Spanish Johnny

DESCRIPTION: "The old West, the old time, The old wind singing through..." are the habitat of Spanish Johnny, who herds cattle and kills men and "sing[s] to his mandolin." Spanish Johnny is finally hung; the night before he dies, he sings one last time to the mandolin
AUTHOR: Words: Willa Cather / Music: C. E. Scoggins (?)
EARLIEST DATE: 1934
KEYWORDS: cowboy death execution music
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Lomax/Lomax-AmericanBalladsAndFolkSongs, pp. 123-124, "Spanish Johnny" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #15551
NOTES [24 words]: Written as a poem, the Lomaxes apparently collected this from the author of the tune. There is no evidence that it ever entered tradition. - RBW
File: LxA123

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