Coming Round Which Mountain?

Subject: RE: Coming Round Which Mountain?
From: Daniel Kelly
Date: 27 Apr 22 - 10:48 PM

Has anyone heard of a version of this song which includes the lines:

"Down from the mountain the old woman comes driving in the rain.
The six stallions that she drives are white as snow from the hooves up to the mane."

Leslie Fish asked the question on Facebook.

Subject: RE: Coming Round Which Mountain?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 28 Apr 22 - 09:49 AM

I don't see the text of 'Ship of Zion' here which would be useful.

SHE of course is simply the ship/chariot, so let's not get too carried away:)

Subject: RE: Coming Round Which Mountain?
From: leeneia
Date: 28 Apr 22 - 11:47 AM

Listen to people talk. The biggest feature in an area is THE feature. In Milwaukee, if you say The Lake, you mean enormous Lake Michigan, not some overgrown puddle surrounded by summer cottages. In Kansas City, The River is the wide Missouri, not the middle-sized Kansas River or the little Little Blue.

In this song, The Mountain is the big one in these parts, and there's no need to name it. I personally think that "she" is a famous entertainer on tour, such as Sarah Bernhardt or Jenny Lind.

Subject: RE: Coming Round Which Mountain?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 28 Apr 22 - 05:56 PM

Carl Sandberg in 1927 nailed it. We don't need to look any further to take the meaning. Yes, I know songs can change their meanings as they go through the process and get rewritten, but the original meaning seems clear enough.