Johnny Fill Up the Bowl (In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One)

DESCRIPTION: "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty One, Hurrah, Hurrah (or "Skiball" or "Football" or some such)... The great rebellion is begun, and we'll all drink stone blind, Johnny, fill up the bowl." A catalog of the events of the Civil War
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (Sheet music "For Bales" published by Blackmar & Co, New Orleans)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar fight army rebellion war death freedom slavery
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Apr 12, 1861 - Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter, opening the Civil War
Sept 23, 1862 - Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation published (to be formalized Jan. 1, 1863)
Apr 9, 1865 - Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia surrenders
May 13, 1865 - General Edmund Kirby Smith surrenders all remaining Confederate forces
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,NE,SE,So)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Randolph 227, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore2 222, "In Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One" (1 text)
Davis-TraditionalBalladsOfVirginia 10, "The Three Ravens" (the two texts in the appendix are this song)
Thomas-BalladMakingInMountainsOfKentucky, p. 54, (no title) (1 text, though the chorus line is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home") (OakEd, p. 65)
Eckstorm/Smyth-MinstrelsyOfMaine, pp. 241-242, "Johnny, Fill Up the Bowl" (1 text)
Silber-SongsOfTheCivilWar, p. 213, "Abe Lincoln Went to Washington" (1 text, tune referenced); also p. 214, "For Bales" (1 text, which appears to be a parody of a parody)
Wolf-AmericanSongSheets, #1139, p. 78, "Johnny, Fill Up the Bowl" (14 references); also #1140, p. 78, "Johnny, Fill Up the Bowl!" ("Jeff. Davis is a stupid Fool") (3 references); #1141, p. 78, "Johny Fill Up the Bowl. New Version" (1 reference)
DT, ABEWASH* FORBALES*
Roud #6673
RECORDINGS:
Art Thieme, "In 1861" (on Thieme02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (tune) and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
For Bales
Football
NOTES [152 words]: For what little can be said about the disputed ancestry of this tune, see the entry on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."
Davis for some reason thinks this song a parody of "The Three Ravens." He offers no explanation. It's not the tunes of his versions, which are not given.
There is another song titled "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl," beginning "Abram Lincoln, what yer 'bout," which was popular in the Civil War era; Edwin Wolf 2nd, American Song Sheets, Slip Ballads, and Political Broadsides 1850-1870, Library Company of Philadelphia, 1963, p. 78, lists 14 broadside prints. Wolf also lists three broadside of this, a "New Version" beginning "Up Freeman, up and volunteer," and a version of "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye." Lawrence-MusicForPatriotsPoliticiansAndPresidents, p. 397, prints an Auner broadside beginning, "Abram Lindoln, what yer 'bout? Hurrah! hurrah! Stop this war: for it's all played out...." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: R227

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