New Year's Sermon, The

DESCRIPTION: "Hello, Mr. Jones! We wish you a happy new year -- to you and your wife and your sons... And if our wishes find you good, 'Tis better than the year before the flood." Listeners are warned of times to come, including battles -- and then muskets are let off
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety)
KEYWORDS: nonballad recitation wassail
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, p. 514, "The New Year's 'Sermon'" (1 text)
Roud #7830
NOTES [31 words]: A sort of a Missouri wassail, in which the performers went from house to house begging for entertainment -- but perhaps with a bit of a threat element, since they all had firearms.... - RBW
File: Beld514

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