Battleship of Maine

DESCRIPTION: Humorous song about a country boy caught up in the Spanish-American war, for which he has little sympathy. He describes bad conditions in the army, notes that the "Rough Riders" wear $5.50 shoes, while the poor farmers wear dollar-a-pair shoes.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: army war humorous soldier cowardice
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1895 - Cubans rebel against Spain
Feb 15, 1898 - Explosion of the battleship "Maine" in Havana harbour
April 25, 1898 - Congress declares war on Spain
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 239, "That Bloody War" (4 texts, of which the first two are this piece; the final two fragments appear to be "That Crazy War")
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 239, "That Bloody War" (2 excerpts, 2 tunes)
Cohen/Seeger/Wood-NewLostCityRamblersSongbook, pp. 100-101, "Battleship of Maine" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 288, "Battleship of Maine" (1 text)
DT, BTTLMAIN*
Roud #779
RECORDINGS:
Mary C. Mann, "The Battleship of Maine" (AFS A-526, A-527, 1926)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Battleship of Maine" (on NLCR01, NLCRCD1) (NLCR12) (NLCR16)
Red Patterson's Piedmont Log Rollers, "Battleship of Maine" (Victor 20936, 1927)
Wilmer Watts and the Lonely Eagles, "Fightin' in the War with Spain" (Paramount 3254, 1931; on StuffDreams1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mister McKinley (White House Blues)" (tune)
cf. "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (tune, floating lyrics)
cf. "Joking Henry" (tune)
cf. "That Crazy War" (lyrics)
cf. "That Bloody War (I)" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "My Sweetheart Went Down with the Maine" (theme) and references there
NOTES [22 words]: For background on the loss of the Maine, and the war that followed, see the notes to "My Sweetheart Went Down with the Maine." - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: CSW100

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