Girl Volunteer, The (The Cruel War Is Raging) [Laws O33]

DESCRIPTION: (Johnny) has been ordered off to war. His sweetheart begs to go with him. He refuses her; military service would fade her beauty. She offers to buy his release; this too fails. (In some versions Johnny relents and allows her to come.)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: war soldier separation love cross-dressing
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Laws O33, "The Girl Volunteer"
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 177-180, "Lisbon" (3 texts, of which this is the third, to which Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety does not assign a letter; the first two are "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)" [Laws N8])
Randolph 44, "Johnny Must Fight" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Randolph/Cohen-OzarkFolksongs-Abridged, pp. 94-95, "Johnny Must Fight" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 44B)
Rainey/Pinkston-SongsOfTheOzarkFolk, p. 7, "The War is Now Raging" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnold-FolkSongsofAlabama, pp. 6-7, "Oh, Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 100, "The Girl Volunteer" (1 text)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore4 100, "The Girl Volunteer" (2 excerpts, 2 tunes)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol2, p. 10, "Poor Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune, which the editors file here although the text appears to have many floating verses); p. 50, "Johnny, Oh, Johnny" (1 text)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-2ed, pp. 77-78, "I Was Standing on Pickets" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 113, "The Warfare is Raging" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Combs/Wilgus-FolkSongsOfTheSouthernUnitedStates 109, pp. 178-179, "I'm Going to Join the Army" (1 text)
Fuson-BalladsOfTheKentuckyHighlands, p. 104, "Johnny" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 272, "The Cruel War Is Raging" (1 text)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 131-132, "May I Go With You, Johnny?" (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 234, 550, "The Cruel War is Raging"/"Cruel War" (notes only)
DT 487, CRUELWAR* CRUELWR2*
Roud #401
RECORDINGS:
Louise Foreacre, "The War Is A-Raging" (on Stonemans01)
Aunt Polly Joines, "The Warfare is A-Raging" (on Persis1)
Land Norris, "Johnnie" (Okeh 45047)
Pete Steele, "The War Is A-Ragin' For Johnny" (on PSteele01)
Rick Ward, "Johnny, Poor Johnny" (Piotr-Archive #137, recorded 04/18/2022)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Manchester Angel"
cf. "Jack Monroe" [Laws N7]
cf. "William and Nancy (I) (Lisbon; Men's Clothing I'll Put On I)" [Laws N8]
cf. "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9]
cf. "High Germany (I)"
cf. "Oh! No, No" (theme: sweetheart tries to convince soldier to let her accompany him)
SAME TUNE:
The Panther Pack is Prowling (RECORDING, Chip Dockery, in "Panther Pack Medley" on InCountry)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Cruel War
NOTES [50 words]: The Combs version of this song contains a reference to Pensacola -- the port from which many American troops set out for Cuba during the Spanish-American war (1898). The song is surely much older than that, however, although diligent searching has failed to turn up a version from before the 1910s. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: LO33

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