Over the Hills to the Poor-House

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, yes, it is true they have driven Their father so helpless and old; Oh, God! may their crime be forgiven For driving him out in the cold." The father, "helpless and feeble," recalls his love for wife and children, and sadly sets out for the poorhouse
AUTHOR: Words: George L. Catlin / Music: David Braham (source: sheet music in the Levy Collection)
EARLIEST DATE: 1874 (sheet music published by William A. Pond & Co.)
KEYWORDS: home betrayal children father poverty age
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 171, "Over the Hills to the Poor-House" (1 text)
Dean-FlyingCloud, pp. 121-122, "Over the Hills to the Poorhouse" (1 text)
Roud #5496
RECORDINGS:
Bert Peck, "Over the Hills to the Poor House" (Brunswick 522, c. 1930)
Peg Moreland, "Over the Hills to the Poorhouse" (Victor 21548, 1928)
NOTES [276 words]: Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety notes that there is a poem by Will Carleton with a similar title and theme, but regards them as separate, and also (correctly) treats this piece as different from the Missouri text ("Over the Hills at the Poorhouse") he himself printed.
For David Braham, who supplied the music for this piece, see the notes to "Babies on Our Block." By the time this was written, Braham had started to collaborate with Edward Harrigan, his long-time musical partner, but it was not yet an exclusive arrangement (see John Franceschina, David Braham: The American Offenbach, Routledge, 2003, p. 77); the team of Harrigan and Hart, while rising quickly, had not yet reached the level of fame that let them run their own theater company. At this stage, Braham, although known mostly as an orchestra conductor, was certainly as big a name as Harrigan (Franceschina, p. 82).
Franceschina shows the sheet music cover on p. 78, and prints much of the text. On p. 79 he says, "The music Braham created for this tearjerker employed a flowing arpeggiated accompaniment, anticipating that used in musical theater 'hymns' such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'You'll Never Walk Alone' from Carousel.... The simplicity of the melody and harmony in the chorus lend a subtle emphasis to the pathos of this composition, which more resembles a classical art song than the typical fare of the variety stage."
It was written for James W. McKee, and debuted in the 1874-1875 season at the Theatre Comique (Franceschina, pp. 79-80).
The song was a surprising hit; by 1879, it was already in its tenth printing (Franceschina, pp. 123-124). - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: BrII171

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography