West Virginia Feud Song, A

DESCRIPTION: A story of the "Lincoln County crew." Ale Brumfield is shot, perhaps by Milt Haley, but Brumfield (who survives) blames "McCoy." Later, at George Fries's house, a fight begins and many are killed. The singer blames the fight on drink
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1916 (Cox)
KEYWORDS: feud death drink
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 40, "A West-Virginia Feud Song" (1 text)
Roud #465
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Rowan County Crew (Trouble, or Tragedy)" [Laws E20]
NOTES [54 words]: Cox views this as a reworking of "The Rowan County Crew," and Laws (in the notes to that song) evidently agrees. (Roud lumps them.) The resulting song is rare, and the Cox text is confused; it's not even clear who feuded with whom! The informants believed that the fight took place in 1890, near Hamlin, West Virginia. - RBW
File: LE20A

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