Just as the Sun Went Down

DESCRIPTION: "After the din of a battle roar, Just at the close of day," two soldiers lay dying. Each olds a lock of hair, one gray, one brown -- one is from mother, the other a lover. Both breathe final prayers and die "Just as the sun went down."
AUTHOR: Lyn Udall (source: Spaeth)
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Spaeth, Weep Some More, My Lady)
KEYWORDS: soldier mother lover death
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Stout-FolkloreFromIowa 95, pp. 119-121, "Just As the Sun Went Down" (4 texts plus a fragment)
Spaeth-WeepSomeMoreMyLady, pp. 257-258, "Just As the Sun Went Down" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #2, "(I Saw Esau)" (1 fragment)
Roud #4873
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Last Fierce Charge" [Laws A17] (theme of two farewells to mother and lover)
SAME TUNE:
After a Shaft Pay Day ("After the roar of a shaft pay night, Just at the break of day") (by Henry Carey) (Korson-MinstrelsOfTheMinePatch, p. 53)
NOTES [36 words]: This is so similar to "The Last Fierce Charge" that I have to suspect literary dependence. This is probably the weaker song, though; it lacks the highly effective device of each soldier asking the other's help. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.2
File: Stou095

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