Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing autumn to May

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing autumn to May
From: Robert B. Waltz
Date: 19 Dec 24 - 08:36 PM

GerryM wrote: Recorded by many, usually called Little Brown Dog, possibly arranged by PP&M, unlikely to have been composed by them.

Possibly they claimed an arrangement credit (after all, they were a Sixties Folk Group, and that's what Sixties Folk Groups did). But they assuredly didn't write it. Steve Gardham cites a broadside copy that appears to be nineteenth century although it has no precise date. The Journal of American Folklore printed a copy in 1891, which is the oldest copy I know which can be precisely dated.

Both "Autumn to May" and "Little Brown Dog" seem to be relatively modern names. But there really isn't a generic name; it's known by all sorts of titles: "When I Was a Little Boy," "Speculation," "As I Set Off To Turkey," "The Lofty Giant," "To London I Did Go," "The Liar's Song," many, many others. Probably the most common is "When I Was a Little Boy" or variants thereon. It's known throughout Britain, most of the eastern United States, and most of eastern Canada.

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing autumn to May
From: GerryM
Date: 19 Dec 24 - 06:54 PM

Recorded by many, usually called Little Brown Dog, possibly arranged by PP&M, unlikely to have been composed by them.

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing autumn to May
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Dec 24 - 01:54 PM

This song is on the very first PP&M album,
simply named after the group.

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing Autum
From: GUEST,class62
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 08:43 PM

"Autumn to May" is on a PP&M album: 1700, I think.

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing Autum
From: Susan of DT
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 07:43 PM

Of course, it is right here at the DT. Search for [Autumn to May]

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing Autum
From: Allan C.
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 07:27 PM

Oh hurray! I don't know what happened to my old bookmark but I ended up in Maine somehow. Thanks, Joe! Faith is restored.

Subject: Autumn to May
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 05:50 PM

Oh, ye of little faith, Allan!
Peter, Paul and Mary are at http://www.peterpaulandmary.com/, dontchaknow. The song is here (click). Or, I suppose one could look in the Digital Tradition. The song is a version of LITTLE BROWN DOG.
-Joe Offer, who hasn't lost his touch-

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing Autum
From: Gary T
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 05:08 PM

Just a detail note, that might help the song make more sense--the lyric is "sing, tarry all day", "tarry" meaning to linger or dawdle.

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing Autum
From: Allan C.
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 04:30 PM

A-a-a-r-gh! I was going to direct you to the PP&M lyric site but it has vanished! Rats!! Another one bites the dust.

Subject: RE: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing Autum
From: BlueJay
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 02:54 PM

Check out Peter, Paul and Mary's first album, of the same title. The song is called "Autumn to May", written by Paul Stookey/Peter Yarrow according to the album notes. Good song! BlueJay

Subject: Title?: Sing, terry all day. Sing Autum
From: GUEST,H Pacheco
Date: 19 Apr 00 - 02:45 PM

Help. I need to find a recording of a song my father sang to me as a child in the 70s. The refrain was:

"Sing terry all day. Sing, autumn to May."

The song started: "Once I had a little frog who wore a vest of red. ...[something] a walking cane a tophat on his head..."

The very end went: "...and he tells a bigger tale would have to tell a lie."