Origins: History of 'Run, Come See Jerusalem'

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Run Come See
From: GUEST
Date: 14 May 07 - 01:50 PM

Traditional?
With an opening line...it was 1929?
Blimey, that was quick.
See Blind Blake, Bahamas.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Run Come See
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 14 May 07 - 11:52 AM

Is this based upon an actual event?   I have heard several recordings and it seems like this song was in Sing Out some years back. But I do not trust my memory very far these days.

Subject: Lyr Add: Run Come See
From: Stewie
Date: 14 May 07 - 03:02 AM

RUN COME SEE
(Traditional) (As sung by X-Seaman's Institute)

It was nineteen hundred and twenty-nine (Run come see, run come see)
I remember that day pretty well
It was nineteen hundred and twenty-nine (Run come see Jerusalem)

There were three sail leavin' out the harbour (Run come see, run come see)
There was the Ethel and the Myrtle and the Pretoria
There were three sail leavin' out the harbour (Run come see Jerusalem)

There was the Ethel and the Myrtle and the Pretoria (Run come see, run come see)
My God what a beautiful morning
There was the Ethel and the Myrtle and the Pretoria (Run come see Jerusalem)

Well the Ethel was bound for Fresh Creek (Run come see, run come see)
With the mothers and the children on board
Well the Ethel was bound for Fresh Creek (Run come see Jerusalem)

Now the Myrtle was bound for Spanish Creek (Run come see, run come see)
My God what a beautiful morning
The Myrtle was bound for Spanish Creek (Run come see Jerusalem)

Pretoria was out on the ocean (Run come see, run come see)
She was dashin' from side to side
Pretoria was out on the ocean (Run come see Jerusalem)

Well a big storm built up in the northwest (Run come see, run come see)
The children come holdin' to their mothers
And a big storm built up in the northwest (Run come see Jerusalem)

Then the first sea hit the Pretoria (Run come see, run come see)
And the mothers came grabbin' for the children
And the first sea hit the Pretoria (Run come see Jerusalem)

That sail head down went to the bottom (Run come see, run come see)
The skipper came grabbin' for the tiller
That sail head down went to the bottom (Run come see Jerusalem)

There was thirty-three souls on the water (Run come see, run come see)
Just swimmin' and prayin' to Daniel, God
There was thirty-three souls on the water (Run come see Jerusalem)

Now George Brown he was the captain (Run come see, run come see)
He shouts, 'My children come pray'
George Brown he was the captain (Run come see Jerusalem)

Well come now witness your judgment (Run come see, run come see)
He shouts, 'My children come pray'
Well come now witness your judgment (Run come see Jerusalem)

Source: Various Artists 'Classic Maritime Music' Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40053

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: harvey andrews
Date: 04 Mar 04 - 04:23 AM

My son has found a website where the albums of Blind Blake Higgs can be downloaded for a fair fee which he got for me as a birthday present. "Run come see" is there, on one of my all time favourite albums which i cannot recommend too highly. A search should find the site easily enough.I have the downloads in my car and play them whenever I need cheering up and a good sing along!

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 04 Mar 04 - 01:29 AM

My humble attempt to try to transcribe the words as sung by Frederick McQueen and Reverend W.G. McPhee:
--------

Three sail leaving from the harbor (run come see, run come see [after every line]) (2x)

It was the Myrtle, the Result, and the Pretoria (2x)

It was a blessed Sunday morning (2x)

Them boat bearin' down now for Andros (2x)

The wind did bark in the Northeast (2x)

It was a terrible storm was comin' (2x)

The Result reach in now to Staniard Creek
The Myrtle did go into [Reckittstown? (place name?)]

The wind kept Pretoria on the ocean (2x)

The weather getting at the mask the fine channel [?]
Yes the [???? ] on the boatsman

Yes Captain I see no channel (2x)

Lord he say that he go on the reef now
Lord when the sky at the yard for the reef now [?]

The was one sea building up behind them
Oh lord they run ahead on the bottom

They had 34 souls on board there (2x)

But of them only one get saved now
I had a cousin on board her
By the name of Johnny
You know I had a buddy on board her
By the name of Little Wheeler
And yes I had a cousin on board her
Oh yes I had a Uncle on board her
By the name of Rav Jolly Brown
And now I had an Uncle on board her
O yes I had a rauntie [Auntie?] on board her
By the of Etta
You know I had a rauntie on board her
Run along Remember that time I had a rauntie on board her
Oh don't you know, I hope god gonna let him now
Hope God made peace with his soul I hope he gone home to heaven
Lord, I hope he gone home to heaven
Run come see Jerusalem

--------

Note that the refrain is always "run come see, run come see" and "Jerusalem" doesn't come into in until the final word of the song, after all of the personal memorials.

--Charlie Baum

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 04 Mar 04 - 12:37 AM

There's another recording of "Run Come See Jerusalem" on the CD Kneelin' Down Inside the Gate: The Great Rhyming Singers of the Bahamas (Rounder CD 5035). The selections on the CD were recorded by various singers by Jody Stecher and Peter Siegel in June, 1965 in the Bahamas.

The words in this version are different from the versions quoted above made famous by the Weavers et al. Among other differences, the ships are the Myrtle, the Result, and the Pretoria.

Stecher and Siegel recorded this version sung by Frederick McQueen (1905?-1980?) and Reverend W.G. McPhee (1920- ), both of Andros. According to the liner notes, McPhee was "a sort of amateur folklorist and took a keen interest in Bahamian singing and boats as well."

The liner notes (written in 1995) continue:

We recorded the famous rhyming ballad "Run Come See Jerusalem" in McPhee's living room. It was first recorded in 1951 by Blind Blake, a famous Bahamian Calypsonian and tourist entertainer. Blake's version, which inspired several spirited "cover" recordings by American folksingers over the years was several steps removed musically, culturally, and factually from the world of the Bahamian sponge fishermen. Raymond Pinder and Joseph Spence witnessed many of the events described in the song including the wreckage of the Pretoria. Spence described to us how the smaller vessels, including the sloops the Myrtle and the Result, took refuge in the little channels near his home in Small Hope. But the Pretoria, a two-masted schooner, was too big. Spence recalls: "Now I can't remind what day it was but I was in the field, and where my house is up on the hill I could look right out to sea and see every boat comin' from Nassau. And I saw these three boats comin'; it was the Myrtle, Result, and Pretoria. It was more than three, it was the Gem too, with Bertram. Bertram boat he went in Love Hill Channel. Then the Myrtle and the Pretoria they went down for Staniard Creek Channel. The Pretoria, the schooner, he turned back from Staniard Creek, come up for Fresh Creek. When she come up behind the Cays, the cay is called Goat Cay, I ain't see it no more." Spence and Raymond went down the hill to see what had happened. On the beach they found the dead and their belongings.

[end liner notes]

---Charlie Baum

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Mar 04 - 06:36 PM

A box set with some 100 tracks of the American Blind Blake is available, but nothing seems to be available for the calypso artist Blind Blake Higgs.
The old thread on him was 32602 Blind Blake calypso

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 03 Mar 04 - 05:15 PM

Just to provide some needed confusion, there were two musicians named Blind Blake.

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: greg stephens
Date: 03 Mar 04 - 02:11 PM

Joseph Spense claimed to havw seen the result of the shipwreck (bits of the Pretoria I think) but I dont think he claimed the song as his own. Somewhere on Mudcat there is a fine reminiscence by Harvey Andrews of Blind Blake Higgs busking at Nassau airport.

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Mar 04 - 12:01 PM

Sorry, my time frame was wrong. Lomax captured it first, as the Index states. I thought Spence was early, but I had dates mixed up.

Joseph Spence recorded mostly in the 1960s as near as I can find out. He recorded a number of island hymns as well as popular songs, including a very good "Run...".

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: Big Jim from Jackson
Date: 03 Mar 04 - 11:48 AM

Thanks, Joe. That covers the information I was looking for. I figured that it was a storm in Barbados, but I wasn't sure (at least, not sure enought to mention it on the air when I play the version I mentioned in my previous question).

Subject: RE: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Mar 04 - 11:45 AM

Has been attributed to Blind Blake, but I doubt it. More likely Joseph Spence from the Bahamas, who has recorded many Bahamian songs. No further info found.

Subject: Origins: Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Mar 04 - 11:33 AM

Hi, Jim-
There's a pretty good explanation in the Traditional Ballad Index.
-Joe Offer-

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Run Come See

DESCRIPTION: "It was in nineteen hundred and twenty nine, I remember that day pretty well...." The singer describes the great storm that threatened the Ethel, Myrtle, and Praetoria, sinking the last. The Captain, George Brown, calls on the passengers to pray
AUTHOR: claimed by "Blind Blake" Higgs
EARLIEST DATE: 1940s (recording, Blake Higgs)
KEYWORDS: religious ship storm wreck
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1929 - The Bahamas are devastated by a hurricane with little or no advance warning. Three boats, the Ethel, Myrtle, and Praetoria, bound for Andros, are caught in the storm; the Praetoria sinks, and thirty-three are lost.
FOUND IN: West Indies(Bahamas)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Silber-FSWB, p. 58, "Run Come See" (1 text)
DT, RUNCOME
ADDITIONAL: Harold Courlander, _A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore_, Crown Publishers, 1976, pp. 131-137, "The Singing of the Pytoria" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Blind Blake Higgs, "Run Come See Jerusalem" (on WIHIGGS01)
John Roberts & group, "Pytoria (Run Come See Jerusalem)" (on MuBahamas2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Great Storm Pass Over" (subject)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Run Come See Jerusalem
NOTES [28 words]: John Roberts claims to have composed this song within four days of the ship's sinking, rather than Blake Higgs. On reading his account, I'm inclined to believe him. - PJS
Last updated in version 3.7
File: FSWB058

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2019 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

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Note that there is another song about the same storm on one of the Lomax recordings:

Great Storm Pass Over, A

DESCRIPTION: A hurricane passes over Andros Island; for three days the sun is blotted out. The singer fixes his heart on Jesus; while many are crippled, wounded, or killed, he is spared. He tells sinners that the time of judgement is coming; they had better pray
AUTHOR: "Tappy Toe" (nickname, real name unknown; Andros Island sponger)
EARLIEST DATE: 1935 (recording, men from Andros Island)
KEYWORDS: warning death disaster storm Caribbean Jesus
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1929 - The Bahamas are devastated by a hurricane with little or no advance warning. Many deaths and much damage results
FOUND IN: West Indies(Bahamas)
Roud #15622
RECORDINGS:
Unidentified men from Andros Island, "A Great Storm Pass Over" (AAFS 504 A, 1935; on LomaxCD1822-2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Run Come See" (subject)
NOTES [17 words]: While the storm described is the same one described in "Run Come See," this is an independent song. - PJS
File: RcAGSPO

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Barry posted the lyrics to "A Great Storm Pass Over" in another thread: Thread #84455   Message #1559238
Posted By: Barry Finn
08-Sep-05 - 03:39 PM
Thread Name: Req/Add: Wasn't That a Mighty Storm
Subject: Lyr Add: A GREAT STORM PASS OVER (trad. Bahamas)

Another, not only great song but a great hurricane song that was collected by the younger Lomax, Allen in 1935. The song comes from Andros Island in the Bahamas & it's about the 1929 hurricane that drove through Hurricane Alley.


See Lomax collection. Rounder Records.

Deep River of Song; Bahamas 1935
Chantey's & Anthems from Andros & Cat Islands

A Great Storm Pass Over

REFRAIN: It's a great storm pass over(3x)
The time is drawin' nigh

'Bout nineteen hundred and twenty nine
As the sun did cross the line
It is a great storm pass over Andros Island
And the time is drawin' nigh (refrain)

Three long days and three long nights
That the sun refuse to see
And I fix my heart on Jesus Christ
And he turn the light on me (refrain 2x)

Many a soul, female and male
They suffer in that gale
No tongue can ever tell that tale
But Jesus found a way. [Tell 'em 'bout] (refrain 2x)

O that storm, that wonderful storm
It took some life away
And then it wounded some and cripple some way some
And it leave some there to pray {tell 'em 'bout it}

O you sinner, you better pray
Get saved in time of storm
But the Judgment Day is drawin' nigh
As long as God is nigh 'em 'bout (refrain 2x)


Barry

Subject: History of 'Run, Come See Jeruselem
From: Big Jim from Jackson
Date: 03 Mar 04 - 11:17 AM

What is the event refered to in the song "Run, Come See Jeruselem"? Where did it take place? I just played the Gillette,Mangsen, Hills, Smith version from their new album "Fourtold"--Great! Gordon Bok has a fantastic version, too. And Odetta, and .....(your favorite here!).....a great song.

Subject: RE: Lyric: Run come see Jerusalem?
From: Downeast Bob
Date: 01 Oct 97 - 11:36 PM

The Pennywhistlers, an all-female chorus in New York in the late 60s or early 70s, also recorded Run Come See for Folkways, but were better known for their a capella renditions of Balkan choral folk songs.

---

Messages from multiple threads combined. Messages below are from a new thread.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyric: Run come see Jerusalem?
From: Wkailey
Date: 29 Sep 97 - 02:25 PM

The Brothers Four recorded this in the sixties on their "In Person" album. Their sound is rather mellow and not very "folky" but I like it nonetheless. However, "In Person" seems to be the only good album they ever made. They also have "mellow" versions of The Midnight Special, Mule Skinner Blues, and "Whiskey in the Jar" on that album that I value principally for their uniqueness but also for ease of understanding the lyrics. Another pretty song on that album that I've heard nowhere else is "Rolling Home".

Subject: RE: Lyric: Run come see Jerusalem?
From: George MacDonald
Date: 27 Sep 97 - 10:15 AM

A great version of this song is also on Gordon Bok's album "A Water Over Stone" with Ed Trickett and Ann Mayo Muir.

George MacDonald

Subject: Lyr Add: RUN, COME, SEE JERUSALEM (Blind Blake)
From: rich r
Date: 26 Sep 97 - 11:31 PM

Run Come See is also in "The Collected Reprints from Singout! Vol. 1-6" and in "Travelin' On With The Weavers". The versions are different enough that I will include both. Pete Seeger thinks the song may be a parody of an older folk song that was written at the time of the described shipwreck. I will put the "Run come see's" in the first verse only.

RUN, COME, SEE JERUSALEM (Singout! version)
By Blind Blake

It was nineteen-hundred and twenty-nine. (Run come see, run come see.)
Me see, I remember that day pretty well.
It was in nineteen-hundred and twenty-nine. (Run come see Jerusalem.)

That day, they were talking about a storm in the islands.
My God, what a beautiful morning!
They were talking about a storm in the islands.

That day, there were three ships a-leaving out the harbor,
The Ethel and the Myrtle and the Pretoria.
There were three ships a-leaving out the harbor.

These ships were bound for a neighboring island,
With mothers and children on board.
These ships were bound for a neighboring island.

The Pretoria was out on the ocean,
Rocking from side to side.
The Pretoria was out on the ocean.

Right then, it was a big sea built up in the northwest.
They were out on the perilous ocean.
Then it was a big sea built up in the northwest.

My God, when the first wave hit the Pretoria,
The mothers come a-holding onto the children.
My God, when the first wave hit the Pretoria.

My God, there were thirty-three souls on the water,
Swimming and praying to the good Lord God.
There were thirty-three souls on the water.

My God, now George Brown he was the captain.
He shouted, "My children, come pray."
My God, now George Brown he was the captain.

He said, "Come now, witness your judgment."
He shouted, "My children, come pray."
He said, "Come now, witness your judgment."

(Weaver's Songbook version)

It was nineteen-hundred and twenty-nine.
I remember that day pretty well.
Nineteen-hundred and twenty-nine.

My God, they were talkin' 'bout a storm in the island.
My God, what a beautiful morning!
They were talkin' 'bout a storm in the island.

My God, there were three sails leaving from the harbor,
With the mothers and children on board.
They were bound for the island of Andros.

My God, they were the Ethel and the Myrtle and the Pretoria,
And the Myrtle was bound for French Creek.
The Ethel was bound for Spanish Creek.

My God, the Pretoria was alone on the ocean,
Dashing from side to side in the waves.
The Pretoria was alone on the ocean.

My God, then a big sea built up on the starboard.
My God, what wind and waves!
Well, a big sea built up on the starboard.

My God, then the first sea hit the Pretoria,
And the children came a-grabbing for their mothers.
The first sea hit the Pretoria.

My God, well, it sent her head down to the bottom,
And the captain came a-running for the tiller.
It sent her head down to the bottom.

My God, there were thirty-three souls on the water,
Swimming and praying to their Daniel, God.
Thirty-three souls on the water.

My God, now George Brown he was the captain.
My God, he shouts, "Now children, come pray.
Come and witness your judgment."

rich r

Subject: RE: Lyric: Run come see Jerusalem?
From: jeff s
Date: 26 Sep 97 - 03:23 PM

It's in Rise Up Singing. I haven't heard any recordings. I presume most of them use the counter melody (?) on the chorus?

jeff s

Subject: RE: Lyric: Run come see Jerusalem?
From: Harold
Date: 25 Sep 97 - 08:08 PM

I know this song by the singing of Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie. It´s on the album "Precious Friends" (great stuff, by the way). Lyrics are also included. But sorry, I don´t know where to find the lyrics "in no time" (via Internet or so).
Greetings, Harald

Subject: Lyric: Run come see Jerusalem?
From: Nonie Rider
Date: 25 Sep 97 - 04:19 PM

I presume this comes up regularly, but I couldn't find "Run Come See Jerusalem" in the database. Where could I find the complete lyrics?

This is the islands shipwreck song, not a hymn:

There was three sails leaving at the harbor,

Run come see

They were the Ethel and the Myrtle and Pretoria,

Run come see Jerusalem.

Thanks!

--Nonie