Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl (from Buell Kazee)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ORPHAN GIRL (from Buell Kazee)
From: graywolf1980
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 05:10 PM

Below are lyrics transcribed from the "Kentucky Mountain Music" 7 CD set on Yazoo. The song is the Orphan Girl by Buell Kazee. Unsure about one word: funeral NELL? What do you think?

The Orphan Girl
As sung by Buell Kazee

No home, no home cried the orphan girl
As she stood on the prince's hall
Trembling she stood on the marble steps
And leaned on the polished wall

A father's love I never knew
And the tears dropped from her eyes
My mother sleeps in her new-made grave
'Tis an orphan here tonight

The night was dark and the snow fell fast
As the rich man closed his door
His proud lips curled as he scornfully said
No home, no bread for the poor

The hours rolled on and the midnight storm
Rolled on like a funeral knell
The earth seemed wrapped in a winding sheet
And the chilly snow still fell

The rich man slept on his velvet couch
And a-dreamed of his silver and his gold
While the orphan slept on a bed of snow
And murmured so cold, so cold

When morning dawned the little girl
Still lay at the rich man's door
Her soul had fled to its home above
Where there's room and bread for the poor

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 05:23 PM

Put a k in front of the nell- knell. Have to get that set; haven't heard it yet, but I'm pretty sure knell is the word.

Subject: Lyr Add: The ORPHAN GIRL (from Vance Randolph)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 06:02 PM

Lyr. Add: The ORPHAN GIRL

No home, no home, pled a little girl
At the door of a princely hall,
As she trembling stood on the marble step
And leaned on the polished wall.

My father, alas, I never knew,
And the tears dimmed her eyes so bright,
My mother sleeps in a new-made grave,
'Tis an orphan begs tonight.

It was cold and dark and the snow fell fast,
But the rich man closed his door,
With his proud lips curled with scorn he said,
No home nor bread for the poor.

I must freeze, she said, as she sank on the step
And strove to wrap her feet,
With her tattered dress all covered with snow,
Yes, covered with snow and sleet.

The rich man slept on his velvet bed
And dreamed of his silver and gold,
While the orphan lay on the bed of snow
And murmured so cold, so cold.

The hours passed on and the midnight stars
Rolled out like a funeral knell,
The earth seemed wrapped in its winding sheet
And the drifting snow still fell.

The morning dawned and the orphan girl
Still lay at the rich man's door,
But her soul had gone to a home above,
Where there's room and bread for the poor.

Sung by Mrs. Laura Watson, Elm Springs, Arkansas, 1942. From Vance Randolph, 1980, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 4, pp. 195-196.

Knell in this version as well.
There are several versions of this one and many other songs about orphans. Randolph quotes Sandburg (1927) who says "it traces to a broadside or a popular ballad in England and Scotland." This version seems to be taken from the Kazee recording posted by Graywolf1980. Both remind me of the Victorian children's sob story, "The Little Match Girl."

Lyr. Add: The Orphan Child

Her clothes was thin and her feet were bare
And the snow had covered her head,
O it's give me a home and something to ware,
A home and a piece of bred.

My father also I never knew
And the tears dimmed her eyes so brite,
While mother sleeps in her new made grave,
I's an orphan girl that begs tonight.

The night was dark and the snow fell fast,
And the rich man shut his door,
With a frown on his brow he scornful sed
No home, no bred for the pore.

I must freeze, she said, on this here step,
As she strove to cover her feet
With her old tatter dress all covered with snow
Yes, covred with snow and sleet.

The rich man slept on his velvet couch
And dreamed of his silver and gold,
While the pore little girl still lie in the snow,
And murmur so cold, so cold.

When morning was dawn, the pore little girl
Still laid at the rich man's door,
But her soul had fled to that land above,
Where there's room enough for the pore.

Also from Vance Randolph, "taken literatim from an old manuscript belonging to Mrs. Emma Johnson, Noel, MO. The tune (sheet music provided) is from the singing of Mrs. William E. Peregoy, Pineville, MO, Apr. 16, 1927.

Brown, North Carolina Folklore, has a version from 1914, and Cox, Folk Songs of the South, 1925, recorded another version.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 06:12 PM

Brown, North Carolina Folklore, vol. IV, provides sheet music for three different tunes for "The Orphan Girl." One (date not recorded) is said to be identical to a version sung by Mrs. Vivian Blackstock, 1923 (Song # 148, pp. 216-218). All three start out "No home, no home."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: masato sakurai
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 07:16 PM

These recordings are at the Max Hunter Folk Song Collection:

Orphant Girl (As sung by Ollie Gilbert, Mountain View, Arkansas on August 8, 1969)

The Orphan Girl (As sung by Ethel Hunter, Springfield, Missouri on June 29, 1958)

Orphant Child (As sung by Almeda Riddle, Heber Springs, Arkansas on October 23, 1965)

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 07:25 PM

"The Orphan Girl," collected in 1915 from Miss Maude Groves, Nicholas Co., West Virginia, has essentially the same lyrics as the versions already posted here. Cox, J. H., 1925, Folk-Songs of the South, Dover Reprint of 1967, pp. 446-447. Anecdote places it in West Virginia in 1885, from English people.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: masato sakurai
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 07:37 PM

From Folk Music Index:

The Orphan Girl
    Rt - Coal Miner's Child
    Rm - Braes Of(o') Balquhidder
1. American Songbag, Harcourt Brace Jovan..., Sof (1955), p316 (Mag's Song)
2. American Songbag, Harcourt Brace Jovan..., Sof (1955), cut#p319 (No Bread for the Poor)
3. Here's to the Women, Syracuse Univ. Press, Sof (1987), p142 (Little Orphan Girl)
4. Albert E Brumley's Songs of the Pioneers #2, Brumley, Fol (1973), 18
5. Berry, Susan Araminta. Folk Songs of Middle Tennessee, Univ. Tennesse Press, Sof (1997), p113/# 69
6. Bowerman, Ora Keene. Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1937/1966), p365,454 (Little Orphan Girl)
7. Collins, W. S. and Louise. Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p 59
8. Cooper, Wilma Lee. Songs to Remember, Cooper, Fol (19??), p 7
9. Delmore Brothers. Sand Mountain Blues, County CCS 110, LP (1986), cut#B.04 (Frozen Girl)
10. Edmonds, John. 28th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention. Galax, Virginia 1963, Kanawha 302, LP (1963), cut# 3 (Little Orphan Girl)
11. Jeffus, Daniel. Texas Folk Songs, SMU Press, Bk (1950/1976), p168
12. Kazee, Buell. Buell Kazee, June Appal JA 0009, LP (1977), cut# 9
13. Kazee, Buell. Mountain Banjo, Songs and Tunes, County 515, LP (1968), cut# 11
14. Marks, Phyllis. Folksongs and Ballads, Vol 2. Phyllis Marks, Augusta Heritage AHR 008, Cas (1991), cut#2.04
15. Mitchell, George W.. Southern Folk Ballads, Vol. 2. Ballads - Stories in Song..., August House, Bk (1988), p.177
16. Morris, Polly. Song Catcher in the Southern Mountains, AMS, Bk (1937/1966), p364,454 (Little Orphan Girl)
17. Riddle, Almeda. Granny Riddle's Songs and Ballads, Minstrel JS-203, LP (1977), cut#B.02
18. Riddle, Almeda. Singer and Her Songs. Almeda Riddle's Book of Songs, Louisiana State U. Press, Bk (1970), p 96
19. Sizemore, Asher; and Little Jimmy. Old Fashioned Hynns and Mountain Ballads, Sizemore, Sof (1933), p28
20. Sizemore, Asher; and Little Jimmy. Favorite Mountain Ballads and Old Time Songs, Sizemore, fol (1932), p35
21. Stanley, Ralph. Man and his Music, Rebel SLP 1530, LP (1974), cut# 11
22. Watson, Doc. Essential Doc Watson, Vanguard VCD 45/46, CD (1986), cut#18 (Little Orphan Girl)
23. Watson, Doc. Sing Out! Reprints, Sing Out, Sof (196?), 11, p62 (Little Orphan Girl)
24. Watson, Doc; Clint Howard and Fred Price. Old Timey Concert, Vanguard 107/8, Cas (1987), cut#A.10 (Little Orphan Girl)
25. Wright, Oscar And Eugene. Oscar & Eugene Wright, Rounder 0089, LP (1978), cut# 8 (No Home Cried the Little Girl)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ORPHAN GIRL (from Bodleian)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 08:03 PM

Lyr. Add: THE ORPHAN GIRL (Bodleian)

An Orphan once in doleful plaint
sang near a Great Man's door,
In thrilling notes her woes to paint
While truth each Cadence bore:

Chorus:
"Ah! Why hast thou, stern Fate, she cried
"Woe clad the day my parents died!

Thro' accents soft and (?words) most sweet,
Her mis'ry found its way
Could Orpheus 'self her notes repeat
Her power he'd not display!
Cho: Ah! [Why] hast thou etc.

Her eye thro' liquid sorrow shone
And artless(?) magic proved
Her voice had charm'd a heart of stone
Yet here was heard unmoved.
Cho: Ah! Why hast thou etc.

Now forth the Slave of Riches rush'd
And thrust her from his door
She fainting fell, her voice was hush'd
Her crime was--- she was poor!
She ceased(?) nor more stern Fate could chide
Or mourn the day her Parents died.

Then passing Pity, weeping said,
"Thou hapless child of Need:
No more a monster's anger dread,
"My care thy want shall feel
"No more shalt thou, sweet Maid," she cried,
"Bewail the day thy Parents died!

Harding B 25(1429), Ballads Catalogue, Bodleian Library. J. Pitts, London, between 1802 and 1819. Copy foxed and poorly printed, difficult to read.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 08:13 PM

The earliest reference in the Traditional Ballads Index cufresno is to Belden, 1906. Riley Puckett recorded it in 1926, as did Ernest Stoneman. The Buell Kazee recording is listed as 1941(?)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: Stewie
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 09:43 PM

Q,

Meade et alia note that the Puckett recording was 2 October 1925, but not issued until Feb 1926 as Co 15050-D. The Stoneman recording was 10 May 1926 and issued the same month as Ed 52077. The Buell Kazee recording was made on 16 January 1928 in NYC and issued in September 1928 as Br 211.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: Stewie
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 10:13 PM

As for the Ballad Index 1941 reference, Meade et alia give a later Decca issue by Kazee with no date - De F3789. That may be the one the index refers to. There was also a Supertone issue in June 1931 [Spt S2045].

Meade's earliest printed version is: 'Delaney's Songbook #15; 'Glory Songs' (1909), #165 credits T.B. Mosely'. [Delaney's Songbook, #1-88, NYC, Wm W. Delaney, 1892-1921]. Meade also references Belden - 'Ballads and Songs Collected By the Folk-Lore Society of Missouri' Columbia, Mo: University of Missouri Studies, Vol XV, #1 1940; reprinted 1955, 1966 - and notes that, at page 277, oral evidence is provided that the song dates to the 1850s.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FROZEN GIRL (Delmore Brothers)
From: Stewie
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 10:56 PM

THE FROZEN GIRL

No home, no home pled a little girl
At the door of the rich man's hall
As she trembling stood on a polished step
And leaned on a marble wall

Her clothes were thin and her feet were bare
And the snow had covered her head
Oh, give me a home, she feebly said
A home and a bit of bread

My father I never knew, she said
Through the tears in her eyes so bright
My mother sleeps in a new-made grave
'Tis an orphan that begs tonight

The night was dark and the wild storm blew
But the rich man shut his door
With a frowning face, he scornfully said
No home or bread for the poor

The snow fell fast as she shrank on the steps
And strove to wrap her feet
In a tattered dress all covered with snow
Yes, covered with snow and sleet

The rich man slept on his velvet couch
And dreamed of silver and gold
But the little girl on a bed of snow
She murmured, so cold, so cold

The hours rolled on and the midnight, dawn
Rolled on like a funeral bell
The earth seemed wrapped in a winding sheet
And the dropping snow still fell

The storm roared on and the little girl
Still lay at the rich man's door
But her soul had gone to a home above
Where there's room and bread for the poor

This is a transcription of a 1940s King recording of 'The Frozen Girl' by the Delmore Brothers [exact date not given], reissued on The Delmore Brothers 'Sand Mountain Blues' County CD CCS-110. The Delmores had previously recorded this in December 1933 in Chicago, Ill, issued as Bb B5338 in April 1934.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr & Tune Add: THE ORPHAN GIRL
From: masato sakurai
Date: 20 Jun 03 - 11:49 PM

The earliest printed version is possibly the one in the Cooper Edition of The Sacred Harp (1902) (not contained in the 1860, 1971 (Denson Revision), and 1991 ("Red Book") editions; I haven't seen the 1902 edition). George Pullen Jackson prints this version in his Siritual Folk-Songs of Early America (1937; Dover, 1964, p. 48), with this note: "The tune is a derivative of 'The Braes o' Balquidder'. See 'Lone Pilgrim' fro references to related tunes in this collection." Belden says in Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society (1940, 1955, p. 277) that "Jackson SFSEA 48 prints a text and tune from the 1902 (Alabama) edition of The Sacred Harp, in which the tune is credited to 'Eld. C.G. Keith, Nov. 1, 1906' (so Jackson quotes the book, altho he gives its date of publication as 1902); but he believes the ascription to indicate merely the source of the copy provided for the compiler or the printer." Belden's oral evidence is in the notes to Version B: "Copied out by Miss Newell in 1912 from a manuscript of Mrs. Chandler of Farmington, St. Francois County, who had learned it as a child and had never seen it in print." (p. 278) The following is from the Revised Cooper Edition (Sacred Harp Book Co., 2000, p. 506), where the date given is "Nov. 1, 1905" (not "1906").

X:1
T:The Orphan Girl
M:3/4
L:1/8
C:Music by Eld. C.G. Keith. Nov. 1, 1905
K:Eb
B:The B.F. White Sacred Harp (Rev. Cooper Ed.), p. 506
z8(EG)|B4c2|B4G> B|B4(G> F)|E4B> B|e4e> e|f4c2|
w:1."No_ home, no home," plead a lit-tle_ girl, At the door of a price-ly
B4|:(B> B)|g4f2|e4e> c|B4B2|E4HG2|(FE4)c|
w: hall, As she trem-bling stood on the pol-ished step, And lean'd_ on
BB3(GF)|E6:|]
w:the mar-ble_ wall.

1. "No home, no home," plead a little girl,
At the door of a princely hall,
As she trembling stood on the polished step
And leaned on the marble wall.

2. "My father, alas! I never knew,"
And a tear dim'd her eyes so bright;
"My mother sleeps in a new-made grave,
'Tis an orphan begs tonight."

3. Her clothes were thin and her feet were bare,
But the snow had covered her head;
"O! give me a home," she feebly said:
"A home and a bit of bread."

4. The night was dark and the snow fell fast,
But the rich man closed his door,
And his proud face frowned, as he scornfully said:
"No home, no bread for the poor."

5. The morning dawned, and the orphan girl
Still lay at the rich man's door;
But her soul had fled to a home above,
Where there's room and bread for the poor.

I posted the Delmore version HERE.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 21 Jun 03 - 05:41 AM

"Braes o' Balquhither" - the lyrics in the Bodleian are not related (Let us go, lassie, go) to "The Orphan Girl" nor are the similar versions in the DT.
Midis for two versions of "Braes..." are in the DT, but are much too lilting to be suitable for the words of "The Orphan Girl."

The "Orphan Girl" posted by Masato from the Sacred Harp (1905) is the same as one of the Randolph versions posted earlier.
Variation among the versions is small, suggesting that the original was a printed source. So far, the one Masato provides from the Sacred Harp could be the source of most of the versions in the folk song collections and on record. Evidence for an older version is anecdotal ("1885," etc.) although the subject matter is Victorian in feel and matches the pathos of other orphan songs and stories of that time.

Randolph and others provide sheet music which would be interesting to compare with that of the Sacred Harp.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl as sung by Buell Kazee
From: Stewie
Date: 21 Jun 03 - 06:07 AM

Hi Masato, I wrote a reply to you earlier, but must have neglected to submit it. My apologies for duplicate posting of Delmores' 'Frozen Girl'. I did not recall that you had posted it already. It does belong with the 'Orphan Girl' rather than with 'Young Charlotte'. Cordelia's Dad recorded a fine rendition of the latter - worth a listen.

Regards, Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Orphan Girl (from Buell Kazee)
From: GUEST,Michiele L
Date: 04 Apr 13 - 11:02 AM

I believe this or some version may be the Orphan Girl written by William Enoch Cornett.