Dying Californian (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer tells a comrade he is dying. He confesses to a firm belief in God. He sends messages to his father and mother. He wishes his wife to know that he thought of her while dying, and bids her care for his children
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1850
KEYWORDS: dying farewell religious
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) US(Ap,MA,MW,Ro,So) Canada(Mar,Newf)
REFERENCES (21 citations):
Greig/Duncan8 1790, "Lay Up Brother Near Brother" (1 text)
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 350-351, "The Dying Californian" (1 text)
Randolph 183, "The Dying Californian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen-OzarkFolksongs-Abridged, pp. 179-182, "The Dying Californian" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 183)
Moore/Moore-BalladsAndFolkSongsOfTheSouthwest 154, "The Dying Californian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 126, "The Dying Californian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Musick-JAF-TheOldAlbumOf-William-A-Larkin 39, "The Dying Californian" (1 text)
Hudson-FolksongsOfMississippi 92, pp. 221-222, "The Dying Californian" (1 text)
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 177, "Californian Brothers" (1 text)
Cazden/Haufrecht/Studer-FolkSongsOfTheCatskills 86, "The Dying Californian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-TheBalladOfAmerica, pp. 187-189, "The Dying Californian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fife/Fife-CowboyAndWesternSongs 15, "The California Brothers" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pound-AmericanBalladsAndSongs, 90, pp. 191-193, "The Dying Californian" (1 text)
Hubbard-BalladsAndSongsFromUtah, #117, "Dying California" (sic.) (1 text)
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 49, "The Dying Californian" (1 text)
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia2, pp. 647-650, "The Dying Californian" (1 text plus a broadside print)
Lingenfelter/Dwyer/Cohen-SongsOfAmericanWest, pp. 34-35, "The Dying Californian" (1 text, 1 tune)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #541, p. 36, "The Dying Californian" (1 reference)
Dime-Song-Book #1/72, p. 51, "The Dying Californian" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan, p. 478, "The Dying Californian" (source notes only)
DT, DYINGCAL
Roud #2283
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1855 580660, "Dying Californian" or "The Brother's Request" ("Lie up nearer, brother, nearer"), Oliver Ditson (Boston), 1855 (tune)
LOCSinging, sb10096b, "The Dying Californian" ("Lay up nearer, brother, nearer, for my limbs are growing cold"), J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as103250, as10325a, "The Dying Californian"
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Dying Mine Brakeman (The True and Trembling Brakeman)" [Laws G11] (lyrics)
cf. "The Dying Californian (II)" (theme)
cf. "The Soldier's Farewell (VII)" (form, lyrics)
SAME TUNE:
The Dying Fifer (File: BrII227) (per broadside Bodleian Harding B 31(29))
NOTES [111 words]: This appears, under its own name, in the 1860 Sacred Harp, credited to "Ball and Drinkard 1859." - RBW
Broadside LOCSheet sm1855 580660 has the cover sheet attribution "Poetry from the New England Diadem Music by A.L. Lee"
Broadside LOCSinging sb10096b: J. Andrews dating per Studying Nineteenth-Century Popular Song by Paul Charosh in American Music, Winter 1997, Vol 15.4, Table 1, available at FindArticles site.
Broadside LOCSheet, sm1857 620570, "Prayer of the Dying Californian," Oliver Ditson (Boston), 1857 (tune) shares lines with "The Dying Californian." The cover sheet attribution is "Arranged from the Spanish of Marechio by E. Williams Denison." - BS
Last updated in version 6.6
File: R183

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