Bill Mason

DESCRIPTION: The song opens with chat about Bill Mason, then notes that he was called to "bring (down) the night express." His new wife, seeing vandals destroying the tracks, she brings out a lantern and saves him and his train
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: probably 1873 (100 Choice Selections, Volume 6)
KEYWORDS: train rescue sabotage
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Cohen-LongSteelRail, pp. 282-287, "Bill Mason" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Rorrer-RamblingBlues-LifeAndSongsOfCharliePoole, p. 84, "Bill Mason" (1 text)
Roud #12393
RECORDINGS:
Roy Harvey and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Bill Mason" (Paramount 3079, 1927)
Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "Bill Mason" (Columbia 15407-D, 1929)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Bill Mason's Bride
NOTES [32 words]: This poem somehow came to be associated with Bret Harte, but is not in any of the works written in his lifetime; this seems to be a case of an incorrect attribution that somehow "stuck." - RBW
File: LSRai282

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