Jawbone Origin and Categorization

Subject: Jawbone: Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 12:13 AM

Here are some of my notes on Jawbone. There are several other thread but I need help expanding already presented material.

NOTES: The origins and branches of Jawbone/Jawbone Walk and the Irish "Walk Jawbone" are numerous. The lyrics seem to be somewhat interchangeable. The tune has minstrel origins, with 'jawbone' probably referring to a stock character in such shows, says Charles Wolfe (1991).

There are early biblical references to the Jawbone: The jawbone was used by Samson, who slew a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass.

In the US, the Jaw Bone is a dance, an instrument, a stock character in minstrel shows as well as a fiddle tune and song.

Here is some info about the uses of the jawbone as an instrument:

"The jawbone was also a recognized instrument in 19th century African-American traditional music." Ceolas

"Now the ol' jawbone, that is a humble instrument. It does help by the way, if the jawbone is removed from the head, stripped and cleaned and dried. Some people keep the lower jaw intact so it has a U shape suitable for carrying. But only one side works too, should you want to share." From http://listproc.ucdavis.edu/archives/banjo-l/log0005/0109.html.

"A jawbone played with a stick so the teeth would rattle was a minstrel percussion instrument - probably borrowed from blacks." From Leadbelly page 19, Charles Wolfe, Kip Lornel.

"The Jaw Bone was a plantation music/minstrel show icon where it was often used as a rhythm instrument in place of, or along side of, bones. Hence there are a lot of mid 19th century songs, some parodies of each other, with Jawbone titles or references. Steven Foster sang of how Angelina Baker left him to weep a tear and beat on the old Jawbone "De Old Jawbone" chorus goes:

"Walk Jawbone with the Turkey too, Never mind that Boogerboo."

And first verse is "Jawbone hung on the kitchen wall..." From Mudcat.

Hans Nathan (in his book Dan Emmett) records it was sung at a Tennessee frolic in the early 1830's, and it has some similarities to minstrel Dan Emmett's tune (recorded by Uncle Dave Macon and the Fruit Jar Drinkers) "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel, I Believe." The fiddle tune "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel" is also known as "Old
Jawbone."

Hans Nathan (mentioned above) who suggested that "Walking Jaw Bone was a dance which may be the prototype of Tapdance as it imitates the sound it makes."

Wolfe found the tune in old minstrel collections, some of which indicate the song was associated with the "Colored Saboyard" Cool White- Words and Music by Silas Sexton Steele "Walk, Jaw Bone" (1844)(written expressly for Cool White)[Source: pages 210-211 from "Minstrel Songs, Old and New" (1883).

Library of Congress recordings of the tune/song prior to WWII were collected from Florida to Ohio. See also the variant "Johnson City Rag." Various ditties have been sung to the melody.

Here are some of my questions:

1) Where did these lyrics from: Randoplph?

My old Miss is mad at me,
Cause I wouldn't live in Tennessee,
Wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang,
An' a wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang.

I laid that jawbone on the fence,
An' I ain't seen that jawbone since.
Wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang...."
An' a wah-jaw-bone to my jangle lang.

2) Here are some branches or categories of Jawbone:

IRISH BRANCH: "Walk Jawbone" F Major. Standard. AABB. "Alex Dice," "Bonnet/Jacket Trimmed in Blue," "Din Tarrant's" "I Have a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue," "I have a donkey, he wouldn't go," "Krakovienne" (Boehme), "Tá Boinéad agam," "Tarrant's." Apparently adapted by American black-face minstrels from an Irish melody.

MISS MCLEOD'S REEL BRANCH: Different melody- variants include: "Uncle Joe," "Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe," "Miss McCloud's/McLeod's Reel." Lyrics from: Sketches and Eccentricities of Colonel David Crockett of West Tennessee, by J.S. French, 1833 (Charles Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Sept. 1982, pg. 37).

AMERICAN BRANCH: G Major. Standard. AABB. Early version by Silas Sexton Steele "Walk, Jaw Bone" (1844) (written expressly for Cool White)[Source: pages 210-211 from "Minstrel Songs, Old and New" (1883). Other names: "Old Jawbone," "Danced All Night With a Bottle in My Hand," "Give the Fiddler a Dram," "Give Me a Bottle of I Don't Care What," "Jordon is a Hard Road to Travel," "Johnson City Rag." The fiddle tune "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel" by Dan Emmett (also Uncle Dave Macon) is also known as "Old Jawbone." Library of Congress recordings of the Jawbone tune/song prior to WWII were collected from Florida to Ohio.

McCleod Reel is a different melody. Is the Irish Branch a different melody that the US Branch?

3)I have 2 sets of lyrics from the 1800's. Are there others?

4) Any other lyrics?

5) Other biblical references or early references to jawbone either as a weapon or an instrument?

-Richie

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 08:00 AM

Lyr. Add: WALK JAWBONE

In Caroline, whar I was born,
I hust de wood, an' I chop de corn,
A roasted ear to de house I bring,
But de driver cotch me and he sing:

CHORUS: Walk, jaw bone, Jenny come along,
In come Sally wid de bootees on,
Walk, jaw bone, Jenny, come along,
In come Sally wid de bootees on.


De cord de driver from me rob,
An' he make me eat de cob;
I chaw de cob until my gums
Stick out like Carolina plums.

CHORUS

Dey fasten me up under de barn,
Dey feed me dar on leaves ob corn;
It tickled my digestion so,
Dat I cotch de cholerophoby, oh.

CHORUS

Dey mad me a scar-crow in de field.
And a buzzard come to get his meal,
But in his face I blowed my bref,
An' he was a case for ole Jim Death.

CHORUS

Next come a hungry eagle down,
Oh! gosh thinks I, dis nig's done drown;
But he winked an' cried "I'se de bird ob de free
And won't eat de meat ob slabery."

CHORUS

Next come a weasel for my juice,
An' he gnawed till he untied me loose,
An' den I mad off wid a quick salarm,
An' lef' him be widout a dram.

CHORUS

Den down de bank I see'd de ship,
I slide down dar on de bone ob my hip;
I crossed de drink an' yare I am,
If I go back dar, I'll be damn!

CHORUS

Notes: Words and Music by Silas Sexton Steele "Walk, Jaw Bone" (1844)written expressly for Cool White). Source: pages 210-211 from "Minstrel Songs, Old and New" (1883). Reference in Meade, Spottswood, Meade biblio-discography is to 'S.S. Steele pre-1865'.

Other related songs: "Old Jawbone," "Danced All Night With a Bottle in My Hand," "Give the Fiddler a Dram," "Give Me a Bottle of I Don't Care What," "Jordon is a Hard Road to Travel," "Johnson City Rag."

The fiddle tune "Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel" by Dan Emmett (also Uncle Dave Macon) is also known as "Old Jawbone." Library of Congress recordings of the Jawbone tune/song prior to WWII were collected from Florida to Ohio.

-Richie

Subject: ADD: Jaw Bone (Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers)
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 06:43 PM

I gave some references in another thread: HERE

Dr Bill McNeil gives a transcription of Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers version:

JAW BONE

Little old man come riding by
Say, 'Old man, your horse will die'
'If he dies, I'll tan his skin
'If he lives, I'll ride him again'

Chorus:
Walk jaw bone and walk away
Walk jaw bone both night and day

Jaw bone walk and jaw bone talk
Jaw bone eat with a knife and fork

Chorus

Jaw bone broke and wire flew
Hide my head in the (high land) too

Chorus

My wife died in Tennessee
Sent that jaw bone on the fence
Hung my jaw bone on the fence
I haven't seen my jaw bone since

Chorus

Source: Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers 'Jaw Bone' recorded 6 February 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee, and issued as Victor 21577 in October 1928. Transcription by Dr W.K. McNeil included in booklet to box set: Various Artists 'Somewhere In Arkansas: Early Commercial Country Music Recordings From Arkansas 1928-1932' Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies no cat#. This recording has also been reissued on Various Artists 'Echoes of the Ozarks Vol I' County CD-3506.

--Stewie

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 06:46 PM

My apologies, the second line of the final stanza should have read: 'Sent that jaw bone back to me'. I would be grateful if a JoeClone could correct it and delete this message.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 09:51 PM

All Randolph says about "The Jawbone Song" is that the singer learned it from her father, who came West from Kentucky during the Civil War, which doesn't add much. (vol. 2, p. 259, with music, 1980 printing). He refers to N. L. White, American Negro Folk Songs, 1965, who has the song -
I'se gwine down to Sally's house,
If Sally ain't at home,
I'll set myself in de big armchair
And play on de old jawbone.

White relates this to the minstrel song sung by Jim Carter ("Sally is de Gal for Me," Negro Singers' Own Book, 1846(?) p. 34.

Possibly related to:
I went down to my gal's house,
But couldn't get in at all;
I went round to de winder,
There was another mule in my stall,
All night long, baby, all night long.
Coll. 1915, AL.

Talley refers to the minstrel origins (Cool White) and refers to Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers, and contributes the lines:
Samson shout! Samson moan!
Samson, bring on yo' jawbone.

Jawbone walk! Jawbone talk!
Jawbone, eat wid a knife an' fork.

Walk, jawbone! Jinny come alon'!
Yon'er goes Sally wid de booties on.

Jawbone ring! Jawbone sing!
Jawbone, kill dat wicked thing.

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 10 Oct 02 - 11:27 PM

Thanks Stewie and Guest for your contributions. I guess I'm most confused by info from Ceolas and others about the Irish lineage of "Jawbone."

"I Have a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue," seems a bit removed from "Danced All Night With a Bottle in My Hand."

Does anyone understand the Irish connection here?

-Richie

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 12:15 AM

An 1856 edition of one of the minstrel volumes was printed in Ireland. I have lost the reference to the title of the book, but it did contain the Jawbone song. It also appeared in "The Negro Minstrel," Glasgow, 1850 (Talley, Negro Folk Rhymes).
Minstrel songs from the States were very popular in the British Isles, and the minstrel troupes went over and played there. The books and tours may be the "Irish" source.

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 12:44 AM

The use of a jawbone, the teeth scraped with a hollow stick, was noted in Florida in 1837 (Epstein, Sinful Tunes and Spirituals, p. 156). The jawbone was mentioned in 1777 (Epstein, p. 49). Probably was a practice brought over from Africa.

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 03:27 PM

The Hog Eye Man, a well known sea chantey, includes:

My wife, she died in Tennessee,
They sent her jawbone back to me;

I hung that jawbone on the fence,
Ain't heard nothin' but the jawbone sence!

Sounds like either convergence or divergence here. I wonder where the origin of both sets of lyrics was. Possibly the minstrel song gave birth to the sea chantey lines. Alec Bone mentions that sailor, when they were not pursuing other more exciting adventures, often went to shows, along with the shorebound folks.

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 11 Oct 02 - 08:58 PM

You seem to be asking about several quite separate pieces which all happen to mention jawbones. The "Irish" connection, if it involves Bonnet Trimmed with Blue or If I had a Donkey, is perhaps more likely to be Scottish; though as has already been said, a lot of tunes were adopted into tradition in Ireland, Scotland and England from the American minstrel shows.

Really, you need to distinguish between the songs you're looking into; they are not all related to each other. It looks as if you have copied some references from The Fiddler's Companion; if you search around there a bit more, you will find additional material which may provide further lines of investigation; some of which, of course, will contradict what you have already found...

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST,Richie
Date: 13 Oct 02 - 12:21 AM

-Malcolm

That's exactly why I asked the question, so others with knowledge about Irish music could clarify what I consider questionable info.

There are three different songs all entitled "Jawbone" "Walk, Jawbone" (listed above as IRISH BRANCH, MISS MCLEOD'S REEL BRANCH, AMERICAN BRANCH) and I wanted info to figure out if they are related at all, and if so- how they are related. I wanted to know what lyrics have been shared by the different melodies.

These are difficult questions but that's why trying to understand song relationships is interesting to me. Answering these questions could take a large amount of research and time, and it would be the proper way to handle this.

I appreciate your advice and can look into more.

-Richie

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 15 Nov 02 - 06:24 PM

Christy's Nigga Songster (1850) has a song called "Jim Jawbone" sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle. Parts-

Jim Jawbone was a color'd man,
Ob de true nigga blood, sa,
In old Virginny he did grow,
Among de 'bacca buds, sa.
His fader cum from Alabama,
His moder cum from Alabama,
Dey suckled little Jawbone wid
De leaf ob ole Virginny.
Chorus:
Success to the tobacco leaf,
An' nigga's Jawbone Grinny,
Sing may dey raise for our relief,
De plant ob ole Virginny.

Dey cradled in tobacco stalks,
Dis blooming infant black, sa;
An' long before he larnt to talk,
He squealed de name of "bacca."

And so on.

Subject: RE: Jawbone Origin and Categorization
From: GUEST,Liz Milner
Date: 24 Mar 24 - 09:58 AM

Re: Angelina Baker
The set of Foster's lyrics that I've seen suggests that Angelina suggested to the Master that he free his slaves and she was immediately sold away. https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/angelinabaker.html