Tomahawk Hem, The

DESCRIPTION: "Now, boys, if you will listen to my few lines of care, Although heart-broken in sorrow we came here." "Twas on the tenth of March" that they went to the woods. The singer lists his companions. He recalls leaving Maggie and looks forward to going home
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (recording, Emory DeNoyer; Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin)
KEYWORDS: separation logger moniker floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin, pp. 79-80, "The Tomahawk Hem" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: James P. Leary, Compiler and Annotator, _Wisconsin Folklore_ University of Wisconsin Press, 2009, article "The Wanigan Songbook" by Isabel J. Ebert, pp. 212-214, "The Tomahawk River Hymn" (1 text, 1 tune, sung by Emory DeNoyer)
Roud #9075
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Lumber Camp Song" (theme) and references there
cf. "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9] (lyrics)
NOTES [132 words]: This is a complex conundrum. Most of the song is a standard logging/moniker song, talking about going to the woods and listing all the characters one meets in the camps. This might well be based on one of the many other songs of this type, although with the names changed. But it has also picked up a few lines from "The Banks of the Nile (Men's Clothing I'll Put On II)" [Laws N9] or one of *its* many relatives, and there is also a bit about "when the stormy winds do blow." There may be other floating materials I didn't recognize at a glance. I'm filing it under its own number because it's so composite -- but very little of what is here is really original.
The really funny part, however, is how whoever transcribed Emory DeNoyer's recording heard "Tomahawk Hymn" as "Tomahawk Hem." - RBW
Last updated in version 2.7
File: Pet079

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