Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index. Note that the "earliest date: 1928" refers to the earliest date of the sources covered by the Traditional Ballad Index.
-Joe Offer-
Peg an' Awl
DESCRIPTION: "In the days of eighteen and one, Peg an' awl... Peggin' shoes was all I done, Hand me down my pegs, my pegs, my pegs, my awl." The singer describes his work(/play?), then tells how "They've invented a new machine.... Makes a hundred pairs to my one."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Carolina Tar Heels)
KEYWORDS: work technology unemployment worker
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 144, "Peg an' Awl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Asch/Dunson/Raim, p. 40 "Peg and Awl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NAS, p. 363, "Peg and Awl" (1 text)
DT, PEGNAWL*
Roud #4619
RECORDINGS:
Carolina Tar Heels, "Peg and Awl" (Victor V-40007A, 1928; on AAFM1; recorded Oct 11 1928)
Kelly Harrell, "Peg and Awl" (OKeh 40544, 1925; on KHarrell01)
Lawrence Older, "Peg and Awl" (on LOlder01)
Pete Seeger, "Peg and Awl" (on PeteSeeger13)
Hobart Smith, "Peg an' Awl" (on LomaxCD1702)
Clarence Ashley & Doc Watson, "Peg and Awl" (on WatsonAshley01)
NOTES: The notes in Lomax imply that this is a bawdy song. I suppose it's possible, but I think this is a confusion with "The Long Peggin' Awl." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.8
File: LoF144
Long Peggin' Awl, The
DESCRIPTION: A girl is berated by her mother for running away with a shoemaker. The girl retorts that the older woman did the same thing: "You followed old dad for his long peggin' awl"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925
KEYWORDS: bawdy mother elopement
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond)) US(MW,SE,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 280-281, "The Long Peggin' Awl" (1 partial text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 181, "The Long Peggin' Awl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, LNGPGAWL*
Roud #2126
RECORDINGS:
Harry Cox "The Long Peggin' Awl" (on FSB2, FSB2CD)
A. L. Lloyd, "The Pegging Awl" (on BirdBush1, BirdBush2)
NOTES: Talk about lumping: Kennedy includes the Carolina Tar Heels' "Peg and Awl" as quoted by Lomax. I know both songs. No way. The phrase is common to them only because those two tools were found together in the kit of a shoemaker. - PJS
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