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Lyr Req: William Cook
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Subject: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 17 Apr 05 - 05:21 PM I need lyrics and, possibly, a tune for "William Cook" or "Willie Cook", which I believe was printed by Vance Randolph in one of his Ozark volumes (religious songs?). And does anyone know anything about this ballad? It sounds like a British broadside, but I can't find anything promising in the Bodleian Library, Music for the Nation, or the Lester S. Levy sheet music collections. Word on the Street (Scottish) lists the name William Cook on a broadside announcing convicted criminals, but I don't think that particular Cook's crime ("vending forged notes")is mentioned in the ballad (and even if it was, that is admittedly a thin thread upon which to hang the sourcing of a text). Maybe it's a local Missouri ballad that remained local, but it sure sound English or Scottish to me (Irish?). |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Peace Date: 17 Apr 05 - 05:41 PM Michael, Do you have any of the words from the song itself? Or can you provide anything else at all in the way of info from the song? Thank you. BM |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 17 Apr 05 - 06:05 PM It starts out like this: Come all you young men, 'tis a melancholy song The hour of death flying swiftly along Was about a young youth that was all in full bloom He was called forth by death, now he sleeps in his tomb. And here's the Ballad Index entry: William CookDESCRIPTION: "Hark, hark, my young friends, it's a melancholy call, The hour of death flying swiftly along." The dying young man (William Cook) reveals that he will miss his family, and describes how he will be buried. He asks to be remembered despite his misdeedsAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Randolph) KEYWORDS: death burial funeral family FOUND IN: US(So) REFERENCES (1 citation): Randolph 608, "William Cook" (1 text, 1 tune) Roud #3128 File: R608 Go to the Ballad Search form The Ballad Index Copyright 2005 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 17 Apr 05 - 06:18 PM Well, yes; do you know any of the words at all? What information do you have? There's a William Cook in Randolph, Ozark Folk Songs vol 4 40-41, starting "Hark hark my young friends it's a melancholy call", with tune. The Roud Folk Song Index lists this at number 3128, along with a text in Parler, Arkansas Ballad Book p.55 and an audio file at the Library of Congress. The last can be heard at Voices from the Dustbowl: William Cook (part 1 of 2) William Cook (part 2 of 2) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 17 Apr 05 - 06:20 PM I wasn't expecting you back so soon. I assume that's what you were looking for, then. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Peace Date: 17 Apr 05 - 06:32 PM And you said you're not an expert. Huh! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 17 Apr 05 - 06:52 PM Yes, that's the one. Like I said, it sounds British to me, but then a lot of 19th American balladry was influenced by broadsides from across the Atlantic. I'm going to keep searching to see if I can find any antecedents. It sounds 'old'- particulary the Library of Congress recording, with a gapped-scale melody and strange phrasing, but all the variants seem to date from the mid-20th century. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 17 Apr 05 - 07:34 PM The tune is certainly British or Irish, and sounds familiar; though I can't place it at the moment. It does sound like a broadside song, yes. Does anybody know what Randolph says about it? It'll be a while before I can get to a library copy, and there are people round here who have the books already. Expert? Too soon to be one of those. I might catch up with Bruce Olson if I live as long as he did, but I rather doubt it. It's a good target to aim for, though. So much of this kind of thing depends on having access to the right tools and resources, and more become available all the time. Nowadays we can find things in minutes that might have taken years to locate not so long ago. Still have to find, and buy, obscure books and read them, but there are some good shortcuts, and they can easily make us seem to know more of ourselves than we really do. Steve Roud's Folk Song and Broadside indexes are far and away the most important finding aids for students of folk song. At the moment they are only available by subscription or through academic institutions, but will eventually be put on the web in some form or other. That's not likely to be soon, as there are a fair few technical issues to consider, and the database is constantly being added to (such things are, by definition, never finished). The current project involves adding detailed and consistent subject/descriptive categories. |
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Subject: ADD: William Cook From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 17 Apr 05 - 08:56 PM Note in Randolph on "William Cook." "Many elderly Ozarkers tell me that this number used to be sung in backwoods churches, and Mr. J. V. Hamlin (1935) says that he heard it in a Holy Roller meeting near Rogers, Arkansas, so recently as 1931. The fifth verse has several lines in common with the twelfth stanza of the "Wild Bill Jones" song reported by Richardson (American Mountain Songs, 1927, p. 37) from the southern Appalachians. The 'Death Is a Melancholy Call' printed by Belden (Ballads and Songs, 1940, pp. 464-465) has several similar lines , but it is not the same song." William Cook Hark, hark, my young friends, it's a melancholy call, The hour of death flyin' swiftly along, There is one of our number, a youth in early bloom, Who was called away by death, an' was laid in the tomb. Go ye down to the graveyard an' sit ye down an' mourn, Go ye down to the graveyard an' read it on the tomb, Go ye down to the graveyard an' read it with care, An' remember it won't be long till we all must lay there. It grieves me most sadly to think that I must die, To think that I got to go to a long eternity, To leave my dear father an' mother behind, An' sisters an' brothers that to me have been so kind. An' when I am dead an' carried to my grave, It's four young men I will voluntarily have, By the side of my coffin Ill have them to walk, An' of my sinful days I'll have them to talk. An' when they get there they will set my body down, While all my mournin' friends stands a-weepin' around, They'll open my coffin an' all look down on me, My face'll be a lookin'-glass for all my friends to see. Then four young men they will take a hold of me, An' lay my body down to the cold clods of clay, They'll shovel down the gravel which makes a solemn sound, While all my mournin' friends stands a-weepin' around. My parents they thought they had brought me up well, An' oft-times they had told me for to shun the gates of hell, Their counsel I have slighted, my own way I have took, So remember the young man whose name was William Cook. With music. Sung by Mrs. W. A. Patton, Jane, MO, Dec. 1, 1929. Vance Randolph, "Ozark Folksongs," no. 608, vol. 4, pp. 40-41. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 17 Apr 05 - 09:26 PM "Death Is a Melancholy Call" in Belden may not be the same song as "William Cook," but remove the personal reference William Cook, and the content is quite similar. Belden provides three versions, of which 'C' is in the DT, and references to others, all from the South. No music is provided. Version A is from the ballad book of Mrs. Lida Jones, Dade Co., MO, "compiled probably in the eighties" of the 19th c., and secured by Belden in 1906. H. M. Belden, 1940, "Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society," pp. 464-465. Both songs seem to date from the last half of the 19th c. "The Wicked Girl," in Belden, has some of the same ideas and caution. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 18 Apr 05 - 12:05 AM Thanks for the references. Looks like it may be native American after all, though showing the influence of British balladry. I've noticed that Bill Jackson, the singer on the Voices From the Dust Bowl version, sings many of his ballads to modal melodies that often sound Scottish or Irish. But I still think there may a British antecedent from which the original (anonymous?) composer borrowed. Interesting that the ballad seems to have been confined to Missouri and Arkansas. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 18 Apr 05 - 11:34 PM As best as I can make out, here are the lyrics to the Voices From the Dust Bowl version. Basically similar to the text printed by Randolph, though with variations and some different verses. "William Cook" Come all young men 'tis a melancholy song As the arrows of life were a-flowing along Was about a young youth who was all in full bloom He was called forth by death now he sleeps in his tomb While he were here he was blooming and gay But now called for by death now he's gone far away I am going away to leave you for I cannot stay here long I am hasting away to my eternal home Down at yonder tavern I danced with you all Down at yonder tavern I drank with you all But little did I think I'd be called for so soon My last morning sun had gone down just 'fore noon (?) These four young men I would voluntarily have To carry my coffin down, down to my grave And beside my coffin I would have them to walk While upon my sinful ways I would have them to talk They will heap the sod upon me, it will make a lonesome sound While my friends and relations are weeping around But the sorrows will be over, the tears all wiped away (and I'll soon be forgot) My friends and relations remember me not -two missing lines- But their sorrows will be over, and their tears all wiped away While my poor body's molding and turning to clay My parents they thought they had raised me up well They thought they had taught me to shun all gates of hell But their counsel I slighted and my own way I took Remember this young man, his name was William Cook Lum Wilson "Bill" Jackson Arvin FSA Camp 8-26-41 |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 19 Apr 05 - 12:20 AM Good work on the Jackson song. I tried, but have more blanks. I will try again tomorrow, but I may not be able to add to what you have done. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 19 Apr 05 - 12:46 AM Thanks, I'll do the same. I'm puzzled by this ballad. It wouldn't sound out of place in a number of places on both sides of the Atlantic, but it only seems to show up in the Ozarks (or California by way of the Ozarks). "Death is a Melancholy Call" is definately related, but it's much more overtly religious and seems to have been rewritten to make a point. I have a suspicion that "William Cook" may be the older text. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 19 Apr 05 - 02:41 PM The simple up and then down singing lines I don't think can be attributed only to the British. I have heard the Irish similarily blamed for melodies of this kind. They can be heard in some 'cowboy' songs and other simple songs with the same meter. But I presume you mean British Isles rather than British (or is this just my North American slant on the term?). Of course, the style seems to have originated there in the British Isles, but like DNA, it is embedded also in some songs composed on the American side of the water. I have an old Spanish song collected in New Mexico that sounds the same- the original melody forgotten. Very little to change in your transcription. I hear: 1st verse line 2- was 1st verse line 3- youth that was 2nd verse line 1 (with) While 2nd verse line 3- delete away 2nd verse line 4- to my own eternal 2nd verse line 3- Start of quote; "I am going... 3rd verse line 2- Oh, down 3rd verse line 4- down just at noon (?) 5th verse line 3- But my sorrows will be over and I'll soon be forgot [Did he mean to put an extra line in the verse or did he just make a mistake and correct it? 7th verse line 3- end quote (Sings better the way you transcribed it) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: GUEST,Michael Morris Date: 19 Apr 05 - 04:27 PM Yes, I meant British Isles. Given the interrrelatedness of English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh music, it does seem as though there should be a useful general term to cover the wider tradition. I'm going to look into the melodies for other variants and for '"Death is a Melancholy Call" to see how they relate to Jackson's. Apparently, Holly Hundley of West Virginia recorded it as "Willie Cook" on Folksongs + Ballads, Vol. 3, Augusta Heritage (AHR 9), 1991. I haven't heard her version, but I know she generally does traditional material so maybe it isn't confined to the Ozarks after all. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 15 Dec 05 - 08:05 PM WILLIE BROOK Hearken my young friends, 'tis a melancholy song As the hours of life flow swiftly all around There's one of a number in youth's early bloom Been called away by death, now's lying in his tomb Although he is dead, he's inviting us to come Go read his inscription, go read it on his tomb Way down in yonders graveyard, go read it if you care And remember it won't be long till we're all lying there "And when I am dead, going down to my grave Six gallant young men I would wish for to have By the side of my coffin I'd have them to walk And of my sinful days I'd have them to talk" "They'll take me to my grave, and there they'll set me down While all of my young friends, they'll go weeping along They'll open my coffin and gaze awhile at me While I am calmly sleeping in a long eternity" "Four young men will take hold of me then They'll lower me down in that cold and icy grave They'll throw the gravel over me and make an awful sound While all my young friends go weeping around" His parents they thought they had taught him quite well They thought they had taught him to shun the gates of Hell But he hastened their council, his own way he took Remember this young man, his name was Willie Brook Come hearken my young friends, take a warning now from me Never place your young affections on sin and vanity Perhaps a loving savior will call on you too soon And then your morning sun will be cast down at noon. Sung by Holley Hundley (Fayette County, West Virginia), who says: "This is a song that I learned from my dad . . . N.S. Hundley, a song about a boy (pause) that died young on account of his way of life, I'll put it that way." Recorded 11-8-89, on Folksongs and Ballads (AHR 009), released by Augusta Heritage Recordings. Mr. Hundley was 84 years old at the time of the recording. |
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Subject: Lyr ADD: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 18 Dec 05 - 02:45 PM This accompanies the previously posted lyrics: "This song is infrequent in collections, but reportedly has been sung at back-country religious meetings under the title, Willie Cook." From liner notes to Folksongs & Ballads (AHR9) |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: William Cook From: GUEST Date: 24 Jan 06 - 08:03 PM WILLIAM COOK Come, all my good friends, with your melancholy song, While the hour of the day is lating* along, I'm going away to leave you; I cannot stay here long, I am hasting away to my eternal home. Down, down in yonders village, I have danced with you all, Down, down in yonders village I learned my youthful bloom, But little did I think I'd be called for so soon, When the end of morning sun will going down at noon. Therefore, young men, do take ahold of me, And bend o'er my body in a grave six-by-three, And heap the clods upon me and sing a solemn song, While all my younger friends they are mourning around. It's now I am dead and I'll be forgot, My friends and relations remember me not, Their cries will all be hushed and their tears all wiped away While my poor body is mouldering and turning into clay. My parents they thought they had brought me up well, They thought they had taught me to shun the gates of hell, Their prayers I have slighted, my only way I've took, Remember this young man whose name is William Cook. *lasting(?) Sung by Harrison Burnett, Fayetteville, Arkansas, July 13, 1954. Collected by Mary Celestia Parler. Source: Mary Celestia Parler, An Arkansas Ballet Book (Fayetteville: University of Arksansas, 1963), p.55. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: William Cook From: Goose Gander Date: 24 Jan 06 - 08:05 PM Above post by me, lost my cookie. |
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