Old Tom Bolen (Tom Boleyn II)

DESCRIPTION: "Old Tom Bolen, his horse Beaver, Forked Deer and Hatchee River, My wife's dead and I'm a widower, And I'll go back to Rollin' River."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: animal death
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 425, "Old Tom Boleyn" (1 fragment, 1 tune)
Roud #7632
NOTES [54 words]: Randolph tentatively links this song to the minstrel piece "Way Down South in Alabama," containing the lines "My wife's dead and I'm a widder, All de way from Roarin' Ribber." Since we're speculating, is there any possibility that these are the fiddler's mnemonic for "Forked Deer"? (I concede the tunes are not the same.) - RBW
File: R425

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