Blue Glass

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, boys keep away from the girls I say, And give them plenty of room... Oh the blue glass, oh the blue glass, 'Tis a great discovery sure"; the "blue glass cure" will help you when sick. "It can even make an old maid young."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1966 (Huntington-FolksongsFromMarthasVineyard)
KEYWORDS: warning courting drink
FOUND IN: US(NE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Huntington-FolksongsFromMarthasVineyard, pp. 55-57, "Blue Glass" (1 text, 1 tune, part "The Bald-Headed End of the Broom," part "Blue Glass," a song which seems otherwise unattested)
Roud #2129
NOTES [107 words]: At Huntington notes, this is seems to be a combination of two songs, one the well-known "The Bald-Headed End of the Broom," the other, about the blue glass, otherwise unknown. Huntington thinks Welcome Tilton might have united them, which is certainly possible.
Huntington thinks the "blue glass" is one of those patent medicines that derived their "effect," such as it was, from alcohol. It does sound as if the "blue glass" is a liquid reinforcement, but I wonder a little if the "blue pill" -- the first effective syphilis cure, although very dangerous since it consisted of mercury compounds -- might not have influenced the song also. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: HuVi055

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