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DT Study: I Cannot Call Her Mother / Stepmother DigiTrad: I CAN NOT CALL HER MOTHER |
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Subject: ADD: I Cannot Call Her Mother (Henry Harrison) From: Joe Offer Date: 05 Jul 12 - 04:09 PM This is an edited DTStudy thread, and all messages posted here are subject to editing and deletion. This thread is intended to serve as a forum for corrections and annotations for the Digital Tradition song named in the title of this thread. Search for other DTStudy threadsBob Coltman posted this in another thread, but I thought I'd post it here to make it easier to find. I found the same lyrics in Rambling Blues: The life and songs of Charlie Poole by Kinney Rorrer (1982 - page 79). There are some mistakes in the Rorrer transcription - note "wreathe my face is smiling." I CANNOT CALL HER MOTHER [Charlie Poole version] (Henry Harrison, 1855) The marriage rite is over Although I turn aside To keep the guests from seeing The tears I could not hide I wreathe my face is smiling And I left my little brother To greet my father's chosen But he could not call her mother She is a fair young creature With meek and gentle airs With blue eyes soft and loving And silk and sunny hair I know my father gives her A love he had for another If she were an angel I could not call her mother My father's in the sunshine Of happy days to come They have forgot the shadows That darkened our old home His heart is no more lonely But me and little brother Must still be orphan children God gives us but one mother Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song: I Cannot Call Her Mother (The Marriage Rite is Over; The Stepmother)DESCRIPTION: "The marriage rite is over," and the children have seen their father take a new wife. Their mother's picture is replaced by the pretty new girl's. The child "could not call her mother." She calls herself an orphan; "God gave us but one mother."AUTHOR: Henry Harrison EARLIEST DATE: 1855 (date of composition) KEYWORDS: family marriage mother father children stepmother orphan FOUND IN: US(So) REFERENCES (5 citations): Randolph 726, "The Stepmother" (3 texts, 1 tune) Rorrer, p. 79, "I Cannot Call Her Mother" (1 text) Huntington-Whalemen, pp. 298-299, "I Can Not Call Her Mother" (1 text, 1 tune) cf. Gardner/Chickering, p. 482, "The Stepmother" (source notes only) ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 201-202, "(The Stepmother)" (1 short text) ST R726 (Partial) Roud #2091 RECORDINGS: Bradley Kincaid, "I Cannot Call Her Mother" (Supertone 9565, 1929; Champion 15968, 1930 [as Dan Hughey]) [Roy Harvey and the] North Carolina Ramblers "I Cannot Call Her Mother" (Silvertone 5181 [as The Three Kentucky Serenaders], 1927; Supertone 9246/Silvertone 8147, 1928) Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "I Cannot Call Her Mother" (Columbia 15307-D, 1928) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "The Blind Child" (theme) File: R726 Go to the Ballad Search form The Ballad Index Copyright 2011 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
Subject: DT Version: I Can Not Call Her Mother From: Joe Offer Date: 05 Jul 12 - 04:33 PM The Digital Tradition version is an exact transcription of the lyrics and tune from Huntington, Songs the Whalemen Sang: I CAN NOT CALL HER MOTHER The wedding rite is over And though I turn aside To keep the guests from seeing My tears I can not hide I wreathed my face in smiling As I led my little brother To greet my father's chosen one But I could not call her mother My father in the sunshine Of brighter days to come May half forget the shadow That darkens our old home His heart is no more lonely But I and little brother It's orphans we shall ever be God can give us but one mother They have born (sic) my mother's picture From its accustomed place And placed beside my father's A younger, fairer face And they have made her chamber dear The boudoir of another But I can not forget her My own my angel mother From Songs the Whalemen Sang, Huntington From the Journal of the Lexington, 1853 @family @mother @marriage filename[ NOTMOTHR TUNE FILE: NOTMOTHR CLICK TO PLAY RG This page which quotes a letter from The Lexington, has an additional verse about the stepmother singing the mother's song. |
Subject: ADD Version: I Cannot Call Her Mother From: Joe Offer Date: 05 Jul 12 - 06:37 PM I found this version at http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk. It's taken from Wehman's Universal Songster - complete collection of 61 volumes (Volume 32). It includes an additional verse about the stepmother singing a song the mother used to sing, and I think that makes the lyrics feel more complete. I CANNOT CALL HER MOTHER. The marriage rite is over; and though I turn aside. To keep the guests from seeing the tears I could not hide, I wreathed my face in smiling, and led my little brother To greet my father's chosen-but I could not call her mother. She is a fair young creature, with meek and gentle air; With blue eyes soft and loving, And silken, sunny hair. I know my father gives her the love he bore another; But, if she were an angel, I could not call her mother. To-night I heard her singing a song I used to love, When its sweet notes were uttered by her who sings above; It pained my heart to hear it, for my tears I could not smother, For every word was hallowed by the dear voice of my mother. My father, in the sunshine of happy days to come. May half forget the shadow that darkened our old home. His heart no more is lonely; but me and little brother Must still be orphan children-God can give us but one mother. Click here for three versions from Randolph. There's another melody in a book titled Singing in Zion. |
Subject: RE: DT Study: I Cannot Call Her Mother From: GUEST,999 Date: 05 Jul 12 - 06:49 PM Hi, Joe. Please see the following link where the date is 1854. Note that if you click on the cover page of the sheet music, the pages then come one-by-one as ya click again, etc. As an added bonus, the lyrics are there, too. Check out http://diglib.lib.utk.edu/utsmc/main.php?bid=1085 I tried to hot-link that but it was really slow. |
Subject: ADD Version: I Cannot Call Her Mother From: Joe Offer Date: 05 Jul 12 - 06:52 PM This version is a poem printed in the Rockland County Messenger (New York State), 8 June 1854. These same lyrics are also found in sheet music, with three different tunes. I CANNOT CALL HER MOTHER (by Miss Sarah T. Bolton) The marriage rite is over, And though I turned aside, To keep the guests from seeing The tears I could not hide, I wreath'd my face in smiling, And led my little brother, To greet my father's chosen, But I could not call her mother. She is a fair young creature, With a meek and gentle air, With blue eyes soft and loving, And silken sunny hair— I know my father gives her The love he bore another, But if she were an angel I could not call her mother. To night I heard her singing A song I used to love, When its sweet notes were uttered By her who sings above: It pained my heart to hear it, And my tears I could not smother, For every word was hallowed By the dear voice of my mother. My father, in the sunshine Of happy days to come, May half forget the shadow That darkened our old home; His heart no more is lonely, But me and little brother Must still be orphan children, God can give us but one mother. They've borne my mother's picture From its accustomed place, And set beside my father's A younger, fairer face; They've made her dear old chamber The boudoir of another, But I will not forget thee, My own, my angel mother. Duke University has sheet music, published 1854. Lyrics by Sarah T. Bolton, melody by R. Sinclair. This page has sheet music published 1855 with music by Harry Harrison and unattributed lyrics. This page (published 1880) has music by W.P. Chamberlain and unattributed lyrics. This page (published 1854) has music attributed to R. Sinclair and the same lyrics, attributed to Mrs. Sarah Bolton. |
Subject: RE: DT Study: I Cannot Call Her Mother From: GUEST,99 Date: 05 Jul 12 - 07:11 PM "They've borne my mother's picture From its accustomed piece, And let beside my father's A younger, fairer face;" I think Line 2: Piece should be place Line 3: let should be left Ooops! I got sloppy at the end. Thanks for the heads-up. I made the corrections - line 3 is "set," not "let." Sheet music is at Duke and American Memory Collection (Library of Congress). I haven't seen sheet music at UTK before (University of Tennessee Knoxville) - that's a great "find," and a good addition to their songbook index. |
Subject: ADD Version: The Stepmother From: Joe Offer Date: 05 Jul 12 - 11:59 PM There's a nice recording of this song by Loman Cansler under the title "The Stepmother" on a 1973 Smithsonian/Folkways album titled Folksongs of the Midwest (available on Spotify). Here are the notes and lyrics from Cansler's recording: My wife's maternal grandmother, Edith (Miner) Walker (1869-1941), compiled a remembrance or manuscript book between the ages of twelve and fifteen. She lived in Knox County, Illinois. Among the songs that I copied from the book in December, 1951, was "The Stepmother." During the summer of 1954, in Peoria County, I collected a shorter version and the tune of this song from eighty-eight-year-old Mrs. Etta (Camp) Conover. The next summer, Mrs. Ivy Stemler, from the same Illinois county, sang a version similar in content and melody to that of Mrs. Conover. She called it "I Could Not Call Her Mother." (Mrs. Stemler was born in Lee County in 1871.) When I played these versions for my Mother-in-Law, Lillie McElwain, she thought their melodies went about the same as she remembered her mother singing the the song. Some people tend to lump such songs as "The Stepmother" as sentimental tear-jerkers, or some other title implying make-believe or contrived situations. That such songs do exist, I will admit. But, I have known a number of high school youth who have wrestled with the attitudes and deep-seated feelings that are portrayed in this song. In fact, Mrs. Conover's chuckle that June day in 1954 spanned eighty-odd years and revealed a similar deep-seated emotion, when she told how an older friend, Jennie, who had a stepmother, used to sing this song and substitute "a darn sight blacker face" instead of the words, "a fairer younger face." THE STEPMOTHER The marriage vow was over And I turned myself aside, To keep the guests from seeing Those tears I could not hide. I wreathed myself in smiles And led my little brother To greet my father's chosen But I could not call her Mother. She was a fair young creature With meek and gentle air, With blue eyes soft and lovely, And dark and sunny hair. I knew my father gave her The love he bore another, But if she were angel Oh, I could not call her Mother. Last night I heard her singing Those songs I used to love, When every word was uttered By the one that sings above, It pained my heart to hear her; Those tears I could not smother, When every note was uttered By the dear voice of my Mother. They changed my Mother's portrait From its old accustomed place, And hung beside my father's A fairer, younger face. They made her dear old chamber The boudoir of another, But still I can't forget her, My own, my angel, Mother. My father in the sunshine Of happier days to come, Will not forget the sorrow Which darkens our dear home. But he is no more lonely, But I and little brother Must still be orphan children, God gave us but one Mother. Notes: Edith (Miner) Walker arranged this song in four lines each. Mrs. Stemler's handwritten copy showed stanzas of four lines, also, but the portion of the song she sang for me was a stanza with eight lines. For this album I have borrowed four lines found in both the versions from Peoria County to form the last part of stanza four. Making the real mother's chamber "...the boudoir of another..." adds to the completeness of this song and readies the listener for the ultimate expression of ambivalence. |
Subject: RE: DT Study: I Cannot Call Her Mother / Stepmother From: MorwenEdhelwen1 Date: 06 Jul 12 - 02:22 AM Does this song come from a play or something? Seems like a composed song from the lyrics. |
Subject: RE: DT Study: I Cannot Call Her Mother / Stepmother From: Joe Offer Date: 06 Jul 12 - 05:18 PM Yes, Morwen, it's a composed song that has become somewhat of a standard in the folk and bluegrass genres. See this message - apparently the lyrics were published in 1854, written by Sarah T. Bolton. There have been various melodies tied to these lyrics. I'm still puzzled about the lyrics in the Digital Tradition and in Gale Huntington's Songs the Whalemen Sang. Huntington's lyrics reportedly came from the 1853 journal of the Lexington. This page which quotes a letter from The Lexington, has an additional verse about the stepmother singing the mother's song. Anybody want to go to the whaling museum in Nantucket and check the Lexington journal? -Joe- |
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