Boy on the Land, The

DESCRIPTION: Little boy, working on the land, is given an old coat, "old stiff collar button'd to the throat." Second, he's given an old gun; "Sometimes she gave fire, sometimes she gave smoke, She gave my shoulder the devil's own poke"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: farming work worker
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 164, "The Boy on the Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #520
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Kerry Recruit" (hints of plot, lyrics)
NOTES [88 words]: This is a conundreum; from the fragmentary text it's not clear whether the boy gets the coat and gun for his agricultural work or because he's been conscripted into the army. If the latter, just possibly "The Kerry Recruit" is related, but it's all very tenuous. - PJS
Roud in fact lumps them, but until we find some sort of substantial version, it will be hard to prove either way. I'll admit that I probably would have lumped them; although the first of Sharp's verses seems unique, the rest looks like "The Kerry Recruit." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: ShAp2164

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