
darky
stay,
ho,
Whar de Linkum gumboats lay;ho!
An’
Ihat,
spec’
he’s
run
away!
mus’
beannow
kingdom
comin’,
He tookIt
his
lef’ de
berry
sudden,
An’
de
year
ob
Jubilo!
An’ I spec’ he’s run away!
De massa run, ha, ha!
darky
stay,
ho,ha!
ho! foot tudder,
He
six
foot one
way,
two
DeDe
massa
run,
ha,
It mus’
be
now
de
kingdom
An’
he
weigh
tree
hundred
pound,
De darky stay, ho, ho! comin’,
An’
de
year
ob
Jubilo!
His
coat
so
big,
It mus’ be now de kingdom comin’,
heyear
couldn’t
pay de tailor,
An’ de
ob Jubilo!
He six foot
way,go
two
foot
tudder,
An’one
it won’t
half
way
‘round.
An’
he
weigh
tree
hundred
pound,
He
drill
so
much
dey
call
him
He six foot one way, two foot tudder,Cap’n,
Hishe
coat
so
An’
got
so big,
drefful
tanned,
An’ he weigh
tree
hundred
pound,
he
couldn’t
pay
de
tailor,
I spec’
he
try
an’
fool
dem
Yankees
His coat so big,
An’
it
won’t
go
half
way
‘round.
For to tink
he’stailor,
contraband.
he couldn’t
pay de
He
drill
so
much
dey
call
him Cap’n,
An’ it won’t go half way ‘round.
An’
he
got
so
drefful
tanned,
De
massa
run,
ha!
He drill so much dey call himha,
Cap’n,
I spec’
he
try
an’
fool
dem
Yankees
ho, ho!
An’ he gotDe
sodarky
dreffulstay,
tanned,
For
to
tink
he’s
contraband.
It
mus’
be
now
de
kingdom
I spec’ he try an’ fool dem Yankeescomin’,
decontraband.
year ob Jubilo!
For to tinkAn’
he’s
darkyrun,
stay,ha,
ho,ha!
ho!
DeDemassa
It mus’
be
now
de
kingdom
An’
de year
ob Jubilo!
It mus’ be
now
de kingdom
comin’,
An’ de year ob Jubilo!
For more, see Wikipedia
De darkeys feelFor
so more,
lonesome
libbing
see Wikipedia
In de loghouse on de lawn,
Dey move dar tings to massa’s parlor
For to keep it while he’s gone.
De darkeys
lonesome
libbing
Dar’s feel
winesoan’
cider in de
kitchen,
In
de
loghouse
on
de
lawn,
An’feel
de darkeys
dey’lllibbing
hab some;
De darkeys
so lonesome
DeyInmove
dar
tings
to
massa’s
I
spose
dey’ll
all
be
cornfiscated
de loghouse on de lawn, parlor
For
keep
it while
he’s
gone.
de
Linkum
sojers
come.
Dey movetoWhen
dar
tings
to massa’s
parlor
Dar’s
wine
an’
cider
in
de
kitchen,
For to keep it while he’s gone.
An’wine
de darkeys
dey’ll
hab
some;
Decider
massa
ha,
ha!
Dar’s
an’
in run,
de
kitchen,
I
spose
dey’ll
all
be
cornfiscated
De
darky
stay,
ho,
ho!
An’ de darkeys dey’ll hab some;
When
de Linkum
sojers
come. comin’,
It mus’
beallnow
de kingdom
I spose
dey’ll
be cornfiscated
An’
de
year
ob
Jubilo!
When de Linkum sojers come.
Demassa
darkyrun,
stay,
ho,
ho!us trouble,
De
oberseer
he
make
De
ha,
ha!
It mus’
be
now
de
kingdom
An’
he
dribe
us
‘round
a spell;
An’
de
year
ob
Jubilo!
We
lock
him
up
in
de
smokehouse
It mus’ be now de kingdom comin’, cellar,
de key
An’Wid
de year
ob trown
Jubilo!in de well.
De oberseer
make
trouble,
De whip ishelost,
de us
han’cuff
broken,
An’
he
dribe
us
‘round
a
spell;
But
de
mass’ll
hab
his
pay;
De oberseer he make us trouble,
We An’
lockhe
him
up old
in
smokehouse
cellar,
He’s
enough,
enough,
dribe
usde
‘round
a big
spell;
Wid
de
key
trown
in
de
well.
ought
to
known
better
We lock him up in de smokehouse cellar,
DeWid
whip
lost,
han’cuff
broken,
tode
went
run
away.
deisDan
key
trown
in an’
de well.
Butisde
mass’ll
hab hisbroken,
pay;
De whip
lost,
de han’cuff
He’s
old
enough,
big
enough,
De
massa
run,
ha,
But de mass’ll hab his pay; ha!
todarky
known
better
De
ho, ho!
He’s ought
old enough,
bigstay,
enough,
Dan
to
went
an’
run
away.
It
mus’
be
now
de
kingdom
comin’,
ought to known better
An’
de
year
ob
Jubilo!
Dan to went an’ run away.
darkyrun,
stay,ha,
ho,ha!
ho!
DeDemassa
It mus’
be
now
de
kingdom
An’
de year
ob Jubilo!
It mus’ be
now
de kingdom
comin’,
An’ de year ob Jubilo!
27
28
29
The Battle of Helena
By Robert Phillips, Company B, 33d MO., Vols., Infantry
Tune – “The Days When I Was Hard Up.”
Song commemorates The Battle of Helena, Arkansas on the 4th of July, 1863, and is a nice example of the
“soldier written” music of the day. The lyrics reflect what happened on the day of the battle.
It was on the morning of the Fourth, 1863,
The rebels came to take Helena, to have a little spree;
But our brave boys were wide awake and ready for the fray –
We whipped the rebels, four to one, and also gained the day.
Chorus – Hurrah. Boys, hurrah!
Remember till you die,
The fight we had in Helena
On the Fourth of July.
The guns they did rattle and the cannon they did roar,
And the shells from the old “Tyler” they fell upon the shore;
And the rebel women who were outside our lines,
Were singing of their rebel songs, and having happy times.
Chorus
But when the shells began to fall among the rebel crew,
Says one unto the other, “This will never do;”
They mounted on their horses and fled away so fast,
They swore they could no endure the shells that come from
the Yankee class,
Chorus
When the rebels took Battery C, Gibson was in command.
They stood and fought like brave boys, almost hand to
hand; And when they took the Fort, they thought they had
the town, But a few shells from Battery D laid many on the
ground.
Chorus
And with three thousand men, all coming in abreast,
They charged on Battery D, which caused them much
distress; The brave Captain Hudson, who being in command,
We turned the reels right about and drove them from our
land.
Chorus
There was the 33d Iowa, and all the boys, I must say,
Fought like men and soldiers upon that glorious day;
There was the 43d Indiana, a word for them I’ll say –
They supported the Battery undaunted, and never once gave
way.
Chorus
The rebels did’nt like old Holmes for the deeds that he had
done, For old Price told him the consequences before the
fight begun; And when the battle was over old Price to
Holmes did come –“I told you how it would be before we had
fired a gun.”
Chorus
Now says Price to old Holmes, “See what you have done!;”
You have lost three thousand gallant men, besides your
wounded son;” Then Holmes he retreated, (he didn’t know
what else to do,) And swore he never was whipped so bad by
the Yankee crew.
Chorus
Come how, all you jovial Volunteers, I will quit my song –
Only for a short time, I hope it won’t be long;
The present and the past I have now gave to you.
And I will sing to you again when I hear of something new.
Chorus
30
Tenting on the Old Campground
"Tenting on the Old Camp Ground" was a popular song during the American Civil War. A particular favorite of
enlisted men in the Union army, it was written in 1863 by Walter Kittredge and first performed in that year at
Old High Rock, Lynn, Massachusetts. Lyrics from the original sheet music:[2]
We're tenting tonight on the old camp ground,
Give us a song to cheer
Our weary hearts, a song of home
And friends we love so dear.
No more on march or field of strife
Shall they lie so tired and worn,
No rouse again to hope and life
When the sound of drums beat at morn.
Chorus: Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,
Wishing for the war to cease;
Many are the hearts looking for the right
To see the dawn of peace.
Tenting tonight, tenting tonight,
Tenting on the old camp ground.
Chorus
We've been tenting tonight on the old camp-ground,
Thinking of days gone by,
Of the loved ones at home that gave us the hand,
And the tear that said, "Good-bye!"
Chorus
The lone wife kneels and prays with a sigh
That God his watch will keep
O'er the dear one away and the little dears nigh,
In the trundle bed fast asleep.
Chorus
We are tenting tonight on the old camp ground.
The fires are flickering low.
Still are the sleepers that lie around,
As the sentinels come and go.
Chorus
Alas for those comrades of days gone by
Whose forms are missed tonight.
Alas for the young and true who lie
Where the battle flag braved the fight.
Chorus
We are tired of war on the old camp ground,
Many are dead and gone,
Of the brave and true who've left their homes,
Others been wounded long.
Chorus
We've been fighting today on the old camp ground,
Many are lying near;
Some are dead, and some are dying,
Many are in tears.
Final Chorus:
Many are the hearts that are weary tonight,
Wishing for the war to cease;
Many are the hearts looking for the right,
To see the dawn of peace.
Dying tonight, dying tonight,
Dying on the old camp ground
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenting_on_the_Old_Camp_Ground
Just before the Battle, Mother
Just before the battle, mother,
I am thinking most of you,
While upon the field we’re watching
With the enemy in view.
Comrades brave are ‘round me lying,
Filled with thoughts of home and God
For well they know that on the morrow,
Some will sleep beneath the sod.
Farewell, mother, you may never
Press me to your breast again;
But, Oh, you’ll not forget me, mother;
If I’m numbered with the slain.
Oh, I long to see you, mother,
And the loving ones at home.
But I’ll never leave the banner
Till in honor I can come.
Hark! I hear the bugles sounding,
‘Tis the signal for the fight.
Now may God protect us, mother,
As He ever does the right.
Tell the traitors all around you,
That the cruel words we know,
In every battle kill our soldiers
By the help they give the foe.
Hear “The Battle Cry of Freedom,”
How it swells upon the air,
Oh yes, we’ll rally ‘round the standard
Or we’ll perish nobly there.
31
32
Ladies someone be my mother;
then ‘twill seem that I am home;
I’ll imagine I’m a brother,
Hearing each familiar tone;
Long before I was a soldier,
Long before I fought and bled,
In our cottage all the dear ones
Thus would gather round my bed.
But I want a mother near me,
With that heaven in her eye;
Ladies, someone be my mother,
Be my mother till I die.
Do not treat me as a stranger;
Let me feel a brothers tie;
One of you I want as mother,
Be my mother till I die.
Now I feel my wound is mortal,
Soon I’ll breath my parting sigh,
Be my mother ‘till I die.
Soon no wicked war will harm me;
Angels bringing peace are nigh:
By my mother till I die
Johnny, I Hardly Knew You
Skebaugh
The Irish antiwar song “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye” and “When Johnny Comes
Marching Home” share the same melodic material. Based on internal textual
references, “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye” apparently dates from the early
1820s, while “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” was first published in
1863. It was sung by both sides of the Civil War. It was used as a motivation
song that told the soldiers what happens when the war is over.
As with much folk music of this period, many variants in text and music
appear as the song is transmitted orally and subject to many external
influences. Primacy of one version over another is difficult to prove
conclusively because most versions were never written down or published.
James Fuld in The Book of World Famous Music, (p. 640), indicates that some
believe the melody is not Irish in origin.
The lyrics to “Johnny Comes Marching Home,” written by Irish-American
bandleader Patrick Gilmore and published under the pseudonym 'Louis
Lambert',[1] effectively reverse those of “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye”, in which
Johnny returns home blind and crippled, to the woman and children he
abandoned in order to go to Sri Lanka to serve in the British Army for the
East India Company.
Gilmore wrote the song for his sister Annie as she prayed for the safe return
of her fiancé, Union Light Artillery Captain John O'Rourke, from the Civil War.
See Wikipedia for more
33
34
When Johnny comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give him a hearty welcome then
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer and the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out
And we’ll all feel gay,
When Johnny comes marching home.
The old church bell will peal with joy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village lads and lassies say
With roses they will strew the way,
And we’ll all feel gay
Get ready for the Jubilee,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give the hero three times three,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his loyal brow
And we’ll all feel gay
Johnny, I Hardly Knew You
While goin’ the road to sweet Athy,
hurroo, hurroo
While goin’ the road to sweet Athy,
hurroo, hurroo
While goin’ the road to sweet Athy
A stick in me hand and a drop in me eye
A doleful damsel I heard cry,
Johnny I hardly knew ye.
With your drums and guns and drums and
guns, hurroo, hurroo
With your drums and guns and drums and
guns, hurroo, hurroo
With your drums and guns and
drums and guns
The enemy nearly slew ye
Oh my darling dear, Ye look so queer
Johnny I hardly knew ye.
Where are your eyes that were so mild,
hurroo, hurroo
Where are your eyes that were so mild,
hurroo, hurroo
Where are your eyes that were so mild
When my heart you so beguiled
Why did ye run from me and the child
Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye.
Where are your legs that used to run,
hurroo, hurroo
Where are your legs that used to run,
hurroo, hurroo
Where are your legs that used to run
When you went for to carry a gun
Indeed your dancing days are done
Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye.
I’m happy for to see ye home,
hurroo, hurroo
I’m happy for to see ye home,
hurroo, hurroo
I’m happy for to see ye home
All from the island of Sulloon
So low in flesh, so high in bone
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye.
Ye haven’t an arm, ye haven’t a leg,
hurroo, hurroo
Ye haven’t an arm, ye haven’t a leg,
hurroo, hurroo
Ye haven’t an arm, ye haven’t a leg
Ye’re an armless, boneless, chickenless egg
Ye’ll have to put with a bowl out to beg
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye.
They’re rolling out the guns again,
hurroo, hurroo
They’re rolling out the guns again,
hurroo, hurroo
They’re rolling out the guns again
But they never will take our sons again
No they never will take our sons again
Johnny I’m swearing to ye.
“Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" (also known as Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye or Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya) is
a popular traditional Irish anti-war and anti-recruiting song. It is generally dated to the early 19th
century, when Irish troops served the British East India Company. The original refers to the soldiers
from Athy, County Kildare that fought in "Sulloon" (Ceylon – present day Sri Lanka) for the East
India Company (in what history knows as the Kandyan Wars though the term was not familiar to the
Irish). It has become a definitive anti-war song.
35
36
In eighteen hundred and sixty one,
For bowls, for bowls,
In eighteen hundred and sixy one, For bowls, says I.
In eighteen hundred and sixty one,
Abe Lincoln went to Washington,
And we’ll all drink stone blind,
Johnny fill up the bowl!
In eighteen hundred and sixty Two,
In eighteen hundred and sixty two, For bowls, says I.
In eighteen hundred and sixty two,
Old Abe he put the rebellion through.
In eighteen hundred and sixty Three,
In eighteen hundred and sixty three, For bowls, says I.
In eighteen hundred and sixty three,
Old Abe he set the darkies free.
In eighteen hundred and sixty four,
In eighteen hundred and sixty four, For bowls, says I.
In eighteen hundred and sixty four,
Old Abe he called for a million more.
In eighteen hundred and sixty five,
In eighteen hundred and sixty five, For bowls, says I.
In eighteen hundred and sixty five,
John Wilkes Booth took Lincoln’s life
37
38
Samples of Alternative Lyrics North and South
Example 1:
The Yankees are comin’ through
By fall
sez I, sez I
By fall
sez I, sez I
By fall
By fall
We’ll all drink stone blind,
Johnny come fill up the bowl.
Slave Narratives From the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938.
Arkansas Narratives.
Example 2:
Johnny Fill Up The Bowl, New Version.
Up Freemen, up and volunteer,
Hurrah, hurrah!
And crush Rebellion out this Year,
Hurrah, hurrah!
Up-hoist our Country’s glorious flag,
Down with the Confederate rag;
Johnny fill up the bowl.
Example 3:
Abram Lincoln, what yer ‘bout?
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Stop this war; for, it’s played outHurrah! Hurrah!
Abram Lincoln, what yer ‘bout?
Stop this war: it’s all played out!
We’ll all drink stone blindJohnny fill up the bowl.
Example 4:
White Stars!
Of the Second Division my rhymes do sing,
White Stars, white stars,
White Stars say I.
Who with victorious shouts make rebellion
ring.
And drink to White Stars.
Boys fill up the bowl,
Example 5:
Jeff Davis is a stupid fool,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
He thinks he can the Union rule,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
He never went a day to school,
And is as stubborn as a mule
We’ll all drink stone blindJohnny, fill up the bowl
Example 6:
You’d better give up at once,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
And play no more the rebel dance,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Then we’ll extend a brother’s hand,
And form again a happy land,
We’ll all drink stone blindJohnny, fill up the bowl.
Another lyric mentions “the conscription act now is passed,”
indicating that the sheet was printed after March, 1863.
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Prisoner's Hope)
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp was one of the most popular songs of the American Civil War. George F. Root wrote both the words and music
and published it in 1864 to give hope to the Union prisoners of war.[1] The song is written from the prisoner's point of view. The
chorus tells his fellow prisoners that hope is coming.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramp!_Tramp!_Tramp!
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Prisoner's Hope)
In the prison cell I sit,
Thinking Mother dear, of you,
And our bright and happy home so far away,
And the tears they fill my eyes
Spite of all that I can do,
Tho' I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.
Chorus:
Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up, comrades, they will come,
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again,
Of the freeland in our own beloved home.
In the battle front we stood
When their fiercest charge they made,
And they swept us off a hundred men or more;
But before we reached their lines
They were beaten back, dismayed,
And we heard the cry of vict'ry o'er and o'er.
Chorus
So within the prison cell
We are waiting for the day
That shall come to open wide the iron door;
And the hollow eye grows bright
And the poor heart almost gay
As we think of seeing home and friends once more.
Chorus
http://www.songofamerica.net/cgi-bin/iowa/song/604.html
39
40
Generally speaking, the Battle Hymn of the Republic was more popular with civilians than it was with soldiers, and it was more
popular after the War than during.
The 21st Michigan Infantry, a company of Sherman’s veterans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan_infantry.jpg
“Marching through Georgia” is one of the bestknown songs of the Civil War (1861-65.)
Composed by Henry Clay Work and published
soon after the war ended in 1865, it
commemorates Union general William T.
Sherman’s march from Atlanta to Savannah in
the fall of 1864. The song became very popular
in the North and sold more than 500,000 copies
in the first twelve years after its publication.
Like many Civil War songs, it served as a rallying
cry for the North, even though the song did not
appear until after the war had ended. Some
historians have attributed the song’s popularity
to its morale-boosting effect as a celebration of
the triumphant end of the war. As a testament
to freedom and sacrifice, its inspirational lyrics
also contain a comic undertone.
It is said to have been the most-hated song in
the Reconstruction South.
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Multimedia.jsp?id=m-11178
http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-MarchingGeorgia.htm
41
42
Bring the good ol’ Bugle boys! We’ll sing another song,
Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along,
Sing it like we used to sing it fifty thousand strong,
While we were marching through Georgia.
CHORUS:
Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the Jubilee.
Hurrah! Hurrah! The flag that makes you free,
So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea,
How the darkeys shouted when they heard the joyful sound,
How the turkeys gobbled which our commissary found,
How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground,
CHORUS
Yes and there were Union men who wept with joyful tears,
When they saw the honored flag they had not seen for years;
Hardly could they be restrained from breaking forth in cheers,
CHORUS
“Sherman’ s dashing Yankee boys will never make the coast!”
So the saucy rebels said and ‘ twas a handsome boast
Had they not forgot, alas! to reckon with the Host
CHORUS
So we made a thoroughfare for freedom and her train,
Sixty miles of latitude, three hundred to the main;
Treason fled before us, for resistance was in vain
CHORUS
Northern National Anthems
43
“In 1860, The United States of America had five nationally recognized unofficial anthems: “Yankee Doodle”; “Hail
Columbia”; “The Star Spangled Banner”; “America” and “Columbia, Gem of the Ocean” (commonly referred to as
“Red, White, and Blue.”) . . . Although these songs were sometimes played together, Americans relegated them to
different contexts and purposes. “Hail Columbia” was preferred at government functions or military events and
was more often played by a band then sung. The “Star Spangled Banner” was always included in flag ceremonies
and usually performed instrumentally. “America” was reserved for solemn religious or patriotic events. “Yankee
Doodle” was the colloquial selection because of its cheerful melody and largely nonsensical lyrics—making it more
of a popular favorite. “Red, White and Blue” also found more favor with the public than at official ceremonies but
lacked Yankee Doodle’s colonial and revolutionary associations.1
1, Battle Hymns – The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War, Christian McWhirter, University of North
Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2012, ISBN: 978-0-8078-3550-0, p 34
44
“Hail, Columbia”
Hail Columbia, happy land!
Hail, ye heroes, heav’n-born band,
Who fought and bled in freedom’s cause,
Who fought and bled in freedom’s cause,
And when the storm of war was gone
Enjoy’d the peace your valor won.
Let independence be our boast,
Ever mindful what it cost;
Ever grateful for the prize,
Let its altar reach the skies.
Behold the chief who now commands,
Once more to serve his country stands.
The rock on which the storm will break,
The rock on which the storm will break,
But armed in virtue, firm, and true,
His hopes are fixed on Heav’n and you.
When hope was sinking in dismay,
When glooms obscured Columbia’s day,
His steady mind, from changes free,
Resolved on death or liberty.
Firm, united let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.
Immortal patriots, rise once more,
Defend your rights, defend your shore!
Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
Let no rude foe, with impious hand,
Invade the shrine where sacred lies
Of toil and blood, the well-earned prize,
While off’ring peace, sincere and just,
In Heaven’s we place a manly trust,
That truth and justice will prevail,
And every scheme of bondage fail.
Sound, sound the trump of fame,
Let Washington’s great name
Ring through the world with loud applause,
Ring through the world with loud applause,
Let ev’ry clime to freedom dear,
Listen with a joyful ear,
With equal skill, with God-like pow’r
He governs in the fearful hour
Of horrid war, or guides with ease
The happier time of honest peace.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JPlQS1pzHdA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail,_Columbia
Star Spangled Banner
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen thro’ the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
‘T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
45
46
Abolitionist Lyrics 1843 A. G. Duncan Jarius Lincoln, [ed.] Antislavery Melodies: for The Friends of
Freedom. Prepared for The Hingham Antislavery Society. Words by A. G. Duncan. (Hingham,
[Mass.]: Elijah B. Gill, 1843), Hymn 17 6s & 4s (Tune – America.) pages 28–29. Some of these
verses can be heard in the Arizona State University recording of the Antislavery Ensemble.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Country,_%27Tis_of_Thee
America (My Country, ‘Tis of Thee)
My country,’ tis of thee,
Stronghold of slavery, of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Where men man’s rights deride,
From every mountainside
thy deeds shall ring!
Our father’s God! to thee,
Author of Liberty, to thee we sing;
Soon may our land be bright,
With holy freedom’s right,
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.
My native country, thee,
Where all men are born free,
if white’s their skin;
I love thy hills and dales,
Thy mounts and pleasant vales;
But hate thy negro sales, as foulest sin.
It comes, the joyful day,
When tyranny’s proud sway,
stern as the grave,
Shall to the ground be hurl’d,
And freedom’s flag, unfurl’d,
Shall wave throughout the world,
O’er every slave.
Let wailing swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees the
black man’s wrong;
Let every tongue awake;
Let bond and free partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
the sound prolong.
Trump of glad jubilee!
Echo o’er land and sea freedom for all.
Let the glad tidings fly,
And every tribe reply,
“Glory to God on high,”
at Slavery’s fall.
47
48
Yankee Doodle
Yankee Doodle went to town
A-riding on a pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni’.
Chorus
Chorus:
Yankee Doodle keep it up,
Yankee Doodle dandy,
Mind the music and the step,
And with the girls be handy.
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Fath’r and I went down to camp,
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we saw the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.
And there we saw a thousand men
As rich as Squire David,
And what they wasted every day,
I wish it could be saved.
The ‘lasses they eat it every day,
Would keep a house a winter;
They have so much, that I’ll be bound,
They eat it when they’ve mind ter.
And there I see a swamping gun
Large as a log of maple,
Upon a deuced little cart,
A load for father’s cattle.
And every time they shoot it off,
It takes a horn of powder,
and makes a noise like father’s gun,
Only a nation louder.
I went as nigh to one myself
As ‘Siah’s inderpinning;
And father went as nigh again,
I thought the deuce was in him.
Cousin Simon grew so bold,
I thought he would have cocked it;
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
It scared me so I shrinked it off
And hung by father’s pocket.
And Cap’n Davis had a gun,
He kind of clapt his hand on’t
And stuck a crooked stabbing iron
Upon the little end on’t
And there I see a pumpkin shell
As big as mother’s bason,
And every time they touched it off
They scampered like the nation.
I see a little barrel too,
The heads were made of leather;
They knocked on it with little clubs
And called the folks together.
And there was Cap’n Washington,
And gentle folks about him;
They say he’s grown so ‘tarnal proud
He will not ride without em’.
He got him on his meeting clothes,
Upon a slapping stallion;
He sat the world along in rows,
In hundreds and in millions.
The flaming ribbons in his hat,
They looked so tearing fine, ah,
I wanted dreadfully to get
To give to my Jemima.
I see another snarl of men
A digging graves they told me,
So ‘tarnal long, so ‘tarnal deep,
They ‘tended they should hold me.
It scared me so, I hooked it off,
Nor stopped, as I remember,
Nor turned about till I got home,
Locked up in mother’s chamber.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee_Doodle
49
The Two Pickets
R = Rebel
Y = Yankee
Verse 1
R – Hal-lo you Yankee ren-e-gade, you mudsill of a cricket! Take
off your hat, and make a bow to a con-fed’ -rate picket.
Y – So you’ re one of the Sothern bloods that’ s talking ‘ beout
se-ces-sion, You look just like the fag end of a fun-e-ral procession.
R – O you weazen hatch-et face, How I hate the Yankee race?
Y – Yes, you’ d bu-ry me today if it was han-dy!
R – It will surely be your doom, Less you now ske-dad-dle
home, For I hate the name of Yankee doo-dle dandy
Y – Yes you hate the name of Yankee doo-dle dandy
R – O I hate the name of yankee doo-dle dandy.
Verse 2
Y – Say heow’ s your marm, you South’ rn spring, and how’ s your chro-no-meter! Perhaps you don’ t like
Yankee guns, nor our i-ron Monitor.
R – Well tho’ for you I must con-fess, I have a hear-ty loathing. I wish we had more of your guns, and
more Yan-kee clothing.
Y – Won’ t you please to state to me, How’ s your su-gar in your tea! Don’ t you find its rath-er trou-ble
some and san-dy
R – It is vain for you to brag, for I’ ll nev-er raise your flag. For I hate the name of Yankee Doo-dle dan-dy
Y – Yes you hate the name of Yankee doo-dle dandy
R – O I hate the name of Yankee doo-dle dandy.
Verse 3
R – Our cuntry’ s suffered so from war ‘ tis past the re-u-ni-ting, And well ye know, ye menial hound, for
Lib-er-ty we’ re fighting!
Y – Well now, I don’ t know no such ting, just cut down them ere figures, You’ re figh-tin that you’ re risto-crats may mull-ti-ply their neg-roes!
R – Well its worth my weight in gold, To be standing here in cold,
Continued
50
Y – While your of-fi-cers are drinking up the bran-dy.
R – Ah! I’ m yearning now for bread ‘ Tis so long since I was fed,
Y – Well then come and eat with Yankee Doo-dle dan-dy
R – Yes you’ ve food enough in Yankee doo-dle dandy; O we’ ll shout a-loud for Yankee doo-dle dandy.
Y – O we’ll shout a-loud for Yankee doo-dle dandy.
Verse 4
R – Well af-ter all you must con-fess – al-tho’ we’ re short of ra-tion, We have our ser-vants at our call,
which gives us pride and station!
Y – Well yes you all for vit-tles wait, and so you’ ve lots of waiters, But why should you be proud O’ that,
for where’ s your bread and ta-ters.
R – O my gnaw-ing ap-pe-tite, Proves to me that you are right
Y – Then fly to A-bram’ s bo-som now so han-dy,
R – Well I’ ll raise the na-tion’ s flag And I’ ll drop the reb-el rag, And I’ ll shout a-loud for Yankee doo-dle
dan-dy
Y – Yes – come shout a-loud for Yankee doo-dle dandy
Verse 5
Y – So now my hon-est South’ rn friend, since you have been con-ver-ted, Let’ s try our hands on Northern sneaks that truth have long per-ver-ted!
R – Don’ t ask me, sir, to act with men whose love for truth has sour-ed, I hate the sneak who cries for
peace be-cause he is a cow-ard!
Y – Like a joke of Un-cle Abe’ s
R – We will treat them all as babes,
Y – And we’ ll give to each a lit-tle stick of can-dy!
R – Their di-sease is grow-ing worse, Then we’ ll put ‘ em out to nurse, And we’ ll make ‘ em sing old Yankee doo-dle dan-dy!
Y – Yes we’ ll make them sing old Yan-kee doo-dle dan-dy
Both – Yankee doodle is the tune, tis so slick and handy. Yankee doodle doodle doo, Yankee doodle
dandy!
https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/
51
52
Southern National Anthems
53
54
Southern men the thunders mutter!
Northern flags in South winds flutter!
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Send them back your fierce defiance!
Stamp upon the cursed alliance!
Advance the flag of Dixie! Hurrah! Hurrah!
In Dixie’s land we take our stand,
and live or die for Dixie!
To arms! To arms!
And conquer peace for Dixie!
To arms! To arms!
And conquer peace for Dixie
Fear no danger! Shun no labor!
Lift up rifle, pike, and saber!
Shoulder pressing close to shoulder,
Let the odds make each heart bolder!
To arms! To arms!
To arms! To arms!
Swear upon your country’s altar
Never to submit or falter-To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie!
Till the spoilers are defeated,
Till the Lord’s work is completed!
To arms! To arms!
To arms! To arms!
55
56
57
58
59
Oh! Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny
(also know as “De Floating Scow)
There is a better known “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” that was written by James A. Bland in 1878, and that became
the state song of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the 1940s. Any reference to a song with that title before 1878,
however, is to this one, which was frequently performed before the Civil War. This version dates from the 1840s and
was commonly sung by Virginia Confederate soldiers.
http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/minstrel/oldvirginnyfr.html
On de floating scow ob ole Virginny,
I’ve worked from day to day,
Raking among de oyster beds,
To me it was but play;
But now I’m old and feeble,
An’ my bones are getting sore,
Den carry me back to ole Virginny
To ole Virginny shore.
CHORUS: Den carry me back to ole Virginny
To ole Virginny shore,
Oh, carry me back to ole Virginny,
Oh, I wish dat I was young again,
Den I’d lead a different life,
I’d save my money and buy a farm,
And take Dinah for my wife;
But now old age, he holds me tight,
And I cannot love any more,
Oh, carry me back to ole Virginny,
CHORUS
When I am dead and gone to roost,
Lay de old tambo by my side,
Let de possum and coon to my funeral go,
For dey are my only pride;
Den in soft repose, I’ll take my sleep,
An’ I’ll dream for ever more,
Dat you’re carrying me back to ole Virginny,
CHORUS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carry_Me_Back_to_Old_Virginny
60
Ye Parliament of England
The tune is the War of 1812 from the American point of view. The words in capitals are the
names of ship. Jeff Davis in the White House uses the same tune; the lyrics lay out in
popular verse southern case for session and what will happen to Lincoln and the Union.
Ye Parliament of England,
Ye Lords and Commons too,
Consider well what you’re about,
What you’re about to do.
For you’re to war with Yankees,
And I’m sure you’ll rue the day
You roused the Sons of Liberty
In North America!
You first confined our commerce,
And said our ships shan’t trade,
You next impressed our seamen,
And used them as your slaves,
You then insulted Rodgers,
While plying o’er the main,
And had we not declared war,
You’d have done it o’er again.
You tho’t our frigates were but few,
And Yankees could not fight,
Until brave HULL your
GUERRIERE took
And banished her from your sight.
The WASP then took your FROLIC,
We’ll nothing say to that;
The POICTIERS being of the line,
Of course she took her back.
The next, your MACEDONIAN,
No finer ship could swim,
Decatur took her gilt work off,
And then he sent her in.
The JAVA by a Yankee ship
Was sunk, you all must know;
The PEACOCK fine, in all her plume,
By Lawrence town did go.
Then next you sent your BOXER,
To box us all about,
We had an ENTERPRISING brig
That boxed your BOXER out;
She boxed her up to Portland,
And moored her off the town,
To show the sons of liberty
The BOXER of renown.
The next upon Lake Erie,
Where Perry had some fun,
You own he beat your naval force
And caused them for to run;
This was to you a sore defeat,
The like ne’er known before Your British squadron beat complete
Some took, some run ashore.
There’s Rodgers, in the PRESIDENT,
Will burn, sink, and destroy,
The CONGRESS, on the Brazil coast,
Your commerce will annoy;
The ESSEX, in the South Seas,
Will put out all your lights;
The flag she waves at her mast-head
Free Trade and Sailor’s Rights.
61
62
Confederate Yankee Doodle
Yankee Doodle had a mind
To whip the Southern “traitors”,
Because they didn’t choose to live
On codfish and potatoes.
Yankee Doodle soon found out
That Bull Run was no trifle;
For if the North knew how to steal,
The South knew how to rifle.
Yankee Doodle, doodle-doo,
And so to keep his courage up
He took a drink of brandy.
‘Tis very clear I took too much
Of that infernal brandy.
Yankee Doodle said he found
By all the census figures,
That he could starve the Rebels out
If he could steal their negroes.
Yankee Doodle wheeled about,
And scampered off at full run,
And such a race was never seen
As that he made at Bull Run.
And then he took another drink
Of gunpowder and brandy.
I haven’ t time to stop just now
To take a drop of brandy.
Yankee Doodle made a speech;
‘Twas very full of feeling:
I fear, says he, I cannot fight,
But I am good at stealing.
Yankee Doodle, Oh! For shame,
You’ re always intermeddling;
Let guns alone, they’re dangerous things;
You’ d better stick to peddling.
Yankee Doodle dandy,.
Hurrah for Lincoln, he’s the boy
To take a drop of brandy.
When next I go to Bully Run
I’ll throw away the brandy!
Yankee Doodle drew his sword,
And practiced all the passes;
Come boys, we’ll take another drink
When we get to Manassas.
Yankee Doodle, you had ought
To be a little smarter;
Instead of catching wooly heads
I vow you’ve caught a tartar.
They never reached Manassas plain,
And never got the brandy.
Go to hum, you’ve had enough
Of Rebels and of brandy!
Bonnie Blue Flag
Music - Irish Jaunting Car
WeWe
areare
a band
of brothers
a band
of brothers
andand
native
to the
soil,
native
to the
soil,
Fighting
for
the
property
Fighting for the property
wewe
gained
by by
honest
toil;*
gained
honest
toil;*
And
when
our
rights
were
threatened,
And when our rights were threatened,
thethe
crycry
rose
near
andand
far,far,
rose
near
“Hurrah
forfor
thethe
Bonnie
Blue
Flag
“Hurrah
Bonnie
Blue
Flag
that
bears
a
single
star!”
that bears a single star!”
CHORUS:
CHORUS:
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights
Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights
hurrah!
hurrah!
Hurrah
forthe
theBonnie
Bonnie
Blue
Hurrah for
Blue
FlagFlag
that that
bears
star.star.
bearsa single
a single
Ye men
of valor,
gather
round
Ye men
of valor,
gather
round
the banner
of right,
the right,
the banner
of the
Texas
and
fair
Louisiana
in fight;
the fight;
Texas and fair Louisiana join join
us inusthe
Davis,
our loved
president,
Davis,
our loved
president,
and
Stephens
statesman
and Stephens statesman are, are,
round
the Bonnie
NowNow
rallyrally
round
the Bonnie
BlueBlue
FlagFlag
bears
a single
that that
bears
a single
star.star.
CHORUS
CHORUS
And And
here’s
to old
here’s
to Virginia,
old Virginia,
the Old
Dominion
State,
the Old Dominion
State,
WhoWho
withwith
the young
Confederacy
at length
the young
Confederacy
at length
has linked
her
fate;
has linked her fate;
Impelled
by her
Impelled
by example,
her example,
nownow
other
states
prepare,
other
states
prepare,
To hoist
on
high
the
Bonnie
BlueBlue
FlagFlag
To hoist on high the Bonnie
that that
bears
a single
star.star.
bears
a single
CHORUS
As As
long
as as
thethe
Union
was
faithful
long
Union
was
faithful
to to
herher
trust,
trust,
Like
friends
and
like
brothers
Like friends and like
brothers
both
kind
were
wewe
andand
just;
both
kind
were
just;
ButBut
now,
when
Northern
treachery
now, when Northern treachery
attempts
ourour
rights
to to
mar,
attempts
rights
mar,
WeWe
hoist
on on
high
thethe
Bonnie
Blue
Flag
hoist
high
Bonnie
Blue
Flag
that
bears
a
single
star.
that bears a single star.
CHORUS
CHORUS
First gallant South Carolina
First gallant South Carolina
nobly made the stand,
nobly made the stand,
Then came Alabama, who took
Then came Alabama, who took
her by the hand;
her by the hand;
Next quickly Mississippi, Georgia
Next quickly Mississippi, Georgia
and Florida,
and Florida,
raised
high
Bonnie
Blue
Flag
All All
raised
on on
high
thethe
Bonnie
Blue
Flag
that
bears
a
single
star.
that bears a single star.
CHORUS
CHORUS
CHORUS
Then cheer, boys, cheer,
Then
cheer,
raise
the cheer,
joyousboys,
shout,
raise
the
joyous
shout,
For Arkansas and North Carolina
For Arkansas
North
now
have bothand
gone
out;Carolina
now
have
both
gone
And let another rousing cheerout;
for
And
let
another
rousing
cheer
for
Tennessee be given,
Tennessee
be given,
The single star
of the Bonnie
Blue Flag
Thehas
single
star
of
the
Bonnie
grown to be eleven. Blue Flag
has grown to be eleven.
CHORUS
CHORUS
Then here’s to our Confederacy,
strong are we and brave,
Then here’s to our Confederacy,
Like patriots of old we’ll fight
strong are we and brave,
our heritage to save;
Like patriots of old we’ll fight
And rather than submit to shame,
our heritage to save;
to die we would prefer,
And rather than submit to shame,
So cheer for
thewe
Bonnie
Blue
Flag
to die
would
prefer,
that
bears
a
single
star.
So cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag
thatCHORUS
bears a single star.
CHORUS
63
64
65
Southern Soldier Boy
Words: Captain G.W. Alexander Tune: "The Boy With the Auburn Hair"
Written in 1863 by a Captain G.W. Alexander to the tune of
“The Boy With the Auburn Hair”, this song has always been
one of Miss Holly’s favorites. It embodies the spirit of the
Southern women who had absolute faith in the Southern
Cause and the men who fought for it. “Nannie” is both
wistful and defiant as she tells of her love and pride in her
sweetheart, and her unshakeable belief in the fact that
“Southrons never yield”.
Our research on this tune led us to an actress named Sallie
Partington, who was born in May 1834, in Islington, England.
She was a popular actress of the era and worked with many
famous actors, including John Wilkes Booth. During the Civil
War, Sallie was considered the “toast of Richmond” and
often ended her stage performance with a rousing salute
to the Confederacy. She was well known for her role in the
immensely popular Confederate play “The Virginia Cavalier”,
in which she performed the song “Southern Soldier Boy”.
From The Thrown Together Band site
Bob Roebuck is my sweetheart’s name,
He’s off to the wars and gone;
He’s fighting for his Nanny dear,
His sword is buckled on,
He’s fighting for his own true love;
His foes he does defy;
He is the darling of my heart,
My Southern soldier boy.
Oh, if in battle he were slain,
I know that I would die,
But I am sure he’ll come again
To cheer my weeping eye.
But should he fall in this our glorious cause,
He still would be my joy,
For many a sweetheart mourns the loss
Of her Southern soldier boy.
When Bob comes home from war’s alarms,
We’ll start anew in life;
I’ll give myself right up to him,
A dutiful, loving wife.
I’ll try my best to please my dear,
For he is my only joy,
He is the darling of my heart,
My Southern soldier boy.
I hope for the best, and so do all
Whose hopes are in the field;
I know that we shall win the day
For Southrons never yield.
And when we think of those who are away,
We look above for joy,
And I’m mighty glad that my Bobby is
A Southern soldier boy.
http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/confederate/songs/soldier-boy.html
66
Confederate When This Cruel War Is Over
Dearest Love, do you remember,
when we last did meet,
How you told me that you loved me,
kneeling at my feet?
Oh! How proud you stood before me,
in your suit of gray,
When you vow’ d to me and country
to be true throughout the fray.
If amid the din of battle,
nobly you should fall,
Far away from those who love you,
none to hear you call -Who would whisper words of comfort,
who would soothe your pain?
Ah! The many cruel fancies,
ever in my brain.
Weeping, sad and lonely,
hopes and fears how vain!
When this cruel war is over,
praying that we meet again.
When the summer breeze is sighing,
mournfully along,
Or when autumn leaves are falling,
sadly breathes the song.
Oft in dreams I see thee
lying on the battle plain,
Lonely, wounded, even dying,
calling but in vain.
But our Country called you, Darling,
angels cheer your way;
While our nation’ s sons are fighting,
we can only pray.
Nobly strike for God and Liberty,
let all nations see
How we loved the starry banner,
emblem of the free.
http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/confederate/songs/cruel2.html
67
The Homespun Dress
By Southern Soldier Boy
Tune: The Irish Jaunting Car (same melody as The Bonny Blue Flag but slowed down dramatically).
With the advent of the northern blockage, it became difficult and then almost impossible to import fine textiles. The south did not
have a textile manufacturing base. The song illustrates the support of the Confederate war effort by southern women.
Oh, yes, I am a Southern girl,
And glory in the name,
And boast it with far greater pride
Than glittering wealth or fame.
I envy not the Northern girl,
Her robes of beauty rare,
Though diamonds grace her snowy neck,
And pearls bedeck her hair.
The soldier is the lad for me -A brave heart I adore;
And when the sunny South is free,
And fighting is no more,
I’ll choose me then a lover brave
From out the gallant band,
The soldier lad I love the best
Shall have my heart and hand.
Chorus:
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For the sunny South so dear;
Three cheers for the homespun dress
The Southern ladies wear.
Chorus
My homespun dress is plain, I know,
My hat’s palmetto, too;
But then it shows what Southern girls
For Southern rights will do.
We have sent the bravest of our land
To battle with the foe,
And we will lend a helping hand;
We love the South, you know.
Chorus
Now, Northern goods are out of date;
And since old Abe’s blockade,
We Southern girls can be content
With goods that Southrons made.
We sent our sweethearts to the war
But dear girls, never mind,
Your soldier-boy will ne’er forget
The girl he left behind.
Chorus
The Southern land’s a glorious land,
And has a glorious cause;
Then cheer three cheers for Southern rights
And for the Southern boys.
We scorn to wear a bit of silk,
A bit of Northern lace;
But make our homespun dresses up,
And wear them with such grace.
Chorus
And now, young man, a word to you;
If you would win the fair,
Go to the field where honor calls,
And win your lady there.
Remember that our brightest smiles
Are for the true and brave,
And that our tears are all for those
Who fill a soldier’s grave.
http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-HomespunDress.html
68
Eatin Goober Peas
Popular with Southern soldiers, this song celebrates a staple of the Confederate
Army’s diet, the goober pea or peanut. Its tune was easy to march to and it was
sung in Southern regiments throughout the war. When finally published in 1866,
the composer was listed as P. Nutt, Esq.
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/on-the-homefront/culture/music/eatingoober-peas/eatin-goober-peas.html
The lyrics of "Goober Peas" are a description of daily life during the last few years of
the Civil War for Southerners. After being cut off from the rail lines and their farm
land, they had little to eat aside from boiled peanuts (or "goober peas") which often
served as an emergency ration. Peanuts were also known as pindars and goobers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goober_Peas
Sitting by the Roadside on a summer’s day,
chatting with my messmates passing time away,
Lying in the shadow underneath the trees,
Goodness how delicious, eating goober peas!
Peas! Peas! Peas! Peas! Eating goober peas!
When a horseman passes, the soldiers have a rule,
To cry out at their loudest “Mister here’s your mule.”
But another pleasure enchantinger than these,
is wearing out your Grinders, eating goober peas!
Just before the battle the General hears a row,
He says the Yanks are coming, I hear their rifles now,
He turns around in wonder, and what do you think he sees,
The Georgia Militia, eating goober peas!
I think my song has lasted almost long enough,
The subject’s interesting, but rhymes are mighty rough,
I wish this war was over when free from rags, and fleas,
We’d kiss our wives and sweethearts and gobble goober peas!
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/on-the-homefront/culture/music/eatin-goober-peas/eatin-goober-peas.html
69
Listen to the Minie-Balls!
The song, Listen to the Mocking Bird (p. 91) was popular down South. In 1863, as the inhabitants of Vicksburg were enduring a grim siege,
they made light of their situation by changing the lyrics of Listen to the Mockingbird to “Listen to the Minié Balls.”
‘Twas at the Seige of Vicksburg,
Of Vicksburg, of Vicksburg,
‘Twas at the Seige of Vicksburg,
When the Parrott shells were whistlin’ through the air!
CHORUS
Listen to the Parrott shells!
The Parrott shells are whistlin’ through the air!
The Parrott shells are whistlin’ through the air!
Oh, well will we remember
Remember, remember,
Tough mule meat, June sans November,
And the minie-balls that whistled through the air!
CHORUS
Listen to the minie-balls!
The minie-balls are singing in the air!
The minie-balls are singing in the air!
http://www.bardofthesouth.com/a-song-popular-during-the-civil-war-a-song-about-vicksburg/
This catches the mood of why non-slave holding whites enlisted in the Confederate armies.
They stood together, the wife leaning close to her husband. Grasping his rough hand in hers, she begged him not to go. He was all
she had in this world. All but their boy. Stay home, she pleaded, “before you orphan your son and make your wife a widow.”
Looking at the tears streaming down her face, the husband smiled gently. He had to fight. He would “die of shame,” he explained, if
he failed to defend their home. And what if he did die fighting, he asked? Was that worse than failing to fight at all, laying down his
weapons to watch his wife and son enslaved under a tyrant?
And then the man prayed, his wife still close against him, that of their son his countrymen would one day say, “He is a better man
than his father,” and “a joy to his mother’s heart.” Still crying softly, the wife took the baby in her arms, and the husband softened,
asking, “Why so much grief? No man will hurry me down to Hades, against my fate. No one alive has ever escaped it, neither brave
man nor coward—it’s born with us the day we are born.
Favorite Sons, Susannah J. Ural, America’s Civil War, Vol. 27, No. 1, March 2014, p. 59,
70
Yellow Rose of Texas
"The Yellow Rose of Texas" is a traditional folk song. Its original version became associated with
the legend of how an indentured servant named Emily D. West (aka Emily Morgan) unwittingly
aided Texans in winning the Battle of San Jacinto, the decisive battle in their War of Independence
from Mexico. During the Civil War the song was popular with Confederate soldiers, especially
Texans. The last verse was altered after the defeat of General John Bell Hood's Confederate army
at the Battle of Nashville in December 1864. “I'm going back to Georgia, to find my Uncle Joe”
refers to the Confederate soldier’s preference for the leadership of General Joseph E. Johnston,
who had commanded the army during the earlier portions of the Atlanta Campaign before being
replaced by Hood.
http://www.civilwarheritagetrails.org/American_Civil_War/The_Yellow_Rose_of_Texas.html
There's a yellow rose in Texas, that I am going to see,
No other soldier knows her, no soldier only me
She cryed so when I left her it like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her, we nevermore will part.
She's the sweetest rose of color this soldier ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Dearest May, and sing of Rosa Lee,
But the Yellow Rose of Texas beats the belles of Tennessee.
Where the Rio Grande is flowing, and the starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river in the quiet summer night:
She thinks if I remember, when we parted long ago,
I promised to come back again, and not to leave her so.
Oh my feet are torn and bloody, and my heart is full of woe,
I'm going back to Georgia, to find my Uncle Joe,
You may talk about your Beauregard, and sing of Bobby Lee,
But the gallant Hood of Texas, he played hell in Tennessee.
http://www.civilwarheritagetrails.org/American_Civil_War/The_Yellow_Rose_of_Texas.html
71
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (Southern Version)
Confederate Lyrics Courtesy of: Music and Poetry of the Civil War (a site that no longer exists)
In my prison cell I sit,
thinking, Mother, dear, of you,
and my happy Southern home so far away;
and my eyes they fill with tears
'spite of all that I can do,
though I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.
Chorus: Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!
The boys are marching;
cheer up, comrades, they will come.
And beneath the stars and bars
we shall breathe the air again
of freemen in our own beloved home..
In the battle front we stood
when their fiercest charge they made,
and our soldiers by the thousands sank to die;
but before they reached our lines,
they were driven back dismayed,
and the "Rebel yell"went upward to the sky.
Chorus
Now our great commander Lee
crosses broad potomac's stream,
and his legions marching Northward take their way.
On pennsylvania's roads
will their trusty muskets gleam,
and her iron hills shall echo to the fray.
Chorus
In the cruel stockade-pen
dying slowly day by day,
for weary months we've waited all in vain;
but if God will speed the way
of our gallant boys in gray,
I shall see your face, dear Mother, yet again.
Chorus
When I close my eyes in sleep,
all the dear ones 'round me come,
at night my little sister to me calls;
and mocking visions bring
all the warm delights of home,
while we freeze and starve in Northern prison walls.
Chorus
So the weary days go by,
and we wonder as we sigh,
if with sight of home we'll never more be blessed.
Our hearts within us sink,
and we murmur, though we try
to leave it all with him who knowest best.
Chorus
http://www.contemplator.com/america/trampsouth.htm
Elmira barracks were built at the beginning of the war as a general
recruiting depot, but in July, 1864, Division No. 3, of the barracks,
called after wards Camp Chemung, was converted into a prison
camp. Camp Chemung was forever to be known by the Confederate
prisoners who were held there as simply "Helmira".
http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc12/elmira1.htm
72
Sea Songs
73
74
Sea Songs
Blow the Man Down
Come all ye young fellows
that follow the sea,
to my way haye, blow the man down,
And pray pay attention and listen to me,
Give me some time to blow the man down.
I’m a deep water sailor just in from Hong Kong,
if you’ll give me some grog, I’ll sing you a song,
‘Twas on a Black Baller I first served my time,
And on that Black Baller I wasted my prime,
‘Tis when a Black Baller’s preparing for sea
You’d split your sides laughing at the sights that you see.
With the tinkers and tailors and soljers and all
That ship for prime seaman on board a Black Ball.
‘Tis when a Black Baller is clear of the land,
Our Boatswain then gives us the word of command
“Lay aft,” is the cry,”to the break of the Poop!
Or I’ll help you along with the toe of my boot!”
‘Tis larboard and starboard on the deck you will sprawl,
For “Kicking Jack” Williams commands the Black Ball.
Pay attention to order, now you one and all,
For right there above you flies the Black Ball.
Sea Songs
75
Roll, Alabama, Roll The Alabama
Confederate Navy Song
The Confederate sloop-of-war CSS Alabama was built by William and John Laird & Co. in Birkenhead, United Kingdom, in 1862.
Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during
which she never laid anchor in a Southern port. She was sunk on June 19, 1964 off the coast of Cherbourg by USS Kearsarge. The
lyrics of the shanty Roll, Alabama, Roll are attributed to the Confederate sailor Frank Townsend who served on the ship. 80 years
later, on June 19, 1944, its namesake the battleship USS Alabama (BB-60) took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the largest
aircraft carrier battle in history
http://mainlynorfolk.info/peter.bellamy/songs/thealabama.html
Roll, Alabama, Roll!
The sea shanty “Roll Alabama Roll' should be sung
in a 'Call and Answer' format.
[ Roud 4710 ; Ballad Index Doe035 ; trad.]
1.In eighteen-hundred and sixty-one,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
This ship's building was begun,
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
2. When the Alabama's keel was laid,
It was laid in the yard of Jonathan Laird.
3. It was laid in the yard of Jonathan Laird;
It was laid in the town of Birkenhead.
4. At first she was called "the Two-Ninety-Two,"
For the merchants of the city of Liverpool
7. Down the Mersey she rolled one day,
And across the Western she plowed her way.
8. From the Western Isles she sailed forth,
To destroy the commerce of the North.
9. To fight the North Semmes did employ
Ev'ry method to kill and destroy.
10. The Alabama sailed for two whole years,
Took sixty-five ships in her career.
11. With British guns, oh, she was stocked;
She sailed from Fayal; in Cherbourg she docked.
5. Put up the money to build the ship
In hopes of driving commerce from the sea.
12. To Cherbourg port she sailed one day
To take her count of prize money.
6. Down the Mersey ways she rolled then;
Liverpool fitted her with guns and men.
13. But off Cherbourg the Kearsarge lay tight,
With Cap'n Winslow spoilin' for a fight.
Continued
76
Sea Songs
14. The Kearsarge with Winslow was waiting there,
And Semmes challenged them to fight at sea.
15. Many a sailor lad foresaw his doom,
When the Kearsarge, it hove in view.
16. 'Twas a ball from the forward pivot that day,
Shot the Alabama's steerin' gear away.
17. 'Twas outside the three-mile limit they fought,
And Semmes escaped on a fine British yacht.
18. On June nineteenth, eighteen sixty-four,
They sent the Alabama to the cold ocean floor.
19. The Kearsarge won; the Alabama so brave
Sank to the bottom, to a watery grave.
The Alabama was not in fact designated "#292" but
rather "#290" while it was under construction.
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/sea-shanty/Roll_Alabama_Roll!.htm
Sea Songs
77
Sea Songs
78
What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor
What do you do with a drunken sailor,
Earl-eye in the morning!
Chorus:
Way hay and up she rises
Earl-eye in the morning
Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
Chorus
Put him in the hold with the
Captain’s daughter,
Chorus
Put him the back of the paddy wagon,
Chorus
Throw him in the lock-up ‘til he’s sober,
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
The shanty was sung to accompany certain work tasks aboard sailing ships, especially those
that required a bright walking pace. It is believed to originate in the early 19th century or
before, during a period when ships' crews, especially those of military vessels, was
sufficiently large to permit hauling a rope whilst simply marching along the deck. With the
advent of merchant packet and clipper ships and their smaller crews, which required
different working methods, use of the shanty appears to have declined or shifted to other,
minor tasks.
Although the song's lyrics vary, they usually contains some variant of the question, "What
shall we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning?" In some styles of performance,
each successive verse suggests a method of sobering or punishing the drunken sailor. In
other styles, further questions are asked and answered about different people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunken_Sailor
Stephen Foster
79
80
Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster
81
82
Stephen Foster
Camptown Races
The Camptown ladies sing this song
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
The Camptown racetrack’ s five miles long
Oh! doo-dah day!
CHORUS:
Goin’ to run all night
Goin’ to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the gray
I come down there with my hat caved in
Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I go back home with a pocket full of tin
Oh! de doo-dah day!
Chorus
The long tail filly and the big black hoss
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
They fly the track and they both cut across
Oh! de doo-dah day!
Chorus
The blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole
Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Can’ t touch bottom with a ten foot pole
Oh! de doo-dah day!
Chorus
Old muley cow come on to the track
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
The bob-tail fling her over his back
Oh! de doo-dah day!
Chorus
Then fly along like a rail-road car
Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Runnin’ a race with a shootin’ star
Oh! de doo-dah day!
Chorus
See them flyin’ on a ten mile heat
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
Round the race track, then repeat
Oh! doo-dah day!
Chorus
I win my money on the bob-tail nag
Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I keep my money in an old tow-bag
Oh! de doo-dah day!
Chorus
Stephen Foster
83
84
Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster
85
86
Stephen Foster
Songs of the Period
87
Arkansas Traveler
The play "The Arkansas Traveler" was a favorite attraction in Salem, Ohio, in the 1850's.
It tells of a traveler's experience with an Arkansas squatter whom he finds sitting
in his cabin playing away at a tune which he has heard for the first time on a trip to
New Orleans. The entire play revolves around this tune and the squatter's effort to
remember the ending of it. (DT)
http://ingeb.org/songs/ohonceup.html
The song was printed in New York circa 1850. It was later reprinted in The Arkansas
Traveler's Songster (1864) with credit given to Mose Case as author and composer.
http://www.contemplator.com/america/arkansas.html
Oh once upon a time in Arkansas
An old man sat in his little cabin door,
And fiddled at a tune that he liked to hear,
A jolly old tune that he played by ear.
It was raining hard but the fiddler didn't care
He sawed away at the popular air,
Though his roof tree leaked like a water fall
That didn't seem to bother that man at all
A traveler was riding by that day,
And stopped to hear him a-practicing away
The cabin was afloat and his feet were wet,
But still the old man didn't seem to fret.
So the stranger said: "Now the way it seems to me,
You'd better mend your roof," said he.
But the old man said, as he played away:
"I couldn't mend it now, it's a rainy day."
The traveler replied: "That's all quite true,
But this, I think, is the thing for you to do;
Get busy on a day that is fair and bright,
Then pitch the old roof till it's good and tight."
But the old man kept on a-playing at his reel,
And tapped the ground with his leathery heel:
"Get along," said he, "for you give me a pain;
My cabin never leaks when it doesn't rain."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arkansas_Traveler_%28song%29
88
Songs of the Period
Barbara Allen
A traditional ballad originating in England and Scotland, which immigrants introduced to the United States, where it became a
popular folk song.[1] Roud and Bishop described it as, “...far and away the most widely collected song in the English language —
equally popular in England, Scotland and Ireland, and with hundreds of versions collected over the years in North America.”[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Allen_%28song%29
In America, "Barbara Allen" was sometimes called "Barbara Allen's Cruelty or the Young Man s Tragedy." It was also known as
"Barbara Ellen," and "Bonny Barbara Allan." In the beginning of the 19th century "Barbara Allen" was used both as a children’s game
and as an instrumental at dance parties. In the mid eighteenth century the tune of "Barbara Allen" was also used for several religious
texts. During the Civil War, it provided the melody of a song called "Brother Green," which told the last words of a dying soldier.
Even Abraham Lincoln sang "Barbara Allen" while
growing up in rural Indiana.
http://www.nativeground.com/articles/90-the-ballad-ofbarbara-allen-by-wayne-erbsen.html
Abe Lincoln– said this was his Mothers favorite song.
http://genforum.genealogy.com/james/messages/19977.
html
In Scarlet town where I was born,
There was a fair maid dwellin'
Made every youth cry Well-a-day,
Her name was Barb'ra Allen.
He turned his face unto the wall
And death was drawing nigh him.
Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all,
And be kind to Bar'bra Allen
All in the merry month of May,
When green buds they were swellin'
Young Willie Grove on his death-bed lay,
For love of Barb'ra Allen.
As she was walking o'er the fields,
She heard the death bell knellin',
And ev'ry stroke did seem to say,
Unworthy Barb’ra Allen.
He sent his man unto her then
To the town where he was dwellin'
You must come to my master, dear,
If your name be be Barb'ra Allen.
When he was dead and laid in grave,
Her heart was struck with sorrow.
“Oh mother, mother, make my bed
For I shall die tomorrow.”
So slowly, slowly she came up,
And slowly she came nigh him,
And all she said when there she came:
"Young man, I think you're dying!"
And on her deathbed she lay,
She begged to be buried by him,
And sore repented of the day
That she did e’er deny him.
“Farewell,” she said, “ye virgins all,
And shun the fault I fell in,
Henceforth take warning by the fall
Of cruel Barb’ra Allen.”
Songs of the Period
Blue Tail Fly
When I was young I us’d to wait
On the boss and hand him his plate;
and Pass down the bottle
when he got dry,
And brush away the blue tail fly.
refrain (repeated each verse):
Jimmy crack corn and I don’t care,
My master’s gone away.
An’ when he ride in de afternoon,
I foiler wid a hickory broom;
De poney being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue tail fly.
One day he rode aroun’ de farm,
De flies so numerous dey did swarm;
One chanced to bite ‘im on the thigh.
De debble take dat blue tail fly.
De pony run, he jump an’ pitch,
An’ tumble massa in de ditch;
He died, an’ de jury wonder’d why;
De verdic was de blue tail fly.
They buried him ‘neath
the sycamore tree
His epitaph there for to see
“Beneath this stone I’m forced to lie
The victim of a blue-tailed Fly.”
"Blue Tail Fly", "De Blue Tail Fly", or "Jimmy Crack Corn" is thought to be a blackface minstrel
song, first performed in the United States in the 1840s that remains a popular children's song
today.
Over the years, many variants of text have appeared, but the basic narrative remains intact. On
the surface, the song is a black slave's lament over his master's death. The song, however, has a
subtext of rejoicing over that death, and possibly having caused it by deliberate negligence.
Most versions at least nod to idiomatic African English, though sanitized, Standard English
versions predominate today.
The blue-tail fly mentioned in the song is probably Tabanus atratus, a species of horse-fly found
in the American South. As it feeds on the blood of animals such as horses and cattle, as well as
humans, it constitutes a prevalent pest in agricultural regions. This species of horse-fly has a
blue-black abdomen, hence the name.
Abraham Lincoln was an admirer of the tune, calling it "that buzzing song". It is likely he played
it on his harmonica and it is said that he asked for it to be played at Gettysburg.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Crack_Corn
89
90
Songs of the Period
Songs of the Period
"Listen to the Mocking Bird" (1855) is an American popular song of the mid-19th century. It relates the story of a singer dreaming of
his sweetheart, now dead and buried, and a mockingbird, whose song the couple once enjoyed, now singing over her grave. Yet the
melody is moderately lively. "Listen to the Mocking Bird" was one of the most popular ballads of the era and sold more than twenty
million copies of sheet music.[1] It was popular during the American Civil War and was used as marching music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listen_to_the_Mocking_Bird
Abraham Lincoln was especially fond of it, saying, “It is as sincere as the laughter of a little girl at play.”[2]
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/listen-to-the-mockingbird/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
I’m dreaming now of Hally, sweet Hally, sweet Hally;
I’m dreaming now of Hally,
For the thought of her is one that never dies:
She’s sleeping in the valley, the valley, the valley;
She’s sleeping in the valley,
And the mocking bird singing where she lies.
Chorus:
Listen to the mocking bird, listen to the mocking bird,
The mocking bird still singing o'er her grave;
Listen to the mocking bird, listen to the mocking bird,
Still singing where the weeping willows wave.
Additional Verses:
Ah! well I yet remember, remember, remember,
Ah! well I yet remember,
When we gather’d in the cotton side by side;
’Twas in the mild September, September, September,
’Twas in the mild September,
And the mocking bird was singing far and wide.
When the charms of spring awaken, awaken, awaken:
When the charms of spring awaken,
And the mocking bird is singing on the bough.
I feel like one forsaken, forsaken, forsaken.
I feel like one so forsaken,
Since my Hally is no longer with me now.
Chorus:
91
92
Songs of the Period
Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be?
"What Can the Matter Be?", also known as "Johnny's So Long at the Fair" is a traditional nursery rhyme that can be traced back as far
as the 1780s in England.[1] There are several variations on its lyric. Raph dates this version of the song to 1795, and notes that it has
been popular in the United States for over 250 years. The following are given as the traditional lyrics (being chorus and verse) in Cuddon's and Preston's A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory:[5]
O dear, what can the matter be?
Dear, dear, what can the matter be?
Johnny's so long at the fair.
He promised he'd buy me a fairing should please me,
And then for a kiss, oh! he vowed he would tease me,
He promised he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons,
To tie up my bonny brown hair.
Cohen's Folk Music gives a different version of the lyrics:
Johnny's so long at the fair.
He promised he'd bring me a bunch of blue ribbons.
To tie up my bonny brown hair.
Raph's American Song Treasury uses the traditional lyrics and adds a second verse:
He promised he'd buy me a basket of posies
A garland of lilies, a garland of roses;
A little straw hat to set off the blue ribbons
That tie up my bonny brown hair, and now
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Dear!_What_Can_the_Matter_Be%3F
Songs of the Period
Skip to My Lou
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou,
Skip to the Lou, my darlin’.
Flies in the buttermilk,
Shoo fly shoo! (3x)
Skip to my Lou, my darling.
Lou, Lou skip to my Lou! (3x)
(sound sad) Lost my partner,
What will I do? (3x)
(sound sad) Lou, Lou skip to my Lou, (3x)
(magically change to happy) I’ll get
another one just like you! (3x)
Skip to my Lou, my darling!
Lou, Lou skip to my Lou! (3x)
Additional Verses
 There’s a little red wagon, Paint it blue
 Can’t get a red bird, Jay bird’ll do
 Cat’s in the cream jar, Ooh, ooh, ooh
 Off to Texas, Two by two
 Make Up Your Own
In early America, respectable folk in Protestant communities have always regarded the fiddle as the devil’s
instrument and dancing as downright sinful. Faced with such a religious prejudice for socializing, young
people of the frontier developed the “play-party,” in which all the objectionable features of a square dance
were removed or masked so that their grave elders could approve.
No instruments were permitted - the dancers sang and clapped their own music. In time, the play-party
acquired a life of its own. It became an ideal amusement for teenagers and young married couples. In many a
frontier community, the bear hunters, Indian fighters, the rough keelboat men and the wild cowboys could be
seen dancing innocently with their gals, like so many children at a Sunday school picnic.
“Skip to My Lou” is a simple game of stealing partners. It begins with any number of couples hand in hand,
skipping around in a ring. A lone boy in the center of the moving circle of couple sings, “Lost my partner
what’ll I do?” as the girls whirl past him. The young man in the center hesitates while he decides which girl to
choose, singing, “I'll get another one prettier than you.” When he grasps the hand of his chosen one, her
partner then takes his place in the center of the ring and the game continues. It's an ice-breaker, a good
dance to get a group acquainted to one another and to get everyone in the mood for swinging around.
It's interesting to note that “loo” is the Scottish word for “love.” The spelling change from “loo” to “lou”
probably happened as our Anglo ancestors, and the song, became Americanized.
Source: The Folk Songs of North America, by Alan Lomax, Doubleday. http://www.oldtownschool.org/resourcecenter/songnotes_S.html
93
94
Irish service to the Union
Seven Union generals were Irish-born and 150,000 Irish-Americans fought for the Union
during the war. At the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg, the Union Irish Brigade charged up
Marye's Heights, suffering 41.4% casualties. During the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, the
Irish Brigade held a Catholic mass before battling Confederate troops. Irish-Americans
living in the Union states often formed their own regiments, notably the 69th New York
State Volunteers. The Volunteers flew a green flag with a golden harp on it, symbolizing
Ireland.
Irish-Americans in Confederate service
Although significantly fewer Irish lived in the Confederate States of America,
six Confederate generals were Irish-born. Units such as the Charleston Irish
Volunteers attracted Confederate Irish-Americans in South Carolina, the 24th
Georgia Volunteer Infantry followed General Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb,
while Irish Tennesseans could join the 10th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. The
5th Missouri Infantry, commanded by Colonel Joseph Kelly, was called "the
Sons of Erin.", or Kelly's Irish Brigade. Although this unit was only a regiment,
it is sometimes dubbed "The Confederate Irish Brigade." The Louisiana Tigers,
first raised by Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat, had a large number of Irish
American members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Americans_in_the_American_Civil_War
May 7, 1861 in a conversation with John Hay: “For my own part, I consider the central idea
pervading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us, of proving that popular government is not
an absurdity. We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have
the right to break up the government whenever they choose. If we fail it will go far to prove the
incapability of the people to govern themselves.”
Abraham Lincoln, A Life, Volume Two, Michael Burlingame, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2008,
p. 166
It’s All for Me Grog
And it’s all for me grog, me jolly, jolly grog
All for me beer and tobacco
Well I spent all me tin on the lassies drinking gin
Across the western ocean I must wander
Where are me boots, me noggin, noggin boots
they’re all gone for beer and tobacco
For the heels they are worn out and the toes are kicked about
And the soles are looking for better weather
Where is me shirt, me noggin, noggin shirt
It’s all gone for beer and tobacco
For the collar is all worn and the sleeves they are all torn
And the tail is looking for better weather
I’m sick in the head and I haven’t gone to bed
Since I first came ashore from me slumber
For I spent all me dough on the lassies don’t you know
Far across the western ocean I must wander
95
96
The Ash Grove
The ash grove, how graceful, how plainly ‘tis speaking,
The wind [harp] through it playing has language for me.
Whenever the light through its branches is breaking
A host of kind faces is gazing on me.
The friends of my childhood again are before me,
Each step wakes a memory as freely I roam.
With soft whispers laden its leaves rustle o’er me,
The ash grove, the ash grove again [alone] is my home.
Down yonder green valley where streamlets meander
When twilight is fading I pensively rove*.
Or at the bright noontide in solitude wander
Amid the dark shades of the lonely ash grove.
Twas there while the blackbird was cheerfully singing
I first met that dear one, the joy of my heart.
Around us [as] for gladness the bluebells were ringing [springing]
Ah! then little thought I how soon we should part.
[The ash grove, the ash grove that sheltered my home.]
My laughter is over, my step loses lightness,
Old countryside measures steal soft on my ear;
I only remember the past and its brightness,
The dear ones I mourn [long] for again gather here.
From out of the shadows their loving looks greet me
And wistfully searching the leafy green dome,
I find other faces fond bending to greet me,
The ash grove, the ash grove alone is my home.
[My lips smile no more, my heart loses its lightness
No dream of my future my spirit can cheer;
I only can brood on the past and its brightness,
The dead I have mourned are again living here.
From ev’ry dark nook they press forward to meet me;
I lift up my eyes to the broad leafy dome,
And others are there looking downward to greet me;
The ash grove, the ash grove alone is my home.]
Still glows the bright sunshine o’er valley and mountain,
Still warbles the blackbird its note from the tree;
Still trembles the moonbeam on streamlet and fountain,
But what are the beauties of Nature to me?
With sorrow, deep sorrow, my bosom [heart] is laden,
All day I go mourning in search of my love!
Ye echoes! oh tell me, where is the sweet maiden [loved one]?
“She [He] sleeps ‘neath the green turf down by the Ash Grove.”
The Ash Grove
(Girl Scout Version)
Down yonder green valley, where streamlets meander
Where twilight is fading, I pensively roam [rove]
For [Or] at the bright noontide in solitude wander
Amidst the dark shades of the lonely ash grove
‘Tis there where the blackbird is cheerfully singing
Each warbler enchants with his notes from a tree
O [And] [Ah] then little think I of sorrow or sadness
The ash grove enchanting [entrancing] spells beauty for me
Hymn
Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the creator Triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who guideth us on to the end of our days.
His banner is o’er us, his light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
As forward we travel from light into light.
http://www.boudicca.de/ashgrove-e.htm
The Ash Grove (Welsh: Llwyn Onn) is a traditional Welsh folk song whose melody has been set to
numerous sets of lyrics. The most well-known was written, in English, by John Oxenford in the 19th
century.
The first published version of the tune was in 1802 in “The Bardic Museum”. The book was written
by Edward Jones, a harpist. About 4 years later a version with words appeared, under the name
“Llwyn Onn”. It tells of a sailor”s love for “Gwen of Llwyn”. The tune might be much older, as a
similar tune appears in “The Beggar’s Opera” by John Gay (1728), in the song “Cease Your Funning”.
In 1862 a version of “The Ash Grove” was published in Volume I of “Welsh Melodies, With Welsh
And English Poetry”, authored by John Thomas the harpist, with Welsh words by John Jones
(Talhaiarn) and English words by Thomas Oliphant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ash_Grove
97
98
Farewell to Whisky
by Niel Gow (1727-1807)
Niel Gow was one of the most famous fiddlers in Scottish history. This tune was composed 200 years ago in 1799, when the barley
crop in Scotland failed, and was so poor that no barley was permitted to be used for distilling. It is expressive of a Highlander's
sorrow on being deprived of his favorite beverage. The tune has evolved into a few different versions since then, even being played
as a reel and a polka in Ireland! However, it is best played as a lament.
http://www.scottishdance.net/music/NielGowsFarewelltoWhisky.html
Neil Gow's Farewell to Whisky - the lyrics
You've surely heard o' famous Neil,
The man that played the fiddle weel,
I wat he was a canty chiel',
And dearly lo'ed the whiskey, O!
And ay sin' he wore tartan trews,
He dearly lo'ed the Athole brose;
And wae was he you may suppose,
To play fareweel to whiskey, O.
Tho' I can get baith wine and ale,
And find my head and fingers hale,
I'll be content, tho' legs should fail,
To play fareweel to whiskey, O.
But still I think on auld lang syne,
When Paradise our friends did tyne,
Because something ran in their mind
Forbid, like highland whiskey, O.
Alake, quoth Neil, I'm frail and auld,
And find my bluid grows unco cauld,
I think 'twad mak me blythe and bauld,
A wee drap highland whiskey, O
Yet the doctors they do agree,
That whiskey's no the drink for me:
Saul, quoth, 'twill spoil my glee,
Should they part me and whiskey, O.
Come, a' ye powers of music, come!
I find my heart grows unco glum;
My fiddle-strings will no play bum
To say fareweel to whiskey, O.
Yet I'll tak my fiddle in my hand,
And screw the pegs up while they'll stand,
To mak a lamentation grand,
On gude auld highland whiskey, O.
From 'The Little Warbler', I, p. 133, Oliver: Netherbow, 1804,
Green Grow the Lilacs
Green Grow the Lilacs is a folk song of Irish origin that was popular in the United States during the mid-19th century. The song title
is familiar as the source of a folk etymology for the word gringo that states that the Mexicans misheard U.S. troops singing "green
grow" during the Mexican-American War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Grow_the_Lilacs
Chorus: Green grow the lilacs, all sparkling with dew
I'm lonely, my darling, since parting with you;
But by our next meeting I'll hope to prove true
And change the green lilacs to the Red, White and Blue.
I once had a sweetheart, but now I have none
She's gone and she's left me, I care not for one
Since she's gone and left me, contented I'll be,
For she loves another one better than me.
CHORUS
I passed my love's window, both early and late
The look that she gave me, it makes my heart ache;
Oh, the look that she gave me was painful to see,
For she loves another one better than me.
CHORUS
I wrote my love letters in rosy red lines,
She sent me an answer all twisted and twined;
Saying,"Keep your love letters and I will keep mine
Just you write to your love and I'll write to mine.
http://www.ireland-information.com/irishmusic/greengrowthelilacs.shtml
99
100 Songs of the Period – Celtic Contributions
I’ll Tell Me Ma
Most commentators agree that the song originated as a children’s skipping song with steady beat of the music nicely complimenting
the rhythm of the skipping. The children’s game that went with the song involved children standing in a circle while they sang the
song. At the start of the game there would be a girl in the centre of the circle. When the chorus got to the line asking about who is
being courted, the girl gives the name of one of the boys standing in the circle. The boy then moves into the centre of the circle and
must in turn name a girl when the question comes round in the next chorus.
http://www.irishmusicdaily.com/tell-me-ma
http://artists.letssingit.com/young-dubliners-lyrics-tell-me-ma-l6bpbnk#ixzz2rRkyquMn
I'll tell me Ma when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone.
They pull my hair, they stole my comb,
But that's alright till I go home
Chorus: She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Dublin city
She is courtin' one, two, three
Please won't you tell me, who is she?
Albert Mooney says he loves her,
All the boys are fightin' for her.
They knock at the door and the ring at the bell
Sayin' "Oh, my true love are you well?"
Out she comes as white as snow,
Rings on her fingers, bells on her toes.
Jenny Murphy says she'll die,
If she doesn't get the fellow with the rovin' eye.
She is the belle of Dublin city.
She is courtin' one, two, three.
Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high
And the snow come shovelin' from the sky.
She's as sweet as apple pie
And she'll get her own lad by and by.
When she gets a lad of her own,
She won't tell her Ma when she gets home.
Let them all come as they may,
But it's Albert Mooney she loves still.
She is the belle of Dublin city.
She is courtin' one, two, three.
http://artists.letssingit.com/young-dubliners-lyrics-tell-me-ma-l6bpbnk#axzz2rRkf8m47
Songs of the Period – Celtic Contributions 101
The Confessions of Devorgilla
Londonderry Air
Danny Boy
The tune for The Confession of Devorgilla is better known by other names: often as the Londonderry Air and, since gaining a new text by
Fred Weatherley in 1913, even more famously as Danny Boy.
‘The Confession of Devorgilla’, seemingly published for the first time in Edward Fitzsimons’s Irish Minstrelsy (1814). The song refers to
historical events in twelfth-century Northern Ireland. Briefly, Dermott McMurrough, King of Leinster, kidnapped Devorgilla, the wife of
Tiernan O’Rourke, Prince of Brefni. O’Rourke avenged the kidnapping by driving McMurrough from his stronghold; McMurrough then
enlisted the help of Henry II, setting the stage for the first English invasion of Ireland. Eventually, Devorgilla returned to her husband and
the song finds her in a confessional, pleading, ‘Oh! shrive me, father…’ , as she asks for absolution.
http://www.concertina.org/2009/12/05/the-confession-of-devorgilla/
Another version has Devorgilla, a twelfth-century Irish princess and the wife of Tiernan O'Rourke, prince of Breffni, eloping at the age
of forty-four with a rival chieftain, Dermot MacMurrough. War ensued between the two factions. Dermot invited Henry II of England,
known as Strongbow, to come to his defense, thus paving the way for the first Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. In the end, Devorgilla
returned to her husband, and spent the rest of her life in good works, one of which was the establishment of the abbey at Clonmacnoise,
County Offaly. The song pictures the penitent Devorgilla in the confessional, seeking shriving -- absolution -- from the priest:
The Confession of Devorgilla "Oh! shrive me, father".
Oh! shrive me, father - haste, haste, and shrive me,
'Ere sets yon dread and flaring sun;
'Its beams of peace, - nay, of sense, deprive me,
'Since yet the holy work's undone.'
The sage, the wand'rer's anguish balming,
Soothed her heart to rest once more;
And pardon's promise torture calming,
The Pilgrim told her sorrows o'er.
Gone, gone, was all the pride of beauty,
That scorn'd and broke the bridal vow,
And gave to passion all the duty
So bold a heart would e'er allow;
Yet all so humbly, all so mildly,
The weeping fair her fault confess'd,
Tho' youth had viewed her wand'ring wildly,
That age could ne'er deny her rest.
The charms that caus'd in life's young morning,
The woes the sad one had deplor'd,
Were now, alas! no more adorning,
The lips that pardon sweet implor'd:But oh! those eyes, so mildly beaming,
Once seen, not Saints could e'er forget! And soon the Father's tears were streaming,
When Devorgilla's gaze he met!
The tale of woe full sadly ended,
The word of peace the Father said,
While balmy tear-drops fast descended,
And droop'd the suppliant sinner's head.
The rose in gloom long drear and mourning,
Not welcomes more the sun's mild ray,
Than Breffni's Princess hail'd returning
The gleam of rest that shriving-day.
http://pentiment.blogspot.com/2008/06/oh-shrive-me-father.html
Danny Boy
Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side,
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling,
It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.
But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may be,
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an Ave there for me;
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so!
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,
For you will bend and tell me that you love me,
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Boy
Minstrel Boy
"The Minstrel Boy" is an Irish patriotic song written by Thomas Moore (1779–1852) who set it to the melody of The Moreen, an old
Irish air. It is widely believed that Moore composed the song in remembrance of a number of his friends, whom he met while studying
at Trinity College, Dublin and who had participated in (and were killed during) the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The song gained widespread
popularity and became a favorite of many Irishmen who fought during the United States Civil War and gained even more popularity
after World War I. Unsurprisingly, given its lyrics, it is also associated with the Irish Army and with traditionally Irish regiments in the
British, United States and other armies. The original lyrics are as follows:
The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you'll find him;
His father's sword he has girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him;
"Land of Song!" said the warrior bard,
"Though all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"
The Minstrel fell! But the foeman's chain
Could not bring his proud soul under;
The harp he loved ne'er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and bravery!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free
They shall never sound in slavery!"
During the American Civil War a third verse was written
by an unknown author,
and is sometimes included in renditions of the song:
The Minstrel Boy will return we pray
When we hear the news we all will cheer it,
The minstrel boy will return one day,
Torn perhaps in body, not in spirit.
Then may he play on his harp in peace,
In a world such as heaven intended,
For all the bitterness of man must cease,
And ev'ry battle must be ended.
A concentrated, single verse version exists:
The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death ye may find him;
His father's sword he hath girded on,
With his wild harp slung along behind him;
Land of Song, the lays of the warrior bard,
May some day sound for thee,
But his harp belongs to the brave and free
And shall never sound in slavery!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Minstrel_Boy
Songs of the Period – Celtic Contributions 103
The Wearing of the Green
"The Wearing of the Green" is an Irish street ballad lamenting the repression of supporters of the Irish
Rebellion of 1798. It is to an old Irish air, and many versions of the lyric exist The song proclaims that "they
are hanging men and women for the wearing of the green".
The revolutionary Society of United Irishmen adopted green as its colour, and supporters wore greencoloured garments, ribbons, or cockades. This was considered sedition by the Dublin Castle administration
which included British occupying forces, and often resulted in prosecution by the authorities or violent
reprisals by loyalist mobs. In some versions, the "green" being worn is shamrock rather than fabric.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wearing_of_the_Green
Oh, Paddy dear, and did you hear
The news that's going round?
The shamrock is forbid by law
To grow on Irish ground!
St. Patrick's Day no more we'll keep,
His color can't be seen,
For there's a bloody law agin'
The wearing of the green.
I met with Napper Tandy
And he took me by the hand,
And he said, "How's poor old Ireland
And how does she stand?"
"She's the most distressful country
That ever yet was seen;
They're hanging men and women there
For wearing of the green."
Then since the color we must wear
Is England's cruel red,
Sure Ireland's songs will ne'er forget
The blood that they have shed.
You may take the shamrock from your hat now,
Cast it on the sod,
But 'twill take root and flourish still,
Tho' under foot it's trod.
When the law can stop the blades of green
From growing as they grow,
And when the leaves in summertime
Their verdure dare not show,
Then I will change the color that I
Wear in my caubeen;
But ‘till that day, please God, I'll stick
To wearing of the green.
But if at last our color
Should be torn from Ireland's heart,
Our sons with shame and sorrow
From this dear old isle will part;
I've heard a whisper of a land
That lies beyond the sea
Where rich and poor stand equal
In the light of freedom's day.
O Erin, must we leave you
Driven by a tyrant's hand?
Must we ask a mother's blessing
From a strange and distant land?
Where the cruel cross of England
Shall nevermore be seen,
And where, please God, we'll live and die
Still wearing of the green!
http://www.west-point.org/greimanj/west_point/songs/green.html
PS The legendary "Benny Havens, Oh!,” the unofficial, 100
plus lyric song of West Point, has as its music a very a slowed
down playing of the music Wearing of the Green. To hear it,
go to http://www.west-point.org/greimanj/west_point/songs/
bennyhavens.htm. It offers a pretty complete rendition of
life at West Point before, during, and after, the Civil War. The
song, perpetuates the fame of an early West Point's dispenser
of spirituous cheer and was written, properly enough, in Benny Havens' own tavern under the cliffs of Highlands Falls. In
1838, one Lt. Lucius O'Brien, celebrating his transfer from staff
to line duty, visited Benny's inn and there wrote and sang the
first few verses of the song to the tune of "The Wearing of the
Green". This historic moment is depicted in the colorful mural
in the Benny Havens Room of the West Point Army Mess.
http://www.west-point.org/greimanj/west_point/songs/green.html
Whiskey in the Jar
As I was going over the Cork
and Kerry mountains I met with
Captain Farrell and the money
he was counting.
I first produced my pistol and then I drew
my rapier, Saying, “Stand and deliver or the
Devil he may take you!”
Refrain:
Mush – a - rig um du rum da,
Whack for my daddy o
Whack for my daddy o,
There’s whiskey in the jar
I counted out his money,
and made a pretty penny.
I put it in my pocket and
I took it home to Jenny.
She told me that she loved me,
and never would deceive me,
But the devil take the women,
for they never can be easy
Refrain
I went into my chamber,
all for to take a slumber,
I dreamt of gold and jewels
and for sure it was no wonder.
That Jenny took my charges and
she filled them up with water,
Then sent for Captain Farrel
to be ready for the slaughter.
Refrain
Twas early in the morning,
as I rose up for travel,
The guards were all around me
and likewise Captain Farrell.
I first produced my pistol,
for she had stole my rapier,
But I couldn’t shoot the water
so a prisoner I was taken.
Refrain
If anyone can aid me,
it’s my brother in the army,
If I can find his station down in
Cork or in Killarney.
And if he’ll come and save me,
we’ll go roving near Kilkenny,
I swear he’ll treat me better than
my darling sporting Jenny.
Refrain
Now some men take delight,
in drinking and in roving,
But others take delight in the
gambling and the smoking.
Now I take delight in the
juice of the barley,
And courting pretty fair maids
in the morning bright and early.
Refrain
The song came to the United States and was a favorite in Colonial America because of its irreverent attitude
toward British officials. The American versions are sometimes set in America and deal with American
characters. One such version, from Massachusetts, is about Alan McCollister, an Irish-American soldier who is
sentenced to death by hanging for robbing British officials. The song appeared in a form close to its modern
version in a precursor called “The Sporting Hero”, or, “Whiskey in the Bar” in a mid-1850s broadsheet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskey_in_the_Jar
105
Orion P. Howe
Orion, the older brother of Lyston who is featured
on the cover, entered the service a member of
the 55th Illinois Infantry-his father’s and brother
Lyston’s unit- in September 1862, at the age of
13. During an assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi, in
May 1863 Howe was one of several soldiers sent
for supplies of badly needed ammunition. The
others were killed and Howe was badly wounded
in his successful attempt to reach Gen. Willian
T. Sherman. The exploit won him a postwar
appointment to the naval academy at Annapolis
(he was too short for West Point), and, in 1869, the
Medal of Honor.
THE DRUMMER BOY OF VICKSBURG.
HEADQUARTERS FIFTEENTH ARMY CORPS.
CAMP ON BIG BLACK, Aug. 8, 1863
Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
SIR: I take the liberty of asking through you that something be done for a young lad named Orion P. Howe of
Waukegan, Illinois, who belongs to the 55th Illinois, but is at present absent at his home, wounded. I think he is too young for
West Point, but would be the very thing for a midshipman.
When the assault on Vicksburg was at its height, on the 18-9th of May, and I was in front near the road which formed
my line attach, this young lad came up to me wounded and bleeding, with a good healthy boy’s cry: “General Sherman, send
some cartridges to Colonel Malmborg; the men are all out.” “What is the matter, my boy?” “They shot me in the leg, sir; but I can
go to the hospital. Send the cartridges right away!” Even where we stood the shot fell thick, and I told him to go to the rear at
once, I would attend to the cartridges; and off he limped. Just before he disappeared over the hill, he turned and called as loud
as he could, “Calibre 54!”
I have not seen this boy since, and his colonel, Malmborg, on inquiring, gave me his address as above, and says he is a
bright, intelligent boy, with a fair preliminary education. What arrested my attention there was, and what renews my memory
of the fact now is, that one so young, carrying a musket-ball wound through his leg, should have found his way to me on that
fatal spot, and delivered his message, not forgetting the very important part even of the caliber of the musket, 54, which know
is an unusual one.
I’ll warrant the boy has in him the elements of a man, and I commend him to the Government as one worthy of
fostering care of some one of its National Institutions.
I am, with respect, your obedient servant,
W.T. Sherman, Maj.-Gen. Commanding.

Soldiers and the Music of the Civil War

Transcription

Similar documents

CANDID McKINLEY

ROLE:!!JERRY!LEE!LEWIS!

Sistersof a Chord - Sweet Adelines International

Cry Me a River

Mat Kearney Undeniable

Vibra Chorus Owner`s Manual

Issue 31 - Coral Park Primary School

journey`s don`t stop believin`

Liner Notes Only - Dartmouth College