Rain and Snow

Last updated
"Rain and Snow" as collected by Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil Sharp, 1917. Rain and snow 1917 sharp.png
"Rain and Snow" as collected by Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil Sharp, 1917.

"Rain and Snow", also known as "Cold Rain and Snow" (Roud 3634), [1] is an American folksong and in some variants a murder ballad. [2] The song first appeared in print in Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil Sharp's 1917 compilation English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, which relates that it was collected from Mrs. Tom Rice in Big Laurel, North Carolina in 1916. The melody is pentatonic. [3]

Contents

Campbell and Sharp's version collected only a single verse:

Lord, I married me a wife,
She gave me trouble all my life,
Made me work in the cold rain and snow.
Rain and snow, rain and snow,
Made me work in the cold rain and snow.

Standard references

Origin

In 1961, folk musicologist, Kenneth Goldstein recorded North Carolina banjo player Obray Ramsey singing the song for Ramsey's Prestige International album Obray Ramsey Sings Folksongs From The Three Laurels. In 1965, Dillard Chandler recorded a graphic murder ballad version of the song that ends with the wife being shot by the husband. According to the liner notes on Chandler's album, Chandler learned the song from Berzilla Wallin, who said that the song related to a murder that had occurred in Madison County, North Carolina:

Well, I learned it from an old lady which says she was at the hanging of – which was supposed to be the hanging, but they didn't hang him. They give him 99 long years for the killing of his wife... I heard the song from her in 1911. She was in her 50s at that time. It did happen in her girlhood... when she was a young girl... She lived right here around in Madison County. It happened here between Marshall and Burnsville; that's where they did their hanging at that time – at Burnsville, North Carolina. That's all I know, except they didn't hang the man.' [2]

Subsequent performances have elaborated a variety of additional verses and variants beyond the single verse presented by Campbell and Sharp. Several verses consistently appear. Some sources for lyrics that appear in some later versions may be from Dock Boggs's 1927 song "Sugar Baby" (Roud 5731), [1] another lament of a henpecked husband, which may have contributed a line about "red apple juice". [4] A British folksong, The Sporting Bachelors (Roud 5556), [1] contains similar themes, but was collected in the 1950s. [2] [5] Earlier possible precursors include a series of broadside ballads on the general subject of "Woeful Marriage"; one frequently reprinted nineteenth-century example begins with the words "On Monday night I married a wife", (Roud 1692). [1] [6]

These British antecedents mostly share common themes and inspirations; the song originated in the local tradition of Big Laurel, Madison County, and relate to a nameless murderer who committed the crime at some time between the end of the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century. A recent origin is also suggested by the relatively limited number of variations on the tune; most performances use the Campbell-Sharp melody as written. [2]

Despite the apparent violence of the lyrics, women feature prominently in the oral tradition of the song. It was collected from "Mrs. Tom Rice", and sung by Berzilla Wallin, who learned it from "an old lady" who remembered the murder trial the song was about.' [7]

Variants and performances

Made me work in the cold rain and snow. Painting by Cornelius Krieghoff. 'Snowshoeing Home in a Blizzard', oil painting by Cornelius Krieghoff.jpg
Made me work in the cold rain and snow.
Painting by Cornelius Krieghoff.

The song is closely associated with the Grateful Dead who learned it from Obray Ramsey's album. A studio version appeared on their first album The Grateful Dead (1967), and the song was a standard part of the Dead's repertoire throughout their career. They would often open with the song, or perform it early in the first set. [2] Unlike Chandler's recording, in the Dead's version of the lyrics the husband generally laments his mistreatment at his greedy wife's hands, but does not kill her. The lyrics from the Grateful Dead's version were adapted from an earlier recording by Obray Ramsey. [2]

Towards the end of his life, Benjamin Britten orchestrated the one-verse 1917 version of the song; this appears as the first section "Lord I married me a wife" of his Eight Folk Song Arrangements from 1976. [8]

The song's popularity grew out of the Old Timey tradition, became part of the bluegrass music repertoire, and was recorded by Bill Monroe and also by the Del McCoury Band. [9]

Other performers who have recorded the song include Peter Rowan with Tony Rice (on the Quartet album), [10] Sam Amidon, Pentangle, [11] Molly Tuttle, [12] Rose Laughlin, Betsy Rutherford [13] [14] and the Be Good Tanyas. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Randall</span> Traditional song

"Lord Randall", or "Lord Randal", is an Anglo-Scottish border ballad consisting of dialogue between a young Lord and his mother. Similar ballads can be found across Europe in many languages, including Danish, German, Magyar, Irish, Swedish, and Wendish. Italian variants are usually titled "L'avvelenato" or "Il testamento dell'avvelenato", the earliest known version being a 1629 setting by Camillo il Bianchino, in Verona. Under the title "Croodlin Doo" Robert Chambers published a version in his "Scottish Ballads" (1829) page 324.

"Lily of the West" is a traditional British and Irish folk song, best known today as an American folk song, listed as number 957 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The American version is about a man who travels to Louisville and falls in love with a woman named Mary, Flora or Molly, the eponymous Lily of the West. He catches Mary being unfaithful to him, and, in a fit of rage, stabs the man she is with, and is subsequently imprisoned. In spite of this, he finds himself still in love with her. In the original version, the Lily testifies in his defense and he is freed, though they do not resume their relationship.

"The Daemon Lover" – also known as "James Harris", "A Warning for Married Women", "The Distressed Ship Carpenter", "James Herries", "The Carpenter’s Wife", "The Banks of Italy", or "The House-Carpenter" – is a popular ballad dating from the mid-seventeenth century, when the earliest known broadside version of the ballad was entered in the Stationers' Register on 21 February 1657.

"Foggy Dew" or "Foggy, Foggy Dew" is an English folk song with a strong presence in the South of England and the Southern United States in the nineteenth century. The song describes the outcome of an affair between a weaver and a girl he courted. It is cataloged as Laws No. O03 and Roud Folk Song Index No. 558. It has been recorded by many traditional singers including Harry Cox, and a diverse range of musicians including Benjamin Britten, Burl Ives, A.L. Lloyd and Ye Vagabonds have arranged and recorded popular versions of the song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matty Groves</span> Traditional English ballad

"Matty Groves", also known as "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard" or "Little Musgrave", is a ballad probably originating in Northern England that describes an adulterous tryst between a young man and a noblewoman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. It is listed as Child ballad number 81 and number 52 in the Roud Folk Song Index. This song exists in many textual variants and has several variant names. The song dates to at least 1613, and under the title Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard is one of the Child ballads collected by 19th-century American scholar Francis James Child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Raggle Taggle Gypsy</span> Traditional folk song

"The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" (Roud 1, Child 200), is a traditional folk song that originated as a Scottish border ballad, and has been popular throughout Britain, Ireland and North America. It concerns a rich lady who runs off to join the gypsies (or one gypsy). Common alternative names are "Gypsy Davy", "The Raggle Taggle Gypsies O", "The Gypsy Laddie(s)", "Black Jack David" (or "Davy") and "Seven Yellow Gypsies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Two Sisters (folk song)</span> Traditional song

"The Two Sisters" is a traditional murder ballad, dating at least as far back as the mid 17th century. The song recounts the tale of a girl drowned by her jealous sister. At least 21 English variants exist under several names, including "Minnorie" or "Binnorie", "The Cruel Sister", "The Wind and Rain", "Dreadful Wind and Rain", "The Bonny Swans" and the "Bonnie Bows of London". The ballad was collected by renowned folklorist Francis J. Child as Child Ballad 10 and is also listed in the Roud Folk Song Index. Whilst the song is thought to originate somewhere around England or Scotland, extremely similar songs have been found throughout Europe, particularly in Scandinavia.

"The Maid Freed from the Gallows" is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. Other variants and/or titles include "The Gallows Pole", "The Gallis Pole", "Hangman", "The Prickle-Holly Bush", "The Golden Ball", and "Hold Up Your Hand, Old Joshua She Cried." In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child in the late 19th century, it is indexed as Child Ballad number 95; 11 variants, some fragmentary, are indexed as 95A to 95K. The Roud Folk Song Index identifies it as number 144.

The Famous Flower of Serving-Men or The Lady Turned Serving-Man is a traditional English language folk song and murder ballad. Child considered it as closely related to the ballad "The Lament of the Border Widow" or "The Border Widow's Lament".

"Unusually, it is possible to give a precise date and authorship to this ballad. It was written by the prolific balladeer, Laurence Price, and published in July 1656, under the title of The famous Flower of Serving-Men. Or, The Lady turn'd Serving-Man. It lasted in the mouths of ordinary people for three hundred years: what a tribute to the work of any writer, leave alone the obscure Laurence Price. Oral tradition, however, has made changes. The original has twenty-eight verses and a fairy-tale ending: “And then for fear of further strife, / he took Sweet William to be his Wife: / The like before was never seen, / A Serving-man to be a Queen”. – Roy Palmer, A Book of British Ballads

"The Twa Magicians", "The Two Magicians", "The Lady and the Blacksmith", or "The Coal Black Smith" is a British folk song. It first appears in print in 1828 in two sources, Peter Buchan's Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland and John Wilson's Noctes Ambrosianae #40. It was later published as number 44 of Francis James Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads. During the 20th century, versions of it have been recorded by a number of folk and popular musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair Margaret and Sweet William</span> Traditional song

"Fair Margaret and Sweet William" is a traditional English ballad which tells of two lovers, one or both of whom die from heartbreak. Thomas Percy included it in his 1765 Reliques and said that it was quoted as early as 1611 in the Knight of the Burning Pestle. In the United States, variations of Fair Margaret were regarded as folk song as early as 1823.

The Farmer's Curst Wife is a traditional English language folk song listed as Child ballad number 278 and number 160 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

"Edward" is a traditional murder ballad existing in several variants, categorised by Francis James Child as Child Ballad number 13 and listed as number 200 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The ballad, which is at least 250 years old, has been documented and recorded numerous times across the English speaking world into the twentieth century.

"Babylon", also called "The Bonnie Banks o' Fordie" or "The Banks o' Airdrie" is an English-language folk song.

Mr. Motherwell gives a version under the title of Babylon; or, the Bonny Banks o' Fordie; and Mr. Kinloch gives another under the title of The Duke of Perth's Three Daughters. Previous editors have attempted to find a local habitation for this tradition, and have associated it with the family of Drummond, of Perth. As a legend exactly similar is current in Denmark, this appears a bootless quest.

"The Trees They Grow So High" is a Scottish folk song. The song is known by many titles, including "The Trees They Do Grow High", "Daily Growing", "Long A-Growing" and "Lady Mary Ann".

"Polly Vaughn" is an Irish folk-song.

"The Sprig of Thyme", "The Seeds of Love", "Maiden’s Lament", "Garners Gay", "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" or "Rue" is a traditional British and Irish folk ballad that uses botanical and other symbolism to warn young people of the dangers in taking false lovers. The song was first documented in 1689 and the many variants go by a large number of titles.

"The Bramble Briar", "The Merchant's Daughter" or "In Bruton Town" is a traditional English folk murder ballad that tells the story of how two brothers murder a servant who is courting their sister. There are many versions of the song going by a number of different titles.

The Wallin Family is an American family of traditional ballad singers from Madison County, North Carolina. Their repertoire of Appalachian folk ballads— many of which were rooted in "Old World" ballads traceable to the British Isles — brought them to the attention of folk music enthusiasts during the American folk music revival of the 1960s. Wallin family members have recorded numerous times over a period of nearly four decades, and have appeared in several independent documentaries.

"Pretty Saro" is an English folk ballad originating in the early 1700s. The song died out in England by the mid eighteenth century but was rediscovered in North America in the early twentieth century, where it had been preserved through oral traditions. Cecil Sharp and later folklorists and proponents of the folk revival helped keep songs such as "Pretty Saro" alive well into modern times.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Vaughan Williams Memorial Library" . Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Blackman, Patrick (September 10, 2012). "Cold Rain and Snow". Sing Out! . Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  3. ↑ Campbell, Olive; Sharp, Cecil (1917). English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. Putnam's. p. 214.
  4. ↑ Dock Boggs; Greil Marcus, liner notes (1927). Country Blues: Complete Early Recordings (Phonorecord). Revenant Records.
  5. ↑ Anon. "Sporting Bachelors". mudcat.org. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Allegro Catalogue of Ballads". Bodleian Library . Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Blackman, Patrick (September 14, 2012). "I ain't gonna be treated this way… "Rain and Snow," Part 2". Sing Out!. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  8. ↑ Benjamin Britten, composer; Keith Anderson, liner notes (July 2005). BRITTEN: Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 2 (English Song, Vol. 13) (CD). Naxos.
  9. ↑ McGuinn, Roger (August 1, 2015). "Cold Rain and Snow". Roger McGuinn's Folk Den. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  10. ↑ and Molly Tuttle, who created her own version of the final verse.[ citation needed ] "Peter Rowan Discography" . Retrieved 2016-06-25.
  11. ↑ Pentangle. Reflection . Transatlantic (UK) / Reprise (US), 1971
  12. ↑ "YouTube - Molly Tuttle - 'Cold Rain and Snow' (Cover) | #UnderTheAppleTree". YouTube . 15 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "Rain and Snow by Betsy Rutherford - YouTube". YouTube . 3 September 2011. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  14. ↑ "Betsy Rutherford-Traditional Country Music". Cornbread, Molasses & Sassafras Tea - Folk and Vernacular Music. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.