Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA

Subject: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: ejsant
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 11:26 AM

Greetings all,

I am trying to locate songs written about the Morris Canal in New Jersey. I am interested in finding songs that speak of the building of the canal as well as life thereon during the operational years.

Thus far I have turned up the following leads:

"Rusty Old Canaler"
I've turned up only one verse or perhaps it is the refrain. I am interested in finding the full lyric text. This may have been a four line ditty sung by a boatman as he was passing a slower boat. There's a reference to this effect in James Lee's book entitled "Tales the Boatman Told"

"Going Down to Cooper's"
I believe I have the full lyric text. I am interested in turning up the air to which it was sung.

There is a third song I've turned up but I have only turned up what seems to be the first verse or again the refrain and I've not found any reference that this was a ditty. The following is the limited text I've thus far discovered:

"Old Bill Miller ridin' on the tiller,
Steering round the Bowertown Bend.
Old Davy Ross with a ten dollar boss
Comin' up the Pompton Plane"

Any and all help you can and may provide is greatly appreciated.

All the best!

Peace,
Ed
--
Peace, a brilliant aspiration!

Traditional and Contemporary Irish Music

www.EdSaultz.com
[phone]

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: Dave Ruch
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 04:46 PM

Ed,

Have you tried Bill Hullfish of Brockport NY, author of two books of canal songs? Good luck.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 07:31 PM

I've no songs to offer, but good luck with your project.

~ Becky in Tucson, formerly of Morris County, NJ

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 09:53 PM

Just spoke with my mother, who's in a retirement community in Hackettstown (on the canal route). She has a friends who's involved with the canal history and signage and whatnot. She herself remembers a friend whose father grew up in Paterson and remembered ice skating from Paterson to Boonton (!).

The Canal Society of New Jersey has some audio files with reminiscences and some songs.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: mg
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 10:36 PM

Interesting. I found out recently my great grandfather, Timothy Garvey, and his brothers, worked on the eastern canals..possibly ERie..let's see..they ahd children in New York (we know they were in Buffallo) and Ohio and someone said something about West Virginia..what is interesting is it seems some families from Dingle Ireland sort of traveled and worked together on canals and then bought land in Iowa but I can't say for sure...anyway, I am now more interested in canal songs...I have heard some nice ones but can't remember them. mg

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: ejsant
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:01 AM

Greetings Dave,

Nice to hear from you. I trust all is well. I have Bill's song books and CD's as well as those that George Ward recorded, great stuff it is indeed. There's another great singer of canal songs in this general area, Roy Justice. I'll be ordering his canal song CD's. Many of the canal songs were simply passed from canal to canal sometimes with lyrical changes to reflect the locality. I was speaking to the granddaughter of one of the last boatman on the canal and she put me on to a gent who told me of a book entitled "Songs of the Musconetcong". That's one of the rivers out here in Warren County, one of the great New Jersey trout fisheries. The canal site at parts is very near this river. This gent told me there are songs and poems in this book that speak of the Morris Canal. It seems this book is fairly available in the used book market. So it's off to get a copy by hook or by crook.

Greetings Becky,

In these parts we call it "BuddyHackettsTown". If memory serves me well this was coined by a radio DJ here in New Jersey. I've been in touch with the Canal Society of New Jersey. The folks I wrote of above are involved with it although not very active anymore given their ages. The gent that told me of "Songs of the Musconetcong" offered to join me for a tour around some of the old canal route. I'm sure he is full of stories and I can't wait to set that up.

I spent many a Summer's afternoon fishing and swimming in, and Winter's afternoon ice skating on, the Delaware and Raritan Canal in my younger years. That coupled with swimming, fishing, and ice skating on the Rahway River as a youngster might very well be the reason for my health issues today. I can only imagine what one would have encountered in the waters around Paterson, our country's first planned industrial city.

Greetings MG,

My moms family migrated from County Kilkenny and family legend holds that those that came over the earliest were navvy's, and subsequently boatman or crew, on the Big Ditch as well. Over the years they settled in many different places over here with those migrating during and after the famine years mostly settling in New York City and Hudson County, New Jersey.

Thank you all for your contributions. I've embarked on this project as part of a citizens effort to designate an area between the Morris Canal and the Musconetcong River a National Heritage Corridor. This effort is part of the overall effort to preserve open space here in Warren County.

My best to all!

Peace,
Ed

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: quantock
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 05:42 PM

Interesting that there's a Morris Canal in New Jersey. I live in Morris, Illinois which is right on the Illinois and Michigan Canal or what's left of it.

Good luck with your project

Rob.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: Greg B
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 12:51 PM

I wonder if William Main Doerflinger has any of those in his
collections? I don't know what became of them when he passed,
but his son Tom lives in Summit, and is in the phone book.

Bill lived in Convent Station on Canfield Road for many decades,
and was a rabid collector of music up to the end of us life; it
stands to reason he'd have gotten some local stuff.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 01:00 PM

You might try contacting Dick Swain, in West Chester, PA. He did some extensive research on canal lore.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: Greg B
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 12:53 AM

I find myself wondering just how many 'terrible storm on the canal'
songs there are.

As a kid, I didn't realize that 'The Er-i-e was a-risin' was a
great big joke.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs of the Morris Canal, NJ, USA
From: ejsant
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 07:15 AM

Greetings Greg and Dick,

Thank you for this information. I will set about to contact these two gentlemen and see what turns up.

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the well wishes.

All the best!

Peace,
Ed