I don't like the line about "Wisconsin's dreary clime," but I've heard people speak ill of my home state all my life. Oh, well.
The Traditional Ballad Index entry calls the song "The River Through the Pines":River through the Pines, The
DESCRIPTION: "O Mary was a maiden when the birds began to sing, She was sweeter than the blooming rose so early in the spring...." She loves (Charlie), a shanty boy; the two are married. But he dies at his work; they are buried together
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Rickaby)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage separation work logger death burial
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont,Que)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Rickaby 30, "The River in the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 56, "The River in the Pines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-Lumbering #37, "The River through the Pine" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
ST LoF056 (Partial)
Roud #669
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Town of Brandywine
Notes: As "The River in the Pines," this song is item dC33 in Laws's Appendix II. - RBW
File: LoF056Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index InstructionsThe Ballad Index Copyright 2006 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
Note: the Lomax version is taken from Rickaby, but Lomax has only the four verses used in the Baez recording.