Origins: The Christmas Ghost

Subject: Tune Req: The Christmas Ghost
From: mikechatty
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 04:55 PM

I discovered this song in the book "Folk-Songs of Virginia" by Arthur Kyle Davis Jr, but sadly the book is only a list of songs collected in another book, "Traditional Ballads of Virginia" published by Harvard University Press, 1929, so there's no lyrics or sheet music provided. The entry in the section "Ghost Ballads" is as follows:

"The Christmas Ghost. (“Lone Farnby’s Moor lies bleak and bare”) Contributed by Mr. R. E. Lee Smith, of Palmyra, Va. Sung by his brother, Mr. Thomas P. Smith, of Palmyra, Va., and himself. Fluvanna County. October 21, 1931. Four stanzas."

I got an update courtesy of the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia, minders of research by the Virginia Folklore Society. Luckily they obliged my out-of-state email request for the transcription. It's not much but this fragment is eery and mysterious:

"’The Christmas Ghost.’ Contributed by R. E. Lee Smith, of Palmyra, VA. Sung by his brother, Thomas P. Smith, of Palmyra, VA and himself. Fluvanna County, October 21, 1931.

'Lone Farnby's Moor lies bleak and bare,
No living traveler anywhere.

The frozen earth is cold and white
Upon this dreary winter's night.

Ah, how the chilling night winds grieve
Across the moor this Christmas Eve.

Such cheerless scene not oft you'll see
At Christmas in the North Countree.

Some miles away o’er Farnhope's height
The silvery moon comes into sight.'”

If anyone has any knowledge about this song or related variants I'd appreciate it!

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Christmas Ghost
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Jun 23 - 02:41 AM

Hmmm. Looks like I'm stumped. I've got Traditional Ballads of Virginia and More Traditional Ballads of Virginia, both by Arthur Kyle Davis. All of the songs in these two books are Child Ballads that are easily found elsewhere, and I have to admit I have never used these two books.

Traditional Ballads of Virginia is a 1969 University Press of Virginia reprint of the 1929 Harvard book, but I don't see this song or a "Ghost Ballads" section.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Christmas Ghost
From: mikechatty
Date: 27 Jun 23 - 11:30 AM

Thank you for looking. I think I misunderstood the books' relationship to each other. "Folk-Songs of Virgina" subtitle is a "Descriptive Index and Classification of Material Collected Under the Auspices of the Virginia Folklore Society," and you can find scanned copies at archive.org. There's a sub-section of non-Child songs grouped by subject. The "ghost ballads" are pretty fun: "The Barbadoes Lady/Pretty Nancy of Yarmouth," "The Shooting of his Dear/Molly Bond," "Giles Scroggins," "The Oxford Man," "Dinkey Doodle-um/The Bold Fisherman," and this one with its striking eerie title. Looking at it more thoroughly it looks like there were no recordings of the song made so most likely these four stanzas are all that exist! Quite a fun mystery to ponder.

Were there more lines? What was the tune? When did the ghost appear or is it present in the winter landscape? There's probably nothing more to discover about this one but I wanted to put it here for future song-hunters.