Anyone know the roots of "jack-a-roe"???
tnew...@rr.nyc.com
I was reading the following web page:
http://www.thewildgeese.com/pages/jamtwo.html and was surprised at the
similaraities to the lyrics to Jack-a-Roe (Calico Jack???) .
Is there a floklorist out there who can confirm or deny that the
lyrics were contrived and changed a bit from this part of history?
HEre is an excerpt from the web page.......
My personal, all-time favorite Irish personality is a woman by the
name of Anne Bonney, the illegitimate daughter of an Irish attorney
from County Cork. He emigrated to Carolina, where Anne married a
sailor named John Bonney. They sailed to New Providence in the
Bahamas, where Annie fell in love with a dashing, handsome freebooter
named Calico Jack Rackham. Jack paid off Anne's husband, but when the
governor of the island heard this he would have none of it, ordering
that Anne be publicly flogged and that Jack wield the lash!
The couple's response was to put together a crew of ex-pirates and
steal a sloop. For several years, they were the bane of ships in the
Caribbean, using Jamaica as their base. Anne, always in disguise in
men's clothing, took a liking to another young sailor, who, to her
amazement, turned out to be another woman. This was Mary Reid, an
English girl who sought adventure as a foot soldier in Flanders and on
board a British man-o-war. While en route to the Dutch West Indies,
her ship was captured by Calico Jack, who was so impressed by her
swordplay that he offered her a berth on his ship. History does not
record what she thought of his swordplay!
In 1720, Rackham was surprised in Jamaica, at Negril and surrendered
without a fight. On the morning of his execution, Anne Bonney visited
him and proclaimed, "I am sorry to see you here, but if you had fought
like a man, you would not now be hanged like a dog!" He was hanged at
Gallows Point in Palisadoes, and his body billeted at a place now
known as Rackham's Reef, on the way to Lime Cay.
Annie and Mary, though both found guilty of piracy and sentenced to
death, escaped the hangman's noose by "pleading their belly," in other
words, they were both pregnant by Calico Jack. Anne returned to
Carolina, but Mary died of yellow fever and is buried in St.
Catherine.
karmakaze
\ Is there a floklorist out there
Yes, in Kamp Kimock! :-)
\ History does not record what she thought of his swordplay!
<snip>
\ Annie and Mary, though both found guilty of piracy and sentenced to
\ death, escaped the hangman's noose by "pleading their belly," in
\ other words, they were both pregnant by Calico Jack.
Apparently, they both liked his swordplay! ;^)
Here's more information, have a positive day,
TD
Grateful Dead Lyric & Song Finder http://www3.clearlight.com/~acsa/intro.htm
has this to say (no direct link, search under "Jack-A-Roe"):
Roots
The following piece is from Josephine McQuail's excellent piece "Folk Songs and
Allusions to Folk Songs in the Repertoire of the Grateful Dead (see:
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Texts/Scholarly/McQuail_Dead_01.h
tml
"Another traditional song performed by the Grateful Dead is "Jack-A Roe," also known
as "Jack Went A-Sailing." It is a ballad, like "Peggy-O," and, as befits the ballad
form, starts out with what seems a tragic situation. This song tells the story of a
woman forbidden by her father to see her lover, but who dresses as a man to follow
him, a sailor who has been called to sea. Unlike most ballads, however, the song has
a happy ending: she finds him wounded after a battle and takes him to a doctor who
heals him and the reunited couple marries. Several versions, all collected in the
United States, are given in Sharp's English Folk Songs from the Southern
Appalachians, The version performed by the Grateful Dead leaves out details regarding
the possessive father, although they include the first verse, they omit the
following:
Her father heard the callin',
So quickly he came in.
Good morning, Mrs. Frasier,
Is that your sweetheart's name?
I will lock you in my dungeon,
Your body I'll confine
If there is none but Jacky Frasier
That will ever suit your mind.
You can lock me in your dungeon,
It is hard to be confined,
But there is none but Jacky Frasier
That will ever suit my mind.
Very early versions of the song go under a variety of different titles. One is "Jack
Munro" - the following lyrics come from the Bodlean Library's ballad collection - and
reveals some twists not present in the version played by the Dead. It is dated
between 1774 and 1825.
In Chatham town there lived a worthy merchant man
He had an only daughter as you shall understand
This lady was courted by many a noble knight
But there was none but Jack the sailor could gain her heart's delight
Her waiting maid standing by unto her father went
And told him the secret, his daughter's whole intent
He call'd on his daughter with pride and disdain
Saying, good morrow, Mrs Fraser, this was her lover's name
Is this the news my daughter that I have heard of thee
Young Jack he shall be pressed and you confined be
It's here is my body, you shall it then confine
There's none but Jack the sailor can gain this heart of mine
It's here is twenty guineas, I give it to thee
If you'll press young Jack to the wars of Germany
As Jack has gone on board he'll never more be seen
I will wed at your disposal if you will set me free
It's now she's set at liberty dressed in man's array
Looking for an officer to carry her away
Jack is on board with a sore and troubled mind
For the leaving of his country and darling close confined
Your name we must have sir, before on board we go
That you shall have quickly, it is Jack Munro
This lady's gone on board with a troubled mind
To land in French Flanders it is her wish'd design
Now she's landed over, reviewed for to be
Standing in the ranks her own true love for to see
She stepped up unto him, and thus to him did say
By your features an Englishman you are
If that you be willing whatever may betide
I'll be your loyal comrade and lie down by your side
The drums did beat, and the trumpets did sound
Unto the field of battle they were called along
They fought on with valour, they fought courageously
Until two officers and a private by her side did lay
The officers took notice and unto her did say
For the valour you have shown preferred you shall be
A major's commission unto you we'll bestow
And you may push your fortune brave Jack Munro
Looking through the wounded men her own lover did see
She says loving comrade they have preferred me
A major's commission unto me they will bestow
The doctor that can cure you shall be paid by Munro
She called for a minister and bade them step aside
And would call them up again when he woo'd bride
It's I'll not be groom but groom's man I'll be
For I never will be married till my Molly I do see
She stripped down her snow white breast some private marks to show
Saying Jack won't you marry me Jack don't you know
The drums did beat and the trumpets did sound
And home to Old England they were all call's along
It's now there landed, the people all went to see
Saying yonder comes the heroes from the wars of Germany
As they were walking up the street, her father he did know
Saying good old merchant will you lit with Munro?
It's out spoke the mother, I had a daughter gay
There's not a feature in your face but resembles she
It's now they got married and lie side by side
The officers and privates begrudge Jack of his bride
When the queen heard of this she laughed heartily
Saying here is fifty guineas I'll give to that lady
Futher Information
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family
Discography
http://www.deaddisc.com/songs/Jack-A-Roe.htm
For online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
Shady Grove (guitar TAB)
volkfolk
<tnew...@rr.nyc.com> wrote in message
news:v6u2kv4291t23nuue...@4ax.com...
Wow, interesting stuff. Check out "Handsome Cabin Boy" on Garcia/Grisman's
Shady Grove for more genderbending, cross dressed female, maritime exploits.
Jack a Roe is also on this album, as well as some other sea shantys
Great stuff and quite risque when you consider when they were written
Scot
SKNavis
Bill Landers
> http://www.thewildgeese.com/pages/jamtwo.html and was surprised at the
> similaraities to the lyrics to Jack-a-Roe (Calico Jack???) .
>
> Is there a floklorist out there who can confirm or deny that the
> lyrics were contrived and changed a bit from this part of history?
>
I'm not a folklorist by any stretch of the imagination, but if you delve
into Southern Appalachian ballads, you will come across what is known as
"floating lyrics", snippets of which show up in numerous folk songs. There
is a song on the Bruce Molsky & Big Hoedown CD (Rounder 0421) called 'Rocky
Mountain' that is very similar to Jack-a-roe. In the liner notes, Bruce
states that Kentucky banjo player Roscoe Holcomb claimed authorship to the
lyrics, and the setting they played used a tune in G major from fiddler J.W.
Day (aka Jilson Setters). Here's the lyrics:
Say, across the Rocky Mountain I walked for miles and miles
Across the Rocky Mountain I walked for miles and miles
Say, I'll never forget my mother's look,
God bless her sweetly smile.
Say, there was an old rich farmer who lived in the neighborhood by
He had a lonely daughter, on her I cast my eye
She was both tall and handsome, blue eyes and curly hair
Say, there's no other girl in this whole world with her I could compare.
She's courted by two squires so well they did agree
She's courted by two squires so well they did agree
She's courted by two squires so well they did agree
Pledged to none but Jack the sailor who's across the deep blue sea
Say, your cheeks they are too rosy, your fingers are too small
Your cheeks they are too rosy, your fingers are too small
Your cheeks they are too rosy, your fingers are too small
Your cheeks they are too rosy to face the cannonball
No, my cheeks are not too rosy, my fingers not too small
My cheeks are not too rosy, my fingers not too small
My cheeks are not too rosy, my fingers not too small
No, it would not change my conscience to see ten thousand fall
She went walking through the battlefield a searching up and down
She walked up through the battlefield a searching up and down
Saw among the wounded her darling Jack she found
She picked him up all in her arms and carried him to the town
She picked him up all in her arms and carried him to the town
She took him to the doctor for to quickly heal the wounds
Don't know if this answers your question or not, but there are certainly
versions of songs with similar themes that were part of the folk tradition
before the Grateful Dead came up with their arrangement.
Bill Landers
Onondaga Co., NY
