from "Folk Song USA" I've got some excellent information on Home on the Range, Red River Valley, Blow Ye winds in the Morning, 10 WWI verses and 6 WWII verses of Mademoiselle from Armentieres, The Old Settler's Song, Tom Dooley, and Amazing Grace.

I'll get these "origin" stories transcribed into the thread... some of them seem incomplete, and perhaps wrong.

For example, I recall a television special, by Bill Moyers I believe, on "Amazing Grace", that related the tale of a slave ship captain, who, faced with the loss of his ship, human cargo and his life in a storm, told his mate that their fates were in the hands of God. I don't recall much more of Moyers' story, but believe that the captain was "born again" as a result of surviving the storm, immediately went out of the slave trade, and became a minister, and wrote "Amazing Grace" to describe his transcendental experience. This explanation might jibe with the account of Lomax who says the song was written by "the English divine, John Newton," in the 18th century.

I'll look for more on Amazing Grace!

Pete