Subject: RE: Origins: Clayton Boone (Child #200)
From:
Joe Offer
Date: 15 Dec 08 - 11:51 PM
Hi, Mark. You caught me before I finished typing. It's the source information I'm interested in - the Digital Tradition does not provide information about where the song came from.
The earliest version I can find is a Folkways recording by Harry Jackson (1965). Here are the lyrics and background notes:
CLAYTON BOONE
Here's an old world ballad dressed up in cowboy rigging. Commonly known as The Gypsy Laddie" (Child #200), this ballad in its early English and Scottish variants tells us the story of the gypsy leader, Johnny Faa, who sings at the gate of an absent lord, enticing the lady to come down. The gypsies bewitch her and she goes off with them. Upon his return the lord learns of his lady's defection, and sets out to bring her beck. In some versions he succeeds, and the gypsies die for their crime.
American versions, as in the cowboy text given here, usually end with the gypsy and lover triumphant over the wicked old lord. In its western setting, the ballad scene is somewhere on the Mexican border, the bosses horse is a black stripped (sic) dun, his saddle is silver, and the gypsy hero is a sweetsinging mandolin player.
For an interesting comparison with another cowboy version of this ballad, hear Woody Guthrie's rendition on the Library of Congress recording, AAFS L1.
For additiona1 texts and infomation, see: Botkin II (Treasury of Western Folklore, p. 785 (Guthrie's Library of Congress version); also see Coffin British Traditional Ballad in North America), p. 120 for a listing of numerous American texts.
CLAYTON BOONE
'Twas way out in New Mexico,
Along the Spanish Line,
I was workin' for old Clayton Boone,
A man well past his prime.
Well he rides in and asks of me,
"What's happened to my lady?"
I says to him: "She's quit your range
And run with the handsome Davy."
"Go Saddle for that proud cut dun
With the coal black mane and tail,
Point out to me their fresh laid tracks
And aftr them I'll trail."
I'll bridle on my leather chaps
I'll tie my pistol o'er,
I'll step aboard that black striped dun
And ride this whole world over.
I rode upon a saddle fine,
A saddle made of silver,
My bridle rein of beaten gold,
Not of your common leather.
I rode until the midnight sun,
Till I seen their camfire burnin',
And I heard the sweetest mandolin,
And the voice of young Dave singin'.
"Come home with me to your own sweet bed,
The sheets turned down so gayly,
Do not forget your silver and gold,
And your darlin' baby.
"Well, I'll not come home to my own sweet bed,
The sheets turned down so gayly,
And I'll forget your silver and gold
And all for the love of Davey
But I can't forget my baby.
"Last night I slept with a mean old man
In golden rooms so stately,
Tonight I sleep on the hard, cold ground
By the warm side of my Davy,
And I'll ride along with Dave."
For comparison, here are the lyrics from the Digital Tradition:CLAYTON BOONE
'Twas way out in New Mexico along the Spanish line
I was workin' for old Clayton Boone --a man well past his prime.
He rides in and asks of me, "What's happened to my lady?"
I says to him, "She's quit your range and run with the handsome Davey."
"Go saddle for my proud cut dun with the coal black mane and tail
Point out to me their fresh laid tracks and after them I'll trail."
I'll bridle on my leather chaps--I'll tie my pistol o'er,
I'll step aboard that black striped dun and ride this whole world over."
I rode upon a saddle fine --a saddle made o0f silver,
My bridle rein of beaten gold--not of your common silver.
I rode until the midnight sun -- 'til I saw their campfire burnin'
And I heard the sweetest mandolin and the voice of the young Dave singing.
"Come home with me to your own sweet bed -- the sheets turned down so
gayly,
Do not forget my silver and gold and your darling baby."
"Well, I'll not come home to my own sweet bed--the sheets turned down so
gayly,
And I'll forget your silver and gold and all for the love of Davy.
"Last night I slept with a mean old man in golden rooms so stately,
Tonight I'll sleep on the hard cold ground by the warm side of my Davey,
And I'll ride along with Dave."
@cowboy @infidelity
Child #200
Roud-1
filename[ CLAYBOON
AT
oct00 So, where did Harry Jackson get the song?
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