Lyr Add: The Letters We Carved on the Tree

Subject: Lyr Add: The Letters We Carved on the Tree
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Jun 20 - 06:40 PM

Herga Kitty sang this lovely song today.

The Letters We Carved on-the Tree.
Copyright, 1883, by Frank B. Haynes

How sweetly the daisies were springing,
How drowsy the hum of the bees,
How gaily the robin was singing
His sweet, mellow song in the trees;
When beautiful Jennie, the queen of the May,
Confessed her affection for me;
And blushingly help'd me to cut out that day
Our names on the bark of the tree.

Chorus.
The letters remain here with moss overgrown,
But death took my darling from me-
And oft I come hither to sorrow alone,
O'er the letters we carv'd on the tree.

The pride of the village was Jennie,
We made her the queen of the May,
And 'mong the young lads there were many
Who courted her favor that day;
But she turned from them all when I asked her comment
To go out a Maying with me;
Oh, happy that day were the moments we spent
In carving our names on the tree.-Chorus.

Then I sailed away over the ocean,
As lovers did often of old,
To prove my heart's earnest devotion,
By bringing her jewels and gold;
But the vessel was wreck'd on a far away shore,
And when I came back o'er the sea,
I found she was dead, and would look nevermore
On the letters we carved on the tree.-Chorus.

Sweet letters, how full of affection,
Oh, let them remain on the tree;
They're full of a sweet recollection
Of times that were pleasant to me;
When through the gay woodland I wander'd along
With Jennie, the queen of the May,
Our hearts keeping time to the blithe, happy song
The robin was singing that day.-Chorus.

http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/songster/14-the-letters-we-carved-on-the-tree.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Letters We Carved on the Tree
From: Mo the caller
Date: 09 Jun 20 - 02:43 PM

"But she turned from them all when I asked her comment"
??? consent??? - not that I know the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Letters We Carved on the Tree
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 12:19 PM

I sang "consent"!

I sing the song as given to me by my friend Mary O'Connor in the 1990s, many decades after a member of her family brought the words home (in Birr, County Offaly), without a tune. The words given to me have changed somewhat over the years from the published version (and the Old Time Song lyrics say "she gave her comment"). And because the Hinds family didn't have the tune they used a different tune.

When I learnt the song, I didn't know it was written in the US - but when I sang it in front of Thomas McCarthy (who is from Birr) and he hadn't heard it before I thought I'd check out just where it came from.    The information I found on Google about six years ago indicated that the words were written by George Russell Jackson, a Scot who emigrated to the US and ended up as Deputy Editor of the Boston Chronicle, with a tune set to it by Frank B Haynes when it was published by Ditson in 1883 - but the only info I can find now mentions Frank B Haynes, who had the copyright, and not Jackson.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Letters We Carved on the Tree
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 12:48 PM

I wish I could find the original info about George Russell Jackson - it's unlikely he would have worked for the Chronicle, as it appears to have ceased publication in 1840, when George was only about 6 years old. He did start the Somerville Journal, and edited it for a while, and he also provided lyrics for Sam Lucas.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Letters We Carved on the Tree
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 07:29 PM

Like many others, I enjoyed hearing that one for the first time.

A small point: the placename "Birr" (a small town in the Irish MIdlands) is pronounced "burr".

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Letters We Carved on the Tree
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 05:03 AM

Thank you Martin - I was told that the tune I was given was a Munster lilt, so I hope that's correct!

Kitty

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Letters We Carved on the Tree
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 15 Jun 20 - 01:40 PM

You can see the original sheet music for THE LETTERS WE CARVED ON THE TREE at the Library of Congress website.

Indeed, it was published by Oliver Ditson & Co. in New York in 1883, and the correct songwriting credit given there is:

Words by George Russell Jackson, music by Frank B. Haynes

and the lyrics contain "consent" not "comment."

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN I CARVED YOUR NAME ON THE OLD OAK TR
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 15 Jun 20 - 02:23 PM

Another song on a similar theme. You can see this sheet music at Baylor University:


WHEN I CARVED YOUR NAME ON THE OLD OAK TREE
Words by Ren Shields, music by George Evans, ©1911.

1. I've been thinking of you, Annie, thinking, Annie dear, of you
And the days when we were sweethearts, you and I;
When I told you that I loved you, and you said you loved me too,
And we promised that our love would never die.
I can see now, dear, in fancy on the day I carved your name,
On the old oak tree that stood down near the stile.
Just that one sweet day, dear Annie, I would like to live again,
To hear your tender voice and see your smile.

CHORUS: When I carved your name on the old oak tree,
We were as happy as we could be.
'A' for Annie, 'B' for Ben,
I see you now as I saw you then.
Only to gaze in those eyes of blue, I'd give all eternity;
Just to be standing beside you, dear,
Carving your name on the tree.

2. Now I'm sorry, dearest Annie, that I haven't kept my vow,
And I'm sorry, dear, I proved untrue to you;
If I'd only kept my promise, you would not be sleeping now,
If I hadn't wed for gold, had I been true.
In the little village churchyard, dearest Annie, you're at rest,
Where on ev'ry Sabbath morn I kneel and pray.
There the daisies and the violets are growing o'er your breast,
And to me it only seems as yesterday. CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: HE CARVED HIS MOTHER'S NAME UPON THE TREE
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 15 Jun 20 - 09:24 PM

Another song on a similar theme. You can see this sheet music at Johns Hopkins University:


"A Sympathetic Song from Life"
HE CARVED HIS MOTHER'S NAME UPON THE TREE
Words by Henry V. Neal, music by Gussie L. Davis, ©1899.

1. 'Twas an orphan boy one day bearing wild flow'rs by the way,
As to the City graveyard he was bound;
Through the wicket gate he sped and he gently bowed his head,
And laid them on a little grassy mound.
He was poor but at his side where the rich and great had died,
Were marble shafts and roses blooming free,
And 'mid flow'rs and sculptured stone where she lay there long unknown,
He carved his mother's name upon the tree.

CHORUS: Oh, the little orphan boy while the tear stood in his eye,
Remembered those sweet lessons at her knee,
And beneath the maple's shade, where in silence she was laid,
He carved his mother's name upon the tree.

2. And he never ceased to tell of the one he loved so well,
But cherished all her precepts in his breast,
So when Heaven seemed to smile on his labors all the while,
He planted roses o'er her like the rest.
Now the orphan sad and lone to a merchant prince has grown.
A monument of beauty you may see.
It beside the maple stands where in youth with loving hands,
He carved his mother's name upon the tree. CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: ON THE BARK OF AN OLD CHERRY TREE (Howard
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 08:01 AM

Another song on a similar theme. You can see this sheet music at Baylor University:


ON THE BARK OF AN OLD CHERRY TREE
Words and music by Richard Howard, ©1915.

1. There are times I get to dreaming when the day begins to dim,
Of the things that never will be, but the things that might have been.
Then I get to feeling lonesome just like anyone would do,
When I think of my old sweetheart who once was fond and true.

CHORUS: On the bark of an old cherry tree,
In the town where my home used to be,
One night by the light of the bright silv'ry moon,
I carved two names to the whippoorwill's tune.
And I dreamed of a day, sweet Marie,
You'd be glad to share my name with me,
But that day never came, and your name's just the same
As it was on the old cherry tree.

2. Many times I sit and wonder if you ever think of me.
Many times I sit and ponder on the days that used to be,
And the only consolation that I find to bring me rest,
Are the words my mother taught me: all things are for the best.