Jolly Raftsman O, The

DESCRIPTION: "I am sixteen, I do confess, I'm sure I am no older O, I place my mind, it never shall move, It's on a jolly raftsman, O." She praises his work and calls him "brave as Alexander," though someone (her mother?) wants her to marry a freeholder
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: love logger courting mother
FOUND IN: Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Fowke-LumberingSongsFromTheNorthernWoods #58, "The Jolly Raftsman O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke/MacMillan-PenguinBookOfCanadianFolkSongs 51, "The Jolly Raftsman O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario 31, "The Jolly Raftsman O" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2318
RECORDINGS:
Mrs A. Fraser, "The Jolly Raftsman O" (on ONEFowke01)
NOTES [67 words]: No particular storyline here, a short (three verses) love song wherein the singer repeatedly states her conviction to wait for and marry her jolly raftsman. [Fowke's source was] Mrs. A. Fraser of Lancaster, Ontario, who said she learned it from her mother.
Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario, p. 179, suggests that the tune is originally Gaelic; she bases this on the pattern of stresses. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: FowL58

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