Woodman, Spare That Tree

DESCRIPTION: "Woodman, spare that tree, Touch not a single bough, In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now." The singer relates how his grandfather planted it and how his family delighted in it. "While I've a hand to save, Thy axe shall harm it not."
AUTHOR: Words: George Perkins Morris (1802-1864) / Music: Henry Russell (1812-1900)
EARLIEST DATE: 1837 (sheet music published by Firth & Hall of New York)
KEYWORDS: family home request reprieve
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (8 citations):
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 669, "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (1 tune plus a text excerpt)
Jackson-PopularSongsOfNineteenthCenturyAmerica, pp. 246-252, "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spaeth-ReadEmAndWeep, pp. 23-26, "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (1 text, 1 tune, plus the parody "Barber, Spare Those Hairs")
Scott-EnglishSongBook, pp. 88-89, "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (1 text, 1 tune)
Emerson-StephenFosterAndCo, pp. 58-59, "Woodman! Spare That Tree!" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 253, "Woodman, Spare That Tree" (1 text)
Dime-Song-Book #3/72, p. 60 and #3/62, p. 60, "Woodman Spare that Tree" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Michael R. Turner, _Victorian Parlour Poetry: An Annotated Anthology_, 1967, 1969 (page references are to the 1992 Dover edition), p. 257, "Woodman, Spare That Tree!" (1 text)
Roud #13833
RECORDINGS:
Jack Mahoney, "Woodman Spare That Tree" (Columbia 15712-D, 1932; rec. 1931)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth b.26(503), "Woodman Spare That Tree," G. Walker (Durham), 1797-1834; also Harding B 11(1186), Firth b.25(540), Harding B 11(4316), Harding B 11(4315), Harding B 11(4314), Harding B 45(23) View 2 of 3, Harding B 15(392a), Firth b.25(68), Harding B 11(64), Firth b.26(361), Firth b.28(36) View 2 of 2, Johnson Ballads 342, Harding B 11(4313), Harding B 15(391b), "Woodman Spare That Tree"; Firth b.25(600/601) View 1 of 2, "Woodman Spare The Tree"
LOCSheet, sm1840 371290, "Woodman! Spare That Tree!," Firth and Hall (New York), 1840 (tune)
LOCSinging, as115220, "Woodman, Spare That Tree," J. Andrews (New York), 1853-1859; also as204080, "Woodman, Spare That Tree"
SAME TUNE:
Nigger, Put Down Dat Jug (Wolf-AmericanSongSheets p. 109)
Rebel Spare that Flag (Wolf-AmericanSongSheets pp. 132-133); probably the same as one or the other version of "Traitor, Spare that Flag" (Wolf, pp. 158-159 and p. 159, these two songs having different second lines)
Barber, Spare Those Hairs (by Jno. Love, Jr., [class of 18]68) (Henry Randall Waite, _Carmina Collegensia: A Complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges_ first edition 1868, expanded edition, Oliver Ditson, 1876, p. 69)
NOTES [269 words]: The original sheet music of this piece contains a letter from Morris to Russell describing how the words came to be written. Apparently the piece is biographical; Morris was with a friend when said friend saw a tree on his childhood home being threatened. A payment of $10 ensured the tree's continued existence.
In later years Russell claimed that he was the friend and that the tree grew on Morris's home. However, Russell was rather given to exaggeration; if we are to believe anyone, we should probably believe Morris.
Irving Berlin around 1911 wrote a song "Woodman, Woodman, Spare That Tree," which was sung by Bert Williams; the gimmick is that the singer needs to maintain the local forest so he can hide there from his wife. (Thomas S. Hischak, The American Musical Theatre Song Encyclopedia (with a Foreword by Gerald Bordman), Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 393.) Obviously it is not related to this song in terms of content, but presumably the title gave Berlin his inspiration. - RBW
Broadside LOCSinging as115220: 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.
The dating for broadside Bodleian Firth b.26(503), before 1835, is at best questionable. Here is a quote from the Lesley Nelson-Burns site Folk Music of England Scotland Ireland, Wales & America collection: "The words to this song are a poem written by George Pope Morris in 1830. The music was written by Henry Russell. The song was published in 1837.... " - BS
For background on Henry Russell, see "Cheer, Boys, Cheer (II)."
Last updated in version 6.6
File: RJ19246

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography