County Jail (II)

DESCRIPTION: "I used to live a glorious life [until]... they piped into a railroad mail And carried me off to County Jail." The singer recounts the rules, initiation, awful food, beds; Jonah was better off in the whale; "glorious times in County Jail"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1860 (broadside, Bodleian Firth b.26(213))
KEYWORDS: violence food prisoner ordeal
FOUND IN: Ireland Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia 148, "Kirtle Gaol" (1 text, 1 tune)
O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland, pp. 121-122, "County Jail" (1 text)
Roud #964
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(213), "County Gaol" ("Good people all give ear I pray"), A. Ryle and Co. (London) , 1845-1859; also Harding B 11(730), Harding B 11(729), "County Gaol"; Harding B 20(32), "County Jail"; Firth c.17(76), "Duke St. Gaol"; Firth c.26(19), Firth c.17(73), "Wakefield Gaol"; 2806 c.16(234), Harding B 13(292), "Preston Gaol"; Harding B 11(2000), "Kirkdale Goal [sic]"; 2806 c.16(63), "Kirkdale Gaol"; Harding B 11(233), "Bellevue Goal [sic]"; 2806 c.8(201), "The Humours of the County Jail "
LOCSinging, sb10045a, "County Jail," H. De Marsan (New York), 1864-1878; also sb40474a, "X"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Cryderville Jail" (theme)
NOTES [129 words]: Mackenzie-BalladsAndSeaSongsFromNovaScotia says his title of "Kirtle Gaol" "is a contraction, or corruption, of 'Kirkdale.'"
Mackenzie lists a number of broadside versions including O'Conor-OldTimeSongsAndBalladOfIreland pp. 121-122. He lists American copies of "County Jail" which are not indexed yet. The versions of this that I've seen do not have the bedbug vs cockroach sporting event but do insist that Jonah was better off inside the whale and Lazarus in his shroud was better dressed.
The Bodleian broadsides agree in the details except for the location of the jail.
Broadside LOCSinging sb10045a: H. De Marsan dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site. - BS
File: Mack148

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