Origins: Too Much of a Name / Longest Name Song

Subject: ADD Version: Longest Name Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Apr 24 - 12:07 AM

LONGEST NAME SONG

Me father and mother were elegant folks;
They both had a failing for practical jokes,
And when I was born, they were both of a mind
That I should possess ev’ry name they could find.

CHORUS
Jonathan, Joseph, Jeremiah,
Timothy, Titus, Obadiah,
William, Henry, Walter, Sim,
Reuben, Rufus, Solomon, Jim,
Nathaniel, Daniel, Abraham,
Roderick, Frederick, Peter, Sam,
Simon, Dimon, Nicholas, Pat,
Christopher, Dick, Jehoshaphat.

There were two other children next morning as well,
And with the poor kids it proved as a sell.
When the parson came in, me being first of the three,
He had to begin operations on me.

When I went to get married ’twas just as bad,
The parson looked at me as if he were mad.
Said he, “My good friend, without reason or rhyme,
You’ll have to get married a bit at a time.”

#181 in Ballads and Songs from Utah, pp 343-344), by Lester A. Hubbard (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1961)

Notes: An almost identical song, called "The Irish Cradle Song," was dictated by Thomas Isom of Hurricane. With the exception of one stanza, the Utah test corresponds to that recovered in Newfoundland by Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 345.

Sung by Mrs. Susie S. Barlow of Salt Lake City, Nov. 16, 1948.

MIDI: (click to play, right-click to download)
Doesn't seem to work in every browser. Email me if you need a copy. [e-mail]

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This video starts off with an excerpt from "The Addams Family," but then gives a rendition of "Longest Name Song" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxh0RasP8Kg

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: GUEST,Lynn McMurray
Date: 20 Apr 24 - 09:04 PM

Does anyone know where I can listen to a recording of this song? I have the words, but not the tune.

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: leeneia
Date: 18 Apr 21 - 09:56 AM

Movie star Donald O'Connor had something similar. His full name was Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor.

Sometimes when life seems too dreary, I go to YouTube and watch Donald O'Connor sing and dance.

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Apr 21 - 02:35 AM

Hi there my father used to also tell us this poem but always told us there was one more poem for when he passed away.just wonder if anyone ever new what this was.??

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: GUEST,Larry
Date: 28 Apr 16 - 02:08 PM

Just by chance, I happened to look online for this song. I remember my father singing it on trips and though I couldn't remember the lyrics, I could remember the tune and a few of the names. What a joy to find it and remember all those road trips with my long-since departed parents. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: GUEST,Glenda (the way my Mom sang it)
Date: 04 Jun 14 - 09:27 AM

To much of a name is a very sad thing, you'll think the very same when you hear what I have to say. My Mother & father were excellent folks but they both had a weekness for practical jokes. So when I was born they were both of one mind & said I could have all the names they could find.
Oh, Jonathan, Josepjh, Jerry, Myer, Timothy, Titus, Obedier,William, Henry, Walter, Simms, Rueben, Rufus, & Solimon, Jim, Nathaniel, Daniel, Abraham, Roderick, Fredrick, Peter, Sam, Simon, Timon,, Nicholas, Pat, Christopher, Dick, Johausefat.
When I went to gets married the case was as bad, the parson stared at me as if I were mad. Said he my dear sir it's a terrible shame your parents denied you a sensible name so through this sad story without reason or rhyme you'll have to get married a bit at a time.
Oh, repeat names.

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Jan 13 - 09:14 PM

You may recognize some songs listed here:

From The Telegraphist: A Monthly Journal of Popular Electrical Science, No. 20 (London: July 1, 1885), page 91:

EASTERN CENTRAL DISTRICT.

The fourth annual dinner of the officers of the E.C. District Branch Post-offices took place at the Crown and Cushion Hotel, London-wall, on Thursday, February 4th, B. J. Hollingsworth, Esq., Branch Office Supervisor, occupied the chair, and W. H. Lamburn, Esq., officiated as vice. Forty-two sat down, and a most excellent menu was provided. After a few well-chosen remarks from the chair, the programme commenced with a pianoforte selection by Mr. W. A. Unwin. Mr. G. J. Maggs opened the vocal portion, in character, "I Won the Bicycle," which elicited much amusement. Mr. W. G. Turner gave a vigorous rendering of "The Goodwin Sands"; Mr. W. G. Allen, "Woman, Lovely Woman"; Mr. E. D. Holmes, "The Little Hero"; Mr. R. W. Colmer, "Razors in the Air"; Mr. Unwin, "True till Death"; Mr. Lucas, "Benjamin Binns"; Mr. H. Stafford, "The Powder Monkey"; Mr. Walsh, "Paddy's Courtship"; Mr. F. C. Glanville, "Agricultural Irish Girl"; Mr. Holmes, "Only Once More"; Mr. Allen, "His Lordship winked at the Counsel"; Mr. Turner, "Balaclava"; Mr. Colmer, "Jonathan Joseph Jeremiah"; Mr. Maggs, "The Putney Bus." During the evening several toasts were proposed, "The Visitors," by Mr. F. Russell, responded to by Mr. T. Baker; "The Stewards," by Mr. H. W. Savage, responded to by Mr. W. G. Allen; "The Chair and Vice-Chairman," by Mr. T. W. Nelian, in responding to which our respected Supervisor stated he was delighted with the whole of the arrangements, which reflected the greatest credit on Messrs. Allen, Colmer, Holmes, and Turner, and that, although this was his first attendance, it would by no means be his last. "Auld Lang Syne" brought a most enjoyable and successful evening to a close.

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jan 13 - 05:59 PM

iam 75 and when i was small 5/6 yr old my grandfather sang this song to me. he told me hi father sang it to him

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: GUEST,68 years young
Date: 15 Oct 11 - 12:32 AM

Wow, I remembered the chorus to this song from many years ago and wrote it down today. I thought it was it was from a song and Googled it. Yea, I found this link.
I must say it served me well once at a baby shower when we had to write as many boy's names as fast as we could..you guessed it, I won.

Subject: Lyr Add: LONGEST NAME SONG (Newfoundland)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Apr 09 - 07:50 AM

From Ballads and Sea Songs of Newfoundland by Elisabeth Bristol Greenleaf, Grace Yarrow Mansfield (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1933):

LONGEST NAME SONG
Words from Mr. Charles Earle, tune from Mrs. Fred Earle, Change Island and Fogo, 1929.

1. My father and mother were excellent folks;
They spent half their time in practical jokes;
And when I was born they were both of one mind,—
They said I should have all the names they could find;
So they considered as wise as could be,
And this is the handle they stuck onto me:

CHORUS: Jonathan, Joseph, Jeremiah,
Timothy, Titus, Obadiah,
William, Henry, Walter, Sim,
Reuben Rufus, Solomon, Jim,
Nathaniel, Daniel, Abraham,
Roderick, Frederick, peter, Sam,
Hyman, Tyman, Nicholas tat,
Christopher, David, Jehosaphat.

2. I joined the societies there in the town;
My name on the rolls it was all written down;
The clerk in the meeting was calling the roll;
When he got through my name, there wasn't a soul
For to wait for the ending, they were all so vext,
They said they'd go home and come back for the next.

3. When I came to get married, the case was as bad;
The parson stared at me, he thought I was mad:
"That your parents denied you a sensible name,"
Said he, "young man, that's a very great shame;
But we'll say nothing more, for reasons of mine,
But you'll have to get married a bit at a time."

A variant of a once popular music-hall song, "Jonathan, Joseph, Jeremiah." See, for example, Harry Beckwith's America's Own Comique Songster (New York, A. J. Fisher, copyright 1878), p. 28.

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 31 Aug 08 - 06:29 AM

On one of Anne Feeney's early recordings there is a setting of Dr Seuss's "Too Many Daves" to the tune of "The Rakes of Kildare". I think DC Fitzgerald put them together.

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Aug 08 - 02:14 AM

Q, the sheet music name I have is "Jonathan. Joseph. Jeremiah" Or "Named After Everybody."
I don't know where the title "Too Much of a Name" came from.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Aug 08 - 11:06 PM

Harry Hunter, 1841-1906.
Wrote mostly for the Mohawk Minstrels from 1874. Joined Francis & Day music publishers 1886, retired 1903.
Repertoire:
"Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother" and 19 more
No listing for "Too Much of a Name."

James Francis 1840-1886
Co-founder of Mohawk Minstrels in 1867.
Some 30 routines listed, but not the one sought.
His "Spelling B" and "Mrs Brown and Her Luggage" suggest that he wrote this type of song.

Michael Kilgarriff, 1998, "Sing Us One of the Old Songs," Oxford Univ. Press.

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Aug 08 - 08:33 PM

This reminds me of a song Cosmotheka revived. Here is a thread about it The Baby's Name (Boer War song) , which includes the words.

And here is the chorus:

The baby's name is Kitchener, Carrington,
Methuen, Kekewich, White, -
Cronje, Plumer, Powell, Majuba,
Gatacre, Warren, Colenso, Kruger,
Capetown, Mafekin, French,
Kimberly, Ladysmith, 'Bobs'.
Union Jack and Fighting Mac,
Lyddite, Pretoria Blobbs.

I wonder if the earlier song Joe just gave us was the inspiration for that one?

Subject: RE: Origins: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Aug 08 - 08:05 PM

I wonder if this (click) means we've found the songwriter names:

EATON W.G & HUNTER HARRY.: "Jonathan. Joseph. Jeremiah" Or "Named After Everybody."
London, Francis Bros & Day.1877-81. With an unsigned colour lithograph portrait, of the singer/publisher/Minstrel James Francis of the Mohawk Minstrels. The lithographic artist has drawn a small dinner suited body and added a colour photograph of the head of James Francis. We can date this certainly between 1877 when Francis Bros & Day started and 1881 when Harry Hunter was persuaded to join them both in the Mohawks and in the publishing business. It is likely to be 1881 as the back cover confirms the arrival of Hunter into the partnership with a list of songs. William G. Eaton has 13 titles to his credit in Kilgarriff, many of them music hall songs.Folio size with music

Subject: DT Correction: Too Much of a Name
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 05:03 PM

TOO MUCH OF A NAME

Some people are anxious for honor and fame
And they strive all their lifetime in gettting a name.
But too much of a name is a possible thing
And this you will say when you hear what I sing.
Now my father and mother were excellent folks,
But they both had a weakness for practical jokes.
So when I was born they were both of one mind.
They said I should have all the names they could find.

CHORUS
For there were Jonathan Joseph Jeremiah
Timothy Titus Obadiah
William Henry Walter Sim
Reuben Rufus Solomon Jim
Nathaniel Daniel Abraham
Roderick Frederick Peter Sam
Simon Timon Nicholas Pat
Christopher Dick Jehosephat.

I was sent to be christened before I could speak
So I might not object to this curious freak.
There were two other babies that morning as well
But for those two babies it wasn't so swell*.
The reason was that I was first of the three
So the parson began operations on me.
And it took him so long for my titles to call
That these two other babies got no names at all!

CHORUS

When I came to be married the case was as bad.
The parson stared at me as if he were mad.
He started his task but he found very soon
That the job was too great to be finished by noon.
Said he, "My dear sir, 'tis a very great shame
That your parents denied you a sensible name.
But since you are here without reason or rhyme,
You'll have to get married one name at a time."

CHORUS

@humor
filename[ TOONAME
BR


*Pankake: And for those two babies it turned out a sell.
(I like the DT version better)


The above is the Digital Tradition version of the song, with corrections noted. Except for the corrections and the one line noted, the DT version is the same as what I found on page 200 of A Prairie Home Companion Folk Song Book, by Marcia and Jon Pankake. The Digital Tradition and the Pankake book do not suggest a tune - but the verses fit Wild Rover. Matching the list of names in the chorus to any tune would be a real trick.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Too Much of a Name (long list of names)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 03:58 PM

Jim and I wondered about the history of this song. There's just a short entry in the Traditional Ballad Index, but it gives a start:

Too Much of a Name

DESCRIPTION: "Some people are anxious for honor and fame And they strive all their lifetime in getting a name. But too much of a name is a possible thing" As a practical joke my parents named me Jonathan Joseph Jeremiah ... Jehosaphat." So long a name causes problems
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland)
KEYWORDS: wedding humorous nonballad talltale clergy
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) US(Ap,Ro)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 170, "Longest Name Song" (1 text)
Hubbard-BalladsAndSongsFromUtah, #181, "Longest Name Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p. 201, "Too Much of a Name" (1 text)
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol4, pp. 57-58, "Jonathan Joseph... Timothy Pack" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, TOONAME
Roud #7041 and 4824
NOTES [25 words]: Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland states that this is "a variant of a once popular music-hall song 'Jonathan, Joseph, Jeremiah.'" - BS
Last updated in version 6.0
File: GrMa170

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I thought I had Greenleaf/Mansfield but I don't. Here's the citation: -- Elizabeth Bristol Greenleaf and Grace Yarrow Mansfield, Ballads and Sea Songs of Newfoundland (1933). Ballads cited by Number.
Anybody have Greenleaf/Mansfield?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 07:54 AM

GUEST,Sheryl: The song you are looking for is in the DT database: TOO MUCH OF A NAME. I don't know how it got there; no songwriter or other source is cited, and my usual sources (Allmusic.com, ASCAP, BMI) don't list it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
From: GUEST,Sheryl
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 10:20 PM

Hi:

My Mother used to sing a silly song to me about a Mother and Father (parents) couldn't decide on a name for their baby boy and all I remember are the names, don't know if they are precise, but here's my memory of them.

John, Jacob, Jeremiah, Timothy, Thia, Obadiah, William, Henry, Walter, Simms, Reuben, Reuven, Solomon, Jim, Nathaniel, Daniel, Abraham, Frederick, Roderick, Peter, Sam, Simon, Nimon, Nicholas, Pat, Christopher, Dick and Jehoshaphat.

She had many songs she sang to me as a child, but has been gone now for 25 years, and as I get older, my childhood memories come back. I would just like to grasp them again, and share with my Grandchildren. Thank you for any help. Sheryl