Drunkard's Doom (I), The

DESCRIPTION: The singer sees a man at a bar or "grog shop door". His son begs him to come home; his wife is ill and his children starving. The drunkard instead takes another drink. A year later, the singer learns the drunkard is dead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety)
KEYWORDS: drink death funeral
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,Ro,SE,So,SW)
REFERENCES (17 citations):
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 468-469, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text)
Randolph 306, "The Drunkard" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnold-FolkSongsofAlabama, p. 58, "Drunkard's Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Eddy-BalladsAndSongsFromOhio 142, "Temperance Song" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 21, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 21, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 tune plus an excerpt of text)
Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl 82, "Drunkard's Doom"; 83, "A Drunkard's Warning" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sandburg-TheAmericanSongbag, pp. 104-105, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hubbard-BalladsAndSongsFromUtah, #109, "The Drunkard Is No More" (1 text)
Lomax/Lomax-AmericanBalladsAndFolkSongs, pp. 174-175, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cox-FolkSongsSouth 131, "Temperance Song" (1 text)
Cox/Hercog/Halpert/Boswell-WVirginia-B, #31A-B, pp. 203-206, "Temperance Song," "The Drunkard" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Boette-SingaHipsyDoodle, p. 122, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-2ed, p. 84, "The Grog Shop Door" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 357-358, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 265, "The Drunkard's Doom" (1 text)
cf. Gardner/Chickering-BalladsAndSongsOfSouthernMichigan, p. 478, "The Drunkard's Doom" (source notes only)
ST R306 (Partial)
Roud #3113
RECORDINGS:
Ted Chestnut, "The Drunkard's Doom" (Gennett 6638 [as Ted Chesnut]/Challenge 422 [as Oliver Moore], 1928)
[G. B.] Grayson & [Henry] Whitter, "I Saw a Man at the Close of Day" (Victor V-40324, 1929; on GraysonWhitter01)
Doc Watson & Fred Price, "I Saw a Man at the Close of Day" (on WatsonAshley01)
NOTES [60 words]: The Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl texts are rather complicated, not fitting exactly with any of the various drunkard songs, and not matching each other either. It may be that the second has become mixed. I file them here because they fit best and they probably aren't worth separate entries; there is too much cross-influence. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.3
File: R306

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