Death of Willie Stone, The

DESCRIPTION: "In a graveyard at Toowong, where the river rolls along, Lies Willie Stone a trusted man and true." Well-beloved and handsome, he falls and is killed in a horserace. Listeners are told that "'Twas God's decree and he alone knows best."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1975
KEYWORDS: horse racing death
FOUND IN: Australia
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fahey-Eureka-SongsThatMadeAustralia, pp. 224-225, "The Death of Willie Stone" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES [114 words]: Stone came from a well-known family of horse trainers, but he was not killed in a race; rather, he was thrown in a practice run. The informant, M. Sullivan, thought this piece might be the work of "Cyclone" Jimmy Connors.
There is some disagreement about the spelling of his name; Fahey-Eureka-SongsThatMadeAustralia calls him "Willie Stone," but Gwenda Beed Davey and Graham Seal, A Guide to Australian Folklore, Kangaroo Press, 2003, p. 204, give the name as "Willy Stone." Davey/Seal say of him, "Historical jockey whose song celebrates his bravery and laments his death in a racing accident in Brisbane when his mount, Crusoe, fell on him and killed him in December 1892." - RBW
Last updated in version 4.1
File: FaE224

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