When the Work's All Done This Fall [Laws B3]

DESCRIPTION: A cowboy tells of his plans to at last go home and see his mother "when the work's all done this fall." Soon after, the cattle stampede. The cowboy controls the herd but is fatally injured in the process. He will not see his mother; he sends tokens home
AUTHOR: unknown (see note)
EARLIEST DATE: 1893 (published by D. J. O'Malley in the Miles CIty _Stock Grower's Journal_)
KEYWORDS: cowboy work death mother
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So,Ro) Canada(Newf)
REFERENCES (19 citations):
Laws B3, "When the Work's All Done This Fall"
Sandburg-TheAmericanSongbag, pp. 260-262, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 264, "When the Work is Done This Fall" (1 text)
Abrahams/Riddle-ASingerAndHerSongs, pp. 78-79, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rainey/Pinkston-SongsOfTheOzarkFolk, p. 56, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 143, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abernethy-SinginTexas, pp. 147-148, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife/Fife-CowboyAndWesternSongs 81, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tinsley-HeWasSinginThisSong, pp. 96-101, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lingenfelter/Dwyer/Cohen-SongsOfAmericanWest, pp. 432-433, "Whn Work Is Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Welsch-NebraskaPioneerLore, pp. 20-21, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text)
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, pp. 282-283, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leach-FolkBalladsSongsOfLowerLabradorCoast 97, "The Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Guigné-ForgottenSongsOfTheNewfoundlandOutports, pp. 95-97, "The Cow Puncher's Lament (When the Work's All Done This Fall)" (1 text, 1 tune)
ArkansasWoodchopper, pp. 40-42, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-FolkloreOfTheGreatWest, pp. 184-186, "After the Roundup" (1 text plus some alternate lyrics)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 263, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (1 text)
DT 371, WORKDONE*
ADDITIONAL: John I. White, _Git Along, Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West_, 1975 (page references are to the 1989 University of Illinois Press edition), pp. 189-195, "Carl T. Sprague, Singing Cowboy" (1 text, 1 tune, the Sprague version)
Roud #450
RECORDINGS:
Jules Allen, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Victor V-40263, 1930; rec. 1929)
Fiddlin' John Carson, "The Dixie Cowboy" (OKeh 7004, 1924)
The Cartwright Brothers, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Columbia 15346-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Bill Childers, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (OKeh 45203, 1928)
Al Cramer [possible pseud. Vernon Dalhart], "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Broadway 8060, n.d.)
Vernon Dalhart, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Banner 6086/Domino 0192, 1927; Challenge 683/Challenge 688, 1928; Conqueror 7737, 1931)
J. D. Farley, "I'm a Lone Star Cowboy" (Victor V-40269, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4300, 1933; rec. 1929; on WhenIWas2)
Four Pickled Peppers, "Jolly Group of Cowboys" (Bluebird B-8016/Montgomery Ward M-7654, 1939; rec. 1938)
Gentry Bros., "When the Work's Done This Fall" (Paramount 3042 [as Collins Bros.], 1928; Broadway 8060 [as Al Cramer], n.d.; rec. 1927)
Harry Jackson, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (on HJackson1)
Herb Key, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Fragment: Piotr-Archive #213, recorded 08/15/2022, with a truly sappy additional verse that ruins the point of the song added by the informant)
Bradley Kincaid, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Gennett 6989, 1929) (Brunswick 403/Supertone S-2017, 1930)
Frank Luther, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Grey Gull 4264 [as Jeff Calhoun]/Van Dyke 74264 [as Jeff Calhoun]/Radiex 4264 [as Carlton Boxill], 1929; Madison 5013 [as Tom Cook], c. 1930) (Melotone M-12143 [as Phil & Frank Luther]/Vocalion 5483 [as Luther Bros.], 1931)
Claude Moye, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Champion 15688 [as Asparagus Joe]/Supertone 9351 [as Pie Plant Pete], 1929; Champion 45064 [as Asparagus Joe], c. 1935)
Joshua Osborne, "The Cow Puncher's Lament" (on NFAGuigné01)
Aulton Ray, "The Dixie Cowboy" (Challenge 335 [as Charlie Prescott]/Champion 15277/Silvertone 5084, 1927; Supertone 9250, 1928) (Herwin 75552, c. 1927)
George Reneau, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Vocalion 15150/Vocalion 5079, 1925)
Rodeo Twins, "When the Work's All Done this Fall" (Victor V-40186, 1930; rec. 1929)
Carl T. Sprague, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" Victor 19747, 1925; Montgomery Ward M-8060, 1939; on AuthCowboys, BackSaddle)
Ernest V. Stoneman, "When The Work's All Done This Fall" (Edison 51788, 1926) (CYL: Edison [BA] 5188, 1926)
Taylor's Kentucky Boys "The Dixie Cowboy" (on WhenIWas1, KMM) [Note: As Aulton Ray sang the lead on this recording, it's possible, maybe even likely, that it is identical with the recording on Challenge/Champion/Supertone. But until I've verified that, I'm keeping them separate]
Vagabonds, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Bluebird B-5300/Montgomery Ward M-4442, 1934)
Frankie Wallace, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Romeo 913, 1929)
Frank Wheeler & Monroe Lamb, "A Jolly Group of Cowboys" (Victor V-40169, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4470, 1934)
Marc Williams, "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (Brunswick 244, 1928; Supertone S-2054, 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Virginia Strike of '23" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
The Virginia Strike of '23 (File: LSRA591)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
After the Roundup (published by D. J. O'Malley under that title)
NOTES [137 words]: The most likely author of this is D. J. O'Malley, who seems to have been responsible for the earliest printed version. But Laws does not mention the attribution to O'Malley, and notes that J. Frank Dobie attributes it to Marshall Johnson of Texas. I know of no verifiable field collection before the Carl T. Sprague recording from 1925.
For a discussion of O'Malley, see John I. White, Git Along, Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West, 1975 (page references are to the 1989 University of Illinois Press edition), pp. 73-100, "D. J. 'Kid' O'Malley, Cowboy Poet." On p. 85, White unequivocally attributes the song to O'Malley.
White adds that the poem was originally titled "After the Roundup" and intended to fit the tune "After the Ball" -- but this tune has apparently never been found in tradition. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: LB03

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