Dawsonville Jail

DESCRIPTION: Singer is told by Sheriff Glen Wallace that he's "a little too full." He is taken to jail. His friend Shorty objects but is arrested too; they work on the sheriff's chicken farm, and the food is bad. They swear they'll drink no more.
AUTHOR: Words: L. D. Snipes & Shorty Lunsford; tune: traditional
EARLIEST DATE: 1982 (recording, Ray Knight)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer gets up, but is told by Sheriff Glen Wallace that he's "a little too full." He heads for town; Wallace & his deputy, Toy, come to arrest him and take him to jail. His friend Shorty objects but is arrested too; they work on the sheriff's chicken farm, and the food is bad -- "the peas was green and the meat was fat." They fall on their knees and swear they'll drink no more. Released, they advise that "before we take a drink we'd better look twice." Refrain: "Comin' for to carry me home"
KEYWORDS: warning farming crime prison punishment drink friend police prisoner humorous
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, pp. 208-209, "Dawsonville Jail" (1 tet, 1 tune)
Roud #4960
RECORDINGS:
Ray Knight w. Ed Teague & Art Rosenbaum, "Dawsonville Jail" (on FolkVisions2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (tune, refrain)
cf. "Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane" (lyrics)
cf. "Cryderville Jail" (subject)
NOTES [113 words]: Clearly not a traditional song, but I include it because (a) the form, structure and style are traditional, and (b) it uses tune, structure and refrain from a traditional song, and borrows a floating verse from another. It's *not* "Cryderville Jail"; in fact, according to the liner notes, the writers, who knew that song, deliberately chose a different structure. - PJS
According to the notes in Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, this is loosely based on something that actually happened to the authors; they were hauled in for drunkenness, but the authorities also had them play a concert in the prison! So apparently they weren't treated too harshly, and made a joke of it. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: RcDawsJa

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