Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: GUEST,Jon Dudley
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 08:03 AM

Sadly our non-pc primary school version (circa 1957) had it thus -

The Yellow Rose of Texas and The Man from Laramie,
They caught poor old Sabrina and tied her to a tree,
They lifted up her jumper - and guess what they saw?
The biggest pair of mountains from here to Singapore.

Note: 'Sabrina' aka Norma Sykes, was a voluptuous British actress of the 50s and 60s.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 08:51 AM

My school had this version.

Oh the yellow rose of Texas,
The man from Laramie,
Invited Davy Crocket,
To have a cup of tea,
The tea was so delicious,
They had another cup,
And poor old Davy Crocket,
Was left the washing up.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 01 Aug 11 - 12:55 PM

That 'Man from Laramie/Davy Crockett/cup of tea' version was widespread ~~ lots of variants in several threads. The irrationality, as I have remarked elsewhere, is that a second cup of tea is generally poured into the same cup as the first, so the total amount of the washing-up would not increase ~~ the then about 8-yr-old nephew from whom I learnt it in about 1957 made that point himself.

But Keith's version above has an additional shock & frisson ~~ what kind of hospitality is it to invite someone to tea and then leave him with the washing-up. Fine hosts they were!

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: GUEST,Susie
Date: 01 Aug 11 - 05:55 PM

My old and dearly loved departed friend, Hamish Imlach, used to sing a version of this, beginning...

"Oh, the yellow dose that wrecks us
Is what she gave to me
I got the itch at half past nine,
the drip at half past three
I dipped my wick in turpentine
But still I couldn't pee
Oh! the yellow dose that wrecks us
Is what she gave to me".

I can hear that chuckle down the years...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Mark Ross
Date: 02 Aug 11 - 11:47 AM

When I was very young, my father was called to active duty (he was in the Medical Corps, Reserve) at Fort Sam Houston. He was gone for about 6 months, and every week or so, he would send us postcards , usually with pictures of The Alamo. I did some research on the story, and when he finally came home I asked him how if every one of the Texans fighting the Mexican Army were wiped out, how did we know the story about Travis drawing a line in the sand and calling for all those who would stay to save Texas crossed the line, including Bowie, who had to be carried over on a cot. My Dad told me that there was one man, a French trader by the name of George Rose, who respectfully declined the honor of dying for Texas and made his escape over the wall the night before the final battle. He went on to explain that this was the origin of the song THE YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS.


Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Sep 13 - 12:12 PM

The old minstrel song, "Belle Ob Tennisee," has some lines reminiscent of "Yellow Rose of Texas."

Posted in new thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Sep 13 - 07:02 PM

Earliest version found is in Christy's "Plantation Melodies #2." 1853.

Lyr. Add: YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS 1853

1
There's a yellow girl in Texas
That I'm going to see;
No other darkies know her,
No darkey, only me;
She cried so when I left her
That it like to broke my heart,
And if I only find her,
We never more will part.

Chorus-
She's the sweetest girl of colour
That this darkey ever knew;
Her eyes are bright as diamonds,
And sparkle like the dew.
You may talk about your Dearest Mae,
And sing of Rosa Lee,
But the yellow Rose of Texas
Beats the belles of Tennessee.

2
Where the Rio Grande is flowing.
And the starry skies are bright;
Oh, she walks along the river
In the quiet summer night;
And she thinks if I remember
When we parted long ago,
I promised to come back again,
And not to leave her so.

Chorus-

3
Oh, I'm going now to find her,
For my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs together
That we sang so long ago.
We'll play the banjo gaily,
And we'll sing our sorrows o'er.
And the yellow Rose of Texas
Shall be mine forever more.

Chorus-

"Dearest Mae" and "Rosa Lee" are both titles of two songs appearing in Christy's Minstrels songbooks.

From "The Handbook of Texas Online."
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/xey01

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 01:26 AM

"Darkie"; "Banjo on knee"; "Rio Grande flowing" ~~ very much minstrel-show types of locution; and it seems to have strong Emmett or Foster influence; very likely a reworking of the "Belle ob Tenisee" so usefully drawn attention to by Q: the dates fit, as that thread demonstrate. Anyone any idea of authorship?

~M~

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Mr Happy
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 03:49 AM

In 1853, would American vernacular have included terms such as 'person of colour' ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Greg F.
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 09:00 AM

CLICK HERE

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 09:31 AM

That certainly answers the question, Greg F. But I can't see why Mr Happy asked the question. What point were you making, Mr Happy?

~M~

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 10:21 AM

Greg & Mr Happy: but only in legal usage. It sounded odd and affected to me when I first began hearing it often around 1990.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 11:14 AM

It was just out of fashion for a while. I remember it being used in the 1930s for the Chinese café owner in town (the sole Chinese family in town). There were no Blacks.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, it was first used in the 18th C.

(One of the children sold me two white rats for a nickel when I was in the second grade. A bit later, I suckered and bought a cat from him. I think the cat was feral; it was very independent.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Greg F.
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 12:23 PM

It sounded odd and affected to me when I first began hearing it often around 1990.

Only because it hadn't been used much since the civil rights era of the 1960's.

It was in common use in the US for most of the 19th century & the first half of the 20th.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Greg F.
Date: 03 Sep 13 - 12:24 PM

Ooops. Day late & a dollar short.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Sep 13 - 11:21 PM

Google's Ngram Viewer is a wonderful tool for exploring the history of language.

person of color

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Feb 14 - 01:32 AM

Hi,
sorry if this is too unrelated, but does anyone else think the Gene Autry version of this song sounds similar to the Vernon Dalhart recording of "The Sinking of the Titanic"?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Jan 26 - 01:43 PM

this is a reply on the person who mentioned gene autrys recording on the yellow rose of texas. he recorded it in the mid 30s with jimmy long to the tune of the death of floyd colilns not the sinking of the titanic from joe.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 04 Jan 26 - 03:16 PM

I have a vague recollection of a 'Man from Laramie' version that was quite bawdy but can't remember all of it, from the 50s in Yorkshire if I remember aright.

The yellow rose of Texas, the man from Laramie,
He took her to a valley and tied her to a tree,. . . (No Davy Crockett).

Ed Cray published a highly obscene version from the Korean War, in his Erotic Muse.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Mark Ross
Date: 06 Jan 26 - 03:32 PM

When I was a youngster, my father who was an officer in the US Army Medical Corp., was sent to San Antonio, Texas for a 6 month training at Fort Sam Houston. He would send postcards with pictures of the Alamo, which got me interested in the tale. When he returned from active duty I asked him about the battle, and he told me the story of Col.Travis drawing a line in the sand, and asking all those who would die for Texas to cross the line. All of them did, and were wiped out to a man by the triumphant forces of General Santa Anna. I asked Dad if they were all wiped out, how did we know this story? He told me that one fellow by the name of George Rose, declined to die for Texas, and made his escape over the wall the night before the battle. Which is where we got the title of the song, The Yellow Rose of Texas.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yellow Rose of Texas
From: Paul Burke
Date: 07 Jan 26 - 04:21 PM

The Leaning Towert of Pisa, as anyone can see,
Was built by Julius Caesar in 99BC.
It leans at such an angle that the ceiling is the floor,
You go in through the window and you look out from the door.

Galileo Galilei looked down from it at the stars,
He saw the rings of Venus and the great red spot on Mars.
"Eppur si muove!"* he ran and told the Pope
Who called the Inquisition in to burn his telescope.

If you want to go and see it, it stands just there in Rome,
Between the Colloseum and Brunelleschi's Dome,
It's right there by Genoa on the Adriatic Sea,
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the only one for me!

*Eppur si muove: They'll make a movie of this