Origins: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (& parodies)

Subject: Don't Send My Boy to Harvard
From: John M.
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 02:44 PM

Hello,

Here are two field recordings of the song "Don't Send My Boy to Harvard".   Can someone give a name to the tune used?


Version #1:

Don't Send My Boy To Harvard The Dying Mother Said Size: 127KB Time: 0:42

Version #2:

Don't Send My Boy To Harvard Size: 73KB Time: 0:24

Have you seen this printed somewhere?   Can you give it a name?

Any help is appreciated.

Yours,

John Mehlberg
~
My website: www.immortalia.com

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:15 PM

The tune is called 'Tuneless Monotone' written by 'Musical ignoramus'.

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??
From: skipy
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:18 PM

No! but try this link:-
http://www.americandialect.org
Skipy

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:35 PM

Always thought the original was "Don't Send My Boy to Prison." Many recordings in the 1920's-1930's.
No idea where the tune originated.

Subject: ADD: To Hell With Georgia
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:41 PM

I dunno, John. Both tunes sound very familiar, but I can't place them. This Georgia Tech page suggests it can be sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic":

To Hell with Georgia
  (to the tune of Glory, Glory Hallelujah)

Don't send my boy to MIT
The dying mother said,
Don't send my boy to Emory
I'd rather see him dead,
But send my boy to Georgia Tech
'Tis better than Cornell.

And as for the University of Georgia
I'd rather see him in hell!

chorus
To Hell, to Hell, to Hell with Georgia,
To Hell, to Hell, to Hell with Georgia,
To Hell, to Hell, to Hell with Georgia,
The cesspool of the South!

Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the stomping of the Dogs

We will teach the poor dumb farmboys
They should stick to sloppin' hogs
When the Jackets are triumphant
There will be a mighty cheer
We'll do the same next year!

On the Field between the hedges
There arose a mighty stench,
In the Dogs' machine the engineers
Had thrown a monkey wrench.

When the Jackets are triumphant
We will raise a mighty yell,
Them Dogs can GO TO HELL!!

Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the N.C. Double-A
They're investigating GA players
To see how much they're paid
After counting all the cars
And the loans Alumni made,
They out pay F.S.U.

Subject: ADD: Hairy-Chested Men
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:48 PM

Omicron Zeta Songs suggests "Itsy Bitsy Spider," which seems to be a close relative of "Battle Hymn":

Hairy-Chested Men

Specially for football archrival University of Pennsylvania.

(sung to "Itsy-Bitsy Spider")
Harvard's run by Vassar, Vassar's run by Yale.
Yale's run by Wellesley, Wellesley's run by tail.
Princeton's for the pretty boys and drunkards go to Penn,
But far above Cayuga's a race of hairy men.


("?")
Oh we are the race of hairy chested men, hairy chested men, hairy chested men.
Oh we are the race of hairy chested men, and we are from Cornell.
We are from Cornell, we are from Cornell (Cornell!)
Oh we are the race of hairy chested men and we are from Cornell.


("Itsy-Bitsy Spider")
Don't send my son to Harvard, the dying mother said.
Don't send my son to Yale, I'd rather see him dead.
Send him off to Darmouth, or better yet, Cornell.
And as for Pennsylvania, I'll see him first in hell!


("Glory, Glory Hallelujah")
To hell, to hell with Pennsylvania,
To hell, to hell with Pennsylvania.
To hell, to hell with Pennsylvania.
To hell with U of P-- P-U!


We were only, only, foolin',
We were only, only, foolin',
We were only, only, foolin'--
The hell we were! P-U! P-U!

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:54 PM

Billy Bennett, 1887-1942, English Music Hall, was the composer, I believe. It was a famous stage routine of his.
Michael Kilgarriff, "Sing Us One of the Old Songs."

Subject: ADD: Sing a Song of Colleges
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 05:58 PM

rutgers has an interesting variation - oral history interview of Richard M. Snethen, Rutgers College Class of 1943:

Sing a Song of Colleges

Sing a song of colleges, I'll tell you where to go.
Oxford for her knowledge; Cornell to learn to row,
Yale for her gall darn luck, Rutgers for her men.
NJC for pretty girls, for rivals NYU.

Sing a song of colleges a dying mother said,
"Don't send my boy to Princeton; I'd rather see him dead,
but send my boy to Rutgers, or even to Cornell,
but as for Pennsylvania, he's better off in hell.

To hell, to hell with Pennsylvania,
to hell, to hell with Pennsylvania,
to hell, to hell with Pennsylvania,
to hell with the U of P, PU."

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 06:00 PM

As noted, "Don't Send My Boy to Prison" is the original name. I believe his tune was the one in version 2, but I can't find sheet music.

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 06:04 PM

Looks like this song goes back a ways. Goucher College has this from the June,1908, issue of the Woman's College Journal:

Sing a song of colleges
They'll tell you where to go
Girls, with all their knowledge
Surely ought to know.
Laura's from Northwestern.
Helen from Bucknell-
From Northwestern enters Nanne Weakley.
Each a Baltimore belle.

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 06:07 PM

"She Was Poor But She Was Honest" was another Bennett routine. Note tune similarity in some of the lines.
See www.mustrad.org.uk/review/bennett.htm

Subject: ADD: Sing a Song of Colleges
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 06:08 PM

And since I'm living in California, I think I'd better post this 1943 song from Stanford, even though it doesn't have the dying mother:

Song of Colleges (Stanford)

Sing a song of colleges,
Tell us where to go.
Oxford where the knowledge is,
Cornell where they row,
Harvard for her blooming swells,
Yale for pluck and vim,
Dear old Princeton for her sports,
But Stanford for her men.

Sing a song of colleges,
Tell us where to go.
Caltech where the knowledge is,
UCLA for her show,
sc for her football team,
Cal where they let you in.
Stanford is the place for me.
To HELL with the rest of them.

And I guess I'd sing this to the tune of "Sing a Song of Sixpence."

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 06:28 PM

Up above John Mehlberg is asking for information on "Don't Send My Boy to Harvard." Q says that he thinks it's a parody of "Don't Send My Boy to Prison," by Billy Bennett (1887 - 1942), which sounds credible to me. More on Bennett here (click). I have a CD with what purports to be a 1946 recording of the song by Billy Williams but Wikipedia says the music hall performer Billy Williams died in 1915. This page says Helen Creighton collected a song of that title that begins: "As I strolled in a courthouse not many miles from here..." It also appears that a group called the Prairie Ramblers recorded a song with this title in 1947.

I take it the chorus starts:

Don't send my boy to prison
For that would drive me mad/The dying mother said
Remember I'm a widow
And I'm pleading for my lad

I suppose we could discuss this in a new thread, but maybe it will fit here. Can anybody direct us to lyrics and a tune? Roud has only the entry from the Creighton Collection.

-Joe-

I'll make an attempt at a transcription later. This page has transcripts of lots of material from Bennett, but not this song.

Subject: Origins: Don't Send My Boy to Prison + parodies
From: EBarnacle
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 07:59 PM

In 1963/64, when I was at Drexel, the song ran:

Down between two old warehouses, stands and awful wreck,
God created Hell on Earth and called it Drexel Tech.

To Hell, to Hell with Pennsylvania,
To Hell, to Hell with Pennsylvania,
To Hell, to Hell with Pennsylvania,
To Hell with the U of P!

U P, P U
Uuup U

We, oh, we were only fooling
We, oh, we, were only fooling
We, oh, we, were only fooling
Like Hell we were, Like Hell

If you ever go to College,
Heed my wise advice:
Never, ever, go to Drexel,
You're better off at Penn.

Subject: ADD Version: Don't Send My Boy to Prison
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 08:20 PM

Don't Send My Boy to Prison
(Billy Williams, 1946 - possibly Billy Bennett)

Don't send my boy to prison,
It's the first crime what he's done
"Six months," replies His Lordship,
"Oh, God help my heading, son" (????)

The snow was falling on him, the orphan home was cold.
To save his starving family, the sticks had all been sold.
And when his poor old mother, she was so sick and ill (?)
He yielded to temptation, and he rifled up (?) the till.

It was a sinful action, the sneaking of his wealth (?)
But then he only done it for to save his family's health
Oh, shed the tear of pity, oh quell the angry words,
He never knowed no better, nor (?) no voice of conscience heard.

The shoved the irons across him, a-coming through the door (?)
Says he, "I only done it because I was so poor,"
The officer all a-tremblin', he wipes away a tear,
Says he, "I knows my duty, and no more I mustn't hear."

The judge looks on in anger, and the prisoner hung his head,
And then his poor old mother, what was with him up and said,
"Don't send my boy to prison, It's the first crime what he's done
"Six months," replies His Lordship, "Oh, God help my heading, son" (????)

Don't send my boy to prison,
It's the first crime what he's done
"Six months," replies His Lordship,
"Oh, God help my heading, son" (????)

They takes him from the dock then, and carts him from the court,
Not caring how his mother, the poor old could not support (?).
Thank God this day is ... about, what will comfort her poor heart,
And see her trhough her troubles, til they meets no more to part.

transcribed by ear from Great Days of Music Hall CD, Empress Recording Company

As you can see, I have trouble understanding many parts. Please help.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: GUEST,Joe_F
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 08:34 PM

As long as we're floating, cf.

Sing a song of cities, Roll that cotton bale. Roustabout am happy, Long's he's out of jail. Norfolk for its oyster shells, Boston for its beans, Charleston for its rice and corn, But for lassies, New Orleans.

'Twas only an old beer bottle, Drifting in the foam, Only an old beer bottle, A thousand miles from home. Inside was a piece of paper With these words written on: "Whoever finds this bottle Finds the beer all gone".

Man on top of woman Isn't long to stay. His head is full of nonsense, His ass is full of play. He goes in like a lion, He comes out like a lamb, And when he buttons up his pants, He doesn't give a damn.

--- Joe Fineman    [e-mail]

||: Whatever is not worth doing is worth doing well. :||

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Aug 06 - 10:30 PM

Probably ten thousand verses put to that very simple melody.

Is there beer in heaven, the dying logger said?- or something to that effect.

Billy Williams (1877-1915), 'The Man in the Velvet Suit' (album title), was an Australian who moved to the London music hall. He recorded "hundreds of records" from ca. 1907-1914. Some have been re-mastered and issued by Australia's Browning-Williams Collection. I would think this would be better quality than the one offered by Empress, but it does not have "Don't Send My Boy to Prison."
Michael Kilgarriff (see previous post, the book published by Oxford)lists the song as one of Billy Bennett's. It is not listed for Billy Williams.
www.divine-art.com/CD/md3077info.htm

Subject: RE: Don't Send My Boy to Harvard
From: John M.
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 08:22 AM

Joe, the main problem with quoting associated tunes from songbooks is what I call the problem of "prescriptive" tunes. Say the songbook compiler doesn't know the tune to a song but wants to sing the lyrics, then the compiler choses a tune that was never "traditional". This is a completely new tune which was never before used with the song. They lyrics may never have been sung to the tune listed in the songbook. An example of this is in the Hot Vagina thread. This song, as far as I know, has never been sung to "Yellow Rose of Texas" though that is what is listed universially in online hash house harrier songbooks.

Clearly "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is not the name of tune in the two mp3s. But this does give my something else to track down. I need to try to find people who actually use this tune for the lyrics.

Q, thanks for the "Don't Send My Boy to Prison" reference. I don't really think the tune or lyrics are close enough to qualify as a parody or derivative. I will track down different versions of "...My Boy to Prison" to see if there variation in this song with some closer to "...My Boy to Harvard".

Joe, thanks for the mp3 of "...My Boy to Prison". I have ordered a CD and will purchase a few 78 records of the song. As I say above, perhaps there is variation to the tune.

Everyone, I included two versions of "Don't Send My Boy to Harvard" because of the variantion in the tune. Please make sure to listen to the second mp3.

Thanks everyone for your help. Please keep a lookout for references to the song and keep an ear out for the tune.

Yours,

John Mehlberg
~
Notes: The person singing in the first MP3 learned his version at Princton in ~1929. The second person learned his in ~1950 at Indiana University.

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 12:14 PM

A variation of the problem is that sometimes the tune prescribed is just plain wrong. I have seen the "Wreck of Old '97" tune referred to as "Casey Jones." The two songs have such different stanza patterns that the mistake is obvious - to us!

I think I mentioned on another thread the inability of some to distinguish readily between "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again."

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 02:30 PM

One difficulty with my suggestion of "Don't Send My Boy to Prison" is that I haven't found the melody except on a couple of old 20's records that I remember. What was the original tune used in the music hall?
Can Malcolm Douglas or someone else from the UK come up with it?

As it stands, the tune(s) is(are) so simple that I would not doubt someone who called it an old Roman song, "Don't send my boy to fight the Gauls."

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 08:38 PM

The first version at John's Website sounds like it's derived from the music hall song I have, recorded by Billy Bennett or Billy Williams, allegedly in 1946 (after both Bennett and Williams were dead). The second sounds more like the tune of a football fight song.

I've seen mention of a 1947 recording of a song with this name by the Prairie Ramblers, who performed with Patsy Cline. As far as I can tell, this recording is not currently available - I almost bought a Prairie Ramblers CD last night in hope of getting the song, but it didn't have it. Can anyboye find an American song titled "Don't Send My Boy to Prison - I have a feeling that the American song is quite different from the British music hall song.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 10:52 PM

I mentioned its popularity in 1920's-1930's. Yes, mostly 'country'. Here are some I found of the 'American??' song.
Carson Robson, Perfect 12475, 78 rpm. Offered on Ebay Aug. 25 with two other records (270020041931)
Prairie Ramblers, Mercury 6116, 78 rpm
Frankie Marvin, 1929 Victor
Jimmie Green and His Orch. Col. Vitaphone 2364D
Frankie Wallace and Gene Autry. Conquerer 7704
Harry Reser orch., Tom Stacks vocal, Brunswick
Six Jumping Jacks---BRITISH RELEASE of same song- See Red Hot Jazz

I think you found Billie Bennett, "Almost a Gentleman," on Virgin cd.

I'll look for the 'country' ones among my home-made cds.

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 11:29 PM

No luck in my records or books.

Subject: RE: Can you NAME THIS TUNE ??-Dont Send my boy...
From: John M.
Date: 22 Aug 06 - 11:36 PM

Joe, the first "Don't Send My Boy..." tune is used in the following song: Just Put Her in the Corner. This was recorded in 1964 at Indiana University.

The same song is used as the final verse Kappa Pin Song found on the ca 1999 Kappa Alpha Psi Black Greek Soundz CD. Another version was sent to me as a MIDI titled Don't Send My Boy to Harvard from a woman who learned it in the mid 1950s in the Navy WAVES.

So we have four examples of the first tune 1927, 1955, 1964 and 1999.

More recordings of the second variant tune later. Time for bed.

Yours,

John Mehlberg
~
PS. The song "Put Her in the Corner" is the same song Ed Cray has listed as "Take Your Boyfriend Round a Corner" to the tune of "Wake the Town and Tell the People" in his Erotic Muse 2nd edition.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE PRISONER LAD (from Viv Legg)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Sep 06 - 11:43 PM

Lyrics and notes copied from http://www.veteran.co.uk/vt153cd.htm

THE PRISONER LAD

A lad stood in a police court, not very far from here.
The boy stood in the prison dock, his mother standing near.
The lad was quite a youngster who'd been lately led astray,
And from his mother's cash box he had stolen some coins away.

"Don't send my boy to prison, sir, for this will drive me mad.
Remember I'm a widow, and that prisoner is my lad."

The prosecuting lawyer acting for the crown,
Turning to his lordship, "Ask that woman to sit down."
But the widow's eyes flashed fire and her cheeks turned deathly pale.
She said, "I'm here to try to save my orphan from the jail."

"Don't send my boy to prison sir, for this will drive me mad.
Remember I'm a widow, and that prisoner is my lad.
And gentlemen please remember, it's the first crime that he's had."

The judge turned to the prisoner and said, "Mercy will be shown.
I understand your mother. I have children of my own.
So go home to your mother and no more make her sad,
And remember there is no one like a mother for her lad."

[As sung by Viv Legg on his album "Romany Roots," Veteran CD VT153CD.

["This Victorian sentimental ballad seems to be another that has remained in Viv's family repertoire yet has all but disappeared elsewhere. What has survived, though, is a parody performed by the great Music Hall artiste Billy Bennett (1887-1942), under the title DON'T SEND MY BOY TO PRISON. This monologue continues with 'It's the first crime what he done'. One of Bennett's performances of this piece can be heard on TSCD780 'Almost a Gentleman'."]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: Stewie
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 03:42 AM

Q, in respect of your comment re 1920s and 1930s popularity being 'mostly country', it is odd that Meade has no entry for 'Don't Send My Boy to Prison' and Russell has an entry only for a rejected side by Duke Clark in July 1931. The Robison and Prairie Ramblers recordings you listed must have been post 1943.

--Stewie.

Subject: ADD: Do not send my girl to Radcliffe
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 09:59 AM

john-
In 1945 (or so) we sang it to the tune of "Springtime in the Rockies"

ANd another version was

"Do not send my girl to Radcliffe"
Was a dying mother's cry
"Do not send her off to Barnard"
I would rather see her die
"But send her off to Vassar
Or, if you must, Cornell
But not to Sarah Lawrence
I'd see her first in Hell"

Cornell seems to wind up in all the versions, for rhyming convenience. I guess Bucknell just wasn't popular enough.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 02:28 PM

Stewie, all I know about Perfect records is that it was a label of Pathe (U. S._ used in the 1920's. One website says they were known for the red-brown color of their records as opposed to the black color of the others.
"The Perfect Dance and Race Catalogue" by (Alden) Perry Armagnac and Carl A. Kenziora (Record Research # 51/52) apparently has the information but I have no way of assessing this reference.
Roger D. Kinkle, "The Complete Encyclopedia of popular Music and Jazz, 1900-1950," may be another source.

Vernon Dalhart recorded for Perfect under the names Clifford Ford, Guy Massey and others. Cliff Edwards ('Ukelele Ike) also recorded for them, as did Gene Autry and Cab Calloway.

The label seems to have died about 1930 (Columbia took over in 1928).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 04:24 PM

The Jimmie Green recording I mentioned was recorded by Columbia 1929-1931.
Can't find any more on the Robison or Autry recordings.

Not pertinent. but does anyone know "Don't Tell My Boy I'm in Prison," Marvin Rainwater?

At the Veteran website posted by Jim Dixon is a Robison-Luther song they recorded in 1929, "The Wanderer's Warning" (only under their pseudonyms, Bud and Joe Billings?).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: Stewie
Date: 13 Sep 06 - 10:01 PM

Q,

The Prairie Ramblers recording has no entry in the Meade and Russell country music discographies because it was made post 1943 - in 1947.

The 'Don't Send' side on Perfect 12475 was by 'Walter Dalton and His Guitar' backed by Carson Robison Trio's 'Do You Still Remember'. The same applies with Conqueror 7704: 'Don't Send ...' is by 'Frankie Wallace and His Guitar' backed by Gene Autry's 'Gangster's Warning'. Both recordings are from 1928. Autry's 'Gangster's Warning' has an entry in both Meade and Russell and Carson Robison Trio's 'Do You Still Remember' has an entry in Russell. Dalton and Wallace must not been regarded as 'country'.

The above discographical info comes from HERE.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Sep 06 - 04:42 PM

The Ebay offering of Perfect 12475 must have telescoped the info from the two sides, since Dalton is listed in the discography for "Don't send ..."
A Walter Dalton was listed much later as performing 'hill-billy' with the "Pine Hollow Jamboree." I don't know his music. Don't know if he is the same as the ballad singer.

I see "Lone Star Ranger," Perfect 12570, Walter Dalton, (Flip Dust-pan Blues) is being auctioned tomorrow as no. 718 at www.bluesworld.com/78Auc33.html

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 03 Jan 07 - 03:14 PM

I believe the original may be a song called A MOTHER'S PLEA FOR HER SON, which was later parodied in the cylinder recording era (roughly around WWI) as "A Father's Plea For His Son." There are enough similar lines to make me think that was the source for the above.

Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Jan 07 - 05:21 PM

The Puckett Collection of Ontario Folklore (introduction) mentions a 19th c. song, "A Mother's Plea For Her Son." Can't find any lyrics.

http://cjtm.icaap.org/content/3/v3art4.html
Puckett

Subject: Lyr Add: DON'T SEND MY BOY TO PRISON (Cook & Hall)
From: Martin Graebe
Date: 04 Jan 07 - 05:28 AM

I missed this first time around. In response to Joe Offer's request here's a transcription of the lyrics from the Billy Williams recording on Topic (wonderful CD! - makes you smile for hours afterwards, unlike most folksong. I am not surprised you had problems, Joe what with the South-Eastern English habit of adding consonants where they aren't and taking them away where they are.

DON'T SEND MY BOY TO PRISON
Performed by Billy Bennett (1887 – 1942)
Written by Cook and Hall, Published Hermann Darewski

Don't send my boy to prison,
It's the first crime what he's done
"Six months," replies His Lordship,
"Oh, God help my erring, son"

The snow was falling horrid, the hearth and home was cold.
To save his starving family, the sticks had all been sold.
And when his poor old mother, she was a stricken ill
He yielded to temptation, and he rifled of the till.

It was a sinful action, to sneak another's wealth
But then he only done it for to save his family's health
Oh, shed the tear of pity, oh quell the angry word,
He never knowed no better, nor no voice of conscience heard.

The shoved the irons across him, a-coming through the door
Says he, "I only done it because I was so poor,"
The officer all a-tremblin', he wipes away a tear,
Says he, "I knows my duty, and no more I mustn't hear."

The judge looks on in anger, and the prisoner hung his head,
And then his poor old mother, what was with him up and said,
"Don't send my boy to prison, It's the first crime what he's done
"Six months," replies His Lordship, "Oh, God help my erring, son"

Don't send my boy to prison,
It's the first crime what he's done
"Six months," replies His Lordship,
"Oh, God help my erring, son"

They takes him from the dock then, and carts him from the court,
Not caring how his mother, the poor home can now support
Thank God there's them in Marylebone, what will comfort her poor heart,
And see her through her troubles, till they meets no more to part.

from Billy Bennett 'Almost A Gentleman', (Topic TSCD 780)

I don't know about Cook and Hall as writers, though Darewski crops up regularly, sometimes in partnership with RP Weston. (eg Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers) There is clearly, though, an American version with recordings of a song of the same name by The Prairie Rambers (1947) and Walter Dalton (1928) - presumably others.

Hope this helps. Happy New Year!

Martin

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Aug 21 - 10:23 PM

The original Ivy parody is:
Don’t send my boy to Harvard
The dying mother said
Dartmouth, Brown or Princeton will take him should he quail
At Harlem in the nighttime or snobbishness at Yale
But pray he has the talent to make it to Cornell
For as to Pennsylvania, I’d see him first in Hell

Subject: ADD: The Dying Mother
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 05:20 PM

The Dying Mother

Don't send my boy to Harvard
The dying mother said;
Don't send him on to Illinois
I'd rather he were dead.
Just send him on to Michigan,
I'm sure he'd do quite well;
But rather than Chicago
I would see my boy in Hell.

He rambled, he rambled
Our line will never bend
While he rambles round the end.
He rambled, he rambled,
He rambled till he touched the leather down.
And when we reach Chcicago,
We will buy a keg of booze,
And we'll drink to Michigan
Until we wobble in our shoes.

From the The Camp Davis Song Book, 1924, pg 44.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Don't Send My Boy to Prison (and parodies
From: and e
Date: 13 Apr 23 - 08:35 PM

"Don't send my boy to Princeton,
He is my only lad, etc. etc."

From Yale Yarns: Sketches of Life at Yale University, 1895, page 150.

See google books: https://books.google.com/books?id=c6pJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA150&dq=%22don%27t+send+my+boy+to%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWyeOhjqj-AhWikIkEHTikDkUQ6AF6BAgPEAI

Subject: ADD: Don't send my boy to Auburn
From: and e
Date: 13 Apr 23 - 08:46 PM

DON'T SEND MY BOY TO AUBURN

Don't send my boy to Auburn,
The dying mother said :
Don't send him down to Georgia Tech.
I'd rather see him dead ;
Send him to dear old Clemson,
It's better than Cornell.
But rather than to U. S. C.
I'd see my boy in Yale.

Pg 227 of Taps, 1911: Annual publication of Clemson University

See Archive.org here: https://archive.org/details/taps1911clem/page/226/mode/2up?q=don%27t+send+my

Subject: ADD Version: The Widow's Plea for her Son
From: and e
Date: 14 Apr 23 - 06:23 PM

THE WIDOW'S PLEA FOR HER SON.
Copyright, 1893, by Louis H. Ross & Co.
All rights reserved.

The Words and Music of this Song will be sent to any address, post-paid, on
receipt of 40 cents; or this and any two ther Songs for One Dollar,
by Henry J. Wehman, 130 & 132 Park Row, New York. Postage Stamps
taken same as cash for all our goods.

Composed by Lewis Hall.

I strolled into a court-house not many miles from here,
A boy stood in the prisoner's dock, his mother she was near;
The boy was quite a youngster, but he had gone astray,
And from his master's cash box he had taken some coin away.
The boy address His Honor, while the tears rand down his cheek.
Said he, "Kind sir, will you allow my mother there to speak?"
His Honor then consented, while the boy hung down his head,
And turning to the jurymen, these words his mother said:

CHORUS.
Remember, I'm his other, and the prisoner there's my son,
And, gentlemen, remember, it's the first crime that he's done.
Don't send my boy to prison, for that would drive me mad;
Remember, I'm a widow, and I'm pleading for my lad.

The lawyer for the prosecution at the widow commenced to frown,
And politely asked His Honor if he'd order her to sit down.
He said it was disgraceful, and a gross insult, indeed,
His Honor to sit on that bench and allow that woman to plead.
THe widow's eyes flashed fire, and her cheeks turned deadly pale;
She said, "I'm here to try and save my offspring from the jail.
Altho' my boy is guilty -- I own his crime is bad,
But who's there that's more fit to plead that a mother for her lad?"

CHORUS.
Remember, I'm his mother, and the prisoner there's my son,
And, gentlemen, remember, it's the first crime that he's done.
Don't send my boy to prision, for that would drive me mad;
Remember, I'm a widow, and I'm pleading for my lad.

The judge then addressed the prison, and these words to him did say:
"I'm sorry to sit on this bench, and see you here to-day.
I will not blight your future, but on your crime I frown,
For I can't forget that I have got some children of my own.
I therefore will discharge you" -- and the court then gave a cheer --
"BUt remember that it's chiefly through your widowed mother there.
I hope you'll prove a comfort, and no more make her sad,
For she has proved there's no one clings like a mother to her lad."

CHORUS.
Remember, she's his mother, and the prisoner there's her son,
And, gentlemen, remember, it's the first crime that he's done.
Don't send her boy to prison, for that would drive her mad;
Remember, she's a widow, and she's pleading for her lad.

See Archive.org here: https://archive.org/details/5552509/page/n1299/mode/2up?q=%22don%27t+send+my%22&view=theater

This is, perhaps, the original song which was parodied.

Subject: Re: A Mother's Plea For Her Son
From: and e
Date: 14 Apr 23 - 07:28 PM

A recording of The Mother's Plea" is on Youtube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxauprwNkpU

"The Mother's Plea For Her Son" by Charlie Poole with The North Carolina Ramblers on COLUMBIA 15509-D. Recorded Tuesday, May 7, 1929 in New York, NY.

Subject: The MOther's Plea for Her Son Sheet Music
From: and e
Date: 14 Apr 23 - 07:35 PM

The 1893 sheet music for "The Mother's Plea for Her Son" is found on the New York Public Library website here:

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-f482-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Subject: Lyr Add: Don't Send my Boy to Prison
From: Monologue John
Date: 11 Mar 24 - 04:44 PM

DON'T SEND MY BOY TO PRISON

Performed By Billy Bennett   written by Con Conrad (Conrad Hovey)

Chorus: Don't send my boy to prison
It's the first crime wot he's done
'Six months.' replied his Lordship
'Oh Gawd 'elp my h'erring son.'

The snow was falling 'orrid, the 'earth and 'ome was cold
To save his starving family, the sticks 'ad all bin sold
And when his poor old mother, she was a-stricken ill
He yielded to temptation, and, he rifled of the till.

Chorus:Chorus: Don't send my boy to prison
It's the first crime wot he's done
'Six months.' replied his Lordship
'Oh Gawd 'elp my h'erring son.'

It was a simple h'action, to sneak another's wealth
But then 'e only done it, to save his family's 'ealth
Oh shed the tear of pity or quell an angry word
'E never knowed no better, Nor, voice of conscience served.

Chorus: Don't send my boy to prison
It's the first crime wot he's done
'Six months.' replied his Lordship
'Oh Gawd 'elp my h'erring son.'

They shoved the irons across 'im, a-coming through the door,
Says he, 'I only done it because I was so poor'
The h'officer all a-trembling, he wipes away a tear
Says he, 'I knows my duty, And, no more I mustn't hear.' :

Chorus: Don't send my boy to prison
It's the first crime wot he's done
'Six months.' replied his Lordship
'Oh Gawd 'elp my h'erring son.'

The judge looks on in h'anger, and the prisoner hung his head
And then his poor old mother wot was with him upped and said,
'Don't send my boy to prison, It's the first crime wot he's done.'
'Six months.' replied his Lordship,
'Oh, Gawd 'elp my h'erring son.'

Chorus: Don't send my boy to prison
It's the first crime wot he's done
'Six months.' replied his Lordship
'Oh Gawd 'elp my h'erring son.'
They takes 'im from the dock then, and carts 'im from the court
Not caring how his mother her poor home can now support
Thank God there's them in Marylebone who'll comfort her poor heart
And see her through her troubles, till they needs no more to part.