There Is a People in the West

DESCRIPTION: "There is a people in the West, the world call Mormonites in jest, The only people who can say, 'We have the truth and own the way.'" The world was in darkness until Joseph [Smith] showed up. Now the truth is known in many lands. Help build Zion
AUTHOR: probably William Willes
EARLIEST DATE: 1872 (Willes, The Mountain Warbler)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad | Mormon
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Lingenfelter/Dwyer/Cohen-SongsOfAmericanWest, p. 183, "There Is a People in the West" (1 text, tune referenced)
ADDITIONAL: William Willes, _The Mountain Warbler: Being a Collection of Original Songs and Recitations, by WIlliam Willes, with a Selection from Other writes, for the Use of Choirs, Sabbath Schools and Families_, Deseret News Book and Job Establishment, Salt Lake City, 1872 (available on Google Books), pp. 60-61, "(no title)" (1 text, tune referenced)
NOTES [102 words]: The tune of this is listed by Willes as "So Early in the Morning," which presumably means "The Drunken Sailor," although it takes some work to make the verses fit.
Not everything in the Willes book is by Willes (and, we might add, it's texts only; no tunes are printed; despite its title, it's not what I would call a book for choirs!). Willes generally attributes poems written by others, and this has no attribution. On the other hand, he put a "W. W." after some of his own poems, and it doesn't have that, either. It's almost certainly by Willes, but perhaps one could argue that it has not been proved. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: LDC183

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