The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #47756 Message #714408
Posted By: greg stephens
21-May-02 - 06:10 AM
Thread Name: Tune Req: Bag of Tobacco
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Bag of Tobacco
Great, I've mastered abc notation. Well the version John quoted is different from mine but obviously from the same family, I would guess they both derive from the very popular song "Tobacco is an Indian Weed" which dates from 100years or more earlier(1700ish), which deals with the philosohical reflections induced by smoking a pipe."Tobacco is an Indian weed/ Grows green at morn is cut down at eve/ It shows our decay we are but clay/ Think on this when you smoke tobacco". I imagine searching under that title would throw up an early version of the tune, and perhaps Gypsy's "bag of Tobacco" is another member of the family? Where did you hearthat title, Gypsy? The song was later reworked by various divines (notably Samuel Wesley) who kitted it out with assorted tunes and more improving words of a specifically Christian nature (rather than the general philosophical musings of the earlier printed versions).