Song of the Trap, The

DESCRIPTION: "I'm a trap, I'm a trap, and up here I abide. The camp is my home, and my blue coat's my pride." The uses his staff with good will and to a good purpose; if he must crack heads at night, it won't be the first time. The trap tells his story in many stages
AUTHOR: Charles R. Thatcher (1831-1878)?
EARLIEST DATE: 1869 (Thatcher-ColonialMinstrel-Songsters)
KEYWORDS: police work clothes immigration mining
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Thatcher-ColonialMinstrel-Songsters, pp. 38-39, "The Song of the Trap" (1 text, from "Thatcher's Colonial Songster")
Anderson-StoryOfAustralianFolksong, pp. 79-85, "The Song of the Trap" (1 text, 1 tune)
Anderson-GoldrushSongster, pp. 38-41, "The Song of the Trap" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I'm Afloat" (partial tune)
cf. "Rosin the Beau" (partial tune)
cf. "Norah Creina" (partial tune)
NOTES [89 words]: A "trap" is a policeman who patrols on foot.
Although few if any of Charles Thatcher's songs have gone into tradition, this is particularly un-folk-like; it apparently changes tunes several times. Presumably it was one of his vaudeville-like exhibitions.
Thatcher seems to have liked the tune "Nora Creina." He also used it for a song called "Lansell's Case."
For brief background on Charles Thatcher's career, see the notes to "Where's Your License?" For an extensive collection of his songs, see Anderson-StoryOfAustralianFolksong. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: AnSt079

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