Long Eddy Waltz

DESCRIPTION: The singer climbs a tree, apparently to spy on lovers. His voyeurism is rewarded when a young couple appear under the tree. The man begs the girl to sleep with him. At some point, the spy lets out a whoop, and the lovers take flight
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (text supplied to Logsdon by Riley Neal)
KEYWORDS: courting humorous request hiding sex
FOUND IN: US(MA,SW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 132, "Long Eddy Waltz" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Logsdon-WhorehouseBellsWereRinging 43, pp. 222-223, "The Oaks of Jimderia" (1 text)
DT, LONGEDDY*
Roud #10100
NOTES [148 words]: Logson connects this with "Walking in a Meadow Gren," found in the Percy Folio. I don't really see it. That is simply a song about a guy watching a couple go about their business. This piece, in both the New York and Arizona versions, has several distinct elements in addition to the voyeurism: The narrator in the tree, the crying out, and the lovers fleeing. They do differ in when the singer cried out -- but I suspect this is a deliberate clean-up of the Catskills variant.
There does not seem to be a generic title to this song, perhaps because it has so rarely been published. The "Long Eddy Waltz" title comes from Dick Edwards, the New York informant, and has no obvious relationship to the song (save that it is in triple meter). But it is the title which has been used in the Ballad Index for many years, so I am retaining it in the absence of a title with stronger claim. - RBW

File: FSC132

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